IT'S "JUST STUFF"
I'm not one to share personal or family issues on social media outlets. I believe if it's personal or family, in most cases, the situation should be kept private. That being said, I also believe sometimes, very seldom but sometimes, you are left with no other choice but to go to your friends and extended family for help or advice. I have decided this is one of those times.
I hope you will not think bad of me or the family as you read this and after you have heard the complete story, I feel certain you will understand how these things could happen. As I sit here thinking about this situation, I can truthfully say understand how it could happen to anyone, even to you. In fact, it may have already infiltrated one of your family members or a loved ones lives. Maybe it has even entered your own life. I just hope I can depend on you, for your help and support after you read my story. For you to totally understand this predicament we have gotten ourselves into, I need to go back to the very beginning, so pour your sweet self a cup of coffee, sit down and lean back, and let me try to explain.
It all started years ago. It started innocently enough. We, Peggy and I, were just out to have a little fun. Good family time if you will. It was just something we could do and enjoy together. To start with, we would just stay in our own neighborhood. At first it was "JUST the little STUFF" we would buy. You know, a dish here or a trinket there. We would just ride around and look for hand printed signs and it seemed everyone was selling this "STUFF". They were selling this "STUFF" they had accumulated from only God knows where and people were actually paying good money for this "STUFF". They called it Yard Selling or Garage Selling. I'm sure you've seen them. Shoot...... You may have even had one or gone to one of these sales yourself. Let me warn you...... Be careful ......BE VERY CAREFUL. In the beginning, it's just the little "STUFF ".... but it can turn into an addiction. Well, back to our story. From the safety of our own little neighborhood we started to branch out. You see, when we first started as I said it was just little "STUFF" but on occasion you would find some really cool and unusual "STUFF." You know what I mean. Antique "STUFF" or vintage "STUFF". We thought to ourselves if you can find this "STUFF" in our little area of town, there has to be better "STUFF" out there somewhere. So we ventured farther out. First it was just to surrounding towns and cities. Then we went to other states. The need and desire to find bigger and better "STUFF" was what compelled us to go on. Yard sales and garage sales turned into estate sales and estate sales turned into auctions and....well, you get the picture.. We became consumed with the desire to find and buy the best and most unique an unusual "STUFF" we could. And now, because of a TV show, at times we are even called "PICKERS" whatever a picker is. My Mama use to fuss at me for being a picker so the word doesn't bring back pleasant memories. I didn't like to hear my Mama fussin'.
Well, all this "STUFF" buying brings us to here. We've decided we can't stop buying so we must get rid of some of our "STUFF", other wise we are afraid we may become, lord forbid, one of those dreaded people called "HOARDERS." This is where "you" come in. We've opened an Antique & Stuff Booth here in Douglasville and if you need or want to buy some "STUFF", there's a good chance we've got it, and we want you come by and look. We want to save you the time and expense, (you have noticed gas has gone up haven't you? I remember when it was 26 cents a gallon. There I go, living in the past again but darn it's fun. Oh yeah....I've got to get back to my story.....Where was I?)
Oh yeah, We want to save you the time and expense of riding all over creation looking for that special piece of "STUFF" to improve your "decor". I like that word "DECOR"....That's short for decoration for your house. Anyway, We are located in Booth 64 at BEN'S FURNITURE AND ANTIQUES, 9579 Hwy 5, Dougalville Ga, in the old Kmart Shopping Center or if you want to be kind of "high falutin", you can tell all your friends that you're going to "THE ARBOR SQUARE SHOPPING CENTER". We have an assortment of antiques, vintage items, repurposed items, custom made primitive reproductions and........you know........ "JUST STUFF"....
We also have a facebook page and it's called.....you guessed it... "JUST STUFF ANTIQUES" and we want you to like us on our page. We don't just want you to, we need you to "Like" us on facebook and we need you to share our page with all your family and friends and your preachers and school teachers and you mail carriers and the cashier at the corner store and the PTA...well you get the idea. We need to get the word out there. And since we can't stop buying, it's only natural that we will have different "STUFF" in our booth every time you come in. We really need to sell some "STUFF". If you're a chicken rancher like me, you know the price of laying mash and cracked corn has gone up and Peggy thinks she has to feed all the birds in middle Georgia and the price of bird seed has gone out of site. Peggy also doesn't want her birds taking a bath in a creek or a mud puddle, (She's afraid the water may may be polluted) so she has placed bird baths through out the yard to insure "God's creatures of the air" have a proper place to get clean and the water bill is soaring at "Peggy's spa for the feathered masses". Plus, We don't want to be known as the dreaded those "HOARDERS" we're starting to hear about. Being known as a "HOARDER" is not my idea of making it bigtime in TV land.
So as you can see. The need is great. We need your help. Come on in, look around and........ "remember when your Mama had one of those",,,,, and Please Please Please like and share our page.
As they say at Hardy Chevrolet......WE LOVE AND WE NEED YOU.....
Thursday, May 29, 2014
Sunday, May 4, 2014
A SIMPLE SQUARE OF WHITE CLOTH.........
I'm sure a lot of people would say I spend to much of my time living in the past. As I've gotten older, it doesn't make much of a difference what people think or say about me anymore. You see, I've found I enjoy reminiscing about times and people and time spent with people and in my later years I've set the goal to enjoy things and be happy. Now, I don't mean to brag, but I've been pretty successful at being happy the last few years. I've also found that many times as I reminisce, I find a lesson to learn that may have escaped my mind at an earlier time, but I have also found we are never to old to learn. At times, I've probable even reminisced about times I've spent with many of you, and I'm thankful for those times because it is those time, that have made me who I am.
Most times it doesn't take a lot to get my mind going. Sometimes, something will just appear and make me think of things in my past. You know, things we thought were so great and things we wondered how we ever got along with out, and now we don't have them or use them or they have been improved so much that we never think about the old models anymore. You know the things I'm talking about. Things like fax machines and the old beepers that just beeped and you had to find a pay phone to call the office to see who wanted you. How long has it been since you used a pay phone, or how long since you have even seen one? And do you remember the first cell phones that weighed 6 pounds and cost a thousand dollars and 50 cents a minute to use. Or do you remember when gas cost 26 cents a gallon and 50 cents worth would get you to school and back home all week. Of course I remember that sometimes it was hard to come up with that 50 cents. I remember cutting the neighbors grass with a reel type lawn mower for a quarter and with that quarter I could go to the movies on Saturday and buy a coke and a box of popcorn.
I could go on and on with other thing I remember as I'm sure you could, but it was something much more simple than a movie or cell phone that got my mind to going Saturday morning. No it wasn't the cost gasoline or even my first used bicycle. I got up early as I do most mornings, took my shower, and as I was getting dressed, for some reason I looked in my top dresser drawer. Now as most men do, I have a top dresser drawer that I hardly ever look in. It's full of things I seldom use. Things like gloves for cold weather, a knee brace, rings and watches I never wear and old pocket knives I never carry. But yesterday as I opened that drawer the first thing I saw just jumped out at me. It was a "white handkerchief".......That's right....just a simple "white cotton handkerchief." I picked it up, sat down on the bed and stared at this simple one foot square piece of white cloth. I've never had a habit of carrying a handkerchief. I have no idea where the handkerchief came from but I couldn't take my eyes off of it for a few minutes. I wonder how many men carry a handkerchief in their pockets now days? I don't mean for decoration, but to use. I would bet very few.
As I stared at this handkerchief, it took me back to a time in my life when I was invincible. Oh sure, I could get hurt. I could fall and skin my knee or I could even get hit in the nose with a baseball and get a bloody nose. I could stick my finger with a fish hook. I could eat a fudge cycle and have it melt all over my face and hands and sometime I would even shed a tear and need my eyes wiped and need to blow my nose. The one constant was my dad was always there with his handkerchief to clean me up and make me feel better. I knew I was protected..... I knew I was safe.... When dad got dressed it was as natural for him to put his handkerchief in his pocket as it was for him to put his socks on. No matter what was wiped away with that handkerchief, seems it never had any bad germs on it, because I never got any infections from it. It would be very easy to say that my Dad's handkerchief had supernatural powers, but I don't think that's what it was. I think maybe he had the super powers.
As I closed my dresser drawer I stood up, folded the handkerchief and put it into my back pocket. You see, my four year old grandson Hunter was coming over for the day and with a little boy, you never know when you might need a simple white cotton handkerchief.....................
Most times it doesn't take a lot to get my mind going. Sometimes, something will just appear and make me think of things in my past. You know, things we thought were so great and things we wondered how we ever got along with out, and now we don't have them or use them or they have been improved so much that we never think about the old models anymore. You know the things I'm talking about. Things like fax machines and the old beepers that just beeped and you had to find a pay phone to call the office to see who wanted you. How long has it been since you used a pay phone, or how long since you have even seen one? And do you remember the first cell phones that weighed 6 pounds and cost a thousand dollars and 50 cents a minute to use. Or do you remember when gas cost 26 cents a gallon and 50 cents worth would get you to school and back home all week. Of course I remember that sometimes it was hard to come up with that 50 cents. I remember cutting the neighbors grass with a reel type lawn mower for a quarter and with that quarter I could go to the movies on Saturday and buy a coke and a box of popcorn.
I could go on and on with other thing I remember as I'm sure you could, but it was something much more simple than a movie or cell phone that got my mind to going Saturday morning. No it wasn't the cost gasoline or even my first used bicycle. I got up early as I do most mornings, took my shower, and as I was getting dressed, for some reason I looked in my top dresser drawer. Now as most men do, I have a top dresser drawer that I hardly ever look in. It's full of things I seldom use. Things like gloves for cold weather, a knee brace, rings and watches I never wear and old pocket knives I never carry. But yesterday as I opened that drawer the first thing I saw just jumped out at me. It was a "white handkerchief".......That's right....just a simple "white cotton handkerchief." I picked it up, sat down on the bed and stared at this simple one foot square piece of white cloth. I've never had a habit of carrying a handkerchief. I have no idea where the handkerchief came from but I couldn't take my eyes off of it for a few minutes. I wonder how many men carry a handkerchief in their pockets now days? I don't mean for decoration, but to use. I would bet very few.
As I stared at this handkerchief, it took me back to a time in my life when I was invincible. Oh sure, I could get hurt. I could fall and skin my knee or I could even get hit in the nose with a baseball and get a bloody nose. I could stick my finger with a fish hook. I could eat a fudge cycle and have it melt all over my face and hands and sometime I would even shed a tear and need my eyes wiped and need to blow my nose. The one constant was my dad was always there with his handkerchief to clean me up and make me feel better. I knew I was protected..... I knew I was safe.... When dad got dressed it was as natural for him to put his handkerchief in his pocket as it was for him to put his socks on. No matter what was wiped away with that handkerchief, seems it never had any bad germs on it, because I never got any infections from it. It would be very easy to say that my Dad's handkerchief had supernatural powers, but I don't think that's what it was. I think maybe he had the super powers.
As I closed my dresser drawer I stood up, folded the handkerchief and put it into my back pocket. You see, my four year old grandson Hunter was coming over for the day and with a little boy, you never know when you might need a simple white cotton handkerchief.....................
Wednesday, November 27, 2013
ON BEING THANKFUL FOR BLESSINGS LARGE AND SMALL
I just saw an article on the home where John and Jacqueline Kennedy spent part of their honeymoon. The house is now for lease at $600,000 per month – or, for the big spenders, for sale at $115 million in case you are interested and happen to have an extra few million you don't know what to do with. The 50,000-square-foot Beverly Hills mansion includes 29 bedrooms, 40 bathrooms, two guest houses and a separate apartment. As I was reading about the house, I was giving thanks that I didn't have to clean all those bathrooms. Or can you imagine having to vacuum all those bedrooms. And how about all the other rooms. The dusting and the mopping and the waxing. Do you realize how big 50,000 square feet is? That's bigger than a football field. So on this day, I am thankful I don't live in this house.
So often we wish for bigger things. A bigger house or a bigger car. A bigger paycheck and a bigger bank account or a bigger shop in our bigger back yard. We are always searching for the bigger or the best or the most powerful. As I was thinking about all this I began to wonder why? Why do we always want something bigger? When Peggy and I got married she still lived in the same house she lived in when she was born. Her father had bought that house when he got out of the army after WW II.
He told me he paid $1800.00 for the house and his payments were $13.00 a month. He often talked about lying awake at night wondering how in the world he would ever pay for that house. He was afraid he had bought more house than he could ever pay for. My father-in-law was a very successful man. He started his steel company in his back yard and when he sold it and retired at 53 years old he employed around 70 people and his shop must have been around 70 feet X 175 feet. At that time he still lived in the same house. I once asked him why didn't he buy a bigger house. He said he had thought about it, but as he was pondering what to do he asked himself what he would want in his dream house. He said he would want a house that would keep him warm in the winter. A house that would keep him cool in the summer. A house that would keep him dry when it rained and a house that wouldn't rule his life by keeping him deep in debt. He said the more he thought about it the more he realized he had everything he wanted in his dream house in that little house in Socktown, so why would he want to move. Once again as I was thinking about all this another thing my father-in-law would often say popped into my mind. Someone once asked him why he always wore overalls. Didn't he think people would be more impressed if he wore different clothes to work. His response was that there was no one that he needed to impress.
I've said all of this to explain my thoughts as we come to this, my 66th Thanksgiving.
I've learned that bigger is not always better and I'm thankful for this knowledge. I've learned that there is nothing on this earth more important than family. I've learned that no matter how big my house is, how pretty my car is, how much money I have or don't have, I am loved by my family and for this I am thankful. As I look back over my life I am thankful for things I seldom think about. I am thankful my Dad taught me how to bait a fish hook and to take the fish off when I was lucky enough to catch one. I'm thankful that he also taught me how to shake hands with another man and also with a lady. I'm thankful that he also taught me that there are some words you don't say in the presence of a lady. He explained there was no reason that you didn't say these words, you just didn't. I'm thankful my dad wasn't ashamed or embarrassed to tell me he loved me in front of others. I'm thankful my Mom was always there when I got home from school. I'm thankful she always had a meal on the table to eat and that she taught me to always tell the cook I enjoyed what I had just eaten. I am thankful that at a young age I was taught to say please and thank you, excuse me and yes sir and yes ma'am and no sir and no ma'am. I am also thankful that neither of my parents ever told me I couldn't accomplish anything but were always there to encourage and support me.
I am thankful that I have a wonderful loving wife that has been and continues to be the backbone of our family. I am thankful that she is a great cook and not just on thanksgiving but everyday. I am thankful for the three children she has raised with me, as she has done a great job. I could have never done it without her. I am thankful when I write a blog and she always tells me how good it is when I know it wasn't one of my best. I am thankful when the phone rings and the caller ID says it's one of my children and not a salesperson. I am thankful that my children live close by. I am thankful when I feel the arms of my grandchildren wrap around my neck and I hear a little voice say..."I love you PaPa."
I am thankful when I walk out in the back yard each morning and my chickens come running toward me. I am thankful when I open the cupboard and see fruit jars filled with the bounty from last years garden. I am thankful for new buds on the trees and the first flowers of spring. For the smell of a spring rain and the fragrance of a freshly mowed lawn. I'm thankful for the song of the birds and the playfulness of the squirrels as they dance from tree to tree. I'm thankful for the beautiful web of a writing spider and the wonderful masterpiece that God paints in the sky each day.
I am thankful that in the last few years I have found that I love to write and I am thankful that each day when I read the Atlanta Journal, that I find their writers and proof readers spell worse and know less about punctuation than I do so I don't feel so bad about those shortcomings.. I am thankful for the teachers that taught me to read and write. For the ones that worked so hard to make sure I learned things that I had no interest in learning because they knew that later in life I would be glad they had beaten these things into my hard head. I am thankful for the coaches I had that taught me about winning with humbleness and losing with dignity. About goals and character. about pride and determination. I am thankful for the friends I had years ago. The ones that along with me didn't let school get in the way of our education. Also the ones that kept a safe distance from me and my crew but kept us close enough that now, in our later years we are closer that back then.
I am of course thankful for my God and my Savior. I am thankful that I now have a better understanding from where all blessing flow. I am thankful that although I still make mistakes, He is quick to forgive me. I am thankful that He does provide my daily bread and that in time of need He comforts me.
I could go on and on. I could write page after page and still I would leave someone or something out for which I am thankful . For you see, today I am thankful for the good times and the bad. For the bountiful times and the times of drought. For good friends and yes...even for my enemies. I am thankful because these things and these people are what and who my God has used to create me. And He is not through. I am still a work in progress. Makes no difference if I have known you for 65 years or 1 month, God is using you in my life. He is using you to make me a finished product. And you know what? He is using me to help complete you. What a wonder God is. So you see, I don't need the football size house in Beverly Hills. I don't need the big car and the giant bank account. I am rich beyond measure. For as the old song says:
He owns the cattle on a thousand hills,
The wealth in every mine;
He owns the rivers and the rocks and rills,
The sun and stars that shine.
Wonderful riches, more than tongue can tell -
He is my Father so they're mine as well;
He owns the cattle on a thousand hills -
I know that He will care for me.
Yes my friend I am a rich. I have no need to impress any man. And for this....I am very thankful.
Happy Thanksgiving, God bless you and your family and as Mama would say, "Don't forget to say thank you."
I just saw an article on the home where John and Jacqueline Kennedy spent part of their honeymoon. The house is now for lease at $600,000 per month – or, for the big spenders, for sale at $115 million in case you are interested and happen to have an extra few million you don't know what to do with. The 50,000-square-foot Beverly Hills mansion includes 29 bedrooms, 40 bathrooms, two guest houses and a separate apartment. As I was reading about the house, I was giving thanks that I didn't have to clean all those bathrooms. Or can you imagine having to vacuum all those bedrooms. And how about all the other rooms. The dusting and the mopping and the waxing. Do you realize how big 50,000 square feet is? That's bigger than a football field. So on this day, I am thankful I don't live in this house.
So often we wish for bigger things. A bigger house or a bigger car. A bigger paycheck and a bigger bank account or a bigger shop in our bigger back yard. We are always searching for the bigger or the best or the most powerful. As I was thinking about all this I began to wonder why? Why do we always want something bigger? When Peggy and I got married she still lived in the same house she lived in when she was born. Her father had bought that house when he got out of the army after WW II.
He told me he paid $1800.00 for the house and his payments were $13.00 a month. He often talked about lying awake at night wondering how in the world he would ever pay for that house. He was afraid he had bought more house than he could ever pay for. My father-in-law was a very successful man. He started his steel company in his back yard and when he sold it and retired at 53 years old he employed around 70 people and his shop must have been around 70 feet X 175 feet. At that time he still lived in the same house. I once asked him why didn't he buy a bigger house. He said he had thought about it, but as he was pondering what to do he asked himself what he would want in his dream house. He said he would want a house that would keep him warm in the winter. A house that would keep him cool in the summer. A house that would keep him dry when it rained and a house that wouldn't rule his life by keeping him deep in debt. He said the more he thought about it the more he realized he had everything he wanted in his dream house in that little house in Socktown, so why would he want to move. Once again as I was thinking about all this another thing my father-in-law would often say popped into my mind. Someone once asked him why he always wore overalls. Didn't he think people would be more impressed if he wore different clothes to work. His response was that there was no one that he needed to impress.
I've said all of this to explain my thoughts as we come to this, my 66th Thanksgiving.
I've learned that bigger is not always better and I'm thankful for this knowledge. I've learned that there is nothing on this earth more important than family. I've learned that no matter how big my house is, how pretty my car is, how much money I have or don't have, I am loved by my family and for this I am thankful. As I look back over my life I am thankful for things I seldom think about. I am thankful my Dad taught me how to bait a fish hook and to take the fish off when I was lucky enough to catch one. I'm thankful that he also taught me how to shake hands with another man and also with a lady. I'm thankful that he also taught me that there are some words you don't say in the presence of a lady. He explained there was no reason that you didn't say these words, you just didn't. I'm thankful my dad wasn't ashamed or embarrassed to tell me he loved me in front of others. I'm thankful my Mom was always there when I got home from school. I'm thankful she always had a meal on the table to eat and that she taught me to always tell the cook I enjoyed what I had just eaten. I am thankful that at a young age I was taught to say please and thank you, excuse me and yes sir and yes ma'am and no sir and no ma'am. I am also thankful that neither of my parents ever told me I couldn't accomplish anything but were always there to encourage and support me.
I am thankful that I have a wonderful loving wife that has been and continues to be the backbone of our family. I am thankful that she is a great cook and not just on thanksgiving but everyday. I am thankful for the three children she has raised with me, as she has done a great job. I could have never done it without her. I am thankful when I write a blog and she always tells me how good it is when I know it wasn't one of my best. I am thankful when the phone rings and the caller ID says it's one of my children and not a salesperson. I am thankful that my children live close by. I am thankful when I feel the arms of my grandchildren wrap around my neck and I hear a little voice say..."I love you PaPa."
I am thankful when I walk out in the back yard each morning and my chickens come running toward me. I am thankful when I open the cupboard and see fruit jars filled with the bounty from last years garden. I am thankful for new buds on the trees and the first flowers of spring. For the smell of a spring rain and the fragrance of a freshly mowed lawn. I'm thankful for the song of the birds and the playfulness of the squirrels as they dance from tree to tree. I'm thankful for the beautiful web of a writing spider and the wonderful masterpiece that God paints in the sky each day.
I am thankful that in the last few years I have found that I love to write and I am thankful that each day when I read the Atlanta Journal, that I find their writers and proof readers spell worse and know less about punctuation than I do so I don't feel so bad about those shortcomings.. I am thankful for the teachers that taught me to read and write. For the ones that worked so hard to make sure I learned things that I had no interest in learning because they knew that later in life I would be glad they had beaten these things into my hard head. I am thankful for the coaches I had that taught me about winning with humbleness and losing with dignity. About goals and character. about pride and determination. I am thankful for the friends I had years ago. The ones that along with me didn't let school get in the way of our education. Also the ones that kept a safe distance from me and my crew but kept us close enough that now, in our later years we are closer that back then.
I am of course thankful for my God and my Savior. I am thankful that I now have a better understanding from where all blessing flow. I am thankful that although I still make mistakes, He is quick to forgive me. I am thankful that He does provide my daily bread and that in time of need He comforts me.
I could go on and on. I could write page after page and still I would leave someone or something out for which I am thankful . For you see, today I am thankful for the good times and the bad. For the bountiful times and the times of drought. For good friends and yes...even for my enemies. I am thankful because these things and these people are what and who my God has used to create me. And He is not through. I am still a work in progress. Makes no difference if I have known you for 65 years or 1 month, God is using you in my life. He is using you to make me a finished product. And you know what? He is using me to help complete you. What a wonder God is. So you see, I don't need the football size house in Beverly Hills. I don't need the big car and the giant bank account. I am rich beyond measure. For as the old song says:
He owns the cattle on a thousand hills,
The wealth in every mine;
He owns the rivers and the rocks and rills,
The sun and stars that shine.
Wonderful riches, more than tongue can tell -
He is my Father so they're mine as well;
He owns the cattle on a thousand hills -
I know that He will care for me.
Yes my friend I am a rich. I have no need to impress any man. And for this....I am very thankful.
Happy Thanksgiving, God bless you and your family and as Mama would say, "Don't forget to say thank you."
Thursday, November 14, 2013
YOU MAY BE RIGHT....I MAY BE CRAZY......
"You may be right....I may be crazy....But it just may be a lunatic you're lookin for".......Once again comes the morning and once again I find myself up early, searching the web and reading facebook and once again I find that this feeble mind of mine starts to move. Yes, it is official, this mind still moves but sometimes I think that I, along with many others, have become the subject of the line above made famous in a song by Billy Joel. "We may all be crazy."
This morning I was reading a link that my beautiful niece, Briana Caldwell, and before you ask, I'm not crazy about this, she is beautiful, posted to her facebook page. This article was about the Braves moving to Cobb County. Well, I for one don't care where the Braves move or if they move or not. Oh sure, I like the Braves, and I watch them on TV all the time unless I have something more important to do like put highlights in my hair or go outside, sit in a chase lounge, and watch the chickens look for bugs to eat. Have you ever wondered how many bugs a chicken eats in a day or if the kind of bugs they eat has anything to do with how the egg taste? Oh well, back to the Braves. In the article it said the Braves were going to move and build this new stadium because that the old antiquated stadium they play in now, "The Ted," needs updating. UPDATING I SAY? The Ted is 16 years old for God's sake !!!!!!!! I have underware 16 years old.....I guess this means I need to go through my sock drawer and look for holes and do some purging. Then I thought to myself, "Be patient Wes. Hear them out....They may have a point," so I read on. The Brave officials noted that if they stayed at the "TED" they would have to change the lights and replace the seats...... WHAT ??????????? CHANGE THE LIGHTS AND REPLACE THE SEATS? Half the time no one even sits in those seats and they only have the lights on about 3 or 4 hours at a time, 81 nights a year and it seems to me for what a hotdog and a coke cost, they could afford some new light bulbs.
By their reasoning I should have moved out of the old house years ago. I can just hear me explaining my move now. "Well yeah, we decided it was time to move, the hall and pantry light bulb needed changing and the couch was dirty so we felt it was time to move on. Did we sell the old house you ask? Oh nooooo...It was 16 years old and had outlived it's usefulness so we just bulldozed it. Where are we moving you ask? We bought a new house one county over. How much did we pay for the new digs you want to know? Oh it was much more than we could afford but the neighbors are going to foot a very large part of the bill. One of the neighbors said they would just forgo patching that big hole in their driveway, and another said that their septic tank lines could wait another few years as the smell was only bad if the wind was blowing toward their house and the folks across the street were real nice. They offered dip into their kids college fund to help us out so we only had to pay about 10% of the cost.
We have become a throw away people. First there were throw away lighters, then throw away razors and throw away bottles. I can remember saving mayonaise jars for Mom and even Peggy to can vegetables in but now mayonaise comes in plastic jars so we just throw them away too. We have throw away paint brushes and if you think about it some people pretty much have throw away wifes and husbands and kids. Of course to make us feel better we have changed the name from "throw away to disposable." Even our money that we earn on our jobs we have separated into groups. We have money we pay bills with and money we buy grocerys with and then we have "Disposable Income" which I assume is money we just throw away...............
And so now, the trend continues. We now have throw away stadiums. And who pays for these stadiums? Do the owners of these teams buy a piece of land with their own money and build the stadium with their own money and then put a good product on the field so the cutomers will pay for their great product or service? Of course not....the owners go to the local government and say "Build me a new house. You know what I want. A mansion of a house that I can throw away in fifteen or twenty years. After all, we all now that by then I will need a new stadium and we also know that the government has an unlimited supply of "Disposable Money."
I'm sure I could write another paragraph or two and incorperate Obamacare into the mix but I guess it's time to end this rant. You see,,,, today is thursday which is trash day. I must roll the garbage can down to the street so the trashman can carry away the perfectly good trash bags that I payed good money for. So I will just say to you that you have been given this day. It is not recyclable and can only be used once so make it count. Some things we don't get a second chance at and some things just aren't disposable.
Have a good one !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
You may be right ...... I may be crazy....But it may just be a lunatic you're lookin for.......................................................
"You may be right....I may be crazy....But it just may be a lunatic you're lookin for".......Once again comes the morning and once again I find myself up early, searching the web and reading facebook and once again I find that this feeble mind of mine starts to move. Yes, it is official, this mind still moves but sometimes I think that I, along with many others, have become the subject of the line above made famous in a song by Billy Joel. "We may all be crazy."
This morning I was reading a link that my beautiful niece, Briana Caldwell, and before you ask, I'm not crazy about this, she is beautiful, posted to her facebook page. This article was about the Braves moving to Cobb County. Well, I for one don't care where the Braves move or if they move or not. Oh sure, I like the Braves, and I watch them on TV all the time unless I have something more important to do like put highlights in my hair or go outside, sit in a chase lounge, and watch the chickens look for bugs to eat. Have you ever wondered how many bugs a chicken eats in a day or if the kind of bugs they eat has anything to do with how the egg taste? Oh well, back to the Braves. In the article it said the Braves were going to move and build this new stadium because that the old antiquated stadium they play in now, "The Ted," needs updating. UPDATING I SAY? The Ted is 16 years old for God's sake !!!!!!!! I have underware 16 years old.....I guess this means I need to go through my sock drawer and look for holes and do some purging. Then I thought to myself, "Be patient Wes. Hear them out....They may have a point," so I read on. The Brave officials noted that if they stayed at the "TED" they would have to change the lights and replace the seats...... WHAT ??????????? CHANGE THE LIGHTS AND REPLACE THE SEATS? Half the time no one even sits in those seats and they only have the lights on about 3 or 4 hours at a time, 81 nights a year and it seems to me for what a hotdog and a coke cost, they could afford some new light bulbs.
By their reasoning I should have moved out of the old house years ago. I can just hear me explaining my move now. "Well yeah, we decided it was time to move, the hall and pantry light bulb needed changing and the couch was dirty so we felt it was time to move on. Did we sell the old house you ask? Oh nooooo...It was 16 years old and had outlived it's usefulness so we just bulldozed it. Where are we moving you ask? We bought a new house one county over. How much did we pay for the new digs you want to know? Oh it was much more than we could afford but the neighbors are going to foot a very large part of the bill. One of the neighbors said they would just forgo patching that big hole in their driveway, and another said that their septic tank lines could wait another few years as the smell was only bad if the wind was blowing toward their house and the folks across the street were real nice. They offered dip into their kids college fund to help us out so we only had to pay about 10% of the cost.
We have become a throw away people. First there were throw away lighters, then throw away razors and throw away bottles. I can remember saving mayonaise jars for Mom and even Peggy to can vegetables in but now mayonaise comes in plastic jars so we just throw them away too. We have throw away paint brushes and if you think about it some people pretty much have throw away wifes and husbands and kids. Of course to make us feel better we have changed the name from "throw away to disposable." Even our money that we earn on our jobs we have separated into groups. We have money we pay bills with and money we buy grocerys with and then we have "Disposable Income" which I assume is money we just throw away...............
And so now, the trend continues. We now have throw away stadiums. And who pays for these stadiums? Do the owners of these teams buy a piece of land with their own money and build the stadium with their own money and then put a good product on the field so the cutomers will pay for their great product or service? Of course not....the owners go to the local government and say "Build me a new house. You know what I want. A mansion of a house that I can throw away in fifteen or twenty years. After all, we all now that by then I will need a new stadium and we also know that the government has an unlimited supply of "Disposable Money."
I'm sure I could write another paragraph or two and incorperate Obamacare into the mix but I guess it's time to end this rant. You see,,,, today is thursday which is trash day. I must roll the garbage can down to the street so the trashman can carry away the perfectly good trash bags that I payed good money for. So I will just say to you that you have been given this day. It is not recyclable and can only be used once so make it count. Some things we don't get a second chance at and some things just aren't disposable.
Have a good one !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
You may be right ...... I may be crazy....But it may just be a lunatic you're lookin for.......................................................
Saturday, October 26, 2013
IT WASN'T SO LONG AGO !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
It wasn't long so ago..................
It wasn't long so ago when I would be excited about halloween being just around the corner. We would make a costume out of an old sheet or either go through Dads old clothes, pick out the worst looking and most worn and mom would sew patches on them so we would look like an old bum or a Hobo. We would put charcoal dust on our face for a special effect and off we would go. We would gather with our friends in the neighborhood and with an old pillowcase thrown over our shoulder to hold our bounty, off we would go. We of course called it "trick or treat" but there was no reason to play a trick on anyone because every house would have a treat for us. Some houses had homemade treats tied up in little bags, others had fruit and still others had store bought candy. My favorite house to go to was always the big house at the end of the street that the "Ol Maid Sission Sisters" lived in. I remember they would always place a shiny Silver Dollar in my bag, which I would immediately fish out and deposit as deep as posible into the pocket of my jeans for safe keeping. At the end of the night, I would take all of my candy home, dump it out on my bed and pick out some of my favorite pieces to sample while making sure I had enough to ruin all my meals for at least two or three weeks. I couldn't wait to get to school the next day to trade stories about our halloween night excursions with my classmates..........Yes,,,It wasn't so long ago............
It wasn't long so ago................
It wasn't long so ago that we would turn the page on the calander and it would be November. November would mean a short vacation from school at the end of the month. It would mean the beginning of colder weather. The changing colors of the leaves and the task of raking them into piles as they fell to the ground. I've often wondered how many times I raked the same leaves into a pile because as I remember, as soon as they were all piled up, we would jump into the piles and scatter them all over the yard again, which of course meant they had to be raked up again. November also meant High School Football games. I was in what we called grammer school but my older sister, Dianne, was in High School and ever friday night we would bundle up and with Dad at the wheel we would head to Grady Stadium or Cheney Stadium to watch the Murphy Eagles do battle. I can remember shoe polish messages being written on the back windows of all the cars imploring our team of blue and white to beat our opponents of the night. And gosh at the crepe paper that was used. Every car it seems was decorated in their school colors with streamers of crepe paper. And then at the end of the month, It was time for Thankgiving. A time for everyone, man and woman, boy and girl to pause and give thanks. To really ponder how blessed we were. We would have a wonderful meal of turkey and dressing. Of yams and green beans. Of potatoe salad and cranberry sauce. Of desserts so plentiful that the thoughts of them makes my mouth water still to this day. But as good as the food was, that's not what the day was about. As nice as it was to have a couple of extra days off from school,,,,,,, that's not what the day was about. As much fun as it was going to the UGA - Ga Tech Freshman game.....That's not what the day was about......It was about the blessings and the joys and family and friends that filled every other day of the year. And it was about our fathers and grandfathers that had fought to give us this free land. And it was not only about the men who had given so much of themselves for this purpose but also for the women, the mothers and grandmothers that had "KEPT" this great country going while the men were away. And it was about much more. It was about many things that gave us pause to be thankful and fill out hearts with a fullness that I'm not gifted enough to express, but if you were there, you know what I'm trying to say.........................Yes....It wasn't so long ago............
It wasn't so long ago.......
It wasn't so long ago when we would once again turn the page of the calendar. It was December now. Winter was now here. The coldness filled the air and in the mind of a child, the hope for a white Christmas. This month would bring a longer vacation from school, a full two weeks. I couldn't wait for the Christmas Holidays to begin. There was a special feeling in the air in December. There were Christmas Parades and trips around the city to look at all the lights that were everywhere. There was the lighting of the tree on the bridge at Rich's and a trip was always made to ride the "Pink Pig." I can still smell the Cashews roasting as we would enter the doors at the Sears on Ponce De Leon. I can still remember the excitement of wondering what Santa would leave under the tree. But there was something else...yes.... something else. There was the practicing for the Christmas play at school. The play was always basically the same. there was the manger. There was Joseph and Mary. There were the three wise men. There was the Star in the East. And of course there was the Baby Jesus. The whole play was about the Baby Jesus. Oh yes. I remember it well.....There were other things going on. There was once again family times. There was decorating and going out to cut down a tree to place in the living room for the gift to be put under. Ther were parties and get togethers, shopping trips and hours spent looking through the Sears Wish Book....but....but In the end..."The whole thing was about the Baby Jesus............ And you know.........."And It Still Is"
Think back.....It wasn't so long ago !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
It wasn't long so ago..................
It wasn't long so ago when I would be excited about halloween being just around the corner. We would make a costume out of an old sheet or either go through Dads old clothes, pick out the worst looking and most worn and mom would sew patches on them so we would look like an old bum or a Hobo. We would put charcoal dust on our face for a special effect and off we would go. We would gather with our friends in the neighborhood and with an old pillowcase thrown over our shoulder to hold our bounty, off we would go. We of course called it "trick or treat" but there was no reason to play a trick on anyone because every house would have a treat for us. Some houses had homemade treats tied up in little bags, others had fruit and still others had store bought candy. My favorite house to go to was always the big house at the end of the street that the "Ol Maid Sission Sisters" lived in. I remember they would always place a shiny Silver Dollar in my bag, which I would immediately fish out and deposit as deep as posible into the pocket of my jeans for safe keeping. At the end of the night, I would take all of my candy home, dump it out on my bed and pick out some of my favorite pieces to sample while making sure I had enough to ruin all my meals for at least two or three weeks. I couldn't wait to get to school the next day to trade stories about our halloween night excursions with my classmates..........Yes,,,It wasn't so long ago............
It wasn't long so ago................
It wasn't long so ago that we would turn the page on the calander and it would be November. November would mean a short vacation from school at the end of the month. It would mean the beginning of colder weather. The changing colors of the leaves and the task of raking them into piles as they fell to the ground. I've often wondered how many times I raked the same leaves into a pile because as I remember, as soon as they were all piled up, we would jump into the piles and scatter them all over the yard again, which of course meant they had to be raked up again. November also meant High School Football games. I was in what we called grammer school but my older sister, Dianne, was in High School and ever friday night we would bundle up and with Dad at the wheel we would head to Grady Stadium or Cheney Stadium to watch the Murphy Eagles do battle. I can remember shoe polish messages being written on the back windows of all the cars imploring our team of blue and white to beat our opponents of the night. And gosh at the crepe paper that was used. Every car it seems was decorated in their school colors with streamers of crepe paper. And then at the end of the month, It was time for Thankgiving. A time for everyone, man and woman, boy and girl to pause and give thanks. To really ponder how blessed we were. We would have a wonderful meal of turkey and dressing. Of yams and green beans. Of potatoe salad and cranberry sauce. Of desserts so plentiful that the thoughts of them makes my mouth water still to this day. But as good as the food was, that's not what the day was about. As nice as it was to have a couple of extra days off from school,,,,,,, that's not what the day was about. As much fun as it was going to the UGA - Ga Tech Freshman game.....That's not what the day was about......It was about the blessings and the joys and family and friends that filled every other day of the year. And it was about our fathers and grandfathers that had fought to give us this free land. And it was not only about the men who had given so much of themselves for this purpose but also for the women, the mothers and grandmothers that had "KEPT" this great country going while the men were away. And it was about much more. It was about many things that gave us pause to be thankful and fill out hearts with a fullness that I'm not gifted enough to express, but if you were there, you know what I'm trying to say.........................Yes....It wasn't so long ago............
It wasn't so long ago.......
It wasn't so long ago when we would once again turn the page of the calendar. It was December now. Winter was now here. The coldness filled the air and in the mind of a child, the hope for a white Christmas. This month would bring a longer vacation from school, a full two weeks. I couldn't wait for the Christmas Holidays to begin. There was a special feeling in the air in December. There were Christmas Parades and trips around the city to look at all the lights that were everywhere. There was the lighting of the tree on the bridge at Rich's and a trip was always made to ride the "Pink Pig." I can still smell the Cashews roasting as we would enter the doors at the Sears on Ponce De Leon. I can still remember the excitement of wondering what Santa would leave under the tree. But there was something else...yes.... something else. There was the practicing for the Christmas play at school. The play was always basically the same. there was the manger. There was Joseph and Mary. There were the three wise men. There was the Star in the East. And of course there was the Baby Jesus. The whole play was about the Baby Jesus. Oh yes. I remember it well.....There were other things going on. There was once again family times. There was decorating and going out to cut down a tree to place in the living room for the gift to be put under. Ther were parties and get togethers, shopping trips and hours spent looking through the Sears Wish Book....but....but In the end..."The whole thing was about the Baby Jesus............ And you know.........."And It Still Is"
Think back.....It wasn't so long ago !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Tuesday, October 22, 2013
HOW DO YOU SMELL? Just something to think about...............
Often times, for no apparent reason, my mind will for some unknown purpose go back into my past. This mind will hit on a subject that I have not thought about in years. This morning it was a bottle of body wash that pushed the start button on this wierd mind of mine. It was a bottle of AXE body wax. Peggy and I had been to the l...ocal Kroger and there on the "mark down" shelf were a bunch of bottles of Axe body wash. My son and grandsons often use this AXE creation but I had always used the old reliable Irish Spring because the smell was good and I liked the price much better than this bottled stuff they call body wash. But as I said they had marked the price way down so I thought I might as well give it a try. Just as a side note, If you use "body wash" have you noticed how much of this liquid gold you waste with each shower. I think half of the bottle goes down the drain without ever touching my body......Oh well,,,Back to my original point. All of this smell good stuff got me to thinking about the trouble and expense we go through to smell good. I can remember when I was very young all the men smelled the same....Old Spice.....Old Spice had a monopoly on the men fragrance market back then. As I approched the teen years, the corporate world learned that teens now had a little money of their own to spend so they might as well cut in on Old Spice's profit margin. Thus we were bombarded with new fragrances. The first I remember was English Leather and then Jade East. I could come up with some great line about why we had an English and an Oriental frangrance but we didn't have a "French Mens Cologne" back then, but I've decided to be nice this morning. Beside we all know you're suppose to bathe before you put on cologne. Anyway, it seems that from the time I was about 12 or 13, every year there has been a new fragrance for men come out and we were told this new or improved fragrance is the best new thing. Many of these new fragrances have been called "Musk" to make us think we will emit an odor the oposite sex can in no way resist. Of course the advertising companys are no dummys either as in their ads they will use a stallion or a big ol' buck deer instead of a skunk or an orangatan as the symbol of their wonderful new product. Yep....My mind spoke to me again and it told me a simple truth...."We have become obsessed with the way we smell." but my observation didn't stop there. Have you ever thought about the way you smell on the inside? HUH you say...What are you talking about you ask????? Well I'll tell you. It seems our focus is always on the outside. I like what Jesus said,
“Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye make clean the
outside of the cup and of the platter, but within they are full of
extortion and excess” (Matthew 23:25). So through all this thinking I have decided
it does not matter how good I smell on the outside if there is stench on
the inside. I want to focus on my inside and make it as fresh as
possible. I want my inside to smell good. That is the fragrance God smells.
Just something to think about !!!!!!!!!!!!!1
Often times, for no apparent reason, my mind will for some unknown purpose go back into my past. This mind will hit on a subject that I have not thought about in years. This morning it was a bottle of body wash that pushed the start button on this wierd mind of mine. It was a bottle of AXE body wax. Peggy and I had been to the l...ocal Kroger and there on the "mark down" shelf were a bunch of bottles of Axe body wash. My son and grandsons often use this AXE creation but I had always used the old reliable Irish Spring because the smell was good and I liked the price much better than this bottled stuff they call body wash. But as I said they had marked the price way down so I thought I might as well give it a try. Just as a side note, If you use "body wash" have you noticed how much of this liquid gold you waste with each shower. I think half of the bottle goes down the drain without ever touching my body......Oh well,,,Back to my original point. All of this smell good stuff got me to thinking about the trouble and expense we go through to smell good. I can remember when I was very young all the men smelled the same....Old Spice.....Old Spice had a monopoly on the men fragrance market back then. As I approched the teen years, the corporate world learned that teens now had a little money of their own to spend so they might as well cut in on Old Spice's profit margin. Thus we were bombarded with new fragrances. The first I remember was English Leather and then Jade East. I could come up with some great line about why we had an English and an Oriental frangrance but we didn't have a "French Mens Cologne" back then, but I've decided to be nice this morning. Beside we all know you're suppose to bathe before you put on cologne. Anyway, it seems that from the time I was about 12 or 13, every year there has been a new fragrance for men come out and we were told this new or improved fragrance is the best new thing. Many of these new fragrances have been called "Musk" to make us think we will emit an odor the oposite sex can in no way resist. Of course the advertising companys are no dummys either as in their ads they will use a stallion or a big ol' buck deer instead of a skunk or an orangatan as the symbol of their wonderful new product. Yep....My mind spoke to me again and it told me a simple truth...."We have become obsessed with the way we smell." but my observation didn't stop there. Have you ever thought about the way you smell on the inside? HUH you say...What are you talking about you ask????? Well I'll tell you. It seems our focus is always on the outside. I like what Jesus said,
“Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye make clean the
outside of the cup and of the platter, but within they are full of
extortion and excess” (Matthew 23:25). So through all this thinking I have decided
it does not matter how good I smell on the outside if there is stench on
the inside. I want to focus on my inside and make it as fresh as
possible. I want my inside to smell good. That is the fragrance God smells.
Just something to think about !!!!!!!!!!!!!1
Monday, September 2, 2013
A RAINY DAY !!!!!!!!!!!!
Rainy days bring thoughts to the front of our minds. The rain slows down our whirlwind life and gives us pause to ponder how things are and maybe how they may have been. This new found slowness allows us to search for the reasons of our shortcomings and to place blame where blame should be.
Today I thought of a merchant years ago. He had been to a fair and had sold all of his wares. He had filled his pockets with lots of money. He then set out on his journey home for he wished to be in his own house before night.
At noon he came to a town and rested. When he was ready to travel on again, the stableboy brought his horse, saying:
"A nail is needed, sir, in the shoe of his left hind foot."
"Let it be," answered the merchant; "the shoe will stay on for the six miles I have left to go. I am in a hurry."
In the afternoon he stopped at an inn and had his horse fed. The stableboy came into the room to him and said: "Sir, a shoe is needed for your horse's left hind foot. Shall I take him to the blacksmith?"
"Let it be ," said the man; "the horse can very well hold out for a couple of miles more. I am in a hurry."
So the merchant rode on but before long the horse began to limp. He had not limped long before he began to stumble and he had not stumbled long before he fell down and broke his leg. The merchant had to leave the horse where he fell, unstrap his bag, take it on his back, and go home on foot.
"That darn nail," said the merchant to himself, "That is what has caused all this trouble."
As I set here in the rain today, I think of all the "darn nails" that have been in my life. If only I had listened to the stableboy more often.
Just something to think about on a rainy day.
Rainy days bring thoughts to the front of our minds. The rain slows down our whirlwind life and gives us pause to ponder how things are and maybe how they may have been. This new found slowness allows us to search for the reasons of our shortcomings and to place blame where blame should be.
Today I thought of a merchant years ago. He had been to a fair and had sold all of his wares. He had filled his pockets with lots of money. He then set out on his journey home for he wished to be in his own house before night.
At noon he came to a town and rested. When he was ready to travel on again, the stableboy brought his horse, saying:
"A nail is needed, sir, in the shoe of his left hind foot."
"Let it be," answered the merchant; "the shoe will stay on for the six miles I have left to go. I am in a hurry."
In the afternoon he stopped at an inn and had his horse fed. The stableboy came into the room to him and said: "Sir, a shoe is needed for your horse's left hind foot. Shall I take him to the blacksmith?"
"Let it be ," said the man; "the horse can very well hold out for a couple of miles more. I am in a hurry."
So the merchant rode on but before long the horse began to limp. He had not limped long before he began to stumble and he had not stumbled long before he fell down and broke his leg. The merchant had to leave the horse where he fell, unstrap his bag, take it on his back, and go home on foot.
"That darn nail," said the merchant to himself, "That is what has caused all this trouble."
As I set here in the rain today, I think of all the "darn nails" that have been in my life. If only I had listened to the stableboy more often.
Just something to think about on a rainy day.
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