Friday, November 14, 2008

I Love The Rain

I love the rain; it makes me think of days gone by. It was raining when I woke up this morning. I lay in bed like I always do, snuggling back into the covers and dozing a little longer. The Rain kind of hypnotizes me and takes me to a place where everything is good in my world. I think back to when I was a child growing, feeling secure lying in bed listening to the rain hit the roof of my parent’s house. When I was in the Military, waking up in a tent during a light rain was comforting. I hated to start my day and leave the place that provided me with solace. It is nice to set on a porch, listen to, and watch the rain. I feel the cool breeze a nice rain brings with it. When my time is up on this journey in life, it would be nice to make the transition during a light rainstorm. Until next time. Norm.

Wednesday, November 12, 2008

Keep Up The Fight

I have had some successes in my life; I have had failures also. I have always worked hard trying to make a living. Circumstances have never quite clicked to help me really achieve financial independence. Some people get lucky, others are helped a long the way by friends or family. For most of us though, we have to hammer out a living the best way we know how. We work for others, in Factories, Construction companies, Retail stores and a thousand other dead end jobs. Today is no different than it has always been, the Economy has its difficulties, this just happens to be its downward cycle. In times like this, we Americans are at our best. We help each other the best we can while we struggle ourselves. When the cards are down us Americans step up to the plate and take action. In time like these, we are at our best because we come up with new ideas to make money. This not only helps our families, it helps all of us through new inventions and breakthroughs that benefit humankind. Do not fear failure, it only makes you stronger. It makes you smarter also, it gives you the knowledge to go forward and succeed. Therefore, my friends keep up the fight. Until next time. Norm.

Sunday, November 9, 2008

I Enjoy Heating With Wood

I like wood heat, it seems to make a hotter fire than anything else I have found. Heating with wood also reminds me of simpler times in my life. I can remember going to the woods with my father to load wood in a wagon. The woods was five miles away and it was quite a trip for a little one; I was five years old at the time. By the time we got to the woods I would be cold and crying. My father would say come on stamp them feet and get to loading wood, you will warm up. Of course he could not convince me this was true.
After getting a wagon load of wood we would return the five miles home. I could not go into the house and get warm because the wood had to be unloaded and stacked. By the time all the wood was taken care of I was like an Ice cube. Mom would draw water in an old tub and soak me in it until I warmed up.
I loved the smell of the wood burning. I enjoyed the heat that come out of our one Heat register located in our front room. In the winter time we could see the soot from our furnace laying on the snow in the front yard.
To me it was a simpler time but to my father it was a lot of work. He always had to tinker with his saw to get it to run. Saws were heavier back then also. It was quite a chore to get in wood for the cold Michigan winters. I never heard him complain though.
I still use wood today in our home in Michigan in the spring of the year. We go to south Carolina for the winter. Yea I use wood down south also. It's nice to watch the fire burn in my Fireplace Wood Insert and think about simpler times. Till next time. Norm

Friday, November 7, 2008

I Love a Pun

I have a very good friend, His name is Dan. One of the things I like best about Dan is he loves a good Pun and he knows a lot of them. Dan loves to share his Puns with me. I enjoy them as much as he likes to tell them. We are always trying to find new ways to out wit each other. This task is nearly impossible for me because Dan is a master storyteller. I recall one time Dan, I and our wife's we on our way somewhere and I started to tell Dan A story. This is how the story went; When I was a young man growing up we had an old cow. This cow was so old and dried out that. Just as I got to the punch line my Buddy Dan blurted out; all she give was powered milk. I was laughing so hard I couldn't finish the story. Dan had beat me to the punch. This is a story I had never heard before and I think it was original. I made it up on the spur of the moment trying to Buffalo Dan. I should have known better. Till next time. Norm

Wednesday, November 5, 2008

Let,s Be Nice

Have you ever been to the store and when you get ready to checkout all the checkout lines are full? This happens to me every once in a while. Sometimes I have a shopping cart full of groceries and other times I just have a couple of items. More than once I have had people in line tell me to go ahead and checkout before them. Their cart was full of groceries and I had a couple of items. My wife and I went shopping yesterday and when we got ready to check out our cart was full. I spied a man with three items in his hand and asked him if he was ready to check out. The gentleman said yes and I told him to go ahead of me in line. He appreciated this gesture of good will and thanked me. Just as he finished checking out an elderly lady approached my wife and asked her if she could check out ahead of us. My wife said most certainly. The lady had two items in her hand and as she passed my wife she leaned forward and give my wife a hug and a kiss on the cheek. It made me and my wife feel good and brightened our day to extend a little kindness to someone else. In fact I would say our whole day was better. So for our own well being and someone Else's, let's be nice. Till next time . Norm.

Tuesday, November 4, 2008

Let's Eat

My wife and I like to travel. We not only like to travel, we like to take our friends along. When you travel you have to stop along the way to eat. We do not just stop anyplace to eat on our travels. We find a Mom and Pop Restaurant to dine in.
Part of the fun of dining out is enjoying the local culture. Besides the fact of the local culture you can get some of the best food you have ever eaten.
One time a few years ago we went into a Mom and Pop restaurant in Pennsylvania.This place was right out of the program Happy Days. The waitress come over and brought our menu's and poured us some coffee. My Buddie Dan spotted something on the menu he had never seen before.
SCRAPPLE! When the waitress returned to take our order Dan wanted to know what scrapple was. The young lady did not know. There was a gentleman siting one table over from us listening to the whole conversation. This man tried to explain what scrapple was but really was not sure himself. It was time to get the cook so he could tell us what scrapple was. Scrapple is made of Pork sausage, corn meal and grease. We ordered our breakfast enjoying the local culture while we ate it. Yes Dan did order the scrapple. Compliments to the Chef.
Quite a few years ago I, my wife, and a friend were traveling through the South. We stopped at a Restaurant in Ocean Springs, Mississippi. This was a Mom and Pop place and it was packed with local folks. The gentleman that owned the place said he bought it when he was sixteen years old and he had owned it for forty six years. We ordered our breakfast; I asked for Toast, Eggs, Grits and Bacon. While we waited we made small talk and watched the other folks in the diner. The locals would get up and go behind the counter and get more coffee. They shared each others pitcher of cream off the tables. They talked, joked and enjoyed each others company. The owner of the place brought our breakfast to the table. Being a gentleman, he placed the ladies meals before them first. After he put my breakfast on the table he slapped me on the back and said " You know if we would have had more Grits we would have whipped you Yanks". Of course he was teasing me, we both had a good laugh. What a wonderful man. Till next time. Norm

Monday, November 3, 2008

Years Past

Now that I am older I set and ponder on years past. I think about the different seasons of my life and the lack of knowledge I had at that time. If I had to take a guess, I suppose I was six years old walking on the beach of Lake Michigan. My older brother was with me. As we walked along the beach playing and exploring we met up with a lady. The lady was in her middle fifties.This Lady had on a beautiful red sun dress. The dresses sleeves were just straps that went over her shoulders. The straps were hooked to a blouse which in turn was sewed to a pleaded skirt. She wore a big straw hat with a brim to keep the sun out of her eyes and off her face. All of her fingernails and toenails were painted to match her sundress.
There she set is a lounge chair right at the edge of the beach. She had a book in her hand and a fishing line in the water. What caught my brothers and my attention was where her bait was laying. Her bait lay in an inch of water by her right foot.
I can not recall if we greeted the lady or if she greeted us as we walked by. But I do remember my brother and I laughing. We knew that stupid women was not going to catch any fish with her hook in an inch of water. Til next time. Norm

Sunday, November 2, 2008

I love Children

I love children, I love their innocence and their love of life. I like George Carlin but I do not always agree with what he thinks. I do not believe that it takes two parents to raise a child. I believe it takes two parents and a village to raise a child. When I start reminiscing I remember people in my village that helped me along the way.
There was the lady at Anderson's grocery store, that knew every step I took while I was in the store. No, she was not afraid I was going to steel something. One day I went into the store with a dime in my hand. I looked around for awhile to see what I wanted. A dime back then was quite a bit of money for a little guy. I finally spotted the gum ball machine. In my mind with the limited knowledge I had at eight years old, I thought I could get ten pieces of gum at once out of the machine. To my immediate disappointment I received one gum ball. Almost before I retrieved the gum from the machine the lady was there to console me. She knew what happened without me telling her. This lady loved me, she returned my dime and explained to me how the machine worked.
We had a neighbor that lived behind us. He and his wife would invite our family over for super every once in a while. Their children were grown and out of the house so these people were happy to spoil us. Not with gifts by any means but attention. We had to tell them all about school and how we were doing. They were sure to know about all of our interests and inquire about them also. After super was finished and the dishes were done we all went into the living room for small talk. Us kids were never shoved into another room to play because we were just as important as our parents. Just before we would leave they would ask us kids to sing. All three of us would stand together and sing our hearts out. The man and his wife would be praising us for the way we sung as we left to go home.
My second grade teacher taught my father also. She was old and when I say old I mean Grandma old. I loved her dearly and she loved me. I do not believe she singled me out as special but she sure made me feel that way.
My third grade teacher stoled my heart. You see I was rough housing at our house with my brother and broke my nose. When I got to school the next day she took me aside and inquired what happened. She sealed the deal when she kissed my nose.
We also had friends and neighbors that were sure to discipline us when we were naughty. They did not spank us but certainly lets know they were dissappointed in us. They not only told us we could do better, they explained how we could do better.
So as you can tell in my experience it takes two parents and a village to raise a child. Tell next time. Norm

Saturday, November 1, 2008

What Happened to Halloween?

Last night was Halloween and two Goblins showed up at our door. That's it, no less and no more. When I was a kid we couldn't wait to hit the streets. Excitement was in the air, we could hardly wait for daylight to disappear. The streets were full of children dressed in costume going from house to house.
The treats were not cheap either. Some people gave quarters out, others give nickle candy bars to all the children that ventured by. Some of the best treats were homemade popcorn balls, fudge and cookies. A lot of times there were hugs to go with the candy.
Folks back then really knew how to celebrate Halloween. They were not just ordinary people, they were our teachers, neighbors, friends of the family and store clerks, that watched us grow up. They all had time vested in the communities children. They wanted us to be safe, have fun and know we were loved.
I wonder what has happened to this Tradition, are we just to busy to get involved in a night of fun for our children? Has this night really turned into a night of fright. Are people too afraid to let their children go out to the streets and collect candy?
I know there are a few crack pots out there that just do not get it. They want to poison candy and hurt our children. I say lets take back the streets, throw the book at the crack pots and continue a long celebrated tradition.
Some people believe Halloween celebrates the dark arts. If parents would just take the time to research the history of Halloween they would find this is not true. Till next time. Norm