Well, we've made it to another Thanksgiving Day. First of all, I'm thankful for that. In many ways, it's been a very good year since my last Thanksgiving Day. In other ways, it's been a struggle. Then, I consider that struggle in the light of all that so many in our world struggle against; and my struggle seems like a walk in the park. So, I do thank God for all of my blessings.......the ones I easily see, and the ones I fail to see, hidden in the haze of our American affluence. In short, I truly am thankful for my little walk in the park.
I'm thankful for my family, which is wonderful. I'm thankful for the new house, which is becoming more and more a home every day. I'm thankful for my parents, whith whom I now share this new home. I'm thankful for the wonderfully weird things my father says, such as "If you want to have genuine Italian (that's pronounced eye-talian) food in Southwest Missouri, then you have to go to Frontenac, KS, 'cause that's where the Irish settled." I'm thankful for my brothers-in-law, Thad and Grady, who love and care for my sisters, niece, and nephews. I'm thankful for my Mom, who does actually go to bed, after declaring she's on her way there for the 17th time. I'm thankful for my big sister, Teri, with whom I shared a childhood, and with whom I'll share an age, (40 years) in a couple of weeks, till she leaps ahead of me again. I'm thankful for Katelyn, the cutest, smartest, and boldest little princess in all the realms. I'm thankful for my baby sister, Kelley, who's never forgotten, and whose dearness to me is without question or peer (sorry). I'm thankful for Isaiah, whose love & care for his brothers is an inspiration, and who loves baseball almost as much as I do. I'm thankful for Josiah, who got to see his 1st major league baseball game this year (and thankful that I got to be there with him.......and that the Royals won with a walk off double in the bottom of the 9th). I'm thankful for Eli, and for his boundless energy, cleverness, and orneriness, even when they wear me out. I'm thankful for Gideon, who is cute, and funny, and fully aware of both of those facts. I'm thankful for Jonathan, whose birth warmed my heart, and who seems to like it when I make funny noises with my lips.
So now, my Thanksgiving Poem. (Bolded items below are hyperlinks to more info on those items, music, background info....lots of cool stuff.)
I'm thankful for Atkins bars, Cobalt blue cars, and satellite TV.
For General's Chicken, Doc Watson's pickin', and "Chuck," on NBC.
For Reese's Blasts, forgiven pasts, and walks out in the hills.
For Tillamook Cheese, Josiah's sneeze, and burp free fish oil pills.
For Royals rookies, Grandma's cookies, and high speed internet.
For smaller clothes, healing toes, Frank White and George Brett.
For "Fiddler's Green," refried beans, and AP's "Counting Stars."
For Big Bang hilarity, EP's sincerity, and Alcides Escobar.
For fantasy books, Bagginses, Tooks, and good old Merry Brandybuck.
For babbling brooks, Mr Yen's cooks, have I mentioned I'm thankful for "Chuck"?
For turkey that's moist, for John Cowan's voice, and "Put On Your Sailin' Shoes."
For the "Old Rugged Cross," and for "Just As I Am,"
"There is a Redeemer," and "Behold the Lamb."
For quiet reflection, and boisterous praise.
For the Home that awaits at the end of my days.
Thank you, Jesus.
Happy Thanksgiving!!
Thursday, November 24, 2011
Friday, November 4, 2011
My Dog Jada.....the Great Communicator?
We have an 8 year old black lab named Jada. She's affectionate, well tempered as a klavier, and lovely as her namesake....Jada Pinkett Smith. But, she changes when I walk her on the farm. She didn't get a lot of leash work as a younger dog, so she's not very good at walking on a leash. Pulling me down the trail as if I were a rickshaw.........she's great at that. But walking with me, as a companion rather than as a cart she's pulling.....she's terrible at that. We're trying to work on that, & she did a bit better today. What she's best at though, or at least the most prolific at, is communication.
When I take our other dog, Emily, for a walk, I don't have the same problems as I do with Jada. Emily walks right alongside of me, or just in front of me, never trying to pull my arm out of the socket. That's the main reason that I take much longer walks with Emily than I do with Jada. I usually walk all the way to the lake with Emily, stopping periodically to take pictures or just to appreciate the beauty of the Ozarks. Such a walk typically keeps us on the trail for 1 1/2 to 2 hours. With Jada, on the other hand...........we walk to the big field & back, 30-45 minutes tops. It's simply too much work with Jada to go any farther than that.
As you likely know, dogs communicate a bit differently from us humans..........they urinate. Sometimes they're marking territory, sometimes just announcing their presence........like a guest book, you might say. Sometimes, they're announcing certain, shall we say.....seasonal availability. On a typical 2 hour walk with Emily, she might stop to communicate via urine deposit once or twice, maybe even 3 times. On a typical 30-45 minute walk with Jada, she might stop to communicate 20-25 times. Seriously.
I hadn't really thought much about it till today. But, what is she saying with all that spraying? Then it hit me, these communicative urinations are the equivalent to our facebook status updates. She may not have anything particularly important to say, but, like I often do myself, she says it anyway and she says it often. Maybe this is her way of feeling connected to the other beasts of the forest, be they canine, bovine, feline, or rodent.
I've been posting fewer and fewer status updates on facebook of late. And I even gave some consideration to closing my account. I'm not sure if I've just run out of things to say, or time in which to say it. But I'm not there as much as I used to be. I love that facebook provides a connection to people from my past to whom I'd not otherwise be connected. But I'm starting to have some reservations. It's so pervasive, even intrusive. Today, my facebook news feed notified me that a friend of mine from college read 2 particular articles on Yahoo! She didn't recommend them, link to them, or "like" them. She just read them. Do I need to be notified of this? Do I really need to know every article you've read, or song you've listened to? Or is facebook's virtual diary of my daily events just a little too much information? I'm starting to think that, with all these ultra trivial communications, not even initiated by the account holder, maybe, just maybe..........facebook is just pee-ing all over the farm these days.
What do you think?
When I take our other dog, Emily, for a walk, I don't have the same problems as I do with Jada. Emily walks right alongside of me, or just in front of me, never trying to pull my arm out of the socket. That's the main reason that I take much longer walks with Emily than I do with Jada. I usually walk all the way to the lake with Emily, stopping periodically to take pictures or just to appreciate the beauty of the Ozarks. Such a walk typically keeps us on the trail for 1 1/2 to 2 hours. With Jada, on the other hand...........we walk to the big field & back, 30-45 minutes tops. It's simply too much work with Jada to go any farther than that. As you likely know, dogs communicate a bit differently from us humans..........they urinate. Sometimes they're marking territory, sometimes just announcing their presence........like a guest book, you might say. Sometimes, they're announcing certain, shall we say.....seasonal availability. On a typical 2 hour walk with Emily, she might stop to communicate via urine deposit once or twice, maybe even 3 times. On a typical 30-45 minute walk with Jada, she might stop to communicate 20-25 times. Seriously.
I hadn't really thought much about it till today. But, what is she saying with all that spraying? Then it hit me, these communicative urinations are the equivalent to our facebook status updates. She may not have anything particularly important to say, but, like I often do myself, she says it anyway and she says it often. Maybe this is her way of feeling connected to the other beasts of the forest, be they canine, bovine, feline, or rodent.
I've been posting fewer and fewer status updates on facebook of late. And I even gave some consideration to closing my account. I'm not sure if I've just run out of things to say, or time in which to say it. But I'm not there as much as I used to be. I love that facebook provides a connection to people from my past to whom I'd not otherwise be connected. But I'm starting to have some reservations. It's so pervasive, even intrusive. Today, my facebook news feed notified me that a friend of mine from college read 2 particular articles on Yahoo! She didn't recommend them, link to them, or "like" them. She just read them. Do I need to be notified of this? Do I really need to know every article you've read, or song you've listened to? Or is facebook's virtual diary of my daily events just a little too much information? I'm starting to think that, with all these ultra trivial communications, not even initiated by the account holder, maybe, just maybe..........facebook is just pee-ing all over the farm these days.
What do you think?
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