Sunday, December 26, 2010
Saturday, December 25, 2010
Let It Snow Baby, Don't Let It Rain Dear
It no doubt happened all across Dixie. A small girl sat, with the blunt end of a red crayon tapping her forehead, chin securely nestled between her thumb and index finger, staring at a precisely folded piece of green construction paper. The purple glitter and opaque glue on her fingers gave testimony to the careful art work on the reverse side of the paper. The only question that remained would be what to ask for? A puppy? A new bike? No, this year, once again, she would ask. THIS year would be different! The non-believers? They could go down to that hot place where the devil lived. (Gainesville--or so her daddy had said to the TV last week!) She would do it! And this year he would deliver. This time Santa Claus would come through. She just knew it.
As she wrote, she could hear her mom in the kitchen fussing about the stove or the turkey. Her dad, styling in his shorts and Hawaiian shirt smirked over her shoulder. Waiting to take the envelope, already addressed to North Pole, to the post office on his way to 18 holes...a Thanksgiving Day tradition that mom didn't mind one bit. "It's a fair trade," she would say, indicating her shopping trip that would begin at Midnight. Thanksgiving in the Southland always meant turkey, golf, football, and shopping.
So, the little girl wrote, in big handwriting and broken letters,
Dear SantaKlaus Claus,
I wont a white Christmas this year.
Love XOXOXO
Sue Ellen.
(and a Barbie)
(an a Xbox 360 with dual wireless controllers. OK, Daddy ass me to write that)
Her dad's smirk was well intentioned and heartfelt. How many times had he asked for a white Christmas. It just didn't happen in the South. His little girl would carry on the generations long tradition of not seeing snow on her own front lawn. Well, golf on Thanksgiving came with a price. One the adults were usually willing to pay. So he kissed momma, took the envelope, headed to the post office and loved every round of sunny, eighty degree golf.
All over the Deep South, such scenes played out. And guess what?! A little Christmas miracle is on its way.
Atlanta, GA? The last white Christmas? 1882.
Augusta, GA? Columbia, SC? If there ever was one, it was the Native Americans who last saw it. There is no record of snow on the ground on December 25th since white people have lived here.
The national weather service has put us under a Winter Weather Warning. They are expecting up to 3". Folks, that is enough to disable this town! Total white-out conditions for Dixie. Our expectations are low. We've been duped before! (the blizzard of '93? anyone? anyone?) And we've been hit hard. Well, once. 1974. 12" in February. But to say that this causes panic in the South is like saying Granny's biscuits are good. It's an understatement of immense proportions. Let the local weatherman say the word "snow'" and there will be a run on the grocery store for milk and eggs. (What is it about snow makes you want to eat scrambled eggs? I'll never know.) Once, when I was plant manager in Waynesboro, the High Sherriff himself called me at home on a Sunday, and asked me to open the plant two hours late. The forecast was for a dusting, and he didn't want too many people on the road! (It snowed about one flake an acre. Nothing stuck, not even to the grass.) When I was in high school, school was closed because of the temperature! No kidding. Of course it was a high that day of 12, and that's Dixie in the Deep Freeze!
We are just not prepared for this kind of weather. Our coats aren't heavy enough, our cars have no snow tires. We do have a disproportionate amount of 4x4's though!
None-the-less, I say...Let it snow baby, don't let it rain dear.
Dreaming of a white Christmas since 1973....
As she wrote, she could hear her mom in the kitchen fussing about the stove or the turkey. Her dad, styling in his shorts and Hawaiian shirt smirked over her shoulder. Waiting to take the envelope, already addressed to North Pole, to the post office on his way to 18 holes...a Thanksgiving Day tradition that mom didn't mind one bit. "It's a fair trade," she would say, indicating her shopping trip that would begin at Midnight. Thanksgiving in the Southland always meant turkey, golf, football, and shopping.
So, the little girl wrote, in big handwriting and broken letters,
Dear Santa
I wont a white Christmas this year.
Love XOXOXO
Sue Ellen.
(and a Barbie)
(an a Xbox 360 with dual wireless controllers. OK, Daddy ass me to write that)
Her dad's smirk was well intentioned and heartfelt. How many times had he asked for a white Christmas. It just didn't happen in the South. His little girl would carry on the generations long tradition of not seeing snow on her own front lawn. Well, golf on Thanksgiving came with a price. One the adults were usually willing to pay. So he kissed momma, took the envelope, headed to the post office and loved every round of sunny, eighty degree golf.
All over the Deep South, such scenes played out. And guess what?! A little Christmas miracle is on its way.
Atlanta, GA? The last white Christmas? 1882.
Augusta, GA? Columbia, SC? If there ever was one, it was the Native Americans who last saw it. There is no record of snow on the ground on December 25th since white people have lived here.
The national weather service has put us under a Winter Weather Warning. They are expecting up to 3". Folks, that is enough to disable this town! Total white-out conditions for Dixie. Our expectations are low. We've been duped before! (the blizzard of '93? anyone? anyone?) And we've been hit hard. Well, once. 1974. 12" in February. But to say that this causes panic in the South is like saying Granny's biscuits are good. It's an understatement of immense proportions. Let the local weatherman say the word "snow'" and there will be a run on the grocery store for milk and eggs. (What is it about snow makes you want to eat scrambled eggs? I'll never know.) Once, when I was plant manager in Waynesboro, the High Sherriff himself called me at home on a Sunday, and asked me to open the plant two hours late. The forecast was for a dusting, and he didn't want too many people on the road! (It snowed about one flake an acre. Nothing stuck, not even to the grass.) When I was in high school, school was closed because of the temperature! No kidding. Of course it was a high that day of 12, and that's Dixie in the Deep Freeze!
We are just not prepared for this kind of weather. Our coats aren't heavy enough, our cars have no snow tires. We do have a disproportionate amount of 4x4's though!
None-the-less, I say...Let it snow baby, don't let it rain dear.
Dreaming of a white Christmas since 1973....
Merry Christmas
.
Merry★* 。 • ˚ ˚ •。★Christmas★ 。* 。*
° 。 ° ˚* _Π_____*。*˚★ 。* 。*。 • ˚ ˚ •。★
˚ ˛ •˛•*/______/~＼。˚ ˚ ˛★ 。* 。*★ 。* 。*
˚ ˛ •˛• ｜ 田田｜門｜ ˚and Happy New Year!! God Bless!!
Wednesday, December 22, 2010
My Boy Driving
So my baby is 15 as of Wednesday, and today he drove me home from the DMV.
I feel old.
Sunday, December 19, 2010
Crock Pot Potato Soup Recipe
Potato Soup
1lb Velveeta
4 cups 1/2 and 1/2
1 cup milk
2 cups chicken broth
1/2 stick butter
1/2 cup flour
10 medium Red Potatoes
1/2 slab Bacon; crumbled (optional)
Boil cubed potatoes for 10 minutes and drain.
Add Velveeta to Crock Pot on low setting and allow to start melting.
Melt butter in a sauce pan and slowly mix in flour until smooth.
Add milk, chicken broth, and half and half and mix with buttered flour until smooth, stir regularly. (Half and Half can scorch so be careful.) Bring to a light boil.
Transfer to Crock Pot.
Stir until smoothed, then add cooked potatoes. (If you like the bacon, add it here on top as a garnish, or some shredded cheddar cheese.)
When it's all hot, it's ready to serve.
Friday, December 17, 2010
Marine stabbed by suspected shoplifter in Georgia
This is from my hometoen newspaper, The Augusta Chrinicle. The story happened on Black Friday. Some holiday spirit, eh?
Marine stabbed by suspected shoplifter in Georgia
Fri Nov 26, 4:28 pm ET
AUGUSTA, Ga. – A U.S. Marine reservist collecting toys for children was stabbed when he helped stop a suspected shoplifter in eastern Georgia.
Best Buy sales manager Orvin Smith told The Augusta Chronicle that man was seen on surveillance cameras Friday putting a laptop under his jacket at the Augusta store.
When confronted, the man became irate, knocked down an employee, pulled a knife and ran toward the door. Outside were four Marines collecting toys for the service branch's "Toys For Tots" program.
Smith said the Marines stopped the man, but he stabbed one of them, Cpl. Phillip Duggan, in the back. The cut did not appear to be severe.
The suspect, whose name was not released, was held until police arrived. The suspect was transported to University Hospital with possible broken ribs and multiple lacerations and bruises suffered when he fell while attempting to flee after having stabbed the marine. The Richmond County Sheriff's office said it is investigating.
(OK. So I made the last part up. But still, you know he had a few bruises when they carted him off. )
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20101126/ap_on_re_us/us_marine_stabbed
http://chronicle.augusta.com/news/crime-courts/2010-11-26/shoplifting-suspect-stabs-marine
Marine stabbed by suspected shoplifter in Georgia
Fri Nov 26, 4:28 pm ET
AUGUSTA, Ga. – A U.S. Marine reservist collecting toys for children was stabbed when he helped stop a suspected shoplifter in eastern Georgia.
Best Buy sales manager Orvin Smith told The Augusta Chronicle that man was seen on surveillance cameras Friday putting a laptop under his jacket at the Augusta store.
When confronted, the man became irate, knocked down an employee, pulled a knife and ran toward the door. Outside were four Marines collecting toys for the service branch's "Toys For Tots" program.
Smith said the Marines stopped the man, but he stabbed one of them, Cpl. Phillip Duggan, in the back. The cut did not appear to be severe.
The suspect, whose name was not released, was held until police arrived. The suspect was transported to University Hospital with possible broken ribs and multiple lacerations and bruises suffered when he fell while attempting to flee after having stabbed the marine. The Richmond County Sheriff's office said it is investigating.
(OK. So I made the last part up. But still, you know he had a few bruises when they carted him off. )
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20101126/ap_on_re_us/us_marine_stabbed
http://chronicle.augusta.com/news/crime-courts/2010-11-26/shoplifting-suspect-stabs-marine
Tuesday, December 14, 2010
How To “Spend” Your Life
.
Well, it’s that time of year again. Yuletide spirits, roasting chestnuts, and Figgy Pudding fill our every waking moment. Oh, wait. That’s not it; it’s endless marketing, flattering advertisements, and blatant materialism. (And, what exactly IS figgy pudding, anyway! Seriously? Does anybody know!?)
One thing I believe all Americans can agree on, Christmas has become too materialistic. Hmmm...this could be what we need to unify our nation—Democrats and Republicans, Evangelicals and Atheists, Catholics and Protestants agree, the Season has the wrong focus. What to do?
Truthfully, I’m not sure, but maybe this idea, originally postulated by Fred Craddock, could start us in the right direction. How will we spend our Christmas? Or, as Craddock askes, "How will we 'spend' our lives?"
Craddock say he thinks many of us have the concept of “giving our all to the Lord” as though we take a $1,000 bill and lay it on the Altar. We then say, “Here’s my life Lord. I’m giving my all.” But Craddock says he thinks God views us giving all by sending us to the bank and having us cash that $1,000 bill in on quarters. I like that! See, then we go through life putting out 25¢ here and 50¢ there.
Ever spend a Friday at a nursing home, painting fingernails and listening to the same story for the hundredth time? Ca-ching, 25¢! Ever get a call from a neighbor’s teenager at midnight? You could have said “Get lost.”, but you just listened until two in the morning. Have you served on a committee, poured drinks at a fellowship, or driven a battered wife to a shelter? Ever rung a Salvation Army bell, picked out an angel from a Christmas tree, or gone to a shut-in's house singing Christmas carols? 25¢ here. 50¢ there.
For the most part, giving our life to Christ isn’t glorious. It is done in those little acts of love, spent 25¢ at a time. It would be easier to go out in a flash of glory, but it is more important to live the Christian life little by little over the long haul.
That is how Christ saw it. He said, "Truly, I say to you, as you did it to one of the least of these my brothers, you did it to me." Matthew 25:40. In-other-words, what we do for the helpless in society, we are doing for Him. So spend a little more this Christmas. Not in dollars, but in the “quarters” of your life. Donate your time. Drop an extra dollar in the Sacks of Love offering or Salvation Army bucket. Take some food to a needy neighbor. Invite someone to church.
Mostly...just love somebody—25¢ at a time.
Well, it’s that time of year again. Yuletide spirits, roasting chestnuts, and Figgy Pudding fill our every waking moment. Oh, wait. That’s not it; it’s endless marketing, flattering advertisements, and blatant materialism. (And, what exactly IS figgy pudding, anyway! Seriously? Does anybody know!?)
One thing I believe all Americans can agree on, Christmas has become too materialistic. Hmmm...this could be what we need to unify our nation—Democrats and Republicans, Evangelicals and Atheists, Catholics and Protestants agree, the Season has the wrong focus. What to do?
Truthfully, I’m not sure, but maybe this idea, originally postulated by Fred Craddock, could start us in the right direction. How will we spend our Christmas? Or, as Craddock askes, "How will we 'spend' our lives?"
Craddock say he thinks many of us have the concept of “giving our all to the Lord” as though we take a $1,000 bill and lay it on the Altar. We then say, “Here’s my life Lord. I’m giving my all.” But Craddock says he thinks God views us giving all by sending us to the bank and having us cash that $1,000 bill in on quarters. I like that! See, then we go through life putting out 25¢ here and 50¢ there.
Ever spend a Friday at a nursing home, painting fingernails and listening to the same story for the hundredth time? Ca-ching, 25¢! Ever get a call from a neighbor’s teenager at midnight? You could have said “Get lost.”, but you just listened until two in the morning. Have you served on a committee, poured drinks at a fellowship, or driven a battered wife to a shelter? Ever rung a Salvation Army bell, picked out an angel from a Christmas tree, or gone to a shut-in's house singing Christmas carols? 25¢ here. 50¢ there.
For the most part, giving our life to Christ isn’t glorious. It is done in those little acts of love, spent 25¢ at a time. It would be easier to go out in a flash of glory, but it is more important to live the Christian life little by little over the long haul.
That is how Christ saw it. He said, "Truly, I say to you, as you did it to one of the least of these my brothers, you did it to me." Matthew 25:40. In-other-words, what we do for the helpless in society, we are doing for Him. So spend a little more this Christmas. Not in dollars, but in the “quarters” of your life. Donate your time. Drop an extra dollar in the Sacks of Love offering or Salvation Army bucket. Take some food to a needy neighbor. Invite someone to church.
Mostly...just love somebody—25¢ at a time.
Saturday, December 11, 2010
Palin Mocked For Saying Jesus Was A Christian
.
I am no fan of Sarah Palin. Let me say that at the outset. I do not believe that she can win the presidency, but I also do not believe she could do any worse than the current holder of that office, either.
But I am greatly troubled by the constant barrage of criticism leveled at her by the main stream media. The double standard is appalling, and their oversight of VP Biden's flubs, while gawking with amazement at her slightest misstep shows the ever widening gap in their "unbiased" journalism. It is downright yellow.
But the latest just takes the cake. Liberal journalist Richard Wolfe of Newsweek has mocked Palin for saying that Jesus was Christian. Well...OK...so it was ALMOST that bad. What he actually mocked her for was saying that she took "divine inspiration" from The Chronicles of Narnia, the allegorical series of children's books written by the most prominent Christian apologist of the Twentieth Century. Said Wolfe, "How could she get divine inspiration from a series of kids books?"
Ahhh...the irony. Such a learned Englishman, such a naive little American girl. Tsk. Tsk. Sarah. Aren't you aware that C.S. Lewis and religion have no ties? How could you take children's literature and so ignorantly cast aspersions of religiosity on to its greatest bard? You ignorant, saucy little thing. I suppose you believe J. R. R. Tolkien to be a faith based writer as well. Ah, you dim witted Colonists' and your lack of understanding of proper English writing.
What a jack-wagon! Wolfe was quickly shut down by Host Chris Matthews. Here is a transcript:
WOLFFE: Look, divine inspiration from a series of kids books? I don`t think C.S. Lewis would really want Newsmax in --
MATTHEWS: But I wouldn`t put down C.S. Lewis.
WOLFFE: No, I`m not putting him down.
MATTHEWS: Right.
WOLFFE: But divine inspiration? There are things she could have said for divine inspiration. Choosing C.S. Lewis is an interesting one.
What a moron! But of course, try and find that tid bit of info in the main stream. It'll never happen.
I am no fan of Sarah Palin. Let me say that at the outset. I do not believe that she can win the presidency, but I also do not believe she could do any worse than the current holder of that office, either.
But I am greatly troubled by the constant barrage of criticism leveled at her by the main stream media. The double standard is appalling, and their oversight of VP Biden's flubs, while gawking with amazement at her slightest misstep shows the ever widening gap in their "unbiased" journalism. It is downright yellow.
But the latest just takes the cake. Liberal journalist Richard Wolfe of Newsweek has mocked Palin for saying that Jesus was Christian. Well...OK...so it was ALMOST that bad. What he actually mocked her for was saying that she took "divine inspiration" from The Chronicles of Narnia, the allegorical series of children's books written by the most prominent Christian apologist of the Twentieth Century. Said Wolfe, "How could she get divine inspiration from a series of kids books?"
Ahhh...the irony. Such a learned Englishman, such a naive little American girl. Tsk. Tsk. Sarah. Aren't you aware that C.S. Lewis and religion have no ties? How could you take children's literature and so ignorantly cast aspersions of religiosity on to its greatest bard? You ignorant, saucy little thing. I suppose you believe J. R. R. Tolkien to be a faith based writer as well. Ah, you dim witted Colonists' and your lack of understanding of proper English writing.
What a jack-wagon! Wolfe was quickly shut down by Host Chris Matthews. Here is a transcript:
WOLFFE: Look, divine inspiration from a series of kids books? I don`t think C.S. Lewis would really want Newsmax in --
MATTHEWS: But I wouldn`t put down C.S. Lewis.
WOLFFE: No, I`m not putting him down.
MATTHEWS: Right.
WOLFFE: But divine inspiration? There are things she could have said for divine inspiration. Choosing C.S. Lewis is an interesting one.
What a moron! But of course, try and find that tid bit of info in the main stream. It'll never happen.
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