He had the touch 02.28.18

                Yes, we will attempt to squash an old wives tale. I am sure, that one reader, and you know who you are, has just misunderstood that first sentence.   NO, I did not mean to say, “Old wives tail”. 

                1, allow me to note that there was a posting yesterday, and it was also dated as the 28^th, I was in error. Also, there is another posting that was posted Monday, and you did not receive an email announcing these two postings. I am trying to not clog your inbox. 

                2, I have some photos of a finished product. There are three photos, one has been posted previously.

  

This executive pencil holder can be use laying down or standing up, depending on the space available.

                C, now to the topic of the day. As usual I was sitting on the Ford’s old recliner this morning with a cup of instant coffee. Instant coffee is cheaper per cup than real coffee, and we must do all we can to be frugal. As I sat there cup in hand there was a commercial that came on TV. I do not know what the commercial was for, but it had someone pretending to be King Midas. As the story goes, this King had the ability to turn into Gold, anything he touched. 

                Naturally, as soon as I saw this commercial my brain began to activate. I first wondered, how he got this ability. Then I thought, was it only things that he touched with his finger, or was it anything that his skin touched. Then it came to me this story can’t be true because, what would happen when he tried to pick a booger from his royal nose.

                If it was only his finger touching something that turned into gold, what would happen when his finger touched his thumb, or other parts of his hands, and we aren’t even going to consider the rest room possibilities?

                Now consider this, he couldn’t wear any clothes, as they would turn to gold and crush him.

                The Midas story is not true!

We hope you have a golden day!

Don Ford

Flower beds 02.28.18

                Even though this detailed account from yesterday is the subject of this article, I will start with a different subject. Sunday March 11^th, is not, “A day that will live in infamy”, although many of you will be very upset, and justly so. 

                Today subject is flower beds. First I want to know why they are called, “Beds”! The flowers do not sleep in them, and if the flowers are laying down that means they are dead. If that is the situation, dead flowers, then they should be called, “Flower coffins”! Actually, after yesterday’s activities, maybe they should be referred to as coffin makers.

                Yesterday we had half a day that was sunny, warm, and not raining. I am not complaining about the rain as we needed it, and still need it. It was decided that I should attempt to act like the grounds manager and in his absence begin cleaning the flower beds out. I gathered the tools and begin the process. It wasn’t too bad at first, but there came the time that I was required to get down on my knees. Now being on ones knees is good when they are praying, but not as good when one is cleaning out leaves, dead grass or weeds from the flower coffin.

                I put in several hours, some on my knees and some standing. The work I achieved was nothing less than outstanding, especially when you consider the age of this senior citizen (I am over 50 years old). I now have a plan for the rest of the flower places (do you like that term) but it is going to rain and storm for the next two days, so my body will have time to repair itself, prior to the next endeavor.

                Today is the last day of February, and tomorrow we begin our March into spring! I had to underline the word March, as I know that one person will not get the play on words.

                Thanks for reading!

                What? You want to know what March 11^th is. Come on, it isn’t that difficult to guess. You too! Ok, since there is more than one of you that wants to know, I will explain. March 11^th is the date for daylight saving time to begin. Many of us will be off our schedules for a few days, and for the senior group along with the animal kingdom, we may be off our schedules for a few weeks.

I tried to save some daylight, but it didn’t keep!

Don Ford

Who cares 02.27.18

                Since no one asked, yes, they did fix the flag problem after my suggestions.

                I have reviewed some of the videos taken by the Fords new dash cam, and they are very good. I will add a photo or two taken from the videos.

Photo above is what you would see from a normal driving video, even though it is from my drive way. 

                The dash cam has the ability to video in a zoomed in mode. Above is a photo from a zoomed in video in my drive. If I were not retired and on a fixed income, I could drive our Chevy and have shown you a photo from a driving video.

                The red marks were not on the video, I added them. There were people in the photo and I did not want to pay them to use their photo.

What a day for a day dream!

Don Ford

Spring is springing 02.26.18

                Spring may be here. We have observed trees that are budding, and we have Easter Lilies blooming. The photo isn’t great, our lead photographer was out of town so the number two photographer took the photo. Click on the photo to amplify. These lilies are in the front yard, we observed Tres in the back yard tasting the yellow blooms from some Easter Lilies, or CEO became enraged and threatened to…

I am writing this on Saturday and yes it is still raining. We have received over 2 inches of rain and it is muchly appreciated. The ground has absorbed the rain. All the rain has kept me inside at the security center here at the Ford homestead.

                I was going to post a photo of the control center but I knew all you would see is my glass of diet coke on the desk, and you would be wondering what it taste like! My main monitor is going south in a hurry, when I turn it on it flashes and takes a few minutes before it stays on. For some reason the screen has red streaks in it.   None of my equipment is even close to being new, that’s what you get when you are a senior citizen, on a fixed income. If seniors had money they would have all new equipment.

                Speaking of a diet coke, excuse me as I will leave the key board for a couple minutes to make myself a drink.

                I am back and starting to be refreshed.   Ignore that drawing.

                Different subject: I have a small piece of wood that I intend to turn into another, “master piece”, and may I say, “One of a kind art work” (aka pencil holder for an executive’s desk). Yes, there have been several of these masterpieces, that for the most part are created by the Tres, and finished by me. This one has not been completed, but it has had two coats of sealer on it. I will add a photo so you can see this art work.

              Please note the very fine dust at the right bottom of this soon to be masterpiece. Two nights I sat the piece on its end, as seen in the photo, and both nights there is dust at the right bottom. I first assumed there was something alive inside the piece. As I see it, having something alive in it with two coats of sealer is unlikely. More likely inside the piece, there is a spirit from the tree, of which this pre-masterpiece came from, that will continually provide knowledge to the future owner, and make it twice as valuable! I will not put a price on it until it is complete.

                It is assumed this unit will be able to stand as seen in the photo, or lay down, and either way it will still hold some executives favorite writing instrument from the past. Now that we have computers, no one needs a fountain pen anymore.

                Did you, as a children, have to attempt to learn to write properly with a fountain pen in school? I did, and I could not write neatly then, or now.

                Different subject: I installed my new dash cam and it works so much better than my old one did. The video is excellent. J

                Different subject: One last thought and then I will stop. The average last day for a freeze here in the Hewitt area is March 13^th. J           I will need to start working in the yard. L

May your spring be soon!

Don Ford

Half Staff 02.22.18

                Flags were to fly at half-staff until sundown on Monday the 19^th, 2018. I, being observant, noticed that the school flag at the Spring Valley School has been at half-staff all this week. Today Thursday the 22^nd, 2018 again saw the flags at half-staff and the Texas flag has been twisted up in a tree limb for three days. Photo to follow, click to enlarge.

  

                Today I got out of my vehicle and went inside to the office. A lady came to the window and ask if she could help me. I asked, who takes care of the flags and she said, the maintenance person. I explained that the flags were tangled up in the tree. She said, they take the flags down each night. I said, no they don’t, the flag has been tangled for three days. She said again, I believe they take them down each night, and I said again, No they don’t, tell him to fix the flags. I left the building and went back to my vehicle. I sat there for almost an hour and they did nothing to the flags.

                First, they were not to be flown at half- staff after Monday, three days too long at half-staff!

                Second, the Texas flag has been tangled in the tree for three days!

                Third, the tree should be trimmed so the flags can fly without obstruction!

                Fourth, the ropes that hold the flags are not secured correctly!

                Fifth, whoever is supposed to put the flags up, and take them down, probably has never been in the military, or has no idea how to present the flags, or don’t care!

                This is upsetting to some of us!

If you don’t care about the flag you are a…  

                                                guess what I thought!

                                                                               

Don Ford

               

Words 02.22.18

                Weather is the subject of this outburst…   and yes I know the difference between whether and weather even though they sound alike. I am sure you think you can articulate each of those words, in a way that others would know what you were saying, if you only said the word by itself and not in a sentence.

                It’s my posting and we are not talking about you, so set back, relax and enjoy this soon to be well composted article (get it).

                The weather here is, “Radical”. For the last couple days we have had temps in the upper 70s. We were able to be outside in short sleeve shirts. Now the wind was blowing like crazy, and the prognosticators were saying the rain was coming in amounts from 2 to 6 inches. We received 1 inch of rain here in Hewitt and then the weather turned cold. Tuesday morning at 6:00 am it was 70 degrees, and Wednesday morning at 6:00 am it was 37 degrees, today is Thursday and it is 34 degrees. We have now received almost 2 inches of much needed rain.

                Subject change:

                Now let us consider a word. Think about this word, “Read”. Not being much of a student, I may be incorrect in my explanation. There is a past tense (it has happened) and then there is a present tense (it is happening) and there is a future tense (it will happen).

                I will read the book.            I have read the book.          The same word, pronounced differently. How do they expect kids to learn to, “Read or Read”, when one of the words should be spelled “Red”.  They should always check with me before they decide how to pronounce a word.

               

                Different subject: I am having problems with my monitor. It has a tendency to start with red streaks in the screen, they are not in the computer screen so I know it is the monitor. I am not sure how old the monitor is but I assume it is around 10 years old. If I weren’t on a fixed income, I might be able to purchase a new monitor. I have thought about tossing the monitor out, but then I would have to look at a 15 inch computer screen, and that is smaller than the 20 inch monitor.

                Speaking of fixed income, I have never had income tax taken out of the social security check, and at the end of the year I must pay those taxes and a penalty. This has only gone on for 6 years and I have decided to have tax taken out this year. After taxes and Medicare, I may have enough money left to get a diet coke, but not a burger, at Whataburger. It is tough to be on a fixed income.  I mentioned Whataburger as I know a friend in Mesquite who will become hungry.  J

                We are getting rain again today and that is good. Tres don’t want to go outside as he doesn’t like the rain. We are happy that thunder don’t bother him. Now that I am thinking about him, I need to feed him, gota go, later!

Mountain Cedar Pollen is high, darn it!

Don Ford

Can I do it 02.21.18

                If you read the previous article then you might know what this posting is about. It is a story from the past. Distant past?                 My past!

                This story begins with several teen age boys out goofing around. We were old enough to drive and there was 4 or 5 of us. We had went to Trail of Tears Park and drove down to the area nearest the Mississippi river.

                For those of you who don’t know, there is a railroad track that passed through that area. Someone in our group told us of some interesting bluffs that we could explore. We parked in the area and walked up the tracks for a fair distance. Then we moved off the tracks and started up into the rocks. It was kinda neat as there was a path in and around the rocks as we progressed up into the bluffs. It was like what you see in the movies, you know, a trail about 2 feet wide along the edge of the mountain, in this setting, along the edge of the bluff.

                It was very fund and fairly safe, until we came to a gap in the path. This gap was about 3feet wide and the drop below the gap was possibly 30 to 40 feet. To cross the gap, one would need to jump across the 3 foot opening and up about a foot. On the other side, the landing area, we would be in between rocks giving us a safe landing. Everyone made the jump safely and we proceeded on up the path. At some point we reached the top and we had one of those really nice views of the Mississippi.

                It was time to head back down the path, and for some reason I was the last person in the group heading down. All was good until we made it to the gap. It was totally different now. We would be jumping out from between rock walls across the 3 foot opening. The landing area was down below the takeoff area, about two feet wide, a foot below the launching area and one side of the landing area was a rock wall, with the other side being open. In other words, if you jumped and slipped or tripped, you had one side wall to hold onto and the other side was a fifty foot drop to the rail road tracks below.

                Everyone made it safely ahead of me and when I looked at the situation I almost panicked. I did not want to jump over that gap, I knew I could fall. Being with the guys did not change my thoughts I knew I could fall. I stood there looking at it for a short while. I stopped looking down and I focused only on the landing site.

                Focused on the landing only, I told myself, I can do it. I jumped over the gap by a couple feet landing safely, we safely climbed back down to the railroad tracks. 

 

                As I have said in the past, a positive attitude can help or hurt, it depends on you!

                I am positive I can’t do that or I am positive I can do that. It is up to you!           

Think positively, and you can do it!

Don Ford

Can do 02.20.18

                It was one of those summer days, the temperature was in the 90s and the humidity was an even 100%. Unless you were a kid in Missouri you would not understand how normal that was. I can’t remember who was with me but if I were to guess it was probably Steve. We were riding our bicycles somewhere out in the country. It wasn’t unusual for us to get on the bikes and ride many miles on any given day.

                For some reason I think we were around Egypt Mills, but I could be wrong, when we made a dumb decision. As pre-teens, we were allowed to do silly things, and this one was both silly and dangerous. There was a rock bluff which was probably from 75 to 100 feet high, at a turn in the creek. The bluff was almost straight up and we decided to climb it.

                We parked our bikes and crossed the creek. The bluff appeared to these two youths, to offer the challenge, “Climb Me!” We were climbing side by side as we scaled the bluff. This was rock climbing the dumb way! Although we had not thought of it, if we were to fall we would not only have been hurt, we could have been killed. The bluff was not a solid rock bluff, it was a rock filled bluff. That means some of the rocks would come loose when we attempted to grab onto them. We would laugh when we found a loose rock, we would toss it down the bluff watching it hit and bounce off the other rocks on its way down, never thinking, that could be our future.

                As we climbed, the occasional vehicle would pass, but no one stopped and told us to get down. Steve was climbing to the left side of me about 10 feet away. The top where he was climbing was about 5 feet lower then where I was climbing. Steve grabbed a small bush and pulled himself up onto the top, I still had several feet to go. Steve was sitting on the top and he said, there is a good view from up here. I turned a little and looked behind me, and then down, I should not have done that.

                Panic set in. I was very high up and still had several feet to go. I looked for my next hand hold and saw nothing! There is nothing to grab onto, I can’t make it to the top! I looked down to see where I could step in order to start down. I saw nothing to step on. Steve said, climb over here and come up where I did. That 10 feet looked like a mile.

                I can’t do it! I am stuck, I can’t go up and I can’t go down! I said it before and I say it again, I was in a state of panic! I was very scared and I was positive I couldn’t make it to the top. I was in more or less a frozen state for a minute or two, although it seemed like an hour.

                Would you believe; there was only one thing to do! I could not make it to the top, and I could not climb down, so what could I do. I apprehensively looked down the 70 or so feet to the bottom, at the creek and rocks below as a landing spot, this seemed to be the only choice. There were sharp rocks sticking out of the bluff. I wasn’t thinking about the possibility that I would be hurt, or even killed if I jumped. I thought I might be able to turn, and more or less run, or at least, kind of go down feet first.

                A punk kid, riding his bike in the country, who decided to do a stupid thing and climb this rocky bluff, obviously does not make well thought out decisions. Without any more thought I let go and begin to turn away from the bluff. As soon as I began to turn, my right foot slipped and I began the fall. There was a ripping sharp pain in my back, as the jagged rock that I had been standing on ripped through my back. At the same time I actually grabbed another rock and stopped my fall. My back was hurting so bad that I did not realize the rock I had grabbed was very sharp and cutting into my hand. I hung there bleeding and hurting for a few seconds and then my hand just let go. My fall was now head first when I hit the…

                That is not how it happened, I did start with, would you believe! Back to the real story.

                From somewhere within me I begin to calm down. I looked around and saw my next hand hold. I thought, I can do this. I used it to pull up some and then I found a foot hold. Little by little I moved toward the top. Finally, I was able to get a secure hold on some brush at the top and pull myself up.

                We sat there for a while on the top of this bluff. We did not have to climb down as the bluff was probably only 100 feet wide at the creek level. We were able to walk down the hill on the side of the bluff.

                There are two points to the true portion of this story. One, Kids do stupid things without thinking of the possible consequences. Two, the “Can do attitude, aka positive attitude”, will help you calm down and accomplish most of your quests.

                As I have said in the past, a positive attitude can help or hurt, it depends on you!

                I am positive I can’t do that, or I am positive I can do that. It is up to you!          

 

Don Ford

 

v  “Would you believe” or “WUB”, most often means, the truth may be over looked in the following statement.

Your opinion 02.19.18

                Let me start off with a rebuttal to that person who was thinking about my coffee cup comments. You believe drinking coffee from a glass cup that isn’t washed daily with detergent is unsafe.  You have a right to your opinion. 

                As I understand it, you believe drinking your coffee from one of those Styrofoam cups while at work or at home is ok. If you were a person living on a fixed income wondering where your next dollar was coming from, you would use the same cup over and over in an effort to save money.

                I hope you don’t think those Styrofoam cups and also those paper cups are actually clean. They are made in a machine with people who sneeze and cough on and around them. They are packed in cardboard containers that aren’t sterile. They are shipped in trucks with who knows what. They are stored in a warehouse for who knows how long, allowing for those invisible germs to grow. Then someone who had been picking his nose a couple minutes earlier, fills the order for your cups. Finally you have these wonderful cups in hand. You remove a cup from the unsterile package, germs on the outside as well as on the inside. Not knowing whose germ laden hands have held the coffee container before you, and using your own unwashed hands, you poor your coffee into the cup. Now are you really going to drink from that cup? What could be better than being exposed to all that in your coffee.

                My cup was rinsed daily and the coffee stains in my cup were antibacterial.  

                My cup runneth over.

                I will rinse my cup after each use, I will wash my hands more often.

 

You will have a good week!

 

Don Ford

 

Training takes time 02.18.18

                How should I start this article? It isn’t a lesson as to how to teach others, although I could provide some guidance in that direction. This commentary is kinda like a follow-up to a training. Our grandkids stayed the night here at the Ford Homestead. Alex and Gabi were well behaved and perfect guests here at the homestead. Ok, I would not believe that either, they were normal kids spending the night at the grandparents. They even were allowed to stay up an hour later than their normal bed time, but if their parents are reading this I am just kidding, ^“Not^”.

                The next morning our grandson Alex was aggravating, I mean playing with Tres. After a few minutes of push and shove (actually both words mean the same thing) between the Tres and Alex, there was a moment of, disciplined movements. I should note that Tres is big enough that in a contest of pushing or pulling he possibly could beat Alex.

                Now to the disciplined movements. Alex standing in front of the Tres said, “Sit”, and pointed at him. To no one’s surprise, Tres sit. Then Alex said, “Down”, and pointed down, he had to say it twice, and then Tres lay down. This same process was repeated a couple times as Tres obeyed the commands of Alex. I was proud that all the training had paid off, so I gave Alex a couple treats to share with Tres.

                It is amazing how smart these young kids of today are, and how easily they learn new things. Would you believe, it only took me 3 months to teach Alex how to give the commands to Tres for him to sit and lay down?                 My goodness you get upset quickly, I was just kidding!

                Alex learned to give these commands by observing our lead trainer, here at the Ford Homestead. We are in hopes that our lead trainer will someday be able to teach the Tres to not bark at everything and everyone, except for bad people. 

 

                Let us change the topic. The new topic is, “personal coffee cups”, you know the one I am thinking of, it is the one you use daily either at home or at work. Years ago, when I was employed, we had coffee in the break room. I was usually the first person to arrive each day and I would put the pot of coffee on, usually before I turned on the lights, but after turning off the alarm systems. I would go to my office and get my cup, return to the break room and fill my cup with coffee. I would return to my office and start the day.

                During the day I would repeat the coffee run a couple times. After the last cup of coffee I would go to the boy’s room and rinse the cup. Note I did not say wash, I rinsed it out. As you might think, the cup was stained on the inside from the repeated coffee.

                One day there was a new cleaning lady and she, cleaned my cup. The next morning I picked up my, “Clean Cup”. Being surprised and not happy at the cleanliness of my cup, I scheduled a meeting with the cleaning lady that afternoon. When Janie came in, I explained that my cup was not to be washed, the stains made the coffee taste better. Janie told the other lady and my cup was never again cleaned by anyone other them me. 

                What made me think of that old story, I just washed my cup here at the house. Yes, I do occasionally, let’s say about once a month, wash the stains out of my Homestead cup. It does give the cup a new look but it really does not change the taste of the coffee.

 

May your stains be easily removed!

 

Don Ford

Sometimes 02.17.18

                The title to this wonderful article could mean, “From time to time”, or it could mean, “Ever now and then”, but in this setting it means, “When I want to”. You might ask, if you were actually reading this article, what is this old senior person writing about.

                Well, I being a conservative, (know that may be difficult for you to believe), do not want to take too much of your time, so I will keep this presentation short, even if it isn’t sweet.

                Each morning, Tres and I go out front to retrieve the so-called newspaper. This morning we walked out together and I stopped on the porch while The Tres headed down the side walk. He made a right turn and went directly to the newspaper. Arriving at said paper he stopped, and looked back at me. This is where the problem occasionally occurs. Sometimes he picks the paper up and runs back to the front door. Sometimes he walks away from the paper, checking out all the smells in the front yard. He will goof around until he sees me walk toward the paper, and that is when he runs over to it, grabs it as if to keep it away from me, and he heads for the house. Today he brought it back without delay.

                Sometimes he does what I want, all the time he does what he wants!

 

Not all the time, just sometime!

 

Don Ford

Which foot 02.16.18

                It was a Thursday afternoon, this person had made his presence known and had viewed the casket along with his spouse. Not knowing these people he did not want to stand in the room and look odd, so he went to the lobby and found a comfortable seat as his spouse talked with many of those in attendance.

                He sat there alone in that very nice leather chair watching people walk by. There was a couch and other chairs in this area, but no one sat there, it was somehow, nicely lonely. You know, when you are left in your own thoughts, and you don’t need to try and follow what someone is stating.

                Across the lobby there was another area with nice chairs, those chairs were occupied by others who were in attendance. There was an area with many windows so the attendees who would like a cup of coffee could see and be seen, as the enjoyed a cup of coffee.

                He observed an employee of the establishment, enter the area and make coffee. When she completed the task she walked from the room and came across the lobby walking past him. He, being less than bashful, motioned to the lady asking, if she would bring him a cup of coffee. This employee who seem to enjoy her work said, “If the tip is large enough”! They both laughed and the employee walked away.

                Several minutes passed as people were entering and leaving the area, while he sat there in his comfortable chair. The employee came walking up to this fellow and she asked, “Did you just come into our building to rest”? He explained that it was rather humid outside and he needed a rest, yes he just came in to rest. They both laughed as she walked away.

                There was another employee working and she had walked past this fellow several times. Being an observant fellow he had noticed something on this employee’s foot. He could not see what it was but it appeared to be a tattoo with several colors of ink. Not being too bashful he decided to ask the employee what she had on her foot. As she walked past he made the, “Pssst” sound, which caught her attention. He motioned for her to come closer which she did. He bravely asked, “Why would anyone have a tattoo put on their foot”? She, not being a shy person looked down for a moment and then replied, “Which foot”.

                This comment surprised the fellow. He then asked, “You have them on both feet?” The employee showed the fellow the large flower Tattoo on one foot and the other foot had some words. They both laughed and the employee went back to work.

                More time passed and so did many people. One female subject walked past several times. This person had a pair of boots on, not cow girl boots (politically correct comment, cow girl) just regular boots like females wear that come up to their knees. These boots were brown, and were worn (had a lot of use). As the female walked the boots jingled. There was a strap around the boot similar to the straps used when a person has spurs on their boots. He could not see spurs but he could hear the jingle.

                After 2.5 hours this fellows spouse was ready to leave. As they walked out the door the fellow pointed out to the two employees that he did have a wife and was not alone.

Find a comfortable chair and observe!

Don Ford

Birds fly high 02.15.18

                As I walked out to get ready to take the granddaughter to school, there was a mist in the air and it was foggy. The temp was a mild 47 degrees AT 6:00AM. I looked up and saw a single bird flying over. I thought to myself, I have often wished I could fly like a bird, but I have never wished I was a bird.

                Consider if you were a bird, you would not own a home, you might have a house to live in, and most of these bird houses are multifamily apartments. You would not have a place of employment, but you would work continually looking for food. Who wants to eat those bugs and worms, not me?

                If you think a bird don’t have to work, you would be wrong. Those poor birds are always looking for something to eat, and even though a bird would have some seeds to eat, they rely on bugs and worms. Have you even considered how difficult it would be to build a nest without hands, but they do it. 

                Now that we have thought about the birds having to continually work, to gather food or build a nest, we should consider the bugs and worms that those cannibalistic birds love to eat. Try to imagine, if you were a bug or worm, you would always be looking for something to eat, while at the same time you would need to be alert for those terrifying flying cannibalistic birds that were trying to kill you. How would you survive in this frightening world, as you looked down for food, and up, for the flying end to your life?

                Those poor worms and bugs not only get it from the birds, but humans are also responsible for harming the bug and worm population. Consider, if a worm is big and fat the human will use them for bait fishing. These same humans spray their yards and gardens with things that will harm the bug and worm population. What about those humans who tromp around their yards pushing or riding on their lawn mowers? Have you ever considered how destructive this can be for insects! There is no safe place for these bugs and worms.

                We, here at “The Ford Foundation for The Preservation of Bugs and Worms”, have set up a donation page were you can participate in our effort to “Save the Bugs and Worms”!

Donations of $100.00 and more should be sent to our web page, www.worms/bugshaverights.cam

 

Watch were you are stepping when in your yard!

 

Don Ford

 

 

• For that one reader, that is not a real web site!

What day is it 02/14/18

                This message is directed to all of us, but especially those who will not receive flowers, candy or even a nice word today. I can’t provide that last group with flowers or candy, but possibly I will be able to provide you with a nice word.

                After careful thought, I have a nice word for you and it is, “Amazing”. That’s it, that is the nice word.

          “Amazing”

                Do you have any idea how hard it is to find, “A nice word”, that would seem to be nice to most of our following. So you didn’t get flowers or candy, but now you have received a nice word, from me!

                                                               

                I have also provided you with a heart, for this day. I hope you have a good day and receive some type of gift, which would mean you don’t need my nice word, but if you didn’t receive anything, then this posting will be your nice word!

 

                Please consider sharing your nice word with others today!

 

 

May your day be amazing!

 

Don Ford

A different world 02.12.18

                I was thinking the other day about how things have changed over the years, from the way it was for me as a child and teenager and the way it is now.

                One of the things that caused me to begin considering these changes, was a news announcement. Without going into the details about the so-called news, a teenager had died in an accident and they were offering counseling to any students at the school.

                Many years ago when I was a teenager, a teenaged friend of mine died. He was on a date and became involved in an auto accident, He received broken bones in his chest. The injuries from the accident didn’t kill him but it allowed the doctor to learn that he had bone cancer. Kenny lived for another year before he passed. As he came closer to death, we were not allowed to visit him. When he finally passed, I along with other friends were asked to be pallbearers. This meant we had to miss school for the day, so the school new why we were not there.

                There were no offers to talk with a councilors at school or anywhere else, for those of us who were Kenny’s friends. The only time I talked with a guidance counselor at school was when we were choosing classes for next year. To the best of my memory, no one asked how we felt about Kenny’s death. Emotions didn’t seem to be anything we talked about. Possibly not sitting around talking about death was better on us than if we would have talked and thought about it. It wasn’t something that was on my mind after the funeral. 

                Another difference for our family, in the olden days, a pet was just an animal to our family. If your dog or cat died it wasn’t a big deal, after all they were just animals. Cats were kept mostly to catch mice and dogs were often kept either for hunting or as a watch dog.

                Our son Patrick was given a baby pig. We lived out in the country and had an area in which we kept the pig. The pig was more or less a pet but he grew big fairly quick. When the pig got to a couple hundred pounds I loaded him into the pickup and took him to be butchered.

                I am not complaining about my upbringing, I am just pointing out a few things that occurred, or did not occur in my early life. In truth, I can’t remember ever being hugged by either of my parents. I am sure I was hugged as a youngster but I have no memory of being hugged. I do remember giving my mom a hug when I noticed I was taller than she was. That is when she told me, “You’re not too big to get a spanking”!

                I can’t remember ever hearing mom or dad say, “I love you”, to each other, or to me. We were treated with love, but the word just wasn’t used.

 

Just some old memories, not bad memories, just memories.

 

Don Ford