Crow 12/29/2019

          It was a chilly morning about 7:00am when I ventured out the front door. As I stood there on the side walk looking up at the morning sky, I noticed there was no wind, not even a breeze. That cool crisp air caused me to shake a little, as I did not have a jacket on.

          The sky was a lite powder blue, and there was various clouds strewn throughout the sky. The clouds were displayed in various shapes, from long and slim, to big round fat clouds. They were in various shades of blue gray, from a very dark almost black, to a light blue, only slightly darker than the sky. I thought to myself, how pretty the blue gray combinations were, on this chilly morning.

          As I stood there admiring the beautiful morning, displayed only as nature can, there came an unmistakable sound of a crow. This single crow was flying as if it were trying to catch up with others. The crow would call repeatedly three times as it flew. I listened to the crow’s seeming frantic calls, as it flew away.

          I wondered if it had gotten separated from the group, or if it had been abandon. Had there been an accident and the crow’s partner was no longer alive? There was no way of knowing why the crow seemed so lonely.

          Changing my focus, I again admired the view of the sky, and then returned to the house.

 

 

There are many beautiful sights if we look for them!

 

 

Senior beautiful retired person; Don Ford

Close to the end 12/28/2019

            We are close to the end of the year, and end of the decade (for my one reader, decade is a ten year period). Although the end is soon to come, that is not what this author is writing about today. Actually, I am writing about yesterday and today.

            Yesterday I went to the eye doctor but did not get my eyes dilated, they just did a couple vision tests. I will go back and get the results from the doctor later.

            We have needed a new garbage disposal for a few days. My spouse of more than 5 decades told her friend about needing the disposal, and since her husband had recently installed one at their home, he offered to install one for us. He and I looked at the old disposal and made a plan to install a disposal next week.

            After leaving the doctor’s office I whet to the Home store to see if I could get them to install a new one, and what the cost might be. The young lady who was trying to help me said they sell the disposals and have a third party do the work. She could not get hold of the third party.

            I went home, and after a few minutes I called the plumber that we have used in the past. He said they could install it after lunch, he then asked, did I want them to get a disposal or did I want to get one. I decided it would be less expensive if I purchased the disposal.

            I went back to the same Home store and purchased a disposal, brought it home, ate lunch, took a short nap. Just as the nap was ending the plumber called saying he was on his way.

            It took him about 30 minutes to do the work, I paid for an hour, and it was worth it! Calling my own plumber and purchasing the disposal I save $50.00 over what I would have paid at the Home store.            I let my friend, who offered to help, know he was off the hook!

            I tell you all that, as getting the disposal installed when I did was a good idea, as my first wife is having friends over this afternoon. She does this every year, cooking a meal, providing some sweets to eat and there will be a lot of gossip I assume. I am not allowed to participate in this party. I do get to go to a friend’s home where we will talk about our wives as we watch some football on the TV. My present spouse does usually save some food for me.

            I am getting tired of sitting in this chair so, Gotta Go!

 

Stay safe, be nice to someone each day!

 

Senior nice person; Don Ford               

Surprise view 12/27/2019

            This morning I have an appointment with the eye doctor. Yep it is my 6 month checkup. I assume they will dilate my eyes which I really do not enjoy. I will likely be wearing sun glasses in the house until the eyes get back to normal.

            Let us go to a different subject. This morning while the Tres was checking the front yard for who knows what, I observed fog coming up the ditch at the end of the street. Yes I did take a photo but it isn’t real clear.

                                               

            There is a street light at the end of the street which was lighting the fog. As I stood there watching the fog, it was moving very slow. It was kind of like and old time scary movie.

Be observant and you may see!

Senior retired observer; Don Ford

Notes 12/26/2019

            Well I cracked pecans Monday after lunch. It was a sunny day so I went outside and sat on a rocker in the Sun. After a few minutes of rest, I gathered needed items in prep of the work I will perform this nice and warm day.

            I had previously cracked a bunch of pecans, so I decided to attempt to get the cons out of the cracked shells, which would / should put me on a better track with my first wife, as she has wanted the cons available for pies. I came up with a couple quart zip lock bags filled with pecans.

            Being an old retired senior person, removing the shells from these cracked pecans is kind of rough on ole fingers. I decided to call the Brazos feed store in Waco to see if they had that Baker tool. Having that little tool would make it a lot easier on my fingers. They did it, I jumped in my vehicle drove down there and pay my $9.99.

            The tool makes it easy to remove the shell from a cracked pecan. I now have my Christmas present. Below we see the Nuti Budi and the Baker tool.

                                               

            Later, since the weather was so nice, I acquired a cigar that I had stashed away, it is a Cuban cigar, and I went outside where I lit the cigar and puffed on it for a while. I did not smoke the entire cigar, saving part for another day. Such a nice day with temperatures in the mid-60s, sitting outside in a short sleeve shirt, it was just one heck of a nice day.

            Well, it is over! The Christmas day has come and passed, and I would like to say it was a success. Our family was here and we received many things. I want to say thanks to everyone, even though I was on the naughty list, I got a bunch of good things, from peppermint candy to shirts and a jacket. Our son Patrick surprised both the grandkids with desk top computers. Alex wanted a corner desk for his room, a chair for the desk and a desk top computer. Patrick brought both Alex and Gabi each a desk top computer. 

            My spouse of 50 plus years was able to pull off another excellent meal for the Fords. As usual, when the family left, some neighbors came over. We also enjoyed exchanging gifts and eating left overs from lunch with those friends.         Christmas was good for us all!

            Not everyone received a Christmas present. As Tres and I went out to fetch the so called newspaper this morning, we noticed someone who had evidently been on the naughty list. We were slightly shocked to see a nude. Now I am not against nudes, as a matter of fact I am in favor of voluntary nudism. I doubt that she was a volunteer nude, but you can decide when you look at the photo at the end of this posting. Do not click on the photo if you embarrass easily!

            The other day as I was driving in Waco, I saw our old Dodge truck. I stopped next to it at a stop light, it was super clean, looked like new, and had some nice mag type wheels on it. Whoever owns it takes very good care of it! 

            In the photo below we see a Snell without her shell. Was she a bad girl and Santa did not bring her a shell, or is she a bad girl and just left the shell behind? She is definitely showing her behind.

            I think I will go and use my new pecan cracker and see if I can get all the large pecans cracked, and then shelled. No rest for the senior retired person.

Tres likes his Christmas toy!

Senior retired pro-nudism; Don Ford

Art work 12/23/2019

               I have had a small art project going for a couple days and I have a photo. I decided to take a piece of old wood and drew an outline of the state of Texas on it. Then I did some scraping and removed the old wood from the inside the Texas outline. I have one coat of a varnish like sealer on the project. Photo of the unfinished item is available, click to adore.

                                   

            When you are retired and on a fixed income, you must use what’s available to create art work. I was going to use that for a Christmas gift, but I think I will keep it for myself. I am fairly sure I will not get anything else for Christmas, I haven’t been very good this year, and Santa put my name on his naughty list.

            The above art work may be worth 1.2 million dollars. Why would I say that? Someone purchased a banana that was taped to a wall for a bunch of money, so I should be able to get 1.2 million for this piece of an ole log.

            I have another idea to put on a junk piece of wood, but I will keep that to myself unless it looks ok, then I will share it. I hope I have another piece cut from a log, being on a fixed income I can’t afford to pay for wood. Also, the wood needs to be weathered until it turns dark, so it can’t be fresh cut.

            My present spouse took a tray of cookies and other sweets to the neighbor last evening. The wife of the couple who lives there is fighting cancer. When my spouse of half a century rang the doorbell the husband yelled out, “WHO’S THERE”! My first wife stated her name, and they opened the door. Evidently, when they returned home earlier, the back door was open. They were robbed about a year ago and they thought it may have happened again. They said nothing was missing this time.

            During their conversation pecans came up. Donna told them of the Nuti Budi pecan cracker. They have three pecan trees and they are now interested in the Nuti Budi.

            I cracked a bunch of pecans yesterday, now I need to get the shells off those pecans so they can be used. Never a restful minute for a retired senior person.

Enjoy Christmas!      

Nap-less senior retired person; Don Ford     

Merry Christmas

                                    

         Consider for a moment the true meaning of Christmas!

Enjoy the holiday, give and receive, be thankful for family and friends!

Don Ford

Christmas star 12/20/2019

               I have a photo, it is mostly black, if you look close you may see the Fords ole hot house, but that is not what this short but professional article is about. I have been seeing this star or possibly planet in the sky at night, and I decided to try and get a photo, click to enlarge.

           

            So is it the Christmas star? If it is, and if we follow it, we will head out into west Texas.

            My wife and I have some real nice friends! Donna had told these friends of an item I wanted, (could be a Christmas present) during lunch Thursday. Later in the day, four of those friends arrived at our house with the item, and gave it to Donna. There are good people in this world!

            The only problem, if there is a problem, the gift I wanted was given to Donna. Will she let me use it? 

Be thankful for your friends!

Senior friendly retired person; Don Ford

Positive or negative 12/19/19

            Have you ever taken the time to think about attitudes?

            I feel sure, many times in your life, you have viewed and possibly commented on other people’s attitudes. My question is more along the line of, have you considered positive and negative attitudes and the effect they have on one’s daily life, job, family and health.

            In today study about attitudes, we will focus on the health aspect of being positive. There may be a religious association as well. All one should need to say is, “A positive attitude may help one to stay healthy”, but most of my students will not take the time to ponder that comment.

            Allow me to present one attitude effect that 98% of this study group will agree with.

            In a sporting event such as a 100 yard dash, if a participant says to themselves, “There is no way I can win this race, he / she is much faster than me”, that person has told themselves that they are a loser, they have mentally already lost, they will likely not put any extra effort into the race. 

          The person who wins the race always believes in them self, that have a positive attitude and tells them self, “I can win this race, I am faster than any of these runners, I am prepared, I can do it!”

            Yes, I am aware that my above comment was about sports and not health, but it does provide a comparison of how negative and positive attitudes may effect one. 

            Looking at health, if a person wants to lose some weight they should approach the process as, this will be good for me, I can eat less at meals, I can skip the unhealthy snacks, I can accomplish this goal, I want to lose those pounds, I am good!

            If one approaches the weight loss or any other health issue with a negative attitude, they are setting themselves up to lose. Negative attitude is an unhappy attitude, when they are unhappy they are less likely to succeed, and they will have had a miserable time attempting to get to that goal.

            I could go on and on about this but I will not. I do want to say, have a positive attitude about most things, and not only will you be happy, those around you will be happier too!

            How does attitude get into religion? As I see it, religion is built on positive belief. As an example there is a verse which says something to the effect, I say to you, whoever says to this mountain, 'Be taken up and cast into the sea,' and does not doubt in his heart, but believes that what he says is going to happen, it will be granted him.

            In the bible all types of miracles occurred, and they were often based on positive faith, which as I see it, is a positive attitude. Instantaneous miracles were not unusual in the bible times, as some blind were able to see again, and some of the lame could walk. It was said that some were healed by just touching the hem of his garment, which took a positive belief to trust they would be healed if they touched his garment! 

            In today’s world there are still miracles. As I see it there are two types. One type would be a miracle that occurs instantly. This type miracle does not occur very often. Another type miracle occurs over time. How much time you may ask, I don’t know. As I see it, someone prays for the miracle (that is considered a positive activity) and instead of a flash healing, it comes over time. Imagine that the brain has switches in it, and after a request for a healing some of the switches are turned on or off, which caused the body to heal (repair) itself. This could take a few days or even a month, but through your positive request and positive thoughts, the healing occurs.  

 

            Think in a positive manner, try to view things in a positive manner, attempt to accept things in a positive manner and you will be happier, as well as those around you!

 

 

It will not always be easy to be positive!

 

I believe you can do it! Don Ford