We made our annual trek to Wisconsin last week to visit the in-laws and restock our cherry supplies. On the way back we faced 50 mph headwinds that demolished our gas mileage but did wonders for the wind farm in north central Illinois.
Monthly Archives: October 2010
Going it alone….
Here it is 9:10am and all my clocks except for the computer say it is 8:10am. I guess we forgot that Mr. Bush decided to go it alone again and change the date when the time changes. The rest of the world changed but I guess we didn’t. Long story short.. we missed church. But I think God will forgive me on this one. So, I will repeat the process again next week.
Leave Politics to the Politicians….
This year I decided to make a life change. Up until that point I was an avid follower of the political process. I watched every convention and heard most of the speeches present there. I followed most of the candidates positions; even those who I could not vote for. I worked actively and supported with my rather generous donations one of the presidential candidates in the 2008 election. But starting that day in the Spring of this year I decided to leave all politics behind and I can say I am now a much happier person for it.
Politics in the last few years has just become too ugly for my sanity. It seems that whoever is elected is automatically doomed to failure in this highly partisan atmosphere. I am totally disillusioned with the idea that our democaray can survive the idoicy of the current political process. Jefferson said many years ago that the success of a democracy is dependent on an informed electorate. If that is the case we should be counting the years. What will replace it I just don’t know or even care at the moment.
So, in my mind it is better to just abandon any thoughts of something that seems currently unfixable. I will leave it up to others to try and get us out of this current quagmire. As for me I am following the saying that “ignorance is bliss” and enjoying every minute of it. Standing back and looking at our current political processes is nothing but amusing to me now.
And the journey goes on….
More Barns…
We just got back from our annual trip to northern Wisconsin this week. We re-supply our cherry inventory and visit the in-laws. This time we trekked through country roads and took quite a few more pictures of barns. Here is one of them.
Fall in Parke County…
I live just a couple of counties south of Parke County Indiana. To those who know it Parke County is covered bridges. Here is a picture that was taken in the fall of 2001.
I Believe…
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I believe that too many Christian denominations today spend far too much time idolizing Jesus and far too little time actually doing what he commands.
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I believe that those who think that getting into heaven simply requires saying that Jesus is my savior are flat out wrong. Many of these will find out that Jesus will not recognize there words without backing them up by actions.
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I believe that many Christian denominations totally ignore or rationalize away Jesus words in the Lord’s prayer that we will be forgiven by God in the same degree that we forgive those who sin against us. He meant what he said!
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I believe that a person can find a particular verse either the Old or New Testaments to back up almost any concept that they wish to make.
And the journey goes on….
Let Others be Right…. 1
Let Others Be “Right” Most of the Time
From: Don’t Sweat the Small Stuff by Richard Carlson
Richard Carlson makes the statement
“Do I want to be ‘right’ — or do I want to be happy?” Many times, the two are mutually exclusive
This is certainly a very hard lesson for some of us to learn. But we must realize as Mr. Carlson states that Being right, defending our positions, takes an enormous amount of energy. Since to the person you are trying to prove you are right to most often translates that to they are wrong.
I know from very personal experiences that these types of situations strain a marriage; even one of twenty five years! Sometime it is just not important enough to prove yourself right so don’t sweat it. Let the other person have his view/opinion without comments. Someone once asked what it takes to have a long term marriage? My comment was to keep your mouth shut and agree with everything your wife says. I guess that is my way of saying let your wife the ‘right’ most of the time. But, for me sometimes this is much easier said than done. I have to keep practicing at it.
Of course sometimes we need to absolutely defend our position as being right but most times it is just an ego thing to trump the other person or to show our superiority. If you want to be happy let others be right most of the time. Or as Mr. Carlson states “A wonderful, heartfelt strategy for becoming more peaceful and loving is to practice allowing others the joy of being ‘right’.” Stop correcting. As hard as it is it may be to change this habit, it’s worth any effort and practice it takes.”
So, don’t sweat it! Being right is small stuff when it comes to most relationships. It is just not important enough to risk the potential conflicts.
And the journey goes on…
Attention Waiters….
A Personal Peeve….
One of the things that constantly peeves me off is related around my wife and I eating at restaurants. For the most part when the waiter/waitress discover that I am deaf the check almost always goes to my wife instead of me. This seems to peeve my wife all even more than me. She often gives the check back to the waiter and tell him/her to give it to me. I want to give a hint to all you waiters out there that it is probably better from your point to go ahead and give the check to the deaf man. He can always pass it to another if need be. I must admit that there are times when the tip automatically decreases when I don’t get the bill J
This sadly is just another case where the old saying “deaf and dumb” comes into play. If I can’t hear then I must also not be able to figure out how to do a tip or pay a bill. This is not a biggie as far as coping goes but it is a personal peeve.
And the journey goes on….
Bicycle Rack??
Ok the picture above is of a bicycle rack. No there are no bicycles in it that is the rack. So in this case editing did not strecth the truth. This is one of many unique bicycle racks found in downtown Des Moines Iowa. We visited there in June of this year. It is a very interesting city and worth the four days we stayed there to tour.
Carnegie Museum…. Again
Here is another picture from our April 2008 visit to the Carnegie Museum in Pittsburgh. I couldn’t resist putting in one with my hubby included. The museum has many recreated ancient architectures like the on in the background. It was amazing the amount of money that Dale Carnegie, who was one of the robber barons of the time, had amassed during his lifetime.
Carnegie Museum
Here is a picture showing several of the displays for rocks and crystals from the Carnegie Museum in Pittsburgh. I think we spent at least an hour just in this area when we were then in April 2008
Don't Sweat It…
I am going to start a new category called “Don’t Sweat It” It will be primarily based on the books by Richard Carlson one of most popular is entitled DON’T SWEAT THE SMALL STUFF. With all the myriad of books that Carlson put out I am surprised that he missed one major group. So, starting with this post I will be pulling out some of the topics from a couple of these books and try to put a senior citizen twist on them. No, I am not a Ph.D. or as motivational as Carlson but I am a senior citizen so maybe I have some insight that he doesn’t.
Learn to Live in the Present Moment
From: Don’t Sweat the Small Stuff by Richard Carlson
For those of us who study the Bible we realize that this comes from the New Testament. Jesus tells us to live in the moment; don’t worry about the future as it will take care of itself. He also mentions that the past is the past; learn from it but don’t get fixated on it. Mr. Carlson takes up on that message to say that many of us have mastered the neurotic area of spending our lives worrying about things. (I think he had my wife in mind when he said that 
)He also points out that many people live their lives as if it were a dress rehearsal for some later date.
Human beings are the only ones in the world with a large frontal lobe on our brains. It has been discovered that this area of the brain is primarily responsible for thinking about the future. So basically it is in our very nature for us humans to think about the future. That is one of the primary things that make us human. We are constantly thinking about and projecting ourselves into the future.
Now let me bring in some senior prospective. I know that I personally am a “planner”. All my life I have constantly thought about the future. If I couldn’t plan I just don’t know how I would exist 
I, unlike my wife, don’t worry that much about the future but it is more that I need to have some control over it. I guess I have a bigger frontal lobe than she does; at least I know I have a bigger head (ha). But thinking about the future brought on one of the more serious episodes when I started retirement life. There just didn’t seem to be much in my future besides living day to day. All the perceived important milestones in my life had been accomplished! I don’t know that I have really even yet come to full terms with this idea but at least now I do recognize that fact. Realizing that there is now much more past than there is future was a dramatic reality to be grasped.
So from a senior perspective I try to live in today as much as possible. If I were to always be concentrating on the future the present would slip by without enough notice. And of course no matter what we do we are always in the present, never the past or the future. That is not to say that I don’t have dreams of the future. There are still many things I would like to do before the Lord calls me home. They are just don’t have life changing potential as they used to. Don’t sweat it that most of your milestones are in the past. It is not a big deal; for the most part just enjoy life as it comes your way.
And the journey goes on….
Rock Hound?
I’m not a rock hound but this crystal which is on display at the Carnegie Museum in Pittsburgh is really beautiful. The museum has a spectacular collection of rocks and many other things. We visited there in April 2008. I will be putting out some more pictures of this trip this week.
I Believe…
- I believe that the Bible is a collection of documents created by man for man.
- I believe that some of the words and overall messages in the Bible were inspired by God.
- I believe that much of the words attributed to Jesus accurately portray is overall message of living and salvation.
- I believe that the Old Testament text became mostly irrelevant to a Christian’s life when it’s prophecy was fulfilled by Jesus through his death and resurrection.
1999 View from the World Trade Center
This picture was taken during our celebration of my wife’s birthday in January of 1999. It was taken out the window of the restaurant that was on top of one of the World Trade Center towers. Notice the Statue of Liberty in the harbor. Beyond that is the Ellis Island complex.
Retirement Don’ts
Don’t under spend your income/savings
I know this is the opposite of what all financial planners espouse. Since many seem to enter retirement with too little savings under spending their money is just not possible. But for those of us who saved throughout their pre-retirement years we have, if no major health emergency hits us, more than we need for the absolute necessities.
If you managed to be part of the second group don’t leave all your savings to your heirs. You sacrificed throughout your life to put money aside so go ahead and spend it. I am one of those who believe that unearned wealth is more damaging than not. That is one reason I rail against the mantra of the “death” tax. Inherited wealth often ends up damaging the people who get it. Just look at the history of monarchies and European aristocracies. For a modern day version take a look at Paris Hilton! I imagine she would have been a very different person without Daddy’s wealth
So, if you do leave behind some wealth make sure it goes to organizations struggling to help humanity. That is what Warren Buffet and Bill Gates are doing. Their children only get a minuscule portion of their excessive wealth. The rest goes back to society for the common good. But, whatever you do don’t leave it all to your children as you will only spoil them. It would be great if all of us could spend or otherwise disperse all of our wealth before we leave this earth. We enter this earth with nothing and we should leave it the same way. The only problem with this is that none of us can totally foresee our futures or exactly when we will die
And the journey goes on…
Brown v. Board of Education..
Here is a picture from our 2009 trip west. It was taken at the Brown v. Board of Education National Historic Site in Topeka Kansas. The picture was taken during when the federal government mandated school integration in the 1960s. The pure hate showing in the face of the girl on the right scared me when I say it then and scares me even now. That girl is now a senior citizen; I often wonder if the hate showing here consumed her life or was she able to overcome it?
Butterflies and Flowers
With Fall now in full swing here in the Midwest I am looking back on summer.
Simplify
One of the themes of my life is “Simplify”. I have several plaques around my study with that message. In light of that I have decided to simplify this blog somewhat. Instead of attaching numerous photos on one post I have decided to limit it to just one. I have also changed to a more photo oriented theme. With this new change I will likely be posting more quick posts as the mood strikes me.
What is simpler than a kitten. The one here was named Sophie. She graced our presence for several years.
Simplify, simplify, simplify
A Life Lost..
Last Thursday there was an accident just down the road from our house. I live on a somewhat twisty rural road that has just too many people going too fast for the conditions. Sorrowfully a life was ended in this accident. I have watched the young man of 24 years come speeding around that corner probably hundreds of times. I don’t know if he just liked going fast or if his life was so far out of control that he thought he “had” to go fast. Either way that ended last week as he was speeding around that turn swinging out on the left side of the road his older Honda or Toyota ran head on into a Ford F350 truck coming in the other direction. After the accident the speeder was lifelined to Indianapolis but died the next day.
It is truly sad to see a life ended in this senseless way. The young man had just begun living and to have it end so soon is totally tragic. I don’t know if he left behind a family or not? Maybe even as tragic is what the 17 year old in the pickup that he collided with will have to live with the rest of his life. Through no fault of his own he was involved in another person’s death. I really feel sorry for him and hope that this incident does not have a detrimental affect on his life. He was just in the wrong place at the wrong time.
It seems that maybe some of the other speeders down our road have slowed down a little bit. But I’m sure as the memory of this tragic accident fades the speeds will increase again. That is a sad fact of life in today’s seemingly hectic world.
And the journey goes on….
