Life Lessons

19 June 2017

Ever wonder why the same thing keeps happening to you? There are people I know who just think it's a "little black rain cloud" that just follows them around. Others think it's just their "luck of the draw." Some people even think they just live in a world where NOTHING will ever go right for them.

Here's the thing you need to think about:

What decisions am I making?
Am I just making the same decisions over and over again?

I read this somewhere:

"Things don't go away until it has taught us what we need to know." 

~ Pema Chodron

You know, everything happens for a reason . . . life isn't going to be perfect . . . sometimes you're just going to have to wade through a lot of crap before it turns around. You're supposed to learn from your mistakes, but if you keep making the same mistake over and over again, then you're doing it wrong!

One important thing to remember is that God will be with you every step of the way if you allow Him . . . even when it doesn't feel like it.

"God is our refuge and strength, an ever-present help in trouble." Psalm 46:1

Father's Day

18 June 2017

I wish I could have gone to hang with my dad today, but I had to work yesterday . . . between that and church this morning, there just aren't enough hours in the day. I did call him, and we chatted for a few minutes which is about all he can handle on the phone anyway.











You added your footprint to the gift your mom finished for your dad, and it was really cute:

And I went back through some photos of you and your dad . . . found this one which I think is so sweet of the two of you . . . your eyes so bright!

"The most important thing a father can do for his children is to love their mother." ~ Theodore Hesburgh

Smokey and the Bandit . . . And My First CB Radio

17 Jun 2017

Building on the CB craze, the movie Smokey and the Bandit came out in the summer of 1977 . . . I was 14 and crazy about Burt Reynolds!!

Burt played "The Bandit" . . . as he was known on the CB . . . hired . . . actually DARED . . . by a couple of Texas big shots to get a load of beer across county lines . . . pursued by "Smokey" (that's lingo for police) who was played by the comedian Jackie Gleason. Jerry Reed, a popular country singer at the time, played Bandit's sidekick truck driver Cledus Snow.

That movie sent usage of the CB over the edge, and for Christmas that year I got my very own "base station." A lot of kids had them, and we used them, more or less, like your cell phones today . . . mostly to carry on conversations deep into the night. We could even talk to some of the truckers traveling along 11-E, and we all thought that was cool.

Of course, everyone had a "handle" . . . the name you went by on the radio . . . mine was "Starduster." Sounds ridiculous now, but at the time, I thought it was pretty cool. I don't recall any other friends' handles except for Allison's . . . "Dreamweaver" . . . she lived just down the road. I think the only reason I remember hers is that I helped her come up with that one.

Lucky for me, my base station was small enough that it could also be mounted in my truck. It would come in handy when I started driving long distances . . . especially after I moved to Florida. I loved traveling with those truck drivers . . . chatting the entire way from Orlando to Jeff City with some of the most hysterical characters. Sure, there were some pretty bad guys that drove trucks, but for the most part they were all pretty friendly . . . and protective of a young, single girl on the road.

I think I saw Smokey and the Bandit a dozen times that summer. Bandit's car was the coolest 1977 Pontiac Firebird Trans Am . . . the local boys could barely wait to get their hands on a car as cool as that. I actually dated a guy a few years later who owned one . . . yeah, I won't lie . . . the car was the first thing that attracted me to him!

Of course I Googled the original promo car . . . it sold last year for half a million dollars!!

"East bound and down, loaded up and truckin'
We're gonna do what they say can't be done.
We've got a long way to go and a short time to get there.
I'm east bound, just watch ol' Bandit run!" ~ Jerry Reed, Eastbound and Down

Breaker . . . Breaker . . . 1 . . . 9

16 June 2017

The CB, or Citizen Band, Radio entered the world in 1945 . . . created so that regular "Joes" could communicate publicly . . . it was regulated by the FCC. It was used by businesses, truck drivers, and radio hobbyists.

By the 60's truck drivers had created their own language and began using it to talk to each other on the road . . . 19 being the most popular channel to communicate. Some of the terms they used were pretty funny.

Here are a couple I found pretty amusing:

• Alligator: shredded tread from the tires of an 18-wheeler
• Baby Bear: rookie police officer
• Bubble Gum Machine: police car with flashing lights
• Chew and Choke: restaurant
• Chicken Coop: weigh station
• Don't Feed the Bears: don't get a speeding ticket
• Haircut Palace: overpass with low clearance
• Kojack with a Kodak: policeman with a radar gun
• Neon, Freon, Ion Jockey: truck driver with a LOT of lights on his rig
• Somebody Stepped on You: someone else transmitted while you were talking

But it was in 1973, during the US Oil Crisis, when a nationwide speed limit of 55mph was imposed, that it gained real popularity . . . used by nearly all truckers to locate fueling stations along the interstates, relay the whereabouts of police officers running speed traps, and organizing blockades and convoys to protest the new speed limit and other trucking regulations.

One guy, JW Edwards, known on the radio as "River Rat," single-handedly coordinated a highway blockade of hundreds of trucks in eastern Pennsylvania . . . on I-80. It was literally being relayed from one area of trucks to the next. These guys are paid by the mile, and the new speed limit impacted their productivity since they couldn't cover as many miles in a day as they had been prior to the crisis.

Then BAM . . .  1975 . . . a singer named CW McCall recorded a song that not only served as a protest anthem for truckers . . . it took the CB radio to a whole 'nother level! The narrator of the song, "The Rubber Duck," uses the CB to lead a group of truckers in a protest. As they move across the country, the excitement builds . . . law enforcement tries to stop them but they become unstoppable!

Here are the lyrics from that hit:

Was the dark of the moon on the sixth of June
In a Kenworth pullin' logs
Cab-over Pete with a reefer on
And a Jimmy haulin' hogs
We is headin' for bear on I-one-oh
'Bout a mile outta Shaky Town
I says, "Pig Pen, this here's the Rubber Duck.
"And I'm about to put the hammer down."

'Cause we got a little ol' convoy
Rockin' through the night.
Yeah, we got a little ol' convoy,
Ain't she a beautiful sight?
Come on and join our convoy
Ain't nothin' gonna get in our way.
We gonna roll this truckin' convoy
'Cross the U-S-A.
Convoy!

By the time we got into Tulsa Town,
We had eighty-five trucks in all.
But they's a roadblock up on the cloverleaf,
And them bears was wall-to-wall.
Yeah, them smokies is thick as bugs on a bumper;
They even had a bear in the air!
I says, "Callin' all trucks, this here's the Duck.
"We about to go a-huntin' bear."

'Cause we got a great big convoy
Rockin' through the night.
Yeah, we got a great big convoy,
Ain't she a beautiful sight?
Come on and join our convoy
Ain't nothin' gonna get in our way.
We gonna roll this truckin' convoy
'Cross the U-S-A.
Convoy!

Well, we rolled up Interstate 44
Like a rocket sled on rails.
We tore up all of our swindle sheets,
And left 'em settin' on the scales.
By the time we hit that Chi-town,
Them bears was a-gettin' smart:
They'd brought up some reinforcements
From the Illinois National Guard.
There's armored cars, and tanks, and jeeps,
And rigs of ev'ry size.
Yeah, them chicken coops was full'a bears
And choppers filled the skies.
Well, we shot the line and we went for broke
With a thousand screamin' trucks
An' eleven long-haired Friends a' Jesus
In a chartreuse micra-bus.

Well, we laid a strip for the Jersey shore
Prepared to cross the line
I could see the bridge was lined with bears
But I didn't have a dog-goned dime.
I says, "Pig Pen, this here's the Rubber Duck.
"We just ain't a-gonna pay no toll."
So we crashed the gate doing ninety-eight
I says "Let them truckers roll, 10-4."

'Cause we got a mighty convoy
Rockin' through the night.
Yeah, we got a mighty convoy,
Ain't she a beautiful sight?
Come on and join our convoy
Ain't nothin' gonna get in our way.
We gonna roll this truckin' convoy
'Cross the U-S-A.
Convoy! Convoy! Convoy! Convoy!

Just a few years ago, a few truck drivers, using CB radios to coordinate, saved the life of a young kidnap victim! An Amber Alert was sent out in Tennessee . . . a 2 year old boy had been taken by his father following a domestic dispute. Jim Lowe, a truck driver from Hillsboro, spotted the man's car on I-24 just north of Chattanooga, and he, along with a couple of other truckers, boxed the guy in . . . slowing him from 80mph to 30mph . . . allowing time for the police to arrive. Thankfully the boy was unharmed!

Oh yeah . . . the title to this blog . . . you use that phrase when you want to break into a conversation on channel 19. Even Mel Blanc, who lent his voice to tons of Warner Brothers characters, used the CB . . . often as "Bugs Bunny" or "Daffy Duck" . . . in their voices!

Sometimes I Do Enjoy Summer

15 June 2017

Fall's really my favorite time of year . . . when the shadows get a little longer . . . and the air gets a little cooler . . . but summer's aren't bad . . . sometimes . . . 

I'm not crazy about the humidity, but I do enjoy having that summer sun hit my shoulders. It makes my bones feel better . . . warms my soul too. And I love the long days . . . sun comes up about 5:30am and doesn't go down until just after 9:00pm. 14 hours of daylight!!

I miss Idaho in the summer . . . a lot! Out there, the sun peeked over the edge of the mountains about 4:30am and didn't sink below the horizon until almost 10pm. There was also no humidity out there, so 100 degrees didn't feel that hot if you were in the shade! But then, it rarely hit 100 that close to the 43rd parallel.

Well, there was that ONE summer . . . just after your mom was born . . . 1993. I believe it was the hottest summer on record out there!

We didn't have air conditioning . . . didn't need it . . . in the house since summer days usually only topped out in the 80's and night temps would bottom out in the 40's. I loved it . . . for the most part. What was crummy was the fact that the wind blew almost constantly . . . it was dry . . . and sand was EVERYWHERE! I pretty much had to dust on a daily basis!

But that summer . . . August . . . was the worst!!

It hit 100 degrees . . . and stayed there for several weeks. We couldn't sleep. So we broke down and bought a small window unit to put in our bedroom. Of course, we knew it wouldn't cool then entire house, so I hung a sheet in the hallway . . . it was enough that our bedroom and your mom's bedroom got cool enough to sleep at night.

There were also some serious fires in the Sawtooth mountains that summer. Your grandfather and Uncle Seth were camping up there but had to  evacuate because of those wildfires.

Weird thing . . . we'd gone camping just a few weeks earlier . . . over the 4th of July . . . same area . . . actually woke up to 2 inches of snow on the ground . . . JULY!!!

Strange thing . . . weather.

"The summer night is like a perfection of thought." ~ Wallace Stevens

Old Glory

14 June 2017

Yep, it's "Flag Day" . . . a day born out of love for the symbol of our freedom.

A teacher in Wisconsin chose June 14 . . . 1885 . . . to celebrate the birthday of the American Flag. It was on that day, back in 1777 that the first flag was adopted . . . 13 stars were all that appeared that year.

Since then, as territories became states, it's been in evolution . . . the number of stars have changed: from the original Betsy Ross flag with 13 stars representing the original colonies to the last state, Hawaii being added as our 50th star.

On July 4 . . . 1960 . . . our current 50 star flag was adopted as our national symbol.

We do have some nationally accepted etiquette and laws that concern the flag, and you need to be aware of them. First things first . . . remember these things . . . the flag should:

. . . never be dipped to any person or thing
. . . never be flown upside down EXCEPT as a distress signal
. . . never be used as drapery, covering a desk or platform (bunting is available for this purpose and the blue stripe should be on the top)
. . . never be used for advertising purposes (everyone breaks this rule)
. . . never be embroidered, printed or impressed on such articles as cushions, handkerchiefs, napkins, boxes, or anything intended to be discarded after use
. . . never be used as a costume or athletic uniform EXCEPT worn as a patch on the uniform of military personnel, firemen, policemen, and members of patriotic organizations
. . . never have placed on it, or attached to it, any mark, insignia, letter, word, number, figure, or drawing of any kind
. . . never be used as a receptacle for receiving, holding, carrying, or delivering anything

"I am what you make me; nothing more. I swing before your eyes as a bright gleam of color, a symbol of yourself." ~ Franklin K Lane, Secretary of the Interior, 1914

We're a Nation Out of Control . . . Or Is It We Just Don't Understand Each Other

13 Jun 2017

I pray . . . pray HARD that . . . by the time you're old enough to know and understand worldly things . . . the world has settled down a little . . . that we've learned lessons . . . that we've become a more civil nation. It's my biggest fear that we're making the world unbearably messy for your generation.

If not, take heart . . . because pendulums swing . . .

. . . thing is, we could possibly reach "equilibrium" if people wouldn't continue to push!

Since the birth of our great nation, America has been at odds with itself for one reason or another . . . today's violence is really nothing new . . . it just seems much scarier because it's broadcast for weeks, sometimes months, across every available social platform. People are filled with passion . . . both good and bad passion . . . about everything . . . and passion is the catalyst for action.

What's new, however, is the sheer anger that seems to be sweeping the nation . . . and how easily offended everyone is. It almost appears as if people are now just looking for something or someone to offend them . . . just waiting for a fight . . . for someone to take the first swing so they can let that anger go.

I just don't know where ALL of the RAGE comes from . . . 

. . . maybe because people feel oppressed?

There are people who are (and this is just a short arbitrary list - it could go on and on):

. . . still angry that we "stole" this country from the Native Americans
. . . upset because we're not British
. . . still Northerners who hate Southerners because of the Civil War
. . . still Southerners who hate Northerners because of the Civil War
. . . still mad that slavery existed in this country (but not that angry that it still goes on in other parts of the world)
. . . haven't moved past the Vietnam War
. . . don't want African-Americans in their neighborhood
. . . don't want Caucasians in their neighborhood
. . . don't want Asians in their neighborhood
. . . don't think women should work
. . . think women should work harder
. . . upset that gay people want to marry
. . . straight people are getting divorces
. . . killing doctors who perform abortions
. . . shooting at people because they voted for one party over another
. . . unfriending people on FaceBook because they don't agree with them on anything
. . . shooting people who unfriended them

I know some of these seem bizarre . . . some of them are legitimate ways to feel . . . after all, we are only human . . . and we feel . . . but mostly we dwell on things that are really things we need to move forward from.

There are days when I wake up and think I just don't want to "fight the fight" anymore. I have to be careful of everything that comes out of my mouth . . . not because of the sensitivity thing since we should all be treating each other with respect . . . but ESPECIALLY because I work on a college campus and there is a sensitivity issue . . . 

. . . in reality we just have a new normal.

And each new generation that reaches the age of reason doesn't get why the previous generation has trouble understanding things . . . MY parents' generation certainly didn't understand MY generation . . . but then THEIR parents' generation made no effort to understand THEIR generation! Matter of fact, I'll bet if you brought one of our original forefathers back, their eyes would bug out and they'd keel over from a heart attack because I know THEY could never have envisioned this world we live in today!

Social Media . . . television . . . cell phones . . . we live in a world of pictures now . . . of video shot off the cuff that sometimes doesn't tell the whole story . . . bits and bytes often taken out of context . . . 

. . . and it just inflames everyone to the point, if there is indeed more to the story, THAT the rest of the story is never heard because everyone's moved on to the next story.

It just feels like we live from tragedy to tragedy now . . . each one worse than the last.

My father used to say "Believe half of what you see and none of what you hear." I have grown to learn and understand the wisdom in those words.

Past events become history . . . we either learn from and correct our errors or we're doomed to repeat them.

Lion King's Rafiki had something to say about the past:

 

Crookshanks and You

12 June 2017

So, you and Crookshanks have a love/hate relationship right now. At first she really didn't like you at all, and I'm not so sure she loves you know, but she's getting to be a little more tolerant . . . as long as you don't actually touch her!

The other day you were standing on the couch . . . looking out the window when she jumped up on the back of it to watch whatever you were watching. I thought it was so sweet!

Of course, then there are days when you can't really help your curiosity . . . but the cat can't handle it . . . so you chase . . . she runs . . . you seek . . . she hides . . . 

"You never soar so high as when you stoop down to help a child or animal" ~ Jewish Proverb

You Taught Me to Breathe Again

11 June 2017

I still miss my mom, but I'm beginning to forget what her voice sounded like . . . I don't know if that's a good thing or a bad thing though.

Memory is funny.

I do know that you've been the best addition to my world . . . and I love spending my Sundays with you! You don't mind being in the church nursery without me or your mom, but you sure don't like it when we pop our heads in to check things out and don't take you back out! We're both trying hard not to "hover" like so many parents do. And really, it's not that we're hovering . . . it's just that I'm sort of in charge of making sure there are enough people in the nursery to take care of all the munchkins. I never mind lending a helping hand.

Now that you and your mom have moved out, I don't get to see you that often, so Sundays are pretty special. I do, however, get randomly texted photos of you from both your mom and your dad, Thought I'd post some of those pictures here today.

"A grandchild fills a space in your heart that you never knew you had." ~ Every Grandparent Ever

I Do Not Like Them Sam-I-Am

10 June 2017

Green Eggs and Ham by Dr Seuss was another book I loved. That man was a genius . . . with his highly imaginative rhymes and colorful illustrations . . . loved by children around the world!

I always wanted to sample green eggs and ham . . . never understood the Cat in the Hat's aversion to them. Okay, maybe not the ham, that's a little disgusting, but green eggs would be kind of cool.

My sister and I were also Girl Scouts back in the day . . . when we lived in Spain. Girl Scouts wore green uniforms.

During the summer, we got to go to a Girl Scout day camp . . . Camp Columbus . . . where we learned all sorts of skills . . . like cooking on a homemade grill created from a coffee can!

How are those things related? More importantly, is there a point?

Hang on . . . I'll get there!

So Mom was gone one weekend . . . bowling . . . left us alone with Dad. I write this with a smirk on my face because the few times Mom left us alone with Dad were the times we got away with most anything! Dads, in our time, pretty much left non-mom, non-supervised kids to their own devices.

I'm sure that Mom left him explicit instructions about food, but we weren't that hard to actually feed if there were SpaghettiOs in the house. Open the can . . . pour them into a pot on the stove (even quicker when the microwave found its way to our house) . . . heat them up . . . divide them into bowls . . . hand us spoons. We LIVED on SpaghettiOs!





I think about that now and cringe . . . 

One evening, however, Dad decided to actually fix dinner the old fashioned way . . . from scratch! Taking inspiration from Dr Seuss and the Girl Scouts, he whipped up some "Girl-Scout-camping-out-in-the-woods-at-Camp-Columbus" green hamburgers. Now green ham is one thing . . . but green hamburgers?!?!?! Looked like the hamburger meat had molded or something!

He made us EAT them!!!!!

I do hope you grow up and learn to love food in general . . . there's so much good stuff in the world!

I've read that book a million times . . . read it to my girls . . . no doubt to you as well. I never made them green eggs and ham, but then, they never asked me to. I did, however, color and cut biscuits for the holidays: blue snowflakes in January, red hearts in February, green shamrocks in March, yellow eggs in April. I've even put food dye in mashed potatoes, and made colorful deviled eggs at Easter.

"Learn something new. Try something different. Convince yourself that you have no limits."
~ Brian Tracy

You know, at the end of that book, Green Eggs and Ham, the Cat did discover he actually liked them . . . 

My Grandmother Was . . . ummmm . . . A Pirate?

9 June 2017

I would never call my grandmother a "thief" so I looked up some synonyms . . . pirate is a synonym for thief!!! That's just not right.

But yes, if we're going to call a "spade a spade," then my grandmother was indeed a thief!

No, she wasn't dangerous! She most certainly didn't look like a thief!

Back in the 70's she lived near the mall in Savannah, and when we would visit her, she loved to take us to the mall to browse and then have lunch at Chick-fil-A. That restaurant was quite the novelty back then with very few stores . . . almost always located in malls . . . but only in Georgia. WE loved these trips with her since we got to walk (she lived really close and never learned to drive) and eat Chick-fil-A sandwiches and waffle fries . . . she'd usually buy us something fun too!

Thing was, every time we walked through the parking lot, we'd have to stop where the light posts were planted to take a couple of the rocks that surrounded them. Yes, I said "take!" Yes, as in "STOLE" them!! We stole rocks with her . . . two at a time . . . every single time we walked to the mall.

They were beautiful rocks . . . smooth . . . white . . . bits of glittery stone sparkling in the sunlight. She landscaped her yard with them. Two rocks at a time when she was alone . . . four to eight at a time depending on the number of grandchildren with her.


We always told her she was stealing them, and she always replied "Well, they won't miss them, and they certainly don't need this many anyway!"

What?!?!?

Sometimes . . . when she wasn't looking . . . I'd take a couple of rocks from her yard when we headed to the mall . . . so I could return them to the light poles. I know, small act, but still it assuaged some of the guilt I carried for being a thief!

So, yes, we were . . . ummmmmmmmm . . . pirates! Yeah, that's it . . . pirates!!