Pensive Selections

I have enjoyed the rain of late along with the temperatures (less than 80 degrees). My pecan trees have been dropping many leaves in preparation for the pecans the have been growing.  There should be a large number this fall. The last time they produced it was  2006 and I was out of the country and my neighbors got them. Contrary to many who believe that pecans drop every year, it take 3 to as many as 7 years for them to produce. The weather conditions must also be favorable.  I will let everyone know how it turns out.

I have been paying some attention the past couple of weeks to the health care debate. I think President Obama is doing an excellent job. He is following through with his campaign promises that he made and I am glad that he is mixing it up and not letting our elected politicians set back on their laurels and collect their large paychecks.

Today (Saturday), I taught my Son, fourteen to change the oil in our ‘95 Ford F150.  He did an excellent job and next change he should be able to do it with minimal supervision.  I think it is important to teach our children how to do things.  He has friends that get their oil changed at Wally-World and haven't the slightest clue how to do it themselves.

Retirement…Who Knows?

As I get closer to retirement from military service I have become concerned about the future.  I have 5 more years before my youngest son will enter college and then the real expense will begin.  I hear in the news financial analyst say it will take years for the US economy to recover.

It was during President Carter’s administration during the late 1970s when gas was so expensive that my family fell on bad times.  We lived 10 miles from the nearest town and the high price of gas took what little money my father made. 

During this time we sat together at the dinning room table and had only purple-hull peas and cornbread to eat.  We were grateful for this but having it day-after-day for lunch and dinner became monotonous.  After that bad year I would not eat them for years to come.  One early morning I remember seeing  Mother at the table with her chin resting in her hand, and the worry in her face as she stared off into the distance.  I knew she was wondering how she would get through the day.

I greatly admire her for her strength not only in getting us through those lean years but her putting others first.  She placed my father first before his passing after an 8+ year fight with Non-Hodgkin's Lymphoma.  

Though the future may look foreboding remembering back to the hardships that my family endured gives me strength to move forward.  I want to thank my Mother and my Father who taught me and my two younger brothers to have faith in God and trust that he will see you through. 

Coffee Not Always My Friend

The fragrant aroma as it rises from the frothy surface of my first cup of the day, so soothing and calming. I would not know what to do without it, for it and I have been together for some time now...coffee!

Surprising to say coffee and I have not always gotten along. When I was around 22 years old I had a very bad experience with making the brew. Being young, green, and still wet behind the ears, I asked my fellow workers how to make it, for I wanted to come in early the next day and make it for everyone. I listened carefully to the instructions and made some notes to not forget anything.

The next morning at 5:00AM I arrived and opened the lid to the coffee maker and looked into the darkest, nastiest, coffee maker I could possible imagine. I did the only thing a young fresh out of military basic troop would do…I took the scouring powder and a scrub-pad to it and worked it over for about an hour. Again, coffee and I were strangers to each other and I did’t know that the secret to the best cup of Joe was a seasoned coffee maker.

Needless to say my Sergeant did not take kindly to having a coffee maker that he had painstakingly watched over and seasoned for the past 18 years scrubbed to the point of seeing himself. I was on what we called a S*it list with him for many months thereafter.

So over the years I have learned a valuable lesson where coffee is concerned. I have guarded my coffee maker that drips my coffee on top of the stove, like a pit-bull for the past 24 years. I think back to when I committed such a travesty to an 18 year cup of Joe, as I sit enjoying my 24 year cup. I now understand what his anger must have been and I am thankful to be writing and sharing this memory with you.