Quiet

This weeks word, quiet, is a very fitting word to end the holiday season and 2009. Jean and I have really enjoyed all the opportunities of meeting new friends, taking lots of pictures, writing of times past, and eating new dishes prepared by some of the greatest cooks in the world!

We love Paris, Tennessee, and want it to grow and prosper. We want to help in any way we can, but we think January and February must be a time to really quieten ourselves. I have neck problems that have been neglected for way too long, and this winter is the time for correction. Being nine foot tall and bullet proof in my younger days is the main culprit, but being rear ended twice a couple years ago, made my range of motion totally unacceptable.

Neither Jean nor I do doctors, unless we just have to, but I went to a chiropractor Tuesday and Thursday and I left believing I could really be helped. I was told that we are straightening out many years of problems, and results cannot come overnight, but that the pain will go away, and the movement will become much better. I can only bend my neck 15%, up and down, and to the right, and 25% to the left. I have learned to compensate for the motion by turning my whole body, but I have been experiencing a lot of pain recently, and I do not want to spend the rest of my life in constant pain.

We will take this winter to renew, rejuvenate, and to be quiet. We believe it to be necessary, and will continue to help, as we can, but we have decided we won't feel bad when we have to say no. We wish the best for all of our friends, and all the fine folk of Paris and Henry County. May two thousand and ten be the best year ever!!

Hands

My hands are not nearly as important as many others, but still they are very important to me. I think about the piano player, or the person who plays any other instrument. I think about the painter, or the sculptor, or even the photographer, or any other artist. Their hands play such a vital role in the composition of their art. I think about the athlete who performs amazing feats with their hands. I think about the person serving in the United States military. Because of their hands, we have a strong country, today!

This time of year, I have to take special care of my hands. My hands have the tendency to dry out and crack, so I must lotion them several times a day. I also have to sleep with them covered in bag balm every other night. I wear gloves at work, all the day long. A lot of electricians say they cannot work with gloves on. I was very fortunate, over twenty five years ago, to have a job that required the wearing of gloves. I was tasked with terminating little wires in a cabinet, and I learned how to remove the screw from the terminal strip, strip the wire back, crimp on a ring terminal, and terminate the wire, all with gloves on. This has helped more than anything to prevent splinters, scrapes, and abrasions.

We surely do not appreciate all our hands do for us each day. They are worth taking extra special care of, and I am reminded of this on a daily basis when I see someone trying to do something and they can't, because of their hands.

Talent

Talent is something I have never had much of. I could never get the knack for playing music, I never could sing. Sometimes I even have trouble playing the radio. Lately some people have told me I really have a talent for writing these blogs, but I feel I cannot take credit for them. When you are sitting in front of a keyboard and words seem to flow, turning into sentences, then paragraphs, is that really a talent? Maybe so, but it sure doesn't seem like one.

I had a natural talent when I was young. I could catch a baseball. Whether off a bat, or a thrown ball, if it came anywhere near first base, it would be in my glove. At the time it really didn't matter that I could not hit the ball, and that I wasn't very good at throwing the ball. Later it mattered a lot and my talent for catching the ball, wasn't enough.

A few years later I thought I had a talent for riding a motorcycle, then for driving a car, then a van. Once upon a time I thought I might could be a stunt driver, but that was a vocation I never pursued. My talent for driving, and also for catching a ball, has served me well over the years. The hand/eye coordination I still have today can be attributed to both baseball and driving.

It is pretty smooth to go through life untalented. Even smoother is coming out with a talent no one knew you had! I enjoy writing these blogs. I really enjoy it when someone relates to my written word. I still do not consider it a talent, though. Maybe a blessing, maybe a gift, but definitely not a talent.

Bulk

My thoughts on the word bulk include the bulk food aisle at the grocery, and the whole grocery store that has only bulk food items. Paris is not big enough for either, but St. Louis has both! I have only gone up and down the aisles of a bulkfood store once, and only because I had time to kill before an appointment, but I think it is a great idea for a large family struggling with the food budget. Of course, I would imagine comparisons would have to be made, even there.

My experiences at the bulk food aisle of a supermarket include almonds, red hots, and malted milk balls. The almonds were very good. You had to buy way too many red hots. The chocolate on the malted milk balls was not near as good as Whoppers.

Jean and I just do not buy enough of any one thing to justify buying in bulk. My Ma better be glad that when she was hauling me with her to buy groceries, that they had never heard of bulk foods. I bet I could have gotten a big ol' sack of chocolates every week!