Is there any mail for me?

Now that Thanksgiving is over, we have begun that time of year when we hear from everyone we haven’t heard from since Christmas last year. Of course, many of them haven’t heard from us either. Some just send a card and others send thousand word letters in micro-sized type, as long as it fits on both sides of a piece of paper. Some people we look forward to hearing from because they have such interesting lives and others prefer not to write anything except “Merry Christmas,” and that’s okay too,  . . . really.

Then there’s the get-a-card send-a-card group that will only send you a card if you send them one. But wait a minute, I think we do that in hopes that they will think they were on our list all the time and we were a little late sending them out this year. As long as they get them by December 24, it works, but when your card arrives the day after New Year's, it looks a little suspicious.

I remember my mother kept an address book for Christmas cards only. She would send out cards to those who sent her cards the year before, along with “favored” new people that she met during the year. If she didn’t get a card from a person two years in a row, they were scratched off her list never to get a card again.

Now, what about you? Are you a Christmas card letter writer or do you count on Hallmark to say the right thing? Are you excited to hear from distant friends once a year or do you groan as you cut open their envelopes stuffed with pictures and a journal for the past year? Maybe it’s time for a bigger mailbox.

Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving was originally a harvest festival to give thanks for a bountiful harvest. So, I guess it’s only fitting that it has since evolved into an all-encompassing holiday of thanks. Regardless of one’s economic situation, our nation has been blessed beyond measure, especially when put in perspective with other nations.

I hope you join us this Thanksgiving as we sit back with family and count our blessings. Lift your hands and praise God from whom all blessings flow.

Yikes, Thanksgiving already?

So, how late is your grocery store open the night before Thanksgiving? Do you keep your supermarket’s telephone number on the refrigerator? Have you ever bought your frozen turkey the day before Thanksgiving and spent all night running hot water through it from stem to stern to thaw it out?

I asked the butcher last week when he would have fresh turkeys. He said the ideal time to get the best and biggest fresh turkey is late Friday night or early Saturday. He said people buy the frozen birds the week before Thanksgiving, take them home and thaw them out Monday and Tuesday. The smart shoppers buy the fresh, unfrozen turkeys over the weekend. Monday and Tuesday, panic sets in as the last minute shoppers realize there is no time to thaw out a frozen turkey and the fresh ones are gone. The only birds left are the small ones about twice the weight of a capon.

I spent Friday night throwing out the green science experiments growing in the back of the refrigerator and reconfiguring the shelves in preparation for Saturday morning’s fresh turkey. The turkey girl at our local Stop 'n Shop had to go into the chiller to look for the biggest one they had. Ten minutes later she came out with a 24 pound fresh monster turkey. I’m just glad I didn’t have to wrestle it to the ground before it got to the store.

I spent another hour at the store today getting the rest of the feast, but I know I’ll be back late Wednesday to get a can of cranberry sauce, or an extra bag of bread crumbs for dressing. Yes, I do have Stop 'n Shop’s number on speed dial.

The eyes have it.

No matter how old or how young, our eyes say so much even when we say so little. When we focus on people's eyes, we can tell how they think and how they develop thoughts. We can also see evidence of fatigue, stress, sickness, malnutrition, fear, sorrow, joy, restlessness, truthfulness, confidence. We know when someone is working too long with too little sleep. We often "read" a person's eyes to determine if they are telling the truth or not.

This little girl followed me around Teupasenti, Honduras, for a couple of days. She didn't have a bike and I never saw a doll or a toy, just her parrot. They went everywhere together and you can tell by her eyes, that it was the joy of her life. In fact that's all she had, and yet she was so happy. Her little brother often tagged along, but he just watched anticipating the day when he could have a pet of his own.

Uncle Sam salutes our veterans

Uncle Sam rode by today just to say thanks for serving. Yes, it's Veteran's Day, a day set aside to remember our nation's veterans who served in war and peace, and especially those who gave their lives for our freedom. Some of us have fond memories of events that took place while serving, yet others are daily reminded of the horrors they faced.

I guess what I find most disturbing is the small group of Americans who fail to understand, or appreciate, the mindset of those who volunteer to make themselves available to defend our freedoms, even to the point of death. They publically petition, protest, complain and even berate our military in the streets, yet it's that very right that we are proudly defending.

I hope you will take the opportunity today to join Uncle Sam and thank an active duty soldier or veteran today for their commitment and service.

Texture

The more I look at this image, the more I see. To some it may be a simple doormat with a dead leaf, but look again.

First, I was attracted to the repeating pattern found in the weave of the doormat. No matter how many feet have stepped on it, the pattern has remained unbroken. After clean feet, dirty feet, light feet, or heavy feet, the mat is consistent, strong, even and unyielding. Each knot in the weave grips the knot next to it to help carry the load. To me, it’s like a network of friends that look out for each other and help carry each other’s burdens. They stick together no matter what, and nothing can break them apart.

But then there is the leaf. It sprouted in the spring and hung on a tree through rain, hail, wind, and scorching sun. In October, the temperature dropped and so did the leaf, alone. Unlike the doormat, it fell apart. It was alone and unprotected, dried up and brittle. Yet, just off the grid, there’s a small seed that survived, a sign of life, a new generation.

Election Day

Here's a little reminder about how easy the voting process was in colonial times. There were no voting machines, no hanging-chad punch cards, no electronic ballot readers or scanners, and no programmable entry devices. Voting was as simple as putting a mark beside someone's name.

When I voted today, I was handed a ballot the size of a spread sheet with nine parties listed down the left side, four of which were totally new to me. But that was okay as some candidates were running with more than one party endorsement, anyway.

I picked up the felt tipped pen in the booth and followed the instructions, "Be sure to completely fill-in the oval next to the candidate of your choice." I felt like I was taking the SATs back in high school as I "completely" colored in the little oval next to each candidate's name so a machine could read it. Like the SATs, I colored in one row all the way across the ballot. Yes, I voted a party line, and one I had heard of before, too. While it didn't do much for me on my SATs, I hope I score better on today's ballot.