Sunday was an absolutely beautiful day while today promises to be anything but. Wednesday may be warm but also rainny. Winter isn't over by a long shot and with the word snow in the forcast next week, we might expect another panic at the grocery stores although that is usually not necessary.
Last week I was told "they changed the forcast and we are expecting bad snowstorms Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday."
Yea, that was true but only if one lived in the North East. North Carolina is not in the North East.
It may snow again this year. Winter isn't officially over until March 20th although snow after that date is always a possibility. Last year we did have some cold snaps after that date that spoiled some plantings of mine. I'll not make that mistake again this year. Most years my seedlings would have been okay but last year was just freaky because winter, although warm so they say, just didn't seem to want to go away. I'm hoping this year when its over, its over.
Still, I'll be mor cautious /this year in protecting my tender plants.
I've got my garden pace layed out and a brand new garden tiller to help me this year.
But I'm getting ahead of myself. Days like yesteday have me dreraming of spring. People were firing up the grill yesterday and enjoying nature. Today, it's back inside, especially if we get any of the rain in the forecast.
Well, stay warm and stay dry and be in church on Sundays.
Monday, January 31, 2011
Sunday, January 30, 2011
Singing the Star Spangled Banner
I think I mentioned this in another post but there is again another controversy about the song. Seems a 16 year old girl has been instructed to sing the song the traditional way after some complaints and now there are cries of racism because she is black.
In my opinion, color has nothing to do with how the song is sung and accepted as okay or rejected as not okay. When the song is sung the way it is supposed to be sung it leaves me with chill bumps. When singers try to change it, especially the last line, it leaves me cold. I believe if a singer really understood the circumstances surrounding the events described in that song, they would be less likely to "make it their own" and realize it belongs to everyone.
I've heard song in there original version and it was good but a singer came along and sung it their way and not only had a hit but made a classic out of it. Other times I've heard singers take a great song, try to make it their own, and left the song as forgettable as the singer was. But singing the Star Spangled Banner isn't about changing a song so the singer will be remembered or trying to sing a version that will become unforgettable, but about honoring those who held up the flag under the tremendous bombardment by the British Naval forces and the effect that had on the war prisoners.
Change the tune if you will: just make it about the men who died and what they died for and not about you.
In my opinion, color has nothing to do with how the song is sung and accepted as okay or rejected as not okay. When the song is sung the way it is supposed to be sung it leaves me with chill bumps. When singers try to change it, especially the last line, it leaves me cold. I believe if a singer really understood the circumstances surrounding the events described in that song, they would be less likely to "make it their own" and realize it belongs to everyone.
I've heard song in there original version and it was good but a singer came along and sung it their way and not only had a hit but made a classic out of it. Other times I've heard singers take a great song, try to make it their own, and left the song as forgettable as the singer was. But singing the Star Spangled Banner isn't about changing a song so the singer will be remembered or trying to sing a version that will become unforgettable, but about honoring those who held up the flag under the tremendous bombardment by the British Naval forces and the effect that had on the war prisoners.
Change the tune if you will: just make it about the men who died and what they died for and not about you.
Monday, January 24, 2011
The History of Baseball by Ken Burns
Excellent work of art.
I finished the movie and donated it to the library in Randleman so stop in and check it out.
I finished the movie and donated it to the library in Randleman so stop in and check it out.
Friday, January 21, 2011
News 14 online poll
Should community colleges have the ability to ban admission to students who appear to pose a significant threat?
Yes
No
Only if they are American citizens.
Yes
No
Only if they are American citizens.
Wednesday, January 19, 2011
(re-posted from Marvin's Observations)
Baseball
I am really enjoying the tapes my son gave me for Christmas about baseball. It's great to explore the history of the game and to learn the personalities of some of the old players, managers and innovators of the game.
Growing up I played a lot of sports. I played football and ran the mile on the track team as well as playing baseball. I remember my first track meet. I really had no training but was drafted by the coach after my performance on "field day", an event in which all the students were required to entire at least three events. I choose pull-ups, the softball throw, and the mile run. I finished second in pull-ups and was leading in the softball throw until a much bigger boy made his toss and beat me by three yards. I won my heat in the mile run, beating one of the track stars who ran that event on the track team.
When I ran my first race at College Park Junior High, I didn't not know about pacing myself and gave out at the end of the third leg and was soon passed by all the other runners. I wanted to give up when all the other runners had finished and I still had a hundred or so yards to go. The fans encouraged me to finish so I did to a cheering crowd. It felt great.
I did some amazing things playing football, especially considering I was a little fellow back then. I was especially good at kick-off and punt returns and my aggressive running style made me a hard man to tackle but as the other players grew and I didn't it proved to be a more painful experience than I cared to endure.
To some, baseball seems a slower and more subdued game than football but I find that true only if one views the game as a whole rather than concentrating on individual battles, defensive posturing, and strategies.
Most sports play not only against another team but also against the clock and often times a game seems foolish when it becomes obvious that the losing team cannot possible win, even if the team that is ahead goes home but the game still goes on because there is time left on the clock. That is the height of boredom to me.
In baseball, it does not matter how far behind one team is they always have a chance to win. As long as they do not make three outs, an inning can last forever. The game is simple yet intricately difficult at the same time.
My Dad and his three sons played backyard football for five years in a vacant lot beside the house and once Dad understood the rules of the game, he and I never lost to my two brothers until the very last time we played. He had gotten too old to move quickly and I had grown too fat to run.
It was fun but since my two brothers played together, I believe that had much to do with the strained relationship among us. My two brother remained close but I have always been left out of the loop.
Baseball, on the other hand, forged lasting memories from the earliest days from playing cow pasture ball in the nurseries in Longview, NC where my older brother, because of a speech impediment, was call a swoosh hitter to the end of my baseball career when, in much pain, I asked the coach to remove me from the game.
I played sand lot ball, little league, pony league, Babe Ruth League, and on school teams and outlaw baseball. My Dad would gather up a bunch of kids and we would travel from ball field to ball fields in search of other people playing. We would stop and challenge them to a game. Eventual this practice led to an organized league with firm schedules and even a state tournament in Kings Mountain, NC.
Such things didn't happen in basketball, track, football, or any other sport that I am aware of.
Unlike many other sports where the best teams can go all season and dominate every team they play like winning all 12 or 15 footballs games or going 32-0 in basketball, no such domination occurs in baseball. Over the course of a season, the team with the better players will most likely win the championship but every game is unique. Ever the Mets won forty games their first season.
When one see a man that is six foot five, he is asked "Did you play basketball?' and when you see a big man at over six feet and twohundred and fifty pounds, he is asked "Did you play football?" The is no such look for baseball players. Some professionals have been big men at six-eight and somme have been less than three feet tall.
I think too, that with the opportunity to play a lot more games in one season than in other sports, there is more room for memories.
Of all the sermons my Dad preached, I can remember the title of only one because he preached the same message on the first Sunday of the New Year and I can recall a few, but now many, of the things he said while I was growing up in his home, but my head and heart of full of things he said and did on the baseball field. Baseball was he passion and a way of sharing with his children, a bond that was never broken with his family.
My dream for retirement is to once again to be able to participate in a ball game by being a coach, not for the glory of winning, for life is more about losing than winning, but for the memories the game leaves us with and the reflection of life that the game reveals.
It is the greatest game of all time.
I am really enjoying the tapes my son gave me for Christmas about baseball. It's great to explore the history of the game and to learn the personalities of some of the old players, managers and innovators of the game.
Growing up I played a lot of sports. I played football and ran the mile on the track team as well as playing baseball. I remember my first track meet. I really had no training but was drafted by the coach after my performance on "field day", an event in which all the students were required to entire at least three events. I choose pull-ups, the softball throw, and the mile run. I finished second in pull-ups and was leading in the softball throw until a much bigger boy made his toss and beat me by three yards. I won my heat in the mile run, beating one of the track stars who ran that event on the track team.
When I ran my first race at College Park Junior High, I didn't not know about pacing myself and gave out at the end of the third leg and was soon passed by all the other runners. I wanted to give up when all the other runners had finished and I still had a hundred or so yards to go. The fans encouraged me to finish so I did to a cheering crowd. It felt great.
I did some amazing things playing football, especially considering I was a little fellow back then. I was especially good at kick-off and punt returns and my aggressive running style made me a hard man to tackle but as the other players grew and I didn't it proved to be a more painful experience than I cared to endure.
To some, baseball seems a slower and more subdued game than football but I find that true only if one views the game as a whole rather than concentrating on individual battles, defensive posturing, and strategies.
Most sports play not only against another team but also against the clock and often times a game seems foolish when it becomes obvious that the losing team cannot possible win, even if the team that is ahead goes home but the game still goes on because there is time left on the clock. That is the height of boredom to me.
In baseball, it does not matter how far behind one team is they always have a chance to win. As long as they do not make three outs, an inning can last forever. The game is simple yet intricately difficult at the same time.
My Dad and his three sons played backyard football for five years in a vacant lot beside the house and once Dad understood the rules of the game, he and I never lost to my two brothers until the very last time we played. He had gotten too old to move quickly and I had grown too fat to run.
It was fun but since my two brothers played together, I believe that had much to do with the strained relationship among us. My two brother remained close but I have always been left out of the loop.
Baseball, on the other hand, forged lasting memories from the earliest days from playing cow pasture ball in the nurseries in Longview, NC where my older brother, because of a speech impediment, was call a swoosh hitter to the end of my baseball career when, in much pain, I asked the coach to remove me from the game.
I played sand lot ball, little league, pony league, Babe Ruth League, and on school teams and outlaw baseball. My Dad would gather up a bunch of kids and we would travel from ball field to ball fields in search of other people playing. We would stop and challenge them to a game. Eventual this practice led to an organized league with firm schedules and even a state tournament in Kings Mountain, NC.
Such things didn't happen in basketball, track, football, or any other sport that I am aware of.
Unlike many other sports where the best teams can go all season and dominate every team they play like winning all 12 or 15 footballs games or going 32-0 in basketball, no such domination occurs in baseball. Over the course of a season, the team with the better players will most likely win the championship but every game is unique. Ever the Mets won forty games their first season.
When one see a man that is six foot five, he is asked "Did you play basketball?' and when you see a big man at over six feet and twohundred and fifty pounds, he is asked "Did you play football?" The is no such look for baseball players. Some professionals have been big men at six-eight and somme have been less than three feet tall.
I think too, that with the opportunity to play a lot more games in one season than in other sports, there is more room for memories.
Of all the sermons my Dad preached, I can remember the title of only one because he preached the same message on the first Sunday of the New Year and I can recall a few, but now many, of the things he said while I was growing up in his home, but my head and heart of full of things he said and did on the baseball field. Baseball was he passion and a way of sharing with his children, a bond that was never broken with his family.
My dream for retirement is to once again to be able to participate in a ball game by being a coach, not for the glory of winning, for life is more about losing than winning, but for the memories the game leaves us with and the reflection of life that the game reveals.
It is the greatest game of all time.
Sunday, January 16, 2011
Ingenious
GREEN BAY, Wis. — A Green Bay, Wis., woman opened a Christmas present from her children to find a refurbished vacuum - and a load of drugs.
Authorities say the woman found 2 pounds of crystal methamphetamine and 2.2 pounds of cocaine shrink wrapped inside the box. Sheriff's officials estimate the drugs' street value at about $280,000.
Lt. David Poteat (poh-TEET) tells the Green Bay Press-Gazette that a smuggler likely put the drugs in the box before it was shipped from the Juarez, Mexico, area, where it had been reconditioned.
Poteat says no one noticed anything, including the department store where it was purchased, until the woman opened the package.
Sheriff's officials say the store is cooperating with the investigation
Opps! someone on the receiving end goofed up and missed an important delivery. What an ingenious smuggling method.
Authorities say the woman found 2 pounds of crystal methamphetamine and 2.2 pounds of cocaine shrink wrapped inside the box. Sheriff's officials estimate the drugs' street value at about $280,000.
Lt. David Poteat (poh-TEET) tells the Green Bay Press-Gazette that a smuggler likely put the drugs in the box before it was shipped from the Juarez, Mexico, area, where it had been reconditioned.
Poteat says no one noticed anything, including the department store where it was purchased, until the woman opened the package.
Sheriff's officials say the store is cooperating with the investigation
Opps! someone on the receiving end goofed up and missed an important delivery. What an ingenious smuggling method.
Friday, January 14, 2011
Murder most foul
In 1999, 1300 women were murdered by an intimate parnter in the United States. Notall the couples were redneck, ghetto dwelling, drugged out, metally disfunctional, or alcohol inhibited. some were doctors, lawyers, wealthy, preachers, Sunday School teachers, regular school teachers, and what we like to think are normal, everyday kind of people.
In that same year, 1999, there were over 800,00 women assualted by thier lovers. i have no figures on how many men were killed and/or battetred by their female partner or the vi0olence involved in same-sex relationships.
I do know there are far better ways to handle ones problems.
In that same year, 1999, there were over 800,00 women assualted by thier lovers. i have no figures on how many men were killed and/or battetred by their female partner or the vi0olence involved in same-sex relationships.
I do know there are far better ways to handle ones problems.
Thursday, January 13, 2011
Strange but true
A few years ago my aunt and uncle gave my mom a clock. It is a common type electric clock that is used by a bedside to tell time and to sound an alarm. It is an inexpensive model not unlike those one finds in any discount retailer. The only trouble with the clock is that it doesn't keep time very well.
The digital readout will advance 10 to 15 minutes every day so one has to either reset the clock four times a day, rely on an additional source to time, or replace the defective clock. I did that for her a year and a half ago.
I had also given Mom a digital clock that Christmas and had placed mine in her kitchen window so I just swapped the two clocks. I cannot remember if I plugged the defective clock in and later unplugged it or if I just never ever plugged it in but I do know the clock has been setting in her kitchen windowsill for the longest time.
Yesterday Mom noticed a faint light, glowing red, coming from the window. It was the unplugged digital alarm clock and the face where the time is usually displayed had a message.
The message said "Jesus is the answer".
The digital readout will advance 10 to 15 minutes every day so one has to either reset the clock four times a day, rely on an additional source to time, or replace the defective clock. I did that for her a year and a half ago.
I had also given Mom a digital clock that Christmas and had placed mine in her kitchen window so I just swapped the two clocks. I cannot remember if I plugged the defective clock in and later unplugged it or if I just never ever plugged it in but I do know the clock has been setting in her kitchen windowsill for the longest time.
Yesterday Mom noticed a faint light, glowing red, coming from the window. It was the unplugged digital alarm clock and the face where the time is usually displayed had a message.
The message said "Jesus is the answer".
Tuesday, January 11, 2011
Ice
It's not snow-it's ice.
They say don't venture out unless yiou have too.
For today, I'd say don't venture out even if you have too.
It's three am and its still coming down and it looks very dangerous out there.
Whatever you need at Wal-mart can wait.
They say don't venture out unless yiou have too.
For today, I'd say don't venture out even if you have too.
It's three am and its still coming down and it looks very dangerous out there.
Whatever you need at Wal-mart can wait.
Monday, January 10, 2011
victims
(Top Row L-R) Nine-year-old Christina Taylor Green, Giffords and Federal Judge John Roll. (Bottom Row L-R) Phyliss Schneck, Gabe Zimmerman, Dorothy Morris and Dorwan Stoddard
Saturday, January 08, 2011
A cold Day
I really look forward to gettinh home from work, especially during the colder months. I work in a cold environment and sometimes it seems I'll just never get warm.
Yesterday morning I woke to the faint smell of an electrical burn but I dismissed it because I wake for work not long after my wife retires for the day and thought perhaps it was an ordor lingering from something she might have cooked.
I arrived home from work a little after three yesterday afternoon to a very cold house. Yesterday was one of those very rare occasions when my wife works normal hours and thought perhaps she had cut the heat back to save some energy. I was not going to mess with the thermostat but it was just too cold so finally I decided to turn up the heat a little.
The thermostat didn't respond. I checked the unit in the back of the house to see if some theft sabotaged my AC unit but it was fine. I checked the circuit breaker box and the one to the AC/furnance had bee tripped so I flipped it back on but the furnance still wouldn't kick on and the thermostat still showed a blank dial.
I guess I will find out how much the repair man cost me after my wife wakes up in the morning. I know it will be more than it should because he had to meet a man in Hogh Point to get a new part because "the part on your unit is an odd one."
So what else is new?
Yesterday morning I woke to the faint smell of an electrical burn but I dismissed it because I wake for work not long after my wife retires for the day and thought perhaps it was an ordor lingering from something she might have cooked.
I arrived home from work a little after three yesterday afternoon to a very cold house. Yesterday was one of those very rare occasions when my wife works normal hours and thought perhaps she had cut the heat back to save some energy. I was not going to mess with the thermostat but it was just too cold so finally I decided to turn up the heat a little.
The thermostat didn't respond. I checked the unit in the back of the house to see if some theft sabotaged my AC unit but it was fine. I checked the circuit breaker box and the one to the AC/furnance had bee tripped so I flipped it back on but the furnance still wouldn't kick on and the thermostat still showed a blank dial.
I guess I will find out how much the repair man cost me after my wife wakes up in the morning. I know it will be more than it should because he had to meet a man in Hogh Point to get a new part because "the part on your unit is an odd one."
So what else is new?
Tuesday, January 04, 2011
DNA clears Texas man who spent 30 years in prison
It seems another screw up has been corrected way to late. Almost all the exonerees have been black and some were convicted because of faulty eye-witness testimony, with held evidence, over zealous prossecution, and of course bigotry. I've read of cases where the defendant was able to prove they were hundreds of miles away from the scene of the crime when it was committed and were still convicted.
I learned at an early age how hurtful bigotry can be and how people are judged wrongly just because of the color of their skin.I'm not a bleeding heart liberal but I am mindful of how I would want to be treated and give others the same due. After all Christ loved them just as much as He loved me.
I learned at an early age how hurtful bigotry can be and how people are judged wrongly just because of the color of their skin.I'm not a bleeding heart liberal but I am mindful of how I would want to be treated and give others the same due. After all Christ loved them just as much as He loved me.
Monday, January 03, 2011
Sampaloc, Rizal, Philippines
Back in the early 70's between tours of Vietnam, I was stationed in the Philippines in a small base located near San Miquel, Zambalas and loved every minute I was in that country. Great people, great food, lots to do with easy access to the mountains and beach, easily affordable prices on everything, and just a beautiful place with great weather most of the time.
I always dreamed of retiring there.
I always dreamed of retiring there.
Sunday, January 02, 2011
Church Vandalism
Thursday Dec 30, 2010 someone vandalized the church sign at One Way Baptist Church in Randleman. The church is located on Sunset just off Stout street. I reported a few weeks back that the church was creating a stir in town and I guess this act of vandalism is one way the devil has of fighting back.
Thank you Satan for the church will use this act of childishness to God's advantage, or rather God will use this act of vandalism to the good of the church.
We will say a prayer for the vandals tonight. One day they will be punished whether in this life or another unless they accept Jesus as their saviour then this vile act will be blotted out.
I'll see you in church.
Thank you Satan for the church will use this act of childishness to God's advantage, or rather God will use this act of vandalism to the good of the church.
We will say a prayer for the vandals tonight. One day they will be punished whether in this life or another unless they accept Jesus as their saviour then this vile act will be blotted out.
I'll see you in church.
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