I vividly recall spending a great deal of time in fourth grade learning how to duplicate the Zaner Bloser cursive alphabet that hung on neat green cards at the front of the classroom. The E’s and the Z’s were the hardest and unfortunately the S’s also gave me grief, a terrible irony since my first name begins with that letter. I aimed to please especially since my teacher insisted that we master the swirls and the curly Q’s of the letters until we might have been able to forge checks for the inventor of that handwriting style. All in all I got fairly good but never really managed to make a decent looking Z. Years later when I was confident enough to be boldly independent I began to write with my own take on the letters that gave me the most fits. The result was quite legible and I have often received compliments from people who marvel at how well I mastered the art of cursive. Continue reading “Lovely Letters”
Month: July 2015
Embracing Quiet
During my recuperation from my knee surgery I was perusing the July issue of Good Housekeeping and I saw an advertisement for a really cute pair of sandals from Target. They were exactly the style and color that I wanted and so once I was able to walk without crutches and drive myself I went to the local Target to see if I might find a pair in my size. To my utter dismay there were very few signs of summer left in the store. Instead the place was filled with Back to School items and fall colors. It seemed a bit incongruent that a magazine advertisement would feature a pair of shoes that were no longer available but that has become the way things work. Continue reading “Embracing Quiet”
Hearing Voices
Being retired and having more time to pause and reflect has improved my hearing. In fact if I listen well enough I am able to read between the spoken lines and hear thoughts that are not even uttered. One thing that I have noticed for certain is that there are so many more people hurting than I ever before imagined. They don’t always say what they mean or mean what they say. I have to do a bit of translating of their ideas before the real messages become apparent. If I concentrate enough I hear their cries for help. The trick in having so much information is in knowing how to respond. Continue reading “Hearing Voices”
Lifetime of Politics
“Dewey Defeats Truman” was the famously premature headline that trumpeted a Republican presidential victory in a Chicago newspaper. It didn’t take long for the bean counters to realize the mistake that had been made and Harry Truman was pronounced President of the United States for a second term about two weeks before I was born in November of 1948. Needless to say, I don’t remember a great deal about Harry Truman but somehow I recall my parents laughing about his “give em hell” attitude. They appeared to like his homespun ways and my mother often praised his wife for wearing unpretentious clothing and living a low key common woman kind of life in Missouri. I would later learn that Truman did a fairly decent job of shepherding our country after he was thrust into office upon the death of FDR but there would always be an element of controversy surrounding his willingness to use the atom bomb in Japan. I suppose that there is nothing simplistic about being the leader of one of the most powerful countries in the world. Continue reading “Lifetime of Politics”
All is Right with the World
Summer time has a particular feel to it. It’s not just about the sweltering heat. It’s about a certain way of life that includes trips to the beach, grilling burgers and hot dogs, running about in bare feet, and enjoying baseball. There was a time when almost every little boy joined Little League and collected trading cards tucked in between long thin slices of bubble gum. In the long hot days when school was out and baseball was king even dedicated businessmen sometimes played hooky from work on days when the hometown team played an afternoon game.
In Houston we have been cheering the Astros for most of my adult life. They were originally known as the Colts as in the 45 caliber gun made famous in the old west. They played in an outdoor stadium until their new home, a modern day wonder known as the Astrodome was finally built. They were eventually christened with a different team moniker more befitting of a city where the country’s space program was headquartered. They were rebranded as the Astros which given today’s politically correct environment was no doubt a really good thing. Surely there would have ultimately been a hue and cry about a team named for an iconic pistol. Continue reading “All is Right with the World”
All It Takes Is A Little Love 