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”
Author: Sharron Burnett
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”
You’re Kidding Me!
I devoured the Harry Potter series of books. I preordered the final installment and read it in between sessions of a summer class that I was taking. I had followed the story from its remarkable beginning and I worried that J.K. Rowling might ruin the adventure for me with a bad ending. To my utter delight the conclusion was as satisfying to me as the entire journey had been. I marveled at Ms. Rowling’s genius because I had been disappointed by the final chapters of so many volumes in the past. It would not have surprised me if she had somehow managed to ruin the spirit of the story. Continue reading “You’re Kidding Me!”
The Unimaginable
It was late one night in October. I was driving home from a very long day at work, so close to my home that I would have been able to walk the rest of way. Suddenly I saw a flashing red light in my rearview mirror and the quick sound of a siren. At first I wondered if I was simply in the way of a sheriff on his way to a crime scene. It took me several seconds before I realized that he wanted me to stop. I had little idea why he was doing so but I complied and pulled close to the curb and turned off my engine while I waited for him to come to my window.
By this time my heart was pounding in my ears. I was nervous and scared. I had no idea why I was suddenly the object of concern because I felt that I had been driving very carefully. It was the first time that I had ever taken that particular route to my home and so I was being particularly cautious. That I was being asked to stop was quite concerning and confusing. Continue reading “The Unimaginable”
