On the evening of October 4, 1968, I found love twice. It began with an exchange of wedding vows to Michael Lynn Burnett, my soulmate and best friend. The day ended with my first encounter with New Orleans, Louisiana, a magical place that immediately caught my fancy and burrowed into my heart just as Mike had done. For forty seven years now I have found bliss with Mike again and again, especially in the most difficult times. I have also returned to New Orleans over and over and never tire of the feeling of being in a place that somehow speaks to my very soul. I will always be a die hard native of Houston but if I ever needed a second home I suspect that I would feel as comfortable in New Orleans as I do in my place of birth. Continue reading “Going Home”
Category: Commentary
Thoughts on Thinking
One of the best aspects of retirement is that I am able to have lazy mornings without guilt. I appreciate the fact that I don’t have to rush around and tackle traffic on rainy mornings like this one. I stay inside sipping on my tea and viewing Mother Nature’s storms from my windows. Since it is unlikely that anyone will unexpectedly come to my door on a day like today I am able to linger in my pajamas a bit longer than I would if I had places to go and things to accomplish. It’s nice to be able to peruse the online news sources and to get up to date information on the weather. Since I had oral surgery just yesterday I am supposed to take it a bit easy for another twenty four hours or so. Luckily I don’t have to feel compelled to rush off to a job with my pain medication tucked into my purse. I am able to nurse myself in ways that I never did when I was still working. It’s a very nice situation indeed! Continue reading “Thoughts on Thinking”
Adult Coloring Books
When I was a child I loved coloring books, and of course I always stayed inside the lines. It was a source of great pride to my mother when our next door neighbor who was an artist commented that I had exceptional technique and control when I was only about three. Mama would repeat that compliment over and over again as evidence that I was somehow destined for greatness. Eventually society changed its mind about the art of coloring and pronounced that the ability to fill in the blank spaces of a drawing was little more creative than painting a wall. Furthermore the concept of staying within the lines was viewed as a sign of someone without any particular thinking skills. Still my mama insisted that my outstanding coloring at such a young age was indeed significant.
I soon bored of the habit of coloring as most young children do. I never developed my artistic side save for a required art class that I took at the University of Houston. I probably enjoyed that course more than anything that I ever took. The professor insisted that I should consider a change of major but since I was only one semester away from graduation that was never going to happen. I dabbled here and there in arts and crafts but never really found any reason to pursue my art. My devotion to teaching mathematics always trumped any inclinations to draw or paint. Of late my creative instincts have been mostly poured into writing although I’m not certain that the nonfictional aspect of my essays actually qualifies as inventiveness. Continue reading “Adult Coloring Books”
Man Bites Dog
I saw a headline for a news story the other day that read, “Biker’s Poop Starts Wildfire.” Of course I had to read the journalistic feature to find out how this had possibly happened. I felt hoodwinked by the time I had finished the last sentence. It seems that a man was biking in an isolated area. He had a call of nature, specifically for a number two. Since there was nobody around he took a nice dump complete with cleaning himself with toilet paper that he had brought along just in case. Not knowing exactly what to do with the used paper he decided to burn it. Unfortunately the area was so dry that the tissue became a fire starter, quickly spreading and causing an out of control fire.
I suppose that if you follow the sequence of events it might be construed that if the man had not voided his bowels he would not have needed to use paper to sanitize himself and there would have been no need to light the object that became kindling. The fact is that technically his poop did not start a wildfire. I was rather angry that I had fallen for the age old ploy of writing such a clever headline that it attracted my immediate attention. This tactic has been around for a very long time and is one of the reasons that I tell people all of the time that they can’t jump to conclusions just from a few carefully chosen words. It’s always wise to play a bit of detective work and find out the whole story. Continue reading “Man Bites Dog”
The Looking Glass
Women are certainly in the news these days. There appears to be a very good chance that we will have a woman President of the United States before long. The female half of the human race is certainly on the move. In honor of a changing world for women a certain meme is circulating on Facebook. It asks parents not to teach their daughters to long for the glass slipper but to develop a desire to break the glass ceiling. Unfortunately this line of thinking seems to insinuate an either or kind of world. Instead I see the opportunities for women as choices along a continuum. Hopefully we are free to choose exactly where we wish to reside.
I’m a hard charging competitive person. Most people don’t see that characteristic in me unless they get to know me very well. I don’t like to lose and I strive to be number one. It’s my nature to shoot for the stars and I often get there. In school I was told that I was not the intellectual equal of my honors class peers and so I set out to prove my detractors wrong. It wasn’t that difficult to demonstrate that I have the ability to hang with anyone. All it took was determination and lots of hard work. Nobody had to motivate me to be my best. It just came naturally to me. Continue reading “The Looking Glass”
