Category: Uncategorized

Gardening Time has Arrived!


      Ladies and Gentlemen, the weather outside here is beautiful, the temperatures, sun and fresh air just right, get off your duff and get outside and have some fun if you can, is what I say.

       I spent about 6 hours yesterday between raking out an area, stone outlining it and weed blocking it, and then planting  day lillies across it and mulching it. When done it went from a weed infested mess to a clean, nicely mulched flower,filled garden that looks decent and matches the rest. I spend maybe an hour or two a day just outside going from garden to garden watering plants now in the ground and gardens created by me and my wife. The beauty of it is clear when seen and we try to keep all alive as long as humanly possible in the summer till fall at least. The colors bloom yearly, yellows and pinks and purples, and more, the bushes stand tall and look good and in the end even the trees we planted, the seven hemlocks are growing well each year.

        My next project is actually out front of my home, the prior owners years ago planted small spruce trees by my garage, well they are dying slowly, so they must be pulled. I am going to get them replaced by small aborvianies which are a different kind of pine tree that can be shaped each year to where and what size you want them to be. Gardening these days in my retirement days, has become a past time and hobby and  almost anything I plant seems to grow.

       We have all kinds of flowers now, daffodils, Hydrangea, Pansies,Roses, of many shapes and colors from deep red to pink, bushes of them and even climbing roses growing. Even a Japanese Maple Tree we added. Then a dogwood with white flowers, azaleas, and more.

       Half the fun is waking up each morning and being able to slowly walk around the property and just look at the true and beautiful colors in the plants and land we own. It is peaceful, pleasant and relaxing, and so is the process of planting and watering and feeding them. So as they say in retirement land when you get there. relax , go slow and enjoy you have earned it, I know I did after 16 years of military service and PTSD and herniated discs and more. But God Bless the USA, it does take care of us Veterans so we can find hobbies and enjoyments in our older days.

      I would recommend Gardening, of any kind to anyone who wants to relax, have fun, build and look back at what they did, later.Gardening days can be peaceful and pleasant and be shared by any couple for fun. Enjoy!

 

Dick Clark’s Place in Heaven


      Icons, Famous people they say die in threes, and 2012 has already seen two go with the deaths of Whitney Houston and now a bigger Legend and Icon in Dick Clark, a Producer, Host, and man of Music and Dance fame with American Idol and more.

         Wether it is true they go in threes I have no idea or proof, but if they do, then who would be next I have no idea. But the sadness about these famous people dying is America is not creating and encouraging enough kids today to be the same way. To be shakers, changers, creators and minds that help the world, we need you if your out there.  Not only does America need such people so does the world over all, for the great ones, change history and life in different parts of the world to make it a better world for all.

      Dick Clark like Whitney Houston will live forever in the minds and hearts of generations of americans who sat and watched his Bandstand, or his New Year’s Eve with Dick Clark each year. His introduction of Motown to public Television and the world was a force in the 1960s and will live forever for Motown shall never die either. Music no matter type, color, race, style, brings together all people and Dick Clark proved that with Bandstand, putting African Americans, Hispanics, Caucasians and all on his Bandstand and letting them enjoy the tunes and dance. His Iconic mind and thoughts united humanity and all races in America, making us a better nation and leading country.

       Over my lifetime, American heros, Idols, Icons and more have died. I could list them but I could never remember all of them. Each meant a different thing to me, and in Dick Clark’s case it was music, dance and fun. But Dick Clark promoted and defended and loved Television and it’s ability to entertain and educate. Thank God he choose the professions he did, for his work brought joy to billions.

        Television from the days I grew up, in the 1960’s, had some of the greatest shows ever on. We had Mutual of Omaha and Disney World, McHale’s Navy, My Favorite Martian, Mr. Ed, My Mother the Car, 77 Sunset Strip, Charlie’s Angels, Combat, Rat Patrol, and many more entertaining and fun-filled shows ranging from comedy to drama and more. We had Variety hours run by the best in the business, Dean Martin, Jackie Gleason, Red Skeleton,Ed Sullivan, these people believed in really entertaining for the money they were paid.

       Among those greats now, joins in Dick Clark to emcee the greatest assemblage of stars in Music, Hollywood, and more in Heaven. I can see Dick now standing by some of the greats who died before him and still entertaining, interviewing and laughing in Heaven. Rest in Peace Dick Clark, and may you put together one heck of a show in heaven and have a good after life.

 

My Religious Thoughts/ My Beliefs


      I received a comment today on a piece I wrote about Jesus and The Bible, claiming I only skirted the issue and know very little about religion or Jesus Christ. I never said I was an authority on this subject, just that I was expressing my views on it and why I chose not to be dedicated to it or attend church on a weekly basis or even holidays of the church. I find it interesting that a reader would send a comment such as the one, I got. It means to me, that someone was reading and it hit a sore spot in their beliefs and they decided to comment. Good for you!

       As I said before and I shall say again, religion is a choice, some choose to follow and dedicate themselves to and others do not. Religion to me is not the full commitment to a church or a certain religion, it is an internal belief you carry with you daily in your heart, mind and soul. ,yet you do not need a Paster, a Preacher, a Priest to tell you to believe, or to give penance or how to pray. Nor do you have to pay for a religion to build a church, please read your own Bibles if you think I am wrong, one of the first things it does say is, God sees and hears all, no matter where you are!

      Jesus is a figure in time, who was made into a Savior by the Disciples surrounding him and believing in the way he lived and wanted to live. Yet research will show you the man in mortal form had his own faults just like me and you. His story resounds the way it does, because of the portrayal put into pictures and words, not because it is the truth. If you create a church and want a pack of people to follow you, you must have a strong symbol they can worship and believe in.

        The Bible itself, with each chapter and verse is a long tale of creation, exodus, and saving. Each chapter or book is written by a different man, a human being, the imperfections of it can be found if you study it closely. Now I can not say if the events, people or places and times are correct, but I can say this, as a writer and story-teller it is easy to see how the story could be handed down generation to generation to get it completed and accepted by churches world-wide.  Ever wonder how or why we have two versions alone just in the Christian Faith, never mind what the Muslims have and believe, or the Hindus, or the Jews. Why is that so, and where did they all come from? So many stories are written on Jesus, and the times of his life. The stories alone of the creation of the world and the powers it took to create it, well, you can see what I am getting to.

       To the person or persons who made their comment on what I wrote I give you this as my answer, I lived the Catholic Faith from birth to the age of 12 years old. I was baptised, I made my Communion, and Confirmation and went to Sunday School and read my bible many times over. Religion is still a choice, not a forced item in world and American culture. We choose what we believe because it is indeed a constitutional right in America. I tire of people who believe and then force their religion on others or attempt to do so, it is wrong. So please don’t come in my direction telling me I don’t understand religion, Jesus or the Bible, because I do very well. Step back yourself and question your own beliefs and make sure you are right enough to believe them yourself, before you try to force them on another.

       The Catholic Church and many other Religions do not allow women Priest or Paster and that in and of itself is wrong also in my book. Mother Mary could have preached and I believe had her own book for the bible which the Catholic Church disallowed in theirs. Sadly, the simple act of not allowing female Priests or Preachers is wrong, for God Created all Men Equal and that includes women.

         Yes I know there are many different Religions, many different beliefs, all I ask is a right to choose what I want to believe in and not be forced to believe in something I don’t. I also reserve and protect my freedom of speech, whether in the verbal sense or written sense thank you. I shall write, talk and live free, in the Land of The Free !.

      One more note before I end, The Churches of the WOrld are hypocrital, in many ways, and childrena nd young adults have been molested and sexually abused by Priests, Preacher and more world over. They take the one with the accussations against them and swap them from one church to anothe rto hide them, but it doesn’t stop the abuse and molestations.  So if the Chjurch no matter what Religion, does not allow female Priests or Preachers, does not stop the sexual abuse and molestations of children and young adults that happens daily, why should i go to a hypocrital organization totpractice my faith or beliefs when I don’t believe in what it is doing itself.

 

Music lives and Breathes Country !


      Music, so many across the world love music of one kind or another, I think it motivates, it entertains and is pleasant to the ears. Each Generation bring its own type of change to the music industry, by producing different artists and different songs and melodys. Yet one thing remains constant in music if you want it to sell, a singer with a voice who can sing. I know there are rappers, singers, story tellers and more, Rhythm and Blues, Soul and more too,even metal rockers, each unique in what they bring to the music world. For me it is Country Music, the greats Patsy Cline,Reba, Johnny Cash, Loretta Lynn,Kenny Rogers,Hank Williams and his son Hank JR. and Merle Haggard and so many more. Country tells stories of life,love, hopes and fears, years of laughter and even tears. Country is America‘s real music in my heart and mind, for it talks of the world we live in and the way we live and love in it. It even covers disasters, Toby Keith, Brad Paisley,Miranda Lambert, and Tim.

      Then we have shows like American Idol creating icons and singers of so many different types. People with voices that can shake a stadium’s roof and move an audience to their feet. The Voice is doing this also now as it grows in fans, and time on the air, X-Factor is too. For music moves the mortal soul, it makes man and woman whole. It calms, it excites, it makes one laugh and one cry, just as Winona and Naomi Judd. I remember my daughter as a child in 1982, running around the house shortly after she learned to walk, singing Momma’s Crazy, it was a take on their song Momma He’s Crazy over me. My daughter loved the song and the melody, and used to sing it to my first wife, as Momma’s Crazy I laughed but my ex-wife didn’t, but for me turns out my daughter may have been right, lol. Point being, Country Music reaches into the soul the heart and the spirit of Americans and the world, it brings hope and fear, it bring happiness and it brings tears. It has done so for decades and more now and will forever stay strong as long as it keeps coming up with new songs, new stories and new stars. Carrie Underwood when she started on American Idol, told Simon Cowell one day, You sir, do not understand country music, well he didn’t and still doesn’t today, but Carrie Underwood does and is worth 20 million bucks a year today.

        When tragedy hits the world of America as a nation, Country Stars step up with songs about that. When wars happen you hear Toby Keith singing his songs about putting a boot in their ass, it’s the American Way. This is country at it’s best in my opinion. and if I can’t understand what a singer is singing, the lyrics I don’t want to listen to them.

         Music is the basis in many minds, hearts and souls, that brings smiles, tears, motion, laughter and fears to the human heart. Country does it best for me, with it’s ballads, from greats, like Patsy Cline, Hank Williams and yes even Hank Williams Jr. I am not a redneck or a southerner, but the tunes are great when they hit the ears. Josh Turner, Scotty Macready, and others. They bring smiles, laughter, fun and enjoyment god bless country!

 

      

The Writing Bug!


Each day I wonder what subject to cover in my blog, or what story or poem to write. How does one decide what to put in writing and tell the world or private friends or family?  You don’t want your life explained or examined by strangers or anyone else, so you tend to stay with subjects meant for the public to  read and care about.

       I have covered so many subjects on my blog from Politics, Republican primaries, Democratic too, and benefits that will affect the whole senior population over 50 in the United States. Items such as will Social Security be there for those who paid into it, or will it be all borrowed out? Will Medicaid and Medicare still be there, or will they be phased out by the rich so the poor have nothing left to lean on?

       I have covered the Death of a Diva in Whitney Houston, who all now know died a cocaine related death in a bathtub at age 48. The sad loss of such a talented person hits us everyday, in many ways and each of us is affected a little differently.

       Doctors fighting Cancer, illnesses, and more I have written about. I did a story called The Disease which deals with the rising rate of cancer among people in the USA and how it has affected my life and my beliefs and my way of thinking.

       My stories range of love, and death, and Naval life, but the biggest stories I have ever told are family stories the stories of parents gone wrong, children in pain and survivors.

        My poems have ranges the same breath and width of the human soul, from love, to lust, to health and to death, yet I still fight a subject and write as much as I can, hoping humanity will experience and understand what I say and enjoy some of it. Am I wrong for doing so, I doubt it and i don’t tend to use language that can disturb or upset people I write in plain American English is all.

        The hardest part for any story-teller, poem teller or blog writer, is to flesh out what you write about to show the emotions, fears and cares of the people you write on and the scenes have to be vivid and catching too. The subjects can range of course but we all know, what the audience really wants is something to catch their mind and grab them and carry them through the story so they can look at family and friends and show them or repeat it themselves.

       Doris Kearns Goodwin does that, Robert Ludlum did that when he was alive, and Jack London did it also in the early 1900s. Writing such as Poe gave us poems that hit the soul and make us think, Shakespeare wrote so many plays he is never forgotten. Singers and writers write songs of stories and songs of love, they may range from rock and roll to country to even classical, but they still write and pass it all on.

       America’s past and its future is built on writers and the stories, ideas and poems and songs they write. It is a country that learns lessons from the written, sung and spoken words. In the end it can be the writers of all kinds that can bring the world to  peace or destruction by what they write and show to all of us. Writers carry a large responsibility as well as the respect of many in the world. We all look for the items written that touch our souls, hearts and minds and we find them written by people who are in the end human in every way. That is what is called the writing bug that bites many humans in the world.