Nov. 22

Holy catfish litterman! I've been throwing the things I clean out of Tomi's litter box every morning over the seawall into the lake. I've been unknowingly chumming the cat fish. You should see the size of some of them! Would have never thought that cat fish would like the stuff that cats do?

We've got the sun here this morning, shinning a little light on all the subjects. "I can see clearly now, but the rain is coming. I can see all obstacles in my way." It sure does wonders in stirring up thought in the old mind but maybe a little too much. Too much thought can hinder the 'think what to type' chore and I believe that phenomenon has struck. Struck me down in the prime of thought!

68* at this time with a brisk wind out of the south. Made for an enjoyable warm walk. Can't hardly believe this weather but a little harder to believe are the horse flies in November.

Another thing that will be of no interest is this morning I did my 1001, 1002 and 1003 miles so far for this year. Also finished my 65th library book yesterday. Ain't got time to oil the hinges, nor to mend the window pane.

And I do know that in a lot of cases shorter isn't necessarily better but it certainly is when it comes to my typed notes. Short here is always good. Today again, I'm doing my part. "It’s gonna be a bright, bright Sun-Shiny day." at least until about noon they say.
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If I have been of service, if I have glimpsed more of the nature and essence of ultimate good, if I am inspired to reach wider horizons of thought and action, if I am at peace with myself, it will have been a successful day.~Alex Noble

Nov. 17

It looks as if a lot of the lake doesn't realize it's over as it appears that some of it is attempting to escape the torment of being impounded or dammed and then being tortured by the big boats, the PWC's and the speed demon's. The escape attempt is in the form of vapors or better know as fog, lifting off the surface of the lake big time this morning. I think some of the rising moisture will probably hang around then in retaliation, try to catch a lagging boater or two to dump on.

Seems to be quite an abnormal bunch of fish jumping out there this morning too. I believe they may be jumping in glee as there are no boats and were very few yesterday. Now for the rest of the year and way into next, the fishes biggest worry will come mostly from the fishermen. Happy times are back for all the lake dwellers.

If there is anything interesting that I know it is playing hide and seek in my mind. It's hide appears to be a heck of a lot better than my seek so the end is near. Of course there is always that almost guaranteed possibility that I know nothing that would be of interest to many anyway..........
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The happiness of your life depends upon the quality of your thoughts: therefore, guard accordingly, and take care that you entertain no notions unsuitable to virtue and reasonable nature.--- Marcus Aurelius

Nov. 15

I have heard "no news is good news" many, many times and believe that it could be true depending on the reference. Not many moons ago I missed the late news and weather but caught a clip on a Columbia channel saying something like "7 on 17 coming up". I know this means 7 minutes of news and weather without a commercial so I hung around.

Gag! The station then flipped to a basketball game in progress. I was able to read at the bottom that there was only a little over a minute left so I watched a bit and waited. Watched long enough to decide basketball to be one of the most ignorant games ever to mess with regular TV watching. What with purposeful fouls, timeouts and all the other silly goings on, gees, I had to wait over 40 minutes as they ran from one end of the court to the other, stumbled and banged each other through that last 83 seconds. Does this sound ridicules?

Anyway, I subjected myself to what was, for over 40 minutes waiting for the news that turned out to be no news. Not good, not good at all!!!!

Sad all this typing resulted in news that turned out to be no news. Not good, not good at all!!!!
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News is only a wonder for some and a leader of others. With the biased coverage of today's happenings, some will accept it as gospel while the less gullible will always wonder what the real story might be. Some even wonder enough to flip channels.~Anon

Nov 14

A short note is better than no note......probably not for you but it does me all kinds of good.

My blood has got to course through my huge oversized body which slows it down getting to my brain. Too, I think the body uses up quite a bit of the fresh nutrients or whatever kind of stuff it is that the blood picks up somewhere as it flows along. Anyway, I believe the old brain is getting short changed which causes it to attempt storing the stuff instead of letting it out to the mind. The mind gets sluggish and begins to coast along creating a 'duh' type syndrome. Even a short note squeezes the mind like a tube of toothpaste and forces some of the crap to flush. Soooo.. could that explain why these notes are always so crappy.

It is said that an idle mind is a fertile ground for undesirable thoughts and that is another reason why a note of any kind is good for me......You know, anything at all to get the mind past idle.

Well, I think I have it pretty well flushed now. Guess I'll go out and try to find something to use it on.
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"Minds like razors remain sharp and bright, only if kept in use, otherwise they rust." M.K. Soni

Nov. 13

GREAT DAY IN THE MORNING!



Isn't it great to wake up with the realization that God has granted you another day? Mornings are just about my favorite time of day. My two favorite happy times are going to bed, I really like that, and getting up. In between that the times are good too, but for some reason it doesn't very often produce near the thrill.

Because my between times are mostly left to me to fill in as I desire I took the time to make the sound wave that accompanies this message. You might need to turn your sound up. Some still may not be able to hear it and I'm sorry even if you're not. Gotta go on to other filler activities now.
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…a man should say to his soul every morning, "God has given thee twenty-four treasures; take heed lest thou lose anyone of them, for thou wilt not be able to endure the regret that will follow such loss." -Al-Ghazzali

Nov. 12

I've been trying to figure out if I'm just dumb or stupid. I go out almost every day and blow all the leaves off the road and porches then at night they all blow back with a few new ones added. I'm going to go with dumb. Being dumb does finally sink in, sinks in clear to the bottom doesn't it? That realization is how the term 'dumb ass' originated. I'm thinking a lot of dumb evaporates with age........Not all of it of course there will always be some residue that can't be washed away.

I was blessed with a tiny bit larger than normal appendage on my body and have had to suffer with it all my life. Unfortunately, it's the one hanging below my eyes. It has been like a blinder for the left eye but doesn't seem to increase my smelling abilities should I roll the eyes to the right and vice versa. I've lived okay with that but this CPAP machine and related swelling spreading my nose out, has began to cause it to become a part of my straight ahead view now. Because of my right eye being the prominent one, the nose looks like a one-sided tree in the middle of everything I look at. Squinting thru swollen eyes compound this problem somewhat too. Did you ever try to type with a one-sided tree between you and the keyboard? It sure puts a capital C on Challenge. Nah, it isn't all that bad.

Now if you've stayed with me this far, you shall be rewarded! I bid you a great day and will type no more to this!
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"And remember, also," added the Princess of Sweet Rhyme, "that many places you would like to see are just off the map and many things you want to know are just out of sight or a little beyond your reach. But someday you'll reach them all, for what you learn today, for no reason at all, will help you discover all the wonderful secrets of tomorrow." -Norton Juster

Nov 11

Sitting around here in this warm 54 degree weather just waiting for the rain to strike. The forecast of rain makes it only a possibility so who knows. I think weather forecasting is a tricky game and they are wrong quite often. Now if they give you a 70% chance of rain, with the 40% of the times that they are wrong, what would really be our chance for rain, humm?

So with that...... on with this vegetarian note. We haven't been involved in anything that is worthy of mentioning. We haven't had any great inspiring thoughts pass thru our heads or at least hang around long enough for us to notice them. Jump down, spin around, do the regular stuff. Jump down, spin around, do it all again. I'm kinda liking it myself but it sure serves up a nothing to sink your teeth into. Makes a meatless kind of note, doesn't it.

Dory is pretty much off her bridge today. That isn't right! I mean to tell you she is going to spend most of the day, as she does almost every Thursday, in Rocky Mount playing bridge. She plays there along with several other retired oldies, all exercising their brains hoping to improve the chance that their minds might hang in there with them a little longer. Ask me sometime if I think it is working. Of course they enjoy playing too! Wonder where I came up with that mind thing? Maybe I should learn the game.

Anyway, I stay here at the ranch and watch over the live stock while I read and eat sunflower seeds....Or do a few things on the list of things to do that Dory always leaves for me.
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Good friends, good books and a sleepy conscience: this is the ideal life.~Mark Twain

Nov 10

Well what do you know? We're blessed with another brisk beautiful morning. 49 degrees with a huge sun peeking thru the trees on yon side of the cove as it prepares to mount it's place in the sky. A good nights sleep behind us that always allows you and your conscience to meld and repair the problems of the days past leaving you feeling clean and with a renewed vigor for the life ahead in spite of all of it's crooks and crevices.

After Dory's tests and after the visit with the cancer doctor to find out that he was sure enough of things to release her from any future visits was a large contributor to the greatness of last nights sleep. However, he does suggest that she continue with a yearly chest x-ray along with the blood tests but that will be through the family doctor. Also, if anything should come to worry us he will always be available.

With you and yours, we hope all things are as well or better than you expected them to be!
-------------------------------------------------------------Beginning today, treat everyone you meet as if they were going to be dead by midnight. Extend to them all the care, kindness and understanding you can muster, and do with no thought of any reward. Your life will never be the same again. ~Og Mandino

Nov. 9

Shoot! I've always believed that I was a very thoughtful person but I must have been wrong! For the life of me I can't think of a thing worthy of typing. It has been that way for some time now, you as my witness.

I suspect that a lot of folks are like me and can't really read when being bothered by music. So I added a little music to this mornings note in hopes of fussing the fact there is no content. Only thing wrong is for some, I had to cut it short, not knowing if they were still using a dial-up service or not. If you don't have a pretty fast server I'm sorry about the music.

Will say that we found a dead armadillo in the ditch across from Reeds on our street. Think another animal and the dead one must have fought because of the torn up leaves in a ten or twelve foot area. Lots of blood there too and from the looks of the claws on the armadillo I'd bet all the blood didn't come from him.

Anyway, where there is life there is hope and both of us here woke up full of it this morning. We're trusting you did too!

We're on our way to Columbia for Glenda's regular six month checkup with the cancer doctor. By the way, she has passed the magical five year mark cancer free.
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I still believe in Hope - mostly because there's no such place as Fingers Crossed, Arkansas.~Molly Ivins

Nov. 8

The tree leaves are turning colors now but only about a trillion have fallen so far. I believe fall has fell. I kind of like fall and winter too, as far as that goes, but my beloved wife doesn't possess even a tiny bit of good thought as it relates to winter. People still have to play the cards they are dealt unless you can afford to cheat. We can't so another winter here in good old Missouri. Dory will also be playing the hands she's dealt playing bridge twice a week then Mahjong once a week.......If! there is anyone left to play with.

Matter of fact, here shortly there will be about eight women to join her in their weekly session of gossip and Mahjong.

If it's mind over matter my mind is really mattered up this morning. No more than I usually say anyway isn't worth sitting here beating myself this morning so I bid you good bye.
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Sometimes the mind, for reasons we don't necessarily understand, just decides to go to the store for a quart of milk.~Diane Frolov and Andrew Schneider

Nov. 6

I'm going to tell you what.......Glenda and I have unknowingly thrown away, stomped on, hauled off and cussed tens of thousand of dollars in the past many years.

During a visit to the wonderful Wal-Mart store in Osage Beach Saturday we noticed many five and a half pound bags of, get this................crushed acorns. And they were priced at ten dollars per bag!

My goodness, our stupidity and complete lack of imagination has caused us a lot of aggravation over the years and now we learn it has also cost us a hell of a lot of possible income.

I think the use of such, was to pour the bag of stuff into a pile in an area where, from your stand, the enticed deer would come in close and into your view as they hungrily threw caution to the wind and rush in to feed on the treat.

Tho, the lawn, road and woods are running over with acorns these in the package are crushed! I suppose someone is certain that being crushed would be a big enough draw to encourage the deer to walk over thousands of pounds of whole acorns just to get to that little five plus pound pile. I don't know, every time we drive up the road we probably crush twenty five pounds of the things and have yet to see a deer cleaning any of them up.

A fairly cool sunny day with a nasty wind blowing will probably help us become more familiar with what is within the walls of this house including the old recliner most of the day. I did catch a few Crappie yesterday that I probably should bite the bullet and clean after while. But I might wait for a warmer time or maybe just free them. We always keep a mess available to cook and eat so don't need anymore.

I can see me now, a bullet between my teeth and a knife clasped in my cold shriveled up fingers as I shakily hold the fish to the board and begin filleting it. I always use an electric knife and will today, but due to the shaky body stuff I might not need to plug it in.
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Always acknowledge a fault. This will throw those in authority off their guard and give you an opportunity to commit more.-Mark Twain

Nov. 5

I've got a huge 'useless' list of things I want to accomplish today. You know how it goes, when Dory arrives on the scene is when my list becomes useless and her list mysteriously becomes the only one. You would think her list would be a 'WE DO' but it isn't, it is just a 'HUNKY DO' list. Stupid me, I'm lovin' it!

It's pretty hard to type because of the great big smile obstructing my vision to the key board. Yep, I'm a hunt and pecker but I do use three fingers to type my ignorance conveyance's. However I usually use only one finger when trying to convey my message to most of the inconsiderate dock breaking boaters that have no idea what no wake means. I guess some of them know but don't care. Anyway, their readily noted absence this morning is what has pasted the big grinny smile.

Retired life is grand and as you can see I really have got to search hard to find something to complain about. I search hard because based on all my years of experience and noting how they do it on the news, people want to hear of trials and tribulations of others rather than any of the happy stuff that abounds most everywhere.

I wouldn't need to search for a sad happening if the recent memory of the results of our Tuesday Boonville gambling boat visit wasn't sickly fresh and so terribly painful in my mind. It just hurts too much to type about!

So as it really is, is not necessarily said. It's kind of like reaching in after you've mixed up a bunch of words, grabbing a handful then throwing them at the computer. You get to read what sticks. That could be good ....or that could be bad. Either way your emergency button should work just fine.



Happy begets happiness. Make someone happy today.

Nov. 1

It's Larry not tarry and tarry I cannot do. Oh, I guess I could but it isn't what I want to do right now. Boy, retired life is great! It is so good to be able to do only what you want to do. Err, there is a bit of a problem with the truth here..... I live with a bossy wife.

This day began pretty cool around here. The temperature gauge had it at 49 for a short spell this morning. 49* sets up for a cool walk but cool seems to be what most younger folks and some of the older ones want to be. We're told that we might expect the temp to get clear up to 58*. 68* was the word for yesterday but it didn't quite make it. Life is but a dream sweet heart.

Living in Missouri for so long, THE WEATHER has conditioned us to adversity and if by chance that hasn't been enough, the fact that we've been married for more than twenty five years puts us capable of accepting just about anything. Because most things DURING THE LAST 25 YEARS of MY life HAVE BEEN controlled by the MY other (GLENDA), (WHICH CAUSES ME THE MOST PRACTICE IN HANDLING ADVERSITY), my schooling has been a bit more extensive enabling me to be more apt at it than SHE.

I guess it takes time to think or taking the time to think before many everyday things become more meaningful. I've just recently realized that the row, row, row your boat, gently down the stream, merrily, merrily, live is but a dream, is not just a children's little ditty. Wow, I may be maturing.

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I believe-That regardless of how hot and steamy a relationship is at first, the passion fades and there had better be something else to take its place.~Unknown