Food And The Seasons

Thanksgiving is coming up in a couple of weeks and the weather is getting colder. Those two things got me thinking about different foods and what they represent.

As we grow up foods become family traditions. The holidays and the seasons become linked in our minds with these foods to the point where they become one.
Thanksgiving is turkey, sweet potatoes, green bean casserole. Summer is cookouts with hamburgers and brats. Fall is apple cider and donuts. Easter is linked with ham and hard boiled eggs.
The list goes on and on. For each of us it changes based on our family and where we grew up. I am sure that people in the southwest don't see cold weather in the fall as soup time and there are those who don't have the same holiday traditions.

One thing remains the same for all of us, food can bring comfort and memories from our past. Family gathering around the table at grandma's house or a cookout at the beach. We each have memories triggered by smells, tastes, and the time of year.

Whatever these things mean to you, take the time to pause and reflect when you smell dinner in the oven during this holiday season.

Language And Age

I was wondering what to write about then a conversation with a friend gave me an idea.

Our language is made up of words and phrases that came into use because of things that were in common use. Now those things are gone, but the words and phrases remain.

Ice boxes are now refrigerators. We still say don't touch that dial when the television set has no dials. Record players are long gone, yet we still say someone is going on like a broken record. How about dial the phone, take a Polaroid, or play a record.

Kids today grow up without slip covers, party lines, percolators, typewriters, photocopiers, records, reel to reel movies, tape recorders, the ice cream man, and bottle openers.
Is it any wonder our language is so had to learn? What's a student to think when they hear "I'm going to run down to the break room and throw this in the ice box."
How about "He's running around like a chicken with its head cut off."
Life was truly exciting when cars had emergency brakes instead of parking breaks, and you went out to shoot the bull with your friends.

Still it's not so much the words, it's realizing the things they stand for no longer exist that makes one feel old.
Remember out there in the peanut gallery you're only as old as you feel.

The Great Lakes, Gift And Responsblity

I realized how blessed I am to live in a state that's surrounded by water. Michigan is home to many beautiful lakes both large and small, there are rivers and streams everywhere you go, the Upper Peninsula is home to numerous waterfalls, and it all is part of the great lakes basin. We have more freshwater coastline than any other state.
With that fact comes responsibility. We have it and they don't. Others want it and we must guard it for those who will come after us.

It is not fiction to realize a pipeline could be built to move water hundreds of miles to areas that lack it.Nor is it out of the question that a tanker ship could sail in and fill up with hundreds of gallons of our water.
In our area we already have had to deal with the idea of the water being bottled and sold around the country, a problem that goes much further than one company. There many others taking the water out of wells and selling it.

If you look at the history of water in this country you will find many lakes and rivers that are or will soon be dried up. It may seem that a lake like Lake Michigan would not be hurt by a few hundred gallons lost, but it would soon be hundreds of thousands.
This must never be allowed to happen. We must wake up and realize that in the end water is for fighting for not just drinking.

History Has Been Made

It is November the 5Th, 2008, the first day of a brave new world. Last night we the people voted to put an African American politician into the office of President of the United States.
Given the history of prejudice and hate that has been and still is part of the fabric of this country, this is truly extraordinary. One can truly say that it marks a turning point that it is hopefully the beginning of a new chapter in the way we see each other. Not as black, white, red,or brown; but simply as human beans.
What you stand for not what you are, that is all that should matter. One's beliefs not one's race or culture. That is what should matter.
Now is the time to realize that we are all Americans and we must work together to heal the ells of this great nation of ours.
We are each our brothers keeper and if we are going to turn things around we must look past what he is, see who he is, and work together put things right.

Going to Vote

I am going to go vote today. I sometimes wonder if it does any good, but still its a privilege and I want to take advantage of it. Yes a privilege and one that not everyone in this world gets to use. We are blessed by the fact that we live in a nation that believes that we all should have a say in how our government is run.

So at election time we get to decide who will represent us . That person may not do what we thought they would, but we can always vote for someone else next time. After all that's how the system works.

So I will go over to the township hall, stand in line, and when it is my turn I will step inside the voting both and exercise my privilege. Hopefully my candidate will win. Still if he does not I will have done my part to participate in the system that has made this country as great as it is. What ever happens, tomorrow will still come and life will go on.

If you can vote and don't you have hurt not just yourself, but you have made this county weaker by not taking part in the one thing that makes it so great. The right to vote has not always belonged to everyone. It is something that has been fought for and defended by all those who came before us,and we should not take it for granted. It is our privilege and we must take advantage of it.

AN EARLY CHRISTMAS

I went into the local Walmart yesterday and the first thing I saw was a Christmas tree. The sound system was playing Christmas music and there were displays of Christmas candy and gift items. What bothered me was it was only the first day on November.


Every year the stores seem to push the season on us earlier and earlier. In some mad rush to get us to spend money, the displays of Christmas merchandise are put out for us to buy.


If some alien from outer space landed here today he would think that Christmas was all about selling and getting stuff. He would never understand the real meaning of the season. He would not see the caring and the giving. Nor would he understand about the love of your fellow man.


Christmas is a time to share Gods gift of love, His only Son, with those we hold near and dear. It is also the time to share that love with our fellow man. A time to reach out to others and let them know He loves them.


Christmas love is a thing to share all year long, but Christmas season should be about Christmas and has its own place and time. Lets get through with Thanksgiving first and than start celebrating.

Changing Seasons

The yard is full of leaves. It seems only a short while ago that they were bright , green , and on the trees. Than they were full of color painting the landscape in reed and gold. Now they are laying in my yard waiting for me to clean them up.

Time was you could smell burning leaves in the fall, but now they won't let you burn them. Now you mulch them, compost them, or in town rake them out to the street for the city crew to collect. Now they are just a reminder that winter will be here all to soon.

Even without the leaves you know its coming. You see geese flying south and the squirrels have been looking for acorns in the yard. They know it will soon become a cold white landscape. The type of thing that leaves you all to happy to curl up with good book and a cup of hot chocolate. The only good thing about winter is that spring won't be far behind.

By the way when geese fly in a V formation why is one side always longer than the other? Because there are more geese on that side.