Friday Tidings

The car’s air conditioning kept me cool, but Grandma insisted we step outside in the glaring sun and relentless heat. Not one to argue, at least not audibly, I slid out and joined her on the hot sidewalk. We stood without speaking, watching a solemn procession following a black hearse into the cemetery. We’d come to town for farm supplies and this was a detour I hadn’t expected. But once Grandma saw the procession, she and every other person in proximity stopped what they were doing to “pay their respects”. This was a first for me. Oh sure, I knew about the Vietnam war.  Even at twelve I was aware that young men were traveling halfway across the world to fight communism. Although I had no clue what fighting communism meant.   But what it meant today was evident. In the glare of the mid-afternoon sun, a family gathered around an open grave. We watched in silence as a group of men hoisted a flag-draped casket and slowly walked to the gravesite. I obse...

I love beach walks; the salt air clears my mind. It’s also my go-to place when I’m thinking about those who are struggling.  I have a friend whose journey is filled with anguish. Her future could get better, but she can’t seem to move forward. I can relate. Some people get frozen in bitterness, others are weighed down with regrets. For me, it was self-loathing. For her, it’s debilitating sadness.  For some, moving forward into the unknown seems worse than staying someplace unhealthy.  But for things to get better, change has to happen, even when it’s hard and a bit scary. They say that the things that break us can make us better people. But who wants to be broken? Well, at the beach we can take a lesson from the crab.  As a crab grows it must periodically shed its hard shell. Keeping the old one isn’t an option. Shed it or die. But once crabs shed their shell they’re vulnerable. They stay sheltere...

First off, I do support federal medical research to find cures for deadly and debilitating diseases. But there’s a bunch of federally-funded scientific waste. Highlights of your tax dollars at work: Did you know that birds given alcohol-laced grape juice slur their songs? Why do people spill coffee when they walk? Researchers discovered that walking slower will “reduce the chance of spilling.” Duh. Americans forked over almost two million dollars to find out if we could outrun a dinosaur. Another half-million was spent studying whether or not Facebook is addictive. Even with our separation of church and state, taxpayers gave $3.5 million to figure out why the face of Jesus appears on toast. I bet you didn’t know that congressional female Democrats are less feminine than Republican congresswomen. Thankfully we only spent $50,000 on that National Science Foundation grant. Speaking of Republicans and Democrats, almost a m...

It has been said that our society cannot depend on what happens at the White House; our nation’s success depends on what happens in our house. Success at home has a lot to do with Mom. Here’s why: A mom knows that the clock is unforgiving. It doesn’t make allowances for sick kids at 2 AM or for the boss expecting a report on his desk by 8:30 the same morning. That’s life. On school days, moms can simultaneously make breakfast, pack lunches, find the youngest’s missing shoe, feed the dog, and help the oldest with the science experiment in the garage, all before backing out of the driveway with enough time to drop everyone off and get to work on time. While driving through traffic to get home before soccer practice for one kid, and piano for the other, a mom constructs the evening meal in her head, knowing what’s in the cupboard and refrigerator. She commandeers pots and pans, feeds the crew, cleans up, and heads out with...