The Value of Play

Please welcome Slim Randles as today's Wednesday's Guest. He's here so often he could be called a regular, but Wednesday's Regular doesn't have the same rhythm as Wednesday's Guest, and in my estimation, writing is all about rhythm. I love this essay because I do love to play in the snow, and I miss it here in Texas where it only comes now and then. Reading Slim's post, I couldn't help but think of the new ad campaign sponsored by the the NFL: NFL Rush Play 60 that is part of a nation-wide effort to get kids to go outside and play. Funny thing is that those of us of a certain age didn't need that kind of push. If Mom said, "Go outside and play" we were gone. It's kind of sad that that is not true today. But, I digress. Grab a cup of something to keep you warm on this cold winter day and enjoy. You may have a cookie, read the essay, and then go outside and play. (smile)

The whole thing began right after the first good snow this year. Herb Collins was looking out his window at the point on his small farm where Lewis Creek cuts through a rather steep hill. Neighborhood kids were sledding up there and trying to avoid rocks and one gnarly tree that stuck out. He also noticed that if the kids were successful in avoiding death and destruction, they came to an immediate and violent halt at a submerged log next to the creek.
 
He brought this up at the next unscheduled-but-daily-anyway meeting of the World Dilemma Think Tank down at the Mule Barn. Some executive decisions were made rather suddenly, and construction began the following day.
 
Jim Kennedy showed up driving a Bobcat, Doc brought a chain saw, and Steve had his four-wheel-drive pickup with a big chain in it.

At the end of three hours, a long, sloping gentle run began up by the road and looped around two turns, and ended in a gentle upslope on the far side of the frozen creek.

Of course, this activity ruined what snow cover there was, so the kids looked disappointed.
  
But last week it snowed hard, a good six inches, and the kids went running down to try the new sled run.
  
It wasn’t all that exciting for them. So when Doc and Herb and Dud and Steve showed up, one of the kids politely pointed out to Mr. Collins that they couldn’t really get going very fast down that hill on the new run.
  
“I know that,” said Herb. “But see all those other steep runs you have? You can go break your neck on any of them. This run is for a special purpose.”

“A special purpose, sir?”

Herb nodded. “Steve? If you please.”

And Steve brought out the toboggan from his pickup truck, and the old guys took turns being kids once more down their own sledding run.

Brought to you by “Strange Tales of Alaska,” by Slim Randles. Now available on Amazon.com.

Friday's Odds and Ends

Here we are at day 3 of the Arctic Blast that is affecting much of the United States. The way the media is going crazy with reports you would think we never had winter before. Granted, winter does not usually come this early. I can't remember freezing temperatures before December here in Texas, but then my memory is not what it used to be.

I was worried about that - my memory not the snow - until my sister sent the following to me:

Brains of older people are slow because they know so much.  People do not decline mentally with age, it just takes them longer to recall facts because they have more information stored in their brains, scientists believe. 

Researchers say this slowing down is not the same as cognitive decline.  The human brain works slower in old age, said Dr.Michael Ramscar, but only because we have stored more information over time.The brains of older people do not get weak. On the contrary, they simply know more, but just may not be able to access the information.

Also, older people often go to another room to get something and when they get there, they stand there wondering what they came for.  It is NOT a memory problem, it is nature's way of making older people do more exercise.  SO THERE!!

Whew! I feel so much better now.

Did you know that Medicare fraud adds as much as 10% to health care costs? Peggy Sposato is a data analyst for the Justice Department, and she pioneered a program that uses Medicare billing data to target suspected fraud. It is estimated that she has saved the taxpayers billions of dollars since the mid 1990s when she assumed her current position. As much as $20 billion a year is lost to Medicare fraud, and AARP has some helpful links that you can use to help spot and report fraud.  

An interesting commentary by Ruben Navarrette carried this headline: Life isn't far and never will be, so get over it.

Ruben went on to say that Americans need to stop listening to populist rhetoric and accept the many injustices of our system. He then quotes JFK, "There is always inequity in life...It's very hard...to assure complete equality. Life is unfair."

One point that Ruben made in his commentary is that sometimes dealing with the unfairness in life is what makes us stronger

He also seemed to be saying that instead of jumping on every claim of "unfairness" we should work on just accepting the reality and figuring out how to live within that reality.

One of the most absurd news items I read this past week was about Arnold Abbot, a 90-year-old man who was arrested in Fort Lauderdale for violating an ordinance that restricts public feeding of the homeless. 

Really? The police couldn't just tell him to pack up the food and go away?

Now I'll leave you with a bit of humor from One Big Happy by Rick Detorie. Ruthie is sitting at the table with her father, Frank, who is helping her with her math homework. He says, "You have 22 carrot sticks on you plate. If your friend Sam takes six sticks and your Friend Tessa takes four sticks... But Tessa returns two sticks... How many carrot sticks are on your plate?"

Ruthie thinks for a few moments and her father asks, "Shouldn't you be writing down some numbers, Ruthie?"

"First of all... I don't know who these people are. Secondly, if I did know them, I would never eat with them. Thirdly, it's a stupid question. Who wants to steal carrots?

"Now, if they were French fries? Maybe."

Brother Joe pipes up with, "She makes a good point, Dad."

I knew there was a reason I relate so much to Ruthie. I hated those word problems in school, too. What about you?

Have a great weekend everyone.
 

Monday Morning Musings

As I saw the clock winding down to noon, I thought of the song, "Monday Morning Coming Down." That was a classic from Johnny Cash, so I thought I would share that video with you.



I was gone over the weekend to the art fair in Killeen, Texas, and came home to an ice storm in North Texas. It is really, really cold here, and I spent most of the morning deicing water and feed pans for my outside animals and getting them hay and feed.

While I was freezing my tush off, my dog, Poppy didn't mind the cold at all. She still wanted me to throw the ball and she didn't even mind it when she slid across the ice.

Can you see the ball by her front paw?

When I finished all the outside work, I was happy to come back into the house and get a hot cup of coffee. Then it was time to catch up with e-mails that had piled up over the weekend, which left little time for writing a new blog.

So enjoy the music, and I will see you on Wednesday. Hopefully, by then I will be back on schedule.

Wednesday's Guest - Slim Randles

I can always count on my friend, Slim Randles, to share something fun with us. Got to love these guys down at the Mule Barn coffee shop. Meanwhile, I'm over at the Blood Red Pencil with a little fun of my own. Enjoy....

If you didn’t know what time of the year it was, or what the weather was like, you could tell simply by eavesdropping at the philosophy counter of the Mule Barn coffee shop. Let’s give it a try.

“Good to see you here, Doc,” said Herb Collins. “That warm water on the battery trick work for you?”

“Thanks, Herb. Yep. I tried it this morning. What’s that you got there?”

“Travel thingie. You know it’s more than 80 degrees in Guatemala … right now?”

“Saw a deal on TV,” Dud said. “They’re water skiing in Florida. You can go fishing down there all year round.”

“You going to Guatemala, Herb?” said Doc.

“Maybe. Been thinking about it. I don’t know much Spanish, though.”

“All you need to know,” said Dud, “is ‘Hace mucho calor,’ Herb.”

“What’s that mean?”

“Sure is hot!”

“I was just thinking yesterday,” said Doc, “of the unsung beauty of sweat. You know, we take sweat for granted in summer. Heck, we even dislike it and go swimming to wash it off.”

“That’s a fact,” Dud said.

“But I think it would be kinda fun to sweat right now. You know, just sit in a hot sun and bask like an old lizard and sip iced tea…”

“… and wear dark glasses,” said Herb.

“ … and watch girls in bikinis,” said Dud.

They looked at him.

“Around here?”

“Well, no. I mean, Guatemala or Florida, you know.”

“Yeah,” said Herb. “Guatemala.”

About that time Loretta came up. “You boys want your coffees topped off, or should I just turn the hose on you?”

They shoved their cups forward and grinned.

“Sale on snow shovels down at the hardware store,” said Doc.

“Heard that,” said Dud.

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Brought to you by Slim’s award-winning book “A Cowboy’s Guide to Growing Up Right.” Learn more at http://www.nmsantos.com/Slim/Slim.html

Record Snowfall in Texas

The winter storm that blanketed much of North and East Texas in snow overnight Thursday surprised even forecasters. After watching the latest weather report Thursday at about 10, I went to bed expecting to wake up to three or four inches of snow.

Then in the middle of the night I heard the ominous sound of limbs breaking. This after I spent a good hour knocking as much snow as I could off branches that were getting weighed down Thursday evening.

We got a record eight to eleven inches of snow, and while it is beautiful to look at -- and made for some lovely pictures -- it created havoc on a lot of levels. Many people were, and still are without power, and roads were slippery.

This morning I went out to assess the damage and found numerous large branches down. Some too big for me to even try to move. Two trees came down, too. One on my front fence and one on my back fence.

My very nice neighbor who used to help me move trees that fell -- he had a huge tractor with a front loader and could pick those trees up like they were nothing -- has moved away. So I guess I will have to find someone who is handy with a chainsaw and wants to earn a little extra money.