November 2009: Chicken Fingers for the Soul or Random Thoughts That Pass Through My Mind And Stick There Like A Cheap Magnet Sticks To A Refrigerator Door

In the fall of the year, as a pale yellow sun fades slowly in the sky, there is nothing quite like a smoky haze on the horizon and the sweet smell of leaves burning in the distance.

After watching some recent awards shows and tuning in a bit on the radio, I have determined I liked today’s country music much better when we called it pop music back in the 1970s.

Yes, I know some folks really like Christmas. I do too. Must we though begin to celebrate it right after Halloween? Can’t we properly honor our veterans on Veterans’ Day and then celebrate Thanksgiving first? Halloween weekend a local radio station began airing Christmas music twenty-four-hours-a-day-seven-days-a-week. That weekend, we also noticed a house in our neighborhood which has a large Snoopy on the side of their house with an electronic countdown in large red numbers of the days, hours and minutes left until Christmas. I hope the kids in that house have a really super Christmas because if all they get is a small red ball tied to a paddle by a rubber band after almost two months of anticipation then the let down is going to be as great as another Garth Brooks comeback.

Laughter may be the best medicine but if you’ve got the crud some strong cough medicine works better than a ‘knock, knock’ joke.

I do not understand why Gomez Addams’s expression “capital idea” from the TV show “The Addams Family” never became a household catch phrase.

I recently spent four hours with a vice-like grip on a leaf blower but am glad I had my iPod along for the journey. At one point, while waist deep in leaves, I thought I would never finish the task before me. After shutting off the leaf blower my body pulsated for a few more hours like I was still clutching the leaf blower. Despite the constant trembling, it was not enough to shake “Living on Tulsa Time” out of my head.

I am glad we live in a community just remote enough where a train whistle can still be heard in the distance when things grow quiet enough. Even now when I hear such a whistle, it makes me realize what a lonesome sound it really is. And then the whistle fades away and total silence engulfs the moment. And in that moment, the sound of silence becomes even more lonesome sounding.

You know there are a lot of inventions I would like to see but maybe none more than something that could automagically transport a body from one place to another without waiting in traffic or having to go through an airport security line.

And on a related topic, it’s almost 2010; shouldn’t we be getting around in car-plane things like the Jetsons by now?

While I am no slave to fashion, I do admit I own some pretty ugly shoes. After looking around though at some of the shoes other people wear, I think I may be somewhat fashionable after all.

How in the world did a large wheel come off our garbage can at home and where did it go?

I am thankful to be surrounded by a wife and by family and friends who treat me better than I should ever hope to be treated. I wish the same for you.