Participation Trophy

One of my favorite days in elementary school was when the whole school participated in a track meet. I don’t for the life of me remember what the day was specifically called but it was a school wide track meet. We would practice during physical education and everyone in class was selected for an event. There would be all of the normal track meet events, with a few like the three legged race thrown in. I can remember it would usually be in the spring towards the end of the year. It was fun and it was one of our first encounters with competition.

     They tried to put you in an event category where you could be competitive. I was a distance runner so I usually ran those types of races. They would set us up at the starting line, blow the whistle and we were off to the races literally. It felt good to run and look over your shoulder to see who might be getting ready to pass you. I personally like the look on the person’s face when you were doing the passing. You gave it all you had because you wanted to win. There was no better feeling than to win a race. 

        At the end of the events, there would be an awards assembly.  It was akin to the Olympics medal ceremony.  You would stand up in front of your classmates and take your blue ribbon or red ribbon if you got second.  That’s the way it was then. If you didn’t place you went home empty handed. There was no ribbon for the refrigerator door.  There was no reward.  Your parent’s would say that they were proud of you and that you gave it your best but it was a bitter feeling to lose.  You saw it as a learning lesson. Life is made up of winners and losers. You don’t want to lose, you had two options, don’t participate or try harder next time. If you don’t like that feeling it was up to you to try and make sure that you never felt it again.  I get it; some of us are not the most athletically inclined.   We do the best with what the Good Lord gave us. The secret is to always do your best, win or lose you have no regrets.

Losing hurts there is no doubt about it. How many grown athletes have you seen physically exhausted crying because they came up short in their goals of winning the big one.  It doesn’t make you less of a man or woman to shed tears because you lost.  It shows humanity and I respect that.  On the other hand I have absolutely no respect for a sore loser. Lose with dignity.

   Now that was in fact a fairly long introduction to my point which is this.  There should never ever be a participation trophy. That is a recipe for disaster.  I do not want to give my child an award for just showing up and participating. Some would say that it is not good that a child should feel bad for losing. I will unapologetically say that losing is part of life. At some point in everyone’s life we experience losing. I will say once again that losing sucks. I do not know how else to put it.  It is a bitter feeling that is hard to deal with sometimes. It doesn’t matter if it’s losing a promotion to a co-worker or losing a tennis match to a friend, we all have a competitive side and sometimes it drives us to be better. What we teach our children by awarding the participation trophy is, I don’t even have to try and I am going to be rewarded. So then enters the thought, hey why try if I am going to get an award anyway? I am not saying that everyone thinks this way but there are those who do.  What happens if I show up for work but don’t put in the hours? Can I ask my boss for a paycheck?  Hey boss I participated I was here.  Life does not work that way.  

I want my children and grandchildren to know I do not care if you lose as long as you gave it your all. You are not going to win at everything that you do.  Even the best lose occasionally because we all have a bad day. Losing does not define you. What defines you is the character that losing promotes within you. Is it the character to try harder or to just quit? If you chose the latter, I hope that you enjoy your mantle full of participation ribbons and trophies. I will be living in the real world trying my hardest to be a winner, if I lose occasionally, I will pick myself up and try harder. By the way the fact that you try your best makes you a winner already.

Kenney Pope
http://radiomandjservice.com 

To Text or Not to Text That is the Question

My morning started like every morning does. I grab my morning coffee and head out to the back patio. Just on the other side of the sliding glass door, my morning perch awaits.  I sit in silence watching my dogs as they take care of their business and I scroll through Facebook like I am reading the morning newspaper. I am usually up first, after about 20 minutes or so Cynthia makes her way to the patio. It’s usually good morning or the like. There is some small talk but Cynthia is not a morning person so I will let her wake up before I try to carry on a conversation. So there we both are sitting in silence with phones in hands scrolling through social media.  I feel like every one of my friends have become celebrities and I can’t wait to see what is happening in their lives each and every day.  Am I alone in this fascination or are there others beginning their day the same way.  I mean I understand wanting to keep in touch but has social media become an addiction?  I find that a lot of the time, me and Cynthia find ourselves talking about stories, videos and or pictures we see on social media. Who would have thunk it years ago?

     Okay so here we are with a good chunk of time spent holding a phone in our hands. I just painted our picture and you know it’s true.  My question is….. What is the primary purpose of a phone? Well 20 years ago it would have been a simpler answer. It would have been to call someone or to take a call from someone. But that is not the case so much anymore. Nowadays it’s all about texting someone. I rarely get phone calls anymore from family members it usually a series of text messages.  Don’t get me started on a group text. My family consists of about 40 people and when you put everyone on a group text it’s a day of getting interrupted by someone texting it up with another family member. Then you have that person that wants to text you and they can type 50 lines to your 1 you are so far behind their questioning that it’s a lost cause.  Just for the record, my fingers are huge and I can punch a lot of keys at once, so slow down speed racer if you want to text with me.  Mmmmm hey here is an idea friggin call me and we can keep up just fine with a conversation. 

     Look I get it; sometimes it takes a lot out of you to deal with certain people. The complaining family member that always has something wrong with them, just send them a text. You can erase the text list of complaints. It’s a convenience I know it is for me. I text message Cynthia every day when I get to work, so she knows I made it.  Just know that if the text doesn’t come at a certain time the proper authorities will be called. She takes it quite seriously.  I am not saying not to text, just saying pick up the phone and place a call every once in a while.  Being a hermit sucks and you will enjoy human contact once again.   

Call me let’s do lunch (no Texts please)

Kenney Pope 

A Dog's Life

As I prepare to wrap up for the day, I think about all that I have at home waiting for me.  I have a house full of love. I am surrounded by caring human beings.  I am not at all lacking for human interaction. I will say that for all I have, one of the most enjoyable parts of the day is walking through the front door of my house.  I am greeted by my little fur baby that treats me like she has not seen me in years. It does not matter if I am gone for five minutes or gone for days she is always happy to see me. She is approximately 17 years old and has some trouble getting around sometimes but she always makes her way to wherever I am just to let me know she missed me.  Unconditional love and eager to please me, pretty much sums it up. 

    Most everyone can relate to being a dog owner at one time or another. They are acquired various ways. You can find one at the animal shelter, have one given to you by friends, buy one from an individual or the ever popular adopt one when one of your children leaves it behind for one reason or another. Mine was the latter. My daughter did not have a place for her in the apartment when she moved because of apartment rules so I inherited her.  This dog has been my shadow for the last 10 years. Wherever I am, you will find her there.  If I am taking a shower she will patiently wait for me, sitting anxiously on the bathroom floor. She has her tail, just a wagging away.  Her mission in life is to please me.  

       This is pretty heavy but along with all of that affection there is a lot of responsibility.  You see the dog did not choose me, I chose it. She had no say in where she would wind up.  It’s my job to shelter, feed, clean, and clean up after this little 5 pound pooping machine. In return for my caring for the dog, (she may not verbally say it but she appreciates it) I get a companion for the duration of her life. I get an extension of my family. I get a protector and someone who lets me know when things aren’t right. I get someone to laugh with or at depending how you look at it.  I will say that I believe dogs know how to love. Maybe it’s in a way they know how and we don’t fully understand the extent of it but I honestly believe that they do.  I don’t know how else to explain the running to the door when I get home. I don’t know how to explain the way her eyes light up when she sees me.  I know that she knows I feed her, its way deeper than that, or at least I imagine it is.  

        I was raised around dogs. It seems we always had a dog or two around our house. I learned to respect a dog’s space and how to approach and not show fear.  I learned what breeds I personally like and fit my lifestyle and which breeds are not for me.  You can choose an active dog or one with a little more laid back lifestyle. My 5 Lb. Chihuahua fits me perfectly, not so much everyone else. I was not aware that they were single owner dogs. That means if you are around no one else matters. That is the way they are wired they can’t help it. When she was younger she was a bit more playful and active. She has slowed down a bunch, that’s okay so have I.  She is getting a lot of gray and I know that she will not be around forever.  I just want to give her a life she never asked for. I want to give her a life full of love   and happiness. I know that there are few things in life like the love you get from your dog.

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Small Talk

Some have it some don’t. That is what I have always been told. Some people can talk to anyone. Others are more withdrawn and don’t speak unless spoken to.  I have the gift of gab for the most part. I think I learned from the best. My dad has always been the most personable human I have ever known. He can talk to anyone. It’s no wonder I never meet a stranger.  Being in sales and especially outside sales, you had better know how to create some small talk. Being in radio for a period of time, you run across fans of the station. You meet a lot of people and they want to meet you and get to know you.  It was sometimes a little tougher to socialize with a mass of people and I always felt a little uncomfortable in the bigger social scenes. I am a good talker and prefer the one on one rather than the mass of people. The problem with the radio crowd was a perception problem. You come across over the airwaves one way and when they meet you for the first time it’s totally different. I always tried to be myself on the air and I think for the most part I was genuine. Cynthia likes to give me a hard time because of what she calls my radio voice.  In my everyday life apparently I talk a certain way and on the air my voice is a little different.  My voice is what most people recognize. I never knew how to take it when people said that I did not look anything like I sounded. Do you see what i just did? That is known as small talk.   Sorry got a little sidetracked. Sometimes it’s hard to create small talk, especially if you are the one doing all of the talking.  I was reminded of this all too well yesterday as I signed a contract for a DJ event. I was trying to make small talk to make it less awkward for the guy I was meeting for the first time. I tried with the standard what do you do for a living. Short direct answers suck I am putting that out there. If you get a short answer it’s someone pretty much saying I am not a talker. You have nowhere to go from there. If you ask me a question sit down because I am going to give you the full version of the answer to the best of my ability. That’s why I love radio so much because I love to talk, just ask……. everyone they will tell you.  

          Basics of small talk, the 101 class is simple. You have to find some common interests. In the example of a sales call, I would look around the person’s office and see what was up for discussion. Antlers on the wall……. This dude loves to hunt. I see pictures of some child playing football……. He loves football.  I see a diploma from The University of Oklahoma……. This guy is mentally challenged; I will have to speak slowly.  You get the idea you just find something, anything that you have in common to talk about.  Just an FYI people love to talk about themselves. If you can get people to share stories about themselves you have it made.  In social situations it’s pretty much the same thing. You have to find common ground.  The old standby… the weather works in a pinch. It often leads to a more interesting conversation.  I found what works best for me is sarcasm. I am not using it on the person I am talking to, that wouldn’t be nice. I mostly use it on specific situations. Maybe I am standing in line at the grocery store for an extended period of time. I would maybe say something sarcastic out of earshot of the cashier to the person in front of me.  Something like, man she is slow, she reminds me of a professor I met  from the University of Oklahoma . If you get a laugh the ice is broken. If you don’t get a response, well you tried.   If I see someone with a scowl on their face I am not approaching that person. I don’t need the added pressure of trying to get them to talk and or crack a smile. I honestly think that you can acquire to some degree the ability to make small talk if you just look for opportunities to speak. You just have to keep your eyes and ears open. If you don’t have the ability and you are in my vicinity just come over introduce yourself and let me take it from there. You can ask anyone, I can talk enough for the both of us.  Just do me the favor of looking like you are interested. I will do my best to carry on the small talk. 

Have a great weekend 

Kenney "Big Skinny" Pope 

  

Sunset

As another day draws to a close and another page in the book of our life closes it brings us one more sunset. The sunset is my favorite part of the day. It’s a time of reflection and a time of taking stock and inventory of what was accomplished during the daytime hours.  It’s a time to sit back and relax and enjoy the company of friends and family. It’s the final chance of the day to see God’s artistic hands in motion. The colors against the clouds with the sun setting, it’s almost like a metaphor of life.  I think the older I get the more I enjoy the beautiful sunset.  In order for you to enjoy it you have to give up a day. That means for every sunset that you have enjoyed you have given up roughly 24 hours, give or take a few minutes. It also means it’s one less sunset that you will see in your lifetime. That is a little depressing sorry. 

  As we get older and head into the sunset of our lives, we start to realize how valuable time is.  You don’t think much about time in your 20’s because you think you have a lot of it. As you get closer to fifty and that is as far as I can go, you start trying to figure out what is worth your time.  I have come up with a few things that aren’t worth wasting your time over. I am not going to say I have perfected the non-wasting of time this is just observational.

  Relationships that aren’t healthy are a waste of time.  I wasted lot of time to come to this realization. I see so many people being beat down with the relationship they are in.  You don’t have to be with someone that abuses you emotionally or physically they are both equally destructive to you. A relationship that is always taking and never giving is a waste of my time. I have tried to teach my girls that you need to find a man that treats you like a princess. Find a man who is devoted to you and would not hurt you in any way. That someone will love you for who you are.   I wasted a lot of years with the wrong person. I lived a life trying to be someone I wasn’t.  Something good came out of it. Three wonderful girls who are part of my life came out of it.  Always try to find the positives in a bad situation.  

    Negative people are a waste of time. I don’t want to be around someone always complaining about everything. I have worked with and for those type of people and it makes for a long day. You spend 8 hours a day trying to make them happy.   My job is not to make anyone happy. They have to learn how to be happy for themselves.  This is another reason why some relationships don’t work. We are subconsciously taught throughout our lives that we can make our spouse happy.  A person has to like the situation or relationship they are in.  The thought of you being there might make them happy. I just don’t subscribe to the belief it’s my job to make everyone happy. I can make them laugh and take their minds off of their worries for a while but that is totally different from making them happy.

    Regrets are a waste of time. We spend so much time looking behind us we miss all of life in front of us.  After 20 years of marriage and walking away from that relationship, I could have lived with a lot of regret. I chose to look forward to see what was in store for me.   It was hard to close that chapter in my life but I knew that it needed to be done and made the decision. I was scared and uneasy about the future. As it turns out I was scared for nothing and worried over nothing. By the way, that’s 2 more time wasters. Look, we absolutely have very little control if any over the future. We can stress out about mistakes in our past and totally ignore the future, or we can stress out over the future and live each day in dread and fear. I won’t settle for less than the best God has to offer me each and every day.  I want to live my life for the here and now.  I lost a brother at 25 years of age.  He had the possibility of seeing around 9,130 sunsets in his lifetime. Now most would not think about a life being over at 25 and we didn’t. That’s the wonder of life; we never know exactly when our last sunset comes.  Remember this time is something, which once it’s used you can never get back.  As you sit and enjoy that sunset tonight, think about what your life is worth in the value of time.

Kenney Pope

Those Crazy Old People

Do you remember when you were younger maybe 5 or six? I know you are thinking you sort of can remember back that far.  I will say if you are thinking that, first off your grammar sucks.  I will say second yay for you that your memory works, that’s a good sign.  We would always think that someone in their 30’s was old. If you were a senior citizen you were especially old.  I remember my dad’s Uncle Ray. He was married to my grandmother’s sister.  Now I am sure that Uncle Ray was a cool dude to most everybody else, but that dude scared the Hades out of me.  You see my Uncle Ray was born missing half of one of his arms. He had about 5 little nubs where his fingers were supposed to be as I recall.  Now let me preface by saying I have nothing against anyone with a disability.  I am opposed to someone using the disability to terrorize little children for a laugh.  My Uncle ran a gas station a few miles from our house.  My dad would often stop in to buy his gas there.  We were a family of eight crammed into a Ford Galaxy 500. When I say crammed I mean it. There were five of us children stuffed into the back seat and we had no room to move. We were elbow to elbow.  On several occasions Uncle Ray would peer into the window and see us all sitting there. Back in those days no air conditioning in the car so the windows were rolled down. He would stick the half arm through the window and watch us squirm with fear all the while laughing it up. I’m sure my dad put him up to it because my dad had grown up with Ray and the half arm was normal to him. I think it messed me up for life in a way. I knew that anytime that I was at my Granny’s house and Uncle Ray was there I would not go into the house. I did not have a close relationship with him. Like I said he was probably a good man and a great husband but he just freaked me out. 

     Fast forward a few years later and we find my granny in a nursing home after a series of strokes took her health. I am once again dealing with people with disabilities. I am maybe 10 years old at this time. I know now that the elderly in those places are not in their right minds but I was not so much aware of it then.  I recall one time me and my older brother Gary made a trip up to see Granny Pope.  As we walked into the front door and made our way down the hall, we were approached by an elderly woman.  This lady was totally freaking me out. She kept yelling at us to go home or she was going to whip us. She proceeded to back us into what I remember as a closet of some sort. She was taking off her house shoe and she was fixing to lay into us with it. I was terrified and I was probably shaking. I was looking for older brother to do something but he was taken aback as well.  We were taught to respect our elders so fighting back was not even an option. So there we both stood in this small closet hoping that someone would hear the commotion and come to our rescue. Someone finally did. I was once again affected by another incident. I know that one stuck with me a while because I remember several occasion as a firefighter getting called out to a local nursing home on a medical emergency call.  I remember taking my helmet off and keeping it at my side as a shield just in case I needed it. That’s crazy huh? I remember all too well the sights and sounds of that place. I remember lady across the hall that would sit in her chair and say hello all day long. I remember my Granny’s roommate that had her doll to play with. As a child I didn’t understand the elderly and I sure did not understand the nursing home.  I wasn’t aware that my granny was getting dementia and did not know why she called me roger for about the last 2 years she was alive. She had no idea who I was.  Looking back my view of the elderly has definitely changed.  I see how wrong it was for families to dump their elderly parent off at the facility and just forget about them. I saw it firsthand.  The last Roommate My granny had been Miss Watson. That lady looked out for her because she couldn’t do it for herself. She was funny and bright and knew what was going on around her. That was her life in that place. Her family had dumped her off there like a puppy that they didn’t want.  It was sad. She was family to us. She became like a third grandparent. 

I see my dad getting older now. He just turned 79. I try to get as many stories about his life from him as he can remember, and his mind is still sharp. I want to know about his younger years and what makes him tick. I want to know as much as I can because some day it might just be a memory and the stories are all that I will have.   I regret not getting to know my Uncle Ray, I’m sure he had some stories to tell. I know he could have told it from the perspective of living his life with one hand. I’m sure it would have been inspiring instead of scary like I remember him. 

     The point is this; the elderly are not just taking up space. They have a lot to teach and share if you just give them the one thing that they don’t have much of and that’s time.  They will show us that we don’t know near as much as we think we do. I know my dad does every day.

   

Respect The Blue

Last night as I sat on my back patio I listened to something that sent chills down my spine. I was listening to the replay of the Police scanner of Kentucky State Trooper’s Joseph Ponder senseless murder. I heard possibly the last words that he ever uttered on this side of heaven. I couldn’t really make it out but it sounded like “I’m hit I’m passing out” then his radio went silent. You could hear the distress in the dispatcher’s voice as she was trying to get officers headed to the last known location of the fallen trooper. We look around at our once great land and we see this tragic scenario playing out over and over again.  We have men and women putting their lives on the line to protect us and this is the thanks that they get.  They are ambushed at a gas station shot down for doing their job. They are gunned down performing a traffic stop. It’s senseless violence. They are doing a job that the majority of us do not have the stomach to do. There are many that would love to do the job but aren’t physically able.  But we can’t judge all police officers by the actions of a few.

      We have all been faced with decisions in our lives. Can you imagine what it must feel like to have to make a split second decision? Then compound it with, it’s a life or death decision. Someone’s life can and will be dramatically changed forever. It’s a split second decision, once made you can’t go back and change it. That’s a lot of pressure to be faced with. What happens if you make the wrong decision and it cost you your life. Think about their wife and children, how the decision made affects them. These men and women are only trying to make a living doing what they love to do. Now they have to constantly have their heads on a swivel and on guard at all times. This rang true for me the other day. I was driving over a bridge the other day. There sitting on the opposite side of the bridge on the shoulder was a police officer in his cruiser. He was talking on the phone. I told my dad that the officer had no clue what was going on around him as he was engaged in his conversation. Someone could pull up behind him and kill him.  That was my very first thought.  Those kinds of thoughts had never crossed my mind before. It just seems like we hear about another incident every day where an officer is gunned down. 

           I at one time was training to be an officer. I was set to take the physical and backed out because I didn’t think my knees would let me pass.  I would have loved the job. I spent some time when I was much younger doing ride outs with the City of Fort Worth.  I had a great friend and she was and still is a great officer.  I felt safe back then. I saw firsthand the brotherhood that is law enforcement.  I saw how they all came together when they needed to.  In most situations you don’t just tangle with one officer, there is usually a swarm of them. They take very seriously protecting their brother’s or sister’s backs. I remember as a 19 or twenty year old watching an escaped jail inmate run into a laundry mat, police was chasing him. There was no one else around and the officer was struggling to subdue and cuff him. I asked the officer if I could help him to which he agreed.  I helped the officer hold the inmate down while he cuffed him. I did not want a pat on the back I just wanted to help. The officer thanked me and proceeded to take the felon in.  I know that this is the mindset I want now. I don’t want thanks I just want to help.  If I see an officer that needs my help I am in.  I respect the Blue and I’m thankful that I can sleep at night because they are patrolling my streets. They are doing what I can’t.  I hope that you feel the same. Don’t let the actions of some officers that may have made the wrong split second decision cloud your judgement. Respect the Blue.

     

My Older Brother

As a child growing up you are always looking for a role model. I was fortunate enough to have 2 to look up to. My older brothers were a big influence on my life. I will say they picked on me a lot. I think that served to toughen me up. I always knew that they had my back when push came to shove. My oldest brother that passed away in 1984 would have been 56 on the 22nd of this month. He was an intimidating guy at 260lbs. Of course I was all of about 110lbs myself so he definitely could whip me. He used that weight to his advantage a lot. I remember this time of year we would be out in the yard tossing the football playing a game of catch. He would tell me how to catch it and let me know if I was doing it wrong. We would watch the big game every Sunday. He taught me to love the sport. Maybe deep down that's why I love it so much, because it reminds me of him. I don't apologize for being a Dolphins fan but I know I root for the Cowboys first and foremost because I know he's not here to root them on. I feel like since he showed me the love for the game I owe him that. He taught me to love music. We could talk forever about it. He trained me well. He would find a random radio station and quiz me on Artist and song. Cynthia hates when I do that to her.  Sometimes we would do it as a group of sibling and make it a contest.  He would always ask if I wanted to go with him on an errand he would be running. I loved his 69 Ford Torino. He was proud of that car. I remember fondly a trip to the mall one Christmas eve.  Just hanging out with him made me feel cool. He was one of the cool kids. His friends never seemed to mind that we were tagging along. 
   I remember my first job working for my Uncle. I was maybe 11 or 12. He had already graduated high school and was working there too. It seemed like every day on our lunch break it would be to pick on Kenney time. For some reason he seemed have a lot of rotten bananas. He would tackle me and rub it in my hair.  I would be yelling get off of me fatso but that didn't make him stop.  I remember one day another co-worker wanted to mess with me and big bro was quick to step in and diffuse the situation. That someone would have to go through him to get to me. That would be a huge task and would not bode well for anyone opposing him.  I remember how much he loved to play golf and how we played many rounds together. He let me use his set of old clubs when he upgraded. I loved those clubs. One birthday he took me shopping for a present. As I got out of his car he handed me a 10 dollar bill. He said he had sold my clubs and the 10 came from the sell. He had no idea how much I loved playing with the clubs and I never told him. I remember our makeshift wrestling ring in the backyard. How me and my younger brother would tag team him. In the end it was both of us trying to ride him like a rented mule. We tried to get him down but he would throw us around like rag dolls. We never beat him.
    He was quick to let me know when I was out of line. He had tremendous respect for his parents and his elders. He was the perfect role model. He would not allow me to talk back to mom if he was within earshot. A slap to the back of the head was usually enough. A week before he passed I heard a song on the radio while we were both working for my dad. I had just graduated high school and was all of 17.  The song was "Desert Moon" by Dennis DeYoung.  I got to introduce one more song to him. We were always recommending music for the other to hear. He got to hear the song and he loved it. As we were on our last lunch break ever, there were no pranks just him cooking us some grilled cheese sandwich in a skillet in his kitchen. We talked about life. Although I don't really remember the conversation I do remember him not looking at me like a kid brother. We were co-workers and I had earned his respect.
    I still get misty eyed when I hear "Desert Moon" I think of him a lot.  I think that he would be proud of me and I know he would love Cynthia. Some days the hurt is stronger than others.  I know that all that is here is the memories we shared.  I miss him a lot and wish he was here to root on his Cowboys. Guess I will have to do it for him as long as the good Lord gives me.  Miss ya bro  go Cowboys.

Hello Fall

One of the things I enjoyed about working outdoors were the seasonal changes in the weather. I especially liked when summer gave way to autumn. You could see the blue-gray clouds in the distance as a front blew through. You just knew the temperatures were about to drop. Sometimes it would be accompanied by rain. Sometimes it was just a shift in the wind. I love that feeling and it always gives me goosebumps. You can feel the air as it gets drier and the temperature drops maybe 20 plus degrees.   It’s almost like you could feel summer release its grip and hand the reins over to good old fall time.

   I have to say I am prejudice to Texas up front. I am sure that there are a lot of pretty places in the fall time. I just love the weather here. I love the days when you can be comfortable in a sweatshirt and jeans. I love the days where the windows are raised up at the house and rolled down in the car.  The crisp air does something to the sound waves because everything just sounds like it so much closer. The leaves changing colors are a sight to behold.  The pumpkin patches and Halloween just around the corner. The air smells fresher outside.  The sounds and sight of our beloved pastime, football in Texas there is nothing like Friday night lights in the crisp fall evenings. We have our State Fair and everything fried to a crispy golden brown.  Fall time is when we celebrate one of the greatest holidays. I love Thanksgiving with all of its traditions.  I have so many fond memories growing up in a big family and celebrating Thanksgiving holidays. I am sure we all have our stories and memories of fall time in Texas. Can you remember raking the fallen leaves into the big pile to run and jump into?  I can remember me and my older brothers along with their friends playing Sunday afternoon football.  I remember chopping wood and gathering kindling for when it would start getting colder.  I remember how we had to adjust as the nights came earlier with the darkness. We really had to rush to get our chores done after school.  One of the things I hated most was feeding the chickens. I especially hated it when it got dark out. There is nothing like sticking your hand in a 55 gallon drum full of corn feed to feel a mouse or rat run across your arm.  That was not a favorite experience, but I will take some bad with the good. 

        I get antsy this time of year because I know it’s just around the corner and I can almost feel it.  I know that there are some that hate the cooler weather. I will say as I get older, the aches and pains are far worse in the colder months.  I will say once again that I will take a little bad for all the good.  i realize that we are all different and there is no way to make everyone happy at once. So for all of you Summer lovers it's over you have had your pool time and sitting outdoors sucking up margaritas and ice cold lemonade and the like. Us non summer people have humored your kind and sat outside pretending we are having fun all the while being eat up by what I can only guess is a cross between a piranhas and a mosquitos. We have all thankfully dodged West Nile Virus . Did you ask if we were okay? We have partaken in what you non nonchalantly call a hike in the wilderness. I refer to it as a sweat fest. The camping trip with no electricity or running water, that was a priceless gem of a trip.

We have done it with style and grace just for you, our summer loving freaky sweaty friends. So I say suck it up put your man pants on and maybe a parka a sweat shirt, thermal underwear a big fuzzy sweater, a stocking cap and ear muffs, maybe then you will get an inkling of what we feel like in the summer. I'm only kidding sort of. You can take off the ear muffs. I want you to hear that we still love you our summer loving friends. I hope you enjoy Fall.  

The Last Summer Get Together

Labor day weekend comes but once a year. It typically marks the end of Summer. The long hot afternoons, the sweltering humid Texas nights are soon to be forgotten. They will be replaced by early morning frost and chilly afternoons.  We all come together this weekend to celebrate summer. While it is miserable for most, it doesn't come and go without bringing some our favorite times of the year. There are holidays like the 4th of July. We usually get to take family vacations and make memories that last a lifetime. There are Summer concerts, and finding a pool to stay cool in. Then there are the things that seem to be available only in the Summer time. Ice cold watermelon is definitely a favorite of mine. So as much as some us hate the Summer months because its just plain miserable, we will definitely miss certain aspects of the hot grueling months. We will focus our attention on new memories. We will be getting the kids new Halloween costumes ready. We will be preparing for High School homecomings. We will cherish the moments that we come together as a family and thank God for the years blessings. We will celebrate Christmas and pictures and memories will abound that will last our lifetimes.  We will enjoy another football season and State Fair. Don't shed any tears for Summer those Hot Dog days of July and August will be back before you know it. Let's just celebrate all the good times in the upcoming months. Oh and lets go Cowboys.

Three Wishes

Have you ever thought about the story with the Genie freed from its bottle?  There were three wishes granted to the individual responsible for releasing the Genie. Have you thought, hey what if that were me and I could have three wishes to do or have whatever I wanted. I wonder if we would wish for selfish wants or for something that would help all of mankind.  Would it be money, power and fame?  So go ahead pretend let’s take those three wishes and see what we can come up with for the betterment of mankind.

   I think my first wish would be a cure for all types of diseases. It would be just one single cure that would erase all of it. I would wish for something that would make every disease as scarce as the plague.  It seems this year in particular, I’ve lost a lot of great friends and family to cancer.  I lost my mom as well back in 2004.  There have been billions poured into research for this illness and yet still no cure, or if there is one it’s staying under wraps.  Do you know how much money is poured in yearly for cancer treatments?  I am not sure about the success rates for chemo and radiation. I know there have been a lot of people go down that road with no success.  So my first wish would be a legitimate cure for every disease not just cancer. That disease in particular has just hit too close to home this year and that scares me a lot. There would be a lot of doctors and oncologists without jobs as the need in those fields would dry up like a covered wagon salesman. I think that’s okay,  I would take that trade off if it meant someone’s family member got 50 more years tacked on their life.  I know that no one is going to live forever. Something will eventually get us all, hopefully old age.

           I think my second wish would be no crime. How great would it be to live in a world without locks on the door?   Wouldn’t it be nice not to have to worry about your teenager’s safety when they go out at night?  I would love to not ever again hear about a drunk driver taking someone’s life on the news.  Then think about this, no crime no need for the news. What would they report?  No sad stories no murders, the prisons all empty. Once again jobs would be lost, law enforcement officials, prison employees, newscasters, reporters just to name a few occupations.  Think about living in a world where you felt totally safe all of the time.  Your kids could play outside and you would not have to worry about where they were.  Talk about a utopia.

   I think my final wish would be to live in a world where people truly cared about others.  It seems today that it’s mostly lip service.  There are people who call you there friend if there is something that they can gain by being your friend. The minute that they can no longer use you they are gone like the wind. Heaven forbid that you go through a crisis; none of those so-called friends are anywhere to be found. I can remember a time where people took time to get to know their neighbors. In this day and age everyone pretty much keeps to themselves.  We nod at one another and pretend to be friendly, but we don’t know them.  You see someone in need you help them.  More jobs would be lost; places like Goodwill, Salvation Army and the like would cease to exist because there would not be a need for them. If only people would help people.  

         I am not going to lie it would be nice to be wealthy. Along with that wealth comes responsibility. There would be a need to do all of the things that I have wished for.  You would be expected to donate to medical causes to find a cure for this disease or that disease.  You would be expected to donate or be taxed on your wealth to fund your local government for law enforcement expenses. You would be expected to give to the needy. As I look around at all of the money going to all of these causes, it has not truly made a dent in any of them. Don’t get me wrong it all helps but the problems are still there.   The problem here is I am wishing for heaven on earth and all it is in a nutshell is wishful thinking. I truly wish for a better world.  What would your three wishes be?