MEMORIAL DAY HODGEPODGE!

     Our friend Joyce who publishes the blog "From This Side of the Pond" has come up with some real doozy questions for this week's Hodgepodge. Join in on the fun and answer the questions for yourself. Let us peek behind that curtain and get a glimpse at who you really are.

1. What question do you often ask yourself?

     When I read the paper about the girls who were kidnapped and held for ten years in a small basement I ask myself "How can a person become so depraved that kidnapping three girls and holding them as his personal harem for ten years seems like a good idea?"

     I have asked the same question when I read about other horrific acts perpetrated upon some innocent person by another depraved individual. God help us!

2. Do you grow roses? What's your favorite color of rose?  Ever been given a dozen roses?  Where was the prettiest rose or rose garden you remember seeing?

     Of all this week's questions, this is the easiest to answer. I do not grow roses. I do not have a favorite rose color. I have never received a dozen roses, nor do I want to. If I saw an aesthetically pleasing rose garden I do not remember. Flowers are not something that's on my radar screen.

3. Do you read the freshness dates on grocery store products?  Will you use eggs past their 'use by' date?  Take medication that's expired? Buy a dented can?

     I always check the freshness date of dairy products, specifically milk and cream. I never knew that eggs had a "use by" date, so I may have used eggs past that date. I would not take prescription medication past their use by date. I may take aspirin or some other over-the-counter medication past their expiration date. I don't buy dented cans if I can help it.

4. Should athletes be role models?

     For me the question is not "Should" they be role models. The fact of the matter is, whether they acknowledge it or not, athletes are role models, especially at the professional level. Therefore, the question becomes what kind of role model are they? Do they exemplify and model playing by the rules and good sportsmanship? When they are off the field, or court, or ice, or whatever...do they conduct themselves in an exemplary manner, displaying courtesy and respect to those with whom they interact? 

      Athletes are role models and it is entirely up to them whether they are "good" or "poor" role models.

5. Edmund Hillary of New Zealand and Tenzing Norgay of Nepal became the first explorers to reach the top of Mt. Everest on this date (May 29) back in 1953. What's something you hope to achieve in your lifetime?

     The short answer to this question is "I don't know." I wanted to be a good father and from most accounts I seem to have been one, and continue to be. I want to be a great husband to my beloved SWMBO. I think I'm pretty good now, but she so deserves, and I strive to be, a GREAT husband. I want to be a great Christian. Not the self-righteous, holier than though, look down your nose, Bible thumping stereotype of Christian but rather the kind of Christian that God created me to be. The kind of Christian God intends a Christian to be.

6. What would you do if you had twenty acres of land and the money to develop it any way you choose?

     Wow! Another great question! One idea would be I'd probably develop only three acres. I would have an energy self-sufficient, "off-the-grid" log cabin with "on-the-grid" back-up. The other seventeen acres would be kept as natural as possible. I would selectively harvest wood to heat my house from the wooded seventeen acres.

     Another idea would be to subdivide the lot and construct houses for SWMBO and my children and grandchildren. I'd keep as much of the lot natural for recreation and other purposes. I think it would be great to live next to our children and grandchildren and to provide them a safe refuge from the world.

7. If I invite you to a party with a 7 PM start time, what time will I actually see you there?

     If I was invited to a party that started at 7:00 P.M., I would arrive sometime between 7:15 and 7:30 P.M.

8.  Insert your own random thought here.

     There seems to be some confusion about "Memorial Day." Many of my fellow citizens seem to think that this day is set aside to honor ALL who have served in the U.S. military. The fact of the matter is that Memorial Day is a holiday established to honor the memory of those who served in the U.S. military AND gave their life in the defense of our great Republic. The following is what I posted as my "STATUS" on Facebook yesterday:

    " In every generation since the founding of this Nation, special men and women have stepped up to give their full measure of devotion, they gave their lives to preserve the God given blessings of liberty for the rest of us. Today we honor their memory! Today we honor their families! Today we say a prayer of thanksgiving to the God who endowed us with that liberty and blessed us with the lives and examples of these very fine Americans! Thank you, Lord! May God continue to bless America!"