ONE MORE TIME AROUND THE SUN HODGEPODGE!

     Welcome back Wednesday Hodgepodge! I hope that you enjoyed your week away! This month I begin another trip around the Sun riding on this big blue marble called Earth. The more trips I complete, the less significant they become. It's kind of like seeing the Grand Canyon over and over and over again. After a while it becomes ho hum even though you still appreciate it's beauty. So, though I may be a little ho hum I am still beautiful. Now on to the Hodgepodge! 

1. This is the last Hodgepodge in April. Share something you learned this month. 

     I learned that birthdays aren't that important the older you get.

2.  It's National Poetry Month, and we all know you can't escape an April Hodgepodge without a little poetry. Keeping the first line as is, change the rest of the wording in this familiar rhyme to make it your own - 'Hickory Dickory Dock...

     Hickory dickory dock...I found a single sock...It once was a pair...the other's somewhere...maybe behind the clock?

3. What were one or two rules in the home you grew up in? Growing up, did you feel your parents were strict? Looking back do you still see it that way? 

     One rule we had was we had to be in the house when the street lights came on. My parents were fairly strict. The passage of time has not changed that assessment.

4. Tell us about a kitchen or cooking disaster or mishap you've experienced. Do you have many from which to choose? 

     I once incinerated a bag of microwave popcorn. It takes about 2.5 minutes to pop most of the kernels in a bag of popcorn. I would set the timer for three minutes and hit the stop button when the sound of popping kernels slows to almost a stop. One time I got distracted and the popcorn burned and stunk up the house for hours. Thankfully, I don't have a lot of cooking disasters.

5. Plant a kiss, plant doubt, plant a tree, plant yourself somewhere...which on the list have you most recently planted? 

     I plant a kiss on my beloved SWMBO's lips every day. I also plant myself in my recliner every day.

6. What's your most worn item of clothing this time of year? Are you tired of it? 

     My Boston Bruins ballcap. I will never tire of it.

7. I'm wrapping up the A-Z Blog Challenge this month and our Hodgepodge lands on letter W. What's one word beginning with W that describes you in some way? How about a word to describe your home, also beginning with W?

     I am witty, thanks to a liberal arts education and wonderful life experiences. My house is warm, thanks to a functioning wood pellet stove.

8. Insert your own random thought here. 

     I wonder how deep in self delusion will society descend and how many of us will willingly go along? Now, if a man "self identifies" as a woman he can legally use the women's bathroom and we have to go along with it. Also, a number of nationwide companies are going along with this nonsense, namely Target and Planet Fitness. Prudence now dictates that children must be accompanied by an adult when they have to use a public bathroom.
     Gender is a matter of biology. If you are born with specific genitalia you are male or female depending on this genitalia. Proclaiming yourself to be the other gender despite your biology is a delusion. 
     I for one will not participate in this delusion. Woe be to those people who may try to force me to! 

APRIL SHOWERS HODGEPODGE!

     April showers bring May flowers! If that old saw is true then New Hampshire should look spectacularly colorful next month! It has been raining for the past several days. I'm not complaining mind you, I have nothing to complain about. People in the southern part of the country have reason to complain. Serious weather that spawned softball sized hail with the attendant severe winds and property damage. Of course, neither rain nor snow nor gloom of night shall keep the Wednesday Hodgepodge from it's appointed rounds.  Thanks, as always, to our Hodgepodge Mistress, Joyce Daley, for another set of probing questions.

1. What's the last thing you did that could be described as 'taxing'?

     Recently, my beloved SWMBO and I played "Who has the cold germs?" It's kind of like the game "hot potato" only with a cold. We swapped a cold back and forth, to and fro, and neither one of us could stop playing. We are doing better now thankfully. That was fairly taxing.

2. If you could plant a garden of anything, what would be in it?

     I could plant a garden. The problem is as soon as the seeds germinate and begin to sprout, the garden turns into a hospice for vegetables. I try to grow tomatoes, cucumbers, carrots, green peppers and onions but usually without much success.

3. April 10-16 is National Library Week...will you celebrate with a visit to your nearest library? When did you last make a trip to the library? What are you reading right now? What's one title on your want-to-read list?

     I haven't been to a library in quite awhile. I am reading the Bible. I am also reading "Redigging the Old Wells." It's a history of the Restoration Movement of the early 19th century. There are a number of Tom Clancy novels that I haven't read but would like to.

4. Share a saying or an old wives tale you heard while growing up, you believed to be true or that you paid attention to 'just in case'?

      God gave us two ears and one mouth. We should listen twice as much as we speak.

5. Are you a fan of onions? Garlic? Ginger? What's a dish you love that contains one, two or all three items listed?

     I am a huge fan of Onions and Garlic. I love using both in a meat spaghetti sauce. I use either one in different dishes. I like ginger in ginger ale, other than that, not so much.

6.  Where does nurturing end and indulging begin? What are some skills or qualities you think a person needs to posess in order to be viewed as mature?

     Nurturing leads to independence whereas indulging leads to continued dependence and caretaking. Where one ends and the other begins depends on the character of the individual. A person achieves maturity when they take full responsiblity for their lives, independently.

7. What leading figure in any field would you like to hear speak, and why?

     I would like to hear Lieutenant General (Retired) Michael Hayden, former Director of the National Security Agency, speak. I have watched him on CSPAN a couple of times and have found him to be a remarkably intelligent and well spoken individual. He is particularly knowledgeable in the area of combating terrorism.
     Another person I would like to hear speak is Vice Admiral (Retired) William H. McRaven. He was a former commander of the Joint Special Operations Command (JSOC). He's been part of the special operations community for most of his career in the Navy. He oversaw the operation that capture Osama Bin Laden. 

8. Insert your own random thought here.

      Major League Baseball has begun the 2016 season. My beloved Boston Red Sox made some significant changes over the off season which has given us hope that this year  they will make the playoffs. This would be a good thing considering that they ended up in the bottom of the standings for the past two years.  GO SOX!
     We are also in mourning over the end of season collapse of our beloved Boston Bruins who have missed the NHL playoffs this year.   This is the third year in a row that they have missed the playoffs. They last won the Stanley Cup in 2011. They deteriorated significantly by losing players to free agency, trades and retirements. They have not been able to field a team that could compete at their formerly high level. Wait until next year!

A SENIOR MOMENT HODGEPODGE!

     Good morning everyone! A funny thing happened to me last week on the way to the Hodgepodge...I got lost! I copied over the button and the questions and the next thing I know it's Wednesday night and time for bed! I must have experienced a "Senior Moment" sometime on Wednesday!
     Not to worry, I am here this week! So onto this week's edition of the Hodgepodge!

1. What does retirement mean to you? Are you planning for it, not thinking about it, looking forward to it, or dreading it?

     I am living the dream, baby! I retired August 1, 2011 after a 30 year career in law enforcement. Retirement means never having to call in sick!

2. It's International Guitar Month...do you play? Does anyone in your family play? What's a song you especially like to hear played on the guitar or a favorite song featuring the guitar?

     I do play guitar. I really enjoy spending time with my acoustic six string guitar. I had an electric six string but I didn't play it much so I gave it to my daughter who also plays, as does her husband. Two of my favorite guitar songs are "Stairway to Heaven" by Led Zeppelin and "Crazy on You" by Heart.

3. What's your comfort food?

     I have several favorites...popcorn, potato chips, whoopie pies, cream horns, and pizza just to name a few.

4. What's one activity or area of your life where you absolutely never procrastinate?

     When I have to answer the call of nature.That is one call that you cannot put on hold!

5. Who does the grocery shopping in your house? Does your local store bag the groceries for you or is it a do-it-yourself kind of place? Do you like someone packing your groceries?

     I generally do the grocery shopping in our house. Our store does bag groceries in bags that we provide. I don't mind someone bagging my groceries.

6. What's the coolest thing you've seen in nature?

     I have seen a humpback whale close up during a chartered whale watch. That was awe inspiring. I have also been up close to a Moose. He was a bull moose and he walked up on me while I was sitting against a rock waiting for a deer to walk by. That was pretty awesome too!

7. Share a favorite quote about home.

     Home is anywhere my beloved SWMBO is. Kind of "Home is where the heart is." She has my heart and where ever she is, is home!

8. Insert your own random thought here.

      We recently observed the Easter holiday. This holiday, for some, is about brightly covered eggs, chocolate bunnies, and other candy. For the Christian, Easter is a kind of Independence Day. It's importance cannot be over stated.
     The Apostle Paul in his letter to the church in Corinth asserted that the resurrection was a FACT. He recounted the instances where the risen Jesus appeared before the apostles and others. He wrote that Jesus appeared to 500 disciples at one time. He challenged the Corinthians to speak to those witnesses who were still alive if they did not believe him. 
     The Apostle Paul also taught that if Jesus was not raised as some claimed then all of Christianity is a fraud and all Christians are still in their sin because we have believed a lie. (1 Corinthians, Chapter 15.)
     So the Christian celebrates Easter because Jesus was arrested, He was crucified and He died and He arose on the third day. This is historical FACT. So on Easter Sunday some Christians greet each other by proclaiming "He is risen! He is risen indeed!"