Yesterday my cousin Chrissy dropped in, her kids Amanda and Heather in tow. She stopped in to invite me to her place for Christmas dinner, and noticed that the tree was still sitting there, naked as a jay bird. So she and her kids took off their coats, placed a request for some hot chocolate and Christmas music, and we rolled up our sleeves and decorated the tree together. That was really nice of them to do that with me. I had a good time; it was good to have some family time putting up the tree. Thanks Chrissy, Amanda and Heather! You did a great job!
Good turnout
The local fire & rescue department held a fund-raising pancake breakfast with Santa Claus this morning down at the community center. They asked me to help out, so I went down there and helped serve the pancakes and sausage. It was a nice time, seeing a lot of neighbors that I haven’t seen since my parent’s funeral. I got a lot of invitations to come drop by and see them during the holidays. Of course I said I’d try to work it into my schedule. It was fun seeing how excited all of the children got when Santa arrived to hand out a few gifts that parents had brought in ahead of time. Of course Santa arrived (and left) on a fire truck, sirens blaring! I’m thinking about learning to drive an ambulance and volunteer to be a driver for them since I live so close by to the station. I’ll have to make a point to talk to them about it more when we’re not busy serving up breakfast!
Japan announces it is in a recession
I’ve heard that Japan has announced that it is in a recession. I think that the USA is in one too, and I don’t understand why the “officials” have not admitted to that. Our economy is really horrible and has been for a very long time! Almost every time I meet folks out on the errands that I have to run I hear that someone else that I know has been laid off, or that someone has had to close down their business because the customers just aren’t coming around anymore, or someone else has lost their house to foreclosure. It really is a very difficult time for almost everyone that I know. I think that the community is going to have to open up some more soup kitchens and homeless shelters pretty quickly!
A heartfelt thank you to our Veterans
Every generation of my family has had its menfolk serve in the military up until this generation. We have a long history of military service, and our family has seen a lot of wars. I want to extend my heartfelt love to all of the menfolk in my family that have served in the military, and extend my sincere gratitude to all military families everywhere for the sacrifices they all make in service of our country. I pray that the service people overseas will return home safe and sound and soon.
Elections are over
Thank goodness the elections are over! The phone has quieted down, the robocalls have stopped – THANK GOODNESS INDEED! I was getting awfully tired of answering the phone about six times every night, just to be greeted by a pre-recorded political message. I’d simply hang up on them, but it was a huge annoyance just the same. I keep a phone by the bed in case there is an emergency and someone needs to reach me, but I do go to bed early (after all, I AM a farmer!) and I was being awakened every night for weeks with those stupid robocalls! It has been nice the past couple of nights to be able to SLEEP!
As for the aftermath of the election, so far I have to say that I’m pleasantly surprised that the celebrations have been so very peaceful. I was thinking that the celebrations would be similar to the celebrations that happen after sporting events where the masses of people start to get a little carried away in their enthusiasm and end up damaging property. I’m glad to say that around here it seems that has not been the case.
November already
It’s hard to believe that it’s November already! I had to turn the calendar page today, and saw the note I had written on it to give the pets their flea and tick medicines, clean the air filters for the furnace, and to set the clock back one hour when I go to bed tonight. I wish that the government would just stick to ONE time and not keep switching back and forth between “daylight” and “standard” time. It is hard to adjust to the time changes, and switching back and forth has NOT been proven to save any energy at all.
Snow making at Yellowstone Park
I was really surprised to read today on the LATimes website that Yellowstone Park is going to be using snow machines to make snow in the park this winter. I guess I never thought about why in the world a National Park would even think about doing something like that? Seems to me that the Park is supposed to be all about nature, and if it snows then fine, if it doesn’t snow, well that’s fine too! But the article was talking about how making snow in the park would allow snow coaches and snowmobiles to use the park in the winter. To be honest, I’m not so sure that is a great idea or not! I don’t have anything against snow coaches or snowmobiles, its’ just something I never really thought about in the context of them being in Yellowstone! What do YOU think? I’d like your opinion!
Hurricane Ike – a really big one
Watching the news, and reading about Hurricane Ike making its way towards land, I see that it has hit Cuba. Cuba has never seen a hurricane this bad, and the residents are making way towards safer ground as best they can. This storm is a really scary one – I am worried about what will happen when it reaches the United States. From what I understand it WON’T hit New Orleans, which is good news, but wherever it DOES land, it is going to do a huge amount of damage! I think that this is just one more example of what global warming is doing to our world. I don’t understand why the “administration” keeps insisting that global warming has nothing to do with this type of thing. I think it has EVERYTHING to do with this kind of thing!
Sinkhole in New York?
I’ve heard of sinkholes in Florida because the water table has been so badly abused by the rapid development of the state, but I was very surprised to read on the news that there is a sinkhole in New York City! Apparently the sinkhole is in the middle of a street and is one that has been developing slowly over the past ten years, and has finally reached the stage where it would really be a danger for a car to try to drive over. The street has been closed while the city tries to repair the sinkhole and the road. Seems to me that “we” as a society ought to be taking better care of good old Mother Earth to prevent these sinkholes from happening!
Schools just aren’t safe anymore!
I was sad to hear about the school shooting in Tennesse earlier today. Too often do I hear news like this nowadays. Most of the time the shootings seem to be random shootings, but this time it seemed like a personal grudge between two specific students. Sadly the victim has died, but the perpetrator was arrested and has been charged with first degree murder. I just can’t understand school kids getting so wound up that they start shooting each other! What is wrong with this world? How can we ever expect to have world peace when we can’t even have peace in our own neighborhoods? Seems to me that the only “safe” school nowadays is to home-school your kids, which is really a shame.