Potpourri

 No this is not a column about that dried stuff you put in a small bowl and pour oil over it.

No, this is a blog about multiple things.  Remember the "potpourri" category on Jeopardy?  It could be anything.  Remember Forrest Gump?  This blog is going to be like a box of chocolates.  You never know what you're going to get.

Personally, I like to call it my stream of consciousness.  Some funny, some serious, some in between.  As always, happy reading.

M and I are leaving town tomorrow.  We are heading to Searcy, Arkansas to tour Harding Place, a retirement village run by Harding University (M and I both went to Harding.  She earned two degrees, I earned an invitation not to return).  Yes, we know some folks who are residents, know the former director, and some on the waiting list.  Yes, there is a four-to-five year waiting list.  But we will take a look around, kick the tires, talk to some people and decide if we want a place in line.

While we are on the subject of aging, both my mother and step-father will be 89 later this fall.  They still live in their own home, Mom still cooks and drives (daytime only), but there are some challenges.  They each have health issues that frankly are not getting any better.  Changes are eventually going to have to be made, and it is not going to be easy.  It's not too early to solicit prayers.

In early September we are heading to San Francisco for a few days to see Clayton (my younger son) and his wife Mimi.  They actually live in Novato, just a stone's throw from the Golden Gate Bridge.  Yes, it is as spectacular as it looks in pictures.  We were thinking about flying, but now we are toying with the idea of driving.  It's 2,200 miles each way, will take three or four days for sure, but the scenery will be better, and I don't have to deal with SFO.  Bonus, one of the two routes would take us through Winslow, Arizona.  If you don't know what that means, go ahead and unfriend yourself now.  Anyway, fly or drive?  What say ye?

Had a friend at church the other day who shall remain nameless, say to me, "you know, the great thing about a blog. no one knows if you're telling the truth."   I pondered that for a moment, then remembered the words of that great American Mark Twain.  "Never let the facts get in the way of a good story."  I'll just leave it right there.

I really don't care for one second how you feel about our current president and his leadership.  We are all entitled to our opinion, and I respect that.  But I do believe, giving what is going on in the country right now, and there is plenty of blame to go around, we are more divided as a nation than at any point since the Civil War, and I have very serious concerns as to what this will lead to.  Again, my blog, my opinion.

Speaking of my opinion, I stand firmly with ABC reporter Terry Moran.  In case you don't know, this past weekend, Moran, who has spent a couple of decades with ABC, and as far as I know has a sterling reputation, expressed some thoughts on "X" that shall we say were not complimentary of the president and a couple of his staff members.  To use the old saying, "before the ink was dry," there were calls from the White House to New York to anyone with a keyboard and anonymous handle calling for Moran to be fired immediately, or at the very least suspended, which is what ABC has done pending "further review."  

I disagree with the outburst because as a former journalist, I am a FIRM believer in free speech.  When we lose free speech, we lose our freedom, it is that simple and that serious.  If Moran was speaking as an ABC employee, then they have a right to discipline him.  But if he was speaking as Terry Moran, concerned American citizen, keep your hands off him.  As a refresher, let's revisit the First Amendment, as penned by James Madison, our fourth President and author of the Bill of Rights.  "Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances."   Ok, I'll ask again, what part of freedom of speech do those crying the loudest not understand.  I stand with Scott Pelley of CBS News who voiced similar concerns a couple weeks ago.  Again, I'm not defending what they said, but their right to say it as guaranteed by the First Amendment.

Ok, that took more space than I intended, but I am passionate about that.

Speaking of passionate, I have thoroughly enjoyed teaching Romans 8 in the Sherrod Ave. men's class on Wednesday night.  Jeff Walton, our class coordinator, asked for volunteers to teach each of the 16 chapters of Paul's book to the church in Rome.  I volunteered for Chapter 8, because it is my favorite chapter in the entire Bible.  Jeff said, "I'll give you two weeks."  I said, "I'll need three."  He said, "ok, you got it."   Well after three weeks we are not halfway through the chapter.  Umm, Jeff, can I have five or six?

As you can tell from the title of this blog, I love tacos.  I mean I really love tacos.  I have been on this egg kick for breakfast lately.  I mean, like five or six days a week I'll eat eggs.  My favorite way to eat them?  Scrambled and inside a soft, fluffy tortilla with some hash browns, onion, cheese, and the "meat du jour." I'll add avocado if I have it, and top with pico or hot sauce.  Mmmm good.  I believe soft flour tortillas are proof that God loves us and wants us to be happy.

I started watching this program on Prime the other day, and after one episode I was hooked, and now I have M semi-hooked.  It's called "Corner Gas."  It is set in this incredibly small town on the prairie in Saskatchewan.  There all these quirky, hilarious characters loosely associated to the only gas station within 60 km.  It aired on Canadian television from 2004 until 2009.  I do comedy a lot better than I do drama.

My good friend Allison sent me a short video clip an hour or so ago from the movie, Barefoot in the Park, telling me how much she loved that movie.   In the clip Robert Redford and Jane Fonda are arguing in the hallway of their apartment building, and before you can say "Sundance Kid," they are locked in a fierce embrace kissing away.  The tag line of the clip read, "when she likes to kiss so much you get tired."  I don't know about you, but that has never happened to me.  I know, TMI.  Just forget I said anything.

I had a birthday last Thursday.  I don't mind telling you that I'm 68.  It's no big deal, it is what comes after 67.  Most of my adult life, I have foregone birthday cakes for birthday pies, more specifically, coconut cream pie.  My dad, who passed away in 2009, had a birthday of June 3rd.  My birthday is two days later on June 5th.  My Granny Dalton would cook us each a coconut cream pie for our birthday because a) it is both of our favorite pie, and b) we asked for it.   Anita Murphy, my boss at the newspaper in Pocahontas, would also make me a coconut cream pie for my birthday.  Unfortunately, she made me share it with the rest of the staff.

I think I have done enough rambling for one blog.  Thanks for keeping up and hope you come back.  Seriously.  Have a great week and be kind to each other.