We believe Amazon delivers happiness. We are happy when we get what we want. Many times, we need something more. This is the story of a cook who lost his more than his place. My mother subscribed to the idea that if truckers stopped at a restaurant, it is good food. So for a lot of my childhood, we surveyed the highway [...]
Adults groan at the first hint of Christmas. A few years ago, donned in shorts and a t-shirt to beat the Memorial Day heat, we walked into Hobby Lobby. They were putting up Christmas. “There oughta be a law,” I muttered. Christmas comes much too soon for most credit cards and bank accounts to handle. Invitations for competing events arrive in email [...]
Those old enough can complete the sentence "I remember where I was when__________ happened? Those of the "Greatest Generation" relive Pearl Harbor in their minds. Baby Boomers relate to the assassination of John F. Kennedy. The memory knows without explanation . December 7, 1941. November 22, 1963. Here's one. September 11, 2001. Not even close. Almost anyone over the age of 25 [...]
Tinsel drapes the holiday season and leaves it in aglow in light. Some people don’t have that feeling. I write this post out of a kinship with those who encounter loss because I have had mine. I have busied myself with putting up a tree, laying out lights in the yard, and putting up an inflatable Mickey Mouse to thrill my grandchildren. [...]
I live in Dallas, TX where there are two passions—The Dallas Cowboys and road construction. I cannot travel 2 miles without coming across safety cones. (I wish I had invested in that industry three years ago!). One nagging issue I face is the absence of lines in the road. Lanes bob and weave, merge, disappear, or shift, all with no white stripe [...]
Some things you read hit you right between the eyes. One such piece was Eric Barker’s recent blog post on how to be happy in a crazy world. In a furrowed-brow world, everyone is looking for the magic elixir of joy. We all have it; we don’t know it. For those who are not regular readers of Barker’s, he takes the research [...]
Everyone has had two kinds of teachers. Some you never remember. Then, there are those you never forget. Everyone has a list of the second. (It is usually a short list.) What makes the difference between the two? We assume we know what teaching is. While I have my share of teachers, my mother taught, and my two daughters teach. We assume [...]
I am a simple carpenter. No one would believe my story. I wouldn’t believe it had I not lived it. My father Jacob was a carpenter who trained me to be a carpenter. As a boy, he would tell me the family stories. My favorite was a shepherd who became a king. He said we were related to a famous king. We [...]
Christmas colors are red and green. Tinsel shimmers. Lights twinkle. Hearts soar. Sometimes, life paints Christmas a different color. There’s no Pantone color number, but the best way to describe it is Melancholy Blue. I enjoy Christmas but also the holiday season carries a little different hue for me today. Both of my parents died around Christmas. My mother died [...]
On the Oak Ridge Boys Christmas Cookies album is a song called Ordinary Days. It’s not a traditional Christmas song. In it, the writers Steve Bogard and Rick Giles captured more than holly, snow, and nativity scenes. They put a tear in the eyes of Christmas. The song speaks to what you should give for Christmas. None are from big [...]
