Welcome to the new digs!!! I hope it’s a place you’ll bookmark and come to read often…and feel comfortable enough to shoot your mouth off!!

Thanks to Buck for buidling us such a wonderful new home!!! He is just so goooood with those internet tubes!!!

I’m just going to start off here at the new digs writing about stuff I thought about all day yesterday. Humor me….. and I’ll get back to politics and the fucked up world tomorrow……

Yesterday, my friend Dupree, aka, Tyree posted a comment on the blog that touched my heart. Then it touched the hearts of everyone who read it. And I thought the rest of the day about alot of things. He mentioned his neighbors not talking to one another…… people not saying hello to each other when they pass in the street. Maybe that’s part of what’s wrong with this country. Maybe some of the progress we’ve made isn’t such a good thing. I feel the same way Tyree does. I recently moved to a new house. It’s the same here. Very few people can even take the time to make eye contact, let alone say hello. The last place I lived in, no one ever gave me the time of day…… until we got hit with Hurricane Wilma and I had ice when no one else did. I even told a few people who all but attacked me in the parking lot when they saw me with ice……ohhhhhh…..NOW you can say hello and talk to me. For two fucking years you couldn’t even make eye contact……but now you want to talk. Funny how that work!!!!! I always say hello to people…… and many times get no response. Why is that??? I understand life has become rushed and complicated for alot of people. It’s all many can do just to take care of their own family and go to work. But you know what……that’s not it at all. Because if you think about it, people weren’t like this during the Great Depression. You think people didn’t have alot on their minds then? You think there was no stress??? Yet they still managed to be kind to one another and help one another.

I have always had a fondness for the needy, the less fortunate, the poverty stricken. Do you know why? Because in my experience, these are the people who are the kindest, the humblest, the most giving. What little they do have, they usually are happy to share with anyone who needs something they have. They are happy to help others in any way they can. People who have money, for the most part…..can’t be bothered.

Something else I thought about today. I’m in a better place today, financially…..then I ever have been. I want for very little. I’m a rather simple woman to begin with, so material things have never meant much to me, anyway. But that’s where I’m at today. I have a beautiful home, a brand new car, a nice boat…..and it’s a nice life. But today I thought about this. Do you know what the happiest times of my life have been? Times of struggle. Times of poverty. Believe me, I’ve had them. My kids and I know what it’s like to be broke. We found out all the things you can make with eggs and a bag of potatoes. My daughter and I went to work in a restaurant (second jobs) because we could eat for free. I stole a Christmas tree one year so they’d have one. I brought huge rolls of toilet paper home from work (you know, the kind in public restrooms that weigh about 50 lbs.) so we could use that money to pay bills. We’ve had to search for things to sell to pay the electric bill. We’ve prayed for a way to make it week to week. And you know what? Looking back, those are some of the happiest times of my life. Why is that? Is it because we were so happy when we did make it another week? Is it because when you’re that poor you see the goodness in other people? Is it because you’re so much more thankful for what you do have, even though it’s less than most people? I don’t know the answer. I just know it is so.
And I thank Tyree for making me think about these things. I have not done nearly enough for those less fortunate than I, of late. Thank you for reminding me to be ever thankful for my life and the loving people in it. Thank you for reminding me to show my thankfulness by sharing my good fortune with others less fortunate. Thank you for reminding me that I need to be more charitable in everything I do.

Tyree also mentioned liking the old people the best when he was young. There’s a reason to love old people. There’s a reason to listen to them and treasure their stories. History. It’s history. It’s how we pass things on, one generation to another. They know so much more than we do. They have life experience we can only dream of. It’s a smart thing to talk to old people…..to LISTEN to them. To learn from them. Living in Florida, I have had plenty of opportunity to do that. One of my favorite places is the bench in front of the grocery store. Where they wait for the bus. You want an interesting conversation, go sit on a bench with a senior citizen.

Anyway….. I guess my point here is……. maybe progress isn’t all it’s cracked up to be. Maybe if individuals in general had more compassion for each other on a daily basis, if they would take the time to say hello…..how are you today…..if they would take the time to help one another in any little way they could….. if they would be humble in all that they do and thankful for all that they have and charitable on a daily basis…….maybe this world wouldn’t be in the fucked up state it is.

Say hello to your neighbor today. Buy the next homeless person you see a meal. Go cut the grass of the senior citizen down the street. Be kind to one another.

Thank you Dupree……for reminding me I need to be more humble, more charitable, more thankful….. and spend more time doing so!!!