EASTER PARADES

Traditionally, many celebrants bought new clothes for Easter which they wore to church. After church services, everyone went for a walk around the town. This led to the American custom of Easter parades all over the country. Perhaps the most famous is along Fifth Avenue in New York City.

Zion Lutheran Church had there own Easter Parade. On that special Sunday, the congregation would file up around the altar and place their offering. Mother never did the walk, she didn't wear a new bonnet on Easter Sunday either. To a child, it was a fashion show, I did not grasp the idea of the money and the altar, only that Mrs. Peterson seemed to have her own private offering table. She stood near the table singing a hymn but it seemed to me she was singing for offerings. Odd the impressions we have as children, isn't it?

What was the name of the movie with Judy Garland? Wasn't it Easter Parade?

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THE GREAT EGG ROLL

Dolly Madison, the wife of the fourth American President, organized an egg roll in Washington, D.C. She had been told that Egyptian children used to roll eggs against the pyramids so she invited the children of Washington to roll hard-boiled eggs down the hilly lawn of the new Capitol building!

The custom continued, except for the years during the Civil War. In 1880, the First Lady invited children to the White House for the Egg Roll because officials had complained that they were ruining the Capitol lawn.

It has been held there ever since then, only canceled during times of war.

The event has grown, and today Easter Monday is the only day of the year when tourists are allowed to wander over the White House lawn. Michelle Obama, or any other wife of past presidents, sponsors it for the children of the entire country. The egg rolling event is open to children twelve years old and under. Adults are allowed only when accompanied by children!

EASTER BUNNY

On Easter Sunday, many children wake up to find that the Easter Bunny has left them baskets of candy. He has also hidden the eggs that they decorated earlier that week. Children hunt for the eggs all around the house. Neighborhoods and organizations hold Easter egg hunts, and the child who finds the most eggs wins a prize.

The Easter Bunny is a rabbit-spirit. Long ago, he was called the "Easter Hare", hares and rabbits have frequent multiple births so they became a symbol of fertility. The custom of an Easter egg hunt began because children believed that hares laid eggs in the grass. The Romans believed that "All life comes from an egg."

Christians consider eggs to be "the seed of life" and so they are symbolic of the resurrection of Jesus Christ.


Why we dye, or color, and decorate eggs is not certain. In ancient Egypt, Greece, Rome and Persia eggs were dyed for spring festivals. In medieval Europe, beautifully decorated eggs were given as gifts.

hop to it

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PALM SUNDAY

It is one more week until Easter Sunday. For Christians around the world, it is a week of additional spiritual preparation leading to Good Friday and He his risen!

And she said..................Post this on your page if you are a Christian. I am talking about someone who does not recognize other religious beliefs. How sad to think she believes our Universal Higher Power only sees Christianity.

She went on to say, "I am not ashamed to call them Easter eggs".

The meaning of the many different customs observed during Easter Sunday have been buried with time. Their origins lie in both pre-Christian religions and Christianity. In one way or another all the customs are a "salute to spring" marking re-birth.


The white Easter lily has come to capture the glory of the holiday. The word "Easter" is named after Eastre, the Anglo-Saxon goddess of spring. A festival was held in her honor every year at the vernal equinox.


People celebrate Easter according to their beliefs and their religious denominations. Christians commemorate Good Friday as the day that Jesus Christ died and Easter Sunday as the day that He was resurrected. Protestant settlers brought the custom of a sunrise service, a religious gathering at dawn, to the United States.

Tomorrow: What about that Easter bunny?

FALCON EGGS TWO

And she said, I heard the birds in the back yard, they were so loud! He asked if she had seen the robins. Old Trunks saw two crows!

The most fascinating pair in Fargo are the falcons. Their man made nest is high on the Bank of the West. In the past, there was, at best, a crude sort of camera system which took stills every so often. Nevertheless, we did have pictures and near the end of June waited to see eggs.

It is exciting to share with you there are new cameras, LIVE images; one in front of the box and the other placed to see the ledge. My only concern with the placement of the first camera is if they poop on it, there goes the image!

We did not have cameras last year, although we all wondered. The chicks were born, named, and grew up to fly away to their own territory. This year, we will watch them from hatch to flight with a daily watch.

The adults stun their prey in mid air and grasp it with their strong talons. Often, they will sit on the top of the Fericho Building where Tom has his business to eat. Tom has picked up numerous of bird caresses in the past.

One year, Tom had a telescope set up in the store as the Bank of the West where the nest is, can be seen from the front windows. This was before cameras and people truly enjoyed seeing the birds in real time.

How wonderful for all of us to have these cams available. Whether it be falcons in Fargo, the Panda Cam in California or Mother bear in her den in Northern Minnesota, one has to be fascinated with watching and waiting.

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24 MAR 1922

My Mother was born on this date. We know she was born at 9:30 in the morning but we never learned just where. Was she a hospital born child or a home birth. How would they know the time?

She was the last of four children of Clara Jensen and Phillip A Lundberg.

Mother stated she had a good life, apologized for any wrongs or harm she had done, said she loved me, and died on 17 NOV 2002.

She liked to knit, crochet, and read. She was a volunteer with Girl Scouts and within the church. She liked to have her hair done and her car clean including in the winter, when the gas station would come and get it, clean it up and keep it over night so it would be dry. Bet you thought I was going to say the beauty shop came to get her and kept her over night!!!

She moved the lawn because she did it best.

She was a lot of things but one thing she was not was someone who put on airs. She dressed up to go to the grocery store because that is what she did.

She didn't say much but when she got mad it lasted a few days, day and night she ranted, then went to sleep and the next day, dinner was on the table and that meant it was over.

She worked once for three days.

She threatened to work more often. The conversation read like a script.

She: I am going to go to work at the nursing home and wash dishes.
He: Look pretty silly pulling up to a nursing home in that new Caddilac, fur coat, and diamonds.

When not ill and away or having a tyrannt about something, she was always there for her family. She cooked, cleaned, washed, ironed, and like I say, mowed the grass.

I was telling my sweet Thomas recently about a plumber I knew with really chapped hands. Since mother's hands were so soft, I figured her lotion would work on his, so I have him the bottle. She wondered where it was. Well, he seemed to need it more than her. Lesson: Ask.

But you know, I didn't know who she was, only what she did. Regrets? No, just the sign of the times.

88

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HEALTH INSURANCE

Old Trunks does not wish to get into a debate about the recently passed health insurance bill.

Before Medicare, my grandparents had no coverage. One summer, Grandma had to have gall bladder surgery. Before the leaves fell from the trees, Grandpa had the same surgery.

He told his son, "Take me to the dump, I can't afford this". Granted, the price of a trip to hospital was considerably less but so was everything else.

How did they deal with the loss of savings? Grandpa built a couple more houses and made up the loss.

Granted, not many people would build several houses to make up the difference, the last one being with his younger brother of 80+. When I say built, I mean with HIS hands. The house they lived it would sell and the two of them would move into the garage of the new house until it was finished. Now, I ask you this, would you have the stamina and the will to live in the garage when you were almost 80? Or does it really have to do with what a man's gotta do?

Think about it.

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HE WAS A HAPPY PAPPY!!!

Bayers Heroin
Between 1890 and 1910 heroin was sold as a non-addictive substitute for morphine. It was also used to treat children with strong cough.

Coca Wine
Metcalf Coca Wine was one of a huge variety of wines with cocaine on the market. Everybody used to say that it would make you happy and it would also work as a medicinal treatment.

Mariani wine
Mariani wine (1875) was the most famous Coca wine of it's time. Pope Leo XIII used to carry one bottle with him all the time. He awarded Angelo Mariani (the producer) with a Vatican gold medal.

Maltine
Produced by Maltine Manufacturing Company of NewYork. It was suggested that you should take a full glass with or after every meal... Children should take half a glass.

A paper weight:
A paper weight promoting C.F. Boehringer & Soehne ( Mannheim , Germany ). They were proud of being the biggest producers in the world of products containing Quinine and Cocaine.

Opium for Asthma

Cocaine tablets (1900)
All stage actors, singers, teachers and preachers had to have them for a maximum performance. Great to "smooth" the voice.

Cocaine drops for toothache. Very popular for children in 1885. Not only did they relieve the pain, they made the children happy!

Opium for new-borns
I'm sure this would make them sleep well (not only the Opium, but 46% alcohol!)

Like I say, Happy Pappy!!!

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JAYHAWKS

A moment of silence for the University of Kansas Jayhawks who lost to Northern Iowa yesterday while playing the NCAA Basketball Tournament, commonly known as March Madness.


And a hearty congratulations to Northern Iowa!

SENSATIONALISM

SENSATIONALISM: The art of the national news standing near the Moorhead Center Mall showing a river behind it and pretend major flooding.

This area ALWAYS floods. ALWAYS.

People have been asking me all week how bad the flood is. We took the news by storm last year because it was a major flood. But when the news sets up their cameras in a low area and makes comparisons to 2009, it is, and I repeat: SENSATIONALISM

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FLOOD AGAIN?

...........and she asked if we were okay. She was talking about the city of Fargo, which, you may have seen on the news again this year following so much coverage from the spring of 2009.


The water is not as high as last year and we are better prepared this year than last. It is in the 40's and has been unseasonably warm, which melted the snow, which made the farm land black, which made everything warm up. It is said that south of here, the water is receding. Remember the Red River runs NORTH so we get all the run off from the south. I got so involved in it last year and I was 24/7 about it. Some low area streets are closed but they are infamous for that, including one of the golf courses. The first round of sand bagging is complete and ready to place. A million bags have been filled and the filling sand bag station has been closed for the day. All of these bags were filled by volunteer folks in a behind the scene sort of way. We were not caught off guard like last year! I can't say that enough.

Let's hope we are prepared as well as our city officials, who are truly remarkable, honest people and use their guts more than listening to the Army Corp of Engineers who wanted Fargo evacuate last year.

Hundred year flood? 1997, 2009, and 2010. Even, I, a mathematical moron know there isn't 100 years between them!

DO I KNOW YOU? FROM WHERE?

A number of years ago, daughter and I sat writing down names. The article stated that everyone knew at least 2,500 people well enough to have a link to them. The article, (now cryptic trivia in my old brain), went on to say you knew someone that knew someone......and in the end count we were really connected in some way to thousands of people, even if it was through someone else.

We classified, as best we could according to places lived, organizations, age, and other. Since that sentence in itself is cryptic, perhaps it would make more sense if one said, grade school, high school, church, Girl Scouts, baseball, etc. Are you with me on this one? Have you heard yourself say, "Oh, I knew her/him from high school".

For those of you who have friends on line, that is, the ones you have seen in person, not the dearly beloved that are best friends and you would tell them anything but you have not physically met them. There is no difference, perhaps but it gives a better discussion using just people you have met in the flesh. Discussions about friends on line is a whole new discussion and one that will be happy to scribe someday.

Which brings me to a site called Facebook. This morning on log on, there was a picture of a lady who wanted to be friends. I had a vague feeling I knew who she was. From where? When? Why? How? I laid the idea aside in my head, knowing that my own computer brain would find the answer behind the scenes just as if it was virus software.

When I wrote to her, I told her I wondered if she was the same person who liked to visit with the lady who liked John Wayne and that person's mother was in the nursing home. She seemed very caring and fully engaged in the conversation. The John Wayne person was having a birthday. Did I take a mental photo? Or a physical photo of the two of them, or did she impress me to capture the moment on mental film? Or is that digital?

I had no other leads, her info did not give me a clue. Now, I wait with hands in my laps to find out if, indeed, she is the same person. I have come to discover that a still picture gives one an image but when you know someone in the flesh, the pix lacks soul. The photo doesn't breathe. Know what I mean?

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PEDDLING BACKWARDS

She said...............If you peddle backwards on a bike, you strip the gears. The reply was it won't hurt an elliptical machine, it is made for going backwards as well as forwards.

There have been studies about how people over sixty can retain or improve their muscles by exercise. Jack Palance did one handed push ups, which isn't something most 60+ men can do. Of course, Jack Palance is dead so Old Trunks isn't certain it did him much good long term. Perhaps it just made him more grizzly looking.

There are articles on the net of encouragement to exercise to get those old muscles back to young. The articles are secret, it depends on the bio chemistry. Is that the same as DNA? Or, are all the articles hypes for vitamins and minerals?

There is a snip of trivia floating in Old Trunks head about how muscles in the front of the leg remain strong while the back looses muscle tone, OR is that opposite?

We do know that old folks who break hips need to have therapy to keep moving to keep what they had. It seems mean to get a 85 year old up and moving right after hip surgery but consider what happens if they lay in bed until complete healing, if they heal at all?

As a youngster, I was hospitalized for ten days after surgery. When I got home I could hardly make it to the barn I was so weak. Now, I was a very active farm kid and was pretty scared by that, how would I ride horseback? Yet, I walked to and from the barn many times a day until "I got my strength back". Now apply that to that 85 year and multiply it by many and realize what would happen.

After all, if the Berenstein's Bears could bike backwards, why can't we?

Happy Monday.

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SPRING AHEAD

Old Trunks is not a fan of DST. EVER!!!

When I was a kid, I was told that is had to do with the farmer's having more daylight to work. I have yet to know a farmer that goes by his/her watch. They go by what needs to be done and when with the weather being a deciding factor. So there are holes in that theory, don't you think?

Then, when the kids were in grade school, and there was an energy crisis, they sprang forth in February. Obviously it was dark when they went to school in their dark coats walking to school in an area with no sidewalks. Well, we had a great neighborhood and until it was daylight, we got them all to school one way or another. If anyone was going to be safe it was our children.

Old Trunks best booboo about DSL happened when, in April a life time ago, we set the clocks back instead of forward and wondered why no one was a church and the sun was so high.

Now, my sweet Thomas starts the clock reset the day before. That means that when it turned 5P on the reset clock, it was time for me to make dinner. When it was 9P on the clock, which was only 8P, we went to bed.

For those of you who don't know, I play a game on line which includes harvesting crops. I did not figure for the crops to be off an hour to harvest. But then, farmer's aren't supposed to go by the clock are they? Only on the net!

Happy DST, grumble, grumble.

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HO HO HO for H20

The cousin in Oregon continues on with his spiel!


There is nothing like a long cold drink of water after a meal. For those who like to drink cold water, this article is applicable to you. It is nice to have a cup of cold drink after a meal. However, the cold water will solidify the oily stuff that you have just consumed. It will slow down the digestion. Once this 'sludge' reacts with the acid, it will break down and be absorbed by the intestine faster than the solid food. It will line the intestine. Very soon, this will turn into fats and lead to cancer.

It is best to drink hot soup or warm water after a meal. Oh yum, I love warm water. And I thought soup WAS the meal.

So, does this mean that when you go out to dinner and the waiter person brings you a glass of water they are giving you a chance to have cancer with your meal? Does this apply to soda? Or anything cold, including alcohol?

I am wondering how this cold glass of water stays cold in our system long enough to make that butter harden.

Is this why my Sweet Thomas is drinking room temperature water? I thought it was the Raynaud's. Raynaud's Syndrome as we all know, is a condition where the hands are cold. Holding cold glasses means purple fingers. At one time, we actually had them warm his milk in the microwave to take the chill off the glass. We still do it at home but since most places use plastic, the cold doesn't transfer as much.

If you know the answer, let me know, okay?

Hugs on this, the 13th day of March.

e

FRUIT AT 11 AND LUNCH AT 12

Then Pat the cousin from Oregon continued by telling me that this is the list of what I should eat:


KIWI: Tiny but mighty. This is a good source of potassium, magnesium, vitamin E & fiber. Its vitamin C content is twice that of an orange. And if you buy them in Fargo, they are probably on the soft side. Do you eat the peeling? NO? Can I use your pocket knife?

APPLE: An apple a day keeps the doctor away? Although an apple has a low vitamin C content, it has antioxidants & flavonoids which enhances the activity of vitamin C thereby helping to lower the risks of colon cancer, heart attack & stroke. I guess apple pie doesn't count here.

STRAWBERRY: Protective Fruit. Strawberries have the highest total antioxidant power among major fruits & protect the body from cancer-causing, blood vessel-clogging free radicals. These are all raw fruits. We have already learned from Pat nothing is to be cooked.

ORANGE : Sweetest medicine. Taking 2-4 oranges a day may help keep colds away, lower cholesterol, prevent & dissolve kidney stones as well as lessens the risk of colon cancer. That is four bucks for just oranges.

WATERMELON: Coolest thirst quencher.. Composed of 92% water, it is also packed with a giant dose of glutathione, which helps boost our immune system They are also a key source of lycopene - the cancer fighting oxidant. Other nutrients found in watermelon are vitamin C & Potassium. But, I still don't like it.

GUAVA & PAPAYA: Top awards for vitamin C. They are the clear winners for their high vitamin C content. Guava is also rich in fiber, which helps prevent constipation. Papaya is rich in carotene; this is good for your eyes.

So, when my sweet Thomas is sitting on the sofa in the evening, after supper, using his pocket knife to peel an orange, he is eating it at the wrong time of the day. He should eat his orange at work at 4:30, assuring it won't rot in his gut with his meat and tator supper, right?

I am NOT going to tell this man who rarely ate fruit before this orange kick he is going about it all wrong. And I hope you don't either.

Tutti fruity, Pat

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WHEN TO EAT FRUIT

..And my cousin from Oregon said:


We all think eating fruits means just buying fruits, cutting it and just popping it into our mouths. It's not as easy as you think. It's important to know how and when to eat.


What is the correct way of eating fruits?

IT MEANS NOT EATING FRUITS AFTER YOUR MEALS!

FRUITS SHOULD BE EATEN ON AN EMPTY STOMACH.


If you eat fruit like that, it will play a major role to detoxify your system, supplying you with a great deal of energy for weight loss and other life activities.


FRUIT IS THE MOST IMPORTANT FOOD. Let's say you eat two slices of bread and then a slice of fruit. The slice of fruit is ready to go straight through the stomach into the intestines, but it is prevented from doing so. Pat, that is probably why white bread makes you dead.

In the meantime the whole meal rots and ferments and turns to acid. The minute the fruit comes into contact with the food in the stomach and digestive juices, the entire mass of food begins to spoil... Oh gross me out!

So please eat your fruits on an empty stomach or before your meals! You have heard people complaining - every time I eat watermelon I burp, when I eat durian my stomach bloats up, when I eat a banana I feel like running to the toilet etc - actually all this will not arise if you eat the fruit on an empty stomach. The fruit mixes with the putrefying other food and produces gas and hence you will bloat!


Graying hair, balding, nervous outburst, and dark circles under the eyes all these will not happen if you take fruits on an empty stomach. I dreamed last night all my hair fell out, maybe it was the orange slice!

There is no such thing as some fruits, like orange and lemon are acidic, because all fruits become alkaline in our body, according to Dr. Herbert Shelton who did research on this matter. If you have mastered the correct way of eating fruits, you have the secret of beauty, longevity, health, energy, happiness and normal weight.


When you need to drink fruit juice - drink only fresh fruit juice, NOT from the cans. Don't even drink juice that has been heated up. Don't eat cooked fruits because you don't get the nutrients at all. You only get to taste. Cooking destroys all the vitamins. Sounds like Jack LaLane.

But eating a whole fruit is better than drinking the juice. If you should drink the juice, drink it mouthful by mouthful slowly, because you must let it mix with your saliva before swallowing it. You can go on a 3-day fruit fast to cleanse your body. Just eat fruits and drink fruit juice throughout the 3 days and you will be surprised when your friends tell you how radiant you look! Do you have a web cam?

Odd, don't you think that if, as a child, you came into the kitchen, let's say a half an hour before supper and got an apple out of the fridge, you mother would say, "Don't eat that NOW, you will spoil your supper!"

And in the course of eating lunch in schools, aren't we trained to eat our fruit LAST? Huh?

WHAT IS HAZMAT?

Hazmat is a shortened term meaning "hazardous material." HAZ-MAT

Hazardous material can be anything that can cause harm to living things. Some types of hazardous material include biological, chemical or physical items. They can pose a danger to individual health and to the environment. These items, by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) can be agents that contain carcinogens (cancer-causing substances), toxic agents, corrosives, explosive or flammable chemicals and unstable agents.

The colours of each diamond in a way has reference to its hazard IE:

Flammable = red. (Although bags at nursing homes were red and not flammable).

Explosive = orange, because mixing red (flammable) with yellow (oxidising agent) creates orange.

Non Flammable Non Toxic Gas = green, due to all compressed air vessels being this colour in France after World War II.

France is where the diamond system of HazMat identification originated.

NEED A HAZEMAT SUIT?

............and she said, "I don't show up to work on Monday its because I died from XX toxic farts. You will need a hazmat suit to recover my body. I would like to be cremated".


She is a giggle on wheels, isn't she? I asked her what she fed him and described a delicious dinner. It wasn't what she made, it is the shake he made for himself to make him healthy. He told me what it was and Old Trunks was convinced it must have tasted like saw dust. He declined to agree, stating it had berries in it.

For any of you who have launched a health driven diet and do protein shakes with two cups of oats in it, and have been around a horse barn and listened for the 'air' then you know oats = hazemat suits.

And I ask you, what price wellness? Are we over loaded with information stating what is NOW the worst chemicals? I was told recently that since Coke could take the tar off cars and clean batteries, wasn't I worried it was going to eat my stomach? I was not convinced that water tasted good nor was I willing to drink tea instead of coffee for my wellness.

Not all of us can follow a drummer that stamps certain foods as okay to eat. Not all of us are going to be runway model thin. Some of us do not color our hair or have our smile whitened.

Some of us do not eat oats and do not need hazemat suits to protect ourselves against ourselves or others. Some of us do not think, I have gas, what did I eat and go off on a quest to find it out, we just expel it and go on.

All of us have been in a grocery store and walked through a cold of stinky air wondering just who left it. But it didn't make our mascara run or peel the labels off the cans.

What price do we pay for prime health OR can we pay for it?

Go figure.

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BAPTIZED AND CONFIRMED............

....and she said, another class mate has died.................

We don't think about this when we are screaming at games, walking the halls, and for some, trying to get the best of teachers.

Death passes over no one. Some are found earlier. Our 1962 graduating class of 1962 is down 18 of its members of the original class of 177. That is almost 10%.

Perhaps it is because old Trunks spent so very many hours looking for people, I am frustrated that I can not find an obituary for the last class member who deceased in Florida. We have learned of Pam's death by word of mouth, a card to her family would be in order.

When I think of her, I can see that beautiful milk like skin, that beautiful smile. Did I know her well? No. Where we friendly to one another? Yes.

In looking at the list of class mates who have died, many of them were Trinity Lutheran OR Zion Lutheran. I wonder if Pam's obituary stated, "Baptized and confirmed in the Lutheran faith".

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DID YOU SEE THAT?

Then I asked.................."Is that the new style of glasses?.................and the answer is, anything goes.

Ladies who looked like 100 but where really only half that age in old pictures held their wire rimmed glasses in their hand. Why do you think that is? Would the powder flash catch the glass in the frames? Now we have anti-reflective, there is no bounce off, why do people take their glasses off for pictures now?

Imagine all the types of frames my sweet Thomas has seen come and go in his career as an optician for the last 46+ years. Glasses, like jewelry, revives itself.

The lady I asked about had huge plastic frames which looked like they were from the early 1980's. How did she keep them up on her nose? Maybe she used Velcro or Duct tape. Well, maybe never since the lenses themselves have become ultra light, unlike Grandpa Benhard in his thick-cataract glasses. What a shame to cover up those pretty blue eyes with the bottom of Coke bottles.

When you look at someone, do you really want to see their glasses first? How about yourself, do you want temples, (bows) wide enough to use to skate board?

What do you see and what do your glasses say about you?

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IS RELIGION LIKE UNDERWEAR?

...................and Mimi said, " Religion is like underwear: It makes some people feel comfortable while some people feel free to go without, but either way you don't need to share it with everyone. And yes, I made that metaphor up myself".

Old Trunks truly thinks this is an awesome statement. For those of you who grew up in a small town there was only Christianity and the big split was Catholics verses 'other' which was made up of Lutherans, Baptists, Methodists, and other too numerous to mention. There are about 20 places to worship in that city at this time, perhaps more than when Old Trunks lived there. In a quick look at what is available today, and there is nothing but what is above mentioned. What does this tell you?

I used to try to figure out how a town of 7,500 people could support so many churches which had two services on Sunday. I deducted that each church must have a following of 750 people no matter what the age. How do the business of church survive?


I asked someone recently since one of the businesses had decided to be okay with gays, would that make a difference to them. He laughed because he thought I wondered if the business called church was looking for more members not souls to save.

I have a Jewish friend, we do not exchange our religious views; rather we exchange friendship in some sort of universal way where there is an un-named gathering place.

To tell on my Dad, I remember someone coming to the farm in the fifties and asking for a pledge. Daddy told him he would pledge $50.00 a year. He told the man he needed a church where his children could be married and a place for his funeral.

For all of us who were dropped off at the church every Saturday morning for two years to learn about our religion, our parent's did what they felt was very important. We are still seeing "baptised and confirmed in the Lutheran faith" in obituaries.

Old Trunks wonders what the skinny is on this now. Is Mini right? Is religion like underwear, some wear it for comfort; others go without.

Think about it.

e
Religion is not a subject I discuss.

WHAT COLOR IS YOUR CAR?

And he said, "*!!!, I know I am just killing time because I don't want to do taxes".......

I am going to have to give him some grief about using his X time wisely.

I think it is wondrous AND odd that someone you didn't know becomes a bud decades later and one seems to feel like you have always known them but you have not. Know what I mean?

Although I know this person is a AAAA type personality and a knower of many things, he cannot seem to understand computer 'stuff' and this makes the bridge.

Now, what is interesting about AAAA and others I have met is, Old Trunks doesn't bridge to everyone. A dozen years ago, Tom and I had a lengthy discussion about that. It was important for him to know that I had flown across the bridge to him. He also needed to understand that I am cautious about bridging but once I do, I rarely burn time.

More importantly, I do not line up bricks and mortar, and pilings and discover with my mind; it is all gut.

Let me put it this way: I almost always get along really well with people who drive green or red cars, (without knowing what color their car is). I have a sense of who drives a black vehicle and am cautious. Anything else is middle ground. Now if you think my ways of receiving friendships are odd, I know someone that did not buy a black car because he wanted me to like him! I may add that, in the VERY beginning, I asked Tom what color his car.

Make good friends.

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IS IT SANTA?

We were talking yesterday about X time. And who gets what and when. It doesn't matter how organized you are, and how much you can squeeze into one day, eventually, it all gets thrown out of sync. It is going to happen; make a choice deal with it or roll with it.

I am willing to say, other than my mother, plans for 'to do' get changed. The plan to do it remains the same but sometimes one just can't get it done timely.

I am thinking about when I worked and the hours were long and hard and if you have never been on call 24/7 then you can't know what it is like to be dashing about in the night with equipment because that is what service we provided.

From that I learned that, after a hard week of work/on call, power napping was, at least, a way to THINK I had caught up. Unlike others, I never learned that on call was only when you were called. For some reason I went on sentry duty at the strike of the clock and stayed that way until my week was over. My problem. Yes.

But what about retired folks who get caught up in projects and have a plan which carries them through the day? Do they get bumped off their feed as well?

I think one of the things I miss the most about having children is the spontaneity of the day/minute/hour. Amazingly I didn't complain when son woke me at 7A in the morning to go out and throw him baseballs and once he caught 50, gave him money for an Icee. Been years since I have thrown a baseball let alone at 7A.

I wondered just how rigid I had gotten. I have specific tasks I do each day and play games each day. I plan for the games to be finished before Tom comes home, although it doesn't always work out that way.

We are at an exciting planning time in our lives. Tom's brain cells are rubbing together and the fire is high. After dinner, he asked if I was going to farm, which I was. Rather than say yes and my favorite TV shows are on tonight, I asked him what I might do for him.

I knew that this was a task I could do better than he could AND since he had an outdoor project that should not be delayed, I took the challenge. As I was keyboarding documents for him, I was reminded of when I went to trade school in my mid-forties. I was reminded that I was honored to be of help to Tom. I finished just about the time he came down off the roof after raking off the snow.

So Santa was on the roof and elf was at the keyboard and the TV never got turned on but the plow/planting did AFTER the reality of what was before us. It was X time, taken from something else.

Maybe the real question is: What is X time worth?

Think about it.

e

TO BLINK OR NOT TO BLINK

And she said............."Thanks to male co-workers I know I have lights out on my car and my car is recalled".


Funny thing about all those Mr. Fixit's out there. Imagine this tough, leopard skinned man dragging you into some cave by your hair.

Men can miff me. Men can charm me. But Mr. Fixit went out with the last generation, except, of course, for my Sweet Thomas who still crosses the line when I don't think I need a knight in shining armor. For, you see at our house, the vehicles are in his column. And he doesn't take it in for service, he takes them in for a complete physical.

But I didn't always have him in my life, I was the fixer of bulbs and tires, and buyer of batteries, and all about vehicles at one time. And if a co worker male told me I had a lamp out, I would wonder if he was talking about my own mental wattage.

I have met few males in the real since I moved to Fargo. One I know would tell me I had no blinkers and I would ask where to go to get them and he would tell me he would do it for me. Because that is the way he is. Another, in the same work place would be handing me a quarter for a $1.00 cigarette and telling me in muffled tones I needed to have my car fixed. A third, a turd in his own right, would poopoo a yellow truck and say nothing else.

Now, as we all know, there are X many hours in a day. For people who work there is little wiggle room beyond work. Decisions have to be made on what to do with that X time. Male and females alike. Interesting how blinking bulbs can take so much time, isn't it?

e

BREAKFAST OF CHAMPIONS

Three times I clicked on the AOL crawler named, "Most Marketable Vancouver Olympians" and all three times directed to the financial section. Even when I click on Lindsay Vonn, or Bode Miller, or Apolo Ohno, or Shaun White or Joannie Rochette.

Will it be Lindsey with her bruised shin, blonde hair and legs up to her neck. I will remember her as laying down after the win and kicking in the air.

What can you say about Apolo beyond how charming he is as well as a fierce competitor. And like many, I didn't know he was a skater; I saw him on Dancing with the Stars!

Beyond the win, was the death of Joannie Rochette's mother? Did Joannie take her mother's dying and turn it into a tribute? Or was it because she is an Olympian who touched the world with determination and character at the Games? (The Terry Fox Award in honor of an amputee runner who embarked on a cross-country journey to raise funds for cancer by the same name). I don't see it as pity BS, do you?

Shaun White with his long, curly red hair gives an air of an all around guy. Maybe even hunk. Maybe

And Bode Miller? He is a four-time world champion and two-time overall World Cup champion. But, isn't he, at least in time, the "come back kid"?

I am sticking with Shaun! Hunk or not.

Who do you want on the Wheaties box?

Happy March, dear one.

e

HOCKEY IN THE STREET

Canada has a right to be proud! What a sweet victory for them!

We talked about how all the best of American hockey players at one time came from Northern Minnesota. Towns named Roseau, Warroad, and Eveleth come to mind. The same villages that PeeWee hockey from Thief River Falls visited and played on out door rinks. We stood around the rink's side boards in our heavy winter coats watching the players as well as the breath from the many spectators. We hoped for still, sunny days because we knew it was going to be cold. At least Thief River Falls had an indoor rink.

Old Trunks wonders if, when boys gathered to play hockey in the street if they had visions of championships or did they just play? Was it just something to do and a chance to cuss at cars which drove over the clumps of snow used as goals?

And what about those elementary school kids who played on an out door rink which was flooded in the late fall and never to be groomed again? Did they have visions? What about the kids who played only after school and never were preened or coached? Do they have memories of the sport? According to Frank, yes, they do.

What about the kids who played in high school that for one reason or another where not allowed to play high school hockey? Where did these young men get their pleasure for hockey met? On the city team, where everyone was someone and your back ground didn't matter as long as you could handle a stick.

For now, Canada will rejoice it its victory much like New Orleans did after the Saints won the Super Bowl. Everyone who ever played hockey of any sort, whether it be in the street, in high school or college will have a memory.

Although hockey is a team effort; our memories are individual. Maybe life is like that. Perhaps all of us say WE when we think ME.

Happy March.

e