Happy New Year

It’s Time To Ponder

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Yes, we are in the first few days of a new year. It’s time to ponder.

Note that we aren’t referring to New Years resolutions which for many years has been a noble effort only to be often riddled with dismal to failed results. 

Neither is it about a goal which sounds worthy of attention except that you will either hit the goal (yay!) or miss it (oh no!).

Neither do we want to call it our imagination which is often just too far out of reach or dreaming which isn’t even in our universe. 

That leaves pondering. We rarely … Read the rest “It’s Time To Ponder”

Then There Is January

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It’s ten minutes after midnight. You decided to stay up long enough to see the ball drop in Times Square. Now, it feels good to turn out the light and slide under the covers. You feel relaxed even if some fireworks are still being set off by some of your neighbors. 

Then comes a lull followed a few seconds later by a dazzling flash of light and a really BIG BANG, then nothing but quiet. 

You smile as you realize the folks had purposely saved the loudest for the last. In dramatic fashion, it signaled that the old year was … Read the rest “Then There Is January”

Looking Ahead To A New Year

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It has likely happened to you as it has to millions of others after Christmas. 

As you begin catching up on everything that was put on hold before the holidays you can’t help looking ahead to a New Year — a good time to end some bad habits and begin doing whatever needs to be done to make your life better. So you confidently make a list of New Year’s resolutions and sincerely promise yourself that come New Year’s Day, you are going to begin making more of a difference.

That day soon arrives, but because it falls on a … Read the rest “Looking Ahead To A New Year”

Then There Were Warren And Jimmy

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It wasn’t unexpected that in the recent passing of Jimmy Buffet, many would wonder if he and Warren Buffet were related. Well, to answer that question, they weren’t. They did, however, meet and become good friends.

I took that even farther by wondering what Warren, the quiet and highly disciplined investor, might have in common with Jimmy, the always buoyant and outgoing entertainer.

That led to me imagining what it might have been like for these two highly-successful men to get together in a quiet place, maybe sitting on the porch of a farmhouse atop a high hill from which … Read the rest “Then There Were Warren And Jimmy”

Sharing The Spirit With Strangers

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It was a usual humdrum coffee break in the company snack shop. The only bright spot in the plain and all too familiar surroundings was a small and scrawny but brightly lit Christmas tree. As intended, it reminded everybody it was time to get into the spirit.

As for me, I didn’t mind all the rushing around and wondering what presents to buy for whom, or even the challenge of finding the time to get everything done before Christmas Eve.

It was writing the Christmas cards that got to me. They were nice to receive, but a chore to get … Read the rest “Sharing The Spirit With Strangers”

On A Special Stage At Christmas

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Our immediate future could hardly have been more bleak.

We were less than halfway through military basic training during an unusually wet, cold, and bleak Arkansas winter.

Even worse, in three weeks most of us, including me, would be spending our first Christmas away from home, family, and friends. It was no wonder we just wanted to get Christmas over and done with as soon as possible.

As it turned out, however, it wouldn’t be that way for me and the other nineteen guys who had volunteered to sing in the Camp Chaffee chapel choir.

Captain Cuthbert, the chaplain, was … Read the rest “On A Special Stage At Christmas”