Follow...

I follow the New York Yankees' scores. I follow the Notre Dame football and basketball team scores.
I follow about a half-dozen bloggers' posts.
I follow traffic laws...mostly; that speed-limit thing on the open road not so much sometimes.
I follow several TV shows..."Hawaii 5-0", "Breaking Bad", and "It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia" are the current biggies for me.
If I am reduced to having to read them, I follow written instructions as best I can.

I do not folow anyone on Twitter, although I do follow the posts of many friends and family members on FaceBook.
Sometimes actually following...not merely virtually following...is kinda tricky. Tricky in the sense that to really follow someone (like the picture above suggests) means knowing and understanding (as best one can) the person you are following; tricky in the sense that to really follow someone may just get you to places and positions you would never have thought possible; tricky in the sense that to really follow someone may call forth more humility than you thought you could exercise.
Well, happy following! Make sure, of course, that who you choose to follow is worthy of your time, and trust, and energy.

Lessons From the Game of Euchre

When the family gathers it is not unusual for a euchre game, or two, or more to break out. We are Indiana people...and I am pretty sure that right after basketball, euchre is the state game.
Now of course, in the game of euchre card suits are played against each other and using a card from the suit that is "trump" on a pile of played cards in a hand that are of a different suit means you have "trumped" that trick (a card hand in this game is called a trick), and that you win that hand/trick. Win three of the five tricks in a hand and you score a point (that is, if you or your partner named trump that hand; if the other team named trump, you would get two points...for euchering them); win all five tricks in a hand and you get two points; go alone (play the other two-person team by yourself, not using your partner's cards) and take all five tricks and you score four points. That's all clear, right?

Well, as we approach the weekend that marks 10 years since the events of September 11, 2001...and especially since it is on a Sunday and I am a pastor in a Christian Church...it is important for me to on-purpose direct our attention to some lessons learned from euchre...
Lesson: Peace trumps war!
Lesson: Forgiveness trumps retaliation!
Lesson: Universal Community trumps nation or tribe!
Lesson: Love trumps hate!

As the picture shows, some journeys take great courage! I hope we have enough courage to put those four lessons-learned-from-euchre to practice as we observe the solemnity of this weekend.

It Is Hot!

Central Indiana, along with other places in our country, is setting records this summer for high temperatures, and strings-of-days with high temperatures. Its been in the 90s for a very long stretch of days where I live. It is hot!

Temperature extremes don't sit well with me. I do not like bone-chilling cold. I also do not like sweating-the-minute-you-walk-out-the-door heat. I prefer my temperature range to be, oh say 60 - 80 degrees. Yes, that would work well for me.
Having lived my entire life in either Indiana or southern California, I have never enjoyed my optimal temperature range (my OTR). And of course, beyond the temperature being what it is these days there is the humidity to complain about. And the heat-index (I don't remember having that measurement of discomfort back in the day). And no-zone action day alerts. And what sun-screen number I should apply before going outside during daylight hours.
Here's what I would propose for weather-reporting types: No matter what the temperature really is, report it as being between 60 and 80 degrees. Do NOT report the dew-point, the heat-index, the humidity, the wind-chill factor...nor any of the other fancy ways you have of making me feel miserable. Just keep it simple and let's see if I can adjust better to my surroundings.
Please. It is very imprtant to me to live within my OTR!
And, if you knew me well, it would be important to you, too!

What My Vehicle Says...

Bumper Stickers...that's the topic, bumper stickers. Currently I have just one sticker on my CR-V (its on the rear window, not the bumper)...its from the Ron Jon Surf Shop in Ft. Myers, FL. The Obama sticker I had on the other side of my rear window was taken off by someone while I was visiting with a member of my church at an extended care facility. Obviously, whoever removed that sticker did not approve of my political persuasion.

Here are some bumper stickers I can recall having seen: "The best things in life aren't things." "Condoms are easier to change than diapers." "Don't get even...Get odd!" "Jesus loves you but I'm his favorite." "If ignorance is bliss why aren't more people happy?" "Money Talks/Chocolate Sings."
What does your vehicle say? Does it offer insight to those who are following you in traffic? Are you serving up laughter? Are you making a political or religious statement that you want folks to ponder or agree with? I had no idea what the Chevy in front of me the other day was trying to convey, but I did laugh when I read "What if the Hokey Pokey IS what its all about?"
I was concerned as to whether or not the driver of an old rusted green pick-up truck on HWY 45 late one night was being serious...the bumper sticker read "I buy cheap beer so I can afford expensive ammunition!"
And, like you, I have seen my share of crude bumper stickers...the kind that make me sad that my young daughter has to see when she is riding with me.
I once had someone slap a bumper sticker on my car without my permission...adding to my anger over that incident was the fact that it promoted a talk-radio host I consider nutty and offensive.
Every red 2007 Honda CR-V pretty much looks the same when you drive up behind them...except mine has that Surf Shop sticker (I don't surf, but the sticker was thrown in the bag along with some T-shirts I purchased on vacation one year...and I really enjoy my vacations to Florida.) It does make picking out my vehicle in a parking lot easier...there being quite a few red CR-Vs in Bloomington.
My vehicle says, I suppose, that I like surfing (not so much), or surf shops (they do have some really great T-shirts), and southwest Florida (that I do!). Since there is only one sticker my vehicle might also say that I don't have an agenda to push all that much, or I am bland...maybe boring, or that I prefer for you to see my nice red paint job uncluttered.
Probably I should think about two additional stickers: Notre Dame and New York Yankees.
If you send me one or both of those, I will jazz up my vehicle's message.

Memorial Day 2011

I am 66 years old! I have celebrated many Memorial Day holidays.
My earliest memories are of riding on the Boy Scout float down Edison Road in Lydick, IN. The parade began, I think, at the far western end of Edison Road, near Mutt's gas station...or maybe it began at the school on Quince Road, moved south to Edison and then turned east...it moved slowly past Clyde Peterson's store, the tavern, Marge's Beauty Shop...on past the Hardware Store, and the Gleaner's Hall, and the Ice Cream Parlor...then up the slight hill where it passed the front yard of my grandparent's home...and ended somewhere not too far past Chip Baginski's house...I think.
The parade took place during the running of the Indy 500, and so we had our transistor radios tuned to "The Greatest Spectacle in Racing." Mario was my guy! And those Andy Granatelli turbines, remember those? A.J. Foyt was the bad-guy...not really sure why, just never did like his style, I guess.

I don't remember decorating graves. Maybe we did and I just don't remember it. My father had served in WW2...and my uncle Don had served, I believe...maybe there were more who had done so. I don't believe we had any family members die while in service to their country.
I do remember times when I have been disappointed in the over-the-top celebration of war and militarization on Memorial Day.
So far as I can tell the intention of Memorial Day is to honor those men and women who died in America’s wars, but it is not to glory in militarism or bless war. From the beginning of what was then called “Decoration Day” in 1868, and its post-WWI promotion by a lady named Ms. Moina Michael, the focus of the holiday was/is to honor our war dead. Early on there was an emphasis on supporting the many widows and orphans war leaves in its wake. And, decorating the graves of the war-dead has always been part of the celebration.
I live in a place where a 500-mile race just might be the biggest thing happening this Memorial Day Weekend. We often do that, don't we: turn old holiday celebrations into new and different holiday celebrations. Maybe there is room in the 3-day weekend for both.

Not Always What It Seems...

I play golf.
That is to say, I own golf equipment, have enough money to afford greens fees, and can set aside time on most good-weather Thursday mornings to navigate 18 holes layed out over some often quite beautiful acreage.
It is not to say, I PLAY GOLF like folks who can actually PLAY GOLF.

Do you like the photo?
Serene, isn't it? Relaxes you just to look at it on a computer screen.
Would you like to be in the picture? Just somehow lifted away from where you are right now and plunked down in the picture...say reclining on that knoll just in front of the tree straight ahead?
Yeah, me too.
But it isn't always what it seems, is it? Whatever the "it" may be.
That beautiful scene marks the fairway just in front of a tee-box...it leads to a not-so-large, textured green about 545 yards away. Its a par 5. For me, maybe a 6 or 7.
It looks great...but it can be the start of a really terrible score if you cannot hit the ball straight and long, and then putt with some skill.
Somedays I am up to the challenge. Most days, I am not. (Whoever invented this "par" thing, and why isn't this particular hole a par 6 or 7?)
But it is inviting. And it is a beautiful patch of land. And the fact tha I keep returning to the challenge says something about how addicting trying to get it right can be...even if the challenge is not always what it seems.
FORE! (That's not my score, that's just what I am supposed to holler when it looks like my golf ball may be headed in your direction instead of where I aimed it.)

One More Memory of Back In the Day

I cannot remember the first drive-in movie theatre I went to. I am sure it was with my parents...and most likely it was a Walt Disney movie. I am sure we went in a Studebaker. Probably it was the theatre on Western Avenue between South Bend and Lydick.

There are still a very few drive-ins open for business. There is one on HWY 67 north of Martinsville...and every time I drive by it I remember how it was back in the day. The refreshment stand. The folks who arrived in their pick up truck, pulled into the slot backwards and viewed from lawn chairs on the truck bed. The third feature, which was usually a loser...although once in a while it was a winner: I saw "Night of the Living Dead" as a third feature with my boys when they were quite young; also saw a flick titled "Homebodies," which, if you can find you should give a look.
I saw my first 007 movie at a drive-in.
Date night was always better at the drive-in.
Defrosters being what they were in those old Studebakers (the only car my dad drove while I was growing up, and my first car, as well), it was often times not the best movie viewing at the drive-in.
It was often too cold or too hot at the drive-in, but watching a movie on a screen about the size of a big barn was worth it, I guess.
Probably I wouldn't really enjoy going to a drive-in theatre these days, but there are times I think I sure would like to give it a try.