*** Today would have been my mother's 89th birthday (I think). Back in the Depression my mom lied about her age in order to get a job; she actually made herself older! It took years for it all to get sorted out with the SSA, the IRS, insurance policies and even us....well, me! The result was that even now I'm not sure without looking it up if she was born in 1921, 1922, 1923, or 1924! To make matters worse, she and my dad were married on September 15. So when September 9 rolls around, I've always had to stop and think whether it was her birthday or their anniversary, and I was never sure exactly how old she was. Sometimes even she forgot!
So like I said, today would have been her 89th birthday, I think. She has been gone for nearly seven years now. Her age doesn't really matter anymore. I miss her still and will forever! I sure wish I could hear her laugh again! Love you, Momma!
*** Each year there comes a day, when the season changes from summer to fall. No matter what the calendar says, today felt like that day. There's just something about the angle of the sun and when and how darkness falls, and a certain crispness in the air, even if it is still warm, that moves my perception into fall. As I wrote a while back, I will miss this summer. It was a really good one, the only bad part was that it was over too soon! Even though fall brings back to school, changing leaves, Halloween, and Thanksgiving, it can also bring cold-ish temperatures that make me think of winter; and I reeeaaally don't like winter, even in Austin! Nevertheless, that won't happen for a little while yet, I hope, and fall is my 2nd favorite season. Happy fall!
*** As a former Floridian I would unequivocally like to say that Preacher Jones is not representative of Preachers or the people of Florida. He is in a class by himself. Talk about dumb ideas!! Burning Islam's most Holy Book?....in public?....with media coverage? Ohh yeah, that's really brilliant! Whatever in the world did he and his "congregation" expect to achieve? The whole thing sounds like a publicity stunt to me. Sort of like the kid-in-the-balloon parents and the White House party crashers. If you hear the words "reality show" coupled with his name, you'll know! If that doesn't happen, then this guy is a World Class Idiot! Actually, even if it does happen, this guy is a World Class Idiot!
***The media isn't coming off too well in this "incident" either! They should have just left the story in the oblivion it deserved! Whatever happened to journalistic and broadcasting standards?? The new standards must be, "If it's stupid, dangerous, outrageous, or deceitful, it's NEWS!" Bah!
*** September is Childhood Cancer Awareness Month. Every day in the U.S. 46 children are diagnosed with some type of Cancer. Every Day! One of every 5 of those diagnosed children will die of the disease. That's 9.2 children who will die!
The only thing that will change those statistics is research to find a cure! Please contribute as much as you can to CureSearch: http://www.curesearch.org/about_us/index.aspx?id=7840, or any other research group working on Childhood Cancer. How many kids can we bear to lose?
***Hermine, the most recent hurricane to make landfall in the U.S. came by Austin Tuesday. It pretty quickly was downgraded to a tropical storm and then to just a tropical depression. Whatever it was, didn't actually go over Austin, but we got the rain anyway! Lots and lots of rain. Parts of the Austin area got 11-12 inches of rain! Whoa! That's a lot of water! All of the normally little, nearly non-existent creeks turned into raging rivers from the run-off. We had flooded roadways, traffic accidents, even a fatality of someone who ignored the warnings and unsuccessfully tried to drive through the moving water.
The development in which we live is located at the second highest elevation in Austin, so there was no flooding near our house. Ratchlet lives in a part of Austin that is not close to any of those raging rivers. Thus neither of us suffered any damage or losses. And we are grateful!
And there you have it, "All the news that's fit to print." See?? "News" doesn't have to be "stupid, dangerous, outrageous, or deceitful" to be interesting!
I ran tonight after sunset, and while it was still warm and humid, there was a nice breeze. I have felt the difference in the weather this week and I LOVE it! :) Bring it on, Autumn!
ReplyDeleteWow--that really was all the news that's fit to print! Nice to remember your mother's birthday, and glad you didn't get any of the flooding. Yikes, I didn't even know of Hermine--I'm so out of it.
ReplyDeleteI know how you fell about missing your mom!!
ReplyDeleteIsn't it interesting that so many of us miss our mother's laughter the most!
ReplyDeleteAs for that preacher, I totally agree with you. The media should have left it alone and not given him so much attention. Being in the limelight for hate is ridiculous and he deserves none of it. I'm sure he'll try to milk this for all it's worth (probably taking lessons from Palin).
I share your mother's birth date. My mother has been gone 10 years, and like you, I haven't stopped missing her. I'm so often surprised at how much we are alike. I do NOT like winter. So many people say they can't stand the heat of summer, but I'll take it over the cold of winter any day.
ReplyDeleteIt seems that, in this age of instant news, the news media has become sooo desperate and competitive that they'll make big news out of anything that is sensational. You are so right - sensation is not usually newsworthy. laurie