Struggling To Find Ourselves

The more things change, the more they stay the same…or so the story goes.

Along with the obvious change of seasons that has been marked by the brilliantly colored leaves on the various types of trees, we have noticed that the neighbors have been changing from their Summer-like thought processes into their Winter-Is-Coming thought processes.  They’ve been getting firewood up to the house, and cleaning out the flowerbeds of the last remnants of dried up leaves from all of the Spring and Summer foilage.  Propane tanks have been filled for the first time.  Front doors have been closed more to keep out some of the coolness that the North wind has brought to the neighborhood.  People are staying home more because of the coolness and wetness from the rain the last several days.  Oh, and let’s not forget that we can actually SEE the neighbor’s house over in the next block, straight across from us, because most of the trees have lost their leaves…*Laughs*  Not much change happens around here, other than the changes that we all go through as the seasons turn from one to the next.

What does change look like in YOUR neighborhood?

Observations is a BROAD category!!!

Have you observed that society, as a whole, has been changing?  No longer do we put an emphasis on education and morals.  Now the emphasis seems to be on socialization and not academics.  I have seen children “graduate” high school, as well as other grades, and they are not able to read or do simple Math in their head or write a sentence correctly.  If you can’t read, you can’t do anything these days.  But, on the other hand, if you CAN read, you can teach yourself to do ANYTHING!!!

Something else I’ve observed over the last few years is that the words “family” and “friend(s)” don’t mean near as much as they used too.

Oh, and I think we’ve ALL observed the price of things going up!!!!  And our rate of pay staying about the same.  How backward is that?

Thanks for the great prompt again, folks!!!

GHOSTS

Yes, I DO believe that ghosts are real.  I DO believe that, sometimes, they interact with the physical world we live in.  Have I seen one?  No, but I would swear on a Bible that I’ve lived in houses that have had a ghost…or even two, maybe.  It’s just….like feeling their presence or something….especially when strange things happen in the house…or items are moved with NO explanation….or when the television comes on in the middle of the night or is on when you come home from being gone.  Who knows?  Ghosts and the spirit realm is one of those great mysteries that all the scientists on Earth haven’t figure out completely yet…and probably never will.

The prompt for a couple of weeks ago caught my fancy.  What puzzles you?  I HAVE to admit that I’m puzzled by many things, but one of most major ones is:  How can “improvements” on something actually make it worse than the original?  I’ve found that to be true about MANY items.  Can’t they leave well enough alone?  Isn’t something ever good enough as it is?  Why do people INSIST on “improving” on things that work just fine the way they are?  Have you ever noticed that?  I’ve gotten to where I don’t want to buy a new dishwasher, among other things, because the new ones just don’t work as good as the one I had before.  Odd, isn’t it?

Time machine….that’s a GOOD subject for me!!!  I even started writing a story that actually was turning into a series of stories a few years ago, that involved time travel.  It wasn’t exactly by time machine, though.  I made the “hero’s” time travel more of a mystery of nature.  Maybe I’ll have to post one of those stories one of these days?

Passion…that’s a BROAD subject for this week!!

Some people have passion about other people…their significant other…their children.  Other people have passion for a particular school subject….I would HAVE to say that mine, if I HAD to pick one, would be American history…or math…or spelling.  Other people have a passion for art or music or beautiful clothing, or even beautiful houses.  Some people have a passion for travelling.

Yep, a VERY broad subject!!!

Okay, so I’m a couple of days late on this Sunday Scribblings, but at least I’m doing it!!!

This is a GOOD prompt for me, ’cause I can talk about a subject that is almost ALWAYS in the back of my mind, probably because I don’t normally get a whole lot.  There are days when I think sleep is over-rated.  I mean, other than necessity of course, why do we spend a third of our lives doing….nothing?  There are nights when I get very little, if any….but then I normally make up for it somewhere along the line.  What causes sleeplessness anyway?  There are times I wish I knew the answer to that question!!

Maybe I’ll come back some other time and tell you what I do when I can’t sleep….maybe I’ll do that during one of my sleepless nights?

The word “miscellaneous” encompasses a wide variety of things for me. I don’t really think of one thing, when thinking of this word, I think of the miscellaneous projects that I have going. I think of the miscellaneous books that I want to read. I think of the miscellaneous appointments that I have in the upcoming months. I think of the wide array of  miscellaneous things going on in the world around me.

Hmmmm…such a broad subject with so many writing possibilities…”the dance”!!!  I guess I’ll start with what those words make me think of when I hear them.  There are a couple of songs out there that those words make me think of…One is by Garth Brooks…I like that song, but not enough to go buy the CD for.  Also, there is a newer one out that I believe says something about dancing like nobody’s watching.  I can’t tell you who does it or any more of the words, but I LIKE that line in it.  Another song it reminds me of is the “Tennessee Waltz” which was done ALOT of years ago, by several people.  *sings*…I was dancin’ with my darlin’ to the Tennessee waltz,
When an old friend I happened to see.
I introduced him to my darlin’,
and while they were dancin’,
my friend stole my sweetheart from me.

*stops singing*….Oh, for such classics to be played more these days!!!

Personal opinion says dances are a lost art.  There’s not near enough of them…and why is it that about the only place that hosts a dance is the Senior Center?

Anyway, thanks for the great prompt this week, Sunday Scribblers!!!

ARK’s: Acts Of Random Kindness

That’s a tough subject for alot of people to write about, in my opinion.  It seems these days that people aren’t interested in random acts of kindness, which I think is one of the problems with the world today.  If more people would take the attitude that they had when they lived 200 years ago, where money wasn’t such a big issue, and where people helped people, even if they couldn’t be paid back immediately, the world would be a better place today!!!  I have tried to make sure that my life is FILLED with what the author of this journal prompt calls “Acts of Random Kindness”.  Granted, most of them are small….making sure there’s towels in the shower for Dad….ummmmm….paying for dinner occasionally, when it is my Sister’s idea for us to go eat….not worrying about the few “pennies” that are owed after we figure out who paid for what on a shopping trip…..letting Dad have the computer when he’s home.  I know it may not sound like much, but I would like to think that it means ALOT in the long run.  Sometimes in the last couple of weeks, I’ve baked bread or something….just because I know Dad likes it.  The raisin bread was one of those cases.  I don’t like raisins, personally, but I knew that Dad likes homemade raisin bread, and I had the stuff and was feeling like baking, so raisin bread got made.

I guess during the holidays, the best way to show random acts of kindness is to invite someone who has no close family to eat with us, which we will probably end up doing.  Granted, he will probably not come down from up the street, but the offer will be made.  If he doesn’t come down for food, we may very well take a plate of food up to him.

A GOOD way to make random acts of kindness happen, ESPECIALLY during this time of year, is to “adopt” and angel from the angel tree at church, or to find a ministry that takes care of children and send them toys, or cash or something.

One random act of kindness that I’m right in the middle of right now is making a couple of things for my nieces.  My Sister doesn’t have the skill or the time, and I thought they could probably use these items VERY much….sooooo, without even asking, I just kind of made the plans.  Of course, my Sister thought it is a GREAT idea, so she’s all for the idea.

I don’t know…maybe my idea of acts of kindness is wrong, but I think my life is FILLED with them sometimes.  Now if some of it would only rub off on the REST of the world!!!

Did I get kind of off-subject, Kris?…Sorry!!!