When It's Time To Go.....

It Was Most Definatly One Of Those You Had To Be Here Kind Of Story's.
It Was About 5:00am And My Grandson Was Sleeping Overnight This Past Christmas Vacation From School. It Was One Of My Usual Wake Up Nature Calls, And Before I Reached The Bathroom I Could Hear The Grandson Using It. I Backed Up A Few Feet Giving Him His Privacy So He Could Finish Up And Go Back To Bed. As I Stood There For About A Minute Listening To This Little 6 Year Old Boy Urinate, Crossing My Legs And Pacing The Floor Was Just Not Enough!
Either He Was Going To Share The Space Or Pappy Was In Trouble. No Way Could A Little Boy Go On For That Long! I Walked Into The Bathroom Only To Find Out The Water Faucet In The Sink Was Left On.
I'll Make Sure The Next Time Beano Sleeps Over At Pappy And Nanny's House He Is Told Not To Turn On The Water!

My Friendly Furry Friends.......

I Have Not Advanced Any Further In My Search For A Furry Companion. There Will Be A Time When I Will Someday Find The Right Pet. In The Meantime I Have Decided To Befriend A Squirrel. I Guess Maybe I Should Say Squirrel(s).
I'm Not Certain As To Why I Have So Many Squirrels In My Neighborhood Unless It's Because They Stay Away From The Main Road And Don't Become Road Kill.
Never The Less I Have An Abundance Of The Little Furry Things!
I Received Something For Christmas That Came With A Stipulation. It Was A Squirrel Feeder. A Friend Of Ours Has One But Her Yard Is Full Of Corn Stalks. The Little Boogers Like To Bury The Corn. Sooo The Stipulation Is I Only Feed Them In The Winter Months. I Agreed And Now Everybody Will Be Happy. I Purchased A New 4x4 Post To Mount The Corn Feeder Onto. I Took Advantage Of An Unusual Warm December Day To Dig The Hole So I Could Bury The Post. It's A Rather Small Feeder. It Has A Small Perch For The Furry Critter To Sit On While He Or She Is Gnawing Away At The Corn On The Cob.
It has Been Sitting There For A Few Days Now And No Squirrel. I Placed It Directly In Front Of My Bedroom Window So I Can Watch It While I Am At The Computer. Unfortunately It's Located On The Side Of My Home Where There Are No Tree's.
It Is In My Back Yard Where The Critters Tease Our Little Dog. We Have A Yorkshire Terrier Who Enjoys Chasing Them In The Back Yard. The Squirrels However Enjoy The Teasing Of Our Beloved Dog. Instead Of Running Up The Tree To Sit On A Limb The Squirrel Runs Around The Trunk Of The Tree. So Our Dog(Alaya) Continues To Run Around And Around This Tree.
So How Do I Let The Squirrels Know I Have This New Feeder For Them? Today I Decided To Bait Them. I Placed A Small Pile Of Corn Near The Tree. I Then Started Dropping A Kernel Here And There Which Leads To The New Feeder. I Hope They Will Catch On Because I Have About 50 Pounds Of Kernel Corn Ready To Go.
COME AND GET IT!

Twas The Night Before Christmas.....

And All Through The House....Nah That's A Different Story.
How About Your Christmas Past? Is There A Memorable One? Is There One That Stands Out More Than Another?
There Were Plenty Of Memories Of Christmas Past While Growing Up. I Grew Up In A Large Family Where There Were Plenty Of Activities Every Christmas Morning.
I Would Have To Say That The Christmas That Stands Out The Most For Me Is The Christmas of 1969.
I Was Only 14 Years Old At The Time. I Was At The Age Where Hanging With My Friends, Playing Sports And Ofcourse Girls Were The Norm.
I Have No Idea Of The Gift I Received That Year From My Parents. No Matter What The Gift Was Or Even The Value Of The Gift, It Would Never Come Close To The Gift I Received That Year From An "Old" Friend.
Her Name Was Emma Clifton, But I Always Called Her Grandma Clifton. She Lived Alone In A Dilapidated House That Looked Deserted And Abandoned. Even Though She Had Family, They Were Either Too Busy Or Never Cared Enough To Visit Her On A Regular Basis. I Befriended This Lady By Helping Her As Much As I Could. She Was 83 Years Old And Was Too Weak To Go Into The Basement To Put Coal In Her Furnace.
I Found Myself Getting Up At 5:30 Every Morning In The Winter Months To Fire Up Her Furnace Before I Got Myself Ready For School.
Christmas Of 1969 Will Always Have A Special Memory For Me Because Of Grandma Clifton. On Christmas Eve We Decorated A Small Tree And Sang A Couple Well Known Carols That You Never Seem To Forget.
On Christmas Day I Proudly Carried My Gift To Grandma's House, Along With A Plate Full Of Christmas Dinner Prepared By My Mother.
The Moon Landing Was A Big Deal That Year And It Seemed That Was What Everybody Was Talking About. Grandma Clifton Didn't Own A Television Set So She Never Had The Opportunity To Watch The Landing Like Alot Of Us Did. That Year I Gave Her A Model Of Apollo 11 And Neil Armstrong With The American Flag.
With Her Toothless Smile As She Thanked Me, It Melted My Heart. A Tear Rolled Down Her Cheek That Day And It Disturbed Me Deeply. She Told Me She Didn't Have Anything To Give Me. I Took her Frail Hands And Told Her I Never Expected A Gift From Her. So Why The Tears I Asked? She Told Me How Lucky She Was To Have A Person Who Really Cared To Spend Christmas Day With A Lonely Old Lady.
I Will Never Forget The Joy She Had On Her Face That Day. I Knew It Would Last A Lifetime For Me. It's As Vivid To Me As If It Happened Just Yesterday.
Even Though It Has Been Memories Ago, The Feeling It Brings To Me Today Is That Of Gratitude And Thankfulness And Sharing.
The Lessons That Life Brings To Us Can Never Be Found In A Text Book.
Each Year On Christmas Eve I Always Remember That Special Day In 1969. There Are Other Grandma Clifton's Out There Someplace And It's Our Duty To Spread The Love, The Joy, And The Giving Of Ourselves.
Happy Birthday Jesus!

A Christmas Miracle?

I Rarely Speak Of My Passions In Life Primarily Because I Have Traditionally Kept Alot Of My Private Life In A Low Key. I Despise The Spot Light Because There Are So Many People In This World Who Deserve Recognition For So Many Different Achievements.
By Admission, Poverty Stricken People Are My Weakness In Life.
Those Who Live In Poverty Are No Different Than Anyone Else. Let's Face It, There Has Always Been Poverty Since The Beginning Of Time And There Always Will Be.
We Can Choose To Ignore Them And Look The Other Way Or We Can Do Our Annual Obligation By Dropping A Few Coins In The Red Bucket At Christmas Time.
Personally I Don't Need The Calendar To Dictate To Me When I Should Spread Goodwill Toward Mankind.
For The Past Several Year I Have Been Acquainted With A Family Who Have Been Living In Poverty. However For The Past Year This Family Has Been Without Running Water. This All Came To Be After The City Of Danville "Traded" Homes With This Family. Without Going Into A Bunch Of Details The Long Story Short Is Briefly After The City Gave The Home To This Family The Water Bills Began Arriving. First It Was More Than A 100.00 After A Week In Their New Home. The Next Month It Was Over 400.00. Ofcourse This Bill Was An Outrage And They Went Directly To The Water Company. Water Officials Informed Them They Must Have A Leak Someplace. Well, DUH!
This Family Lived In A Flood Plain And The House They Moved Into Was Going To Be Demolished Unless It Was Brought Back Up To Code. Ofcourse This Family Appreciates What The City Of Danville Had Done For Them But This Issue With The Water Bills Were Becoming Unbearable. These Bills Continued To Rise Which Resulted To The Water Company Shutting The Service Off. With No Visible Signs Of A Leak In Either Inside The residence Or Out This Family Was Totally Dumbfounded.
This Family Has Relatives Who Live In One Of The Southern States So They Decided To Live With Them Through The Winter Months. After Returning Back To Danville They Were Aware Living Without Running Water Would Be A Challenge. One Of The First Things To Greet This Family Home Was Another Bill From The Water Company Yet For An Even Higher Amount Owed. This Amount Accumulated While Their Service Was Disconnected.
As An Advocate For Poverty Stricken Families I Advised This Family To Approach The Water Company To See If Their Was An Agreement That Could Be Worked Out. Unfortunately All They Are Interested In Is Payment In Full. They Pleaded To The Mayor Of Danville Who Felt The City Had Done All They Could For This Family.
The Conversations I Have Had With The Mayor Was Fruitless. He Told Me It Was His Opinion This Family Wanted Someone To Pay Their Bills! This Could Not Be Further From The Truth! I Became Outraged After That Remark And This Made Me Determined To Do Whatever I Could To Resolve This Matter. Shortly Before This Past Election In Early November I Thought Maybe By Making It A Political Issue I May Get Better Results. A Popular Representative From The Danville Area Was Seeking Re-Election And I Felt Maybe A Feather In His Cap Could Help His Campaign. He Took Offense To My Maneuvers And Considered It An Insult By The Suggestion. So Much For Politics!
Since The Election This Family Still Remains Without Water. I'm Sorry Folks But I Just Cannot Help But Think Of This Family Everytime I turn On My Water. Everytime I Wash My Clothes And Everytime I Bathe. I Cannot Get This Out Of My Mind.
I Have Only One Hope Left And That Is A Christmas Angel. I Have Been In Contact With One Of The Local Television Station Who Had Done A Story About Our Organization Months Earlier When We Were Trying To Purchase A Building For Our Organization From The City.
My Last Conversation I Had With The Mayor Of Danville I Was Told He Thought It Was Unfair To This Family By Having A News Story Of Their Personal Life Broadcasted For All To Know. HUH? What Do They Have To Lose? I Have Not Done Anything To Embarrass This Family. I Have Been In Constant Contact With Them And They Have Been Aware Of Every Step I Had Taken With This Matter.
My Last Hope Is A Christmas Angel. An Angel Who Will Be Touched By This Wonderful Family. This Family Is Unable To Help Themselves Out Of This Situation. Hopefully After A Plea To The Community About This Family A Christmas Miracle Will Happen. Just In Time For Christmas, With The Media's Help, Maybe This Family's Nightmare Will Soon Be Over.
I Will Keep You All Informed If Anything Happens.
If Nothing Else Happens, Let It Be A Reminder That Poverty Is Not A Dirty Word. It's A Reality Of Life And Unless We Decide To Make A Difference In Someone's Life Then You Are The One Who Is Missing Out On The Gratification You Receive From It.

Happy Birthday To Danville Natives Son.

Happy Birthday Dick! 12-13-25=83