Upsetting And Disappointment

I Knew It Was Always A Possibility That One Day I Would Disappoint My Team Mates.
That Day Came Yesterday At The Senior Bowling On Thursday. As I Stated In A Previous Post Titled David Vs Goliath I Explained I Was The Teams Anchor On My Bowling Team. In That Post I Described A Moment Where I Felt Like A Hero And Saved My Team. Yesterday Was Quite The Opposite.
The Bowling Match Began With My Team Winning The First Game. We Lost The Second Game. It Was Coming Down To The Wire On The Last Game. It Came Down To The Teams Anchor's To Decide What Would Happen Next. By Doing Fast Calculation I Knew Our Team Was Going To Lose Game Three. However, We Had A Chance To Win Total Series. My First Ball I Knocked Down Eight Pins. I Left Two Pins Standing On The Left Side. It Was The First Time I Had Left Pins Standing On The Left Side All Afternoon. 98% Of My Spare Conversions Take Place On The Right Side Of The Alley. Once I Picked Up Those Two Pins Left Standing All I Would Need On The Next Ball Is Good Count And Our Team Would Split And Each Receive Two Points.
I Blew It! I Missed Those Two Pins And I Was So Disappointed In Myself. I Take My Bowling Very Seriously. I Cannot Get What Happened Out Of My Mind. I Told My Team Mates I Was Sorry But Sorry Would Not Give Us The Point We Needed To Stay In Competition. Our Team Is Now Two Games Out Of First Place. We Still Have Plenty Of Season Left So Anything Can Happen Between Now And The End.
I Still Want Our Team To Win First Place In The End. However I Pray If We Do Lose It Won't Be By Only One Point.
I Could Not Be More Disappointed In Myself At This Point In Time. I Only Wish I Had That Moment Back Because I Made A Rare Move To Where I Normally Stood To Convert That Spare.
I Hope That Next Time It Comes Down To The Last Bowler I Won't Be The One Who Disappoints My Team Mates.

It Was A Kodak Moment

Billie And I Went To A Chinese Buffet. As We Sat There Waiting For Our Drinks To Be Served I Glanced At A Paper Place Mat That Sat On The Table In Front Of Me. Being The Typical Me I Took Advantage Of A Moment I Just Could Not Resist.
Billie Cannot Read Fine Print Without Her Glasses. The Place Mat Explained The Chinese Zodiac. Each Picture Represented A 12 Year Cycle. Each Year Was Named After A Different Animal. Ok, For Those Who Are Thinking Ahead, You Guessed It Correctly.
Billie Looking Down At The Place Mat Trying To Make Sense Of It I Spoke Up And Said...Oh, Here Is The Meat Selection. It Listed Monkey, Dog, Boar, Dragon, Rat, Snake....Ok You Get The Idea. She Gave Me One Of Those Once In A Lifetime Looks And Told Me There Was No Way In Hell She Was Eating That Kind Of Meat. I Couldn't Hold Back The Laughter Any Longer. Those Who Sat Around Us Couldn't Help But Notice My Laughing So Hard.
As I Said It Was One Of Those Precious Moments Of A Lifetime That I Could Not Resist. I Guess It Was The Devil That Made Me Do It.

Jack's

Traditionally, Jacks Are Metal Objects Bearing Six Tips At Right Angles To One Another, Four Of Which Are Usually Rounded, With Two Opposite Tips More Pointed. This Ensures The Jack Is Relatively Easy To Pick Up. Also Required Is A Small Rubber Ball, Used As a Sort Of Timing Device: The Jacks Are Manipulated In The Time It Takes The Ball To Bounce Up In The Air And Return To The Height Of The Hand That Catches It.
Now, Was That A Bunch Of Useless Information To You? It Could Be Or Could Be Not.
I Was A Sophomore In High School And My Class Was Speech With Ms Darlene Miller.
We Were Instructed To Reach Into The Sack And Pull Out An Item. Your Hopes Are Always That Someone Goes Before You. It Gives You An Opportunity To Prepare Yourself For A Path For Mystery. What Would I Pull Out? A Student Pulled Out A Light bulb. Another Was A Wristwatch.
We Were Required To Give A 3 Minute Speech On Whatever Item We Pulled Out. We Were To Explain The Subject. It's Purpose, History, Creator, Etc.
Yes It Was A Jack That I Pulled Out Of That Sack. I Had A Little Bit Of Experience In Playing With Jacks As A Young Boy. My Sister Use To Play It. I Was Not As Good As Her But It Was Fun And Different. Games Back Then Were Simple And Cheap.
I Decided To Take That Class So I Could Overcome My Fear Of Speaking To Audiences.
The Class Really Never Accomplished My Goal. Today I Continue My Fear In Speaking To Large Crowds.
I Deal With It And Put My Self In The Position Where I Must Speak To Large Crowds.
35 Years Later I Gave The Biggest Speech Of My Life To Danville City Officials. Because Of The Essential Tools I Used Back In 1972 Ignited My Ability To Perform What I Considered A Passionate Battle I Knew I Could Not Win.
No Matter The End Result, My Days In Speech Class Became An Indirect Memorable Speech 35 Years Later.
From That Day On My Views Are Known By All. I Enjoy Expressing Myself Through My Writings. Maybe Those Who Know Me Best Are The Ones Who Read My Thoughts.

Happy 50TH Birthday Channa!

On This Day 50 Years ago It Was January 7th 1960. It Was Before Color TV And Before Cable. Grandma & Grandpa's House Was Without An Indoor Toilet.
Dwight Eisenhower Was President. A Young Senator From Massachusetts Named John F Kennedy Defeated Vice President Richard Nixon For President Of The United States.
713 Franklin Was The Home You Lived In When You Were Born. Franklin Grade School Was Just Across The Street. This Was Years Before The New Family Room Addition Was Built Onto The Existing House. The Baumgarts Were Our Neighbors To The South And Mr Roth Was Your Buddy To The North.
My First Reaction To Being Told I Had A New Little Sister Was Noooooo I Wanted Another Brother! Hahaha!!(Atleast I Wasn't Expecting A Pony)
I Was Just About To Turn 5 That Year. I Know It Must Make Both My Parents Feel Old Now That Their Youngest Child Just Turned 50 Years Old.
My Message To My Sister Is This. It's A Possibility You May Live To Be 100 Years Old. Odds Are That You Won't. You Already Know How Fast These 50 Years Have Gone For You. Looking Back All Those Years Doesn't Seem That Long Ago.
You Will Always Be My Little Sister And I Love You. I Know I Rarely Tell You This But I Wanted To Make Sure You Knew.
I Hope You Have A Wonderful Birthday. I Wish You Many Many More To Come.
Speaking From Experience, Don't Put 50 Candles On Your Cake. If You Do You May Want The Fire Department Standing By.
One Last Thing. It's Better To Be Over The Hill Than Under It.
Happy Birthday!

David Vs Goliath

As Most Of My Readers Are Aware I Just Love Bowling. I Can't Seem To Get Enough Of It. I Bowl On Two Different Leagues.
My Tuesday Night League Has Some Rather High Average Bowlers. I Consider Myself An Average Bowler. I Am However The Highest Average Bowler On My Teams. In Most Cases Teams Reserve The Bottom Position For The Highest Average Bowler In Which They Refer To Them As The Anchor. The Primary Reason Teams Do This Is In Those Cases The Score Is Close And The Difference Comes Down To The Last Bowlers For Each Team.
Just A Few Weeks Ago I Got The Opportunity To Watch A Man Bowl A Perfect Game. Ofcourse The Place Exploded With Excitement For The Guy And Congratulations Came His Way From Almost Every Bowler In The House. I Over Heard Another Person Say It Really Wasn't A Big Deal To That Guy Because It's Not His First 300 Game.
For The Weeks That Followed, I Had Witnessed This Bowler Pick Up Some Rather Incredible Spare Shots. To Be Quite Honest I Was Envious. He Is The Bowler I Have Always Wanted To Be But Wasn't. I Will Most Likely Always Be An Average Bowler.
Last Night My Team Competed Against 'His' Team. I Was In Awe In The Finesse In The Method Of How He Delivered The Ball. I Have Watched Alot Of People Bowl Over The Years. I Go To Indianapolis Every Year To Watch The Professionals Compete Against Each Other. I Enjoyed Myself Last Night Just Watching This Man Throw Strike After Strike.
We Were Beaten The First Two Games. The Last Game Came Right Down To The Team Anchor's. When I Looked At The Score I Knew I Had To Throw Two Strikes In A Row To Even Stand A Chance For My Team To Win. I Already Knew He Would Throw Three Without Thinking About It. You Might As Well Mark It Up.
I Bowled Those Two Strikes That I Needed. My Third Throw Gave Me Enough Count To Declare A Win Over The Other Team.
My Point? It's Not About Me Facing A Giant In Bowling And Winning. It's To Remind You That Even Though You Have Goliath On Your Team, It's Not A Guaranteed Win.
I Didn't Win It For The Team. Without The Teams Effort We Would Not See The Victory.

Winter In Illinois

What's This Global Warming All About?
It Hasn't Effected The Danville Area Recently. The ONLY Bittersweetness To This Is That This Is The First Winter My Sister-InLaw Has Expierenced In Illinois. She Is A Native Southern Californian. Almost Paradise Country.
My Brother Tuck Recently Retired In San Diego As A Train Operator. His Wife Evie Has Lived No Place Other Than Southern California. She Has Never Had The Opportunity To Sit And Watch It Snow. She Nor Their Dog Has Ever Had The Opportunity To Play In The White Stuff Until Recently. We Have Another 4-5 Inches Predicted In A Couple Days. Shortly After This Snowfall That Have Predicted Strong Winds That Will Create Drifting.
My Being The President Of The Senior Bowling League It Appears I May Have To Cancel Bowling For This Coming Thursday. Unfortunatly Tuck Has Been Working On Mondays So He May Have To Miss Bowling Next Week Since The Make Up Day Will Be On That Day.
I Hope Evie Get's Her Share Of Snow And Cold Temps. I Think I Have Already Reached My Limit And I Have Begun A Countdown Until April 1st.
Evie's Journey To The Midwest Made The Local Commercial News In Today's Edition.
It Told The Story Of Her Spending 50 Years In The Land Of Paradise And Her Move To America's Heartland Just In Time For Winter. Her Facination For Snow Will Be Shortlived I'm Sure. She Will Eventually Be Like The Rest Of Us. Snow For Christmas.
She Does Have Something To Look For. January Thaw! I Have Witnessed Several January Thaws Throughout My Years. Hoping To See It Happen Soon. The Forcast Has Predicted This Cold Snap To Continue Through Next Week. I Don't Believe It Broke 10 Degree's Today. That Was Actual Air Temperatures Without The Wind Chill Factor Which Makes It Well Below Zero.
He Needs To Drive Her By Lake Vermilion While It's Frozen Over In Thick Ice.
Let Her Create Her Own Snowman In Her Yard. Make Her Snow Angel Like She Has Mentioned To Do Once Danville Got It's First Measuable Snowfall.
As For Me. I'm Happy For Her Because She Is Not Much Different Than A Young Child. I Still Would Enjoy Being Near Her When A Good Old Thunderstorm Passes Through. Tornado Warnings, High Winds, Lightning And Thunder And Yes Even Hail! You Know She Will Questions Ice Falling Out Of The Sky In The Summer Months.
My Truck Battery Konked Out On Me And Needs To Be Replaced. Got A Flat Tire On The Car So It Appears I Will Be Driving On A Donut For Awhile. Money Is Tight For Alot Of People. Nobody Wants These Types Of Problems In This Kind Of Temperatures.
So I Guess I Will Be Monitoring All The Weather Stations Tomorrow To Determine Whether Or Not I Should Cancel Bowling For Thursday.
It Would Be Much Simpler If We Were To Fast Forward Our Lives To About April 1st 2010. That Would Not Break My Heart, It Would Warm It.

Happy New Year!

By The Time You Read This Most Likely It Will Be 2010. I Wish All My Readers A Wonderful Year To Come. I Hope The New Year Brings You Happiness And Joy.
I Want To Put All My Friends And Family To A Challenge For The Coming Year.
I Am Asking That Each Of You Perform 12 Acts Of Kindness. That Equals Out To Just Once A Month. You Can Mow Somebody's Yard, Shovel Their Snow, Or Just Give Them A Ride To Wherever They Need To Go. Hand a Five Dollar Bill To Someone Who Looks Like They Will Put It To Good Use. You Don't Have To Know This Person. Pay For The Car Behind You In A Drive up Fast Food. There Are A Number Of Things You Can Do To Brighten Up Somebody's Day. If At All Possible Do It Anonymously. Challenge 5 Of Your Friends To Do The Same Thing This Coming New Year! You Would Be Surprised At How Contagious This Can Get.
With So Much Hatred In The World, All I Ask Is To Spread A Little Love To Another Human Being.
Sit Down And Hand Write A Letter To A Former Teacher, Pastor Or Neighbor That Has Made A Difference In Your Life. Don't Sign It Because The One Who Receives It Will Be Overwhelmed With Joy That They Made A Difference In Some body's Life.
I Never Make Predictions And I'm Not About To Start Now. I Am Thankful For My Friends And Family. I Am Fortunate To Have Them. I Have Seen How You Can Never Treat A Day As Any Other. Life Can Change With A Blink Of The Eye.
My New Years Resolution Is To Blog More This New Coming Year.

Reflection Of 2009

I Guess The Best Way To Describe The Year 2009 Is To Refer To It As The Good, Bad And The Ugly. Let It Be Known I Hate Winter!
I Really Don't Like To Mention January, February Or March Because If I Had My Way Those Three Months Of My Life Is Almost Non Existent. It's Not That Nothing Good, Bad Or Ugly Ever Happened, It's Just A Horrible Time Of My Life Because Of Winter In The Midwest During Those Months. I Call Those Months My Hibernation. In My Opinion Life Begins On April 1st Of Every Year.
Ok, Let's See....January. We Can't Forget The 3rd Because If It Weren't For That Date You Would Not Be Reading This. My Father's Birthday Is On The 3rd. My Sisters Birthday Is On The 7th. To Maintain My Sanity I Bowl On Thursday's With The Old Folks.
Was There Even A February? Oh Yes Ofcourse There Was. Who Can Forget Groundhog Day? Unless That Little Critter Had Good News To Report I Would As Soon See His Butt End Up As Road Kill! (Just Kidding P.E.T.A)
Ok, How About March, My Last Month Of Hibernation? Ofcourse For My Family It Was A Tragic One At That. In That Month My Mother Lost Two Of Her Brothers, Rick And Then Danny, Just 2 Days Apart. Let's Just Forget About The Rest Of That Month.
April 1st, My First Official Start Of The New Season. This Has Always Been When I Get Things Going For The Charitable Organization I Am Involved With. As A Matter Of Fact It Was The Birth Of The Robin Hood Foundation Of Danville. The Organization I Had Been Involved With For So Many Years No Longer Wanted To Distribute Left-Over Rummage. Since I Had Been Doing This For 22 Years I Could Not Turn My Back On These Wonderful People Who Lived In Poverty. I Became Certified Over The Winter Months With The State Of Illinois Which Resulted In My Becoming Director Of This Fine Organization.
April Brought With It Another Tragic Death And This Time It Was My Grandmother. She Passed Away On April 9th. She Was 94.
My Bowling Team Lost A Cherished Man In Ralph(Magoo)Howard. He Was Such A Fun Person To Know. I Will Miss Him.
April With The New Flowers Coming From The Ground Also Brings Mushrooms. It Has Always Been A Tradition With My Son We Go Into The Woods For What I Always Refer To As White Man Soul Food.
Danville Has Had A Very Nice Summertime With The Exception Of A Few Very Hot And Humid Days, Which Is Always Expected In The Midwest.
My Sister In law Lost Her Father And My Parents Lost A Dear Friend In George Popadines.
At Summer's End Final Preparations Were Being Made For The Return Of My Brother Tuck. He Had Been Living In San Diego For 25 Years. Upon His Retirement He Was Returning To His Roots And Bringing His Wife Who Knew No Other Weather Than That Of Southern California. Boy Is She Ever In For A Surprise! Ofcourse I Won't Forget My Introduction To Barnee, Tuck And Evelyn's Boston Terrier. He's Such A Good And Loyal Dog And It Was My Pleasure In Meeting Him.
Tuck's First Week Back In Danville Brought Me The Luck I Had Been Searching For. My First 600 Series In Bowling! Bowling Is My Passion And I Enjoy Competing In The Sport.
We Had A Few Health Scares With My Dad. He Had An Infection In His Colon And A Couple Heart Procedures. All In All It Appears He Is Mending Well And Back On The Road To Recovery.
My Friend Chris And I Venture To Westville Each And Every Sunday For Our Euchre Lessons. We Have Been Doing This For More Than 5 Years Now. It's Something We Enjoy Doing Plus It Allows Me To Spend Quality Time With My Folks. We Were Able To Re-Claim Our Crown Back After Losing It. We Always Keep Track Of Our Wins And Losses And Each Year It Is Never A Run Away, This Year Especially. Last Sunday Going Into Play Chris And I Were Only One Game Ahead Of Them. The End Result Was Chris And I Won Overall By Three Games. We Will Gladly Wear Our Euchre Crown Because We Know We Earned It. Our Opponents Have Been Playing Together For More Than 57 Years! One Thing Is For Sure. If We Won, We Earned It.
A Couple Weeks Ago We Received News That Brenda Had Another Stroke. It Was Touch And Go For Her In The Beginning But For The Ones Who Know Her Best Are Aware She Is A Fighter. This Stroke Left Her Paralyzed On The Left Side. She Is Slowly Getting Her Strength Back And Will be Released From The Hospital On New Years Day. Praise God For That!
It's Great To Have My Brother Tuck Back In Danville. It's Good To See My Father Back On The Road Of Recovery. It Appears He May Be Able To Bowl Again. His Doctor Told Him To Quit. Because Of The Success Of These Procedures He May Be Able To Rejoin The League Once Again!
I Received A Phone Call Asking For Assistance On A Bed. A Lady Had No Heat In Her Trailer And Church Members Needed To Move Her Out. Circumstances Prevent Her From Taking Things With Her. I Was To Make The Donation This Afternoon But Had To Cancel Because My Battery Is Dead. I Don't Have The Funds To Replace The Battery At The Moment So I Assured Them The Bed Is Not Going Anywhere. They Need To Find Someone With A Truck To Pick It Up.
My Trailer Was Borrowed By The Pastor's Grand Daughter's New Home In Georgia. I Told Them To Take Their Time Because I Won't Need It Until After The First Of April.
My Truck Needs About $500.00 Worth Of Work Before I Can Start My Season In The New Year.
Oh, That Brings Me To Inquiring Your Opinions In How You Will Pronounce The New Year. Since The Beginning Of This New Century We Began Calling It Two Thousand, Two Thousand One, Two Thousand Two, Etc. I Think It's The Media That Is Preparing Us To Refer To The Future Years Ahead By Calling it 2010, 2011, 2012, Etc. I didn't Realize This Until Recently. I Had All Intentions Of Calling This New Year Two Thousand Ten. Then I Thought Of Those Who Lived In The Early Years Of The 1900's. They Probably Also Referred Their Year Nineteen Hundred One, Nineteen Hundred Two, Etc. At Some Point In Time They Too Began Calling Years 1910, 1911, 1912, Etc.
Yes I Know, A Bunch Of Useless Information. I Was Just Curious As To Your Own Pronunciation Of The Coming New Year. At Some Point We Must Change Our Ways Or Everybody In The World Will Know You Are An Old Fuddy Duddy That Refuses To Change With Time.
So All In All I Would Have To Say I Will Be Happy To See 2009 Leave. To Me It Will Be Just Another Year Of Reflection With A Whole Lot Of Sickness, Sadness And Deaths.
My Hopes For The New Year Will Be To See Happiness To Those Who Need And Deserve It.
Stay Tuned For My Last Blog For This Old Year. In It You Will Read What My Wishes Are For This New Coming Year.
In Closing I Say Farewell To 2009 And Hello To 2010 Or Two Thousand And Ten. However You Say It!

The Gift Of Love And Pride

One Day Last April My Father Stopped By To Give Me Grandma's Clothes. She Just Recently Passed Away And He Had To Get Her Things From The Nursing Home In Which She Lived. After We Put Them In My Garage And He Left I Had My Moment To Reflect On Grandma And What She Meant To Me.
I Have Always Referred To These Type Of Clothes As Boo Hoo Clothes. In The Charity I Am Involved With I Get Alot Of Clothes Donated To Low Income Families Throughout The Warmer Months. It's Always Difficult When I Get A Call From A Widow Wanting Me To Pick Up Her Husbands Clothes. Every time I do This There Are Always Tears. That's Why I Call Them Boo Hoo Clothes. It's Really Touching To Be Honest About It.
The Idea Struck Me That I Had A Friend Who Made Quilts. I Asked Her If She Could Make A Quilt From Grandma's Clothes. When She Confirmed It I Told Her I Wanted It To Be Completed By Christmas. In My Opinion The Most Perfect Christmas Gift For My Mother.
My Father Was Raised In Poverty. He Didn't Get Alot Of The Things Boys His Age Got Because They Just Couldn't Afford It. His Father Was A Country Preacher.
He Had Always Stayed True To His School Spirit And Pride. I Can Remember Him Going To His Old High School To Root On His Team To Win. Every Few Years The Covington High School Class Of 1950 Would Get Together As A Class Reunion To Fondly Remember The Good Ol Days Of Yesteryear.
This New Coming Year That Class Will Celebrate Their 60th Year Since They Graduated.
One Day I Was Surfing The Internet And I Ran Across High School Rings. This Man Can Create A High School Ring In What Ever School Colors You Requested. Covington High's Color Were Black And Gold.
Even Though I Had Trouble With Our Postal Service It Had Arrived The Saturday Before Christmas.
I Can Never Remember Ever Being This Excited About Giving This Years Gifts To My Parents. It May Have Been Because I Strayed Away From The Traditional Gift Certificates And Gave From My Heart Instead. I Didn't Let Cost Be A Factor In This Years Gifts Because I Was Willing To Pay Whatever I Had To For These Two Special Gifts. This New Year He Can Proudly Wear His Ring With His High School Pride. As For My Mother, She Can Fondly Remember Grandma As She Has Her Lap Quilt Draped Across Her Legs. Just The Thought Makes Me Smile And Gives Me Peace.
I Wish All My Readers A Very Merry Christmas. Let You Have Peace And Love Through Your Holiday Season. Always Remember, Jesus Is The Reason For The Season.

The Rest Of The Story

As Stated In The Proceeding Post I Would Give Up My Seat As Anchor Of My Bowling Team If My Brother Tuck Bowled A Higher Series Than I Did Yesterday.
Let The Truth Be Known That Tuck Indeed Bowled A Higher Series Than What I did. I'm Glad That He Did Because It Was Most Likely If He Hadn't We Would Have Lost. The Team We Bowled Against Ended Up Tying Overall. Results Could Have Been Much Worse Had Tuck Not Bowl So Well.
I Looked At Him And Told Him He Could Have My Spot As Anchor. He Told Me No, That Position Goes To The Bowler With The Highest Average. Yes I admit I Have Been In A Funk Here The Past Couple Of Weeks. I Think It Happens To The Best Of Us.
I Think That Was A Very Gracious Thing For Tuck To Do.
Our Team Is Still Tied For Second Place. Next Week Is A Different Week And The Results May Be Alot Different. I Have Been Playing With A New Ball. It's Just A Matter Of Time Before I Get Use To It. Once I Do, Watch Out!