I Baptize You In The Name Of The Father, The Son, And WARMER TEMPERATURES!

During Our Weekly Euchre Lesson Today I Learned Yet Another Tidbit Of Information About The Grandfather I Had Never Met. As Mentioned In A Previous Blog My Father's Father Passed Away Before I Was Born. I Asked My Father To Someday Sit Down And Write About The Grandfather I Never Had The Pleasure To Meet.
I Had Mentioned To My Brother Tuck Today That Maybe He Could Mention To His Pastor That The River That Runs Through Ellsworth Park Would Be An Ideal Place To Perform Baptism. This Is When My Father Spoke Up And Said His Dad Baptized Even In The Winter Months.
They Would Actually Break Into The Ice And Clear Enough Of It Away To Baptize In The Winter Months. For Those Who Love The Lord And Don't Want To Wait Till Spring Rev Miller Would Baptize You.
As For Me, I Would Have A Very Long Prayer Session With God. I'm Sure("May")He Would Understand.

He's Been Here A Year

One Year Ago Today My Brother Tuck Arrived Back In Danville After 25 Year Plus In Southern California. Bringing Back With Him His Wife Evelyn And Their Boston Barney.
It Really Doesn't Seem Like It Has Been A Year But The Calendar Does Not Lie. I Must Say It's Great To Have Him Back After All These Years.
Most Who Know Him Know He Has Been Battling Weight For Many Years. Since Moving Back He Joined TOPS. Take Off Pounds Sensibly. I Believe He Has Lost Close To 40 Pounds Since The First Of The Year. I Am Very Proud Of Him. He Knows The Extra Baggage Is Not Healthy For His Heart. Has Has Had A Heart Attack A Few Years Back. I Am Happy Too See Him Making An Attempt To Live A Healthy Life. You May See Him Strolling Through Town Taking Pictures Or Listening To His IPod.
I Enjoy Bowling And Playing Euchre With Him. My Mission Is To Make Him The Second Best Euchre Player In The World. Hehehe...
Welcome Home Tuck. Danville Missed You!

Body & Soul

A Community That Cares. Those Words Describe What The People Of Danville Illinois Feel For Their Fellow Man. We Have So Many Families Who Are Living In Poverty. It's Always A Good Thing To Watch God's Plan Become Action.
Tonight Was A Premiere Of Good Things To Come.
Body & Soul Is A Meal Served By Those Who Care. Sponsored By First Assembly Of God Church, Reaching Out To Show The Community Their Pledge Of A Monthly Mission To Help Ease Hunger. I Wanted To Participate. I Wanted To Roll Up My Sleeves And Do Whatever Is Asked Of Me. I Met Alot Of People With The Same Thought In Mind. That Gave Me Comfort Because I Knew Then This Would Be The Start Of Many Good Things To Come.
As The Old Saying Goes, Build It, They Will Come. Once The Word Gets Out, This Crusade Will Be A Mission Accomplished.
I Offered My Assistance For Future Meals Or Anything That Can Help With Any Poverty Related Projects. Even Though I Don't Believe My Services Will Be Needed. That's A Good Thing. It Gives Me Comfort To Know We Have Community Leaders Who Loves Their Neighbor.
I Was Given The Opportunity To Plug Our Upcoming Blanket Drive. You Can't Have Too Many Projects That Help The Poor.
Thank You First Assembly! You Are A True Example Of God's Love.

I Love To Bowl

I Am Presently Having The Time Of My Life. I Bowl On Two Different Leagues. If I Could Afford More Leagues I Would Bowl More. I'm Serious!
My Brother Bowls Along Side Me On Both Leagues. Right Now We Are Tied For First On Our Tuesday Night League. We Are Only One Half Game Out Of First Place On Our Thursday Afternoon League.
I Love The Competition Bowling Has To Offer For A Middle Aged Person Like Myself. I Would Most Likely Enjoy The Game Of Golf If My Schedule Would Allow It. My Summer Gig Pretty Much Takes Every Day Of My Week. My Evenings Can Be Exchanged For Indoor Play Such As Bowling. It's Also A Sport I Can Compete In For Many Years To Come. My Ultimate Goal Is To Bowl A 300 Game.
In The Meantime I Will Continue To Bowl With Not Only My Brother But My Father And Mother As Well. How Many People Can Brag About That Accomplishment? Being This Bowling League Is For Senior Citizens.
I'm Thrilled To Have Things In Common With My Parents And Siblings. We Also Play Euchre A Couple Times A Week. I Know Someday I Will Be Looking Back At These Moments In Time Wishing It Will Last Forever. Sadly To Know It Won't. Enjoy Each Day As If It Will Be Your Last Together. It May Be.

10-10-10

Yep, That's Today's Date, October 10th 2010. I Guess That Would Be A Memorable Day To Be Born On. Not A Bad Date To Go Out On As Well. It's An Easy Number To Remember.
Numbers Are Kind Of Cool Once You See Them In A Meaningful Perspective.
Take 666 For Example. Of Course It's Considered A Wicked Number In The Bible. Not Only That, My Brother Had A Heart Attack On That Date. June 6th 2006 Was A Date All His Family Here In Danville Prayed For His Well Being. Our Prayers Were Answered.
I Was Mad At My Mother For Years Because She Gave Birth To Me Two Weeks Before A Memorable Date Of 5-5-55. Instead I Was Born On 4-21-55. Now Which Date Is The Easiest To Remember?
My Son Was Born On 7-13-81. My Childhood Address And His Was 713. Yesterday's Newspaper Had An Article About A Boy Who Would Be Turning 10 Today.
So It Was Fives For Me But It Would Have Been Three's For My Father. Had My Grandmother Waited Two Additional Months He Would Have Been Born On 3-3-33.
I Guess If I Sat Back And Gave This More Thought I Would Most Likely Contribute More Useless Information.
I'm Sorry Folks, I Just Could Not Let This Day Pass Without Recognizing It In Some Way.

"October" What A Funny Month

I Have Often Referred To October As Being A Funny Month. Much Of The Same Can Be Said About April. Today's Temperatures Reached The Upper 80's. Tomorrow Is Predicted To Be A Carbon Copy Of Today's Weather.
I Must Say I Wish For This Weather To Continue. Of Course The Fall Leaves Are Nice To Look At With All Their Beautiful Color. My Reason For Not Liking The Fall Season Is Because Of The Season That Follows. Anybody Who Knows Me Is Quite Aware How I Feel About Winter.
I Guess I should Look At It As Being A Three Month Long Season And Enjoy The Season We Are Presently In. The Harvest Of The Crops As Well As Annual Festivals Give Us Reason To Celebrate One Season At A Time. The Morning Chilly Temperatures Remind Us That We Begin A New Season. The Birds Are Migrating And The Leaves Begin To Fall To The Ground.
What Would Fall Be Like Without A Pumpkin? As My Sister In law Would Say It, The Tree's Will Soon Be Naked, Huh?
Not Looking Forward To Smelling The Odor Of Burning Leaves. To Me The Smell Is Annoying. Anyway, Fall Is Here Whether The Temperatures Reflect It Or Not. It's All A Regional Thing Anyway. It's Warm All Year Long In Places Other Than Illinois. I'm Not Really A Traditionalist When It Comes To What It's Suppose To Be, Weather Or Otherwise.
There Have Been Years I Have Cut My Season Short Due To Colder Temps In The Month Of October. I Have Seen It Snow In October.
For Now I Think I Will Just Soak In The Nice Weather And Hope It Sticks Around For Weeks To Come. Wouldn't That Be Nice?

Second Annual Blanket Drive

This Past Week My Son Bobby And I Taped A Segment On Spotlight 15 For Our Upcoming Blanket Drive In November.
Being The Director Of The Robin Hood Foundation Of Danville I Decided The Best Day To Conduct This Project Would Be On The Busiest Shopping Day Of The Year. Better Known As Black Friday. The Day After Thanksgiving.
It's The Little Things That Make The Biggest Difference In Saving Money. Simply By Placing A Blanket On A Bed At Night Will Allow You To Lower Your Thermostat. Paying Less Money To Your Energy Provider Will Keep A Little Extra In Your Wallet.
Last Year We Conducted Our Drive In The Wal Mart Parking Lot. We Did Ok But We Could Have Done Better. This Year We Have A Much Better Location And It Is Our Hopes To Double The Amount We Took In Last Year.
No Matter How Well We Do, We Know There Will Be Money Saved For Somebody By Placing One Blanket On A Bed At Night.
To Donate, Just Contact Me. Bless You.

Give It Up Andy

I Always Considered Andy Rooney To Be A Nice Gentleman Who Enjoyed His Many Years Of Journalism. I Use To Enjoy His Ramblings Of The Different "Things" That Got On His Nerves. Each And Every Sunday At The Conclusion Of Sixty Minutes I Would See What Annoyed Andy This Week.
Now I Am Beginning To Let Andy To Get On "My" Nerves. Oh Yes I Realize He Doesn't Care What My Opinions Are Of Him. I Also Understand He May Be A Cranky Old Man Who Should Have Hung Up His Suspenders Long Ago. It's Not That I Don't Like Old Fashion People Or Even Old Fashion Idea's. I Just Think CBS Needs To Offer Him A Good Retirement Plan And Maybe Show Him The Way To The Yellow Brick Road.
Now Don't Get Me Wrong, Old Fashion Can Be Good. I Have Worn My Hair The Same Way For More Than Thirty Years. I Pinch Pennies. I Must Force Myself To Buy Something But Only After I Have Justified It A Hundred Times In My Head. Small Example Will Prove How Eccentric I Really Am. Years Ago I Enjoyed A Popular Pastry. Each Morning I Would Go Through The Drive up And Complete My Order. Pretty Darn Close To A Dollar. A Dollar To Me Is A Significant Number. It's Simple To See It In Realistic Terms. For Example, If I Stopped By That Doughnut Shop Every Day For A Week I Would Spend 7.00. A Month Would Be Thirty Dollars. A Year It Would Be 365.00! Now I Can Think Of Alot Of Things I Could Do With That Kind Of Money. I Could Have It If I Eliminated That Doughnut.
Ok, Back To Andy. He's Like An Old Worn Out Clock. The Clock Has Seen Many Times Of History. Times Are Always Changing And It May Take Some Longer Than Others To Accept It. Complaining About It Won't Accomplish A Thing. I Can't Recall An Episode Where Andy Wasn't Complaining About One Thing Or Another.
I Try To Eliminate Negative Things In My Life. So Andy, Consider Yourself Eliminated.
Now With That Being Said My Mind Took Me To That Doughnut. A Dollar A Day? Seven Dollars A Week? 365.00 A Year? OMG, Now I'm Sounding Like Andy! I Need To Get A Life!

PS. Could You Trim Those Eyebrows Please?

His Name Is Bond...Albert Bond

At The Age Of 63 In The Year Of 1975 Albert Bond Told Me He Would Live To Be 100 Years Old. Ok, Let's Zip Back To That Year Which Was The Period Of Time I Was Stationed On Nantucket Island. Albert Bond Was An Islander Who Worked In The Commissary Store With Me On The Navy Base.
Albert Would Share Stories With Me About The Time He Had A Restaurant In The Boston Area As Well As New York City. He Chose Nantucket To Be His Retirement Home.
Ever Since I Got On The Computer I Have Read The Nantucket Inquirer And Mirror Weekly Newspaper.
Albert Would be 98 Years Old Right Now If He Is Still Living. Last Time I Spoke With Albert Was Back In 1999. I Decided To Return To The Island And Recapture My Life On Film. I Was Far Too Young To Appreciate Where I Was During Those Two Years On Nantucket.
Albert Had Always Been A Hard Worker All His Life. He Would Crack Jokes With Me About My Midwestern Accent. Of Course With His New England Accent I Would Also Poke Fun At Him Pocking His Caw Next To The Coob. He Was Fascinated With My Tales Of Growing Up In The Same Town As Dick Van Dyke.
He And I Stayed In Touch Over The Years. That Year When I Returned To The Island He Left For His Winter Home In Florida. Not Sure When He Started Doing That But It Does Make Sense Because Nantucket Gets Really Cold In The Winter Months. I Was Disappointed In Not Being Able To See Him Once More. I Was Always Respectful Of His Work Ethic. The Man Never Had Anything Handed To Him. He Worked Hard For Everything He Had In Life. I Admired This Man And I Think Of Him Often.
I Recently Got In Touch With Someone Affiliated With The Newspaper. She Has Agreed To Try To Track Him Down For Me. It Does List An Albert Bond Who Is 98 Years Old But No Telephone Number Listed. This Day And Age The Cell Phones Have Replaced Millions Of Landlines.
So Now I Wait To Hear From The Nice Lady At The Newspaper. My Hopes Is To Reconnect With Albert And Tell Him The Impact He Had On Me Those Many Years Ago When I Was Young And Away From Home The First Time In My Life.
We Would Play Tennis After We Closed The Store. Of Course He Would Kick My Butt. My Fond Memories Of Albert Bond Will Be With Me For The Rest Of My Life.
Do You Have An Albert Bond In Your Life? Someone Who Left An Impression On Your Life In Someway? I Suggest You Call Them And Tell Them What They Have Meant To You.
I Try Not To Take Life For Granted. We Meet People Throughout The Days Of Our Lives. It All Happens For A Reason.
I May Never Get The Opportunity To See Albert Bond Again In This Lifetime. His Memory Will Forever Live On Within Me.

My Shortest Blog