Category: health

Categories
anxiety bible focus health Life thought patterns thoughts Time management

A Flash From the Past

Peach here!

Batman and I have been navigating through a bit of Covid. Nothing dramatic, but as with and illness you have to get through it, and recover and get your stamina back.

While doing that you have to sort of be distant and be sure not to expose others to your flu. And for someone like me, that’s wayyyy to much time on my hands! Worse of all for me is too much time in my HEAD! Lol!

Anywho, I came across this post I wrote probably a week or so before Covid became a big deal in all of our lives.

I’m going to try to link it here, because Lord knew I needed to hear these words tonight, and maybe someone else needs them, too!

Paralysis

Hope it blesses someone!

Categories
Cooking health hunting Law Enforcement Life photography Uncategorized writing

Things to Do

Batman Says:

So, here we are again headed towards a new year and all that it holds in promise. If all goes well (welp, cross that off, when has all gone well ever?) this time next year I will have less than a month left to work at a job that has encompassed 27 years of my life. Peach and I will be moving on to different things and honestly I’m ok with that. I have enjoyed this career and will think fondly about it after i’m gone, but only for a few weeks, then it goes in the “bucket” and off we go to do stuff.

I have been pondering ideas around in my mind as what to do with the time I will have. First time must be spent repairing and replacing all the little things around the place that I have let slip with the “I’ll do it later” tag on it. That honestly is not a lot of things but it is a few and should keep me busy for a couple weeks, then what? Peach has informed me numerous times that she will not be giving up her job so I will have to find interesting things to do to occupy my alone time, I will probably do a bit more fishing, I used to enjoy that and my kids called me the fish whisperer as a joke. Run the trap lines with a bit more interest, something I kinda got out of the habit of doing that I really enjoy the challenge of. Exploring new spots in which to hunt is also an option, can’t ever have too many spots to sit and surprise a wary buck. I won’t be going off taking photographs by my lonesome, as that is something Peach and I do together. I may write more, get in the habit of posting small little blurbs as to what my daily plan is and what I did the day prior, basically a record for my family to see and laugh at when I’m no longer here (you’re not that lucky Peach, it’s gonna be a long time still). Peach got me started with this blogging stuff and I don’t always hold up my end and write posts like I should. But, I won’t have the “work” excuse anymore. I have made myself a promise that I would try and write a book of stories, as mentioned in a previous post “writing interesting things” (it was I think) and putting it out there to see if there are any “old country boys and girls” like me out there that might find it humorous to buy a copy and laugh at my “out of the wrong time period” sense of humor and right and wrong. We are gonna give it a couple months to see how things settle down in the Country before we start travelling around, not in the mood for people to freak out if I’m not wearing a mask on the side of the road changing a flat tire for some lady who is helpless roadside (yes it could be a guy too, don’t get all indignant, told you I was from the wrong time period). Once we start traveling, I hope to post interesting tidbits along the way that others who are traveling around may find useful, even if it is a “do not do this or that” mistake we made that saves someone an issue. I know Peach will be posting all kinds of good things as we travel I am even gonna get her a new faster computer to use to do so (no excuses now, Peach). Been rummaging around through stuff on the internet (what a fresh h*** of grossness and stupidity you can find if you’re not careful what you search for) reading about people making money doing blog posts, that is novel. Not sure I got what it takes to do that but if someone wants me to write a blog post for their business or about a product that I am familiar with, and they want a down to earth honest opinion on, and they are going to pay me for it, then I’m your huckleberry (y’all point them my direction will ya?).

Some of you all will remember Peach and I teach firearms usage and gun safety, we have done this for a while now and its a satisfying pastime, plus brings in a little extra income. We plan to do this even after retirement as we have found that it is something people want and need. As an NRA instructor I have 3 certifications: Certified Home Firearm Safety, Personal Protection in the Home, and Basic Pistol, all of these are important to some folks, and its something we are happy to provide. The cool thing about being an NRA instructor is no matter where in the United States we are, we can sit down and give a class to anyone that wants it, provided we have the necessary safety precautions in place, and in some instances a range to shoot. Another side project I recently took an interest in to perhaps provide a bit of extra income if we need, but more to keep me active and out of the refrigerator (have I mentioned Peach is an EXCELLENT cook?) is becoming a “Home Inspector”, there seems to be a place for me as one, and it is something I could do when I wanted and not do when I was busy with other important matters (like fishing, hunting, napping is very important to me, also), it would require I attended classes either in person or online, and pass several tests (if you knew me you would know how much I dislike tests of any kind), but I think I could manage to do well enough to get licensed in the State to do it. I think I would be good at it as I have knowledge already from life experience and I have a willingness and want to help people. The biggest issue facing Peach and I as with most retirees is health insurance, but with Peach’s smarts and us listening to each others ideas, I believe we have a plan that will let us do what we want when we want without to much hassle.

It would appear from all the ideas about extra income that we are going to be working just as much as we do now, but that’s not the case, all these ideas are what float around in the mind of Batman when he has to much time on his hands. Y’all keep checkin back in, if for no other reason, you can see what scatterbrained ideas I come up with next.

“Now I get to enjoy some of your awesome chili huh, Peach?”

Categories
beauty Faith focus grace Gratitude health Life life styles nature peace photography rest thankful Uncategorized

Find your “Peace”

Batman says:

“Peace” has a multitude of meanings (look it up yourself) and often we forget what it can mean to us as people.

I like to think of it as the most unstressed, relaxed, calm and happy feeling. The kinda feeling one gets walking in a brisk wind along a vacant beach where no signs of humanity intrude. Or snuggling in a favorite chair and getting lost in a good book where the story carries you away. Or sitting outside after dark in a quiet place watching the stars migrate across the heavens. Peace to me is that content feeling, that place where I’m not distracted by man’s noisy need to control everything and be heard all the time. Walking around photographing pretty things with Peach, holding hands and just being, not having to speak to know that you are happy just being together. Taking sunrise pictures while at work to send to my “pretty girl” Peach to let her know I always think of her.

There are many other things that help me find peace, wandering around outdoors is one of my favorite ones. Think I mentioned before Peach and I like to hunt, trap, fish and generally wander the woods, always have. Getting into a blind an hour before the first hint of light, lets things settle. Night creatures are headed home and the dawn patrol are waking up. I get settled, squirm around, and finally settle comfortably and wait. It is a wonderful world deep in the woods away from man’s intrusion that slowly reveals itself. Owls, sing their haunting hoots and purrs and crackles, and shuffles in the bushes made by mice, opossums, raccoons and others add to the suspense. Still too dark to make out any real detail, I close my eyes and just listen to nature’s symphony slowly give its first performance. Birds flit quietly from their homes into the bushes, still not quite ready to play their tune. Usually the first animal I can actually see and identify are squirrels, as they slink around and find seeds and acorns to nibble on and sometimes stash buried in thousands of secret spots. They too are still silent, not wanting to break the silence of the morning, and then it happens. Somewhere, could be close, could be far away, the first bird clears its throat and to my surprise it’s the gobble of a turkey. Unless you have heard one in the wild you haven’t heard a real turkey, folks. Then the other birds perk up, and soon there’s music all around in the form of this bird and that, each seeming to try to outdo the other. Sometimes a squirrel interjects it’s voice into the symphony but mostly they are too busy eating and chasing each other around.

This continues for 30-45 minutes then settles to infrequent chirps from birds, and solitary songs as the sun breaks the horizon. Then the squirrels slink off and up into the trees and begin their turn at calling to each other and clattering and chattering away, trying to drown each other out.

All the while, I sit (sometimes, when I’m really lucky Peach joins me) and listen and watch silently. Letting the sounds from the animals that God created wash over and through me. As it does I can feel tension and stress piled on from the week of work and strife, slowly start to break up. The longer I stay the more I find my “Peace”, the kind of feeling that is hard to explain, but everyone knows when it happens. For a time, no worry no fear no pain no insecurities nothing, just “Peace”. It’s what I expect to feel every day in heaven when my time is up here. Till then I have found a way to find true “Peace” and be as God intended us to be, happy, content and blessed to be alive and in God’s masterpiece. Those of you whom hunting offends, I do not apologize for being a hunter, God made us that way, I do think there is a reason for me being one, but to be honest the actual taking of game has become much less important to me over the years than it used to be, I still do take game but if I let something pass sometimes, it does not bother me as it once did.

Finding “Peace” means many things to many people, but to me it’s meaning is as described above, and none of it would be possible without God’s input and my Peach’s companionship. Once a week or more if I’m lucky, I slip away to one of these places and “breathe the free air” and feel my “Peace” seep into my tired body to enliven me for another week.

I truly hope each and every person can find the kind of “Peace” that they need at a time when they need it most and it does for them what they need. Everyone needs a cleansing of their minds to function as God meant. Folks, He watches us, He listens to us and He gives us ways to reboot, for me it’s through “Peace”

Hope this ramble makes some kinda sense to someone that needs it, if not *shrug* makes sense to Peach and I 😬

“Right Peach, makes sense to us right? Peach? Peach?…not funny”

Categories
family food health life styles

Batman’s Lamb Chops

At the risk of being accused of pilfering someone’s recipe (which actually I didn’t) and if it resembles yours I do apologize but it just popped into my frond (Stargate SG1 reference, means head) today while contemplating a way to cook lamb chops in a skillet.

Most important is the skillet, it has to be cast iron and it has to be LODGE (has to!) my momma used LODGE, my grand mom used LODGE, and I am sure on down the line my family used LODGE. They make the best cast iron anything. Not sure if I mentioned this or not USE LODGE CAST IRON.

Ok so let’s start with the recipe:

1/4 cup or so, freshly chopped rosemary

5 cloves garlic, minced

kosher salt

black pepper

2 lb.small lamb chops

1tbsp extra-virgin olive oil

Combine rosemary and garlic and season with salt and pepper. Press lamb chops into mixture on a plate and rest a couple minutes on a plate.

In a large skillet (use LODGE if I didn’t mention that earlier) over medium heat, heat oil, add lamb chops, cook 4-5 minutes per side (times vary) until the internal temperature reaches 145 degrees. Let remove from skillet (LODGE) and let rest for 5 minutes, then give thanks to God for the meal, the day, and your life, then commence to consume with vigor.

You can if you wish heat the pan again to medium, stir in 1/2 cup white wine or chicken broth and de-glaze the skillet, stirring with a wooden spoon to get the brown yummy bits off the bottom (the French have a name for these bits, but I don’t remember it and if I did, I would probably misspell it) reduce the liquid by half stirring occasionally. Once reduced, add 2 TBSP butter and stir till thickens a bit and pour over chops as a pan sauce.

This recipe came about as a result of a grocery shopping trip with Peach (she lets me actually go inside the store sometimes) where we were trying to find an alternative meat to chicken (before you sputter it out, I know chicken is not meat, let it go). Pork chops are one choice, fish, turkey (seriously, don’t go there I know). We had stumbled on lamb chops about a month ago and so we got a couple more chops during this trip. If y’all know of other alternatives, let me know! Peach and I will try them (Wait!! Not liver, I know of no way on this good earth to cook liver that will make it taste good, sorry but ain’t gonna happen).

Food experiments have always been something I like doing, and this recipe is probably a combination of numerous dishes we have made over the years. If it sounds like your recipe, don’t write me and say bad things, I freely admit I could have taken parts from many recipes, but as far as I know, it’s all outta my noggin.

Sorry got off on a side road there…lamb, if not over cooked is really flavorful and tender and served with the right sides it can make an awesome supper. Peach and I had it with Brussels sprouts, cooked in butter, salt and pepper. The meal was outstanding, and the cost of the lamb was well within reason. Anyways, feel free to try it, add/subtract ingredients, see what you think. If you feel like it, share the recipes on here and we will try it.

Last things…if I didn’t mention it before use LODGE cast iron, and no I have no affiliation with LODGE cast iron, I just really believe they make the best cast iron stuff, AND it’s made here in the USA.

Bony Appletite😬

This is a repost of one I did last year I think

 

 

Categories
food health life styles Uncategorized

New Trend

Batman says:

Peach and I discovered the next new “Buzz” word or new trend.. laugh now, but you watch and see..

We were working together in the kitchen as we are wont to do from time to time and needed some herbs, as luck would have it we happen to be growing fresh Thyme, Rosemary and Basil, and as bad luck would have it, it was out on the front deck in the pouring rain. So out I go and cut off what we need and come back inside and between the two of us being silly, we discovered the new trend that I’m sure will pop up all over once discovered.

“Rain washed Herbs”

Are your herbs rained washed? If not you’re doing it wrong! Imagine all the new age people and others with their herbs rushing to plant them outdoors where they can be rain washed instead of using tap water.

😂😂😂

“Yes Peach I really did post that”

Categories
Faith family health Life

Camping and Stuff

Batman Says:

Raise your hand if you like camping 🖐🏼🖐🏼. Peach and I are, and pretty much have always been, fans of camping which is another one of the thousands upon million of reasons I love her. Her family, like mine, were brought up as campers. Cars were packed up stuffed full of tents and paraphernalia as well as kids, then off to some spot, usually a known place where they feel comfortable, and the camping set up begins.

Dads all over the world will get this..the frustration level increases to just before nuclear meltdown stage right about the time the !*%!%**%#! tent is finally up. Then when the blood pressure comes down from the stratosphere, the relaxing can commence.

I have fond memories of all night fishing trips on the river where we kids were forced to finally go to sleep in a huge old Army GP medium tent that my dad and uncle put up (can’t do it anymore as there are bleepin houses where we used to camp). But anyways, they were fun trips. Also remembered are the trips early in Peach and my marriage with the rug rats all crammed in a small tent, nothing could make these trips or the memories of them better that they are. Road trips to the camping spots also hold many fond memories along the way. We once stopped off in the Echota Cherokee Capitol Historic Site in Georgia and wandered around old log cabins and buildings where old settlers lived. No school classroom on the planet could replace the effect of actually being there, feeling the wood, seeing how the Cherokee people lived and survived in a completely different environment than they were use to….(I feel a squirrel running by). Our boys were products of both private, then public, and finally home schooling (Peach is a wonderful and patient teacher with the smarts of one of those people with all the alphabet letters attached to their names, and she came by her wisdom the right way, she lived and learned). I will not bash any form of schooling, I just believe that learning math you can use, English you can speak, and the history of your country as it was not as someone thinks it should have been, prepares kids better for real life than study guides set down by committee (you take God out of the equation, you aren’t worth the paper all those alphabet letters behind your name are printed on), just my opinion, again I’m not trying to change yours so don’t try and change mine. Told ya, Squirrel!

Anyways, we explored several places along the way to that camping excursion, and we learned a lot. Some of the trips were hot and sweaty, some cold to the point of ice, all were trips I would not change for anything in the world. I believe the time out in the fresh air, be it at a spring and river, or on a mountain top, did wonders for myself and the family. Working together to set up camp, exploring, building the camp fire and keeping it going, cooking meals, cleaning up, all have their places. Gathering around the fire at night roasting marshmallows or other stuff, talking and laughing, it freed the soul of stress. The downside to any of it, if there is one, is that it never seemed to last long enough, before long it was the night before packing up and going back home. Everyone’s movements slow, but time speeds up. No one wants to leave but we eventually get packed up and away we go, headed back home.

Seldom were there trips that we did not have a really nice time. It seems camping and the trips to and from always seemed to agree with us. Everyone returned with a happy disposition which sometimes lasted well into the week following.

I think the fun of camping is just being together “roughing” it for a couple days as a family. We slow down, we bond as a group, we “Live, Laugh, Love” and repair ills that society piles on us.

Just my opinion…yes you too can “chuck it in the bucket” difference is, I’m not trying to change yours 😉.

“No Peach I did not pack your hair dryer”

Categories
family focus health Life life styles Procrastination Time management

That Room

Batman says:

Pretty sure everyone has one, that room that everything seems to migrate to over time. For me it’s my “radio room” or also known as the “purple” room as it has purple flowers decorating the walls (don’t ask).

Over the past months it has slowly collected odds and ends and things that are in transit to their final spot, or stuff I pack-rat away. It’s finally reached the point I have to do something, simply for the fact I can barely get in there to do anything. Fortunately for me my “pack-rat” propensity does not come with the “I gotta keep this for ever” attachment (in most cases, yes I do need 3 spare routers). Once the cleaning begins, you really need to stick at it, or you just end up making small piles of stuff all over the house, which despite her patience, would I’m sure, cause Peach to lose her mind. I contribute enough to her issues, she don’t need me to add more 😬 (sorry, squirrel ran by).

Pick a corner and start, not really sure how or why, but I seem to save cardboard boxes that things come in, prolly to use to wrap presents, but then deciding a person might think it’s one thing, and be disappointed when it’s not what the box says. So there goes 6 boxes of various shapes and sizes. Old papers and scraps of things I was going to “fix or use” one day get tossed in the bag. Oh look! A zip up bag that a bed spread came in, perfect to put the trash in, waste not want not. Oh, look a car seat 🙄 perhaps we can give that to someone, if not it’s curb bound. Funny thing about putting things on the “curb” (no curb really, cause it’s a country road…) out here if the thing has value, it is usually nabbed pretty quick, and that’s better than it being trashed.

Moving around the room and piling numerous items into the trash, the room starts to take shape again. One can walk around without bumping into, or stubbing their toe on something. Counter tops and shelves are revealed, as they are cleared of clutter, and I can actually sit in my radio chair and “Ham” it up a bit. Computer table is cleared of appx. 3 cubic yards of small ‘have to have’ items and Holy Cow!!! The computer still works!

There we go, a complete circuit of the room, decluttering and trashing things that only a couple weeks ago I ‘couldn’t have done without’ and the room is back to useable space again.

Much better now, well until 6 months down the road and I once again have to de clutter it *shrug* what can I say? It happens!

“Yes Peach I REALLY need 14 baseball hats”

Categories
Faith family Fear focus health Life

Unremembered Forest Things

Batman Says:

When I was little (yes everyone I once was little and didn’t have adult cares, how long ago? None of your business cheeky bugger), I was born (not hatched or beamed down as some believe) in a very small country town. I was actually the only one of my siblings born in this small town, but my moms family was from there and we lived there a short while. We moved to a different place, not to far away from where I was born and made frequent return trips there, so much so when I was small, it was as if I never left. Many memories of those days are gone, lost or pushed aside by other information garnered over the many years of my life (no you don’t need to know how many!). Some are still there and pop up at weird times to remind me of something (I truly wish I knew what that was) and they sometimes linger about showing up off and onto annoy me.

Like my grandpa’s place where we stayed at times, he had a tater field and would pay us kids a quarter for whoever dig up the biggest tater (by hand of course). Even fonder memories were of visits to my Aunt and Uncles house (10 minute walk across one dirt road and a couple fields) where they had rabbits (for eating, sorry no pets) and a pond that I would spend hours catching and releasing bream and catfish in (unless my uncle said “keep’em we will eat them for lunch/dinner”). My childhood memories of these times were to me idyllic and I’m saddened that they slip out of remembrance only to pop up occasionally now days.

My grandpa, my uncle and sometimes dad if he were not off helping someone fix something (seems I remember him always fixing stuff for people when we visited there) would take me fishing on a river that ran thru our little town, and at this part of the country, separated two states acting as part of the state lines. When it was summer and it hadn’t rained much, you could basically walk the river for miles without ever getting past thigh deep (on a small boy) except for parts around stumps and widow-makers (underwater snags).these deeper pockets is where the “Stump Knockers” (google it) were hiding and where the lines from our cane poles were put to catch what we could then move on to the next.

Sometimes my grandpa or uncle would stop and stare off into the woods as if seeing something but try as I might I never caught what they were seeing. I asked over and over ‘what are u looking at grandpa /uncle ” and would get “nothin son” or “just looking”. My aunt told me later that they were seeing “forest creatures” and she would laugh. Now as a small boy this fascinated me to no end, but soon I would be off to other small boy things and it would be forgotten.

Fast forward a few years (again, don’t ask how many, it’s rude) and I spend as many spare seconds as I can in the woods or creeks, hunting, fishing, photography, just being outside with Peach, or whatever. This is my happy place, my forget all your troubles, relax and just “breathe” place. Took me several years to catch on but I think I finally get it..

People who spend time in the fields, forests, swamps and natural places will know immediately what I mean in a couple seconds, some others will also as there are other types in the world. Here you are, let’s use photography as the reason you are there in nature just as a for instance. Strolling along slowly maybe with purpose in mind of something to photograph or maybe not, then, without knowing why or even thinking about it, your focus is drawn to a area or specific spot, why? Did u subconsciously see something, was it a memory of something from a time ago, or something else?

I have come to believe in my own silly mind it is done with purpose and you were drawn to that spot where one of the Unremembered Forest things was, or had just been. Your mind saw it before your eyes could catch it and your vision focused on the spot it just vacated. Good hunters have a developed sense of where game can be found, same goes for good photographers and other nature lovers. We all have in us a Predator instinct, that’s why our eyes are set in front of our head and not out to the sides (look at a cat as opposed to a deer). This instinct does not go away, but now days it’s suppressed by societies belief that “hunters are evil” (sorry squirrel ran by).

When we were children and out in nature I believe we could see the unremembered Forest things, and they weren’t afraid to be seen, but as we get older and refuse to believe, they have become skittish and we only get to see the places they just were when we spooked them.

There are so many unexplained things in nature that scientist and nay-sayers roll their eyes at, doesn’t matter, I still believe. I spend lots of time outdoors, exploring the wild, and I am constantly being drawn towards things without knowing why.

Here is an example of not seeing what’s there, I took this picture without knowing why, the colors are ok, but I didn’t really think it was that awesome. I was drawn to it without knowing why, snapped it and moved on. As I reflected upon it later I recognized the image before my eyes, if you do not see an “Angel praying” then you need to get outside into the forest for several days to reset your brain before it’s to late.

Seeing for the first time in ages the hiding places of these “things” sometimes leads one to make up rationalizations for why we chose that spot to focus. That’s cool If that’s what you believe, who am I to try and dissuade your beliefs? Just like I chunk opinions of others who try and dissuade mine into the “bucket” with the other rubbish.

I call these things “Unremembered Forest Things” because I believe that when we were small, and well before our brains were polluted with things society thinks we should know, we knew these “things” be it creatures or something else. But over time we have forgotten them, only to be reminded every so often subtly by our unconscious mind, a tugging of your focus for no apparent reason to a certain spot, and hint of a smell, or whatever. Watching the stillness of a pond where no breeze is blowing, when suddenly there are ripples on the surface as if a stick was drawn across it, Water Faries dancing on the surface? Naw just the wind right?

In the stillness and quietness, I find my peace, and I find those parts of myself from my childhood I thought were gone forever. Sometimes I can just stand still in the woods, for hours at a time and be content. This refreshing memory inducing time is only ever bettered, when I have my Peach along with me. Peach gets it, she gets me to, she knows there are things we cannot explain, nor do we have to try, we should just enjoy them.

God has filled this wonderful earth with creatures great and small, and it’s up to us to “remember” them all, and to take time to go seek them where they are.

Hope you all enjoy this ramble, and it’s my wish that if you want to, you go into nature, and let your unconscious mind guide you, follow it, and see if it does not reveal some of the “Unremembered Forest Things” that you knew in your childhood years.

“Did ya see how that last pick looks like it has a turtle in it Peach?”

Categories
Fear focus health Life life styles Uncategorized

Sense of Humor?

Batman Says:

Just curious, anybody remember what that is anymore? I honestly believe that most people have either never had one, forgotten what it was, or just are to persnickety to allow theirs to show up.

I have been called lots of things in my lifetime, funny, weird, gruff, grumpy, hardheaded, ok ok that’s enough, but I’ve always had a sense of humor. Mine’s a little off kilter, and sometimes ‘bent’ but most people that really “know” me, will tell you I have a great sense of humor, those who think otherwise may be acquainted with me, but they don’t “know” me.

Humor is a stress release I think, and helps us cope with everyday stupidity. Before you get sidetracked, I’m not talking about laughing or joking at someone’s distress, I’m talking about not being afraid to laugh out loud at something you find funny. I have found in my career as a person who deals with other people’s problems, that most who have a sense of humor, are easier to work with than the naysayers and “the sky is falling” kind of people.

Meeting people on the street and having conversations will quickly tell you which type you’re dealing with, which should tell you how the conversation is probably going to wind up, example:

I was at our City marina in the dock masters office (small building out by the fuel dock where reservations are taken, fuel is paid for, dock hands relax for a couple seconds) getting my morning coffee, and of course because the world is losing its proverbial mind over a flu-bug, only one customer at a time is allowed in the office at a time. I saw a man headed up the ramp towards the office, so I opened the door and was going to leave so he could conduct his business. I said “mornin, come on in I don’t have any diseases”, which anyone with a sense of humor would have thought was funny, the dock hands did who were there and it was said with a smile and a sincere greeting. This fella chose to be an *ss and replied “prove it” as he was pulling up his face mask (which by the was was a dust mask not one rated to stop this junk). I stopped on the outside of the door holding it for him, and replied, again with a smile “if I got it, it just happened talking to you as I just got my test results back and they were negative”. This person was a sailboater, who had been staying at said marina for the past few days, so I asked “soooo what essential reason do you have to be here on your boat instead of quarantined at home per the Governors orders?” again EVERYBODY but this person knew I was being funny and could care less. This person turned pale, stammered and shuddered for a coherent answer that was plausible, and failed miserably, all he had to say was “I dunno” and went about his way, but since he chose to be an *ss I let him dangle for a while before smiling and wishing him a “nicer day”.

I went about my job and when I stopped back by later to fuel up one of the dock guys was still there and thanked me for “putting him in his place” as apparently he was rude to them the entire stay. Wasn’t my intention, I was honestly being humorous and I meant the “good morning and have a nicer day” greetings, but this person chose to be rude.

A sense of humor will get you out of more pickles easier than any other thing I know. If you cannot laugh at yourself, and laugh with others when they laugh at your goof ups or silliness, you are in for a long sad time in life.

Somewhere along the way it apparently became unpopular to have a sense of humor, probably some group someplace decided that they were offended by people laughing and quietly it has gotten pushed aside. Y’all are way too serious in this day and age. Happy people are more productive and make better employees and customers, why not spread humor instead of hate, good feelings instead of bad? Being paranoid does no one any good, being humorless only makes people not want to be around you, or if they are, they are mostly guarded and aren’t the people they are normally.

People without a sense of humor are such bores, I mean seriously, who wants to be around someone who can’t find it n themselves to laugh sometimes, no matter how serious the job or occasion.

I read this stuff someplace:

“Laughter is strong medicine. It draws people together in ways that trigger healthy physical and emotional changes in the body. Laughter strengthens your immune system, boosts mood, diminishes pain, and protects you from the damaging effects of stress. Nothing works faster or more dependably to bring your mind and body back into balance than a good laugh. Humor lightens your burdens, inspires hope, connects you to others, and keeps you grounded, focused, and alert. It also helps you release anger and forgive sooner”

The above quote I read someplace about laughter and it’s benefits, I new it was good for you but until I read that I had no idea the extent. Here, check this out:

“Laughter relaxes the whole body. A good, hearty laugh relieves physical tension and stress, leaving your muscles relaxed for up to 45 minutes after.

Laughter boosts the immune system.Laughter decreases stress hormones and increases immune cells and infection-fighting antibodies, thus improving your resistance to disease.

Laughter triggers the release of endorphins, the body’s natural feel-good chemicals. Endorphins promote an overall sense of well-being and can even temporarily relieve pain.

Laughter protects the heart. Laughter improves the function of blood vessels and increases blood flow, which can help protect you against a heart attack and other cardiovascular problems.

Laughter burns calories. OK, so it’s no replacement for going to the gym, but one study found that laughing for 10 to 15 minutes a day can burn approximately 40 calories—which could be enough to lose three or four pounds over the course of a year.

Laughter lightens anger’s heavy load. Nothing diffuses anger and conflict faster than a shared laugh. Looking at the funny side can put problems into perspective and enable you to move on from confrontations without holding onto bitterness or resentment.

Laughter may even help you to live longer. A study in Norway found that people with a strong sense of humor outlived those who don’t laugh as much. The difference was particularly notable for those battling cancer.”

(Sorry can’t find the actual article to give them total credit for the above quoted info)

Who’d a thunk it? Simply giggling and laughing can have so many positive benefits.

Someone find that sailboater with his goofy mask and tell him a funny joke will ya, he could certainly use a good laugh.

“You can stop laughing now Peach I finally figured the remote out”

Categories
Faith family focus health Life life styles

Stores

Batman Says:

Click and “poof” whatever you want is delivered to your home, you don’t ever have to leave again. Some call it convenient, I call it the slow death of “Stores”.

Remember going to the store? It was a trip, a journey where you met people, said hello and actually conversed. It was a time away from the house, sometimes it wasn’t convenient to have to go, others it was just fun. I remember during the summers when I was young (again, none ya business when that was) we would sometimes ride our bicycles the 5 miles down our barren county road to the wooden country store in the middle of the ‘tater’ fields just to get a NeHi soda and sometimes even candy. We sometimes played the worn out pinball machine, sat in the shade and talked to the “old guys” that hung around and we just had fun. Then we rode back home down that lonesome road.

As we got older the trips were made in trucks and we somehow didn’t have time to sit around and talk. And the trips to the “store” became less important. We found more “important” things to do I suppose. Shame, I kinda miss it now that I’m “growed up” supposedly.

I think somewhere along the way from childhood to adulthood we lose a special part of ourselves that if we kept, we would never not want to always see, hear, and visit places and things, and “stores”. Now with modern tech, it’s all too simple to become a hermit and just have anything you wish, dropped outside your front door. I, for one think it’s sad, I’m not saying I don’t use these options here and there, I’m saying we should never stop totally, taking the trip to the store. Giving up the chance to see an old friend, or make a new one, is not worth missing just for convenience.

Take it from Batman, you’re never too old to make new friends and renew old friendships, chances are better for both if you’re out and about as opposed to being a hermit.

“No Peach this does not mean I go to town every time you do”