..."Peanuts and Cracker Jack"

I would be the first to admit that I am a bit out of touch with the world, in general. But, I'm pretty savvy when it comes to knowing my living space, the local area and somewhat about world affairs. Like most Americans, my news comes from a computer. I have to admit to giving up daily newspapers and I don't watch the local TV news. Normally, I don't miss them.

But, it occurred to me this morning, October 23rd, and I haven't heard or read anything about the World Series of Baseball. I didn't know if it was already over or hadn't yet been played? I knew the local team, the Kansas City Royals, wasn't in it, but who was?

Back when I made it a point to follow Major League Baseball, the World Series was a big deal. It was the "World Serious", in the home where I grew up and in all the years I had children at home. My dad had played Minor League Ball, in the 1930's. We played softball in grade school. We watched the World Series, on television at school (There were no night games, folks.) I went to High School with a couple of really good ball players, that made it to the Big Leagues. One of my sons played ball all the way through school. I knew the game!

After a bit of research, I brought myself up to date. I learned that the two teams, in the 2026 Series, are the Tampa Bay Rays and the Milwaukee Brewers. Neither team has ever won a World Series, although the National League Brewers has been in the series twice. The  American League team was called the Devils, from 1998-2007. In '08, they changed their name to the Rays. The games will be played tonight and through the next week. In fact, research tells me that the Brewers, have two active players from the Kansas City area. Jacob Misiorowski, is a starting right-hander, and Aaron Ashby is their go-to reliever. I'll be rooting for the Brewers.

Now, I am also wondering, just when do we go back to Central Standard Time? I hope I haven't missed it. 

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Lord, help me to keep my mind and my body active. 

 

Again and Again.........

 About fifty posts ago, I wrote about a couple of words that I intended to add to my vocabulary. Actually, I never did. It is likely that, at my age, I'm just not going to start using random words that aren't a match for my time tested vocabulary. Yesterday, however, I ran across another new word, that might be a better fit. I decided, it won't hurt to try.

My newly discovered word is EPHEMERA. Just by chance,  I encountered some folks from the Ephemera Society. They were very pleasant and seriously interested in the historical exhibits in the museum, where I volunteer. In case, like me, you do not know the definition of EPHEMERA (al), it is...."lasting a short time". That was Webster's explanation. OED uses 4 columns to define the word and it's forms. Way to long. Longer perhaps than a slang phrase or a paper cup. Both of which are EPHEMERA. 

At first I thought, well this is very odd. Why are these folks visiting a history museum that boasts about storing and displaying 350,000 World War I Era artifacts? This is old, well preserved stuff. It is definitely not EPHEMERA. 

However, in reality, we do have a lot of EPHEMERA, at the museum. There are dozens of paper posters, popular for a short time. Battle plans, maps, gas canisters, ammunition, uniforms, etc.,etc.,etc. Temporary items, initially made to be used for a very short period of time, or even destroyed immediately by use. But, these articles are EPHEMERA, that has been kept for over 110 years.

Okay. According to experts (some elementary school teachers of mine) writing, reading and using a new word five times, will store it in my vocabulary. (as in....."Run Spot. Run.") I think I've got it. Do you?

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 Good and All-Knowing God. You have shown us that life is a journey of new words and events. Just because we grow old, doesn't stop us from learning. Remind us to keep our minds open to new things. We thank You, for new experiences.

 

"Brown paper packages, tied up with strings."

 Feeling slightly akin to Julie Andrews, aka Marie von Trapp, this morning. My thoughts are leaning toward listing a few of "My Favorite Things":

• Day trips to known and unknown spots around home base. Nothing even stays the same, you know, and even the most familiar of places, never fails to treat me to something new and exciting. 
• Time spent with friends and relatives. A visit, like this can involve a job, sight seeing or just a chat in a familiar living room. All of which I enjoy.
• Eating in a familiar restaurant. Recently we went to one, that I remember from the early days of my childhood. I treasured every greasy bite.
• Car travel that includes listening to the Oldies and singing along with nearly all of the lyrics...."yeah, yeah, yeah". Yes, I do realize that this can be annoying to the folks traveling with me. 
• Talking and meeting new folks. Here is where you get to learn and sometimes teach. 
• And, of course, it is most important, that there should be accompanying you, someone who will share your travels, appreciates your choices in travel and actually chooses to accompany you.

My closest friends and I honor our departed friend Jim, with one of his favorite sayings...."Get out there in it." 

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 Holy Lord. Life is indeed a journey. We praise your leadership and honor your guidance

 along our path.

 

 

".....drift by my window."

 

 After a brief cool spell, a Faux Fall, if you will, we are experiencing our usual warm Autumn weather. Our house is decorated with my extensive collection of ceramic, crocheted and papier mache' pumpkins. The "mums" are flourishing in pots outside and although the trees are not in full color, they are starting to turn a bit.  Almost everyone's "favorite season" is officially here in the Midwest.

However, there are some folks who really do not appreciate (can you even imagine?) the changing weather. Yesterday, I encountered a woman visitor at the Museum (my volunteer job), wearing a lovely fall themed sweatshirt. I complemented her and she replied, thanking me and pointing out that she wished that the weather was a bit more seasonal (cooler). It wasn't exactly sweatshirt weather, and she was too warm!

Later in the afternoon, I encountered the same woman. She was very upset. It seems our Museum was too cold and she had be forced to make two trips to her car to warm up. Honestly, I did not know how to reply to her statement, so I just nodded. And actually, I don't think she really expected me to fix her issue, she was just complaining.

Unfortunately, it's just impossible to please everybody. But as we often say, here in the Heartland, when all other words fail.......there you go.

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Lord, help us to be more helpful, more positive, more thoughtful, more caring. and reasonable.

 

"A Long time Ago, in a Galaxy ...."

I had a type of flash-back moment this morning. I want to share it with you. Today, a Space X Rocket was successfully launched that put 26 communications satellites into orbit. And, if that wasn't enough, in the near future the rocket and boosters will be recovered and reused for future launches.

Remarkable naturally, because I'm so old that I remember the first rocket launch, ever televised....or at least televised to a bunch of school kids, in 1958. Picture this.....a hundred or so 4th to 9th graders, sitting on the floor in the Lakeside School cafeteria, watching ONE, moderately sized, TV set. The black and white, kinda fuzzy image of a rocket being sent into "space". Ladies and gentlemen, it was mesmerizing. Certainly a monumental event. A couple of years later, on the same cold floor, we saw Alan Shepherd, become the first American, to go into "space". Big stuff. The Space Race was on!!!!

I'd like to say, that we all get the same excitement from such NEW stuff today. Unfortunately, we've become our parents and grandparents. We're skeptical of the innovative. We don't like change. I suppose we can't hep it, but oh, to have that wide-eyed wonder of the amazing again. It would be glorious.

Instead, I often hear statements from my contemporaries like..."I would never own a "self-driving" electric car. I want to be in control."(Okay. Your eyesight is poor, your knees don't work and you couldn't make a split-second decision to save your life....but you still want to manually drive your 15 year old, gas guzzling buggy!). Remember we all used to drive stick shifts, but we got over that!!! Or,  "I refuse to shop at Walmart, because it's ruined local shop ownership." (The corner grocery, is long gone, folks...... and we all like cheap stuff.) 

We say "change is difficult", especially as we age. Why is that? Our bodies change, why can't our minds do the same? Embrace change, my friends.  C'est la vie.

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                                           Lord, You are the only Constant we really need. 

 

 

"The proof is in the pudding".

 I'm going to confess something. I have a slight addiction to recipe videos. I'm admitting that, not only do I watch them, I waltz into the kitchen and actually attempt to recreate the culinary feat, just observed. 

I am particularly attracted to simple recipes. My favorites are the "three ingredient" desserts and casseroles. I like to keep extra boxes of cake mix, cans, etc. in the pantry, because most of the recipes, that interest me, include pre-made ingredients. Measuring is essentially "too exact" a science for me.

The videos always begin with the cook pouring the box's ingredients into a bowl. That makes me laugh, because the cook almost always dumps the paper lining into the bowl, along with the mix. I mean, how stupid are they? Don't they ever rehearse? Everyone who has even used a box mix knows that that the paper liner is in there, and it's going to fall out!

In the next shot, the liner has been removed. You never see the cook actually remove it, but it's always gone. The video continues. Now, if the recipe calls for sweetened condensed milk, the video then shows the cook, pouring the contents of the can into the mixing bowl. It's always a slow, sensual pour. Again, anyone who has ever opened a can of sweetened condensed milk knows that half of the sticky contents of the can, will not "pour" out of the can. Your have to scrape the goo out of the can, lick your fingers, and scrape some more, before the can is empty.  

Continuing along. Ingredients mixed, I watch them attempt to pour the mixture into the pre-prepared baking dishes or cupcake liners. Maybe an assistant does the prepping beforehand. The video never shows where the cook sprayed Pam on the counter missing the cake pan, the flour that accidentally got dropped on the floor or the contents of the cupcake liner container that spilled liners all over the countertop.

Well, the results are always worth the wait. Perfectly rounded, equally filled cupcakes. Evenly balanced cake-to-filling sheet cakes. That's what happened in the video....., not exactly what came out of my oven.

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Dear Lord. We all try to be good stewards of Your Blessings. Some of us succeed better than others. Guide us and show us Your way along life's path.

 

 

Lessons Learned

Just having had yet another milestone birthday, I have decided it's time to reflect on my "Philosophy of Life".

• Aches and Pains......Quoting my mother....."If it hurts when you do that....Don't do it!"
• Denying myself little pleasures and treats....(Like flavored coffee creamer and red shoes) Buy them....now. How many more chances are you going to have? 
• Opinions........no one, but you, really cares about Your opinion. If you attempt to offer it, prepare for rejection.
• Emotions......not worth hiding. If it makes you happy, laugh. If it makes you sad, cry. (Although, I sometimes cry, when I'm really happy.) 
• Fashion.....just wear something. No one remembers what you wore yesterday, or a week ago, or ten years ago. Get dressed. Leaving the house naked is not an option.
• Innovation.......Every day, try something new and maybe a bit scary. It probably won't hurt. It might, but at least you tried it, once. Regret is more often a result of what you Haven't done, not what you Have done.
• Fatigue......take a nap.You won't be missed. And, a true friend will never judge you. 
• Worry.......it doesn't do any good and your worrying annoys everybody (even those that you worry about).
• Hug people....if you think about it and then decide not to do it.........you've missed a chance to make someone feel loved.
• Tomorrow is not promised. 
• Pray 

Most of these thoughts have developed over the long years of my life. Some occurred yesterday. One or two just today.

 Nancy Keller Kincaid 

       9/24/26