Beech Tree News Network

One cold day last week, I bundled up my granddaughter in her warm jacket and dropped her off at school.  When I arrived at work, I realized in all the gathering for her, I had forgotten my own jacket.  It gets really cold at our shop because we have to raise the door up and down so much in order for cars to drive in and out.  I remembered I had a box of clothes in the back of my car I was going to drop off at Goodwill, so I dug around in the box until I found an old hooded sweater.  I put it on, and it felt wonderful.

   In a recent Wednesday night Bible study in the book of Ecclesiastes, one made the observation that the spoken and written word are powerful. This is something that has been observed by men for years. In 1839, playwright Edward Bulwer-Lytton coined the phrase, “The pen is mightier than the sword.” Though memorable, this sentiment is not original to him.

GATHERING TOGETHER-As I am writing this, it is just a little while  before our nation indulges in feasts and football games, on a day known as Thanksgiving. Many of us use this day, which unofficially kicks off the “holiday season,” as an excuse to overindulge or “pig out” on a frequent basis, without shame.

The exhibitions are over.  Friday, it counts.  College basketball season begins! Utah Valley, Vermont and Kansas are the first three games for my Cats.  I cut a schedule out of the Cats’ Pause magazine, of which I’ve had a subscription for many years. 

The calendar has turned to fall, daylight saving time has ended, and much of the country has experienced some cold weather. In no time, we’ll be watching for snow or ice – I could wait a long while for those. So recently, I’ve been doing a little winterizing.

In grade school we were required to stand and recite from memory the preamble to our US constitution: “We the people of the United States in order to form a more perfect union, establish justice, insure domestic tranquility, provide for the common defense, promote the general welfare and secure the blessing of liberty to ourselves and our posterity do ordain and establish this constitution of the United States of America .” (Hang on this may go somewhere.)

Occasionally, I’ll look at my husband, Garey, and say, “Don’t you dare die before I do!”  I usually make such statements when my car won’t start, and I have to call him for a battery jump or if I have to get something off of the roof or out of a tree.  Last week it was a mouse—not on the roof or in a tree—just a mouse on the living room rug.

Water serves many purposes. Scientists search for water on far-off planets because they know that where there is water, there is life. The oceans to this nation’s east and west have served as natural barriers between us and various enemies for many years, especially before the invention of flight. Most of the major cities in the world were founded near bodies of water. This is because their founders knew that where there is water, there is sustenance for the people and opportunities for trade.

NOT A MISTAKE- At times in this column I may have mentioned the fact that I have often felt out of place in this world, all the way up to the point of wondering if I really belong in it at all, or if I might have slipped through the cracks as some kind of cosmic mistake, just biding my time, with no real purpose. Some of that feeling probably comes from living with the results of some poor choices and downright stupid decisions on my part (like not going on to college).

The chill of an early Fall isn’t just a George Strait classic.  As I type this, it’s 45 degrees.  That isn’t bad when you consider it’ll probably be 20 in about a month.  Sunday, we had a church hayride and met back at the church basement for refreshments.  Those of us who went on the hayride were definitely glad to get back in the warmth, especially since there’s a fireplace in the basement.