Beech Tree News Network

Actually, Kathryn Zeta Jones is drop-dead-gorgeous.  Actually, Betty Grable had beautiful legs.  DID SHE EVER! (She was from my era.)  Say what? If you’ve feasted your eyes on either of these lovelies why would you need the word “actually”?
Recently first wife Bett asked a person where he was from.  “Actually”, he said, “I’m from Scottsville,” Why not, just, “I’m from Scottsville.”?  On a TV “judge show” recently a litigant said, “He actually told me, ‘don’t touch my dog, he bites’.”

The Little Things: My granddaughter, Sabria, has become mobile, which means I have become more mobile than I have been in years.  I had forgotten how many things in my house are floor level or two feet above.  I put safety plugs in the electrical outlets and made sure the closures on the cabinets worked properly months ago; but that’s small potatoes for a toddler.  They have bigger, or maybe I should say smaller, fish to fry.

Have you ever had one of those moments when you literally try to count your blessings.  When you really begin to think of all the blessings in your life, it's overwhelming!  Everyday on the news we hear of people, families, communities, and countries who are living with devastating circumstances.  Families losing loved ones, families starving, families losing their homes, and the list goes on and on.

The evidence that the Nanny-State spirit remains alive and well in Kentucky is the fact that too many politicians and law-enforcement lobbyists still favor restricting law-abiding citizens’ access to cold medicines containing pseudoephedrine.

We’re told that such heavy-handed government policies are needed because that ingredient is used by a handful of criminals to make the drug methamphetamine.

Duck of Many Colors:  I found this gorgeous colorful duck while roaming through Basil Griffin Park in Bowling Green. I don't know that I've ever seen one so beautiful.
 
I hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving. We actually have ours on Saturday here at our house, but I knnow it will be incredible. Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday. We have so much to be thankful for, not only this year, but always. The beauty we get to experience everyday is one of the blessings I'm so thankful for.
 

Webster’s New World Dictionary of the American Language, Second College Edition, defines Thanksgiving as “ a formal, often public thanks to God in form of prayer; an annual U.S. holiday observed on the 4th Thursday in November.  It commemorates the Pilgrim’s celebration of the good harvest in 1621.

Historically, Thanksgiving began as a tradition of celebrating the harvest of the year. It is currently celebrated on the fourth Thursday in November. This holiday is a time for family gatherings, hearty meals and counting life’s blessings.

Throughout history, in order to be elected politicians have appealed to man’s baser, lustful side.  I’m not talking here of skirt-chasing, or drunkenness, and /or debauchery, but just the promise of “things and stuff”.  Things that people want and do not have--- a “chicken in every pot, and two cars in every garage.” ---trips, cruises, fine cars and houses… more and more.  And we know that all these things are not bad within themselves.  The Apostle Paul though admonishes in Romans 13: “Do not always think about how to gratify the desires of the flesh.”

Renegade:Up until the 2006 election for governor of Texas, I had never stolen anything in my life.  The silhouette of a Jewish cowboy on a gold pink and green campaign poster would prove to be the temptation beyond that which I was able to bear.  

Have you ever had one of those moments when you hear you child say the darndest thing? Only to realize that they heard it from you?  I've often said that if you wonder what really comes out of your mouth, just listen to your children. Of course, some of those moments are quite hilarious. Yet some of those moments aren't funny at all. Seems like we can always count on our children to be the ones to put us in our place. It is said that children are like sponges, and how true that is. They learn many things from us, good and bad.