The Day of the Dead
In the Catholic tradition of the Christian faith any number of feast days are celebrated throughout the year.
One of these sacred feasts is today. All Souls Day.
Email Scam
Just today I received an email from a very good friend of mine who lives on the east coast; anytime I get an email from him I drop what I am doing and take a look. Well much to my surprise it was an email with the subject of “Emergency” telling me how he was in
The pirating of email accounts is a growing tactic used by scammers and because people you know are having their actual email accounts pirated you may well believe that the “Emergency” related to you via email is for real. So my advice is even if there is a chance the given situation could be real, I would suggest that you follow up with a phone call or any other communication method, other than email, to determine the legitimacy of the circumstances before you offer to render assistance. If it is not true, you will be alerting them to the fact that their email account is being used in an attempt to scam others, and if it is true, you will have verified it as a real problem before deciding if you are able to help or not.
Let There be Pizza on Earth
This Sunday, Tosa Trio (Christ King, St. Pius and St. Bernard’s) Summer Outreach will be holding a fundraiser at Pizzeria Piccola to help sponsor teens as they go on mission trips with Appalachia Service Project (ASP).
I went on the ASP trip last year and it was one of the best weeks of my life (my life has not been very long but I still think that you get the point). It’s a really great cause and I can’t wait to go back again this summer.
How will you spend your extra hour?
Daylight saving time ends at 2:00 AM Sunday and according to a recent survey by Tempur-Pedic 36% of Americans surveyed will spend the extra hour by sleeping. The big question is this: what the heck are the other 64% doing?
An elephant in the room
Although I'm disappointed by the recent election results, a death in the family has a way of putting things into perspective.
An election is a moment that shifts power a bit, shifts perceptions a little or a lot, and leads the melodramatic to feelings of hope or doom. The more practical among us move toward cynicism, resignation, or resolve.
But a death tears a hole in the fabric of our lives that is never quite mended. On Halloween, my former mother-in-law, Bernice McLaughlin, died. She was in her 100th year, and by most people's measures, they were good ones.
I hadn't seen her in a decade. That wasn't my choice but I respect the wishes of people who have different ideas about the way the world -- and the people who live in it -- should behave.
Whatever else happened in our still intertwined lives, I loved and enjoyed her most of the time. She was a wonderful mother-in-law, making and keeping a vow never to criticize or side against the people her children chose as mates.
She lived, as far as I can see, on Triscuits and chocolate. Slenderness was a huge value of hers, and for years she bought me clothes that were at least two sizes too small. Her daughters suggest it was a compliment. I'm pretty sure it was a hint.
She so disliked food that a visiting chaplain, wanting to assure her of her coming welcome in the next world, had to change his usual metaphor. "A great banquet will be prepared," he began, and then he caught the amused looks of her children. "Or in your case, a cocktail party."
That, or a table with books. This glamorous woman spent a lot more of her time teaching reading to children, just-released prisoners, and others who hadn't had her privilges than she spent socializing.
Despite our differences, we mainly got along and learned to appreciate the good and dismiss most of the bad in each other.
Last night I had an odd dream. I was working in a nursing home. There was an empty room, and in this room I put the elephant that had been sent to me. Every once in awhile, I'd toss it an apple or banana left over from someone's meal tray. Then I forgot about it until someone came running to me, frightened because the creature, starving, was growing rambunctious.
I ran to the refrigerator and found a bag of "baby" carrots and began tossing them to the elephant, knowing it wasn't enough. Thinking how silly to spend time and money grinding big carrots down into little ones just to raise the profit margin on them. Wondering how many mini-carrots it would take to restore the elephant's health.
Soon the other workers came with more food. One had found a bale of hay. A small woman, dressed better than the rest of us, led the elephant out of the room.
Guess the Critter
Last week Jill and I were out killing buckthorn and scouting deer when we found this really cool nest.
It's huge!
Holly Days is BACK! Art, Crafts, Food...oh, the food!
St. Bernard
A Couple of Tosa Veterans
Normandy battlefield, June 1944 -
Survival in combat is like a game with misses, near misses and hits. One afternoon we were making our way up a slight hill, moving along a hedgerow. When our advance halted, we stated to dig in per routine in the lower right corner of a field. About thirty minutes later we were called forward again and halted in the upper left hand corner of the same field. We no sooner started digging when a barrage of major proportions hit the area we had just left.
Holiday Shopping Safety Tips
The busiest retail day of the year, the Friday after Thanksgiving is just two short weeks away; and as such its time for the annual shopping safety tips to be posted. Please take the time to review the tips listed below and should you think of some additional tips, add them in the comments section or give me an email.
Aging - gracefully or not
We recently celebrated my mom's 80th birthday. She's not a fan of surprises so the best we came up with was to gather friends and far-flung relatives that she wouldn't expect to see and have them turn up on her doorstep over a period of 2 days. It worked. She still doesn't like surprises, but since she loves seeing family and friends she couldn't not like it!
One of her friends there was 97. I told my mom that at age 80 she is just a whippersnapper next to Pauline. (I tend to use words like whippersnapper when I get in a group with my elders). I remember traveling to Oklahoma for my grandmother's 80th, now to Ohio for my mother's. It occurred to me that the next big 80th celebration will be mine. Not soon, people! Look at my picture - that red hair dye is keeping me at 50 forever. But time does march (well in some cases trample or bulldoze) on and we must accept it. Even though it's not in the pretty box with the sparkly bow aging is a gift. As Ralph Waldo Emerson said "The years teach much which the days never know". See - all us wise mature folks are nodding our heads right now.
Technology Isn't the Problem, Bullies Are
As many may know, there has been a recent news story about teenagers at Tosa East sending nasty/ bullying text messages to each other. Many people seem to think that all of these problems would be solved if the school more closely monitored phone use or if the parents controlled what the teens do with their phones.
Really?
Monday Morning Music
Feeling like something with a Latin/Country flavor? Start your week with something really Mavericky...
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Eastern Spink Pheasants
The ring-neck pheasant (Phasianus colchicus) is the state bird of South Dakota.
Introduced from China to the northwest coastal region of the United States in 1892 the first successful introduction of the bird to South Dakota occurred in Spink County in 1908. A couple of farmers, A.E. Cooper and E.L. Ebbert, neighbors situated south of Doland, released pheasants into the wild. The South Dakota Department of Game, Fish and Parks released an additional 250 birds in 1911. You can probably guess how the story ends.
Grede foundry continues to spill so hold your breath Tosa
Yes hold your breath neighbors Grede Liberty foundry leaks and spills are blowing in the wind yes still. What's new your asking? Well I do have a new video on Youtube for you all to see at http://www.youtube.com/user/intuitivesculpture
Later today I hope to have another in place. What's new what's new? Well a lots been going on and a lot hasn't. Derse's building on Martin Drive across the street from our house is still not been razed to make way for the new luxury apartment complex. That's OK with me though. The longer it sits there the longer we will be able to see the sky to our south. Once the 4 story building goes up it will block our view of the southern sky.
Friday Music
It's the start of the weekend people.
Slip-on your dancing shoes and turn-up the volume on your workstation computer.
Looking For Love at Deer Camp
Whoever wishes to hunt, I know where there is a deer. But don't count on me to ride it down with you. I no longer have the desire. The work it takes has made me very tired, and I am now farther behind in the chase than anyone else.
Yet I find it difficult to take my mind off the deer, and as she continues to run I follow. But I weaken; my enthusiasm is gone. Consequently, I am quitting the chase since trying to catch the deer is as futile as trying to catch the wind in a net. I advise others to quit the chase too, lest their time is wasted.
