Aww Mondays

We have had some real winter. Temperatures have dropped well below zero at night and there has been a decent amount of snow. What is unusual about this weather is that it has lasted almost two weeks. Typically we get cold weather for a few days at a time, scattered throughout the winter and temps rarely dip into single digits. We often get three or four snow falls in the 2″ – 4″ range and maybe one that will exceed 6″. Some winters we don’t get any accumulations of snow. Right now we have about 6″ on the ground and 2″ -5″ on the way. It is historic…not just here but across most of the southern half of the nation.

The critters are not real happy either. The robins just don’t know what to do. The squirrels come by to check out any seeds that have fallen out of my bird feeders. This little fellow comes by almost every morning. He will just as happy as the rest of us when spring arrives.

Monday’s Music Moves Me

This week at 4M is a freedom of choice week. A couple of weeks ago I featured one of my favorite country artists that has been making music for over 40 years, Dwight Yoakam. Dwight, Buck Owens. and Merle Haggard brought the “Bakersfield Sound” to country music. The Bakersfield Sound was a combination of Western Swing, Rock n’ Roll, Bluegrass and Hillbilly Country. Today I am going to feature an artist that has been on the scene for several years now and is moving the country sound back to traditional country with a touch of rock and roll. Like Dwight, Chris Stapleton is a singer/songwriter and his much of his music comes from life experiences. Enjoy.

Aww…some Monday

The weather here in Northwest Arkansas has been cold then warm, wet, then dry, sunny then cloudy. Covid protocol still has limited seating at high school sporting events and several of our friends have tested positive, so we have stayed very close to home since Christmas. Soo….a lot of my photos may be coming from my phone. Since I am looking at upgrading my phone, I have copied all of the photos on my phone onto my computer. Now I am reviewing those images and choosing a few to share with you here on Aww Monday or possibly Wordless Wednesday.

The good news is, while you are reading this I will soon be getting my second Covid-19 vaccination, the Pfizer version. I am looking forward to feeling a little more at ease about being in public places were the crowds are a little larger.

Happy Socks – The Journey Continues

Some of you are aware of the story behind my “Happy Socks”. For those who want to read the entire story, you will have to scroll to my three posts in March of 2020. The short version is that in October 2019 I had surgery to remove a 30 lb. soft tissue cancerous tumor from my abdomen and in December of 2019 I began radiation treatment for prostrate cancer. I am now 16 months post surgery and 12 months post radiation. Last Monday I had my lab work done and a CT Scan. Both tests showed no presence of cancer!!! To God be the glory, great things He has done.

Monday’s Music Moves Me

So this week at 4M is free choice. As some of you know, I like most genres of music but I do have a bit of a soft spot for Country music and one of the most under appreciated artists of the 90’s country music scene was Dwight Yoakam. Like all artists, there is that period of working hard to get to the top of the charts, enjoying the brief success at the pinnacle of one’s career, and then fading back into the shadows. Some are fortunate enough to gain iconic status and their careers span decades, like George Strait, Garth Brooks and Reba McIntire. I don’t know if Dwight will ever be considered an icon by main stream country music fans but he has been putting out great music for over forty years. Personally, I consider him to be king of the broken heart, with songs like “It Only Hurts When I Cry”, Pocket of a Clown, and “Things Change.” He is also the king of Hillbilly Rock with tunes such as, “Guitars and Cadillacs” and “Honky Tonk Man”. So Today I am going to post a couple of his classics and a couple of his more recent efforts. Enjoy and have a blessed week.

Phone Photo

Okay, okay…so I took a break in January. I usually take a little time away from blogging after the Christmas Music Marathon but this year I have been a little slow in returning to the fray.

Recently I have been considering upgrading my phone. I have a Samsung Galaxy S7 Active and I must say, “It has been bulletproof.” It makes calls quickly, has a good speaker phone option, and it actually takes very good photos, like the one above, of Lucy. Still, the battery life is a little shorter than I like and some of the apps are a little slow. I have had the phone for a little over 4 years so I qualify for an upgrade without any penalty. I began my cell phone journey with a Motorola flip-phone. I migrated to a Blackberry, then an IPhone and about eight years ago I switched to an android phone with the Samsung Galaxy S4. I don’t have any problems with an IPhone, I just decided to try the android and I liked it. So now my choice is IPhone 12 or Galaxy S21-5G. Which would you choose? I know the world runs on Apple and I have and IPad mini and an IPad 10″ screen but I don’t know if there is any advantage to adding an IPhone to the stable since I have not had an occasion to need all of my devices synced. Your suggestions are welcome.

Back on the Hardwood

And that’s a wrap for season 11 of Christmas Music Marathon. I hope you enjoyed your visit and I was able to bring a little focus to the season. Thanks for stopping by and as we say in this part of the country, “Don’t be a stranger.”

Not Quite Wordless Wednesday

The bear has been with me for over thirty years and the rocking chair is over seventy years old. When we moved to Texas, in 1984, I got an apartment while my wife and daughter stayed in Tulsa to sell the house and finish out the school year. My wife bought the bear for me and we named him Boomer. He’s been under the tree every year since he came into the family. The rocking chair is from my childhood. I refinished it several years ago and it stays in the living room year ’round.

Boomer and I are Sooner fans and we would really like another National Championship cap. Maybe next year.

2020 Christmas Music Marathon – Day 27

If one looks close enough, Christ can be found in the Old Testament. Isaiah 9:6 declares, “For unto us a Child is born, unto us a Son is given…” Later, Isaiah 55:6 instructs the reader to seek the Lord while He may be found and call on the Lord while He is near. Jeremiah 29:5 tells us that the Messiah will come from the lineage of David and Matthew 1:1-17 gives us the lineage of Christ that travels through king David. Micah 5:2 reveals the birthplace of the Messiah seven hundred years prior to the event. While we celebrate Christmas annually, scripture says that everyday is made by the Lord and is reason to rejoice (Psalm 118:24). Merry Christmas.

There was much baking going on in Santa’s Kitchen South this past week-end. Our daughter and two of the three grand daughters spent Friday afternoon and Saturday morning preparing goodies for friends and neighbors. The results were spectacular.

Those are red velvet cookies to the right and not pictured are cinnamon roll cookies, which are amazing. Santa was definitely pleased with the effort.

All of our shopping was done prior to this past week-end and all of the gifts have been wrapped. Now is time to sit back and enjoy the remainder of the Holiday season. Mary and Joseph were not so fortunate. The birth of a baby brings all sorts of new activities into a household. There is feeding, bathing, and meeting every need of a newborn. We don’t know how long it took for the three wise men to see Christ, but we know that they did not arrive on the same night as the shepherds. After they had worshiped the Savior and departed, Joseph and Mary were advised to flee Israel and go to Egypt. Herod had already formed a plan to destroy this “King of the Jews” and an angel warned the parents and told them to leave the area. The salvation of mankind is but a mere infant and evil is already seeking to destroy Him. Evil still seeks to destroy the ministry of the Holy Spirit by convincing men that they are not worthy of salvation or that salvation is not necessary. The apostle Peter has told us that there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved. The sweetest gift ever given on Christmas was a Savior. Glory to God in the highest.