An Arkies Musings

Pooh, my parents kitten, wanted to make sure she didn't get left behind. Pooh has been staying with us while my folks have been out of town. Pooh is such a curious kitty and always into everything. Since she is often getting into things she shouldn't we have nicknamed her Naughty Kitty. Even though she might be Naughty Kitty she is very sweet. Wednesday morning started very early. The night before we had driven to Tulsa so we could catch an early flight to Denver. We got up at 4 so we could be at the airport by 5. By 7:30 we were on the ground in Denver. Gina's brother Duane picked us up at the airport and spent the day taking us down memory lane. We moved from this area 28 years ago and things have really changed. We had asked him to take us to places where we had lived and worked. Our first stop was Erie . My family moved to Erie when I was 10 years old. When I was in High School my Dad moved his business to Erie. I took over the business when he moved....

It's time again For ABC Wednesday . If you aren't participating in ABC Wednesday , you are missing out on a lot of fun. This week the letter is "I". I is for irresistible. My two granddaughters are simply irresistible. This weekend we drove 8 hours to get to spend one day with them. Friday evening we met my daughter at Camp Yorktown Bay on Lake Ouachita near Hot Springs. She had driven up from Baton Rouge with several other ladies who were going to the Pathfinder and Adventurer Leadership Training. We knew that the girls wouldn't have fun at the meetings, and we knew they would have fun at Grandma's house. We drove home in rainy nasty weather. There had been a major power outage, and we drove for 50 miles without seeing any lights. It was dark, eerie and spooky. Autumn wanted to hurry up and get to Grandma's house, so she kept urging her Grandma to drive faster. Grandma told her that she had to drive safe. Saturday morning we got the girls dre...

Today is the 8th anniversary of 9/11. We never refer to that day as September 11, it is always 9/11. In America there will never again be a September 11. 9/11 is an emotional day for many people. Most Americans can remember where they were and what they were doing when they heard the awful news that airplanes had crashed into the World Trade Center. I was at work when Gina called me to tell me what she was seeing on TV. I turned my radio on, and listened all day as the news reports came in. I think that most people wonder why God allowed something so terrible to happen. Last year on 9/11 the suffering that people endure in this sinful world was really brought to my attention. So many different situations were brought to my attention on 9/11. We got a call from Adam and Felicia who live in San Pedro, Belize. Felicia had been very sick, and the local doctors had not been able to find out what was wrong. They were traveling to Chetumal, Mexico to see a doctor there. Felicia was...

It seems that I missed my anniversary. No it wasn't my wedding anniversary, although I almost missed that milestone this year. We were just about too busy to have an anniversary. The anniversary that I missed was my blogging anniversary. My very first post was on September 6, 2008. Since then I have made 180 posts. Since very few people read my first post I thought I would repost it here. SHELTER FROM THE STORM Labor Day weekend my wife and I spent visiting our daughter in Baton Rouge. We had a wonderful time with our granddaughters. Unfortunately we had to cut our visit short because of Hurricane Gustav. As we made plans for the trip we were keeping an eye on the weather reports. At first it looked like we would be fine if we left Monday morning, but Gustav sped up, and we had to leave Sunday morning instead. As we made our way home we were caught up in heavy traffic as 2 million people were evacuating South Louisiana. Why were so many people leaving? Today with satellites a...

Character assassination is an attempt to tarnish a person's reputation. It may involve exaggeration or manipulation of facts to present an untrue picture of the person. Such acts are often difficult to reverse or rectify, and the process is likened to a literal assassination. The damage can last a lifetime or, for historical figures, for many centuries after their death. In practice, character assassination may involve double speak, spreading of rumors, innuendo or deliberate misinformation on topics relating to the subject's morals, integrity, and reputation. It may involve spinning information that is technically true, but that is presented in a misleading manner or is presented without the necessary context. It seems like character assassination has become commonplace. Politics seems like nothing but character assassination. Each political candidate or pundit tries to smear the opposing side. In Leviticus 19:16 God tells his people “Do not spread slanderous gossip among y...

Thursday night Gina and I went to the Polk County Fair. In a small community like Mena, the County Fair is one of the highlights of the year. Everybody attends the fair. The kids are all excited for the carnival to come to town. There are animals, exhibits, booths rides and lots of fun. We enjoy looking at the exhibits from the local schools. We used to know lots of kids here in town and would look for their exhibits. Now we are getting so old that we don't know many kids, but we enjoy looking at everything; the flowers, the vegetables, the quilts, the photography. One of our favorite things to do is go to the animal barn. The kids work so hard at displaying their animals. We got a kick out of watching kids out beside the barn working on their roping skills. While we were there they were judging the sheep. I had to laugh because the judging was running late because the judge got lost on his way to the fair. Gina made lots of friends with the animals. It is nice to see...