Page 4A, The Journal, Buena Vista, GA, Wednesday, May 17, 2017
OPINION
Adventures in Lawn Care
For More Political Cartoons visit www.tjournal.com.
My Advice: Twice Is Just As Nice
Nothing is more important to
a blissful marriage than finding
a point of agreement. Every veteran husband knows if he wants
to change his wife’s mind about
anything, just agree with her. It
is amazing how this works. The
technical name for this is “rewife psychology.”
Only one area where we disagree and there may not be
much of a remedy for this departure in company.
Never fear. Our marital dissolution is not near.
Where my wife and I disagree
concerns reruns. She hates reruns and I love them. If I enjoy
a book or a movie or a television
program, I like seeing it again
and again. Not my wife. “There
are too many things I haven’t
seen yet,” she argues, “to watch
something the second time.”
Of course, there is something
to what she says. Nevertheless,
I still enjoy seeing or reading
something I like the second time
or more.
My favorite movie of all times
is “Old Yeller.” Thanks to the
invention of video, I own my
own copy of this classic and
never tire of watching it.
My wife, on the other hand,
tires of me watching it. There
is nothing quite like curling
up in my favorite chair with a
soda and a mountain of popcorn
watching “Old Yeller” on a winter’s eve.
If you have seen the movie,
you know the closing scene is
the real tearjerker. I do not want
Old Yeller to die. Every time I
watch, I cross my fingers and
hope this might be the time Old
Yeller makes it.
I do not like to be negative.
I want to be optimistic about
things and put a positive spin
on everything. One day, I am
sure, I will watch it and to my
happy surprise, Old Yeller will
make it.
I have seen it 973 times so
far and it has not changed.
Nevertheless, you never know.
Stranger things have happened.
My experience has taught me
that the really good things in life
only improve the more they are
repeated. The quality of some
things increases with age.
I know the older I get, the
better I become. (I absolutely
refuse to qualify that statement).
Although the Bible is more
than a classic, it does bear much
repeating. I have found that the
more I read the Bible the more
I get out of it. A passage that I
have read 20 times before becomes new and fresh the next
time I read it.
I cannot explain this wonderful phenomena, but it has happened to me many times.
King David understood this as
no other person in the Bible. In
one passage, he testifies to the
importance of God’s Word in
his own life. “Thy word have I
hid in mine heart, that I might
not sin against thee” (Psalms
119:11).
The Apostle Paul said this
about the Bible, “All scripture
is given by inspiration of God,
and is profitable for doctrine,
for reproof, for correction, for
instruction in righteousness:” (2
Timothy 3:16).
The Bible is a marvelous book
that bears repeating. The more I
read it, the more I enjoy it.
Dr. James L. Snyder is pastor
of the Family of God Fellowship, 1471 Pine Road, Ocala,
FL 34472. He lives with the
Gracious Mistress of the Parsonage in Silver Springs Shores.
Call him at 352-687-4240 or
e-mail [email protected].
Mary’s Friend, Sharon (Part One)
I have a friend who finished
high school (in Marion Co.) a
couple years after me. He’s a
writer. He loves to write short
stories about characters in the
Bible. He heard a song sung
by Faith Hill called “A Baby
Changes Everything” and it inspired him to write this short
story. He has given me permission to use it. It will be a twoparter.
By Donnie Powell
Some time after the Angel told
Mary she was to be the Mother of Jesus (Luke 1:28), she
innocently told her four closest friends. To her shock, three
laughed and said nobody would
believe such a wild story, especially Joseph. The three former
friends left laughing to spread
the gossip that Mary was pregnant. The pain of the ridicule
and the sudden realization that
Joseph would not marry her, hit
her hard and she cried – she felt
so alone.
Then her fourth friend, Sharon, spoke as she knelt at
Mary’s feet, saying I believe
you, you are indeed blessed and
will be the Mother of the Messiah. I will stay with you – and
as Ruth of old said, wither you
goest I will go. They hugged
and cried – then Sharon said,
let’s go to Joseph so you can
tell him before the gossips do.
And they took off running and
got to Joseph just ahead of the
tongue-wagers. As expected,
Joseph told Mary he could not
marry her and raise another
man’s Son, but he would put her
away quietly.
Mary and Sharon cried all the
way to Mary’s home and told
her parents the news. Mom and
dad were stunned. Their fleeting
thoughts – not their Mary – oh,
the shame, the shunning and
the behind-the-back comments
– were replaced by long hugs,
tears and pledges of standing
by her. They discussed practical
matters – whether to move to
another town or not, and so on.
Then Sharon said, the prophet Micah (5:2) said “the Ruler
would be born in Bethlehem,
so somehow we must go there
– with or without Joseph.” Further discussion followed and
the darkness drew near, Mary
asked Sharon to stay overnight
with her. Sharon went home to
get some extra clothes and then
came running back, shouting,
“Have you heard that Caesar has
said all the world is to be taxed
with the men returning to their
ancestral home town? Joseph
will have to go to Bethlehem!
And if God has worked that out
I think Joseph will change his
mind. So let’s start planning our
trip. Oh, just in case I will spend
time with the mid-wife so I will
know what to do if the Baby
comes early”. (And in the following weeks she did just that).
Next morning, before the sun
was up, there was a heavy, insistent pounding on the door.
Joseph burst in and fell on his
knees at Mary’s feet saying
an angel had come to him in a
dream telling that Mary was innocent. He asked if she would
still marry him and he would be
glad, honored to be the earthly
father to her Son.
Stay tuned for the second part
next week! ‘Til next time’
As I was completing a
grass-mowing task last weekend, I mentally reviewed the
many lawn mowers that I had
used. The memories of some
of my jobs of mowing grass
are laughable. I do not recall
my ever having to mow grass
in Tazewell. I guess mother
thought I was too young.
When we moved to Buena
Vista in 1962, the mowing began. When mother purchased
the Jim Hogg house, it was filled
with never completed jobs. As I
recall, Mr. Everett O’Hearn rewired the house from only two
exposed outlets and few bulbs
hanging from the walls. She discovered rolls of wallpaper that
had not been hung, but were a
feast for bugs. Mother did most
of the painting and hung fashionable burlap from New York.
In the breakfast room and kitchen and my upstairs bedroom,
she wheat-pasted opened burlap
bags from Mr. Jimmy Lowe’s
warehouse. She trimmed the
seams with dried bamboo that
grew next door.
While mother worked, I
moved the front lawn and back
lawn with a push mower. Mr.
Tom Perry needed grass mowing on his expansive site. Remember, we had no self-propelled or riding mowers back in
the 1960s. I do recall a mower
with a turn crank on top with
a spring release to start the engine. You had high hopes that
Mulkey
McMichael
Guest
Columnist
the first coiling would start the
mower. Rarely did that happen!
I recall that Mr. Tom paid
me about $3 for that expansive
yard. It was pretty grass, but Mr.
Tom and Miss Mary wanted it
to be well done. Their son, my
current boss, Stuart, must have
learned the pay scale from his
dad. I love my job at Perry Wellness Center. It is a great and
growing place to help others!
While I was sweating and
earning $3 at the Perry house,
mother hired Willy King to
mow her front and back yards.
Most of our yard and house is
covered by shade trees. One
summer, Willie got tired and hot
and found a screwdriver to adjust the carburetor. The mower
died and mother came and got
me to take that mower to Mr.
Lanier Cook at The Western
Auto. Mr. Lanier laughed at
the motor knowledge of Willie
King.
After college, I came home
and learned of self-propelled
mowers. That was a great discovery. In later years, the riding
mower was introduced on the
scene and I have worn out sev-
eral of them! My last Husquavarna riding mower was burned
in my shed fire. The insurance
paid part of the replacement of
many of my lost tools.
Last year, after long viewing of the zero turn mowers, a
steering wheel model was introduced. I was scared of the early
model of that mower as I had
doubts of my reaction with that
side-to-side, forward push, pull
back motion. Most of my mowing is in areas where shrubs and
flowers are planted.
I have learned that with all
mowers, you still need a weed
eater to complete the job. When
I cut the diseased pines in Tazewell, Marshall Fontaine convinced me to purchase a zero
turn. The space is open and the
mowing width of the zero turn
does complete the job in a shorter time. I still wonder about the
timesavings with such a quick
turn-around motion.
I loved yard work and improving “curb appeal.” I guess this
is a “Type A” creative curse. It
may be my mental illness. Nevertheless, grass mowing is great
therapy!
However, that completed job
seems to look good for only a
matter of minutes. Soon, the
grass will be growing again!
We need rain to live and the potential for drought is not good
for farmers. But, I yearn in late
summer for the grass to grow
slower. Happy cutting!
TV can be an effective teacher
A mother was reading a book
about animals to her toddler and
was amazed at her mastery of
the sounds they made.
“What does the cow say?” the
mother asked.
“Moo,” came the response.
“And what does the cat say?”
“Meow,” the toddler replied.
“OK,” said the mother. “Since
you’re so smart, what does the
frog say?”
“Bud, Weis, Er,” the toddler
said without missing a beat.
It’s amazing what kids can
pick up from watching television, both good and bad. That’s
why we need to be selective in
what we allow them to watch.
The Bible provides an excellent
guide to what kind of TV programs should be on the watch
list.
“Whatever is true, whatever
is honorable, whatever is just,
whatever is pure, whatever is
lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence,
if there is anything worthy of
praise, think about these things”
(Philippians 4:8).
I have always loved the story about the father who had a
rule that his teenage daughters
didn’t get to watch movies with
vulgarity or obscenity in them.
Then came the day that the
girls went to their father to lay
out their case for watching an
R-rated movie. They assured
him “it only had a little bit of
obscenity in it.”
The girls explained that the
movie had pros and cons. The
pros were that it was a blockbuster that everyone was going
to see. It had a great storyline
with adventure and suspense.
Lots of people from church had
already seen the movie and it
had gotten rave reviews.
We learn a lot from what
we watch, whether as toddlers or teens or towering
adults.
Since the pros outnumbered
the cons, they wanted their father to give his permission.
The father asked his daughters
to allow him a couple hours to
give them his decision. When
they came back, they found him
sitting on the couch with a big
plate of chocolate brownies on
the coffee table. He told them
if they would eat one of the
brownie’s he’d let them watch
the movie.
Before allowing them to dig
in, this father said the brownies
came with pros and cons. He
gave a mouth-watering description of the brownies – how they
were moist, made with the finest
chocolate and coated with a delicious fudge frosting.
However, he told the girls, he
had added a special ingredient –
dog doo. He assured them that
it was only “a little bit” of dog
doo mixed in with the other ingredients, and that it would be
fine to eat.
Needless to say, his daughters got the message. “A little
bit” of dog doo fouled the entire
batch of brownies. So, the girls
surmised through that unsavory
object lesson, “a little bit” of
obscenity fouls an entire movie.
We learn a lot from what we
watch, whether as toddlers or
teens or towering adults. Perhaps we should be a bit more
discriminating in our viewing
habits.
Roger Alford offers words of
encouragement to residents of
America’s heartland. Reach him
at [email protected].
The Journal
Formerly The Tri-County Journal & Chattahoochee Chronicle
Legal Organ of Marion, Schley & Chattahoochee Counties
PO Box 850 (71 Webb Lane), Buena Vista, GA 31803
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email: [email protected]
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Staff Members
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Kaye Queen, Joe Pollock, Melanie Rigsby
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