Our newspaper , to my knowledge, has never won a Pulitzer for news reporting and I fear that each day it gets further away from that prize.  The highlight of each week is its Wednesday food report.  They normally include something on the order of ” 12 ways to incorporate the rutabaga into Tex-Mex cooking”.  Despite this vast wasteland of news reporting I continue to read from cover to cover hoping to glean some tidbit that tickles my fancy.  Today the handed me that tidbit.

It has been reported, by someone else, that the little twerp who runs Korea just had 5 high level leaders killed for “enraging” him.  Enraging?  Whoa there Joe Bob.  I need some clarification.  What are the levels of enragement and what punishments do each carry? Mildly pissed=10 years at hard labor.  Miffed= your family joins you at the labor camp? mad as hell=two of your children are confiscated by the state? Enraged=killed.  Just a couple of weeks ago his half-brother was killed in Australia, by being poisoned at the airport.  What got my attention in this situation was his method of execution.  He killed them with anti-aircraft guns.  Anti-aircraft guns are used to shoot down bombers that fly over the city in an air raid.  They go to a certain altitude and starburst in hopes of striking a flying plane.  I would not think that it would be a precisely aimed instrument.  It boggles my mind that someone would think of executing an enemy by shooting them with such a weapon.  This is “pull the wings off a butterfly” type stuff.  His penchant for such stuff should have cropped up at an early age and should have been dealt with by that older half-brother that just got killed.

I know that killing someone is one of the “shalt nots” but hopefully the good Lord will ring up Donald and give him the okay to send that boy forward.  He is just not worth keeping around.  He is waiting on an opportunity to do something flashy and I really fear that our country is at the head of the list of places he wants to inconvenience.

GC

I am really quite fortunate in that I have few really severe health problems.  I have diabetes, which is the most serious ailment, and then some aches and pains type problems.  For a person who has been overweight for many years I consider myself very lucky not to have already departed to a better place,  but no, I am still running around.  I rarely think of my age because I feel many years younger than my age.  I remain inquisitive, and I am as active as I can be.  I think the lord on a regular basis for my good fortune.

My first notice on Facebook this morning was a notice concerning the death of our fellow classmate, Bill Wigley.  Although he did not live in Pecos for long, he was one who I considered a friend.  Bill was very intelligent and finished very high in the class rankings at graduation.  After leaving for college it is my information that he attained a master’s degree and spent much of his professional life in China, the far East and south America. I wish I had reconnected with him sooner and knew more about his life.

It bums me out when I find that one of us has succumbed.  It makes me realize that life is fragile and we should all be living life to its fullest everyday.  I think about mortality.  I wish I didn’t do that.

Gary

I just finished watching the inauguration and the new president’s speech.  The tone of the speech is the one that I think the people of America are truly seeking.  I think we as a country are looking for a path that will lead us back to the position of a truly great nation.

We, as a nation, are youngsters in history.  250 years will pretty well cover the life span of the USA.  We have been lucky to create the country that we have in such a short period of time.  We have been winners from the beginning and I guess we have gotten too used to being in that position and have some difficulty in accepting the fact that we are no longer in the position that we achieved in world power.  Dont get me wrong, we are still a nation that many would give much to be a real citizen of, however, some of the bright shine has tarnished.  I think the one thing that President Trump has promised is the return of our country to that position.  Many of us are not sure how he will accomplish that but all of us hope it can be done.

I would like nothing better than to think that our representatives in our state capitals and in our nation’s capital were truly there to take care of the business of the people. For too long I think all of us have known otherwise but were without the leadership that we felt would allow a change to be made.  Maybe, just maybe, a new era has begun.  We can hope so, we can pray that it is, and we can wait and see.  We can also allow the new President a chance to start a movement towards the people again being in charge of our own affairs.  A really good way to show our support is to not get caught up in protests movements.  The division of our people is the best way for our detractors to think they can undermine what we have accomplished.  Lets not allow that to happen.

Gary

Today, while making my daily grocery store run I decided I probably ought to purchase a new supply of toilet paper.  Our maid uses one roll per day.  Why, No idea.  However, I suddenly noticed that much of the wordage on the packaging was devoted to extolling the virtue of “ripples”.  I pride myself in my examination of such strange questions and thought that I had not given enough thought to this particular problem or virtue.  Do ripples really matter?  Plant leafs were the preferred product for several millennium and they are mostly slick as road ice, depending on which side of the leaf that is used.  I suddenly remembered that one brand of the product is represented by a family of blue bears who claim that the brand they represent leaves less paper residue on the back side of the small bears.  They even show the momma bear examining the baby bears for evidence of paper residue.  Is paper residue that big a problem that it should be a major portion of a company’s ad campaign?  I can only assume that each of these companies has been contacted by more than one retail purchaser and advised that these virtues are necessary for their product to be continued to be purchased.  I chide myself for not being one of those people who first reported the problem.

I guess I take a somewhat cavalier approach to many of the products I purchase.  If I buy ice cream bars I assume they are at the coldest possible temperature.  If I buy liquor I assume that it will make you drunk as a skunk if that is the reason you purchased such a product.  There is no need for the manufacturers to print on the side of the box that I am about to purchase the coldest ice cream bar known to the industry.  I can pretty much tell from the first drink of Everclear that things could go badly if this product is not properly used.  I don’t actually have to seek out the percentage of alcohol in the product.

I know that several of my readers will sigh and think that maybe ghomer ought to try to find other things to occupy his time.  However, somebody has to think about things like this and I have been chosen to be the one.  I don’t plan on trying to change the ad business, I simply want to be attentive to their ploy to get us to buy their product.  We aren’t going back to using castor bean leaves so it really doesn’t matter whether the one company has ripples or the other prevents bear butt lint.  Does it?

Chuy

Damn, this year has flashed by.  I don’t know whether it is because of my age or if there were just so many things happening.  Even with much less to do from a business standpoint the week just seems to go from Monday to Saturday with no in between.

I am not a big fan of the Christmas holidays.  For all the known reasons.  Too much greed by all of us and I get tired of seeing people scramble for things to give each other that neither really needs anyway.  The shirts one gets don’t usually fit, either in sizing or color scheme, the undies you give your wife are never the kind she likes, only the kind you secretly wish she wore.  For these reasons alone I feel we ought to go back to giving each other a dish prepared in our kitchen.  My daughter always make fudge.  Someone could give me a lemon or chocolate meringue pie and I would be a happy little elf.  We usually buy the things we really need or want and Amazon.com has made it so much easier to get those things almost instantaneously.  I swear, some of the things I order must be shipped from the house across the street.  There are just so many more options and products for us to think we need or want.

As we age it seems that the day after Christmas is so much less fun.  As a child we had days to play with our new toys and other gifts.  I once received a Daisy Pump bb gun.  I can’t begin to imagine how many shots I made with that gun.  Same thing with a recurve bow Santa brought me one year.  One year I received a chemistry set.  You could make some things with it that smelled like the worst dose of methane gas that ever came out of a bovine.  I loved that experiment.  I was a bit disappointed that I could not make anything that exploded.  However, my parents and neighbors were probably something beyond simply relieved that such an experiment was not available to me.

My family likes to ride around in the car and look at other peoples’ house decorations.  I made a number of characters to put up in the yard.  they were stolen one night a few years ago.  Made me extremely stressed and I kinda lost the spirit.  My only thought was how glad I was that I used lead based paint to color the candy canes and elves.  That will be a gift that keeps on giving and the thieves will never know what is making their hair fall out.

Visits by relatives are fun.  I can remember times when out of town guests and relatives made the season.  Everyone in the family tried to outdo themselves in fixing everyone’s favorite holiday treat.  Made for some delicious meals.  My grandmother made the best pinto beans with noodles.  I know, sounds terrible , but , it did eat good.  Cakes , yep. My grandmother also made a candy called date loaf.  At that time in life I wouldnt eat a date on a bet but i could eat a log of that candy.  I may try to find a recipe and make some.

I hope each of you finds something to be thankful for during this season.  I am thankful for having known each and every one of the people I have met in my life, some more than others, but thankful still.  I will say a little prayer that we all make it one more year and that it be a year where we stay healthy and happy.  One friend needs to be way more careful in her driving.  She knows who she is.

Love all of you

Gary

Things have certainly taken a turn for the worst lately.  Yesterday a person drove a vehicle up on the curb, intent on killing folks, and then jumped out and using a butcher knife, wounded 9 and killed one.  He was justifiably killed shortly thereafter.  ISIS naturally claimed responsibility for the incident.  They can’t be trying to kill us off one at a time cause at this rate it will take them approximately 958,000 years to get the job done.  They have to have in mind making us afraid to carry on our daily lives and activities.  They have to be intent on disrupting us.  I can see no other reason for a small organization, hitting in commando type strikes, thinking they can accomplish their agenda.

We have allowed ourselves to be told that we can’t make judgement about individuals based on their looks, ideology, or religious affiliation.  We can’t make judgement based on generalities .  We must have an open mind about our fellow-man.  Our fellow-man is aware of this and is using it to make us more vulnerable to outside influences.  You simply cannot detail your home alarm system on the internet and expect not to be burglarized.  We need to change our attitude about those around us.  We need to use every tool in our tool chest to make our country safe again.  We simply need to be more aware.  Aware of those around us, the things they do that are different , and keep our minds on the end result of being cautious.

Gary

The recent presidential election was a study in how to win with little or no voter confidence.  Most of us voted with a prayer on our lips and hope in our heart.  One camp wanted political change at any cost and the other camp wanted to ride an ole horse across the finish line to nirvana.  We now have 4 years to learn who won and who didn’t win.  I can already tell you that the American people were the losers in the presidential election of 2016.

There are many who feel that the electoral college needs to be repealed and that our election should depend entirely upon the will of the popular vote.  Under this approach there are 6 states that could have elected the president in our recent election.  The population of these six states are more than the number of voters that voted.  Do we set up a system that has the potential to disenfranchise most of the nation?  I think not.  If your candidate lost the election, don’t waste time in trying to change a system that has worked since the formation of our nation, try to come up with a candidate that will appeal to more of the electorate.  Try to come up with platform planks that will appeal to all of our country.  Both parties need to start running a campaign on issues, not one that calls the opposition out for their shortcomings.  One might say, ” I am going to put 12 million young people to work, building infrastructure.  The other says ” I am going to put 13 million people to work building bridges and repairing potholes and I am going to do it cheaper”.  Let us decide who can do it and who can’t.  Despite what the elected representatives think, we the people, who they represent, are not idiots.  I, for one, can use the brain that I was graced with.  In fact, boasting, I may be better able to determine what is best for me.

We, as a nation, needs to take a hard look at ourselves.  We need to quit giving so much thought to what other nations think is best for us.  Our nation was founded on the principal that citizens had certain rights and freedoms.  These rights and freedoms were based on what the majority of citizens felt were in the best interest of our country.  Some of these rights and freedoms have been eroded in an attempt by a few vocal dissidents to weaken our nation.  We have spent too much time trying not to hurt the feelings of some small minorities, sometimes at the expense of the rest of our people.  Our representatives need to take a very good look at how they have voted on legislation.  Are they enacting laws that are the ones that keep our country on the path that our forefathers envisioned?  If not then they have until the end of their current term to make amends.

Gary

At our church there have traditionally been a couple of ladies who prepared deviled eggs for any and all gatherings.  No one makes them as well as these ladies.  End of discussion.  Unfortunately, they have gotten to the point of not being able to perform their appointed duties any longer.  Amateurs have taken their place.  Not to be critical but some people can make deviled eggs and others try to make them.  I am one of those who try.  I know my shortcomings.

Even when you are eating deviled eggs made by the second string you look longingly at the salad end of the buffet line to see how many deviled eggs have been made for the occasion.  It is gut wrenching to get to that position in the buffet line and find that the DE’s are gone.  What?  There were several plates of 24 eggs per plate.  How did this happen?  Who did this?  You look out at the sea of parishioners and you sight the culprits.  There are several people sitting there with 6 deviled eggs on their plate.  6 of those yellow eyed bundles of goodness.  Is Molly Manners on the floor in a dead faint over the breach of etiquette by the egg hogs?  Even though we are in a house of worship do not expect divine intervention and the feeding of the multitudes in connection with the deviled eggs.  It aint gonna happen.  Gone means wait until next time Leroy.

Chuy (deviled egg lover) Cowan

The election is over.  I don’t know who most of my friends voted for and for the most part I don’t care.  I hope you all voted.  I have read several things about people in other countries being upset and thinking that the USA has collectively lost our minds.  This is my open letter to them and to others who think that same thought.

Donald Trump is not America.  The people who voted for both of the candidates are America.  The election of Trump was a signal to those people who have run our country ,for way too long, that changes are wanted.  We need something done about our health care system.  We need new infrastructure, we need to bolster our military and we need to regain the respect, if not fear, from nations that have lost their respect for our country.  Our system of government insures that no individual or small group can long run our country without the approval of the people.  November 8th was our signal to those people that our approval has been withdrawn.  I have no illusions that the new President elect can get all our problems corrected in a short 4 year term.  What I hope is that he starts a movement towards getting our country back to the position of being able to produce another “greatest generation”.

I have always failed to pay much attention to what happens in Washington DC.  I have promised myself that I will no longer do that.  I have been told that one of my talents is my ability to write.  I am going to accept that and plan on using that talent to make my thoughts and feelings known to the people who I have helped elect.

My advise to those who have some doubts as to how the USA will survive now that Trump has been elected is that we will do just fine.  Dont lose hope, don’t think for a minute that this country is on the way to perdition.  It’s the folks who attend church on Sunday mornings, go to work on Monday mornings, help their fellow-man and love each other who make up this country.  When push comes to shove, make damned sure you are not in way of the shove.  Several times in history countries have decided that our country was one that could be taken advantage of because of some perceived idea that we were weak.  What they didnt understand was that the country was its people not its leaders.

Gary

I just watched a show on television, for the 4th time, which chronicled a trek made by a man and a young women.  They were trying to determine the range of the Redwood tree.  They started in the redwood forests of California and trudged north until they found the last redwood tree growing North of their starting point.  It was a few miles inside the border of Oregon.  It was an amazing trek and I can only be jealous of their trip.  They walked the entire way and camped out during their trip.  The ultimate camping trip.  They were treated to some wonders that many of us can only dream about.  The man is a veteran trekker who has trekked across Africa.  He stated that walking thru the redwoods was a more fulfilling trek.

I love the giant trees.  Both the redwood and the sequoia.  The difference between the two are as follows.  The redwood is tall and slender and the sequoia is tall and full-bodied.  I am kinda like a sequoia. They are so magnificent that they create their own weather and water.  The fogs of the western coast produce all the water these wonderful plants need.  To some degree they are impervious to fire and in some cases actually need forests fires to cause their seeding process to begin.  Truly one of God’s greatest creations.

Dorothy and I made a trip last year to Yosemite and  Sequoia parks in California.  I have never been to a more serene place as the one that I sat in among the giant Sequoia.  I am positive that I could hear God’s heart beat and feel the wind from angels’ fluttering wings.  It was a renewal on my being.  As humans, we get clogged up with the things that beset us during our everyday lives.  We hear the nightly news, the political banter ( lies mostly) and the warnings that life is not as it used to be and will never be again.  Internally I feel rusty from my daily exposure to life as we know it.  Being one of the first humans to see these trees and the country they live in would have been a pure present from our maker.

Many such places that we have in our country are slowly being overrun by our need to see such serenity.  For that I am sorry but hope they never forbid us a chance to actually replenish the contents of our mental gas tank.  I hope we realize that we need to support the cost of keeping these places available.  We need Yosemite, Sequoia, Big Bend Park and all the other places that take your breath away when you first arrive. Its kinda like the old ” Out with the bad, in with the good”.  A deep breath in a clearing surrounded by trees that were big trees when Jesus was born gives you a fresh breath of life and should be enjoyed by all.

Chuy