#ThursdayTreeLove

I have long enjoyed viewing posts in the bi-monthly Thursday Tree Love blog hop hosted by Parul at Happiness and Food.  For almost as long, I've thought I should jump in with some shots of our wonderful assortment of trees here in Caneyhead.  Well, today I have finally made it!  

This is a view looking up through the boughs of our sweetgum tree into the blue Texas sky.  Over half of the leaves have fallen already for autumn.  A little over half of those left are golden brown in the late afternoon sun.  The rest cling to green, like our Southeast Texas days cling to highs in the 80's.

I have had a fondness for sweetgums since my childhood.  I liked the velvety softness of their star shaped leaves.  The rich, cool shade they give in summer.  The way their bark peels and curls up to reveal a surface smooth as stone.  Many happy days playing in the deep San Augustine grass under a towering sweetgum in the backyard of the old rent house on Cooks Road.

Please join in and enjoy the other trees featured in this weeks edition of #ThursdayTreeLove.

#SoCS: Hush!

Hush!  I said Hush, Sam!  Hush!.......Good boy!

Hush!  Use your quiet voice or you will wake the baby!

Hush!  Okay, just hush!  I don't want to hear another word about it!  You know what?  Just go to your room.

                                                -----------------------------------------------

So, this is a little game.  Can you figure put to whom I am speaking in each of the three separate instances?

#ISawItOnFacebook

It amazes me how people act like manners do not matter when it comes to cell phones.  Much too often, they will look at them, tap them, type into them and swipe them off and on, or even continually, while you try to converse with them. 

There are other places and ways simple courtesy seems to have broken down.  Like a couple of weeks ago at the tire shop.  I had some work done.  Headed down the road afterward.  Realized something wasn't working right and went back to complain/inquire.  The young man actually rolled his eyes and looked off to the left when he realized what the subject was!  I called him down on it.  I said, "Excuse me, but I'm trying to tell you something and you need to look at me when I am speaking to you." 

Well, it did get looked at and someone did answer my questions, but it's just an example of the kind of lapse in geniality (and in this case customer service) that Maxine's cartoon brings to mind.

#SoCS: Arm

I read the word "arm" and a song begins in my head, "walking my Baby back home."  My mind's eye sees a gent walking down a street with a lady on his arm.  Flashes of old black and white romantic comedies start to play. Shy guys, full gowns, starry nights, convertibles, sweeping staircases, big bands.

Catching one on the late night or Saturday afternoon movie.  Mother humming along with the songs, visibly enjoining reminiscing. Snippets of tales from her era.  Then how she met daddy.  

Oh, she's not here any more.  Long gone from this world.   In her arms was all comfort.  Everything soft, loving and warm you can imagine.  Daddy comes into view.  His arms meant strength and protection.  Yet, somehow they empowered me.  Daddy never let me hide in them, but rather used them to support me as I tried new things and went  new places.

My mind's stroll ends with images to keep misty tears at bay:  a grandmother kneeling to wrap up grandchildren in an embrace,  chicks scurrying under a hen, a man grabbing a child and lifting them up, spinning and smiling.  Then, the face of Jesus.  And we are home.

#SoCS: Shortcut

Here I am, stinking my toe into the Stream of Consciousness Saturday.

My first thought upon hearing the word "shortcut" is skimping; not doing something the way it should be done.  Taking chances that risk loss or harm.  Why does my mind go there first?  Likely because I have lived in a blue collar world were these type of short cuts cause harm most often.

As to the "short cut" that gets a person from one point to another in less time, those can be quite handy.  I have a few I take from time to time when out driving, but what excites me the most is not a shortcut, but a back road.

One can slow down on a back road.  Take in scenery, find the quaint, the unusual.  Mom and Pop instead of chains.  There is no extra signage on a back road to block the view.  There is a feeling of adventure and discovery on these blacktop or dirt ribbons.  A calm settling rather than a hurried frenzy.

Go ahead and take your short cut, and I'll take the back road.  You'll be there before me, but I'll arrive more satisfied.

Barbara