Archive by Author

No More Pizza Please

5 Sep

 

A Slice of Life

Bill Lites

My parents had many hopes and dreams for my sister and me, and tried to give us every advantage they could, so we could realize those dreams.  One way they tried to help me, was to set aside a small scholarship fund when I was born, to help pay for my college education (their dream for me).

I had always wanted to be a mechanic.  My plan was to send money home to my wife every month while I was in the Navy so we would have enough saved to last until she and I were able to find jobs after I got out.  She was a licensed beautician in New Mexico and I planned to work part-time while I went to school.

After I got out of the Navy, my wife and I moved to Inglewood, California for me to go to Aviation Mechanic School.  The problem was, I didn’t really know how the job market worked, so, when I talked to the  school registrar, he convinced me that I didn’t really want to be a mechanic, but an engineer.  Looking back on it, I’m sure he got extra points for every person he signed up for the three-year engineering course over the one-year mechanics course.

When I insisted I wanted to be a mechanic, he said, “Well, okay, we have the perfect course for you, it will give you a Mechanical Engineering degree and an Aviation Mechanics license”. I think I bought into that mainly because he told me how much more money I would be making as an engineer and, it would also make my parents happy,

All of that was great, but the next class startup for that course was two months away, so we started looking for work.  That’s when we discovered that my wife’s New Mexico license wouldn’t be accepted in California and she would have to take the California State test.  We lived it up while the money lasted, but then things started getting really tight.  We had to stop driving the car and go everywhere we could on my 1955 Harley Davidson motorcycle.

Finally, in desperation, a friend got us both a job packing Christmas cards, which barely paid for our rent and gas.  We were too proud to ask our parents for help, because I guess we wanted to prove to them that we were adults and could make it on our own.  There was one week during that time we were lucky the motorcycle had a full tank of gas and we didn’t have to buy any food, because I walked around all week with just one nickel in my pocket until we were paid.

At  Halloween we were told the neighborhood kids did bad “tricks” to houses and cars if they didn’t  get lots of “treats”.  We didn’t have money to buy any treats, so we rolled my motorcycle into the living room of the tiny apartment we were renting, and took the car to the drive-in movie.  Of course, we didn’t have enough money for both of us, so my wife got in the trunk.  Boy, what kids will sometimes do to avoid confrontation.

Well, somehow our parents realized we were in bad financial straits, and each family sent us a “Care Package” consisting of four boxes of Appian Way Pizza.  Those packages got to us just in the nick of time, as we had just celebrated Thanksgiving with a plate of pinto beans, no seasoning of any kind except salt.  We really enjoyed that pizza for the first week or so (two or three times a day) but then it started getting really tiresome.  We still have the “Special Offer” pizza pan that we got with all those Appian Way Pizza box tops.

Somehow, we survived until my wife’s California Beautician’s license came through, and she got a job. After that, our immediate problems were over, but that’s not to say we didn’t have a lot more life changing encounters over the eight years we spent in Inglewood, California.

Scripture: Philippians 4:19 (The Message)

 

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Mozart, Wherefore Art Thou?

3 Sep

My Take

 DiVoran Lites

One day at the bookstore, I saw a book called, Your Playlist Can Change Your Life. The subtitle: 10 proven ways your favorite music can revolutionize your health, memory, organization, alertness and more. It sounded like the all-purpose snake medicine of previous centuries. I bought the book and it’s a great book and a satisfying concept because I LOVE MUSIC, I need it. I crave it. If I don’t get it, I go searching for it.

You see, I struggle with moodiness and I’ve had a campaign for years to combat it in any way I can. My first line of defense is to read the Bible. That always lifts me. I spend time listening to the Holy Spirit and I journal every morning literally getting things off my mind. I like to walk, read, paint, write, sing and be with family and friends. One big help in my battle against the blues is to stop berating myself or in popular parlance, stop beating myself up. Yes, I cook, do laundry, etc. Everything goes better with music.

By the time I use all my little tricks, I’m ready to enjoy life, except for problems, which I’m now prepared to ignore. However, with all my playing around, one tiny corner of my life was falling apart.

It about did me in when the classical station turned into talk radio. My CD players were always breaking down from overuse. Where had all the music gone? I had almost despaired when along came an iPod and Pandora streaming radio. I know, I’m probably already old-fashioned, but I’m stopping here for a while in my drive to keep up with technology.

I placed the music from some of my favorite CDs on the iPod and I use those when I can’t listen to Pandora. However, Pandora is it for painting and writing. When I first signed up, I was allowed 100 radio stations. One Hundred?!? I’ll never want that many, but of course now I do, in fact, if I want to try a new one I have to delete one I’ve already got, and it’s hard to choose.

My current favorite is Dan Gibson Radio. Mr. Dan and his friends have forests, seas, birds, and frogs in their recording studio along with many wonderful instruments that play calm and blissful music.

Sometimes, though, if I am running on empty, I click on Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart Radio. You’ve seen, “Mozart for Baby,” CDs. You’ve read how some classical music makes the left and right brain work together. It’s all true. If I need to be revived, and energized, Mozart does the job. I also like Alexander Desplat the composer of soundtracks for, “Julie and Julia,” and, “The King’s Speech” (good, clean movies by the way).

Sometimes I like jazz and sometimes I like Jay and Molly Unger Their music makes me feel as if I’m at a dos-si-do dance wearing a fluffy dress and swinging with my partner. I dance in the kitchen, so does our friend, Patricia Franklin. Do you?

The Claude Debussy station seems to fit almost any occasion. One of the things I like best, if I’m not trying to use my brain for writing or reading is, “Amazing Grace Station,” where I can sing along to the songs in my Baptist Hymnal. Music is back in my life and I love it. Oh, don’t forget, Chet Atkins, Floyd Cramer, and all those kinds of guys. Bill and I like to listen to those together.

Colossians 3:16

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Speak Up Saturday – A Better Mouse Trap

1 Sep

Speak Up Saturday

Patricia Franklin

Patricia had been guest blogging this summer sharing her diary of the robin family. Now the robins have left the nest and a new critter is moving in….. Onisha

Well, now that the birds are raised and gone we have another critter to deal with. We have been trying to catch a mouse that has been living in our laundry room for two months. Sounds easy doesn’t it? But, we have tried everything to catch him–peanut butter, Cheetos™, honey, and a combination of these, which usually gets them right away.

Last night we set three traps — two of them with honey and Cheetos™. This morning he had those traps looking brand new, clean as a whistle, to the last drop of honey, but he did not trip the trap. We thought he was too small and light to set them off at first, but after two months of eating all that good food, we figured he ought to be big and fat enough that we could almost catch him with our hands, but he never sets off the trap.

Two years ago, our neighbor brought his trailer house down from the mountains. He said he was going to clean it up and take it to Texas. He also said it was full of mice. It was, and we have had mice ever since.

The black cat from across the street got fat on those mice. He spent a lot of time in our shed (with the broken board in the door so he could get in.) I can hear him prowling around in there at night. The cat stole the old traps that worked from the shed. He took mice, traps and all. He is a good mouser, but there are still a few mice around. Yes, he is the same one who goes after the birds, the one I put rose branches around the yard to keep out. I can’t get too mad at him, though, because I like the way he takes care of the mice.

Our laundry room guest, besides being a smart mouse, may be a “Smart Mouse” (you know like a Smart Phone – with a computer chip in there to tell him how to eat his fill without being caught.) We got a couple of new compassionate traps or whatever you call them, with sticky on the pads so you can catch them alive. Aaaghh! However, unless he is disguised as a beetle bug, we have not caught him yet.

Last month our neighbor sold his house and took his trailer to Texas, but he obviously left at least one mouse here.

Are mice now more intelligent than humans are? Is there not an engineer or inventor out there who can design a trap for a modern mouse? Or do EPA regulations forbid them to design one that can harm the little critters?

Beats me, but then, I’m not the first person to be  beaten by a mouse.

 

Leviticus 11:29

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Things I Learned Today

30 Aug

On the Porch

Onisha Ellis

We are blessed to be able to divide our time between the beautiful mountains of North Carolina and the tropical beauty and pleasant winters of Florida. On Sunday we kissed the grandchildren goodbye  and on Tuesday we hit the highway for Florida.       By the time we arrived I was pretty sure one of those sweet grandchildren had gifted me with a summer cold. So, at the moment I am miserable  but fortunately I have a nice piece of writing by Jacob Leitzinger tucked away for just such a time.

Things I Learned Today 

Jacob Leitzinger

 
Make the protein shake BEFORE the workout and store it in your fridge.
You ever try to open one of those “Protein Powder” things right after a workout? They make it seem like you need to be working out. They’re REALLY tough to open
Add the protein powder AFTER the milk. Otherwise, you get clumps.
And finally: working out is hard.

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Another Road Trip- El Paso

29 Aug

A Slice of Life

    Bill Lites

I was 17 and I was in love.  At least  I thought I was in love.  I had been going steady with Barbara for many months and we spent every minute we could  together.  We just knew we were a perfect match because our parents approved of our choices; we enjoyed each other’s company and liked the same things.  Then the worst thing we could imagine happened.  Her father’s job transferred him to El Paso, Texas and we were separated.  What were we going to do?  We had to think of something.  But what?

 

Barbara and I talked it over during many phone calls and then I got the bright idea.  With our parent’s approval, I’d ride my 1955 Harley Davidson motorcycle down there and see her.  I’d stay at their house and they would show me the sights.  It was only a 265-mile trip and I figured I could make that in about 4 or 5 hours.  So, why not, I asked my mother?  I’d been safely riding motorcycles since I was 14 and was still in one piece.  This was another one of those teenage trips that I somehow talked my parents into.

When all the details had been worked out, I headed South that Friday morning, on what was then US-85 by way of the southern New Mexico desert.  The trip took me thru the small towns of Los Lunas, Socorro, Truth or Concequences, Hatch, and Las Cruces.  After stopping for lunch and bathroom breaks, it took me longer than I had planned, but I finally made into the big city of El Paso, Texas.

It took me a while, but I finally found Barbara’s house and was welcomed  in by her whole family.  After dinner, Barbara and I took a walk around the neighborhood and she told me what she and parents had planned for the weekend.  Saturday they showed me the many sights of El Paso and then they took me across the border to Juarez, Mexico for a visit to the “Old Mexico” way of life and tourism.  That’s where they put Barbara and me in their “Old Jail” for our picture.

Sunday we all went to their church and then back to their home for a great lunch.  Then it was time for me to head for home.  After we said our good-bys, I reluctantly headed back North on US-85.  With all the excitement of the weekend and the big lunch, I began to get sleepy after a couple of hours.  The constant drumming of the motorcycle engine and whistling of the wind in my ears didn’t help matters.  I did everything I could think of to stay awake, talked to myself, sang to myself, stopped at rest areas to splash cold water on my face, all to no avail.

The next thing I knew, I woke up, on the wrong side of the road, headed for the ditch at 60 mph.  It’s a good thing it was Sunday and traffic was almost non-existent on that stretch of road or I might have ended up as road kill that day.  After I recovered, the incident had pumped enough adrenaline into me to keep me awake for the rest of the trip.  I had a hard time thanking God and my guardian angel enough for saving me from a really bad day.

Psalm 16:8

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Book Modus Operendi

27 Aug

 

My Take

DiVoran Lites

 

My mom says I was carrying books around and asking someone to read to me when I learned to walk. They have always been a major passion for me. I’ve hauled home so many books from the library that I can’t even take a count of them. My grown daughter once said, “You were a good mother, when ever we wanted to talk to you, you put your book down, and listened.” My own mother might not quite agree, many a time there was when I burned the dinner I was supposed to be watching because I “had my nose in a book.”

I always thought it would be the berries to be able to buy brand-new hardcover books from the bookstore, and I’ve allowed myself new hardcover references, because, after all, we don’t read those and then leave them on the shelves unused. That is, we didn’t until we started to look up everything under the sun on the internet and then reference tomes took a back seat. Sometimes when I walk past a bookshelf, I hear them calling, “me, me, me.”

Now I buy used hardcover books at libraries and thrift stores and if I can get large print, I do. We have a Dollar Tree in town that sells beautiful brand-new hard cover books for one dollar, so in that way a dream has come true. As for contents, I try to choose carefully, I look at the title, the cover picture and the picture of the author, I peruse the insides of the cover and the back and start reading page one. If I feel compelled to turn the page, I buy the book. But even then only some turn out to be good reads. Sometimes I drag through one, barely enjoying it, and at other times I give up.

After I’m through with a novel, I give it away, either to someone I think will like it or as a donation to the library. I don’t know whether they incorporate it into the stacks or not, sometimes I see my cast-offs in a book sale.

My friend, Onisha, who does all the hard work to send the blogs for www.oldthingsrnew.com, does most of her reading on her laptop computer. She can even lie on her side and read it in bed. She finds many free and low cost books there. She’s convinced that print books are on their way out. I’m not ready to admit that yet. Anyhow, if they are on their way out I want to have a stash of them to fall back on.

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Yikes!

23 Aug

On the Porch

Onisha Ellis

Yikes! It is 10pm and I have nothing to blog about. Well, of course I have thoughts but they haven’t gelled yet. Last week I canned peaches and this week I canned vegetable soup and apple sauce. I think I may have put all my creativity into Mason jars. I think I should get a pass this week because, are you ready……….Friday is my birthday and it’s a BIG one. I am not telling which big one, but trust me, it’s big. In fact it is so big, I am leaving town. We are heading to Atlanta to pick up our daughter then it’s two days of shopping and dining out. If that doesn’t make a gal feel better about her birthday, I don’t know what will.

While I am busy celebrating and eating Chinese food, yes Chinese for my birthday, why don’t you mull this question and leave me your thoughts, who destroyed truth, the person/organization that lied or you and I , the people who are too lazy or intimidated to call out the person/organization? Why is truth important to you?

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Stolen Rocket

22 Aug

A Slice of Life

Bill Lites

When my son was six-years-old I was working on America’s Manned Space Program and at the time I thought it would be great fun for my son and I to build and launch model rockets.  We purchased a couple of small basic models and put them together.  We took them to the local school yard to fly them and we always drew a crowd of kids who wanted to watch and help us retrieve the spent rockets.

They flew very well and it was so much fun that we began to expand our new hobby by designing our own rockets and launching them.  One day the launches were going great when the wind picked up and carried the parachute and rocket across the street into the nearby neighborhood where it landed in the front yard of one of the houses.  As we were hurrying over to retrieve our rocket, a young boy came out of the house, picked up the rocket and ran back into the house.  I was stunned!  Did he not see us coming to get it?  Did he think finders – keepers?  Whatever he thought, it didn’t matter, it was our rocket and we wanted it back.

When I rang the doorbell, a man opened the door and asked how he could help us.  I explained what had happened and told him we were there to claim our rocket.  He said he didn’t know anything about any rocket, but would ask his son.  Well, when confronted the boy admitted what he had done and the rocket was returned to us with an apology.

My son and I enjoyed many years of flying our model rockets, but after our “Stolen Rocket” adventure, we were very careful to launch our rockets only when there was no wind to carry them out of the schoolyard parameter.

Exodus 20:15
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My Favorite Author and Other Important Matters

19 Aug

My Take

 DiVoran Lites

 

My all time favorite author is D.E. Stevenson and I believe she is still www.oldthingsrnew.com, blog mistress, Onisha’s all time favorite too. D. E. Stevenson’s father was first cousin to Robert Louis Stevenson. Many of her books have been long out of print, but Persephone is beginning to publish her again. This I find true: “Her books are avidly sought by discerning readers throughout the English-speaking world: readers who appreciate endearing characters, familiar yet intriguing situations, and darn good stories,” from the D. E. Stevenson official website. She was born in 1892 and died in 1977 at eighty-one years of age. She is buried in the Moffat cemetery on the Edinburgh road. I was in Scotland once and got to walk around the outside of the two-story, Victorian house she lived in. I think it should be a museum.

Her books are an exception to my routine of giving novels away. I made a grand effort to collect as many as I could find. I now have thirty-eight of forty-three. For a long time I was able to buy her books at garage sales and used bookstores, but eventually she became rare. I do read them all through every five years or so. It’s unusual for me to read a book more than once, so that shows you how much I enjoy them. She wrote about love, people, houses, and families.

If I read about books that sound good or if I particularly enjoy an author I try to order the books from the library system. I’m not sure all counties have the arrangement we have, but you can look at the online card catalog and find books and no matter where they actually live in the county you can order them and they’ll be sent to your local library for pick-up. I’m only ordering one or two at a time now and that gives me plenty of time in the three weeks allowed to finish them and get them back.

 

DiVoran is correct. D.E. Stevenson continues to be my all-time favorite author. I love the music of her words, the kindness and insight of her characters. If anyone knows an author of a similar caliber, please share with me.-Onisha

 

 

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Speak Up Saturday- About Booze

18 Aug

Speak Up Saturday

Introducing Bev’s Tall Tales by Bev

Last winter we had a group called, “Ten Minutes Stories,” where we each picked a word and wrote about it spontaneously for ten minutes. This short piece came from Bev, a woman who had experience with family members’ drinking. It is from her point of view, but I know many people who have loved ones, and have lost loved ones in the same deep hole. May this small writing help express the pain and frustration of loving (and despairing of ) people in our lives who are addicted to dangerous, unhealthy substances such as drugs and alcohol. DiVoran

Bev’s Tall Tales

About Booze

Booze, whiskey, toddy, cocktails, drinks…the list goes on; the word defines who we are. Cocktails? That’s a social elitist word for drink. Old fashioned terms for a drinker are: boozer, down and out drunk, wino, AA candidate, but won’t admit it yet and many others. (See, The Definitive Drinker’s Dictionary, which contains 2,964 other terms to describe the condition.

Alone? What better place to strike up a conversation than at a bar. Even if you never utter a word there’s always comfort in hearing the din, the bartender taking an order, the jukebox bellowing out smooth and swaying music or hard rock and roll. My brother always found the bars to be a place of comfort; a place where everybody knew his name.

Unfortunately, booze can rob you of your soul, a perfectly sweet, gentle, kind woman becomes a foul-mouthed, vicious rampaging madwoman, a kind, and caring man becomes a belt swinging hitter and beater of the tiniest child. Booze becomes cocktails in a civilized living room setting; voices get softer, quieter in a bar until the third drink then it equals out–ALL BOOZERS.

Proverbs 23:35

 

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