Out and About – Week of October 5th

One thing I remember about my parents was that every so often they would share some much needed advice. They also offered, more than once, words of wisdom. I’d like to share some of those words with you. Some of those words were popular and have never lost their value. I’ll continue to share these periodically and you are welcome to pass them on to your loved ones. Here are five that you might want to jot down and share with others:

Do not disregard your mistakes.
Love your work, then you will find pleasure in mastering it.
Don’t criticize others when you are angry with yourself.
Keep a stash of extra batteries.
Be yourself.
It’s almost time for the snowbirds to head south. Florida is a popular place to spend the winter months. Several couples from our church head south right after Thanksgiving. Some have a winter house down there and some have a mobile mansion that they close up in the spring. If you are considering having a mobile home as your winter address in the south, here are a few things you’ll want to consider:

Look for mobile homes for rent in resort communities. Such lodgings often prove to be more economical than a vacation house.
A good idea is to rent before you buy. Once a mobile home is installed, it can’t be easily moved to another location. Before making a long-term commitment for a space in a mobile home park, live there as a renter for a few months.
Buy for pleasure, not for investment. Mobile homes, unlike conventional homes, do not appreciate in value over time. In that respect, they are more like cars than houses.
For sometime now, I’ve admired General Colin Powell. I don’t care what political party he is most familiar with, but if he were to run for President of the United States, he’d have my vote. I’ve read his autobiography and he has had many bumps in the road to get where he is today. The smartest thing he ever did was to refuse to run for the highest office in the world. He was just too smart. General Powell was quoted as saying, “The young black captain just back from Vietnam thirty many years ago, who couldn’t get a hamburger at a Georgia restaurant unless he went to the back window, has become chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. All of us have to remember the brave people who went before and upon whose backs we climbed…As we climbed on the backs of others, so must we allow our backs to be used for others to go even higher than we have.” He spoke these words during a commencement ceremony.

Table manners are pretty much a thing of the past. I feel that manners in general have been placed on the back burner. There are some parents who were never taught proper manners, as a result they have no idea on how to pass them on to their youngsters. Here are just a few manners I was taught. They aren’t all that important, yet I still think of them when I see that they aren’t used:

Take your hat off at the table. It shouldn’t be that cold inside the house.
Turn off your cell phones. Dining together is a great time for family conversations.
Chew with your mouth closed and don’t talk with your mouth full.
“Through light and joy is the world opened up, revealed for what it is: ineffable beauty, unending creation.” ~ Henry Miller

See you Out and About!

Submitted by Norm Stutesman