Joined:
December 2003
Posts: 13987
Location: Upper Left USA | Wishing each of you a wonderful holiday season which for each of you can mean a great variety of things. For the Aussies it is Summer and there are so many ways and reasons to gather with loved ones, eat well and spend time with old and new friends and to meet the generations that will follow you. I suggest that you spend some time with the younglings and tell them strange tales of how you would interact with strangers from all around the planet and get to know them as friends. Tell them that you used a "Bulletin Board" and that it was mostly words and had very few pictures but that after a while you could recognize each persons voice and personality in those words as you grew to know them. Tell them that several of those voices have fallen away whether by circumstance or the passing of time and remind them that time spent together is so very important. Tell them that when you look back over their words it's like they are right there and the discussion never really ended! Their voices still fill the room and your heart even if you've never heard them in person. These imaginary voices are not only them but they are you because without a listener what are we? Tell them to enjoy their friends. Tell them to be courageous and kind and to sing songs even if they don't think they'll be very good. Tell them to be a "voice" in someone else's head so that they too can be remembered...
Edited by MWoody 2023-12-08 12:14 PM
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Joined:
February 2016
Posts: 1802
Location: When?? | Excellent post, Woody.
So okay.. I would like to tell a holiday story that eventually rolls around to your theme-- and I title it "Beer Nuts".
Mid 70's, three guys, teens, myself being one, had the school holiday vacation off.. Someone came up with the impromptu road trip idea to make a run into Yosemite National Park-- for no other reason than to simply kill some time. We rolled into the park's valley at around 10 PM.. The night temperature was around 25 degrees and dropping, and the campgrounds were virtually empty, so we grabbed a spot and commenced to go to work on a bottle of rum and a bag of chips.. though we had zero firewood.
No problem. My friend knew where the Ahwahnee Hotel (ritzy type place) stored their firewood, so we went over and helped ourselves to as much as we could cram into my '66 Mustang, and drove off. A nearby Park Ranger watched the whole thing, and we were immediately arrested. By now it was around midnight and the Federal Magistrate actually dragged out of bed to hold our "trial". Guilty, guilty and guilty.. though the fines were waived and we all got 6 months of "park probation". And.. and.. the firewood. The temp was now down to around 20, and the ranger was just too cold and/or lazy to seize the evidence and return it to the hotel.. or.. more likely had compassion for three freezing teens. I like to think the latter.
The firewood, rum and chips held out until around sunrise, and all we had left was a bag of Beer Nuts. I was munching on a handful when I commented to my friend (the one who had orchestrated the firewood caper), "I wish they would put more sweetener on these things”, and his reply was, "But then they wouldn't be Beer Nuts."
And everyone likes Beer Nuts, right? I think so. End of story.
Point being.. I cannot count the number of times during the decades that have followed when I have recalled him saying that. Amazing, really, how one little sentence during one little moment can impact someone's outlook on so many opinions and objectives for an entire lifetime. We, all of us, have our own levels of sweet and sour within our souls and within our actions, and we often forget how that soul and its words and actions can transmit onto others we interact with-- which I believe was the gist of your post and of this thread's sentiment to begin with. I haven't seen those guys for a good 20 years, but they were indeed loved ones. Always will be.. and I would fully trust them both with my well being still today.
Tomorrow is my niece's 40th birthday, and we are having a big party bash for her. She has two kids.. 15 girl and 12 boy.. both who adore me as I do them. So you know that I'm going to do, Woody?? I am going to accept your challenge, that’s what-- and roughly 24 hours from now I am going to corner them at the party and tell them the Beer Nuts story, and thus pass the sentiment forward in hopes that they, too, carry forward the understanding of how important it is to cut slack upon others when slack is the best avenue.. ala the park Magistrate and Ranger.. and also to accept life’s events for what they are by gathering in the available good points of an otherwise dismal or bland situation.. ala the Beer Nuts.
Typical Love O Fair... I know.. long-winded and sentimental.. but at least this time someone else started it!! So I hope my post finds relevance to the topic. And here's wishing Happy Holidays to everyone at the OFC! Come on over and I'll give y'all some rum and Beer Nuts.
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Joined:
May 2006
Posts: 4226
Location: Steeler Nation, Hudson Valley Contingent | My friends, I don't get to come around nearly as often as I used to. But I made a point of logging in to wish all of you a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year! Be well, all of you!  |
Joined:
July 2005
Posts: 3410
Location: GA USA | I still think warmly about our Southeast gatherings in Ashville, at G8r's house (with the amazing shrimp & grits), at Designzilla's house (hamburgers with chopped up hotdogs mixed in).
The first time we met Bill, we raced outside when he drove up... to help him unload all the guitars. He brought 4 original slotheads!
The first time I met Designzilla, I drove to his house while on vacation in FL. His daughter dropped by and he said "Come see the strange man Daddy met on the internet!"
You people have been a great encouragement to me. Hope your 2024 is happy. A lot of water has gone under the bridge. I had teenagers then. Now we're expecting our 5th grandchild. Life is good.
Jas
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