Answering the world's most puzzling queastion

   For hundreds or maybe thousands of years philosophers and the great world thinkers have attempted to find the elusive answers to the important questions of the world. What is the meaning of life? If a tree falls in the woods and no one is there to hear it, does it really make a sound? What is the sound made by one hand clapping? Does Santa Claus really fly from rooftop to rooftop or does he merely drop gifts from about twenty thousand feet? Is there life after a Republican takeover of the legislature? You bet there is. Just ask any Democrat after this year's election.

   Lest I run a fowl of forgetting, the most important question of all might just be......”Why did the chicken cross the road?” For centuries, the world, from the very young to the very old, has sought to find the answer to this puzzling question.

   Not being a chicken, I decided to go directly to the source. Approaching Henrietta with great caution I asked the question. “Why?” Her response was a flapping of feathers and a “buk, buk, buk”. But not understanding chicken, I decided to seek the answer elsewhere.

   A quick survey at the local grocery store got some strange looks but great answers. Now one would expect the usual responses. But then, there was the occasional 'who cares' or 'none of your business.' People can be so rude. It was just a very simple question! Don't get your tail feathers all twisted.

    I think chickens have been very misunderstood. Like... it was the chicken's fault for the outbreak of salmonella poisoning in the Midwest several months ago? Sounds more like a problem created by people in a hurry to make a profit rather than a chicken laying a bad egg. Now if you are expecting a joke here, I am going to disappoint you. What happened was serious and many people could have died. Human error?

   Chickens have become the brunt of many jokes and I don't understand why. What other animal can have it's head cut off and still be able to run around for several minutes? Sound a bit like the Congress in Washington sometimes!!

   Why would we call our best friends 'chicken' if they refused to take a dare or drink at an underage party or a puff on the joint and then get into a car.. Sounds pretty smart to me.

   Poor Chicken Little. All she could do was run around shouting that the sky was falling. Did anyone actually believe her? Remember. The story was written to teach a lesson in 'courage'. Does that apply to the pending 'fiscal cliff' too? Is anyone listening or just running around with their heads cut off?

   Like other animals, a chicken can be very loyal to its owner and often becomes the family pet. It recognizes your voice and may greet you at the door each morning. And then on some unsuspecting day...whack with a hatchet and in a few short hours Henrietta appears on the serving platter at the dinner table. No one can eat her though. Who could possibly eat the family pet. My suggestion?. Don't give the chicken a name. Poor Henrietta.

   Chickens don't fly very well. I am assuming at one time they were very skilled in the art of flying, but over time they lost the ability to soar with the eagles. I can picture it now,.. five eagles in formation lead by.... a chicken. Makes for an interesting image!

   So....back to the original question. Why did the chicken cross the road? Perhaps it was to prove that if you need a new challenge and a fresh  start, crossing the road may be the place to begin! (But..be sure to look both ways, )

Auctions take us back in time

   For those of you that know me, you know that I like antiques, old things, historical things. I like to go to auctions and antique shops. On Sunday mornings, you can usually find me at the local auction.

   I generally like to preview an upcoming auction the day before... if I can. It gives me a head start on what might be good and what to avoid. It would be nice to be able to do that with life also, get a preview of the upcoming day, that is, and what might be good and what to avoid for that day.

   Now allow me to explain. I have plenty of antiques and old furniture because I like to collect and I also like to buy and sell.  It's kind of a history lesson for me, the items representing a time with simpler, yet stronger values and life purpose. Today is just too fast paced.

  As I walked the aisles for today's preview, I noticed several early radios, the kind with tubes inside. Very popular right now.  I can only imagine a family sitting around the table after dinner listening to the news reports about the battles in Europe during WW II. Next to the radios are several small boxes containing military metals, pins and buttons. Had the original owners of the radios once had family members in the war?

   There was a nice, early baker's table that caught my attention, probably mid to late 1800's. The finish on the top was well scarred from use, and soaked with sugar, butter, and flour I am sure. Cooking was a big part of early family life. Under the tutelage of a mother or grandmother, girls would learn to cook and the boys would learn to farm or run the family business from their fathers. Yes, it was a time when values and life's lessons were passed down from one generation to another.

   Under the table were two cardboard boxes. One contained old letters and the other, picture post cards. I found a chair, sat down and began to look through the letters and cards. Some of the earliest letters dated back to the Civil War. Although difficult to read, it appeared that the sender was telling family members that he hoped to be home soon. Had he been a member of the 20th Maine? Did he actually survive to return to see his family? The letters were truly a window to the past.

  

   The box of picture post cards was filled with cards from the 1920's and 30”s. All had briefly scribbled messages about vacation days spent along the coast of Maine. Many of the pictures were of buildings and hotels that no longer existed. There were scenes from beaches along southern Maine with bathers clad in those crazy looking bathing suits and swim caps.

   A bit farther down the aisle were two dolls, wrapped in tissue paper. Antique dolls have always been very popular collectibles. Long before the plastic of Barbie, dolls were generally made of bisque, wax, or porcelain. and today they can bring a pretty fair price if in good condition More often, early dolls were homemade, made of homespun cloth and stuffed with straw or fabric with hand painted faces. These dirty faces and clothing indicated that they had been well used and well loved. The little girls who had played with them...... what became of their lives.

   I had seen enough to know that I would be back tomorrow. and as I drove home I wondered  about the future, a hundred years from now.  What  would the auction-goers be buying from our generation, perhaps antique IPADS and old cell phones?

The changing face of the American

   It was Saturday afternoon and we needed to go grocery shopping. The weather was bright and sunny. The parking lot was packed. With the nice day, it appeared as though others had the same idea..... get out of the house and into some fresh air.
   Usually a trip to the store is quick, but we were not in a hurry today, so moving  up and down the aisles was more relaxed and it gave me the opportunity to see what bargains the shelves had to offer. What could the store tempt me to buy?  And with the extra time, it also gave me a chance to do a bit of 'people watching'.
   As I moved through the store, I found myself looking into the faces of what might be the next American. I only needed to look around to get a sense of the future of health care in our country. I am sure there were many I passed with either high blood pressure, diabetes, heart conditions, or obesity and  they didn't know they were inflicted, or didn't care. I know I am a bit over weight, but today I looked pretty good compared to others.  No wonder the drug companies are doing  well. Yes, the future looks bright for rising health care costs in America, costs that will effect even the healthy.
      In the breakfast food aisle a mother and daughter fought over  which cereal to buy. The scary thing was that most choices were not good, many loaded with sugar and preservatives. Mom won, but the entire store suffered as the child screamed and cried as she and her mother moved up and down the  aisles. Thank goodness they were near to the Ring Dings. Several packages quieted her down. Bribery does work!
   Does anyone know how to cook healthy meals anymore? I know eating healthy is expensive. Shoppers were not lined up in the fresh produce department. Schools no longer teach basic living skills; cooking, budgeting, small household repairs and manners, probably in part because the skills can not be measured on a standardized test. But then... isn't life the real test?
   When I was in high school (the dark ages), required courses for graduation included such classes  as driver education, family living, and home economics. For driver education, we didn't need to get a license, but we had to take the class. If I remember, I took classes that may have prepared me for life, in addition to learning how to read and write.
   Back in the store, I only needed to  listen to the language and watch the behavior of children and hear the way they spoke to parents and adults to understand the current lack of parenting skills. Where are parenting skills  taught today? You only need to listen to the 'words' to get a sense of a loss of a moral compass. But then watch television or go to the movies. Come on Charlie Sheen!
   As I turned the corner in the electronics department a young boy of about 8 slammed into my shopping cart. After a quick recovery he raced past me and I noticed a 'blue tooth' hanging over his ear. Give me a break! I know it is a different world and technology is an important part of life, or so I have been told. But an 8 year old with a cell phone? I wonder what he was going to have for dinner tonight or was the money going to pay for his cell phone service?
   And what mother would allow a child to go into a store dressed in pajama bottoms? Oh, wait!!! That wasn't the child, it was the mother! Silly me!!

Forcasting the weather and herding the cats

   If I am fortunate to come back to earth in a second life, I hope I am able to come back as a meteorologist, a weatherman. I have always enjoyed trying to forecast the weather, matching my skills with the men and women on the various TV news channels. I know they have computers and other scientific means to help them forecast the weather, but sometimes I wonder if having a plain, old, ordinary window on the world is all that is really needed.

   For many, weather is important in daily life. Storms impact travel, farming, vacations, golf games and often affect attitudes and behavior. Weather can determine where we choose to live. There is a reason why Florida is so popular.

   Now before I go any farther, I need to acknowledge the hardship and devastation recently experienced along the New Jersey shore and New York City area. I have lived in both areas and to view what happened is heartbreaking. Some things will never be the same.

   The weather does provide a topic to talk about when a conversations are exhausted. It gives us something to be joyful about, like a bright warm sunny day or to the contrary, something to complain about.

   A pending forecast can give us an excuse to do something, like take a day off from work if it is going to be sunny and warm or to avoid doing something we really didn't want to do anyhow. A bit of snow today? I had better cancel my dentist appointment. Could be dangerous travel.

   It appears, however, that in recent years weather forecasting has taken on a bit of showmanship. Colorful charts, graphs, maps and videos now add a new and exciting dimension to the forecast. Pictures of the earth from miles above its surface show swirls of clouds and storms as they move from place to place. That storm coming in from the Pacific Oceans looks like a real “humdinger”. Time to get to the grocery store and then 'hunker down.'

  But again, let me add that the recent forecast of hurricane Sandy was right on target and as the area  braces for another storm this week, there is a new respect for Mother Nature and what the weather forecasters do.

   Back in the checkout line at the store, I overheard a discussion between two people, a bit older than I am. They were talking about the old days and the storms 'way back when.' “Storms today just aren't like they use to be.”

   Actually I think they are getting worse. I do believe in global warming!.

   There are some 'givens' about the weather. We will have weather every day albeit rain or sun, wind or clouds. Even with all the computers and other tools of the trade, predicting the weather is not a perfect science and sometimes the storms and weather seem to have minds of their own..

   A forecast late last winter called for a light amount of snow, somewhere in the three to four inch range. But to the surprise of many, that light dusting turned out to be fourteen inches. Honey! Better call the plow guy.

   What I believe is that forecasting the weather can often be like herding a bunch of cats. You know what you want them to do, but sometimes they have a mind of their own and while they eventually may end up doing what you wanted, it may have taken a different route to get them there.

   Weather forecasting sometimes has similar results, not exactly what you expected.

But we like that because if it goes badly, except for the major storms, we have someone to blame. Come on Steve McKay. Get it right? I had outdoor plans for today and now it's raining!

    Yes, the sun is out today......and there goes that pesky bunch of neighborhood cats racing across my back yard again but I sure hope the Nor'easter predicted for later this week decides to blow out to sea!!.

To vote or not to vote...Is that the question????

   With only one exception, I have voted in every election since I was eligible to vote many years ago. This was the lesson taught in school.... the importance of voting, civic responsibility and service and for most of my life I took this teaching to heart. But for some reason, this year I am not so sure and have some real doubts.

   In the past, the months leading up to an election were exciting. Candidates would focus, not on the failures of opponents, but on the issues and ideas important to them. There was a civility and respect shown for those seeking elected office. But in recent years that civility has been replaced with character assassination, negative advertising and the infusion of millions of dollars to either support a candidate or destroy an opponent.

   What has been upsetting this year are the number of phone calls and surveys. As early as July the phone has rung on a fairly regular basis, either from one party or another or from one of the many groups supporting or not supporting an issue on the ballot.

   I thought I had the system figured out. Answer the phone, don't say anything and then hang up. That worked for most. What happened the other evening, however, was that the same number appeared on my caller ID 4 times within a two hour period. On call number 4, I redialed the number only to hear that the number could not accept incoming calls. Hmm!!!!

   For a short period of time this past Spring I had considered running for a seat in the legislature. Within several weeks I was contacted by party officials and given a primer course in what I needed to do, who I needed to see and what I needed to say. There was one problem. I consider myself to be a fairly independent thinker and “independents” don't do very well in today's government. If you are an “independent” in Augusta, you get a chair and a desk in the hallway or a spot in the back of the maintenance closet. And committee assignments? Forget that! So much for “yankee independence”. Nope...I decided not to run!

   What has disturbed me the most about this year's election, the one at the federal level, is the amount of money that is being spent. We are not talking about thousands of dollars any more, not even millions, but billions of dollars. Who says the economy is in rough shape. If there is that kind money available to put toward an election, imagine what a few of those dollars could do to build new schools or give to research for cancer cures or fight domestic abuse and violence. With billions of dollars being invested in the election, someone must be making money.

   Every few years there are calls for election reform and I suspect that after this year's election we may hear the battle cry again, especially if the 'right' candidates don't get elected. To get a head start, here is my partial list of ' 'reforms'.

  There should be a cap on the amount of money each candidate can spend. PAC money is no longer allowed. Any PAC that wishes to support a candidate can do so through a charity or cause of the candidate's choice, such as giving to cancer research. No campaigning before August 1 of the election year and all campaigning ends one week before election day so that candidates have time to spend time to get reacquainted with their families.

   Election day is just a few days away, and yes, I will vote as I have always done. But for those pollsters who are reading this....please do not call me and ask who I will be receiving my vote. I will be taking the phone off the hook until November 7^th !

Three

          My daughter called the other day. She was not having a good day. Her computer had stopped working. The garbage disposal broke and the car wouldn’t start.  Her comment?  It’s funny how things seem to happen in three’s.

          When I thought about it, she was right. Events, both good and bad, often happen in groups of three. I can think of a number of illustrations to prove the point. Here are some of my favorites.

         There are several sports references that are built upon the number 3. Baseball’s three strikes and you’re out or the basketball shot from 3 point range. In ice hockey, three goals by the same person is called a ‘hat trick’. And if the home team wins, it’s 3 cheers for them.  Hip, hip, hooray!

         There are also non-sports related references. Three’s company or three’s a crowd is quite common. God forbid if your two best friends ask you out and you end up being the ‘third wheel’!  Great, you get to be the designated driver.

          If you watch children playing and there are only three, one is usually left out, at least for the moment and before long feelings end up being hurt. Parents, take note. There should always be at least more than three invited to the birthday party! And in gym class in school, what’s this counting off by 3’s. Coach, you know Robert can’t count past 2.

          Now we all remember the 3 “Rs”, right? Then there are the three square meals a day. What’s a square meal anyhow? 

          One of my personal favorites is the ‘three bricks shy of a load’. Somehow I don’t think that is a reference to a truck load of bricks.  Is that really how you describe your sister’s new boy friend? Or maybe you are referring to his behavior at the New Year’s Eve party, ‘three sheets to the wind’.

          Now there is the 3-ring circus and the 3-ring binder. Why not 2 or 4? In a poker game, there is three of a kind; not a bad hand. Sure beats two of a kind but not a full house.  Even in music, the number 3 appears. There is ‘Three Coins in a Fountain’ or ‘Three Blind Mice’. Poor things. 

          At a recent auction there were some coins being sold that were said to be from a sunken treasure. They were as ‘phony as a three dollar bill’.  And have you ever watched a con-man move the shells around in a shell game. There are only three shells and you still can’t find the pea.

          By now you probably would like to have 3 wishes, the first being that I bring a conclusion to this week’s column.  But I have just one more thought for you to consider. When things are not going well for you, try again and maybe one more time, because the ‘third time is often the charm’.

           

Some thoughts for my grandchildren

   I recently spent the weekend with my granddaughters and watched as they played. The oldest entered middle school this past September, the youngest, kindergarten, although I think she sees herself to be ready for high school. She knows more at her age than I did when I was her age.

   Listening to the screams and laughter, I thought about their lives and their future. Life is going to be very different for them.

   Looking back, planning for my life seemed so simple. There were things I expected would be in place such as  social security and a comfortable retirement. But heading into retirement in 2012,  being comfortable has become a concern. Looking at the kids, I can't imagine what life might be like for them.

   If I were to give them some 'grandfatherly' advice, what would I say?

   I would start by advising them not to take anything for granted. They will have to work hard and the rules will change at a moments notice. My generation had planned for a retirement that would meet the financial needs in hopes of living a comfortable life. But look at the cost of a loaf of bread. At age 25, who suspected that the price of gasoline would be over $4 per gallon when it was once 45 cents or that a gallon of milk would cost nearly the same as a six pack of beer.

   I had hoped that a health care system would be affordable and that it would help pay some medical expenses and  issues that come along with old age. I expected to live in a society where age was something that was honored and not viewed by the young as a burden. But today, being old is now almost a crime.

  I would encourage them to plan for the 'unexpected.' and take personal responsibility for their future. I hope they will live a long and wonderful life, but know that many things will change, just as they did for me. Anticipate change and embrace it.

   Expect that technology will change the world as I know it today. They may work longer than I and that 'going to the office' might mean sitting at the kitchen counter in pajamas typing on a computer. 
   Star Trek may actually become a reality as they may be beamed up to the grocery store. What's a grocery store anyhow?

   Retirement will not be the life changing event at age 62,  65 or 67. They may work longer because they will be living longer and will need the income. Can you imaging working at 75 or 85.

   There are some other considerations too. They, along with their children, may grow old together. Seventy five year wedding anniversaries many not be uncommon or divorces may become more popular as long term relationships wane in the senior years.

   Communal living, a way of life in the 1960's, may be reborn as seniors seek the companionship and friendship of peers of similar age. Assisted living may move from 'the nursing home' back to the family home.

   The current decisions being made today in Washington or Augusta about an older society seem to lack focus and a genuine concern. They are a bit short sighted. What is lacking is balance between the greed of today  and a vision and plan for life in the future.
   I have lived a good life. I can sit in the sun and watch the grandchildren play. I sincerely hope my generation doesn't ruin their future and  the opportunities to share some 'grandfatherly' advice with their grandchildren.