Saturday, February 26, 2022

THE FEAR AND JOY OF HIGH SCHOOL REUNIONS

I’ve never been to a high school reunion. Life got too busy and I usually lived far away from my Indiana hometown. I have plans to attend this summer. I won’t tell you how many years have passed but here is a hint...it has been half a century!

I went to the attic to find my class yearbook. It was buried so far back that I had to stop at a rest area on my search. I’m not sure why I need it. I remember my classmates when they were in their teens, and their class photos reflect that. NEWS FLASH!!! They don’t look like that anymore, and neither do I. It will be like joining with a group of strangers, who can’t recognize each other, yet have stories about you. It may seem like a Twilight Zone episode.

I had very few friends at school. My social circle was the youth group at church. They will always seem like family to me. Thanks to social media we can stay in touch but I noticed that none of us have felt brave enough to hit the video camera so we can see each other. Perhaps it will remind us of how “seasoned” we are. I was at a party once where you received a small piece of paper. We were asked to “Write down something about yourself that no one here would know about.” The papers were thrown into a container and each one chose someone else’s paper. We then had to figure out who the author of the answer was. The slip I got said, “I was once under 30.”

I have a question for you...Where has all the time gone? When I was young it seemed like life would never end and yet I find myself in the winter years of life. I’ve had so much water go over the dam that it dried up!

When I was young, I didn’t believe older adults who would say, “I wouldn’t trade being a young man for anything.” Are you kidding? I would have said, “It would be nice to be in my 20s and 30s again.” Let’s think about that. A youthful body would be a good thing, but without the life experience and knowledge I have now, I would probably get into real trouble! The last I looked, the only way to get life experience is to experience it. And if we are worth our salt, wisdom would be added to that life experience and knowledge. So now that we have talked this through, would I still want to be young again...here’s the answer...drum roll, please…Nope!

Maybe going to my high school reunion will be fun, as long as we all don’t expect youthful faces and figures (BTW...my six-pack is now a keg!).



Wednesday, February 9, 2022

FOR LOVE OF COFFEE

 Ever since the costume party threw over that tea in Boston Harbor in 1773, Americans have been involved in a ritual called "coffee break" or "That first cup in the morning."  


In a study conducted by Urban Coffee Bean, they discovered...

The Most Interesting Coffee Statistics

• 64% of American adults currently consume coffee every day.

• More than 150 million Americans drink about 400 million cups of coffee per day or more than 140 billion cups per year.

• 79% of Americans prepare coffee at home.

• Americans drink about 146 billion cups of coffee per year.

• 35% of coffee consumers usually drink black coffee.

•An average American drinks 3.1 cups of coffee per day. Read the complete article to find out more interesting facts: 

(https://urbanbeancoffee.com/coffee/usa-coffee-statistics/)

We all seem to have rituals around coffee.  For example, when I'm the first one up, I find my way to the single cup coffee machine and turn it on.  Then, I go back to my room to put on my sweats.  If I see a faint light at the bottom of my wife's door, I'll head back and make her a cup of coffee and take it to her (we don't sleep in the same room.  It's the Battle of the Snorers where no one wins...or sleeps).  Then I get my cup and lose myself in my comfy lounger.  That first sip is like magic.  I thank God they threw the tea in Boston Harbor.

I never understood people who say, "I love the smell of coffee, but I don't like the taste." That would be like saying, "I like the smell of home-baked cookies, but I can't stand the taste." Right.

I know you probably love coffee, but don't let that overshadow the more important loves of your life.  Your love life says something about you.  What do you want it to say?

HAPPY VALENTINES DAY