‘Tis the Gift to be Simple

Shenandoah National Park

‘Tis the gift to be simple, ’tis the gift to be free
’tis the gift to come down where you ought to be
And when we find ourselves in the place just right
‘Twill be in the valley of love and delight.

Traditional Shaker Song

Yesterday I mentioned the traditional pool opening weekend. I also mentioned that our neighborhood pool is a thing of the past.

Yesterday, I got a little nostalgic about the pool of my youth. I was listening to some 70s era music on Pandora. By the way 70s era music is the best music. You can write that down.

The music too me back to the summers when I was a child and early teen.

The pool would open on Memorial Day weekend. I would be there when the doors opened and when they closed. All summer long.

My family didn’t take vacation trips. That’s another story. So, except for a possible week or two at a church

Available at
Mug Shots
(click the pic)

camp, I was at the pool.

Those were simpler times.

Times when my greatest stress factor was getting the books back to the library on time.

I was, after all “The Best Boy Reader” in the summer before my 5th grade year.

Sometimes I miss simplicity.

In our continuing theme of assessing priorities, I’ve put a few things on the back burner this week.

One a larger commitment. Two were self-imposed deadlines.

They can wait.

And, in a suprising way, I feel good about all of it.

I’m not sure when life got so busy.

Somewhere over the past fifty or so years I went from carefree days at the pool to not having enough time to get things done.

I don’t think my parents felt that pressure. Life in a small town perhaps.

Certainly the fact that there was no internet and, at our house, we could only get the NBC and CBS affiliates. We had to go across town to watch ABC at a family member’s house.

I didn’t see The Brady Bunch until we got cable when I was in middle school.

The scars have almost healed.

I can’t spend every summer day at the pool anymore. I’m not sure that I would want to.

But there’s a part of me that misses a time when that was my only agenda item for the day.

I’m not ready for the rocking chair. In fact I’m not sure that I ever will be.

But, simplicity. I like the idea.

I’ll work on it.

When I get the time.

Photo by Sierra Keat on Unsplash

MUSICAL INTERLUDE


 

WHAT I’M READING


 

RANDOM LINKS YOU SHOULD READ

Youngkin Isn’t Going To Break His Word, Folks
Shaun Kenney in The Republican Standard
This mirage these guys are presenting? It just ain’t the case. Youngkin is as solid as a rock and the base is pretty darned united. Spinning up the moderates and then hoping the conservatives get ticked off? Cute — but we have seen that trick. Read More.

Sister of pilot killed on Sept. 11 absolutely excoriates leftists who liken Jan. 6 Capitol riot to 9/11 terror attack that claimed nearly 3,000 lives
Blaze Media
“These two events are fundamentally different in nature, scope, and consequences. Mentioning them in the same breath not only diminishes the horror of what happened on 9/11; it tells a false story to the generation of Americans who are too young to remember that day nearly 20 years ago.” Read More.

Reporters admit dismissing Wuhan lab leak theory in part because Republicans proposed it
Fox News
Faced with criticism that they blasted the theory last year for political reasons, some reporters have admitted its Republican origins with figures like Sen. Tom Cotton, R-Ark., former President Donald Trump, and former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo played into why they disparaged it. Read More.

Founder Of Black Lives Matter In St. Paul: ‘I Resigned’ After ‘I Learned The Ugly Truth’ As ‘Insider’
Daily Wire
Rashard Turner, the founder of a Black Lives Matter chapter in St. Paul, Minnesota, revealed in a video published last week that he quit the organization after he “learned the ugly truth” while being an insider in the far-left group. Read More.

Defund-The-Police Politician Accused Of Sexually Preying On Dozens Of Illegal Immigrants, Anti-Gun Activists
Daily Wire
A “Democratic socialist” member of the Denver school board is accused of sexually preying on illegal immigrants, teen anti-gun activists, and a Black Lives Matter member. Read More.

Lawmakers Introduce Bill To Ban Black Lives Matter Flags From Being Flown Over U.S. Embassies
Daily Wire
Several U.S. lawmakers introduced a bill late last week to ban the federal government from being able to fly divisive Black Lives Matter flags at U.S. embassies overseas, which comes after the Biden administration recently issued a directive authorizing the embassies to do just that. Read More.

Seven steps to surviving cancel culture
Kay C. James in The Washington Times
Liberal America doesn’t want to hear from African-American conservatives because we go counter to their narrative that Black people needed liberal saviors, especially ones who come bearing gifts of more government. Read More.

The Six-Trillion-Dollar President Gambles with the Economy
John Fund in National Review
The Congressional Budget Office reports that if everything that Biden has proposed were to be approved by the Democratic Congress, the national debt would climb by $22 trillion over the next decade. That’s a $7.6 trillion increase in the deficit, and that’s after the recovery from COVID-19’s disruptions. Read More.

PODCASTS I’M LISTENING TO

The British History Podcast

Chopped Bard

 

 

BENEDICTION

The Lord bless you and keep you;
the Lord make his face shine on you
and be gracious to you;
the Lord turn his face toward you and give you peace.

Numbers 6:24-26

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