Starting Over. Again.

The way I see it, every time a man gets up in the morning he starts his life over. Sure, the bills are there to pay, and the job is there to do, but you don’t have to stay in a pattern. You can always start over, saddle a fresh horse and take another trail.

The Proving Trail

American novelist and short story writer, Louis L’Amour, was born on this day in 1908. (d. 1988)

The microwave is no more.

Time of death: 12:21 p.m., March 21, 2022.

True, it was already functioning poorly after the minor fire from last week. Not to worry, I was only slightly burned.

We’ll be having a joint funeral with the lawn mower in the coming weeks.

March has been many things. Most of all it has been…expensive.

These are among the things I alluded to, but did not write about yesterday.

But why keep all the…joy…to myself?

The Write Side Shop

It’s not as if we all aren’t feeling the pinch of inflation and gas prices.

I may have to saddle that horse after all.

I don’t ride horses. In fact I never had. Well, other than the assorted Merry Go Round, and I don’t think that counts.

I even went to school in horse country.

You know those silly things on Facebook that say “give yourself a point for everything you’ve done?” I never get the points for horse riding.

I’m not so sure I can take another trail anyway. In fact, I know I can’t.

So, we keep going.

We juggle the projects, and the work, and the doomed appliances. And we plan our routes to use a minimal amount of gas. Sometimes we even listen to the news. Sometimes.

And we go on.

Like Dumbledore said:

Harry Potter:
I have to go back, haven’t I?

Albus Dumbledore:
Oh, that’s up to you.

Harry Potter:
I have a choice?

Albus Dumbledore:
Oh, yes. We’re in King’s Cross, you say? I think if you so desired, you’d be able to board a train.

Harry Potter:
And where would it take me?

Albus Dumbledore:
On.

We always have a choice.

Harry chose to go back and face Voldemort. In the end, good prevailed.

I don’t have to face the Dark Lord. I don’t have a ring to throw in a fire.

And to put it into current context, I’m not fleeing my home or hiding in a basement hoping the shells don’t reach me.

Still, it’s not always a picnic.

I mean, there’s no picnicking in our back yard until I get a new mower.

All in due time.

If I were writing the script for 2022, a lot of things would have gone differently.

As it is, I’m just responsible for playing the part I’ve been assigned.

A few years ago, I was assigned a part in one of my bucket list shows. I was cast as Judge Turpin in Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street. Singing Sondheim’s music was amazing, and incredibly difficult.

American composer and songwriter, Stephen Sondheim, was born on this day in 1930. He died last year. The theater world mourned.

I don’t know that I’ll ever get to do another Sondheim show, but one of my favorites will always be Sunday in the Park with George. The beauty, the symbolism, and the sheer genius of the final scene almost always gets me a little blurry-eyed.


THINGS YOU SHOULD READ

At Yale Law School, speech gets silenced
Washington Examiner
As Kate Stith, a First Amendment law professor at Yale, attempted to introduce Waggoner, video shows students yelling and shouting at her. Stith remains calm and reminds the students of Yale’s free speech policies, which the students blatantly ignore. Read More.

Biden Takes Bike Ride At The Beach As War Rages In Ukraine
Daily Caller
Biden traveled to his house in Delaware the weekend after Russia invaded Ukraine. He has been out of the White House every weekend since, twice in Delaware and once at Camp David. Read More.

Twitter suspends Babylon Bee for naming Rachel Levine ‘Man of the Year’
New York Post
Twitter locked the account of a right-leaning parody site, The Babylon Bee, after it awarded Rachel Levine, the transgender Biden administration official, the title of “man of the year.” Read More.

Joe Rogan slams media, Biden for ‘lying’ about the Hunter laptop bombshell
Sky News
High profile podcaster Joe Rogan has lambasted the mainstream media in the US for “ignoring” the Hunter Biden laptop story in the lead-up of the 2020 US presidential election. Read More.

ALSO BORN ON THIS DAY

1912 – Karl Malden, American actor (d. 2009)
1920 – Werner Klemperer, German-American actor (d. 2000)
1930 – Pat Robertson, American minister and broadcaster, founded the Christian Broadcasting Network
1947 – James Patterson, American author and producer

WHAT I’M READING


 

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

 

RECAFFEINATED MONDAYS: Welcome Spring

Photo by Oliver Hale on Unsplash

“Do you remember the Shire, Mr. Frodo? It’ll be spring soon. And the orchards will be in blossom. And the birds will be nesting in the hazel thicket. And they’ll be sowing the summer barley in the lower fields… and eating the first of the strawberries with cream. Do you remember the taste of strawberries?”

J.R.R. Tolkien, The Return of the King

Officially, Spring arrived at 11:33 a.m. Take that, groundhog.

We’re not out of the woods with regard to colder weather just yet. But soon.

As for strawberries? We’re hoping to pick some up from our favorite produce stand on the way to the beach in a couple of weeks.

Normally, we’d be shopping for peaches in late summer, but we changed our week at the beach to spring break this year. Watch the Instagram feed for updates.

Speaking of updates, all of “my” teams are out of the March Madness. Even my backup teams.

But, my son is a freshman at Randolph-Macon College and on Saturday their men’s basketball team won the Division III National Championship.

The great thing about spring is the renewal. Even if just a few weeks ago they were frozen under a sheet of ice or snow, flowers and trees begin to come to life.

True story. Some of our daffodils were already up when the recent storm hit. They’re mostly gone now, but they’ll be back next spring.

Hope springs eternal.

I see what I did there.

I started this post with a recitation of things that have gone wrong about the homestead in recent weeks. It’s been one of those times when it finally got funny.

Available at Mugshots
(click the pic)

Like the time the youth pastor called and said “your son broke his arm on the ski slope.”

Well, of course he did.

But what’s the point? You’ve had struggles of your own.

We all have. And we all meet our challenges in different ways.

There is always hope. And no matter how many times I say I can’t take any more, well, I do and we move on. It’s not always pleasant, but this too, shall pass.

Like the seasons.

Spring is here. Summer is coming.

And soon, we’ll have strawberries.


THINGS YOU SHOULD READ

VICTOR DAVIS HANSON: 10 Realities Of Ukraine
Daily Caller
Prior to Putin’s invasion, Biden was quite publicly blaming greedy corporations, oil companies, COVID and former President Donald Trump for the inflation he had birthed in 2021. Read More.

GOP fury at Big Tech, Dems after NYT admits Hunter Biden laptop is real
New York Post
“The New York Times admits what we’ve known for years: the Hunter Biden laptop story was true. Big tech’s censorship of this story was a disgrace,” Sen. Tom Cotton (R-Ark.) tweeted Thursday morning. Read More.

The One Thing to Remember About the Liberal Media Following Their Admission About Hunter Biden
Townhall
We were right. The New York Post obtained the hard drive of Hunter’s laptop. They wrote the same story and got banned for days on social media. It was the Democrat-big tech-media complex doing its best to protect Biden. Read More.

‘Let’s Go Brandon’ store opens in NJ, Facebook flags announcement
Washington Examiner
Already, Facebook flagged a post Wednesday regarding the store’s opening for alleged vaccine misinformation. Read More.

RNC launches voter registration initiative at gas stations amid rising prices
The Hill
As gas prices in the country hit record highs, “the RNC will be holding several voter registration events across the country in the coming weeks,” information about the events shared with The Hill said.  Read More.

Megyn Kelly Slams Lia Thomas: This ‘Is Not The Women’s Champion’ And Has ‘Some Nerve’ Pretending To Be
Daily Caller
“Lia Thomas is not the women’s champion and has some nerve standing there pretending to be,” she added. “There is a way to allow TG [Transgender] rights without decimating women’s sports. This ain’t it.”  Read More.

30 Sure-Fire Steps to Become a Successful Freelance Writer
Stefanie Flaxman at copyblogger
Of course, there are pros and cons to every career path, and even if you have experience, it’s important to recognize that your writing talents only get you so far. Read More.

BORN ON THIS DAY

1867 – Florenz Ziegfeld, Jr., American director and producer (d. 1932)
1930 – James Coco, American actor (d. 1987)
1946 – Timothy Dalton, Welsh-English actor
1949 – Eddie Money, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (d. 2019)
1958 – Brad Hall, American comedian, director, and screenwriter
1958 – Gary Oldman, English actor, filmmaker, musician and author
1962 – Matthew Broderick, American actor

WHAT I’M READING


 

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