HAPPY THANKSGIVING


I hope you have a great holiday and that the attached is as an encouragement to you as it was to me.!!!



Ruth went to her mail box and there was only one letter. She picked it up and looked at it before opening, but then she looked at the envelope again. There was no stamp, no postmark, only her name and address. She read the letter:


Dear Ruth:


I`m going to be in your neighborhood Saturday afternoon and I'd like to stop by for a visit.


Love Always, Jesus





Her hands were shaking as she placed the letter on the table. 'Why would the Lord want to visit me? I'm nobody special. I don't have anything to offer.'


With that thought, Ruth remembered her empty kitchen cabinets. 'Oh my goodness, I really don't have anything to offer.. I'll have to run down to the store and buy something for dinner.' She reached for her purse and counted out its contents.. Five dollars and forty cents . Well, I can get some bread and cold cuts, at least.'


She threw on her coat and hurried out the door. A loaf of French bread, a half-pound of sliced turkey, and a carton of milk...leaving Ruth with a grand total of twelve cents to last her until Monday..


Nonetheless, she felt good as she headed home, her meager offerings tucked under her arm. '

Hey lady, can you help us,lady?' Ruth had been so absorbed in her dinner plans, she hadn't even noticed two figures huddled in the alleyway. A man and a woman, both of them dressed in little more than rags. '


Look lady, I ain't got a job, you know, and my wife and I have been living out here on the street, and, well, now it's getting cold and we're getting kinda hungry and, well, if you could help us... Lady, we'd really appreciate it.'



Ruth looked at them both. They were dirty, they smelled bad and frankly, she was certain that they could get some kind of work if they really wanted to. 'Sir, I'd like to help you, but I'm a poor woman myself.. All I have is a few cold cuts and some bread, and I'm having an important guest for dinner tonight and I was planning on serving that to Him..' 'Yeah, well, okay lady, I understand. Thanks anyway.'


The man put his arm around the woman's shoulders, turned and headed back into the alley. As she watched them leave, Ruth felt a familiar twinge in her heart. 'Sir, wait!' The couple stopped and turned as she ran down the alley after them. 'Look, why don't you take this food. I'll figure out something else to serve my guest.' She handed the man her grocery bag.. 'Thank you lady. Thank you very much!' 'Yes, thank you!' It was the man's wife, and Ruth could see now that she was shivering '


You know, I've got another coat at home. Here, why don't you take this one.' Ruth unbuttoned her jacket and slipped it over the woman's shoulders. Then smiling, she turned and walked back to the street....without her coat and with nothing to serve her guest.


Ruth was chilled by the time she reached her front door, and worried too. The Lord was coming to visit and she didn't have anything to offer Him. She fumbled through her purse for the door key. But as she did, she noticed another envelope in her mailbox. 'That's odd. The mailman doesn't usually come twice in one day.'

Dear Ruth:

It was so good to see you again. Thank you for the lovely meal. And thank you, too, for the beautiful coat.

Love Always,

Jesus

I NEED YOUR SUGGESTIONS

I have had a really great experience in 08 seeing,doing,learning,and experiencing so many new adventures. Even thought I am not finished I am certainly in sight of the finish line at sixty six. The question is 'what to do in 2009"?

I have set some criteria that I need to follow.

1--- Certainly not as adventureous as seventy.

2--- In this uncertain economic times I need to be frugal with my expenses.

Last fall many of you helped me with ideas of what to do in 08. I treasure your input for what I could set out to accomplish in 09.

Two things I know will be on my list.

1---I want to continue by reading at least four classical books.

2--- In honor of my friend Kathryn reading fifty books in eleven months of 08 i will attempt to read twenty four books in 09. I am reasonably certain I have never read more than eighteen books in any year since age sixteen.

I welcome your suggestions for my 09 adventures.

GUESS WHO WAS 20 ON 11/14 ?

Sorry Todd it did not get published till today. I did not forget but life was a little hectic yesterday with grand parenting four at two different locations.

HAPPY belated BIRTHDAY!!! and I hope you got our card and celebrated at Sonic!!!

You could do 20 things you have never done before. Oh you could provably do that many in a month.
LOVE Grandpa and Grandma



Sorry you had to share space with your sister but it was the most recent photo.

#66 A VISIT TO THE SCOTT JOPLIN HOUSE

Today Nancy and I toured the king of ragtime Scott Joplin's St Louis home. Today the address is 2658a Delmar but in the 1900 hundreds the same street was named Morgan street.He moved here from Sedalia, Mo. where he had taken formal classes in music at a local black college.Scott wrote "Maple Leaf Rag" and "The Entertainer" that became the theme song of the movie The Sting.


Ed and Nancy are sitting at a player piano that plays ragtime as you pump the pedals.

Nancy is standing in front of a piano that looks similar to one we have in our home. It is not a piano that Scott played but it is from the era of his life.

I am standing in front of a replica of the famous St Louis ragtime honky tonk "Rosebud Cafe"

The home is lit by gaslight and furnished as if it is 1902.

Scott Joplin only lived in St Louis about five years but did marry his wife Belle while living here.

#65 IS READING MY FOURTH CLASSIC



A TREE GROWS IN BROOKLYN



I hope my reading friends Sandra and Kathryn agree that this book is a classic as I read it without any referals. I chose this particular book because I had started to read it at least three times in my life but never went past the first thirty pages. This time I knew I was motivated to complete.



The story is about a family living in Brooklyn New York in the summer of 1912. It is about a girl who is eleven name Francie,her brother Neeley, Mama is Katie, and dad named Johnny.


The story takes this family from 1912 to 1918 and from poverty to middle class. It is a story of how a family lived and survived in this era. My guess is the author Betty Smith is really Francie in the story.



Personally my reading in this era has always been about WW1.
The story ends at age seventeen for Francie as she is about to leave home to attend the University of Michigan. Age seventeen in 1917 would be equivalent to thirty today in wisdom and maturity.

You need to read the book to discover how she went from extreme poverty to college.

One of the many gems of wisdom from the book is that Katie read every day to her children at least one page from the bible and one page from Shakespeare.In the story Francie uses wisdom from the bible and Shakespeare to help her make major decisons.



The reading of at least four classic books per year is something I plan to continue. I have usually read between twelve and eighteen books per year with major interest in sports, history, biographies,court room dramas, christian literature,and positive thinking.



I have found that reading the old classic to add a new dimension to my reading.

AMAZINGLY HE HAS TAUGHT HIMSELF!!!!!!!!!!!

The youngest has taught himself all kinds of gymnastic tricks.

*** Standing on his head is second nature to him.

*** Cartwheel is his specialty.

*** Flips without touching the ground is his latest trick.

*** He continues to work on perfecting a one handed cartwheel.






The approach

The flip and the camera caught him before he landed. He tried this flip over and over till I caught him in the air. Maybe he will be like the "Wizard". Remember those triple flips.


He is simply jumping but again I caught him in the air.

FRIENDS JACK and NELL
CELEBRATE FIFTY YEARS of MARRIAGE!!!!!
Last Saturday night Nancy and I attended the fiftieth anniversary celebration of their marriage.We have been friends for over thirty years and our kids grew up with their children.
Their actual wedding date is 12/27/1958 but they were concerned about the possibility of challenging weather at the end of December.

12/27/1958

Congratulations Jack and Nell!!!

#64 A DRIVING/ AUDIO TOUR of

ARTHUR IL.

We rented a CD,they gave us a map and off we went to tour the Amish community of Arthur Il.

The first two photos show us about a time in the past when our life was lived at a slower pace.

















The little building is a phone booth not an outhouse. The Amish cannot have a phone inside their home.In each district they have a building like this for the community to use the phone.





Whenever you see a group of wagons you know it is an Amish school house and school is in session.

Photo five is the house Jan and Dean lived in and Julie too.



The green wagon is a church wagon. This wagon is parked in front of the house that is hosting church on Sunday. It carries chars,tables and plates etc. They meet for about eight hours including a meal.{my guess is this wagon is being repaired}

A house,phone booth,wagons, and barns.The drive included a distinct smell.

90% of the way to SEVENTY!!!



#63 AMISH COUNTRY,ARCOLA II.

Even though Arcola is less than three hours from St.Louis, Nancy and I have never visited Amish country. Friends of over forty years Jan and Barbara traveled with us. Jan lived in this area first few years of her marriage and was our tour guide.

We first toured the Amish Interpretative Center. They showed an outstanding seventeen minute film on the Amish people and culture.In addition they had many exhibits of Amish life in Illinois.

The creator of Raggedy Ann and Andy Johnny Gruelle was born in 1880 in Arcola Il.



Amish quilts with Barbara,Nancy, and Jan

Famous Amish Shoo -fly pie from Dutch Kitchen, Arcola. The pie has sorgum molasses as the main ingedident and actually tastes pretty good. I would try again.

{picture in honor of Terri and Kelsey}

A replica of a phone booth found outside some of their homes.Their culture does not allow phones on the inside of their homes.

Hippie Memorial,Arcola Il.

Old wall phone inside Dutch Kitchen Arcola Il.

A huge cross near I-70 close to Effingham Il.

Beautiful plaques with scriptures circle the Cross grounds.










Barbara,Jan,and Nancy