February 25 '06

                                                    

Volume 508

                   


Unsettling Times Childhood And Adulthood

Men Ate FirstIn the days of my childhood, whenever families gathered together at Grandma's, the men were fed first, then the women, and then the children. Apparently, someone took the axiom, "Children should be seen and not heard," a step further to include their being fed last. I don't recall being upset by the tradition of the day that gave preferential treatment to adult males. Neither do I recall not having something to eat, and most likely there was enough leftover food for at least an evening meal. Still, I thought it would be nice to grow up and enjoy the benefits of being fed first.

It didn't work out the way I expected, but I'm no worse off today than I was in my childhood. One can look at me and tell I've not missed very many meals. I admit to having raised two children, who've never had to worry about the next meal being cold when they ate it, as they always ate at the same time as the adults. And, now that I have grandchildren, I watch my daughter fix my grandchildren's plates before any of the rest of us get in the buffet line. Whatever justice there is in this life certainly doesn't visit me often.

One would think persons of the Christian faith might fare better, but so far that's not been my experience. For example, in my church there was no Youth group, per se, when I was a lad. Our Youth group was whoever was in our Sunday School class or Training Union class. Our Minister of Youth was whoever happened to be our Sunday School teacher or Training Union teacher, and there was no summer youth worker to dream up activities for us. However, by the time I was a married adult with children, viola, summer youth workers were all the rage, and our church budgeted large sums for youth activities and trips.

I didn't even mind the fact that Senior Adults were quickly becoming another focus group for the church. In my church, Senior Adults were organized into a group called "The Keenagers." They received lots of attention and recognition, and the Minister of Music more or less took on the job of shepherding the Keenagers. I'm only bothered that teenagers are called teens, but Keenagers are never referred to as "Keens."

Generally speaking, I accepted the fact that our youth and seniors were focus groups, and those of us in the thirty to fifty-something age range were given permission to fulfil positions of responsibility in the church. Though a child of the King, I was born in the wrong era to benefit from the adulation of the church while a youth, and, until recently, I was not old enough to be classified as a senior.

Now that I'm senior, things are not so hot either. I feel as though I'm reliving my childhood where it's seniors who should be seen and not heard, instead of children. For centuries, older persons have been revered for their wisdom and counsel. Sure there have been exceptions as when Rehoboam, son of King Solomon, was advised by "the elders" to lighten the tax burden that King Solomon had placed on the Israelites. He did not heed their advice. Instead, he acted on the counsel of his peers and chose to rule with an even harsher hand. The result was a division of the kingdom into two parts, the Northern Kingdom (Israel) and the Southern Kingdom (Judah).

While I don't expect FBC, Pontotoc to split over differences of opinion with respect to styles of worship services, it very well could happen as there certainly seems to be a greater emphasis on catering to the wants of a younger-than-fifty crowd. Such is characteristic of the "Church Growth Movement." Rick Warren, author of The Purpose Driven Church and The Purpose Driven Life has demonstrated the effectiveness of bringing the world into the church and readily admits that for his success to be duplicated, old methods and old members may have to go.

How's that for my luck? I finally attain the age where I'm to be revered and respected for my wisdom and along comes a new program that flat-out tells me my wisdom is not relevant to the times.

What's the next step, the removal of the parking spaces for handicapped…er' disabled and the spaces "reserved" for the elderly and mothers with young children? I don't get to use any of these at the present time because I don't qualify. However, I'd bet my bottom dollar, whenever I do qualify for the elderly or disabled slots, those precious pearls of real estate will have been given to whichever group of church members is considered "special" at the time.

Even so, I shall not despair. For as the prophet Habakkuk stated, "Though the fig tree should not blossom, and there be no fruit on the vine, the yield of the olive fail, and the fields produce no fruit, though the flock be cut off from the fold, and there be no herd in the stall, yet will I rejoice in the LORD."


K.C. Turns Five My Youngest Granddaughter

Last weekend was the coldest weekend of this winter. Add a bit of freezing rain mixed with occasional snow flurries and some sleet and one would have trouble justifying leaving ones home except for an emergency.

The fifth birthday party for my youngest granddaughter, Katherine Carter Adams was scheduled for 10:00 a.m. last Saturday morning in Belmont, MS, and had there been even slightly more hazardous road conditions than simply icing on bridges, I would have opted to stay in front of the fireplace. Though our fireplace’s romantic appeal is diminished by the gas logs purchased and installed by a previous owner, there is enough radiant heat produced to warm ones backside given one has the time to devote to standing in front of the fireplace.

I could have probably persuaded my wife the weather conditions were too severe to travel to Belmont, but knowing how fond she is of our grandchildren, I told her we would make the trip, drop off the gifts, and, if need be, head back before the weather trapped us in Belmont. Yes, I’m fond of my grandkids, but I’m apt to be more reasonable about visiting them than my wife.

I really expected the road conditions to worsen the farther north we traveled, but for some reason the wintry mix had been kinder to the area between Fulton and Belmont than I expected to see.

Barbara and I arrived about the time the first of the party girls were showing up at Katherine's Gran-Gran's. No boys were invited, as this was a makeup party for little girls, nine little girls.

Rayanne had enlisted the help of her mother-in-law, a sister-in-law, and a couple of friends to give each of the party girls a makeover that included, hair styling, makeup, and manicure.

I tried to keep out of the way, but I managed to take several photos, some of which didn't blur. A few of the blurs were due to my unsteady hand, but most were due to movements of the subjects.

Everyone enjoyed the cupcakes and ice cream. For Katherine, her presents were like Christmas all over again. Her friends encircled her as she opened present after present, with each friend anticipating the next gift as eagerly as Katherine.

After two fun-filled hours, Barbara and I were ready to make the trip back to Pontotoc. In order to take advantage of the significant savings on gasoline in New Albany, we returned via a slightly different route. It was flurrying pretty good when I gassed up in New Albany, but there wasn't enough snow to affect road conditions.

Back in Pontotoc, we spent the rest of the afternoon in the living room, not far from the fireplace and the TV, which partly entertained us and partly lulled us toward a long winter's nap.


Ding Dong Cake By Barbara Carter

Last Sunday afternoon, I had Wayne take me around the neighborhood to collect for the Mother’s March of Dimes. For the past several years I have accepted the assignment for our neighborhood as chairperson for this fundraising drive, and it is relatively easy to do. I just send out notices and then go by to collect the contributions. Our neighborhood has always been very generous in this drive, and I appreciate my neighbors for their generosity for this worthy cause.

When I stopped by Anita Wood’s house I discovered that she and her daughter, Anna Claire, were in the midst of making cupcakes.

Anita said, "Do you remember the chocolate cake I had at Christmas called a Ding Dong Cake?"

I remembered. It looked delicious, and, from the accounts of everyone who partook of it, it was. At that time, I was trying to avoid over indulgence, so I had not tried it. Anna Claire was using that recipe in cupcakes.

I told Wayne about their activities, and he wanted to know if they invited us to come back over when the cupcakes were done. They had not, but I started thinking about making one of the cakes myself.

Not having all of the ingredients in the house, I waited until Monday to make my attempt. After finding a recipe for the cake, I made a trip to the grocery store to pick up a few ingredients I lacked.

While we ate supper, I had the cake layers in the oven cooking and then put them out to cool while I cleaned up the kitchen.

Wayne called from the living room, "Is it done yet?"

"No, but I’m working on it," I replied.

I am not very good at making layered cakes and try most often to either do a pound cake in a tube or bundt pan or do a sheet cake. I was really brave on this attempt. The recipe called for baking two layers and, after they were cooled, slicing them to make four thin layers. A filling of cream cheese, powdered sugar, and Cool Whip was layered between the sliced layers. The cake was then iced with two cans of purchased frosting.

When Wayne came into the kitchen to see the finished product, he said, "Oh, you did a layer-cake. I thought you were doing cupcakes."

"Didn’t you see the layers I had out cooling?" I asked.

"Yeah. But I thought you were going to cut them out or something," he replied.

I had not thought of doing that, and the thought is still quite amusing to me. I may try that someday, just for fun.

I made a pot of coffee, sliced the cake, and we all sat down to enjoy our dessert for the evening. It was really tasty.

Ding Dong CakeSarah Sue said it was pretty rich, but she had never found a dessert that was so rich she couldn’t go back for seconds.

We have just about finished off this cake, and I doubt that I will make another anytime soon, but if anyone would like the recipe, I have listed it below.

If you decide to make one, be sure to call Wayne and invite him over for a slice. I might even tag along, too.

Ding Dong Cake

1 box of Duncan Hines Swiss Chocolate Cake Mix
1 ½ cups powdered sugar
10 oz container Cool Whip
2 cans Duncan Hines Chocolate Frosting

Bake cake by box directions in two 8-inch cake pans. Let layers cool completely and slice each layer, horizontally, to make four layers.

Mix cream cheese and powdered sugar until creamy. Add Cool Whip and stir into creamed mixture.

Place each layer on cake plate and spread creamed mixture between. Spread two cans of frosting on top and sides of cake.

By Barbara Carter


Bodock Beau Cheesy Romance

We don't make up the jokes we share in this space, but we do depend upon readers to submit most of the material. Shirley Lowry sent us the first two of the following:

The Odds Aren't Good

If you consider that there has been an average of 160,000 troops in the Iraq Theater during the last 22 months, that gives a firearm death rate of 60 per 100,000. The death rate in Washington, DC is 80.6 per 100,000. That means you are more likely to be shot and killed in our Nation's Capital, which has some of the strictest gun control laws in the nation, than you are in Iraq.

Conclusion: We should immediately pull out of Washington, DC.

Stud's Stud

A man is at work one day when he notices that his co-worker is wearing an earring. This man knows his co-worker to be a normally very conservative fellow, and is curious about his sudden change in 'fashion sense'.

The man walks up to him and says, "I didn't know you were into earrings."

"Don't make such a big deal, it's only an earring", he replies sheepishly.

His friend falls silent for a few minutes, but then his curiosity prods him to say, "So, how long have you been wearing the earring?"

"Ever since my wife found it in my truck."

Cheesy Romance

A young lady was dating two men—a dairy farmer and a poet. She had trouble deciding if she should marry for butter or for verse.

Has Plenty of Pull

A salesman drove his car into a ditch in a rural area. Luckily, a farmer came to his aid with his big strong horse, Buddy.

He hitched Buddy up to the car and yelled, "Pull, Nellie, pull!" Buddy did not move.

Then the farmer hollered, "Pull, Buster, pull!"

Again, Buddy just stood there.

Next, the farmer ordered, "Pull, Coco, pull!"

Still, Buddy didn’t budge.

Finally, the farmer yelled, "Pull, Buddy, pull!"

The big horse easily dragged the car out of the ditch.

The salesman thanked the farmer and then asked, "Why did you call your horse by the wrong name three times?"

The farmer grinned. "Buddy’s blind," he answered. "If he thought he was the only one pulling, he wouldn’t even try."

Laugh Newsletter - Reiman Publications

Jay Leno: I did something dumb this weekend—I walked into a Muslim bakery and asked for a Danish.

There's a new comic book coming out where Batman goes after Osama bin Laden. And you thought radical Muslims hated cartoons before. Holy Shi'ite Batman!

Did you know this is Black History Month? You'd never know it watching the winter games. Not a lot of brothers curling.

At the Olympics they had the premiere of a new event called "boardercross." Boardercross? I'd never heard of boardercross. But I figure if there was ever an event where Mexico is going to win the gold this would be it.

NBC now has 418 hours of Olympic viewing. I think this is day 112 of Olympics. You know what NBC normally calls 418 hours of programming? "Law and Order."

Hillary Clinton blasted the Vice President for failing to disclose all the facts [about his hunting accident]. She wants Dick Cheney to give exact details. You know like, "How do you shoot someone and make it look like an accident?"

Hillary said that she finds the administration's refusal to level with the American people "troubling." She also finds it somewhat nostalgic.

She now has her own wax likeness at Madame Tussaud's. It has a "do not touch" sign on it. Just like the real Hillary.

************************

Finally, Bryant Gumbel's racism is showing.

"Try not to laugh when someone says these are the world's greatest athletes, despite a paucity of blacks that makes the Winter Games look like a GOP convention." —HBO's Bryant Gumbel.

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