Two week cat

Our cat lives in 2 week increments. For two weeks, she will sleep in one spot and ignore all others. If you pick her up and deposit her somewhere else, she will return to it as soon as you leave the room. At the end of two weeks, she has no interest in being there anymore. You can put her there, and before jumping down and walking away she will look at you like, “And what makes you think I would want to sleep there?” Our dog has two favorite spots, and she never sleeps anywhere else. It is inconceivable to me that Egyptians once thought of cats as sacred.

16 minutes
I normally write one blog entry per week, but then I came across this today -- the sound clip of MLK's entire "I have a dream" speech. Like you, I thought I knew this. I have quoted it. I have read and reread it. I have preached from it. I thought I knew it. I was wrong. What I remember compromises only about 20% of this fabulous oration. I love television, but sometimes after watching an hour or two I feel like I have lost a small chunk of my life that I can never get back. Listening to this makes me feel like I have added an hour to my life. I hope you can take the time to listen, too. And the pundits are wrong, by the way. Everyone calls this a speech, but it's really a sermon. Quite possibly one of the best ever preached. Listen to it, and see if you don't agree. http://video.yahoo.com/network/100000054?v=100768&l=3434132

Dr Pepper
I’ve been drinking Dr Pepper for over thirty years, but the best one I ever tasted was three weeks ago in Waco, TX. My son and I visited the Dr Pepper museum there, and they had a real old-fashioned soda fountain. First, the girl put four big squirts of syrup in the cup, then a bunch of crushed ice, then filled the cup up with sparkling water, then pushed the magic handle backwards to shoot in some extra fizz, and polished it all off with a micro-squirt of more syrup. It was sweet, dark, sticky, and overly fizzy – delicious – a word not normally associated with pop. Because I’m older and fatter, I normally drink the diet stuff these days. That fountain drink was fabulous, though, and a simple pleasure. Life is good.

Walking the dog

Our dog absolutely loves to go for walks in the woods. She walks, runs, leaps, dives, and races down paths and between trees. While in the woods, her face shows a happiness that comes as close to joy as I think a dog can experience. Sometimes I really don’t feel like walking the dog. I’m too tired, too bored, or too busy. But then the memory of that happy face comes back to haunt me. She has so little joy in her life, really – walks, rides, and snacks. That’s about it. On the other hand, there is so much in my life that brings me pleasure and joy. It is hard to deny your dog such a simple pleasure. And, that is what we signed up for when we got a dog, right? Otherwise, a stuffed animal would do the trick. Go walk your dog!

Kiddy Snacks
I have rediscovered the joy of a childhood snack. I now eat 3-4 servings of Cracker Jack per week. It is cheap, tasty, crunchy, filling, low calories, and has no fat or cholesterol. The waxy macaroni and cheese box that was practically impenetrable has been replaced by a thin fritos-style pouch. The prizes stink, though – usually a folded up drawing of Abraham Lincoln. They tell me the prizes used to be things like tiny metal cars. Probably less toxic to have a picture of dead presidents. I miss other kiddy snacks, though – candy orange slices, circus peanuts, liquid filled wax bottles, that sour powdery stuff in paper straws, grape and orange Nehi in glass bottles, and banana flavored ice cream bars. These things are still around, but I’m trying to act my age. With Cracker Jack, I still get to be a kid. Sweet!

Umbrellas
I rarely use umbrellas. I think their main value is for women and the English. If I had to walk for hours in the rain, as the English do, it would make sense. When I am darting from the car to the store, it doesn't. I won't melt. Women's hair, I am told, does indeed melt when it gets wet. They spend hours doing their hair and make-up, and a good rainstorm kills both. Van Morrison sang, "All the girls walk by dressed up for each other -- While the boys do the boogie-woogie out in the street." Rain doesn't hurt real men. It's just water, right? In a few minutes it will evaporate. So if you aren't English, or female, and if your race through the storm is less than thirty seconds long -- be a man, and leave the umbrella in the car.

Family
This is the time of year when we think more about, and spend more time with, our families. If you have a good family, that’s nice. If you don’t, that can be tough. Working in a hospital, I see lots of different kinds of families. Some families are very close, and easy to work with. Other families are so close, that we have to call security to escort them out of the building. I grew up thinking my birth family was a pretty average one. In college I discovered that my family was, instead, very unique and special. Most families didn’t have what mine did. My wife and I have tried to make our own family a special one, too. Most of the times, it seems we did a pretty decent job of it. I thank God for my (two) normal families, and hope you have one, too. Merry Christmas!