Month: March 2021

The Palette is Changing

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The Palette Is Changing

Apparently there are some organizations that are worried about the color of our skin. Not to worry, guys, as a solution is forthcoming.

As I understand it, the human race had its origins in Ethiopia. I guess that means we all started out as black folks. As we dispersed throughout the world, our skin colors changed, mostly due to environmental factors. Don’t worry about our differences as a large change is under way. The amazing increase in the number of interracial marriages means that in a few generations, we will all be the same color again…. A beautiful chocolate brown or perhaps a rich golden tan.

Dave Thomas

3/30/2021

We Need Some Preachin’

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We Need Some Preachin’

Like most of you, I have been totally disgusted with the events of the past four years. It’s been all about power,  greed, hate, and a complete disrespect of others. It makes me wonder if anyone has heard of the Golden Rule. Nowadays, it seems to be all me, me, me. When I was growing up, we were reminded constantly of the Golden Rule, and how it should be practiced in our everyday lives. Our parents, teachers, and Sunday School teachers reminded us over and over again: “Do unto others as you would have them do unto you.” If this isn’t an exact quote, don’t worry about it. The message is there.

Dave Thomas

3/18/2021

Company for Breakfast

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Pat and I had gotten up just a few minutes before and were just sitting down at the

kitchen table with a cup of coffee. We heard a noise outside and Pat got up and opened

the curtains. There was a donkey with his lips almost against the window. He must have

been as startled as we because he cut loose with Hee-Haw, Hee-Haw and it was loud

enough to shake the house! We recognized the donkey as the pet of the Noble family

that lived several houses up the hill from us.

We had been visited by the donkey a couple of times before. We had a Shetland pony

for the kids that we kept in a corral next to our back fence. In the previous visits the

donkey had come down the back fence- line but for some reason this time he had come

down the street. I had my jeans on and was wearing flip-flops or thongs or shower shoes

or whatever you call them. I went out to the shed and got a lead rope and came back

and snapped it onto the halter the donkey was wearing. I headed for the street to take

him home and he was well-mannered and led on a slack rein, walking beside my

shoulder.

We got to the street and started up the hill but it was tough going for me. The asphalt

streets in our development had been sealed a couple of days before and then a fine

layer of sand had been spread on them. The footing wasn’t that good and I kept

scooping up sand with my flip-flops. I was relieved when we got up the hill to the

Noble’s house. However, about this time, the donkey must have realized he was almost

home and he snorted and whirled around and started running back down the hill. I dug

in my heels and yelled “Whoa” as I held onto the end of the lead rope. It was a wasted

effort! That donkey was going downhill as fast as he could go and I was out on the end of

that rope with my heels dug in and looking like a water skier on a slalom course. Our

wild ride finally got us to the bottom of the hill and as we got to our house, I could see

Pat in her pajamas and housecoat out in the front yard pointing at us and laughing like a

crazy woman. The donkey stopped and I looked back up the hill and here comes Noble,

laughing. He was kind enough to say that he had seen the donkey escape but had to get

dressed before he could come out. As you have read, I got no respect at all. It may have

been caused by the donkey but I made a complete ass of myself.

Dave Thomas

7/13/2014 (Repost on 3/11/21)

Not Much Today

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I don’t have a story today. For the next couple of minutes, you might want to try one of these:

  1. Give thanks for blessings received.
  2. Say a prayer for someone who needs it
  3. Whistle a happy tune
  4. Zone out.

Dave Thomas

3/5/2021

Augusta, Kansas: Part 12 of 12- Give It a Try

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This has been an interesting project and a lot of fun for me. I had been thinking about my home town and some of the people in it, and began to wonder just how much I could remember of my younger days. In an effort to quantify the project or put some kind of bounds on it, I decided to consider the business district and the years 1945, when I was 9, through 1957, when I was 20. I’m sure that I mixed up the locations of some stores and misspelled some names. What surprises me, is that after 70 or 75 years, how much I remembered about the shopkeepers, their spouses, their families, where they lived, what kinds of cars they drove, and a lot of other little things. I knew the people that ran almost every store in town, and they knew me. It always a pleasure to go downtown, and the people I saw were pretty decent folks.

There were a lot more people to know in our small town. The largest employer in town was the Mobil Refinery. I’ll bet that by the time I was 12, I could stand by the gate at quitting time and identify more than half the men as they came out.

Augusta served as a bedroom community for the aviation industry of Wichita. Some of our townspeople worked at Beech, Boeing, and Cessna. All of this helped add to our circle of acquaintances.

Our town was also surrounded by family farms, and I was privileged to know a lot of those families as well. For instance, Glen Chalmers went to a country school in his early years, but I looked forward to seeing him and his parents and sister at Sunday School and church every week.

Flexing your memory and cleaning out the rust can be a fun thing to do.

Dave Thomas

3/3/2021