Christmas always brings out the nostalgia in me and I am sure it does the same for you as well. If you have ever wanted to share your memories with others, here is your chance. I am going to post a few of the memories that are the most special to me and I am going to encourage you to do the same thing.
Here is how it will work. You can add a comment to the end of my column or you can send me an email at lthames.com of your special memories and I will post it for you. Don’t worry whether you think your writing is very good because I am sure it will be satisfactory. If it isn’t, I will make some subtle changes to bring it up to snuff. After all, I used to be an editor, you know.
All right, here goes my list. Keep in mind that these are just the memories that reverberate in my mind from time to time and they are not in any order, just randomly as I recall them.
√ A favorite all-time gift — The set of six-shooters that Santa brought me the year my sister was born when my family lived in Selma, Ala. I was 6 years old. The guns came with a snazzy leather holster that went perfectly with the cowboy hat, chaps and Western shirt that I already had. I fancied myself as the next Wild Bill Hickok (as portrayed by Wild Bill Elliot in the movie serials that were popular in the ’40s and ’50s.) I kept that gun and holster set until about 20 years ago. Wish I still had them.
In the immortal words of Peter Finch in the movie “Network,” Are you mad as hell and not going to take it any more?
I hope so because I am. My rage has been building for a few weeks now but it is about ready to explode. Especially considering the news that the Securities and Exchange Commission failed to pursue allegations of wrongdoing against good ol’ Bernie Madoff, the financial wizard who has managed to squander an estimated $50 billion (that’s BILLION, folks, with 10 zeroes) of other people’s money in what now appears to be a Ponzi scheme of gigantic magnitude. Read the rest of this entry »
Volunteers from the Orange Park Rotary Club helped judge the Orange Park Junior High School Science Fair Wednesday morning, Dec. 17. Benjamin Swann, who has been at the school for three years, is the science fair coordinator. Listen to his explanation of the science fair and then click on the gallery above for photos of some of the judges and projects.
My first experience with a daily newspaper came in 1958 when the father of a childhood friend of mine asked me if I wanted to help him deliver papers while his oldest son took the summer off.
”Sure, I’d love to,” I told Mr. Fulgham, Eddie’s father, not really sure what I was getting into.
My family and I lived in the West Brow community on Lookout Mountain, about 10 miles from the famous Rock City tourist attraction. Mr. Fulgham’s route covered the Lookout Mountain communities on both the Tennessee Read the rest of this entry »
Amid all the economic turmoil, there was good news on Tuesday, Dec. 16. The Federal Reserve reduced its top interest to near zero, or .25 percent, for its biggest customers. That news boosted the stock market by 360 points to 8924.
Will that good news translate into good news for consumers? Only time will tell. If you are looking to refinance your mortgage, this might be a good time to do that. Financial planners have said that interest rates on annuities are going to be reduced in mid-January, so now might be the time to lock in some of those higher rates if you have some maneuverability in your investment portfolio. Read the rest of this entry »
I have a recurring dream that it is Christmas Eve and I have not purchased any gifts the entire Christmas season and the store is about to close. This dream is puzzling to me because I am a female and a Mom and I would never do something so crazy as to wait until Christmas Eve to buy gifts. I think this dream is a testament to the type of stress that only comes at Christmas. From the tree to the cookies to the Christmas cards to the red and green articles of clothing purchased for Christmas get togethers to of course the actual buying of the various gifts. That is enough pressure and stress to last you all year. Even so, I do not dislike Christmas. It is part of Christmas as an adult to sweat the cost and attend to all the activities. Plus, my parents put enough wonderment in the season when I was a child to help override any Christmas negativity. Read the rest of this entry »
If you yelled for 8 years, 7 months and 6 days you would have produced enough sound energy to heat one cup of coffee. (Hardly seems worth it.)
If you passed gas consistently for 6 years and 9 months, that is enough to create the energy of an atomic bomb. (Now that’s more like it!) Read the rest of this entry »
If you like this cartoon titled “Revenge is Sweet”, check out the Dec. 13, 2008 file under gallery above for more of the same. Thanks to Garland for sharing them.
It has only been a month, but I am already getting tired of this thing called “retirement.” I don’t know if I want to do it for the rest of my life.
Of course, it is not exactly my idea of how retirement was supposed to work. I envisioned picking a day a few years in the future and saying, “That will be the date when I want to retire.” And it would be in conjunction with my wife’s retirement.
I was planning on paying off the two cars my wife and I drive, putting a few more bucks safely away in our IRAs and doing some of the home repairs that are starting to surface around the old homestead. It is 15 years old, after all. Read the rest of this entry »
You may have seen the big two-story, multi-column antebellum home on Plainfield Avenue that belongs to Kyle and Margaret Abshire. Did you know that the Abshires open their highly decorated home for a night every December to members of the Orange Park Rotary Club for their annual Christmas party? The tradition continued Dec. 10 for the 30th consecutive year and from the looks of it, it will continue for as long as the Abshires are able to host it. Margaret begins the decorating chores at least two months ahead of time. With a deft decorating eye, she carefully places the beautiful holiday ornamentation so that it blends and does not overwhelm the stately home. Poinsettias line a staircase leading to the second floor indoor balcony, a scene straight out of “Gone With the Wind;” seven decorated Christmas trees greet the eye at every turn and holiday cheer emanates from throughout the house — a testament to the good will and hospitality of the Abshires, who only ask that Rotarians bring a $15 gift for both a boy and girl to be donated to the J.P. Hall Children’s Charities for the annual toy giveaway. Thank you, Margaret and Kyle. We appreciate your kindness. (To see more photos, click on the gallery above.)
posted
Dec 23, 2008 by Lamar Thames
