Mark Stratton's Blog: AGGASPLETCH, page 13

30 Days of Thanks – Several Days in a Row

I keep thinking I’ll “get on track” but it seems it isn’t going to happen…oh well, I’ll keep plugging along.

I am thankful for Rational Thought. Those people who have the ability to think something through without letting emotional reactions clutter the process, who can see the truth or heart of something and look at that in a more objective fashion. As most of us tend to react to things (politics, family issues, work problems, etc) with a heavy dose of emotion in the mix, it can cloud the sol...

30 Days of Thanks – Days 9-11

It seems somewhat appropriate to me that as I have missed a few days I should be grateful for Second Chances.

If it weren’t for Second Chances I honestly don’t know where I’d be right now. I mean, at one point (or more) in my life I’ve hurt and caused problems for most every member of my family with my antics or poor choices. I missed out on a lot of Life with many people because I thought I was more than I was.

Yet, God in His Grace has not only forgiven me but has expressed his Grace in my li...

30 Days of Thanks – Day 8

I am thankful for sunshine. Sounds cheesy and corny and the stuff of bad pop songs, but there it is.

Sunlight illuminates far better than any electric lamp yet created, warmer and less ambiguous. Sunshine can and does reflect off certain surfaces blinding one for a moment or longer, and for that I am thankful as well. It makes for a challenge to see what is truly there, what is lurking or hiding and hidden behind the glare. Sunlight teaches patience because eventually the sun sets and vision c...

Thank You – Day 7

It stands to reason that as grateful and thankful for the Right to Vote as I was yesterday, that this day I am well and truly grateful for the election of 2012 being over, except for the shouting and mouthing off. We will actually get a few blessed days off then the rancor, partisanship, bluster, b.s., and bloviating will resume.

Oh, and we’ll look ahead to 2016….

So yeah, Viva La Voting….and Viva Le Election Being Over!

Thank You – Day 6

Today’s thanks should be fairly obvious: The Right to Vote

I was raised believing that Voting wasn’t so much as a Right, but a Civic Duty. An obligation akin to paying taxes and obeying the laws. By voting, we participate. By participating, you have a stake in your community. When everyone has a stake in your community, the community wins.

Go and vote. I did. Now, it’s your turn.

Thank You – Day 5

It’s not that I wasn’t thankful Saturday and Sunday, I was just lazy, lazy, lazy and didn’t bother to type anything up…

Today, I am grateful for and thankful for rain. That’s right, Rain.

We suffered a horrid drought this summer. Day after day of no rain, high temperatures, and more no rain. We moved into our house in the middle of June. I didn’t mow the grass the first time until September. And then, it was only a couple of patches. We lost 4 trees to the drought. One oak and three spruce tree...

Thank You – Day 2

Today, I am thankful for being able to rake acorns. It seems such a silly thing to be grateful for, but I am. We have a house that is new to us, and a large Oak Tree that stands at the corner of the lot. There are several years of acorns that have gathered and they are to the point where they are choking out the grass.

So, I rake acorns. I sweat a bit, I breath outside air for a bit, I am sore when I am finished. I have something to show for my efforts. I rake acorns gratefully.

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This is part...

Thank You – Day 1

Jesus
My wife
My daughter
Home
the four tins of Tazo tea that showed up in the mail unexpectedly yesterday

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This is part of 30 Days of Thanks created by Amanda over atMe, my dogs, my life Every day throughout the month of November we will post something we are thankful for.

I hope you’ll join us! If you are on Twitter, use the hashtag #30daysofthanks

The Politics of Facebook

One of the downsides to Facebook, and online life in general these days is the signal to noise ratio of politcal blather. It’s everywhere. From the security of our keyboards (and hey, I could very well be naked while typing this…) we read, post, share, and feign outrage at people taking offense to the meme’s and outright drivel we post all over the place like it’s so much electric graffitti.

Color me guilty as charged. (or colour if you’re from a Commonwealth country)

Today, I reacted to someth...

I turned around and it were a Poe-Em…who knowed, right?

When people know you write poetry, whether it’s bad, good or indifferent (which is probably the worst kind) things you post on FB or elsewhere can be mistaken for poetry. Because, poetry! And bacon! (which is poetic pork…but I daydream digress). I posted this on FB this morning:

Blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah,
blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah,
blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah...