Outlook

Hello, hello, to all of you dear and special folks who are now scanning the Richland Beacon News for whatever is offered for this week.  And, I can hardly believe that I am writing for the fourth time for this month and there is still one more week after this before the month of April will close out.  That is sort of fascinating to me.  As you readers may surmise, I do have a kind of fascination with the calendar as to how the days of each month fall with some of the months having three or four complete weeks (from Sunday through Saturday) and other months will begin with one or two days at the beginning of the first week and end with only two or three days in the last week of that month. Anyway, I do enjoy scanning over a calendar through the twelve months just to see what kind of pattern is shown in the spacing of the days and weeks, etc......

So, we are still in this lovely month of April and the weather has been fairly nice with some rain a time or two; but nothing too bad.  I have been enjoying getting out in the late afternoon for a long walk with my little dog, “Cookie” who prances along on her leash and leads the way.  The trees have all leafed out in lovely shades of green leaves; but, I still have plenty of brown leavers on the ground to rake up.  Oh, well, I will just consider that as more good exercise for me in my older days of life.  Yes, I do admit to having been around for several years; but, I intend to keep on enjoying life as long as I live.  Oh, yes, indeed..........

CHUCKLE #1 - “What’s this I hear about your little sister being sick in bed, Jackie?” inquired a neighbor of the small boy.  “Aw, it ain’t much,” answered Jackie.  “We were just playin’ a game to see who could lean out of the window the farthest, an’ she won.”     ???

So, this month is moving on right along and I am most thankful to be moving on with it.  And, if all goes well, I will be writing another column on the last Monday of this month and it will be printed on April 30th.  Wow!! That adds up to five columns being printed in one month.  Oh, yes, I do enjoy fooling around with the calendar and the way the days fall in each month.  Young folks probably don’t understand how we older folks feel about the passage of time; but, they will learn as they grow older.  Oh, yes, that’s the way it seems to work out......

The month of April will always be special to me for many reasons which I have stated before - such as my having been married in that month many years ago.  And, I came to live and work in Rayville on the first day of April in 1949 and that has been a while back.  I worked as a secretary for several years here in three different government offices and my husband and I owned and operated a dry-cleaning business for about ten years.  And, after that, we had an Army Surplus store over on the east side of town for several years.  But, I have been completely retired for a long time now and I am quite content with that status.  I do enjoy reading very much and I scan my newspaper faithfully every day.  And, I like to watch some of the television programs  during the day and into the evening hours.  As, I have said before, it doesn’t take too much to entertain me now.........

So, what is coming up for us in the near future?  I know the children are looking forward to the end of school which I suppose will be sometime in late May.  

The morning schoolbus activity takes place on Mondays through Fridays out in an area close to where my home is located; but I seldom hear it from my bedroom.  So, that is not a problem and I am thankful because it could be much worse.  Oh, yes.....

CHUCKLE #2 - The army was holding maneuvers in Texas near the Davis Mountains when one of the guys came drifting down out of the sky into their camp and he landed with a bump.  Slightly bruised and cut-up, he was taken to the commanding officer who commented, “You have really got nerve. son, to come down in a parachute with this 100-mile wind blowing.  You might have been killed.”

“Oh, I didn’t come down in a parachute, sir,” replied the soldier.  “I went up in a tent.”     ????  (I do think that would make a difference......Oh, yes......)

As we go through this month I plan to just keep on with my same routine.  I don’t know of any better way and I am not hard to please....I like the simple way of life that doesn’t call for much planning ahead.  I don’t believe I could stand the pressure of a strictly ordered life.  It is just wonderful to wake up each morning and feel free to do whatever I please.  And, I do try to vary my daily activity somewhat from time to time.  It seems to be working out pretty well.  Oh, yes.......

Folks are still having birthdays and I have a few to list this week and they are as follows: Don Stovall on 4/23; Jessica Greer, Sharon Gibson, Stephen Dupont and Tonya Childress on 4/25 and for Nona Garner on 4/29.  We wish all of these birthday folks a most happy celebration of their special day and hope they will have many, many more in the years ahead.  Oh, yes, indeed.......

And that will bring another Outlook effort to a close for one more week.  I hope you folks find something of interest as you read through this week’s column.  I do hope to meet all of you next week in the same way, time and place, etc.  Oh, yes......

PARTING THOUGHT:   A real friend is the one who walks in when the rest of the world walks out. ?? Yes, indeed.....