Today I arrived at the Post Office at 4:40…

It closes at 4:30.

I had to post a letter on July 31, 2009.

Jean listened to my reason and then allowed me to get in line behind the other 2 people who arrived AFTER the Post Office officially closes with stories probably similar to mine.  Or not.

I am grateful for people who care about others, even when the others are LATE.

We all have our stories.

Thank you to Jean, and the lady behind the counter, I wrote down her name, and will find the slip of paper somewhere tomorrow, but for now…I just want to say thank you to the USPS.

The Villages have been surrounded by rain clouds, and we have seen the lightning and heard the thunder, but just haven’t had any rain.  The three ponds out back are drying up, the longest one already showing the ground as the water evaporates.  The bigger birds have stopped showing up, I don’t know if it’s the lack of water in the pond, OR the lack of the bird seed the lady over on the other side of the preserve usually puts out to feed them.  She must be up north, because I haven’t seen her and the birds (ducks, too) no longer camp out over there.  But, back to the rain…there hasn’t been any.

So, today I decided to take the golf cart out…the clouds were dark, and the lightning and the thunder were off in the distance…I thought, maybe, if I were in the golf cart a good enough distance from the house, just maybe it might bring on the rain.  Sort of like when you just wash your car and it rains.

IT WORKED!!

But I came home in the dark and so I can’t see if there was enough of a downpour to temporarily fill up the middle pond where the rain from the streets pours in…when that happens the tall grass that is growing in the pond, near the spillway, flattens in the rush.  When the rain stops, the grass returns to it’s upright position and everything returns to normal.

I’ll find out tomorrow.

All of the ponds need some fresh water…even the runoff from the street with the oil and debris mixed in.

With the day light, I could see that the evaporation continues…the grass in the long pond is drying and turning into something that looks like mowed hay…the other two ponds just have deeper banks and the ducks and waterfowl are adapting.  Haven’t seen but one baby (he or she is growing, too) in over a week.

Twinkies and Root Beer

A little boy wanted to meet God.

He knew it was a long trip to where God lived,

so he packed his suitcase with Twinkies and

a six-pack of Root Beer and he started his journey.

When he had gone about three blocks, he met an elderly man.

The man was sitting in the park just feeding some pigeons.

The boy sat down next to him and opened his suitcase.

He was about to take a drink from his root beer when he noticed

that the man looked hungry, so he offered him a Twinkie.

The man gratefully accepted it and smiled at boy.

His smile was so pleasant that the boy wanted to see

it again, so he offered him a root beer.

Again, the man smiled at him. The boy was delighted!

They sat there all afternoon eating and smiling,

but they never said a word.

As it grew dark, the boy realized how

tired he was and he got up to leave,

but before he had gone more than a few steps,

he turned around, ran back to the man,

and gave him a hug.

The man gave him his biggest smile ever.

When the boy opened the door to his

own house a short time later,

his mother was surprised by the look of joy on his face.

She asked him, “What did you do today that made you so happy?

“He replied, “I had lunch with God.”

But before his mother could respond,

he added, “You know what?

God’s got the most beautiful smile I’ve ever seen!”

Meanwhile, the elderly man,

also radiant with joy, returned to his home.

His son was stunned by the

look of peace on his face and he asked,

” Dad, what did you do today that made you so happy?”

He replied, “I ate Twinkies in the park with God.”

However, before his son responded,

he added,” You know, he’s much younger than I expected.”

Too often we underestimate the power of a touch,

a smile, a kind word, a listening ear,

an honest compliment, or the smallest act of caring,

all of which have the potential to turn a life around.

People come into our lives for a reason, a season, or a lifetime.

Embrace all equally!

~author unknown~

A holy man was having a conversation with the Lord one day and said, ‘Lord, I would like to know what Heaven and Hell are like.’  The Lord led the holy man to two doors.  He opened one of the doors and the holy man looked in.  In the middle of the room was a large round table…

In the middle of the table was a large pot of stew, which smelled delicious and made the holy man’s mouth water.  The people sitting around the table were thin and sickly. They appeared to be famished. They were holding spoons with very long handles that were strapped to their arms and each found it possible to reach into the pot of stew and take a spoonful.  But, because the handle was longer than their arms, they could not get the spoons back into their mouths.

The holy man shuddered at the sight of their misery and suffering.

The Lord said, ‘You have seen Hell’.

They went to the next room and opened the door.  It was exactly the same as the first one.  There was the large round table with the large pot of stew which made the holy man’s mouth water. The people were equipped with the same long-handled spoons, but here the people were well nourished and plump,  laughing and talking.

The holy man said, ‘I don’t understand.’

‘It is simple,’ said the Lord. ‘It requires but one skill.  You see, they have learned to feed each other. The greedy think only of themselves.’