Beech Tree News Network

I am sure you’ve heard or read about our “aging population” trends.  Population aging occurs when the median age of a country or region rises. This usually happens because of rising life expectancy and/or declining birth rates.

Greg Boyington (Col. Gregory Boyington, USMC, ret. . . deceased), said he was never mistreated badly by the Japanese guards who could speak English. It was the illiterate and the ignorant who were brutal. That's interesting but not surprising. Eric Hoffer once wrote, "The unintelligent are often frustrated with their own shallowness, therefore they lash out at others."

Boyington, famous for the Marine Black Sheep squadron he commanded in the Pacific in World War Two, was shot down and taken prisoner by the Japanese near the island of New Britain in the South Pacific.

Personal Legend: With no exception, every time I’ve ever shown a baby or toddler his or her face in the mirror, the response has been the same: sheer delight.  Children are so excited by their own reflections, and not in a narcissistic way.  They like what they see.  Their self-view has not yet been tainted by those around them.  They, themselves, set the standard by which they are measured, and it will be one of the few times in their lives that they truly measure up.

I'm sitting in my living room right now.  I have the luxury of a live baseball game happening in front of me. Mac is the pitcher and Tucker is up to bat. Of course I'm not crazy! The ball is a plastic, like the ones in a ball pit. The bat is none other than a drumstick! 

Many objects mimic the role of what should be the real things at our house. I've seen socks rolled into a ball,  shoes on hands turn you into a big bad wolf, pillows and blankets become forts, and the stairs become a slide. These are just a few of the ideas that my three year old can come up with.

“Where do you draw the line?”

Rep. Mike Harmon, R-Danville, posed that question to statewide smoking-ban proponents on KET’s final “Kentucky Tonight” show of the year.

It’s the right question. It’s also one that those who baptize themselves in waters of government nanny-ism have little interest in discussing.

Harmon pressed the issue with activist Betsy Janes, who’s employed by the American Lung Association and who lacks aversion to any proposed government regulation deemed as “protecting our health.”

Do you make New Year’s resolutions? I used to make them, but found that by March the resolution had been forgotten; so, I quit making them. Many people have more fortitude than I have, and their resolutions make a difference in their lives.

A New Year’s resolution is usually a commitment an individual makes to one or more goals, projects, or a change of habit that a person desires to accomplish in the coming year. The resolution is generally an effort to improve in some way. Examples of resolutions might be to quit smoking, to lose weight, or to pay off a debt.

Every now and then I hear stuff, mostly on TV, that doesn't even come close to the edge of common sense. Recently I heard the phrase, ". . . component of my ultimate privacy . . ." Here's another (some grad-school student in psychology undoubtedly came up with this one), "It's not the things we have that count; it's the memories we create with them." If any of you out there in www.com-land can unriddle this, please let me hear.

Discovery: My friend, John, came out with his metal detector in hand today.  It’s his latest hobby—finding hidden things.  I directed him to a couple of promising spots on my farm and told him to have at it.  He returned with a small bag of bottle caps, pieces of broken implements, and rusted nails—stuff that I won’t have to worry about becoming lodged in my flip flop on my next trek across the farm—but no treasure.

The last holiday of this year is upon us. I, like many others, reflect back make mental notes of how to improve in the new year ahead. New Years resolutions are fun, exciting, and inspirational to talk about. We want to eat less, love more...spend less, save more and so on. So often I think we start out with great intentions and then somewhere along the way we stop. We miss exercising one day or we go over budget. At that moment we will often throw in the towel. We have to ask our self this question, "How much did that resolution really mean to us if one mistake causes us to quit?"

Where in the world has this  year gone? I can't believe the next time I submit a photo of the week, it will be 2012. What a great year 2011 has been, not only personally but also professionally. So many opportunities presented themselves this year and I am so thankful for that. I know 2012 will be even better and more prosperous. I have so many plans for Lazi Daze Photography, a years worth already in the planning :)