Beech Tree News Network

Timing Is Nothing: Last Wednesday, I stood in the mud, holding an umbrella over my already-soaked body, watching my husband, Garey, lower a backhoe bucket over a wall of dirt, just above a concrete footer.  I was his extra pair of eyeballs.  That’s what he said I was anyway.  

Christmas 2011 -- Birth of a New Tradition:  As the holidays approach, the giant Asian factories are kicking into high gear to provide Americans with monstrous piles of cheaply produced goods --merchandise that has been produced at the expense of American labor. This year will be different. This year Americans will give the gift of genuine concern for other Americans. There is no longer an excuse that, at gift giving time, nothing can be found that is produced by American hands. Yes there is!

It’s the time of year when many of us begin to think about comfort foods and our favorite holiday dishes. Having recently been counseled by my physician, I am trying to make exercise a habit in my life and to choose healthier foods. Sounds easy, doesn’t it?

With Veterans’ Day coming up, how does one begin to say that which needs be said about the men and women who have fought our wars? There are no words that suffice, no éclat’s enough, no medals tucked away in some drawyer or a headstone in some cemetery---these can remind, but not recompense.
Perhaps Britain’s Churchill came pretty close when he said about his own forces, “Never have so many owed so much to so few.”

Reflection: My best friend is a guy, and yes, I know that’s a bit unorthodox.  People always say that you can’t pick your family.  I believe, in some instances, you can’t pick your friends.  They show up, attach themselves to you, and walk with you until you’ve learned what they can teach you.  I have a lithograph hanging in my living room that says, What we have learned from others becomes our own by reflection.  That is very true of mine and John’s friendship.  

I sure hope everyone is getting out and enjoying these beautiful colors of fall. I've kept the roads hot and my camera smoking the last few weeks. There's so many gorgeous colors and I want to capture all I can. We're so blessed to be able to experience such a beautiful season.
Just a very weeks until Thanksgiving. Wow, where does time go? But lets not wait until Thanksgiving to give thanks, it's something that should be practiced on a daily basis.
Have a wonderful week everyone and be sure to take time to stop and smell the roses.
 

Halloween is over, and I’m not sad. This holiday is not my favorite even though the decorative colors are pretty. I don’t dislike Halloween, but I also don’t look forward to it. Many people celebrate Halloween by trick-or-treating, attending costume parties, visiting haunted houses, and watching horror movies. As a child, I trick-or-treated; my children also trick-or-treated; and now, my grandchildren trick-or-treat. Children like to dress up, and they like candy. So, Halloween is a popular holiday.

“…how you brush my hair as you pass my chair, little things mean a lot…”, go part of the words to an old popular love song.
Back when they fought wars on horseback, some general was supposed to have lamented: “… but for the lack of a horse shoe nail, but for the lack of a horse shoe, but for the lack of a horse, the battle was lost.” Little things.
Even something as little as a button can be VERY significant.  Hold that thought.

There: Today, I said to God the thing I often say to God on a disappointing day: “I just wish I could get there.”  I don’t know where there is exactly, and I even suspect that, on some level, I am there, which would be even more disappointing, because I don’t want here to be there.

America has declared war on terrorism and enemies of political freedom around the world. Perhaps it’s time to declare war on Marxist ideas that threaten our economic independence here at home.

Let’s begin with the class-warfare campaign led by President Obama and embraced by those who sop up his leftwing ideological gumbo, including Elizabeth Warren, who’s campaigning for a U.S. Senate seat in Massachusetts.