This is a test drive for a Web site devoted to stink bugs. Comments welcome.

Source: http://elementaryteacher.files.wordpress.com/2007/11

One of the joys of being unemployed, besides the obvious, is not to be lorded over anymore. It’s a simple thing, doesn’t take much, just not to be lorded over anymore. That doesn’t mean that I think I’m all that and change, but I do believe that I have some skills and talents that can be used for the good of a small sector of society. And I do believe that I belong here just as much as the next person. I have a mission.

Part of that mission is to be honest here. Forgive my existentialism.

I hate to see kids becoming illiterate because they’re using phonetic abbreviations as they text messages to each other. I wonder what they can possibly learning from that.  Then I remember that we had “slang books” when I was a teenager. What is different from the teenspeak we used then and what teens are doing now? Isn’t it a case of same take, different year? But then I wonder, have these kids ever read To Kill a Mockingbird? Have they ever listened to Maurice Ravel’s Bolero? Have they ever written a letter using proper English and grammar like the average schooled Civil War soldier? Yes, it’s scary. I hope that this new generation (under thirty) will realize what they are losing in knowledge and living experience. Maybe they’ll even miss those brain cells when they’re gone. Like I do.

"Give thanks to the LORD, for he is good; his love endures forever."
                                                                        Psalm 107:1

Have a happy Thanksgiving everybody! Remember all the blessings that God has bestowed on us throughout the year.

Although I lost my job of 23 years, I still have so much to be thankful for. This past year has been a time of learning and growing with the opportunity to take a different road in my career. There have been moments of terror as I face an uncertain future but those moments are tempered with the joy of knowing that God will always provide whatever I need.

George Washington, who gave the first presidential Thanksgiving proclamation in 1789, wrote:

“Now therefore I do recommend and assign Thursday the 26th day of November next to be devoted by the People of these States to the service of that great and glorious Being, who is the beneficent Author of all the good that was, that is, or that will be—That we may then all unite in rendering unto Him our sincere and humble thanks—for His kind care and protection of the People of this Country . . . for the signal and manifold mercies, and the favorable interpositions of his Providence which we experienced in the tranquility, union, and plenty, which we have since enjoyed . . . and also that we may then unite in most humbly offering our prayers and supplications to the great Lord and Ruler of Nations and beseech him to pardon our national and other transgressions."

Be safe, stay calm and love one another.

With the clocks turned back on Saturday, the days are frightfully short. Darkness descends by 5:30 p.m., coming one minute sooner each day until the winter solstice on December 21, the day I look forward to every year. That's when things start to turn around with the daylight slowly increasing until glorious springtime.

Meanwhile, fall is making way for the desolation of winter. I haven't even begun to rake up the leaves yet. But there are still surprises to be found in the garden. While cleaning out the pond and tidying up the backyard, I was amazed to still find beautiful peppers like these in November. The temperatures have remained moderate enough to keep these beauties growing. I don't think the harvest will continue much longer, though, as we are supposed to drop below freezing tonight. I may have to pick the last few and use them to make stuffed peppers this weekend.

And yes, those are the last of the Sweet 100 cherry tomatoes, brought inside green and slowly ripening up for that one last "summer salad."