Editorial
Front Page - Friday, December 31, 2010
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Am I getting old or did 2010 move really fast?
Pettus L. Read
All right, I know it was here just a little while ago, but where did 2010 go to in such a hurry? Did the days of this year really happen one by one as they used to, or with all of this “change” stuff going around up in Washington, did the government figure out some way to speed up the days like Daylight Saving Time or offer the clock and calendar makers a buy-out?
Something must have happened because it seems like this year’s went by so fast that I haven’t had time to re-gift all the gift cards I got last Christmas in time for this year’s celebration. I know with age time does accelerate, but with me lately, it is moving way too fast.
Here we are once again at that time of the year making resolutions that seem very possible to keep, but in all truth, many of us will break them by next week or at least attempt to break by early spring.
But, it is worth the try and sometimes we do succeed on resolutions that do have real meaning. You know, like those about things we have absolutely no control over and wish for others that we know will happen regardless.? A sure thing is always better.
As we close out a very unusual 2010, all of us should still have a lot of hopes and wishes for 2011.
My first resolution will be to not participate in the current 24-hour downer sessions on radio and TV. I will not let the 24-hour news media get me down and will continue with life as I have for the last 62 years, and that is to just take one day at a time. When you get a little down in the mouth, just remember the dog that caught the duck and start spitting out feathers. I also wish our newly-elected leaders the best, as well as our country, and if I can help let me know.
Of course, each year I always wish that everyone has a new seed catalog arrive on the gloomiest day of January, just as they have started a roaring fire in the fireplace. May those catalogs cause us to plan and hope for an early spring and give us the energy to follow through on our planting of some of the most beautiful gardens ever.
Let’s stop sweating the small stuff and enjoy today, because tomorrow will get here soon enough. May we enjoy a snowfall without worrying about the roads and make some snow cream without worrying what’s in the snow. A little fallout never hurt anyone! At least that is what they use to say back in the ’50s and ’60s.
I hope that all of us have an opportunity this year to see a starry nighttime sky without streetlights and other artificial lights present and make a wish on the first star of the evening.??
I hope your weather radio only gives you good reports this year and may the folks on TV let us enjoy a simple thunderstorm without too many warnings from the super duper radar stuff. Maybe we can even open the window to enjoy the smell of the fresh rain as it touches the ground outside.
Hope you can take your shoes off and walk in freshly plowed soil just as spring begins and feel it push up between your toes.? Plant something different in your garden this year just to watch it grow. Make it something you’ve never grown before to add to the adventure of doing something out of the ordinary.
This Fourth of July, take in a community picnic or event avoiding the crowd at the lake. Get to know your neighbors and celebrate our nation’s freedom more than your brother-in-law’s barbeque. Put on a funny Uncle Sam hat and enjoy a community band in the park playing some of those great patriotic tunes that go well with evening fireworks.
I hope you have time to sit in a porch swing, eat out on the front porch and play the game “the next car is yours” as you watch folks come in from work on your street.
May the Tennessee State Fair find a “permanent” home and become the grandest in the nation, at least better than Texas. I hope you support your county fair as well and don’t forget to ride the merry-go-round with someone you love.? Have some cotton candy, a snow cone and let the carney guy guess your age.
I hope 2011 has a fall harvest that fills all our farmer’s bins, we have farm prices spike when they sell and may the colors of the trees on our hillsides be the brightest ever. And, let’s be very thankful this year is not an election year.
May 2011 move as slow as you want it to and as fast as needed.??
Pettus L. Read is Director of Communications for the Tennessee Farm Bureau Federation.? He may be contacted by e-mail at pread@tfbf.com
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