"Don't cry when your children leave because they're coming back and bringing more with them."
― Jerry Clower

My Southern Influence

A Brief History

My Southern Influence has served me well. The South is a different country. If you haven't been to the South, you owe it to yourself to pay a visit. If you can become accustomed to the language, heat, humidity, and friendliness of the people, you might enjoy your visit.

Let's go to the South is what you hear, but I've never heard let's go to the North. It's just understood that anything south of the Mason-Dixon is just plain out of the South. I left the South in 1976 and returned in 1996, having served and retired from the Air Force. I traveled all over, but memories and family drew me back to the South.

Born and raised in the Deep South, I never understood Jim Crow. I didn't understand what Jim Crow was as a kid, but later in life, I understood. The conditions that black folk lived through shocked me. It's hard to fathom now because life is sacred and racism is a bad thing.

Black history abounds throughout the South. It is nowhere clearer than in the foods eaten, still today, and still recognized as a Southern subsistence not only among blacks but also whites.

Soul Food is pig's nose, pig feet, sow belly, pigtails, collard greens, and a lot more. If you were a black person living in the South (not that long ago) you ate Soul Food because the conditions black folk lived through forced the diet upon them. These days it serves as a remembrance of what life was like for black people, and I don't mean just under Jim Crow laws but throughout their lives before and after Jim Crow.

Boredom

I DEFINITELY NEED SOME

Boredom, we all experience it from time to time. It's caused by not having anything particular to do. While I'm not always doing something worth mentioning, I do always try to have something particular on my mind. I can see someone living in an apartment not having anything to do. I mean, there is no grass, bushes, trees, etc. to keep up. But I have all of those and lots more stuff to keep me busy. I have way too much to do.

I mean, I need boredom in my life. I would call it taking things easy. The only reason I ever thought about boredom in the past was that my four kids reminded me of it daily. They're grown now, but it used to be "Dad, I'm bored!!!" My response was to always find them something awful to do. "Pick up all the sticks in the yard. Now, are you still bored? Because if you are, I've got some dreadful stuff you can all do. Now go look up the word boredom in the dictionary and see what it means, then figure out a way to keep from getting bored." And, you know what, it never worked. My son never got bored because I always had him doing an important task around the house- those things I didn't want to do. But my three girls, well, you study on that for a minute.

My four grandkids haven't figured out what boredom is yet. But it's coming, and I'm glad I'm not the one who has to break it to them. What a sorry day that will be. "Grandpa, I'm bored - I have nothing to do - what can I do?" LOL, well, my grandchild ..... the apple of my eye, grandpa has stuff that only you can do.

My Simple Life Existence

I live a simple existence. I live by myself; the kids grew up and moved away, so I do whatever I do, and it's hobbies, of which I have a few.

The most important thing one should do is stay healthy. Or as healthy as you can be. I go to the doctor for a checkup once a year. And other than that, I never think about my health.

I think the biggest thing that affects health is knowing your age. We are so accustomed to thinking about age that it affects the way we think regarding health. We think a 90-year-old person will die soon. If we didn't know the age, we wouldn't have a reason to think about it. I'm 72, and I would never think about my age if people stopped reminding me. I don't relate my age to my health. When I was 42, I retired from the Air Force, and I feel healthier today than I did years ago. I walk 10 miles a day on my treadmill. I weigh 180 pounds and eat healthy.

As I stated, I do whatever I do. I sleep when I'm asleep; I get out of bed when I get out. Whatever I do just happens; I never think about what I will do. It's simpler that way. When visiting one of the kids, I go when I go and stay until I leave. I don't wear a watch and seldom ask what time it is.

I live life as I live it. My oldest daughter lives next to me, and she and her husband both work. In the afternoons during the week, my oldest granddaughter comes over when she gets out of school. She's here when she's here, and leaves when she leaves.

If more people lived like I do or could live as I do, I think there would be less stress in life. My youngest daughter and her husband had their first child. I was at the hospital and waited until the new grandbaby was born, and he was born when he was born. I went to the room where my daughter was, and I went when I went. I left the hospital when I left and arrived home when I arrived.

Life just can't get any simpler.

Our Inner Selves

A Quest to Discover Our Soul, Inner Peace, and

The Concept of Thought

"Negativity is the result of a limited mind." I've heard the saying before but can't remember where, so I'll say I dreamed it. Our negative thoughts impede any form of cognitive thinking. Everyone has tried to think of something or someone but couldn't. Then when you weren't even trying, it popped into your head?

My mind is always scheming and seeking something to draw my attention. And when it's full of thoughts on things that aren't worth wasting a thought on - I have to stop and try to free it up so I can sort out the important from the frivolous.

It's said our minds form two different thought processes. I call them 'trying hard' to remember something and "letting the brain work" on its own. Taking an exam on a difficult topic we're not familiar with causes us to ponder too much and choose the wrong answer. While reading an enjoyable book is one way to relax, not much thought goes into it. When I get into a book, I'm not concentrating on every word but on the storyline. I'm relaxed and don't have to consider what I'm doing; it's just natural.