The Present Moment: America's Most Precious Resource

I officiated my first wedding this past Saturday night. The couple, Deb and Steven, got engaged on my carriage about six months ago and after all the oohing and ahhing, I mentioned that I was thinking about getting ordained to perform marriages. Well, they called me and asked me to officiate at their wedding at the end of October, so I became ordained and am now a Spiritual Minister. (I've been walking around laying my hands on the shoulders of my friends and telling them they have had the laying on of hands. Come to think of it, most of them probably have no idea what I'm talking about because that is a bit of a Catholic thing, if I'm not mistaken. It's been a while).Anyway, I  offered for us to trailer a horse and carriage out to the county where they lived for the wedding and they were excited. So, we brought Bonnie, one of only two Clydesdales downtown and who I drove for four and a half years and a big, ole Cinderella carriage and headed out of the city. It was a welcome change from the regular attempted solicitation of rides all night. The wedding got started about thirty minutes late but it was so beautiful out in Tipton county; the Mississippi River was about a mile away and in between was what I think is called a flood plain. It was behind the house and, in fact, in front of which I stood to marry these lovebirds, and from where we were, it was a humongous bluff. Looking out, you saw the tops of the very tall trees and beyond that was the bird's eye view of an October patchwork of countryside; fields and fields of varying colors as far as the river. It was stunning, though windy and as the sun went down, colder. The bride had told me she was wearing a strapless dress so I debating taking my overcoat off, which was the only thing keeping me from shivering.The plan was a short carriage ride up to the sunset wedding site with all the bridesmaids and the bride. I figured I would wear the coat till I got to the sit and take it off while doing the ceremony. I didn't want to look all bulked up and wintery when the bride is standing there in a light dress. However, my trailer reservation partner, Tim, said,"Y'now, sometimes you have to look out for number one." I agreed and left my coat on, covering up the outfit I had spent time putting together but I was so glad I did because it only got colder as the sun went down and I still shivered a little during the ceremony. It was so beautiful to be standing so close to the two people that all the other people had so willingly and happily come from far and wide to be witnesses to the beginning of their marriage. I am a big fan of marriage (though a child of divorce after 24 years)- I  am a very happily married woman!  When I was younger, it seemed like not very many people in this country were religious. That has changed these days and I am glad it has because it offers me the opportunity to be involved in weddings without being a planner. But I still get to be involved in it and I loved it. I was surprised how moved I was by the excitement and I was right in the thick of it, so it was total fun. Wished them a happy, healthy, long marriage and we loaded Bonnie back up and set off for Downtown. Can't wait for the next one, I hope it's soon! Until later, stay well. :)

And Now For Something Completely Different...

Whether you think Obama is a socialist or not, I have one reason why a one-world government, which, correct me if I am wrong, is a very close relative of socialism, is such a disastrous idea: c. Say there was a one-world government and it fell into the wrong hands. Say they were evil hands and don't try to tell me that it couldn't happen because obviously, governments can fall into the wrong hands. Say the world fell into the wrong hands and someone decided that they were sick and tired of humans and all our constant whining about wanting peace, harmony, human and civil rights and just decided to, for instance, let the world get as bad as it can and we all kill each other off. Then they create a whole new strain of human- clones. And while they are in there messing around with human DNA, they make a few alterations, creating beings to their liking. I would think that a cloned human would have a justified feeling of innate separatism, an ingrained notion of being not of God, not of nature. And rightly so, they would not be of nature or God. So you get rid of all the people and repopulate with clones and bingo- no more problems. Factories run for 14 hours a day without complaint, the environment becomes whatever the powers that be want it to be, without complaint, the work force become human-like beings that consider themselves robots. And the few at the top, the remaining actual humans, go about their days, happy as clams, rich as can be and just not giving a rat's ass. That is just one reason a one-world government is such a bad idea. That and the fact that there would be no where to run. If something happened and you had to run with your family, there would be no where to go, no where to hide. Can you imagine? Good God.

Magic Beer

There is a guy sitting at a bar and he tells the bartender he wants a Magic Beer. The bartender serves him up one and the guy drinks it down then gets up and flies around the room several times. A woman witnesses this and tells the bartender she wants a Magic Beer, too. "Hell, make it two!", she tells him. She downs both beers, goes outside, finds the tallest building, leaps off of it and SMACK, hits the ground and dies.
The bartender looks at the Magic Beer guy and says,"Y'now, you can be a real asshole when you're drunk, Superman!"
:)

Everyone has a philosophy, right?

Well, I am officially a bad, bad blogger. I mean so well by this blog. I think about it a lot but I haven't had a blog in a long time and am clearing out space for this blog so it can grow. This blog needs to mature, it needs to express, it needs carriage rides! This time of year, they grow scarcer and scarcer, so I got a part time job to go along with my dwindling carriage rides. Autumn is also the time of year that rejection takes on a whole new meaning on the carriage line. When you ask people if they want a carriage ride and it's cold out, they look at you like you asked for a kidney. No preface, just desperate,"Hey, man- you! Hey, can you donate a kidney to me, man? I really need it and I'd really appreciate it!" They rush away from you like you were homeless and annoying. Unless the people you solicited are from Northern Climes or drunk, in which case a big blanket is enough incentive for a cooler ride. The fun is just getting started here in Memphis as we've had a few November days here recently, one of which I got to drive in, in the rain. Perhaps this blog will create room for lots of sanity for a carriage driver in the winter in a city where we have agreed there must be carriages on the street 365 days a year, unlike the companies I've seen online. They work Saturdays in the colder months. Not us, no, not one December birthday nor February anniversary will go without it's carriage ride, not here in Memphis, no sir. No, here in Memphis, we carriage drivers take care of our citizens! We make sure that  ''Im sorry', 'I love you',  or 'I miss you' are a little more meaningful and and 'I would love a carriage ride!!', a desire fulfilled.

Concentration and mental toughness are the margins of victory. 

-Bill Russell

Until next time.

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