Sunday, November 1, 2020
Sunday, September 13, 2020
AUTUMN MY FAVORITE SEASON
Who doesn't enjoy watching the leaves from the trees and plants changing into multi-colored works of art during autumn.
The maple trees are especially vibrant with colors of red and golden-yellow then .
Autumn is the perfect time for taking beautiful scenic photos and spending time outdoors with your family.
In my opinion nothing can relax you and rejuvenate you more than enjoying nature and its surrounding scenery.
When the cooler temperatures of fall start rolling in, we break out the flannel shirts jackets, coats, boots, scarves and hats in preparation for the change in season.
Sunsets are beautiful as the season changes. The glitter of frost or rain from the night before is always a beautiful sight.
Fall was my mother's favorite season.
Her demeanor changed when the weather started getting cooler, as she would spend more and more time outdoors. She had a sense of peace and thankfulness that I hope to convey to those around me.
Of course, we all have different memories scattered throughout different parts of the year, but autumn brings back the best ones for me.
I leave you with this great poem
"The Mist and All"
I like the fall,
The mist & all.
I like the night owl's
Lonely call
And wailing sound
Of wind around.
I like the gray
November day,
And bare, dead boughs
That coldly sway
Against my pane.
I like the rain.
I like to sit
And laugh at it
And tend
My cozy fire a bit.
I like the fall
The mist and all.
—Dixie Willson
Coleman Schell
Saturday, August 8, 2020
Watermelons
Years ago when i was a youngster our family would slice up a home grown watermelon for us to eat when they were in season.
My brothers and sisters and I would eat those slices of watermelon some as wide as our faces; leaning over the grass, while the juices dribbled down our chins and forearms,to spit out the seeds.
I recall the enjoyment we had, being kids but you had to know we weren't going to be content with just eating the melon ; all it took to get a seed spitting fight going was for one of the siblings to spit a seed at one of the others .
The war was on then, I've had my share of seeds down my collar before the seed spitting game would end
Often it would get "what Dad called a little out of hand" and he would have to call a halt to the game.
Which then left us with a few smirks to throw at each other instead of seeds, "with out dad knowing or seeing of course".
Nowadays watermelon is available in a seedless variety, that not only makes for better refined slurping, but on the other hand has put a damper on seed spitting.
I often think back when all the melons we grew were filled with seeds, in fact they had so many seeds you could hardly eat a slice with out raking the seeds off first..
Progress in seed genetics has changed the way melons are grown today, eliminating the little game we used to play "but we sure had fun while the seeds lasted".
August is watermelon Month, you should eat watermelon hardy while they're in season and if a little juice gets on your chin and forearms like it did for us, "so what" watermelons are a healthy wholesome food, and you are supposed to have fun eating them aye.
Coleman Schell
Friday, July 24, 2020
Roastener's
Summer time is the time when you can enjoy tender fresh corn on the cob, glistening with butter and sprinkled with salt.
Growing up in the South, I could hardly wait for sweet corn to produce its first ears in summer.
Our family called sweet corn roastener's, others refer to them as, corn on the cob either way is o.k. I reckon because sweet corn is good no matter how you fix it .
Dad planted his corn patch as close to the house as possible, so he could keep an eye on it, for some reason birds and raccoons loved sweet corn about much as people, and if you weren't careful they would take more than their fair share when it got ripe
Mother liked fixing boiled and fried corn for the family, I for one couldn't get enough,when she made it
She fried corn more often than she boiled it, because her and Dad hadn't many front teeth left by then and it was challenging for them to bit corn from the cob.
Us kids didn't have any problems when we found ourselves face to face with a buttery salted ear of corn, we were much like a type writer zig-zaging back and forth across the ear until it was devoured.
My sister Shirley who is diseased now, learned corn frying form mother and everyone said, Shirley's fried corn was as good as Mother's or maybe even better if that was possible.
Over the years as we had our family get together's Shirley was voted often, to fix her tasty corn for a side dish.
A pan of corn bread.....some fresh green beans with boiled potatoes..... ripe tomatoes.....sliced cucumbers.....fried or boiled corn.....will get your taste buds cranking like no other food on the planet, if you're a country boy like me.
Summer time is the time when you can enjoy tender fresh corn on the cob, glistening with butter and sprinkled with salt.
Growing up in the South, I could hardly wait for sweet corn to produce its first ears in summer.
Our family called sweet corn roastener's, others refer to them as, corn on the cob either way is o.k. I reckon because sweet corn is good no matter how you fix it .
Dad planted his corn patch as close to the house as possible, so he could keep an eye on it, for some reason birds and raccoons loved sweet corn about much as people, and if you weren't careful they would take more than their fair share when it got ripe
Mother liked fixing boiled and fried corn for the family, I for one couldn't get enough,when she made it
She fried corn more often than she boiled it, because her and Dad hadn't many front teeth left by then and it was challenging for them to bit corn from the cob.
Us kids didn't have any problems when we found ourselves face to face with a buttery salted ear of corn, we were much like a type writer zig-zaging back and forth across the ear until it was devoured.
My sister Shirley who is diseased now, learned corn frying form mother and everyone said, Shirley's fried corn was as good as Mother's or maybe even better if that was possible.
Over the years as we had our family get together's Shirley was voted often, to fix her tasty corn for a side dish.
A pan of corn bread.....some fresh green beans with boiled potatoes..... ripe tomatoes.....sliced cucumbers.....fried or boiled corn.....will get your taste buds cranking like no other food on the planet, if you're a country boy like me.
Coleman Schell
Monday, July 20, 2020
Mother's Apron
Most of the time Mother wore an apron at home and I'm pretty sure she learned the habit from her mother, Grandma Parman, who I remember always had on a apron.
In the olden days, women’s dresses were worn more than once before laundering, so a apron was worn to protect the dress, but women found many other uses for their aprons.
In my day women sewed most of their aprons from flour sacks.
I can just see Mother in the kitchen as she gathered up the folds of her apron to pick up handles of hot pans and iron skillets. If the day was particularly hot, she might pull the underside of the apron up and wiped her brow.
Aprons also came in handy as a container for , bringing eggs in from the nests, and a convenient “container” for bringing in vegetables picked in the garden.
After shelling peas and beans, the apron was handy for delivering hulls outside for the hogs and chickens.
If Mother was outside in the hot sunshine she , sometimes pulled the apron from her waist and put it over her head to protection her from the sun.
While sitting on the porch in the cool of the evenings, she'd pull the apron up over her arms to keep them warm, or she might use the apron to wrap up a toddler in her lap to rock it to sleep.
Today we have our handy “wipes” and other fancy cleaning gadgets , to polish the furniture, but with a wave of the apron, Mother could whisk the dust off our meager furniture in a hurry when she saw company coming.
The apron was a hiding place for shy children to get under when company came to visit, I also remember Mother saying a few times, “I’m going to turn you over my apron,” and us kids knew what she meant by that .
Mother's apron dried tears from her children’s eyes, wiped off stains from their faces with a little dampening of spit. The apron pocket served as a place for a handkerchief of some kind for runny noses, a safety pin for emergencies.
Just thinking of Mother and her aprons stir up a few old memories for me, makes me long for another era, another world, another time when life was simple and just a new apron could make a woman happy.
Coleman Schell.
Thursday, June 18, 2020
Dog Days
The period of dog days in Kentucky usually starts around the 1st of July and ends mid- August.
A lot of things change during those days, when I was younger I remember Mother and Dad cautioning us about getting cuts of any kind on our feet, because it was easy for them to get infected, from the polluted and stagnated waters.
You could easily get what they called dew poising walking barefooted through grass in the early mornings, especially if you had any cuts or scratches on your feet.
There were other unusual things about dog days that took place as well; keeping people on edge.
It was said snakes go blind and will strike at anything during that time, and if it rains the first day of the dog day period, it will rain each day afterwards.
If it didn't rain any during dog days, wells could go dry, animals would became more lazy and cantankerous, and in many cases so would humans.
Insects were more plentiful then, Farmers didn't preform any surgery's on animals, or cut their hay during dog days.
Needless to say with all these things going on we were cautious with what we did.
Despite of all the legends and myths of dog days, it seems they did occur each and every year about the same time, and people learned how to endure them .
Coleman Schell
Saturday, June 13, 2020
NOTABLE SUMMER RECOLLECTIONS
When the clouds are gray, overhead and the birds stop their singing; usually foretells that rain is coming.
And when the rain does arrive it can be ,rather sudden.
During those kind of times in Kentucky where I was raised, you would often hear someone calling out, ‘the clothes, the clothes. They are almost dry!’
Such an occasion presented an opportunity for us kid's to sprint to help Mother gather them in before they got wet.
Sometimes rains like these would last all day, making it just the kind of day, barefooted youngster's loved.
Whether the rain was a down pour or a slow one , we didn't mind.
Because a little rain wasn't going to stop us from enjoying the day and getting our bare feet wet while it was raining
We knew the rain would end eventually and that we would need to look for something else to do later.
But for time being instead of honoring the ole saying (work while the Sun is shinning), we played while the rain was raining.
(Catching Lightening Bugs) at night was a perfect thing for a bunch of adventurous kids in the Country to do.
When it got dark after a rain, the fireflies would light up the yard, and that presented a challenge we weren't going to let waist, it was now time to get our Mason jars out (and the palm of your hands ready, to catch as many of them as you could.
Myths- Legends-Folklore about Lightening-bugs were common.
One par-tickler one we'd heard about was, It had been said that Native Americans smeared glowing lightning-bugs on their faces for decoration.
We never tried that one; thank God (but its a wonder we didn't), we did take some of them into the house while they were still in our jars and watch them flicker until we fell asleep.
What simple ways to have fun, and be able to share it with your family and grand children later in life.
Life doesn't have to be complicated someone has said, God gives us all we need to enjoy life; He leaves the fun part up to us.
Coleman Schell
When the clouds are gray, overhead and the birds stop their singing; usually foretells that rain is coming.
And when the rain does arrive it can be ,rather sudden.
During those kind of times in Kentucky where I was raised, you would often hear someone calling out, ‘the clothes, the clothes. They are almost dry!’
Such an occasion presented an opportunity for us kid's to sprint to help Mother gather them in before they got wet.
Sometimes rains like these would last all day, making it just the kind of day, barefooted youngster's loved.
Whether the rain was a down pour or a slow one , we didn't mind.
Because a little rain wasn't going to stop us from enjoying the day and getting our bare feet wet while it was raining
We knew the rain would end eventually and that we would need to look for something else to do later.
But for time being instead of honoring the ole saying (work while the Sun is shinning), we played while the rain was raining.
(Catching Lightening Bugs) at night was a perfect thing for a bunch of adventurous kids in the Country to do.
When it got dark after a rain, the fireflies would light up the yard, and that presented a challenge we weren't going to let waist, it was now time to get our Mason jars out (and the palm of your hands ready, to catch as many of them as you could.
Myths- Legends-Folklore about Lightening-bugs were common.
One par-tickler one we'd heard about was, It had been said that Native Americans smeared glowing lightning-bugs on their faces for decoration.
We never tried that one; thank God (but its a wonder we didn't), we did take some of them into the house while they were still in our jars and watch them flicker until we fell asleep.
What simple ways to have fun, and be able to share it with your family and grand children later in life.
Life doesn't have to be complicated someone has said, God gives us all we need to enjoy life; He leaves the fun part up to us.
Coleman Schell
Laughter is good for the soul.
One night a lady
came home from her weekly prayer meeting, found she was being robbed, and she
shouted out, "Acts 2:38: 'Repent & be baptized & your sins will be
forgiven.'" The robber quickly gave up & the lady rang the police. While
handcuffing the criminal, a policeman said, "Gee mate, you gave up pretty
easily. How come you gave up so quickly?" The robber said, "She said
she had an axe and two 38's!"
Friday, June 12, 2020
Laughter is good for the soul.
Cast away
A man was stranded on a desert island for 20 years
when a navy ship finally spots him. The captain comes ashore and notices three
huts. “What are they used for?” the captain asks.
“Well, the hut one on the left is where I live,” says
the man. “and the one on the right is where I go to church.”
“So what about that hut in the middle?”
The man sneers, “That’s the church I used to
attend!”---Reader's Digest
Thursday, June 11, 2020
Laughter is good for the soul.
A guy spots a sign outside a house that reads “Talking
Dog for Sale.” Intrigued, he walks in.
“So what have you done with your life?” he asks the
dog.
“I’ve led a very full life,” says the dog. “I lived in
the Alps rescuing avalanche victims. Then I served my country in Iraq. And now
I spend my days reading to the residents of a retirement home.”
The guy is flabbergasted. He asks the dog’s owner,
“Why on earth would you want to get rid of an incredible dog like that?”
The owner says, “Because he’s a liar! He never did any
of that!”---Readers Digest
Wednesday, June 10, 2020
Laughter is good for the soul.
God in a parking lot
A man is struggling to find a parking space. “Lord,”
he prays. “I can’t stand this. If you open a space up for me, I swear I’ll give
up the drink and go to mass every Sunday.”
Suddenly, the clouds part and the sun shines on an
empty parking spot. Without hesitation, the man says: “Never mind, I found
one!”---Readers Digest
Tuesday, June 9, 2020
Monday, June 8, 2020
Sunday, June 7, 2020
Saturday, June 6, 2020
Friday, June 5, 2020
Laughter is good for the soul.
TOO MUCH PRAISE
A
Christian guy named Bill saw an ad online for a Christian horse, so he went to
check it out. The horse’s owner said, “It’s easy to ride him. Just say ‘Praise
the Lord!’ to make him go and ‘Amen!’ to make him stop.” Bill got on the horse
and said, “Praise the Lord!” Sure enough, the horse started to walk. “Praise
the Lord!” he said again, and the horse began to trot. “Praise the Lord! Praise
the Lord!” he yelled, and the horse broke into a gallop. Bill was enjoying his
ride so much that he almost didn’t notice the cliff he and the horse were about
to go over. Bill shouted “AMEN!” at the top of his lungs, and the horse stopped
right at the edge of the cliff. Relieved, Bill said, “Phew! Praise the Lord!” —Submitted by Z.S. via rd.com
Thursday, June 4, 2020
Laughter is good for the soul.
There was a preacher
who fell in the ocean and he couldn't swim. When a boat came by, the captain
yelled, "Do you need help, sir?" The preacher calmly said "No,
God will save me." A little later, another boat came by and a fisherman asked,
"Hey, do you need help?" The preacher replied again, "No God
will save me." Eventually the preacher drowned & went to heaven. The
preacher asked God, "Why didn't you save me?" God replied,
"Fool, I sent you two boats!"
Wednesday, June 3, 2020
Tuesday, June 2, 2020
Laughter is good for the soul.
"How do you
know what to say?" she asked.
"Why, God tells
me."
"Oh, then why
do you keep crossing things out?"
Monday, June 1, 2020
PROMISES OF GOD
Romans
1:16 For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ: for it is the
power of God unto salvation to every one that believes; to the Jew first, and also to
the Greek. 17 For in it is the righteousness of God revealed from faith to
faith: as it is written, The just shall live by faith.
Sunday, May 31, 2020
Saturday, May 30, 2020
Laughter is good for the soul.
MARRIAGE AND COFFEE
Shortly after tying the knot, a young married couple
started arguing over who should make the coffee. Being a good Christian woman,
the wife went to the scriptures for her answer. She said that the Bible
specifically stated that men should be the ones to make the coffee.
Puzzled, the husband asked her where in the Bible it
said that. Very confidently, the wife opened up her Bible and said: “It’s right
here—HEBREWS.”
Friday, May 29, 2020
Thursday, May 28, 2020
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