Vol. 6 No. 20
Early Autumn Thoughts
September’s Song By Mrs. Rudy Kathryn Detweiler I love the sun- baked country children, Running wildly in August, and July. And to hear their shouts and laughter, Beneath the bluest sky. With puppy dogs and corn on the cob, And picnics in the sun, And water fights and mud slides, Summer days were such fun.
For a Beautiful Evening: Grandparents’ Wisdom Sometimes, on a beautiful evening, when you are sitting with family around the campfire or fire pit, or just on the porch, you will hear a grandparent say something that really “gets to the heart of the matter”. Here are a few I have heard. Meanness doesn’t just happen overnight. You cannot unsay a cruel word. Every path has a few rocks. Sometimes silence is the best answer. And, as a teacher, my personal favorite to think on: Words that soak into your ears are whispered, not yelled.
Sept. 2, 2015
Once Upon a Canning Time... Exploding Beans By Mrs. Rudy Kathryn Detweiler Years ago, when the children were school age, Rudy and I hitched up the horse and went to a school board meeting. That evening, before we left, I put two canners full of green beans on the stove to coldpack 3 hours. Usually we were home again in a few hours; but after this board meeting, Rudy wanted to go visit Crists Dans, and me, I forgot all about those green beans. A terrible thing happened, the water cooked dry in the canner. Beans exploded all over the kitchen. Glass and beans were sticking to walls and curtains, etc. It was a rude welcome home. But God’s protecting hands were there as one of the children was sleeping in that room on the couch and was never cut or burned. You can guess the rest. I’m glad I was still young enough to clean up!
Paraprosdokians are figures of speech in which the latter part of a sentence or phrase is surprising or unexpected; frequently humorous. (Winston Churchill loved them.)Here are some paraprosdokians to ponder on during those beautiful early autumn evenings. War does not necessarily determine who is right, sometimes it only determines who is left. You’re never too old to learn something stupid. You do not need a parachute to skydive. You only need a parachute to skydive twice. Knowledge is knowing a tomato is a fruit . . . Wisdom is not putting it in a fruit salad. In filling out an application, where it says, ‘In case of emergency, notify …’ shouldn’t you put “DOCTOR”? Going to church doesn’t make you a Christian any more than standing in a workshop makes you a carpenter.
PLAIN PAGES (published in the MiddlefieldPost) Wednesday, Sept. 16 Deadline - Friday, Sept. 4. Next issue: PLAIN COUNTRY - Wednesday, Oct. 14. Deadline - Friday, Oct. 3. See details on page 2.