Beginning the Livnig Room Series

25 Nov 2018 4 Comments

by John P.Schulz in the living room series, Uncategorized Tags: , , ,

I began writing a series on the lost living room and its re-awakening. I was asked to put it on a more public platform, so here it is. I will try for frequent postings as long as I feel like it. If you will subscribe to the site you will get daily notifications. The following article is not the first of teh series but I will catch it up as time goes by Please share at will. Thanks, John

The Thanksgiving Fire

I said, “Bob, You’re a lot older than I am. I’ll build the fire.”
He replied, “You’re a whippersnapper, John. You don’t build a fire, you ‘lay it on.” He paused while he walked to the bookcase and got his special matches.
“John, can you lay on a fire that will start with one match?”
I thought about it, “Most of the time.”
He looked at me seriously, “Most of the time ain’t good enough. A well-laid fire will start with one match. Every time. I’m 92 years old and I’ve been laying on fires for many years. I’ll light the fire, you have my permission to bring in the wood. Get it from the dry stack by the kitchen door.”

Now, not many people can call me a whippersnapper, and I don’t haul wood for just anybody, but, since I was only 73 and the youngest man in the room, I went for the wood.
I watched as he laid on the fire. He has turned the task into an art form. He worked slowly and carefully. And he lit it with one match.

The living room is where you find it,
Rules of decorum and respect apply,
And you create your own nostalgia.
dekie dad fire thanksgiving

Should I Ever Grow Up…

23 Oct 2015 2 Comments

by John P.Schulz in inspirational quotes, quotes, quotes and notes Tags: , , , , , ,

Quotes and Notes, #353 October 23

My Old Man was a mixture of adulthood and childishness. So am I.

My Old Man was a mixture of adulthood and childishness. So am I.

“My old man said when it’s time to be counted, the important thing is to be man enough to stand up.”—Robert A. Heinlein, “Between Planets”—

“As I approve of a youth that has something of the old man in him, so I am no less pleased with an old man that has something of the youth. He that follows this rule may be old in body, but can never be so in mind”.—Marcus Tullius Cicero—

My dad only wore shorts occasionally—when he went to the beach. On those occasions, he also wore his shined wing-tip shoes with black socks.

My old man would sometimes counteract his maturity by singing old Navy songs in his beautiful deep voice. He could go all the way down with “Many brave hearts are asleep in the deep, so be e e e ware.” Then he would change the tone and sing the one I remember best,

“Whoopsie doodle, I’m off my noodle, I threw my truss away.
My rupture’s gone, my rupture’s gone.”

He told me to stand up straight and to hold my shoulders back. He taught me to shake hands properly. He taught me to like snacks—cheese crackers (sometimes limburger which stank), pickled herring and M&Ms. I never saw him eat ice cream out of the carton by the handful—I got that from my mother.

So I will stand up to be counted. I will also borrow a small kid’s yo yo and show him how to do “Around the world” and “rock the cradle” with it.

I’m noticing that when I share a smile at the grocery store, the recipient seems to be delighted. This makes me happy.
Remember, You are the only you in the world.
Everything is going to be all right.

John P. Schulz—“Sweetie Drives on Chemo Days.”

Can You be Just a Little Bit Patient?

23 Jul 2015 Leave a comment

by John P.Schulz in quotes, quotes and notes Tags: , , , ,

Quotes and Notes #261, July 23, 2015

A fish waits patiently for its snack

A fish waits patiently for its snack

“Patience is power.
Patience is not an absence of action;
Rather it is ‘timing.’
It waits on the right time to act,
For the right principles
And in the right way.”—Fulton J. Sheen

The fish waits for his snack. The snack is patiently flying around looking for just the right place to land softly on the water. Things work out.

I have grown many plants. Once, when I was 25 years old, I was talking to an old man of 70. We talked about getting seeds for a rare plant and I remarked, “There’s not much sense in that because it will be five years before we get a mature specimen.” The old man smiled and said, “In that case, we had better get started.” We planted the seed and patiently waited. I don’t even remember what the plant was but I do remember the lesson. I will be 70 soon.

Be patient. Share a smile with those who don’t understand
Everything is going to be all right.
John P. Schulz—“Sweetie Drives on Chemo Days.”

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