Parents are wise not to expect to hear that their children appreciate them.  I recently realized that not only do my own children rarely tell me that they appreciate me, I rarely tell my own mother that I appreciate her either!  Sorry, Mom.

Not only do I remember and appreciate so many things she did for me when I was growing up, I still appreciate and value what she contributes to my life today with a kind or supportive word or a bit of advice.  Sometimes she tells me what I need to hear.  She has that right and duty. I value her wisdom and experience.  I do not “argue back.” When you’ve lived that long you just know a whole lot about life and what works and what does not.  One thing I know for sure, no one will ever have your back like your mother does.

Moreover, I admire her.  She continues to learn new things.  Her beautiful handwriting has recently proven difficult, so email is now her preferred mode.  I think even she is surprised that she now considers email to be just fine for thank you notes. And googling is so much faster than pulling out an encyclopedia, the best option these days for inquiring minds.

Of course, like all strong-minded women, we do not agree about everything.  She does not hesitate to ask her daughters all kinds of questions about their lives and thoughts.  I, in contrast, stand way back, not wanting to be thought prying or snoopy.  It’s a risk Mother is willing to take.  She is not fond of superficial relationships.

Another thing I admire is how, during our phone visits, she does not let us lapse into a long recital of our aches and pains —  and people in our age groups surely have our share of them.  We do ask and we do care, but we then move on to more interesting topics.  She taught me a long time ago that, “Good morning. How are you?” is a greeting, a rhetorical question.  The proper answer is, “I’m all right, thank you.  And how are you?”  No one upon a casual meeting wants to hear at length about your recent doctors’ appointments.  Just tell me if you need a ride to your next one, and I’ll be happy to drive you and to talk a bit about hour health and about all the lovely things we see along the way.

And no one encourages and supports me like Mother.  Here she is recently admiring my little book.

Thanks, Mom.

From time to time, I read in the newspaper the names parents have chosen for their newborns.  My personal favorite this morning is “Chandler Elliot.”  His father’s first name is Elliot and Chandler is his mother’s maiden name.  Nice.   My personal unfavorite is Cayjah Crishel.  I have to give the runner-up award to Duhlyla Caydence, and one hardly knows what to say about Princess Elianna Areanna, last name Mendoza.  ( My spell-check thinks we are in the middle of a nightmare.)  At the font, does the minister flinch visibly upon hearing the response to “Name this child.” ?

Not for this real prince, I betcha.

George Alexander Louis.  I wish at school he could asked to be called just Alex, but I suppose he’ll have to go with “sir.”

Would it be possible do you think to revoke Dennis Rodman’s  US passport while he is in North Korea?  Then, perhaps his BFF Kim Jong Un could offer him citizenship and permanent residence there. Nobody much likes him here.

Here, Rodman is having difficulty understanding Korean.   At first, it was mistakenly thought Kim was saying Rodman couldn’t smoke that cigar in here and it nearly caused an international incident. Then it was cleared up and discovered that he was seeking Rodman’s advice regarding tats and piercings.  Whew!  Close call.  Remember what happened to Kim’s uncle recently when they had a misunderstanding.

Kids’ groups in the community were out on their annual fund-raising rounds in the neighborhood this sunny afternoon.  In the past I have generally avoided doing business with the Boy Scouts. I firmly believe that private organizations can pretty much make their own rules so long as they don’t include hazing or lynching, and I can choose to support them or not.  Recently the Boy Scouts have made attempts to be more accepting of all kinds of boys and grown-up boys, so I like them better now.  For $5 they will come by and haul off your Christmas tree.

The older boys and their dads then chip them up and sell them as garden mulch which you can buy back if you want to.

Adorable Claire from next door was out chaperoned by her equally adorable dad taking orders for Girl Scout cookies.  I am a big supporter of the Girl Scouts and of cookies.  Mary and Reiley and I were out front taking a break from gardening when they came by and we each ordered four boxes.  No cookies will be forthcoming for several weeks, but after all the talk, I had to go to the store and buy a box of Lorna Doones.  They’re about as close as you can get to a trefoil.

You can say pretty much anything you want and the government can’t punish you for it.  That’s the First Amendment. Your boss can fire you for what you said if it’s not good for business.  That’s free enterprise.

I am happy to report that I’d never heard of that hirsute person from Louisiana or of his TV program on A&E until they fired him for things he said in an interview with GQ.  Of course, since then, they have re-hired him.  They discovered that pretty much the only folks who watched that show liked the things he said.  Not a bit surprised by that.

Now, of course, trying to fill up airtime 24/7,  media researchers now have uncovered lots  of trivia about that person.  For example, it seems that an old video has surfaced in which he listed the qualities a man should seek in a prospective wife.  For example, she should be 15 or 16 years old.  Now, you can say that in the United States of America, but you sure better not do it!  Is this a great country or what!