Hodgepodge

Yay! It's Hodgepodge time again and we're strumming along about guitars and thoughts of retirement! You can join in the fun right here with Joyce and the others.

1. What does retirement mean to you? Are you planning for it, not thinking about it, looking forward to it, or dreading it?

I'm living it! And have been for the last 6 years. It has been somewhat as expected, along with some surprises along the way. I think we wondered whether we would get on each others' nerves, but that hasn't been a problem at all. We have done some traveling, enjoyed grandkids, dealt with health issues in-between, life being more flexible, less structure, and always wanting to be sure not to waste these precious days. 

2. It's International Guitar Month...do you play? Does anyone in your family play? What's a song you especially like to hear played on the guitar or a favorite song featuring the guitar?

I took guitar lessons many years ago when my husband and I had aspirations of becoming the Sonny and Cher of bluegrass. (He was taking banjo lessons.) Big LOL! 

Practicing and outfitted in my

Let's Go to Luckenbach, Texas shirt

It was fun taking lessons, but I never excelled and lesson times transitioned into enjoyable visits with the instructor. Having to cut my long fingernails and having callouses form on my fingers were also a problem. Dolly Parton's ability to play guitar and banjo with her extremely long nails amazes me. My nephew plays guitar and my sister-in-law plays ukulele. Willie Nelson is a personal favorite of mine and I love to watch the guitar players at our church as they so enthusiastically lead in worship. Another favorite is Buddy Greene playing guitar and singing I Don't Belong (Sojourner's Song). 

It's not home 

Where men sell their souls 

And the taste of power is sweet 

Where wrong is right 

And neighbors fight 

While the hungry are dyin' in the streets 

Where kids are abused 

And women are used 

And the weak are crushed by the strong 

Nations gone mad 

Jesus is sad 

And I don't belong 

I don't belong 

And I'm going someday 

Home to my own native land 

I don't belong 

And it seems like I hear 

The sound of a "welcome home" band 

I don't belong 

I'm a foreigner here 

Singing a sojourner's song 

I've always known 

This place ain't home 

And I don't belong 

3. What's your comfort food?

Gimme some beans and cornbread topped with cottage cheese and ketchup, with fried potatoes and onions, and fresh home grown tomatoes on the side. That is truly a messy plate full of delicious!

4. What's one activity or area of your life where you absolutely never procrastinate?

When I was working, I may have driven some of my co-workers crazy trying to stay ahead of deadlines rather than wait until the last minute. Unfortunately, the people I worked with worked best at the last minute. I am also a stickler about being on time for appointments or commitments so I don't procrastinate about getting ready. 

5. Who does the grocery shopping in your house? Does your local store bag the groceries for you or is it a do-it-yourself kind of place? Do you like someone packing your groceries?

I do the shopping. DH drops me at the door, waits in the car, and then meets me at the door and helps unload when we get home. I learned a long time ago I am more efficient and only buy what is needed (most of the time, that is.) I shop at Kroger's and they bag the groceries for me. Seldom do I say anything about the way they bag, however, some checkers put more thought into it than others. The other day, a young lady bagging up my groceries informed me that all the glass bottles were in one bag. Really? Please don't do that. 

Does anyone remember the days when the sacker not only bagged your groceries, but also escorted you to your car and loaded the groceries for you, then took back the cart?

6. What's the coolest thing you've seen in nature?

The first thought that comes to me is birth - is there any other miracle like it? Other than that, I think I've seen so much in nature that is amazing, glaciers cracking in Alaska, whales breaching, waterfalls, lightning striking the ground by the lake with flashes of fire rising from it. Nature is full of cool things. Wish I could think of more because I know I've been in awe many times. 

7. Share a favorite quote about home.

Home ... Where you treat your friends like family, 

and your family like friends.

8. Insert your own random thought here.

C. S. Lewis said it: "I have found a desire within myself that no experience in this world can satisfy; the most probable explanation is that I was made for another world."

I belong 
To a kingdom of peace 
Where only love is the law 
Where children lead 
And captives are freed 
And God becomes a baby on the straw 
Where dead men live 
And rich men give 
Their kingdoms to buy back a song 
Where sinners like me 
Become royalty 
And we'll all belong 

Yes I belong 
And I'm going someday 
Home to my own native land 
Where I'll belong 
And it seems like I hear 
The sound of a "welcome home" band 
Yes, I'll belong 
No foreigner there 
Singin' a sojourner's song 
I've always known 
I'm going home 
Where I belong 
Yes I've always known 
This place ain't home 
And I don't belong

-Gloria Gaither and Buddy Greene

"[God] has planted eternity in the human heart, 

but even so, people cannot see the whole scope of God’s work 

from beginning to end." 

Ecclesiastes 3:11 NLT