Mercy! Mercy! That Dang Nabed PERCY!

Hope Springs Eternal

Hope Springs Eternal

Today we are getting some much needed rain. Alas, it’s too late for the farmers and the corn crop is being ground up for silage. It isn’t a total loss however. The Cows eat silage in good years as well as bad. This year there will be less of it as in past years and no doubt prices will go up but life will go on.

They say that every dark cloud has a silver lining and that is one old proverb with an ounce of truth to it. Adversity often gets us out of our rut in ways that convenience could never provide. To the extent that life changing events light the way to new opportunities, adversity is more a friend than an enemy. I could give some examples but you all know what I’m talking about.

My wife told me this morning that after every bite at the dinner table we need to lay down our utensils and talk to each other… (Maybe not with our mouth’s full.) This, she explains, will allow our body's “full meter” to rise faster than “Chomping and eating like a dog,” which she accuses me of doing. Linda is pretty sly and might be more interested in opening the doors of communication rather than enhancing our weight reduction efforts, but there's probably some merit to what she's advocating. She insisted that I stand still and pay rapt attention as she went on at length explaining the logic of her proposed changes to our eating habits. I had just stepped out of the shower and there was a cool breeze. She finally quit her finger pointing and let me escape to the bedroom and get some warm clothes on.

I have to admit that this diet we are following makes opportunities for eating, eagerly anticipated. We have a couple of crusts for breakfast, a normal lunch and a light supper. The result has been, that over the past two months, we quit gaining weight and lost ten pounds.

We are so different as individuals…. Not just the obvious male/female differences but deeper psychological ones. She needs to be in the presence of others and I am contented to find opportunities within myself. Even as a kid, I used to go off with the dog for long walks and nobody seemed to concerned that I wasn’t around. (As long as I showed up for dinner)

Linda on the other hand needs the presence and companionship that others offer and when there is nobody else, she turns to me. Used to be there was more of that natural attraction but as the years pass I have to consciously find ways to maintain the bonds developed over a life time. There’s a movie being advertised (Hope Springs…?) between Meryl Street and Tommy Lee Jones that I think we’ll go and see.

Now there’s another way to share common interests. Go to a movie!