The Quick Red Fox Jumps Over The Lazy Curmudgeon Doug

12/30/2014 12:04

The quick red fox jumps over the lazy brown dog. Why? Because he has to. The dog is laying in the middle of the path down which the fox was wont to go. This is just as practical as answering the question, "Why did the chicken cross the road?" Because it wanted to do so. It had a  need. Chicken feed was on sale on the opposite side of the road. Sadly, for the chicken, it was a ruse to tempt chickens to cross so they might end up as road kill dinners for the homeless group that was feigning the sale of cheaper feed.

Why type such a simplistic sentence as "the quick red fox jumps over the lazy brown dog"? Because it causes the typist to use every letter of our twenty-six-letter alphabet. This is good practice for finger memory and allows the diligent typist to increase their ability to type with greater accuracy and increased speed. Those of us who do type desire greater accuracy and we wish to be able to type as fast as we can think or dream.

Writers are dreamers, visionaries who are compelled to share their insight, humor, dreams and visions with others through the medium of the written word. Writers paint pictures in the minds of their readers. The wonder of this is because once a painter has painted their work of art it is static in terms of interpretation. Now, I am not speaking of abstract art, but of the more formal displays where an artist interprets a scene, a building, or a piece of fruit and shares this perspective with the world. The beauty of painting pictures within the minds of a reader is that each individual reader will take the words written and paint the scene or building or fruit into an image unique to them and their perspective. This is why fictional characters or even those of ancient times where we have few if any pictures are illustrated so vastly different depending upon the artist. More so the visionary impressions within the mind of those who read such stories about these characters.

I find that seeking to paint images within the minds of my readers is quite rewarding and worth the effort to do so. I seek to craft entertainment or education with the greatest respect for my audience. If someone is going to sacrifice precious moments of their life for my sake, I wish to make that sacrifice as pleasant an outing as I am able to craft.

It is my wish for this upcoming year that writers everywhere find their respective audiences and that their audiences respect them as authors.

That said, God bless you all and Happy New Year 2015!

Protect Your Hearts...

It has been raining quite a bit lately... and the rain has come down hard and heavy. There is flooding throughout the area, but so far, we are still unaffected. Chicago is experiencing major flooding and incoming flights are being cancelled. I just saw a news report showing a sinkhole that opened up on the South Side, it swallowed a car, the driver suffered minor injuries, and then two more cars and drivers piled in atop the first one. From the roadside view, the crumpled rear portion of a silver or white car could barely be seen. OUCH!

This morning I awoke to news that a fertilizer plant down in Waco, Texas blew up like an atom bomb in the midst of firefighters working to put out the original fire. They are still unsure of the amount of casualties to both firefighters and local residents. Latest estimates were 5-15 dead, mostly firefighters, and 180 injured. Whole blocks of houses were blown apart by the blast impact. Most of the residents were eating their evening meal when this occurred. According to an ex-CDC director, the scene is much like the aftermath of a battle.

Just the other day our nation was jolted by a horrific unprovoked attack upon the City of Boston during its most celebrated annual event: The Boston Marathon. Two of four bombs placed within trash receptacles at the finish line exploded killing and maiming many people. I don't know the count... my heart was heavy enough after the three funerals I attended last week. I had to turn away from the television news reports. So far, they are still investigating in hopes of discovering the perpetrator(s). It is being treated as a terrorist act. Several of my friends who work in large cities like Chicago, were sent home from work early in fear of there being other attacks around the country.

All I can say is how horrific are any such attacks no matter where they occur. There prime purpose is to instill fear into the populace and governments. I might revisit this subject in a different post. For now I want to remind you that Jesus Christ said that in the end or latter times that people's hearts would fail them because of fear. And, I see that this is certainly the case. Heart attacks and strokes are still the leading cause of death in our society and the trend is continuing to climb at an alarming rate, especially among women.

Jesus also told us to not let our hearts be troubled or afraid when we see or experience these horrible situations of disastrous proportions in weather, industrial accidents, wars, and acts of terrorism. He told us to keep our eyes on Him and trust in Him as we trust in God and He would see us through these times... for He declared that He has already overcome the evil, the pain, and the tragedies of this world.