Quiet, Please!!!

I'm supposin' that most folks have noticed as I have how very difficult it is to find a place where it is truly quiet. It seems that everywhere you go there is always something man is doing or is man made that is making noise. On many of our public transportation conveyances and even our automobiles noise has been a very significant problem that engineers have been tackling. They have made great strides in trying to reduce the problem but haven't been able to eliminate it completely. What they have done in some cases is to add even more noise! Yep! They call it white noise. A supposedly more agreeable noise to mask obnoxious noises. Imagine that!
Even in nature there is considerable noise. Birds chirruping and the wind blowing to mention only a couple of things. Yes! I have actually been awakened out of a sound sleep by the raucous chatter of birds at the crack of dawn on a Sabbath morning! Have you ever wished you could have it truly quiet for at least a little while? I have!
Now I know how some folks enjoy having something happening around them all the time. They like having a radio going or the TV and some even say they study better with a little music going. In many stores and restaurants there is what some refer to as supermarket music playing. There are some people who like having a radio going when they try to go to sleep. All that is OK with me but it isn't what I would prefer all the time. I enjoy a great many different kinds of sounds as much as anyone. Chopin's 1st piano concerto, a bit of country music, the sound of a good running V8 engine or the gorgeous sound of a V16 diesel locomotive or the screams of happy children or the plaintiff cry of a small kitten to name just a few. I would like to include in my list of sounds the lovely sound of quiet.
When I am able to have it quiet I find it so much easier to think. I read something awhile back by a person of intellectual renown expressing his observation of how there seemed to be less reflective thinking among people of the modern generations. I hope this isn't really true, but I do wonder how people can think with so much noise in the air.
I personally find it necessary to have regular times of quiet to achieve and maintain a quiet spirit. For me I find it necessary to have a quiet spirit in order to hear God's voice. Many people over the years have asked me the question, How do I hear or know God's voice or will? There is no doubt that God is able to make Himself heard or make His will known in any venue and will do so at times. But for me I find I hear God's voice speaking to my heart most often when I am regularly spending time quietly doing prayerful reflective thinking on His word with all of the world's clamour shut out.

T'other day...

Ol' 'Lanche and I woke up early t'other day and we decided we'd just take us a little ride on down to Locust Grove just a few miles south from our ol' ranch. We moseyed right along next to ol' hiway 23 right on into town. Automobiles don't bother Ol' 'Lanche none like they do some hosses even when they toot their tooters and folks wave. You'd think folks had never seen a cowpoke ridin' hoss back before the way they act sometimes.
I hadn't had breakfast yet so when we got into town we stopped at the Grover Hotel on main street for a bite. I tied Ol' 'Lanche to the porch railin', tied his feed bag on him, sauntered on inside and perched my Ten Gallon on the available rack. I told Betty Sue I wanted to set near the front window so's I could see out as usual and she said ok. I gave her my order and she brought me out what I axed fer. Four aigs easy turned with a bowl o' grits and a two pound slab o' Top Sirloin done medium well. I topped thet off with a tall stack o' flapjacks with real butter oozin' everywhere and a great puddle of genuine Maple syrup. Of course I had coffee lest you was wonderin'---seems like that would go without sayin'...
I moseyed on out to the front porch when I was finished eatin' and sat myself down in one of the several wooden rockin' chairs to watch the automobile traffic roll by and catch a little snooze.
That's aboot the time when along came three younguns mebbe seventeen or so years old. Peerin' out from under my lowered hat brim I could see 'em eye ballin' Ol' 'Lanche with mischief in their eyes. Now I knowed Ol' 'Lanche has always taken good care of hisself so I just kept my peace and waited to watch the show. Sure nuff the shortish fellar pulled the feed bag off and tossed it on the ground. The taller rangy one untied 'Lanche and climbed into the saddle and proceeded to kick him sayin' giddap or some such thing and Ol' 'Lanche took a few slow steps and that's when it happened. He hunched his back a mite like I'd seen him do before and suddenly gave a hefty buck and off tumbled thet rangy bloke right into the street. 'Lanche then turned and ran at the short fellar and hit him with his shoulder a light tap knockin' him flat on his back in the dust. Ol' 'Lanche just calmly stood there and looked to me like he was almighty pleased with hisself.
Well, it seems the long rangy dude hadn't had enough yet. He'd picked hisself up some stones and was makin' like to throw them at 'Lanche. I decided aboot then to get involved. I stood up and told said rangy dude I reckoned he'd had enough fun and it was time to find sumpthin' else to do fer entertainment. He turned and looked at me and using a bad word or two remarked upon my advanced years. I could see clearly he wasn't aboot to stop his idear of wingin' stones at 'Lanche so I thought it was time to show him the handy hawgleg I carry for discouraging pesky varmints and suggest he choose a different form of entertainment. He gave me an invite to a low down place of great heat and commenced to chuck them stones. Now I ain't a hasty man to start trouble or get in the way of it. But since this trouble came along right at me uninvited like I thought I'd just better end it. So I proceeded to pull the trigger on my ol' .44 and duly sent a large chunk of soft lead into the stone in that fellar's right hand. The rock sorta exploded into small pieces and the shock of the striking bullet stung his arm enough to make him howl a mite. But he stopped his sportin' activities partly due to the pain in his arm and partly because his partners in mischief had long since hightailed it for different scenery. He decided to foller off after them at a fairly rapid rate. I paused to wonder what he'd think if I'd a-told him I was aimin' ta knock his hat off and missed...
Aboot then up drove the Henry County deputy sheriff in his brand new dark gray Chevrolet Avalanche with it's fancy emblem on the door and all lights a-flashin'. He moseyed on up to me and said howdy Mr. P. and I said howdy there Jimmy. He asked what happened. I told him. He smiled and allowed how young folks sometimes choose to learn simple things the hard way. I said I reckoned so. We shook hands and he climbed back into his truck and departed. I mounted Ol' 'Lanche and we went home. "All things considered", I said to Ol' 'Lanche, "it ain't been too bad a day." I sorta got the idear Ol' 'Lanche agreed...

Still here...

It's been awhile since I've done a post so I thought I'd reassure folks that I'm still up and around and able to take in nourishment but have scarcely the strength of a louse (to quote a good friend of my maternal grandfather). Most of my days seem to pass in a more or less amiable fashion. In other words, I ain't got nothin' legit ta complain aboot. Quite the contrary actually!

We attended a well attended wedding near Tampa, Fla recently. It was great seeing J & F get hitched and wonderful to see so many friends, some of whom I hadn't seen in many years! We had an enjoyable trip to and from the event. We arrived home just in time to see that last dozen or so laps of the Indy 500.

Have you ever noticed how much the Human Race seems to enjoy a good race? I'll betchya there are more kinds of racing done than any three people could collectively come up with in a three hour concentrated effort to do so. Personally I've enjoyed various kinds of car racing. I remember my earliest visit to a dirt track in a place called Pacheco, Ca. My Dad and My Uncle David took me there to my first car race---I remember a blue car winning when the wheel came off the white car in the lead and the crowd cheered! I was pretty young at the time... ...the track there is gone having yeilded its real estate to the ever growing network of Interstate highways.

To this day my favorite form of car racing is Oval dirt track 1/4 mile to 1/2 mile with a class of cars named by some as Super Modifieds---some call them Outlaws. They are an open wheeled racer with a large wing on top of the car and one on the nose. The engines are usually Chevy small blocks that develop between 650 and 750 horsepower and all that in a car that barely weighs 1200 lbs! Twenty or more of these cars on a small oval dirt track make for some real adrenaline rush viewing when they get down to serious racing!

I also enjoy Horse racing. No. I don't do any bettin' on them! I especially enjoy races such as the Kentucky Derby, the Preakness and the Belmont Stakes. These being the races that make up the Triple Crown should a single horse win them in any given year. These horses can only run them once in their lives as a Three year old. In the 125 year history of Triple Crown horse racing in this country only 11 horses have won all three races and none since 1978.

There are many other kinds of racing I enjoy also, such as events held at the Family Convention at Fairwood each year, Olympic events and many others.

What kind(s) of racing do you all enjoy?