Monday, August 30, 2010

"Christiansen Comments" Hinds County Gazette Augst 26 2010

Bugs in the bed, Raymond Pilgrimage, And Methodist Rummage....

I do not watch or read much news, I find it entirely too demoralizing, so what little news I get, I get while waiting for the weatherman/woman/person, to come on, stand in front of the latest and greatest high tech, energetically animated maps and radars, to give us their best guess… as to what the day might bring, weather wise. I wonder….Are the weather folks anymore accurate then they were…. say 40 years ago?




All of that, is not what I started out to say….As you probably know, bedbugs have been in the news of late, seems after years of containment, they have re-emerged once again…in some quite posh places. This, is what I heard, while waiting for a forecast, last week…. and found most note worthy and enormously reassuring. Bedbugs can not survive temperatures past 110 degrees…considering our recent heat indexes… surely we do not have anything to fret about here in Mid Mississippi…….while it is true, we here in the South have been burdened with fire ants and they are, of course, a most unpleasant nuisance. Still and all, I do declare, I much prefer having fire ants in my grass…then bugs in my bed.

*******

Well, as usual our Fall calendars are filling up fast….Last week I mentioned the Fall Pilgrimage in Raymond, October 1 through 16. Edwards semi annual Cemetery day is October 16. And the Methodists are having a rummage sale that week end too

www.friendsofraymond.org


The Methodists are rising money in order to tackle some maintenance issues that have cropped up….The Edwards Fellowship club meets in the Methodist family center, therefore some of club members will be adding items to the sale also. So, it should prove to be a magnificent buying opportunity.



The Methodist rummage sale will be part of an annual Highway 80 yard sale….I guess it goes from coast to coast…I had not heard of it. Anyway, I may set up a stand in front of the concrete “Edwards” sign there in the curve …to see can I sell a few of my cement leaves….I haven’t got many leaves left…and it’s been so hot… I have not been motivated to make many so far this summer. But I want to be where the action is for sure…so I will sell leaves ‘til noon…. zip out to the cemetery for dinner on the grounds…scamper back to town, spend the afternoon selling leaves…then dash to Raymond to be part of the Pilgrimage festivities over there.

Fall is fun!!!! Call if you need me!

Monday, August 23, 2010

Hinds County Gazette, August 19 2010, Christiansen's Comments ..

I wasn’t here last week because my North Carolina Grands came. Adam and his family were in Mississippi visiting. Adam preached in Ellisville on Sunday and Monday they toured Belhaven College, Grand daughter Anna is considering attending Belhaven. It won’t be long and I will have three grandchildren in college. Philip is at Covenant College in Tennessee, and this Saturday Garrett will be going back to Oxford.




Mark your calendars, The Friends of Raymond are gearing up for their annual pilgrimage, October first through the sixteenth. Plans and schedule are not quite complete….as you know, or maybe you don’t know the Raymond courthouse is under renovation , so the ever popular “Bed Bug” play will not be performed this year. But the Cemetery Stroll will happen, if you have not attended this event in the past, you must make an effort this year to go. It is grand fun, very interesting and educational, local citizens dress up and play interesting people, from Raymond’s past, who are buried there…..and from all eras.



There will be lectures at St. Marks Episcopal Church …..I don’t know any details…but they always interesting. And there are customarily refreshments associated with the lectures.



I went to Madison to visit Angela over the weekend….helped her install a doggie door. I don’t know if we have ever discussed Angela’s dogs, they are both rescued dogs. One dog, the oldest, Gabby, is part blue heeler Angela believes Gabby has the IQ of a Rin Tin Tin or Lassie. The other dog, Tess, a hound, Angela has always treated very gently, “you know she isn’t very smart.”



Well guess who figured out the doggie door.. That’s right the hound….the first time…Tess goes in and out at will. The Genius dog? Well… 3 days later Gabby still has not gone though the door with out being pushed. There must be a life lesson there.



Hey I got to go… call if you need me

Monday, August 2, 2010

"Christiansen's Comments" Hinds County Gazette July 29 2010

How old do you have to be.... to be old?

I realized this week just how old my kids are….in a conversation with daughter Angela yesterday she made this statement, “ Mother, in ten years you will only be 75.” I recall a time when she thought thirty was, if not over the hill, was at the very tippy top of the hill. In fact I remember when I thought 30 was old. Isn’t it remarkable how the older we get …the age we consider old gets older?

Angela
( she wants this to be the picture that accompanys her obituary
no matter what age she passes....she maintains it's the only good picture ever taken of her)



One hot summer day….not unlike the ones we have been having of late. The TV weather man was issuing warnings about the elderly and the heat…they were advising them not to go outside in the heat of the day. Mother loved the front porch and wiled away many happy hours out there. As was her habit, after lunch she took her binoculars and went out….



As was my habit, after a bit of kitchen tidying, I followed mother out to the porch, and sat down in the swing …we hadn’t been out long, when she stood up, repeated what the weatherman had said about the heat and went back in the house….well, we had not been in the house long, when I heard her laugh, slap her knee and say, “I bet they were talking about old people.” and back out she went….mother was in her 90s….

Mother, Jacqueline and baby Haley


Jacqueline and I drove over to Burleigh, to see Ms Worrell last week, Saturday, July,17, was her 98th birthday. We found her cheerful, bright eyed….and still able to spin a good tale. She looked great! Ms Worrell’s hair is red …not old lady blue. You might think 98 is old…but I am here to report it is not as old as you might think. Brooke told us, she played dominions for 6 straight hours on her birthday. So there you are….. age is relative!
Ms Worrell...at 98

Love to all

Call if you need me