My Boots Story: “Weigh Me Down Or Get Down With The Way?” And “Can’t Stroll With A Worn-Out Sole"

So, my titles for today’s thoughts are: “Weigh Me Down Or Get Down With The Way?”  And “Can’t Stroll With A Worn-Out Sole".  My boots story!  First, let me say before I get on with my story...that I have always loved boots and wore them often, but when I broke my foot many years ago while singing at a church...   What?  Yes, I walked off stage and misjudged the long step.  Bam!  Anyway, I started having to wear my Roper boots laced up real tight to stop the pain that would come several times a year.  Never did heal right.  But, my point is...I learned to live with the pain because I couldn't take medication.  The boots were tough and I was gonna be, too.  What started as a bad thing, became my symbol to get me up and kick butt everyday...no matter what the day brought.  And I began to wear them every day!  Just like my fingerless gloves.  That's another story.  So, back to this story....  Last night at our Family Night at church, things were cooking…the food, the preaching , the music and the Rickyism after.  Ricky?  A smart young 10-year old that makes me smile.  We were playing air basketball and he asked me to run and do a jump shot as high as I could.  Okay!  You’re on!  I ran and jumped, but didn’t get too high…and I really love basketball.  I was thinking and laughed and spoke out loud. “These 2-ton, 4-inch Skecher boots of mine won’t let me jump very high.  He simply said, “No complaintants”.  It was his way and fast comeback that made me smile.  I said, “but, but…these boots are… okay…no excuses.  You got me.  Next week, you’re on…no boots, this time…or my old ones, if I can get new soles put on.  (click on the photo to see my delightful boots.  You see, my other boots are 15 years old and made for riding horses.  They cost a fortune and have stood the test of time.  They wrap around my feet and legs like my own skin.  They didn’t, at first.  Ouch...did I have "complaintants"?  PIMP LOL...  Yes!  They hurt while breaking them in.  That's why they call it "breaking them in"?  They break your feet before they break in.  When somethings broke...it usually hurts something, right?  So, the first place I wore them was the “Gettysburg Battlefields”.  We were visiting my Grandmother in Pennsylvania.  She was very sick with cancer, but wanted to take us there.  She was tough like the boots.  On the way to the Battlefields, we stopped and bought the boots at my Uncle Pete’s store in Abbottstown, called “Adleblute’s, which I used to work at as a kid.  It had everything and my Pap and Grandma ran it.  It is mostly for Western clothes and all now.  My Uncle and my cousins run it.  I treasure them all and the memories of that  place.  K…back to the story.  Well, this all got me thinking…you know?  About complaints.  About heavy things!  And I’m not talking heavy as in cool, man!  I’m talking burdens.  Stuff that keeps you from sleeping.  Stuff you should pray about.  Give to God…His burden is light.  Easier said than done, sometimes, right?  Well, a lot of things were weighing on me…like those 2-ton 4 inch boots, right?  I can, hardly walk around in them.  They keep me stuck to the floor like weights.  You could throw me into the ocean and I would sink, I am sure, if you were mafia and you were a hit man…I mean you did say you knew the Fatha, right?  I’m hoping you are from New York and that was just your accent, right?  PIMP LOL.  Sorry, too much humor this morning.   Back to the boots…  My favorite boots, my Ropers, are finally wore out after 15 years and I’ve been having to get used to these heavy ones.  They are gorgeous boots that I’ve had for 10 years, but never wore.  Why?  Because they weight a ton.  No complainants!  The upper boot part of my Ropers are still wonderful.  Tough as leather and a little cracked, like me! But, I have to be polished once in a while like my boots…if I want to shine…& last. Be preserved & resistant to all the stains.  My boots have a sole underneath all that toughness, too…& some strings attached…that get a little knotted up sometimes and have to be untangled to hold things together!  A little worn, like me, but polish up nice.  They are strong and tough, still, but, the heels and soles are almost gone...can hardly see them from all the strolling in life.  Really the most important part of the boot.  Can’t stroll, if there’s no sole!  Like us…our leather, our skin, can be worn, but intact…but if our “sole” is worn out, we got to get it fixed!   Can’t stroll without a strong sole.  Won’t make it far, in either case…the road… or the road of life!   It’ll be a long road.  I can get them resoled if I can find someone that still does that sort of thing.  Gotta find a reputable “Repairer”  Our soles get wore out from time and not being taken care of or just wear and tear from walkin’…strollin’.  We need to go to the Master Repairer and get resouled…just like my boots.  He is a “Shoo-in”!  PIMP LOL.  Kind of a play on words that everyone gets mixed up.  It’s a race horse that's so fast that you can merely shoo it across the finish line rather than having to urge it on with stronger measures.  That's a “shoo-in”: an easy winner. It is humorous to me when this expression is misspelled “shoe-in” because to “shoehorn” something in is to squeeze it in with great difficulty and sometimes, pain.  And, I guess sometimes, God has to do that with us when we bring our boots to Him!  Right?  Whichever you bring and whichever He gives…a Shoo-in or a Shoe-in, it won’t be heavy!!  Now, that’s heavy!!!  TNT LOL.  One more thought…  Those old boots of mine?  The Ropers?  They’ve seen a lot and been through a lot with me.  They’ve been all over…from The Gettysburg Battlefields to Life’s Battlefields.  Anybody walk a mile there?  Right?  We all have! You know that saying?  “You try to walk a mile in my boots”.  But, really?  We all have those miles and the thing is?  Will we walk a mile with someone…like He does?   If it’s not too much or too heavy, right?  We all have those “heavy” things in our life that can either weigh us down and sink us…or give us balance.  Sounds cliché’, but we can’t let things weigh us down. We gotta get down with the Way.  That way?  We bear one another’s burdens.  God is always thinking of our best interests when he gives us these life lessons.  Remember that song by the Hollies, “He Ain’t Heavy, He’s My Brother”?  Click here to listen:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C1KtScrqtbc  while you finish reading this.  Or listen and then finish.  Anyway, that song says it all.  That kind of heavy…is not encumbering…it is balancing.  Enlightening, no encumbering!  That’s how God made us.  To carry one another’s burdens.  Sometimes, we forget that we are here to serve one another.  That’s how we serve Him.  We get so wrapped up in our life that we carry our own burdens for so long that they weigh us down.  And that can be a long road…a long way…a long “weigh”…to stroll.  So, today?  Help make someone else’s load lighter.  It’ll take the load off of you.  Now, that’s heavy!!!  PIMP LOL!  OK, 2 more final thoughts.   Sometimes, we feel so weighed down by our own life, by the weight of the world... that we don’t feel like walking a mile with someone else.  We rather just give them the boot, instead of wearing their boot…or shoes…you know?  Walkin a mile in their shoes?  Or like the Samaritan in the bible who was the only one to help… you might be that someone today or this week to pass by someone in your life who needs help.  And they may not even be able to ask.  Carry him  today…pick him up.  It’ll pick you up.  He ain’t heavy, he’s your brother.  Heavy stuff to lighten your day!  Remember, we all have our crosses to bear.  Leave me a comment…tell me about your miles…stop by my other posts for some humor and hope and click on the pictures for...well?  The bigger picture!  Have a new page called Space Place and cool offers throughout my Place here.  Gotta go get those heavy boots on now and go lighten my load.  Grocery time tonight and bills...now, that's a load.  Anyone wanna lighten it for me?  So, my way?  Give what weighs me down?  To God.  Yep!  That’s heavy… and He’s my Father….  That’s the only Way!  And He already carried the biggest weight ever...for all of us.  Weigh cool, right?  Way!!!   Trace

Windows, Doors And Knock Knock Jokes

Today I am writing about life's doors and windows...and my perspective.  I will start with a knock knock joke about our 2 friends, Window and Shutter.  It seems they had a bad argument!  So, here goes the joke about the situation between them.  Knock, knock?  Who's there?  Shutter!  Shutter who?  I shutter at the thought of facing Window today!  If I don't open up and air things out? It could be curtains for me!  PIMP LOL TNT...  Okay, so,  everyone talks about goals and situations they are in? As either doors or windows.  When things don’t happen the way we want, we start wondering how to get in or out of these doors and windows.  Sometimes you feel like you are trapped on the inside of a situation and trying to get out.  Like being in a haunted mansion trying to find the way out.  It can be quite scary…even “horror”ible! And sometimes, God opens a window when He closes a door in that mansion and we can just hope that it’s not on the 13th floor, right?  PIMP LOL…you know how those 13th floors can be!  Are they really there?  You sure don't see it on an elevator floor button pad...right?  I mean, look below here. PIMP LOL.  And we see ghosts that remind us of where we don’t want to be, or worse?  Where we want to be.  Haunting thought!  So, in this “horror”ible  situation today, in this Haunted House, He closed my door, or maybe I did.  We do that a lot, you know.  Anyway, I got scared and I saw an opened window and panicked! It was upstairs and when I leaped through that window to get out?  I hit the shutter.  Ouch!  I “shutter” at the thought of getting out another way.  But, I have to!  Or, it could be “curtains” for me!  PIMP LOL… It would have been a long way down, so I guess I am thankful that the shutter was there to protect me… even though?  It did hurt!  Ouch!  Sometimes?  We need pain or hurt to guide us and keep us from us making “horror”ible mistakes.  I mean, we would just do them over and over again…  Or maybe you are on the outside of a gorgeous dream house of hopes?  You are trying to get in. In another area of my life, I was trying to get in a door of my dream house. I just couldn’t get in.  But, persistent as I am, I kept praying for other doors to open.  I went around and looked for other doors and windows and came across a ladder that led up to the roof, but I had already fallen off the ladder a time or two…so, I thought one more time…go straight to the top, right?  Yep!  Fell off again!  It was a long way down…or I should say?  A “rung” way down!  I see why they call it the ladder of success...kind of...you know if you don't make it to the top?  It "sucs, yes"?  After brushing myself off, bawling and praying again, I walked back to the door that was closed...and got to thinking about second chances and trying again!  I looked closer and I found a key under a "Rock".  I knew it would open the door to my second chance!  I ran in, thankfully!  So, I thought "find the Rock, find the key, find the faith for a 2nd chance...it's right there!  Sometimes, He opens other doors.  Sometimes, windows.   Sometimes?  He opens the same door with the right motive...you never know!   Whether you are on the inside of a “Haunted Mansion” or the outside of your Dream House…fear and wrong motives can paralyze us.  Faith and right heart can help us find our Way…in or out.   We might even need a leg up from someone else.  Yes, I mean, help!  Terrible 4-letter word for some of us, right?  You know...help?  A boost up to a window.  Or a hand to go through a door.  Or someone to steady the ladder.  No one ever did everything without someone’s help somewhere.  What?  Steady now!  I am almost through that window!  Thanks for holding that ladder for me, everyone!  Bye, bye, ghosts!  Remember, no matter what your dream house contains...to swim the world or to change the world?  There is a Way!  Don't forget to leave me comments on my articles.  I love hearing from you guys!  Tell me about your windows and doors.  Also, there are some cool ads and contests on each of my pages and posts here.  I have it set up where anyone can comment and if you so wish?  Anonymously!  So, stay for awhile and visit.  When you're ready to leave?  I promise, no ladders, no ghosts and no shutters!  Just an open door!!!  And a hand!   Oh, and leave a knock, knock joke, too. That would knock me out and blow the shutters off my windows! PIMP TNT LOL    Oh, and the last two photos here below?  My ghostly photo and the ghosts in my haunted mansion music room.   One final thought.  This actually happened one morning:  So, I went outside to hang up some wash and I locked myself out.  I should tell you that I had on my PJ's and a red oversized velvet housecoat and it was around Christmas time.  Only minutes before this, I got the notion to open a window and let the air in the house.  Well, just as I was talking the screen out of that open window and jumping up through, a cop pulled up.  After showing ID and explaining that I was just practicing my Santa entrance, seeings how we have no chimney!  He laughed and I thought to myself:  Wow!  When God closes a door...He really does  make sure a window is open! PIMP LOL!   Trace

Collaging Without Collagen! Puttin’ Some Pants On Enhance! More Puff For Your Fluff! Now, don’t give me any lip!!

Collaging Without Collagen!  Puttin’ Some Pants On Enhance!  Puff For Your Fluff!  Those are my titles for today’s thoughts and stories.  Now, don’t give me any lip!!  Especially a puffed up one! PIMP LOL!  Just kidding.  My lips might not be big and puffy, but I got enough and they are sealed!  TNT LOL.  I am going for the lighter side and some humor again tonight! This is actually my Friday’s post but, I have a meeting and lunch with my old team from the Space Center, so I am putting it up early, so I can take off tomorrow and try not to think, right? And this goes right along with the body piercing post from yesterday…which, if you haven’t read?  Stop in after this.  Just right below this one and the chains post.  Of course, read them all…for some fun!  I don’t mind.  And I’m not being puffed up. Just sayin’!   So, I was looking for a little home-made humor with hope while I was in the middle of  making a photo collage and thinking about all the creating and art you can do with photos now…you know? Enhancements!  That got me thinking about physical enhancements and on and on.  My collage photo?  I was putting together photos that depict different aspects of my life.  I did just a little framing, tinting, B&W art, penciling, antiquing, creating…in other words?  A little bit of enhancing to all of it to make it more pleasing, but no photographic collagen!  You know?  Trying to make it look so much better that it looks fake!  Instead of creative and better.  Enhanced, not fake…more puff for your fluff!  PIMP LOL!  You know?  Some people like to feel all fluffy and pretty and collagen helps some feel that way....they don’t mind a little puffy to get all the fluffy…after.  And I’m not being puffed up, either, as in ego-y, when I say that I like to enhance myself so I can look as best I can and feel good about myself, just no fake stuff…PIMP LOL…just being sarcastic here.  Who are we kidding?  Every single one of us has different ways of enhancing!  And, I’m not for or against collagen for others, either in real life, or in photography…just not me.  I’ve had so many surgeries and meds and needles to save my life years back, that my body, nor I, can’t stand any more surgeries or pills or creams or reactions or anything.  So, I have to do everything in other ways.  Some creativity mixed with hope!   Yes…here’s hoping no one looks as close as I do.  PIMP LOL…  We all use enhancements of some sort…hair color, make-up, clothes, and all sorts of things.  Some good…some not so.  So, as I was putting some collages of my life together that represent all my hats I wear?  I was thinking of life in the same way.  Is it a Character Collage or is it a Collagen Collage…plastic, fake…all puffed up…like collagen?  Or enhanced to let the inner beauty come through?   I know collagen treatments can puff you up…and just like in other parts of your life? Enhancements can puff you up.  It’s okay to enhance yourself and be a more confident you, but how do you know the difference?  “Confident without incident” is how I know.  Without making someone else feel bad.  Not at the expense of someone else.  You know?  You just feel better…not better than!   And, to me?  If it is pleasing to God and makes you feel more yourself and makes you “feel better”, not “better than” everyone else, then it’s a good thing.  Enhancements are different for each one of us….and there are unique reasons for each one.  God knows our heart…that’s the good news…and the bad news.  I have enough to handle keeping myself right with God…that I won’t judge anyone else.  We all have our reasons why we do the things we do.  For me?  I am working towards a collage that is real, an Uncorrupted Character Collage that is true to me…not a Collagen Collage…spiritually speaking.  It’s okay to adorn what we need to, like I said, to feel better…just not better than.  But our hearts?  No adornment needed there.  If each box of the collage represents a different part of my life, say…a box for physical…   a box for emotions, a box for health, hobbies, career, service, family, church and God!  What do they say about me?  Or you?   I mean, everyone has boxes of their life collage than can be fake, if we let it, obviously…and some?  Not so obvious.  Enhancements?  Yes they can be good for us.  Spiritually, too.  We do stuff that enhances our experience with God and others.  Music, prayer, service, quietness, dancing, writing, etc., taking time, loving…are just some of the things that enhance our spirit box…which seeps into some of the other boxes and colors them, too  You know, on the collages we used to do at school?   All the photos and magazine cutouts overlapped…and the glue got on the other parts of the collage.  How true with our Life Collages.  They overlap and get stuck together and affect each other.  So, remember whatever the enhancement?  Keep it real and true…keep it you.  Collagen can puff you up,  I mean that’s what it does…give you more puff for the fluff.  And just like in other parts of your life?  Enhancements can puff you up. If they are fake.  The  question to ask ourselves?  Does it make us better?  Or…better than?  I better go now.  Have a fun evening!  Make a collage of the different parts of your life…see where you can put some pants on enhance!  Enhancements that make you proud!  Not prouder than!  Puff for your fluff?  No more Collagen Collage!  And I’m not giving you any lip!   Cuz?  I don't want a fat lip!   PIMP LOL!     Now, go read the rest of my articles here at my place...and don't give me any lip.     Trace

Breaking Chains, See-Saws And SUDS! See?

Breaking chains can be good! Just not on saws! Chain saws, that is!  I didn't saw that coming! PIMP LOL... Not even from the vantage point of sitting on the see-saw in the back yard watching him saw... See?  Ok… so, here’s the story:  Storms rarely hit us here. We live in a pocket or alley that all the weather goes around. No matter what the weather… whether it's tornado weather or hurricanes or just rain. Just goes around us and sucks us dry here.  But, we did get two.  One back in 2004 and just Tuesday night (01-25-11).  Probably, the very moment I was humorously describing to someone how we live in a pocket and when storms come around here? We don't get them. Funny, huh?  Perfect timing.  We saw the branches down after we got home that night from playing some music, but we didn't realize all the damage and work to be done until the next day.   First I must say that as I stepped outside in the rain that we never get…I stepped into calf deep water.  NO problem.  Love the rain.  Had my boots on.  So, I was telling everyone that all we usually get around this street are the leftover suds....not rain or storms. My acronym for: Sucks Us Dry Storms. SUDS.  But this time?  As you can see from the photo right here in the pocket?  The weather was in the pocket, alright...ours.  So, today we are attempting to clean it all up.  I am going out on a limb here to say? The funny thing was?  Both of our saws broke, so we had to do it all by hand.  You know?  Make do!  Become handy!!!   Not only did the chains on our saws break, but the chains of our mess.  Once, we did a little creative work on the hand saw.  A little persistence, creativity and hard work will break the chains of most problems… see?  That along with prayer once you’ve realized the problem and asked for help.  I know…you saw that one coming.   We had to realize we had problem to clean up in the back yard and pray about it before we could do anything about it. Sometimes, even, some chains?  Require forgiveness or forgiving.  It’s the only way to handle anything.  At least that's my way.  And I have had my share of chains in my life.  I have had some mighty battles and still more to come.  Addictions, health...and many others.  We all have them.  The good news?  Is we have “The Good News” to battle them.  And all the tools we need to break the chains of our lives.  We have God and each other.  Can’t forget ourselves.  That is one of our biggest tools.  It starts with us.  Have a fun day.  Break some chains today.  Branch out and help someone today. Hint...hint!   This would have been perfect for my Tree hugging post...PIMP LOL... Rather than wait until someone drops in with a chainsaw or help, we'll keep working while we hope.  Both are needed!  See?  It’s up to us.  We have to break our own chains.  This is a last minute thought about addiction problems:  Do the don'ts! We all have 'em...addictions and habits…chains. Some bad ones made me realize what the verse "having the mind of Christ" can do to change you…to help you break those chains. I couldn't know or have His mind if I wasn't in my control of my own...PIMP LOL. I used to call my will to live life? A pill will. Give me a pill...and I will. Just sayin’…break the chains… Yes, it’s tough… Be tougher. There are many links that connect together to make a chain. You might have to work on 8 different links to get it worked out. But, breaking that first link? Will unbind the whole chain from you. The rest of the links take time. You know how if you have chain necklace that is tangled, you can take some tools and spread one of the links apart to make it become just a piece of chain… not circular where it can’t hang around your neck anymore. And sometimes choke you. Same idea here. Like in the photo above where I am wearing the blue necklace.  Like that necklace with a clasp on it. We hang it around our neck and close the chain clasp…taking it on and off when we want. Our choice. That’s addiction. As long as we have a clasp on our chain, we keep picking it up and putting it back on when want. We have to crush the chain clasp or the first link. The one that holds it all together and chokes us.  Our links can get so tangled up that it's hard to even see the chain.  Right?  My first link or chain clasp to break a chain? Realizing the problem, untangling the mess, deciding to do something about it and prayer. No if and’s or but’s…no matter how tough. That is what it takes to break it. Wow! Didn’t know this was going to lead here today. But, glad it did. I didn’t “saw” that coming…even from my vantage point of the see-saw in the back yard! PIMP LOL!   Don't forget to comment or leave reactions or click the photos for the bigger picture.   The first picutre at the top left?  Me during the storm...loving it...made me feel all those colors...electrifying!!  TNT LOL...  You get the chainsaw and the chains, and my country girl see-saw.  Photo at the bottom right?  Feeling chained!  Stop by some other of my articles.  I am putting two up today because my old team from the Space Center is taking me to Kelsey's for pizza tomorrow so I am taking off a day from writing and singing tomorrow.  I think.  If it's possible!   Also?  Scroll through my other articles.  There are some cool ads for winning a house and money from DIY and HGTV and freebies and coupons and goodies...and of course, good reading.   Now, that's all.  Go break some chains...not some saws...  See?     Trace!

Body And Soul Piercings...Keepin' It Sharp!

Today I am writing about body piercings and what else?  Why soul piercings, of course.   I saw a post from some friends of mine, Donna and Shauna, about body piercings and it got me thinking…as usual, right?  Here’s my freaky thought for the day after seeing this guy with a huge piercing on his ear to hold a big can.  What did I think about that?  Earie and uncanny?  What? That's my kind of humor... Or, he's into metal?  He listens to metal music in one ear and wears it on the other? Or, he lost his recycle bin? Want more? PIMP LOL!  I “can” not stop!  Okay!  I have posted some photos of body piercings just for effect.  I‘m not against them.  Just not for me.  I had my ears pierced a few times in 19backintheday.  And I’ve seen many different kinds of body piercings…and like I say?  Each person is unique.  And each person has their own coolness thing.  I think some can be very tasteful.  Especially the one on the tongue?  You can really taste that one!  PIMP LOL…  Just kidding.  I had life-saving surgery that left me with many body piercings, if you get my drift.  You know?  Staples, scars, pins, screws…  So, I choose to only temporarily pierce my body with the simple things like a too-tight belt or a pinch!  PIMP LOL.  Or tight fingerless gloves that feel like they are cutting off the circulation in my hands…or tight jeans?  That's about as far I go with piercing. Oh, yeah…or accidentally piercing my skin as I put on some kind of a flower pin at the last minute to decorate myself (home-made creation, of course).  Actually, I was thinking more about what pierces my soul.  Music…singing and listening, humor, rain, riding in a car with the windows down and my hair blowing, a baby laughing, a smile, a sound, a smell, a touch, food, prayer, love, reading the bible, and people, right?  Iron sharpens iron...people pierce people and keep each other sharp!  K…you get it.  What pierces your soul?  What gives you chills?  Leave me a comment and drop by my others (rooms) pages and articles here at my place.  And don't forget to click on the photos for the big picture...to see the fine print and all that good stuff.  Hope you have a piercing day!  Don’t hurt yourself!  Pierce someone’s soul today!!  Keep it sharp!  Now, I hear a piercing shout...went right through me...guess I'm needed!  Gotta go.  Trace

Palm Trees, Apples To Apples And Tree Huggers All Have This In Common? Hmmm...sappy? PIMP LOL... FLexible!

Ever play the game “Apples To Apples”?  We love it and play it quite often when anyone comes over and many of our friends play it.  So, how did I come up with this post today?  Well, I came across a lovely photo of a tree that my friend, Heather, snapped.  I copied it and voila!  My mind started bending and here is the rest of the sappy story I'll call "Flexible".  So, we were playing Apples to Apples and came across the green card titled “flexible”.   In case,  you haven’t played, the green card is the subject card…and the red cards in your hand are your choices you have to lay down for that subject.  There is no wrong answer.  One person, each round, takes turn being the judge and picking out the answer they like.  It can be funny, ludicrous, opposites, anything goes.  Very flexible game.  Speaking of flexible...back to the story…  So, after looking at my 7 red cards and coming up with nothing…I got my mind-bending going and a bit of Tracy humor.  Yes!  I decided to use the “Tree Hugger” card.  Why, you ask?  Well, let’s just say that I am going out on a "limb" here to say that tree huggers are quite limber.  Just to get their arms and legs around the lumber?  Why...they have to be limber!  You know?  Flexible and all that!  There ya go!  Works perfect for that card.  Of course, what do you think the next round green card was?  "Sappy"!  Would have worked for that, too.  PIMP LOL TNT...  K...back to flexible.  That gets me thinking about some things that I am trying to work out.  I guess I better be a little more flexible or I’m gonna break.  You know?  Bend…don’t break!  That thought took my mind back to a certain day...I can actually see this day in my mind...I remember seeing palm trees for the very first time when we moved to Florida in 19backintheday.  I thought to myself…  What kind of crazy vacation state are moving to?   I wanna go home.  I came from the hills and countryside of Pennsylvania.  When I saw those tall palm trees just kind of waving in the sky…I imagined they were waving good bye to me…not hello!  PIMP LOL.  I found it uncool compared to the woods and farmland I was used to and loved.   But, looking back at that memory of those palm trees my first day in Cocoa Beach and Merritt Island, I see how majestic God is and how majestic are His creations.  Not breaking…just bending and going with the flow of Merritt Island, Florida weather and life.  Those palm trees were telling me to bend and go with it...He had plans.  Those palm trees still tell us…show us…how to live.  Without so much as a word.   Wrap yourself around that today.  Sometimes, we go against the wind...instead of with the wind...which reminded me of one of my all-time fav songs by Bob Seger, "Against The Wind".   See?  Another cool memory!  Look at the photo above to the right...says it all...click on it for the bigger picture...in more ways than one...TNT LOL.  I should have typed in white...for that photo.  Anyway, that song came to me in a split second.  My "mother-board" must be working fine this morning.  All that memory on the hard drive is nice.  PIMP LOL...  And just the capability of being able to see those memories in our minds and feel them in our souls...well, that is an incredible gift from God.  You can all see how songs are like that, too.  They capture memories and store them for later...like our computers.  To retrieve when we don't want to break...just bend a little....go with the wind.  Where do you think all the ideas came from for inventions like computers, etc.?  Or thoughts we come up with?  Even my ideas for writing and singing?  Well, seeing God and His wondrous works around us and in us...that's where!  That gets in us and we get to  thinking and get creative and...well, you know.  We learn from the best.  It's easy to never get too big of head when coming up with cool ideas...because He came up with it first.  Just gotta look.  Our part?  Listen and watch all His creation...bend, don't break...learn and create!   Okay...so, have a day wrapped around all that cool stuff around you and in you.  You are also wondrously made!  Give yourself a break?  Bend!!!  Be flexible.  Go out on a limb for someone today!  K...one more thought to leave you with?  Here is my other funny "Apples To Apples" green card of the day:  "Powerful". And I chose to lay down "Black Socks"...right?  They never get dirty...and the longer you wear them? The stronger and more powerful they get!  Be strong...be powerful...TNT LOL...bend, don't break!  Be like the palms trees below in the last photo, they are bending while God commands the wind.  Bend instead of breaking...command your life today!!!    And don't forget to click on the photos for a better look at them...you know?  The bigger picture and all that stuff!  Plus, don't forget to comment and click on the reactions.  That is a daily count and goes away each evening.  So, when you look at new posts?  Stop by some of the older ones...every little bit helps.  The ad people like to know how many creatures stop by.  I appreciate all of you for bending with me as I learn all this stuff.       Trace

Hip To The Hype: Football, Life And Sasquatch

Hip to all the hype?  You bet! I love watching all the hype and stories before a football game… college or NFL.  I love getting to know the players and what they’re all about and how they play the game of football and life.  I like to know all the trivia about the game and all the rules and names of the players and coaches…everything.  Even the crazy stats and trivia questions.  It really makes the game so much more than football!  Just like in life…  When we learn more about the players and the coaches and the rules and how it’s done?  We live it and love it more!  My rule book?  The bible.  My penalty guide?  Experience and those around me.  Iron sharpens iron.  My team?  Well, there’s a family team, friends team, work, church, the whole family of God, and on and on.  We all have coaches who lead us and inspire us.  We are even coaches to our children and maybe even at work or church.  We are all players on a team of some sort.  Get to know all the details and hype!  Get to know the players…so you won’t have any personal fouls!  Makes the experience?  Quite an experience!  One thing?  I know why they have the call about “Excessive Celebration” on the field.  But, go ahead and celebrate excessively on the field of life.  I don’t think you will lose any ground for that!!   And the only whistle you’ll hear being blown?  Is mine!  I have the loudest football whistle on the planet…the two finger whistle.  Oh, and my favorite part of yesterday's games?  Yep!  You guessed it!  The Sasquatch commercial about Beef Jerky!    The two mean guys in the Beef Jerky commercial who teased him to come over and lick the cold metal pole?  And he whacked them with the pole?  Funny.  I’m not sure why…but, I laughed so hard.  I mean, we all know the rule book for sticking your tongue on an icy metal pole…right?  To me, commercials during football are kind of like humor breaks during life.  You gotta have them.  And the background music at the games?  I hear it in my life…always.   You know?  When something great happens like a touchdown, you hear “Play That Funky Music” by the band or “Crazy Train” when things are crazy.  Now, me?  I hear all kinds of different songs when things happen in my life.  There’s always music.  Gotta have that, too.  So! Know the rules, know the players…stay on the field.  You can’t play the game if you’re not on the playing field and in the game.  You can be a spectator or a fan in someone else’s life…you know?  Be present at their games...out there in the stand cheering them on.  But, you have to be on the field in your own life game.  In football, you have to stay within the boundaries.  Don't be drawn off sides.   But, in life?  We don’t know our limits until we step out side of them into the unlimited…  Then we know…  And each time?  The boundaries move.    Now, get out there!   You can run or pass…you may even get tackled or sacked once in awhile.  Don't be drawn off sides by the temptations and trials around you.  But, if you are...  Get up…brush yourself off, fix your jersey and keep playing!!!  

For my last thoughts on this, I have a small thing I wrote for Facebook once after hearing Dr. Lou speak.  I love Dr. Lou and his pep talks.  I heard him speak awhile back on teams and their positions during rough periods or quarters, and I got to thinking myself.  Everywhere we are in life...we are teams...and all have to deal with rough times.  Whether it's work or school or home or church?  We are all part of a team or a family...and the bigger family?  God's!  Football has a lot of Godly people involved and the game itself has a lot of life analogies.  When things are rough and tough...what's your position?  Do you cop out, drop out, hold out, or go all out?  I'll go even one more and say fall out!  There is always fallout no matter which you choose.  But, I would rather get fallout from anyone for going all out, than fallout from God or myself for holding out, dropping out, or copping out.  God calls us to go all out...especially when there is fallout!  TNT LOL...  No, I gotta go out...and go ALL OUT!  Thanks for being part of my family here at Trace's Place.  Oh, and my photos?  Well, you can click on the football photo to see that I used a bandanna type font.  Fitting for football playing.  I used to keep a bandanna tied around my head just like that font.  And, yes!  I used to play football and baseball!  Check it out...like the words say: Get hip to the hype...play the game!  And the other one?  Well that's Sasquatch playing OUR game...music!!!  Have a fun day playing your game...whatever it is.  Give it all you got.  Trace