January 2011 New Letter From Ed & Ruby Richards

Text For The Month

I count not myself to have apprehended: but this one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth unto those things which are before, 

 Phillipans 3:13

Richards Family Update

Ms Ruby and I enjoyed having our family together for Christmas!  Eddie and Dianna came home from Houston.  We all met at Freddie and Dianna's for a Big dinner and family fun.


This month Ms Ruby and I will celebrate our 57th Anniversary.  The great thing about it is that we are still

very much in Love! 

ms-maggieOur Ms Maggie won the Halloween Pet

contest here at the apartments.  She is

a sweetheart - likes everybody!  I call her Mama "Nosey One"  and her "Nosey Two"!

From One "Old Dog" To Another

One day the old German Shepherd starts chasing rabbits and before long, discovers that he's lost. Wandering about, he notices a leopard heading

rapidly in his direction with the intention of having lunch.

 

The old German Shepherd thinks, 'Oh, oh! I'm in deep doo-doo now!' Noticing some bones on the ground close by, he immediately settles down to chew on the bones with his back to the approaching cat. Just as the leopard is about to leap, the old German Shepherd exclaims loudly, 'Boy, that was one delicious leopard! I wonder, if there are any more around here?'

 

Hearing this, the young leopard halts his attack in mid-strike, a look of terror comes over him and he slinks away into the trees. 'Whew!' says the

leopard, 'That was close! That old German Shepherd nearly had me!'

 

Meanwhile, a monkey who had been watching the whole scene from a nearby tree, figures he can put this knowledge to good use and trade it for protection from the leopard. So, off he goes, but the old German Shepherd sees him heading after the leopard with great speed, and figures that something must be up.

 

The monkey soon catches up with the leopard, spills the beans and strikes a deal for himself with the leopard.

 

The young leopard is furious at being made a fool of and says, 'Here, monkey, hop on my back and see what's going to happen to that conniving canine!

 

Now, the old German Shepherd sees the leopard coming with the monkey on his back and thinks, 'What am I going to do now?', but instead of running, the dog sits down with his back to his attackers, pretending he hasn't seen them yet, and just when they get close enough to hear, the old German Shepherd says...  'Where's that monkey? I sent him off an hour ago to bring me another leopard!

 

Moral of this story...

 

Don't mess with the old dogs... Age and skill will always overcome youth and treachery! Brilliance only come with age and experience.

 

Of course, I am in no way insinuating that any of you are old, some are just more 'youthfully challenged'.





You can't help getting older,
but you don't have to get OLD!
                           - George Burns

                      happy-new-year-2011

Thoughts Of A Country Boy by Ed Richards


One of the interesting things about this amazing world we live in is it's division of time. The Bible says  "There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under heaven."


New Years Day is both a closing and opening.  It closed the chapter on 2010 and became the starting point for 2011. A wise man once said, "Yesterday is a canceled check, tomorrow is a promissory note, today is ready cash use it wisely."  Behind us is 2010 forever etched in the pages of history.  Although Its victories and failures are unchangeable, they can serve as a guideline to the future.   The important thing to remember, is not to become so obsessed with reflecting on the past and dreaming of the future that we forget about living today.  Life is lived a day at a time.                                      


3,900 Saturdays (Author Unknown)

The older I get, the more I enjoy Saturday morning. Perhaps it's the quiet solitude that comes with being the first to rise, or maybe it's the unbounded joy of not having to be at work. Either way, the first few hours of a Saturday morning are most enjoyable.


A few weeks ago, I was shuffling toward the garage with a steaming cup of coffee in one hand and the morning paper in the other. What began as a typical Saturday morning turned into one of those lessons that life seems to hand you from time to time. Let me tell you about it:

I turned the dial up into the phone portion of the band on my ham radio in order to listen to a Saturday morning swap net. Along the way, I came across an older sounding chap, with a tremendous signal and a golden voice. You know the kind; he sounded like he should be in the broadcasting business. He was telling whomever he was talking with something about "a thousand marbles." I was intrigued and stopped to listen to what he had to say.


"Well, Tom, it sure sounds like you're busy with your job. I'm sure they pay you well but it's a shame you have to be away from home and your family so much. Hard to believe a young fellow should have to work sixty or seventy hours a week to make ends meet. It's too bad you missed your daughter's dance recital," he continued; "Let me tell you something that has helped me keep my own priorities." And that's when he began to explain his theory of a "thousand marbles."


"You see, I sat down one day and did a little arithmetic. The average person lives about seventy-five years. I know, some live more and some live less, but on average, folks live about seventy-five years.

Now then, I multiplied 75 times 52 and I came up with 3,900, which is the number of Saturdays that the average person has in their entire lifetime. Now, stick with me, Tom, I'm getting to the important part.

It took me until I was fifty-five years old to think about all this in any detail," he went on, "and by that time I had lived through over twenty-eight hundred Saturdays. I got to thinking that if I lived to be seventy-five, I only had about a thousand of them left to enjoy. So I went to a toy store and bought every single marble they had. I ended up having to visit three toy stores to round up 1,000 marbles. I took them home and put them inside a large, clear plastic container right here in the shack next to my gear.


Every Saturday since then, I have taken one marble out and thrown it away. I found that by watching the marbles diminish, I focused more on the really important things in life.

There's nothing like watching your time here on this earth run out to help get your priorities straight.

Now let me tell you one last thing before I sign off with you and take my lovely wife out for breakfast. This morning, I took the very last marble out of the container. I figure that if I make it until next Saturday then I have been given a little extra time. And the one thing we can all use is a little more time.

It was nice to meet you Tom. I hope you spend more time with your family, and I hope to meet you again here on the band. This is a 75 year old man, K9NZQ, clear and going QRT, good morning!"


You could have heard a pin drop on the band when this fellow signed off. I guess he gave us all a lot to think about. I had planned to work on the antenna that morning, and then I was going to meet up with a few hams to work on the next club newsletter.


Instead, I went upstairs and woke my wife up with a kiss. "C'mon honey, I'm taking you and the kids to breakfast." "What brought this on?" she asked with a smile. "Oh, nothing special, it's just been a long time since we spent a Saturday together with the kids. And hey, can we stop at a toy store while we're out? I need to buy some marbles."



Four Worms!
A minister decided that a visual demonstration would add emphasis to his sermon.


Four worms were placed into four separate jars.

The first worm was put into a container of alcohol.

The second worm was put into a container of cigarette smoke.

The third worm was put into a container of chocolate syrup.

The fourth worm was put into a container of good clean soil.


At the conclusion of the sermon, the Minister reported the following results:


The first worm in alcohol - DEAD

The second worm in cigarette smoke - DEAD


Third worm in chocolate syrup - DEAD


Fourth worm in good clean soil - ALIVE


So the Minister asked the congregation -

What did you learn from this demonstration???


Maxine who was sitting in the back, quickly raised her

                                                     hand and said, 'As long as you drink, smoke     

                                                     and eat chocolate, you won't have worms! 


                                                     That pretty much ended the service --









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