Columns

Like so many of us, I have a lot of my family and friends’ birthdates in my phone’s calendar, and I have it set to notify me when a loved one’s birthday is on the horizon. I prefer to tell myself that “I have so many family members now, and combined with all my friends, I can’t possibly remember all those birthdates anymore.” But truthfully, probably just getting too lazy and too dependent upon my phone reminding me. Tend to take the easy way out when it is available.

I’ve been reading my Bible in reverse. Oh, not really word-by-word in reverse, just in the reverse order of books. I’ve read through the Bible several times over the last 10 years, but after getting stuck in Leviticus and Numbers a few times, I figured out a way to mix up the daily readings so that I don’t get stuck in a quagmire again – I read out of three different portions of the Word during any given week – History, Poetry, and the New Testament.

Husband has had a horrible time at work that day. Feeling kicked around, unappreciated and definitely out of sorts, he pulls into the driveway, only to find that his three-year-old has left her tricycle blocking the garage door… again. He leverages his tired body out of the car and lumbers slowly into the house, ready to snap the head from the first person he sees.

Anyone examining my Internet browser history would be bored to tears – Amazon purchases, links for my new job, reviews of defibrillators our church is considering, etc. But there’s one guilty pleasure to be found in my use of the World Wide Web: Craigslist East Texas, in the Farm & Garden For Sale area – specifically, used tractors.

You actually did it. You won the election.

The other day, as Freida and I headed to Dallas to celebrate our grandson completing his first trip around the Sun, a thought struck me. And that thought had to do with the center stripe painted on the highway — a line directing my path, signaling me not to stray across it without taking precautions. Then other lines holding sway over our daily lives came to mind. Lines like the one we sign our name on to pay a bill, or take title to a home, or apply for a fishing license. And there’s the line Johnny Cash sang about in “I Walk the Line.” Staying true to that course through five decades of wedded life has been my joy. And then there are lines such as Col. William Travis drew in the Alamo’s dust after Santa Ana demanded surrender or death. Roughly 200 brave Texans stepped over that line, thus entering history as slain heroes. That’s when lines on a map, boundary lines to be precise, gripped me.

Having dogs around can be dangerous. When First Husband and I had a lot of dogs we were very careful. They could get out if we didn’t latch the gate properly, or we might be mauled filling the water tubs. It’s only when you have just a few that you become lax and don’t pay attention. Then disaster easily could strike.