Dear Friends,
What are your pleasures in life? I remember one old fella in the neighborhood who, when he retired, spent his time quietly sittin on his front stoop in an old hard back chair, whittling. He would go walking in the woods and come home with some select wood for whittling. He whittled birds, small animals, fish, flowers, and a couple of horses, when he had a few pieces he would sell them for “bottle money.” I know another fella whose greatest pleasure is fishin’. From the bank or a boat, as long as he could set quiet and watch for the bobber to dip under, he’d clean them up and have a fish fry, or, he’d give some folks he knew a couple fish for their dinner. Others like to sit quietly and read, paint, listen to music. One older lady I knew, her kid had grown and moved on, enjoyed baking cookies and pies, if you were lucky enough she’d invite you to have some with a cold glass of milk. Another woman found great pleasure in writing to friends in other towns or states and reading their replies when the mailman would bring them. One ol’ boy had been a radio operator in the war and spent his nights talking to folks across the country and in other countries on his ham radio. The woman next door collected the post cards that folks sent her from all over the world. She’d get one from some historic place and look it up in her Funk and Wagnall and make notes and file them together. Point is, whatever you find pleasure in should not be regulated by anyone as long as it brings you pleasure, isn’t illegal, immoral, harmful to anyone else.
Now I have my pleasures in life, spending time with my wife, singing, reading, listening to music, writing, and eating. Starting my day with a good meal like I’ve enjoyed since my childhood; Oatmeal cooked country, eggs up, hash brown potatoes or grits and beans, bacon or scrapple, butter biscuits or cornbread, and a glass of cold milk with Ovaltine. Now that is known as “Good eats.” Then one day it was decided by someone that milk should be homogenized and pasteurized, and come in regular, low fat, or skim. Butter should be replaced with margarine, eggs could be powdered or come from free range chickens. Oatmeal could be cooked up in a microwave oven, grits are laughed at and come in a box like instant rice. Biscuits start by opening and popping a tube of pre cut dough, corn bread comes from a box mix and I really question if there is any corn in the mix. Finally they say bacon is bad and want us to enjoy something called turkey bacon, or turkey sausage, and they won’t even acknowledge the joys of scrapple. Yes the pleasures of a good meal are hard to find, luckily I have a wife who knows how to cook. That said let us discuss this; Ice Cream, not frozen yogurt (cold bacteria) ice milk, reduced fat and no fat ice milk. Creamy, melt on a hot day ice cream made with real ingredients, real cream, sugar, and flavored with real chocolate or fruit. I guess I’ll sell my membership to the gym, I’m going to get my exercise churning butter, mixing dough, and churning up a big batch of real ice cream. Bon a petite Y’all.