The Harris Sisters

The Harris sisters both married Hunkies and both had two boys but then one had a surprise and both love Jesus and reading the Bible and healthy eating and walking fast and Christmas and cabbage rolls and church potlucks and girly tea places and quiet time and wouldn't be seen out of the house without lipstick and hair perfectly coiffed and both sent two kids to the sandbox to serve their country more than once and once, all at once...  Katherine Szerdy and Linda Rusnak

Making Macabre Now Trumps Making Merry!

I've noticed in the past few years that Halloween has become nearly as big a celebration as Christmas.  It seems that more people decorate for Halloween than put up Christmas trees.  Installing dazzling light displays with flashing black lights and special effects that even Tim Burton would envy, our neighbors convert entire front yards into graveyards. 

The stores love it, too!  Beggar's night has become quite an industry--an entire season rather than one fun night wearing homemade costumes going door to door, little vagabond voices chiming, "Trick or Treat," holding out pillow cases in which to gather the sweet loot!  I remember well how long it took, how many doorbells we had to ring to collect a pound or two back in the day when candy was doled out a piece at a time. If you lived in the country, you were screwed. 

Target devotes a huge section of their store to Halloween right after the school supply lists are filled. These days, making macabre supersedes making merry. Yikes!  The average cost of costumes in the stores today are the same as a decent pair of shoes. Star Wars storm troupers ($40 @ Target) are most popular this year in honor of the release of the new Star Wars blockbuster on Dec 18. Brilliant marketing!?!  Hmm.  At least it gives a boost to big box stores' profit margins and the sagging Chinese economy.   And we have plenty of Storm Troupers crisscrossing our neighborhoods to intimidate us into obeisance. 

And more big kids are getting into the action today as over half the costumes sold in stores are adult sizes. When I was a kid, 14 was the max, the year we all dreaded as being too "old" to step out the door in costume.  It's a new millennium, however!  Millennial Trick-or-treaters aren't growing out of it these days--they go door to door with their kids in costume but linger with the neighbor's opting for a toddy over a treat!  Halloween parties litter our iCals for the entire month! 

I still say homemade is best, however.  This year, when my niece Chrissy asked her little 4-year-old Emma what she wanted to be this year, she replied, "A clock."   LOLOL!!!  I challenge you to find a clock costume in the stores!   So not wanting to disappoint her simple request, Grandpa and Chrissy got busy with a little old-fashioned felt and glue and it turned out adorable!  One of a kind--and one she can wear over her coat!   And little Emma comes away from this Halloween with much more than a felted timepiece--she is blessed with memories of treasured time with her Grampy. So much better than post-traumatic flashbacks of Target trips to grab the latest trend in mass-marketed Chinese-made cellulose and plastics destined for a post-Halloween trip to a landfill near you! 

Cannibus, Casinos, and What's Next?

10/1/2015--So pot is getting an awful lot of publicity these days!  I am sick of seeing every other ad on TV trying to convince Ohio voters of the benies of weed.  Millions of dollars in advertising are being spent as the BigBigMoney hiding behind The Ohio Rights Group, the organization responsible for the amendment on the ballot this fall, tries to sway Ohio voters----and where does this money come from??? The name of the ballot initiative in Ohio is “Responsible OH”---seriously?   I wouldn't have any issue with the plant's medicinal use---if these claims actually held up to research-- http://www.msn.com/en-gb/health/other/studies-show-medical-marijuana-unproven-to-help-many-illnesses/vi-AAc0vfq?refvid=AAclKvW  Savvy advertisers understand that appealing to viewers’ emotions using children is one of the most powerful forms of psychological manipulation.  If marijuana is such good medicine, then why, oh why, doesn’t the FDA approve it for that use alone and leave the voters out of it?  Why is recreational use tethered to medicinal use on the ballot?  The answer:  $$$$$$$$$$$$ This industry is so huge that they have a publishing empire spewing out their rhetoric---check out Marijuana Business Daily-- http://mjbizdaily.com or check out the The Cannabis Manifesto, their toke tome purporting what’s really on their economic/political agenda!   I’ve always said that the two greatest problems that plague this planet are greed and over-population. 

Weed is a weed is a weed…..Some might argue that it’s just a plant like tobacco is a plant.  A few decades ago, a doctor recommended to a dear friend of mine that she take up smoking to relieve her nerves.  Today, she is suffering tremendously from that prescription.  And the doc?  He committed suicide the following year.

Certainly the CEO of the Clinic, who happens to be a heart surgeon, has made it quite clear that not only will the legalization of this mind-altering substance cause long-term health issues, but these long-term health issues will contribute greatly to the exponential increase in healthcare costs which affect all of us.  With 40% of the citizens of Ohio relying on state aid in the form of Medicaid to pay for their healthcare, who will carry this burden?   The taxpayers!  You and me! 

We’re living in an age where the Supreme Court has circumvented the most fundamental tenet of our government, i.e. the separation of church and state, by granting themselves the power to decide on sacred religious issues.  The judiciary so loosely interprets the law and our commander-in-chief so disregards the law that those who enforce the law no longer have the support of those they pledge to protect!  This issue, if it passes, will only serve to further desecrate the moral fiber of this once great country.

Another commercial that started airing this week is for a medication that treats gambling.  Yep!  The pharmaceutical industry has jumped on this bandwagon, too! 

The drug manufacturer claims that gambling is 100% a biochemical imbalance and has nothing to do with choice.  Didn’t you realize when casinos were legalized in this state that an entire pharmaceutical industry would be built around such a vice? So how long will it be before we see pharmaceuticals specifically targeting the physical ramifications of marijuana use—newly legalized substances breed new diseases! 

Lydia Bolander, the spokesperson for the campaign to legalize cannibus here in Ohio, claims that the state will “use the taxes generated to help local communities provide vital public services.”  (PD 12-19-2014). Does that empty promise sound familiar?  Think back to the Ohio Lottery and more recently, the campaign bringing the casino industry to the state.  Sure, the Ohio Lottery has produced some revenue, some of which has gone to education, but the percentage promised doesn’t even come close to the percentage produced!

Did you know that Oregonians are celebrating Happy Marijuana Day today?  I pray Ohioans have enough intelligence to vote down the legalization of this weed.   Just remember, you can’t smoke your toke and eat it too!  WWJD!

Copyright 2015

Ground2Chuck, Minced not Chopped

Hubby and I enjoyed the blessing of spending the evening with this half of the Feldman team--our dear neighbors across the street. Yes, he saddled and rode up on his tractor lawn mower...I was surprised he didn't drive up his front end loader or the big tractor. He often likes to take those out to see how many folks he can hold up on the highway!   Anyway, his better half is helping take care of the grandchild down in Atlanta thus we couldn't let him dine alone, so we invited him up for sup.  

     Life's always an adventure with this retired school teacher, artist, writer, octogenarian turned garlic farmer!  On the riding mower, He brought up  a bushel basket filled with a thick 3-ring binder, a cassette tape player, and a huge canning pot filled with eight different types of lettuce and radishes just picked from the farm. One item was noticeably missing from the load--his 4-octave harmonica!  It's hard getting through a meal with this man without feeling like you've had an ab workout from all the hilarity!  But the tales don't start until after he blesses the meal and our time together, of course.  

     Following our supper, he asked Steve and I to hold hands while he played the recording of an ol' song from the forties. And he was serious about the holding hands part!  Of course we were a little embarrassed and just a little hesitant not sure what was coming, but we complied.  Behind the hiss and scratches of the obviously old song that he recorded on this ancient cassette tape recorder from a tune he found on YouTube--a song he remembered from his coming of age favorites from the 1940s sung by a humble country couple backed up with banjo and harmonica accompaniment--"We'll Grow Old Together".  The song finished with a yodel to which our dinner guest joined with his own skilled epiglottis, flipping into his adorable falsetto to which I half-expected the fox, and Bob, the ghost of our resident woodchuck, the Bedford bear, a half dozen deer,  and his dear beloved Marge followed by a few annoyed neighbors and even the Hudson police to appear from round the bend. Until the yodeling part, he kept his head bowed in utter seriousness, lost in his own reverie, expecting hubby and I to listen to the entire song with devotion in our hearts. We swayed in time to the Appalachian rendition of this old love song while hubby winked at me as if to say, I feel a sermon coming. Sure enough, as though stepping up to the pulpit, clicking the cassette off button with a flourish, he prefaced his sermon with, Well now that your youngest has flown the 

nest, it really is just the two of you now.  You know, I've known my beloved Wife of 55 years was the one since she told me she gave her heart to The Lord and said, 'I'll never turn back.'  We've heard the story a few times but never mind hearing it told again by this godly man and master storyteller who never fails to touch our hearts, tickle our funny bone, and entertain us with his unique view on politics and world events topped off with a yodel or accompanied by the 4-octave harmonica while wreaking of garlic!  

     Oh , and the notebook?  He recently finished another chapter of his (so far) 600-page memoir replete with thousands of photos!  This chapter recounts his 2-year deployment to Germany post WWII and he wanted to discuss how he could market this part of the story. What soldier do you know who actually kept a running narrative--both visual and textual-of every detail of his time in the service!  Well, Folks, that's our Chuck Feldman, our one-of-a-kind Chuckie.  Trust me, the Lord broke the mold after making this one!  We love him and Margie so dearly and feel very blessed to have them and their family in our lives. Feel like the good Lord planted us here for a reason. OK, well since this is starting to seem like a book, I'll sign out for tonight I mean this morning. Hugs

Wishes on the Wind

Dandelions

Yellow nuisance gadfly weeds

Pestilence?

No!  Soft sunshine surprises, that

Grace a sea of green,

Inviting monarchs to land,

Woven into the braids of Innocence.

Clutched tightly in tiny fists, become

A gift to she who gave her life…

Later morph into wishmakers.

Fluffy wishes--not a whim, but a prayer--

Scatter with the sweetness of a child’s breath.

Blow!

Then watch downy seeds scatter,

Born on the hope of a child’s dream,

Becoming tomorrow’s wishmakers dare to

Send roots down where man desires to keep

Carpet green, void of

Short-stemmed sunshine surprises

Who, when given half a chance,

Inspire wonder in the heart of Innocence.

© 2014 By Katherine L. Harris Szerdy
Dedicated to Sela and Lily Kate

Lies in the Mirror

What lies are you believing

as you gaze in the mirror?

Shame internalized from years of thinking you’re

     second best

          third fiddle

                 inferior

                         not as good as...

Parents fight so loud,

     What will the neighbors think?

Walk to the school bus stop,

              head hanging low.

         Shame by association

         Becomes an unwanted companion

Fighting words become internalized voices—

          devil loves to use those words

Fists with the steady beat of a drum,

     The pound of a hammer

         drive shame d

                                     o 

                                        w

                                            n

                                               deep in muscles and sinews,

          embed them deep in bones…

                right down to the marrow

You won’t be good enough until you

          Make the honor roll every time

You won’t be good enough until you

          get the lead in the senior class play.

You won’t prove yourself good enough until you

          find someone who will want to marry you.

          Who would want to marry you?

You can’t possibly be good enough until you

          Get your college degree—

          Be the first in the family

It’s your job to make them look good.

     It’s your responsibility!

Then people won’t think you’re from “bad blood.”

What lies have you believed

as you gaze in the mirror?

It’s all up to you, you know.

Intellect will raise you above the crowd

Success will prove your worthiness

Maybe the shame will go away when you

            Earn your Master’s….

                        And this accolade

                                    And that award

Collect enough to inflate ego and you

                        might      save       face

Garner enough awards to cover the wall

            And you might have enough to hide

The crack in the plaster

How about seminary…

                        That’ll get you a few steps closer

to heaven

But even so

You won’t be good enough until you…

STOP!

The lie is your golden calf

                            Perfection is the gold

                            Pride is the idol

There is only One who is perfect.

Seek Me first, my child—it’s the ONLY way.

Seek My face, not theological concept.

Relationship, not intellectual exercise, 

It’s not what you do…it’s Who you know

Immerse yourself in My word every day

Allow it to soak it into your heart—

          --into the marrow--

A balm to heal deep-seated wounds,

The one true Panacea which destroys old tapes.   

I am not interested in earthly credentials!

Praise and worship are the only essentials!

Neither recognition nor award offer salvation

Shame hangs in the shadows of the award collection

Allow My light to pierce the broken places,

     to penetrate the dark recesses

Look to me—I am the Golden Key

Allow my love to remove the glaze from eyes

     Wearied by the mesmerism of the morning mirror

Allow my grace to wipe away your tears

And my mercy to unlock the inner treasury—

     Of Truth—

     To soften a heart hardened by years of 

     Believing the reflection tells the whole story…

You can do nothing to earn My saving grace.

     No audience can give you that.

     No award can grant you peace.

     No accolade is the answer

My Truth is plain and simple.

     No college prof can teach it…   

     No degree can dispense it…

The world doesn’t get it.

     Scholasticism cannot grasp it.

     Cultural compliance complicates it.

Following Me costs everything

Yet I paid your debt—in full!

You think you’re running the show?  

There is nothing that you owe!

Wake up from the illusion that you’re in control.

Rest, trust, that I stand at the helm.

Healing doesn’t come from self-forgiveness

Healing comes from accepting My forgiveness

I love you so much that I allowed

   Life to knock you behind the knees

To remind you of your vulnerability

Choose to bow down on bended knee

In sweet surrender, in humility

The irony of surrender as strength

is the mystery!

Let go of your history—

Your life is not a tragedy.

Embrace your new destiny!

You love me that much?

Salvation is free?

I cast myself in the dust before You, Father!

Nothing that I can do

No nothing that I can achieve

I can of myself do nothing to earn it.

You freely gave it to me,

and continue to give it to me, here, right now!

I look in the mirror and see the reflection of

Your beloved child, redeemed, worthy.

Copyright 2014, Katherine Harris Szerdy

OFF THE GRID

By Katherine Harris Szerdy

Hocking Hills

     forced the Screen Queen to

Gaze at the afternoon light

     reflecting off young leaves,

Listen to the cat-like calls of deer

     beckoning little ones to stay close,

Smell spring saplings lift

      Rich loam from last year’s leaves--

Green tendrils unfurl, 

      nudging their way,

             seeking sun’s rays.

I soak up the silence,

      wallow in the whispers of

Foothills formidable enough

     to keep

              signals from

                    penetrating…

24 hours

     off the grid

          zero bars, no not one…

  And that’s a good thing.

© 2014