Here is a reminder on what is important as we celebrate Thanksgiving this year. When things in your life seem almost to much to handle, when 24 hours in a day are not enough, remember this story of a mayonnaise jar and coffee. A professor stood before his philosophy class and had some items in front of him. When the class became quiet, he picked up a very large and empty mayonnaise jar and proceeded to fill it with golf balls. He then asked the students if the jar was full. They agreed that it was. So the professor then picked up a box of pebbles and poured them into the jar. He shook the jar lightly. The pebbles rolled into the open spaces between the golf balls. He then asked the students again if the jar was full. They agreed it was. The professor next picked up a box of sand and poured it into the jar. Of course, the sand filled up everything else. He asked once more if the jar was full. The students responded with a unanimous “yes.” The professor then produced two cups of coffee from under the table and poured the entire contents into the jar, effectively filling the empty space between the sand. The students laughed. “Now,” said the professor, as the laughter subsided, “I want you to recognize that the jar represents your life. The golf balls are the important things – your family, your children, your health, your friends, your church, and your favorite passions – things that if everything else was lost and only they remained, your life would still be full. The pebbles are the other things that matter like your job, your house, your car. The sand is everything else – the small stuff.” “If you put sand in the jar first,” he continued, “there is no room for the pebbles, the golf balls. The same goes for life. If you spend all your time and energy on the small stuff, you will never have room for the things that are important to you. “Pay attention to the things that are critical to your happiness. Play with your children. Take time to get medical checkups. Take your wife/partner to dinner. Play another 18 holes. There will always be time to clean the house, and fix the disposal. Take care of the golf balls first, the things that really matter. Set your priorities. The rest is just sand.” One of the students raised her hand and inquired what the coffee represented. The professor smiled. “I’m glad you asked,” he said. “It just goes to show you that no matter how full your life my seem, there’s always room for a cup of coffee with a friend.” *** Congratulations to all those involved in planning and carrying through the development of the new monument at the Veterans Memorial located in Soo Park. My wife and I were glad we were able to be in attendance of the dedication ceremony. It couldn’t have been held at any more of an appropriate time – November 11 Veteran’s Day. One does not realize how much traffic our Main Street (Broadway) receives until trying to hear a speaker over the volume of vehicles going by. At any rate, it was a very impressive ceremony with well thought out words appropriate to the occasion. Afterwards the veterans were treated to lunch, had a virtual program put on by the Stanley-Boyd Schools and a movie, with all held at the local theater – a jewel of an asset in downtown Stanley. *** I have been told more than once that the downtown traffic was significantly reduced after the new hospital was built. I am wondering if the new business additions in the past year have helped reverse that? *** Thursday, November 20, was a beautiful day. During a trip through Chapman Park I saw several young men playing basketball, people out walking in the park, and small children enjoying the playground equipment. And most were in short sleeve shirts!! And there were also + 1,000 Canadian geese congregated on Chapman Lake. When will the winter shoe fall?? *** The following showed up on my computer on Veteran's Day and I want to share it as I had a number of friends and neighbors who served our country during the Vietnam War. It was simply titled: TO THE VIETNAM VETERAN – To those who returned with no one to greet them. To those who have been told PTSD would go away in time. To those who have never been told thank you or welcomed home. To those who returned but are still haunted by the nightmares of war. To those who still react to a backfire and break a sweat at the sound of a chopper. To those who suffer from agent orange exposure and are still fighting the last battle. To those who fought battles in the jungles of Vietnam and here at home. To those who have more friends on the Vietnam Memorial Wall than alive today. THANK YOU! THANK YOU! *** Smile time. Wife: Did I get fat during the quarantine? Husband: You weren’t really skinny to begin with! Time of Death: 11:00 pm. Cause: COVID. +++ Why, why, why …. Why do peanuts float in a regular Coke and sink in a Diet Coke? Go ahead and try it… +++ I used to eat a lot of natural foods until I learned that most people die of natural causes. +++ Once your in heaven, do you get stuck with the clothes you were buried in? +++ How is it that we put a man on the moon before we figured out it would be good to put wheels on luggage? +++ Why is it that people say they “slept” like a baby when babies wake up like every two hours? +++ If a deaf person has to go to court, is it still called a hearing? +++ Why is it your IN a movie, but you’re ON TV? +++ Why is it that people pay to go up tall buildings and then put money in binoculars to look at things on the ground? +++ Why is “bra” singular and “panties” plural? +++ Why do toasters have a setting that burns the toast to a horrible crisp, which no decent human being would eat? +++ Can a hearse carrying a corpse drive in the carpool lane? +++ If corn oil is made from corn, and vegetable oil is made from vegetables, what is baby oil made from? +++ Why do the Alphabet song and Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star have the same tune? +++ Why did you just try singing those two songs? +++ Have you noticed that if you blow in a dogs face, he gets mad at you, but when you take him for a car ride, he sticks his head out the window? +++ How did the man who made the first clock know what time it was? ++ Now chew on those profound questions for a while!! Thanks to the California kid for sending these my way.