By Jefferson Weaver
Another week has flown dragging past, my friends, leaving a trail of smiles and tears, hopes and fears, and maybe even a little excitement about the week to come.
I implore you, as always to remember the oft-forgotten holiday we celebrate next week. Thanksgiving means just that – a time to be thankful for all the blessings that surround us, a time to enjoy fellowship and family and friends, not just a time to get into a shoving match over a half-priced loss leader in your favorite retailer. I’ll not criticize those who enjoy shopping the day after Thanksgiving, but I will indeed look askance at those who run away from the turkey table to stand in line to spend.
It’s a big weekend here in the country – the NCTA Trapping Certification class is tomorrow morning, followed by the youth coon hunt in the afternoon. I reckon I’ll likely see some of you at one or both of those events. I sure hope so – there ain’t nothing as smile-provoking as a little kid being pulled along by a patient, professional hound.
Whether or not your pursuits are outside or inside, I do want to ask you to do a few thing, as always –
Hug your mama. Thank your daddy. Listen to your grandparents. Talk to your siblings. Hug your kids so close they squirm and complain.
Roll in the grass with your dog, Make faces at a cat. Confuse an owl. Talk to a squirrel. Crow with a rooster. Confide in a donkey. Joke with a goat. Gossip with a goose. Hug a horse. Panic with a guinea fowl. Scratch a friendly pig. Philosophize with a cow. Challenge a coyote.
Read to a little kid. Do something new and fun together. Play a game, skip a rock, whistle, fly a kite. Ask their opinions on stuff, and listen. We can learn a lot from little kids.
Make sure you watch the skies tonight, as the Perseids once again flash past in their autumn migration. The sunset is gone by the time I post these words, but you can still celebrate tomorrow’s sunrise, and count the stars between meteors. Listen to the wind in the woods, and the song of a river. Smell some dirt. Count the veins in an oak leaf. Crush a handful of pine straw. Then remember that the one who made all this and so much more loves you enough to have died for you, and rose again, no matter what you have done. He who knew no sin became the payment of sin, out of love for people who hadn’t even been born yet. If that ain’t humbling, we need to talk.
Do something nice for someone. I am not going to give you a chore list, since that might complicate the sincerity of your good deed. Just look around, find someone in need, and fill that gap for them. You’ll both benefit, I promise.
Read your Bible every day, and pray without ceasing. Go to church Sunday, and listen to the message. Pray for the man in the pulpit and his family. Pray for our country and our world. Pray for our leaders to have wisdom and common sense. Pray for peace. Pray for those who are lost in sin, and those who have lost all hope. Pray for those who can restore that hope. When you run out of people to pray for – just talk to God for a while. He appreciates it.
Love ferociously, without question. Never let your person feel like you don’t care. Surprise them with something you know that person will appreciate and doesn’t expect. Hold hands and mean it.
I have a few more tasks before I can call this day done, and a long weekend ahead of us, but the time is nearly here to rattle the dogbox, wake up the possums, and let us howl, howl, howl. Y’all be good, and be good at it.
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