Sitting At The Kitchen Table

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: MickyMan
Date: 31 Dec 08 - 11:09 AM

Jerry,
   I think it's time for you to go outside and see if Sparky is making another snow angel, before the new snow gets too deep. The storm has been going strong here in Colchester CT since 9:00 and I'll bet that you people in Derry CT have a good hour on us because it always gets to you first.
   It looks like we're going to start 2009 with a good coating of white!

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Waddon Pete
Date: 31 Dec 08 - 10:54 AM

......and a Happy New Year from me too.

I trust that 2009 will prove to be all that you hoped it would be.

Thanks for the companionship around the table in 2008!

All the best,

Peter

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: billybob
Date: 31 Dec 08 - 10:39 AM

Happy New Year to everyone in the kitchen.
Wendy

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 27 Dec 08 - 11:09 AM

We've still got snow on the ground, Pete, although it's not going to be around much longer. Tomorrow it's going to hit 60 degrees and rain.

Funny thing happened three or four days ago. I don't know if it's a universal pastime wherever there's snow, but when we were kids, we'd lie in the snow on our backs, raise our arms above our haed and back and spread our legs wide. When we got up, we'd made a snow angel. We live on the highest point of our street, Hillcrest, and that says it all. We get some might strong winds here. Anchoring our lighted angel on the front lawn is always a challenge, because it gets blown over all the time. I bought a new angel this year because our old one looks like it's been run over by a truck. Shortly after we had our ten inches of snowfall, I guess our angel couldn't resist the temptation. She toplled over on her back and when I went out and helped her up, I had to laugh. She'd made a snow angel with her wings. Sparky the snow angel. Of course, there is always the possibility that the wind blew her over...

Jerry

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: maeve
Date: 27 Dec 08 - 10:17 AM

Hey there, Jerry and all. I hope the joy of Christmas carries you through the upcoming New Year.

I have some thoughts to offer, but they're still swirling around in my head right now. I'll be back.

maeve

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Waddon Pete
Date: 27 Dec 08 - 08:03 AM

Hello Jerry,

How did your Dad get away with that?

It's all share and share alike in our house. We all muck in and do what has to be done. My Grandfather and Father were very 'liberated' for their day and always did their fair share so it's now 'traditional'.

Have you still got the snow? Or has it melted now?

Hello Wendy,

Sorry to hear about the power cut...but in a strange way it was a bonus, from what you were saying. I always find that candle light has a completely different way of lighting a room and highlighting people's faces. Although we are glad when the power comes back, there is also always a little bit of regret for what has been lost.

By the way, it wasn't Professor Plum.........shucks........

Best wishes,


Peter

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: billybob
Date: 27 Dec 08 - 07:27 AM

Back in the salon today, only for a couple of hours then back home to a quiet evening with Billy and maybe a movie and a bottle of wine!
We had a lovely Christmas, the two little ones kept us all amused, Scarlett was very impressed that Father Christmas ate the mince pie and his reindeer the carrot that she left out on the porch.
We had a power cut just as the turkey came out of the range, so we had dinner by candle light and listened to the Queen's speech on a transister radio, conversation flowed as did the wine and I felt like I was back in the Christmases of my childhood.
As to the ladies having the xmas hairdo Les, we have a beauty salon and day spa, so it was manicures and facials for us, also a lot of back massages on Christmas eve for the stressed out!
Needless to say my nails looked dreadful and my roots need doing as I could not find time for the hairdresser!Worked all week then, home to a full house and cooked Christmas dinner for ten plus the littles! But I would not change it for anything.How lucky I am to have a lovely family.
Wendy

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 26 Dec 08 - 07:47 PM

Who does the washing up in our house? Whoever. We don't have many traditional roles.

My Dad used to brag that he helped mom make breakfast. Before mom went to bed at night she'd measure out the coffee and the water and plug the coffee maker in. All that had to be done in the morning was to push the button to turn the coffee maker on. That's what my dad did... That's all my dad did. When it came to housework, he believed in a division of labor. Mom did 99% of the work, and he did 1%.

Jerry

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Waddon Pete
Date: 26 Dec 08 - 05:35 PM

Now, now Jerry.....

You know a Mudcat game would cause too many arguments!

Your games sound fun!

Board games are still favourites here. We have just finished Pictionary and are now on Cluedo!

I think it was Professor Plum...but I've been wrong before!

Best wishes,

Peter

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 26 Dec 08 - 05:02 PM

Hey, Pete:

When my sons were little, we spent many hours playing board games. They're a thing of the past over here, since video games came out. Last night, though, it was deja vu all over again. My 10 year old grandaughter and 8 year old something or other once removed had finally become bored with tv and video games and started snooping around in the cupboards. They found a Sorry game that I bought for just such a purpose a couple of years ago, and they were lying on the floor, deep in argument over a move one of them made. Made it feel like the '60's again. Or the '40's. Sorry was my oldest son's favorite board game and I gave one to his son last Christmas. They live a thousand miles away (doesn't everyone?) so I don't know if they ever played it. My grandson amkes the Tazmanian Devil look calm, so I don't know if he could have come to a complete halt long enough to play it. Of course we played monopoly, and when the boys were little an Uncle Wiggily game. I was an Uncle Wiggily fan as a kid (not the game, which didn't exist back then as far as I know. When I got sick, my mother would buy me an Uncle Wiggily game. A bonus for getting sick. Who could resist Petty Bow-Wow and the Puppy Chaps? Those Rascalls! We also played Parcheesi a lot, and Chinese Checkers. In college, I became addicted to Go for a few years.

When I was in college, my roommate gor on a game inventing kick. I developed an evolution game, being a geology major. You had your choice of being a Sabre Toothed Tiger,a Mammoth and two other extinct animals I've since forgotten. To move, you drew a card from the gene pool. There were climate change cards (an evolutionary Go To Jail Card,) too. If you were a Wooly Mammoth and someone drew a tropical climate card, you genes for thick fur suddently would earn you a negative move. The game was over when someone reached their apex of evolution, but you could also go extinct if the climate was
wrong for too long a time. You could keep backing up until you went off the board.

And then there was the mountain climbing game, with the simplest of strategy. The game board was very elongated with several possible paths to take to the top. Some were riskier than others with icy ridges subject to avalanches. A more sophisticated Chutes and Ladders. Strategy depended on whether you took a safer, longer path, or a shorter more dangerous one. You could also sabotoge each other my loosening each others pitons or intentionally starting an avalanche. "Ma, Jimmy loosend my pitons again!"

On a safer lever, I did a scavneger hunt game, with the board laid out as the streets of a neighborhood. Everyone would draw a list of items to find, and they were on small squares placed upside down on the outlines of houses. You ahd to drive around to the houses and see if they contained one of your items. If not, you left the card turned over so no one else would know what was there. To make life more interesting, there were traffic jam cards that slowed you down if you happened to be driving on that street, road under construction cards, and even a reversal of direction on one way streets. Just like real life.

Sorry, Pete. You asked about games.

Now someone could create a Mudcat Cafe game...

Jerry

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Waddon Pete
Date: 26 Dec 08 - 04:25 PM

I'm still chuckling at the idea of Jerry with a blue rinse!

It seems to be time for the traditional board games so I'm taking refuge at the kitchen table. I hope your Christmas was peaceful and...did you ever get yourself dug out of the snow Jerry?

Who does the washing up in your house? What Christmas games do you play?

I only went to the Christmas sales once...never again!   (like some of the threads on Mudcat...you only visit them once!)


Best wishes,

Peter

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 25 Dec 08 - 06:52 PM

I wrote a song many years titled Lavender Ladies. There was a group of women from my church who went to an exclusive clothing store, Lord & Taylor after church every Sunday. They'd spend a long time shopping, by a few clothes and take them home. Monday, they'd decide that they didn't like them and meet together on Tuesday or Wednesday tp return the clothes and shop for some more. Clothing Bulemia. They were all widowers with more time on their hands than imagination.

The chorus to the song is:

And the Lavender Ladies are leisurely grazing
In ladieswear, luggage and fine lingerie
With hours to kill and no one to kill them with
The loves of their lives had all passed away

Jerry

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Tootler
Date: 25 Dec 08 - 05:13 PM

Oddly enough so did I - no blue rinse though.

And thanks for your good wishes Les, and the same to you and I hope Faldingworth Live goes from strength to strength in the coming year.

Geoff

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Rasener
Date: 25 Dec 08 - 07:24 AM

Did you have a perm & blue rinse though?

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 25 Dec 08 - 06:42 AM

I washed my hair yesterday, and I combed it nicely this morning. Does that count?

Merry Christmas!

Jerry

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Rasener
Date: 25 Dec 08 - 02:40 AM

Tootler
My best wishes to you, your wife and your daughter.
May you all have a very nice day and may 2009 see your wife improve in health. As for your daughter, that is a very brave thing to do.
Les

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Tootler
Date: 24 Dec 08 - 07:39 PM

Neither my wife nor daughter had their hair done today.

In fact they have spent most of the day preparing food so as to reduce the amount of cooking tomorrow. (Well today, it being about 12.30 here)

It has somewhat taken it out of my wife. She had a kidney transplant in June and while that was a total success, she had a reaction to the surgery itself and it has left her with back trouble so she gets tired easily.

Nevertheless, she is steadily getting better, but it is going to be a long haul. As to the kidney, that is doing fine. My daughter was the donor and it was a very good match so the long term prognosis is good.

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Rasener
Date: 24 Dec 08 - 02:27 PM

Blimey Gerry, that almost had me in tears.

Wendy
That is a wierd thing.
I had to go into Lincoln Uk today to pick up our meat for Christmas day from M&S.
My 17 year old daughter was with me.
We passed a Hair Salon in Lincoln and some old dear came out having probably had her perm and blue rinse (LOL).
My daugher was so unaware of the importance of having your hair done for Christmas. My wife being Dutch is not used to the tradition and that is why my daughter is so oblivious about it.
So I explained how in my day, all the ladies spent the days before Christmas spending a fortune on hair do's and then slaving in the kitchen on Christmas Day.

Is it still the same?
Do young women still follow the tradition of having their hair done, or is it a dying custom amongst the young ones?

Les

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 24 Dec 08 - 10:08 AM

Hey, Wendy:

My grandson on Ruth's side of our family was born on December 26th, so we always have a birthday cake for him. Having a birtdhay cake for Jesus sounds like a great idea, too.

Here's one of my most unlikely memorable Christmases.

It was my first Christmas after my divorce. My ex-wife and I were alternating having the boys on Holidays, and she had them Christmas Eve. My divorce had been a real shredder: two years of investigation before awarding me sole chustody of the boys. That is still rare, to give sole custody to the father, but it was a reflection on my ex-wife's lack of emotional state. My sons were just 8 and 14 at the time, and life was still very hard for us.

Christmas Eve looked like it was going to be very lonely. I decided to go over to a neighboring town where they were having public caroling around the Christmas tree in the center of the green. It was a beautiful moonlit night with heavy fallen snow blanketing the fields and woods. When I arrived at the green, no one was there. I'd heard about the caroling from a woman I had hoped to accidently run into on the green as I knew that she and her friends were planning to be there. When I arrived to an empty downtown and green, I decided to stop at my woman friend's apartment to tell her the caroling had apparently been cancelled. It was a lame excuse for stopping by, but it was the best that I could come up with on such short notice.

When I arrived at her apartment and rang her door bell, she answered the door amidst a lot of noise in the background. She and her women friends had already been to the caroling (I got the time wrong,) and were drinking some Holiday cheer. I felt like I was intruding on someone else's party. I was. My friend offered me a drink, and I stood there uncomfortably, chuggalugging it down and excused myself as quickly as possible so that they could resume their merriment.

Sound like a wonderful Christmas Eve yet?

Driving home alone at Christmas Eve for the first time in my life,
I didn't feel alone, or lonely. The sky was brilliantly lit by a full moon, and the air was so clear that I felt like I was in space, not in Connecticut. There was a silence that deeply moved me. "Silent night, holy night, all is calm, all is bright." I felt the holiness of the night in a way I never have. And I sang, "Oh come all ye faithful, joyful and triumphant."

And I felt very joyful, and triumphant.

Jerry

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: billybob
Date: 24 Dec 08 - 07:56 AM

Hi Jerry,
it is 12.50 here in the UK, I am at work in the salon till 4.0, ladies still coming in to be made beautiful, but at four I am out of here, we are taking Scarlett to church for her first Christingle service, then everyone is coming to stay with us, The turkey is ready, the house looks very festive with white lights all over the outside. We are looking forward to Reuben and Scarlett opening the presents and hoping Samantha's new baby waits till after Christmas to be born. Although Christmas day he/she would share a birthday with the most wonderful baby of all.

Happy Christmas, peace and joy , good health to everyone who has shared this table this year.
best wishes and love,
Wendy

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 24 Dec 08 - 06:57 AM

Another beautiful story! Thanks for sharing that, Vilan.

And have a wonderful Christmas!

Jerry

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Rasener
Date: 24 Dec 08 - 01:13 AM

Hi Jerry
Just popping in to wish you and everybody else who frequents this thread a very nice Christmas and a healthy and good New Year.

When I was about 27, I was Cost & Management Accountant for a moulding company in Birmingham UK, owned by Guinness the brewery.
I had this person who worked for me, who was a really good worker and great guy to work with and him and his wife had become freinds over the years. He was 62 at the time. In June of that year, he suffered a heart attack and was still at home in December, unfit to come to work. It was impossible to know when he would be back. We were all under a lot of pressure trying to do his job as well as we could.

Anyway in early December, I was called to the Directors office who informed me that he would have to be replaced. I argued that we couldn't do that to him, especially as it was coming up to Christmas and that it might just finish him off.
He said that Guinness, would put him on full private pension for the rest of his life. That is when private pensions were worth their weight in Gold.
In the end I had to give in and it got round to who should tell him and his wife and when. The director wanted to do it after Christmas, but I felt that I should do it now, as he worked directly for me and I had known and worked with him for many years.
Anyway, I went to visit him and his wife at their home. I felt terrible and was wondering how I could deliver the news.
His wife answered the door with a smile and that made me feel worse. We drank tea and discussed how he was and what they were going to do for Christmas etc etc (anything but discuss the real issue).
Finally, I had no choice but to announce it to them.
I said that I had some news for them and that I hoped it would be good news. I told them what had been decided and he started crying, and I thought "oh my god, I wish i wasn't here dong this".
I apologised to them and said how bad I felt about it.
He said "you have just answered my prayers"
I looked at him in shock and asked him what he meant.
He explained that he had been worried sick about his future and going on Pension was the best thing that could have happened to them and didn't know how to thank me and the company enough. They said that they could now enjoy Christmas.
We remained freinds and I visited them every so often, until I moved to Scotland. He actually lived to a ripe old age.

I have never forgotten that experience, and I realised that this was one occasion when having to tell somebody what I thought was bad news before Christmas was in actual fact the best thing I did.

Thought I would share that with you. It suddenly came to mind reading the latest block of posts.

Les

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Fortunato
Date: 23 Dec 08 - 11:19 AM

Jerry,

I'll order that one from Netflix, Jerry thanks for the tip.

best regards,

Chance

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 22 Dec 08 - 03:59 PM

That's a wonderful story, Chase! Thanks for sharing it. And good to see you, David. I'm sorry you've had so much to deal with this year. Just be patient, we'll get rid of this one in another week and a half.

These days, there's a volunteer from the Salvation Army in front of just about every store. I always give generously to them because I know first hand how much they help people. There's a man who has watched the kettle in front of the local Walmart most days. He and some of the others work an 8 hour day, standing out in this cold. This particular man is always effusive in thanking me when I throw a few dollars in the kettle. He looks pretty down and out, himself. He told me that he gave five dollars the other day to a woman to buy groceries for her kids because she had no money. Sometimes the poor are more generous in helping each other out than those who are far better off.

Jerry

My favorite Christmas story, by the way is told by Harvey Keitel at the end of the movie, Smoke. It still grabs me. I just ordered the movie on DVD because I don't watch my videos any more. The minute it arrives, it's going in the player.

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: David C. Carter
Date: 22 Dec 08 - 12:16 PM

Hi there Jerry and everyone.
It's been a long time time since I posted to you,mea culpa!
Good to see that this great thread is still up and runing.
The stories and anecdotes on here are full of warmth and uplifting,for a misserable git like me!
Had a nasty accident in July:Broken arm,four broken ribs and a fracture to the scull.I still can't move my arm,can't play the guitar,but my wife thinks that the bang on the head did me a lot of good!There you go!
The possitive side is that I can't help with the housework,washing up,cleaning etc.But I have to say that she has been great,nursing me,ordering me to 'Sit down,leave it to me'.Who am I to argue!
We're looking forward to friends from London,coming for Christmas and the new year.
So I wish you all the Seasons Greatings,a Happy New year,and the best of everything.
If I don't break anything else I'll get back soon.

Best wishes to you all.

David

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Fortunato
Date: 22 Dec 08 - 11:51 AM

Merry Christmas Jerry and Ruth.

Here's a Christmas Story, I've told it before on the Mudcat, but in case you didn't see it:
This is a true story...

It was Christmas Eve, 1977. I had made up my mind to buy my wife a fiddle, but my funds, as always, were limited. I knew nothing about violins; I still don't. But I knew the difference a decent guitar can make to a new player and so I was a bit discouraged by the the fiddles I had found for the price I could afford...

On that Christmas Eve I was chatting with a man on the subway about Christmas and presents, and he asked me if I had been to Weaver's Violins downtown. I said, no, I'd never heard of it. I've been looking in the folkie places, the places I knew best. After work I took the subway up and found Weaver's, I think it was on 13th Street then.

Well, it was a violin shop all right. It was the sort of violin shop, however, where the violins cost more than houses in the suburbs. I was ignorant of course, so I strolled up asked the price of the violin in the case in front the older gentlemen standing there. He looked me over, and answered rather flatly, "$35,000". He was, I found later, Mr. Weaver himself, and he turned away to help another customer whom he seemed to greet as an old friend. Clearly I was in the wrong place. I began to circle the shop as if actually looking at the violins, keeping up appearances, but I was headed for the door.

On my way out I passed the repair shop and peeked in. A young man looked up from the violin he was working on and smiled and asked if he could help me. I said thanks but I'm afraid I'm a bit out of place here. He asked me why and I told him that I was looking for a violin for my wife but not one as expensive as they sold. He asked if I played, and I told him about my folk music and that my wife had expressed an interest to learn the fiddle. I hoped, I told him, that we would be able to make music together.

While we talked I was watching him change the bridge on a violin and I asked about the different shape of the bridge, and I sat down on the chair opposite him while he explained. We chatted for a few minutes about the difference between the setup for fiddling as opposed to violin playing, but finally I rose to leave and was about to say goodbye, when he said,

"Wait, how much money do you have?"

"Well, I only have $200 dollars."

He looked at me for a moment, and then he went to a nearby shelf and brought back a violin and handed it to me. It was gorgeous. It felt well-balanced, the wood was lovely and the finish beautiful.

"Could you play it for me?" I asked, handing it back. He did so. It had a beautiful tone.

"You'll need a bow as well."

I'm sitting there speechless as he puts the violin in a case along with the bow he had used, and then he motioned for me to follow and led me back out into the shop. He crossed to where Mr. Weaver stood, handed him the case, and said,

"$200.00."

Mr. Weaver looked at him and then at me, and then opened the case.

"You're giving him this violin. Why?"

"It's Christmas."

And he did. So you see there is Christmas magic. It happened to me.

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: olddude
Date: 22 Dec 08 - 11:37 AM

Jerry
may the blessing of our lord Jesus Christ be with you and your family and friends on this wonderful holiday

may God watch over you and bring you lots of success with your new book my friend

Always
Dan

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 22 Dec 08 - 07:33 AM

Hey, Toot!

It sounds like you're having a wonderful Christmas-time. All our music plans have been disrupted. We were going to go sing for a Veteran's Center with Barbara and Frank Shaw last week, but our daughter's car broke down and she had three doctor's appointment that week with no way to get there, so we were chaufeurs. I was supposed to do the music at a local church yesterday, but we got over a foot of snow in the last two days, and church was cancelled.
Some of the folks in the neighborhood go out Christmas caroling on Chirstmas Eve, and the weather looks like will be allright. I hope so. The last time I heard someone caroling was me and my sisters when I was eight or nine years old.

Meanwhile, there's that foot of snow on the ground with a crust of ice on top. Can you dig it?

I've got an extra shovel.

Merry Christmas

Jerry

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Tootler
Date: 21 Dec 08 - 06:16 PM

Well, I went to the Sage yesterday. Maddy and the Carnival Band were on excellent form.

Today I went to the Georgian Theatre in Richmond to see the York Waits with Deborah Catterall performing their Christmas Concert. In many ways a similar mix to Maddy Prior and the Carnival band - old Carols, some traditional (in the folky sense) and some from the church ranging in era from the Middle ages to the mid 17th. Century plus some secular songs and tunes from the same period. The main difference is no PA and the music is performed entirely on period instruments. Well not literally, but modern copies.

The Georgian Theatre in Richmond is wonderful. It dates from 1788 and has been fully restored to its 18th. century form - even to sitting on (somewhat uncomfortable) benches. The theatre is very small but very intimate and suited the performance wonderfully.

All in all an excellent two concerts. Both very different in both style and venue.

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 20 Dec 08 - 06:36 PM

Hey, Peter:

And a Merry Christmas to you, too. And all the regulars and irregulars who drop by for a cupa.

I've spent much of the last two days digging out from under about 10" of snow. I mean, it's very picturesque and all. I suppose that I should have been cheerily singing "I'm dreaming of a white Christmas" while I was breaking my back and freezing my buns. Actually, there's something very beautiful and refreshing about the first major snowfall of the year. We forget what the landscape looks like all draped in cystaline, sparkling white.

This year we vowed to get an early jump on Christmas, and it paid off. Despite the usual quota of unexpected disruptions and problems, our presents are purchased and wrapper, our cards are in the mail, all of our decorations are up and because we haven't been forced to spend the last two weeks shopping in malls, we aren't overdosed on Christmas music. (Anyone want to break into a verse or two of Jingle Bell Rock?)

I have a wonderful CD I picked up somewhere a few years ago titled A Mandolin Christmas that is in heavy rotation around the house. It's an acoustic album of top Nashville session musicians and is delightfully inventive and surprising. Not at all like those generic CDs of folk music favorites played on authentic Appalachian instruments by musicians who wish to remain unknown. I also put together a CD of R & B Christmas songs with the likes of the Temptations, Gladys Knight and the over-present Pips, Lou Rawls, Jackie Wilson, Nat King Cole (alright, they're stretching the definition of R & B a little) and the Drifters among others. It's refreshing because it doesn't include a single song you'd ever hear in a mall (with the possible exception of the Nat King Cole track.)

Despite all the turmoil around the world this year, I still see many reasons for feeling blessed, kitchen tables and friends gathered around being one of them.

Jerry

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Waddon Pete
Date: 20 Dec 08 - 03:13 PM

It's kinda lonely in here...I guess everyone is out Christmas Shopping!

Just thought I'd drop by and wish everyone a very Merry Christmas and a successful New Year.

Perhaps it will be a year when people celebrate all the things that are right with the folk world rather than all the things that are perceived to be wrong with it!

Who knows!


Have a good one....where ever you are!

Best wishes,

Peter

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Waddon Pete
Date: 13 Dec 08 - 03:18 PM

Hello Jerry,

Those Christmas Stories are wonderful!

When I was young, Christmas didn't start in the middle of November, as it does now. In our house we knew it was coming, as cards arrived and parcels from the far flung uncles and aunts were opened before the great day. But, once we were in bed, strange things happened downstairs! When we woke up in the morning, there was a real Christmas Tree,with lights and presents and decorations! Magical!

When Mum and Dad grew too old to do it that way any more, my sister took over the task so that, when they came downstairs in the morning....there was the real Christmas tree. Mum always maintained she didn't know where the tree was hidden....but then my sister had had a good teacher!

Best wishes,

Peter

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 13 Dec 08 - 10:12 AM

Here's another Christmas story.

"T'was the Night Before Christmas"

T'was the night before Christmas and we'd already opened our presents. Forget the dancing sugar plums. If you ever wondered how Santa Clause could deliver presents to all the kids on earth in one night, he got a running start by bringing all the kids in the Midwest their presents early on Christmas Eve. In our house, Christmas Eve started the minute we finished wolfing down our supper. It was the one time of year when I was thankful that we had supper at 4 o'clock.

Before I was school age, Santa came to our house every Christmas Eve.
He didn't come down the chimney. If he had, he'd end up in our coal furnace and it wouldn't just be his suit that was red. He boldly walked through our front door. Not that I'd ever really seen him come into the house. But my Dad had.

After supper, Dad would hide behind the living room davenport, and Mom would herd my sisters and I down onto the basement stairs and then close the door behind us. For some unknown reason, Dad always got to hide behind the davenport, so that he could see Santa Clause when he came in.
As soon as the door was closed, Dad would quietly sidle out from behind the davenport and tiptoe across the room and into the bedroom where our presents were carefully hidden in our one closet. He'd quickly carry them into the living room and place them haphazardly under the Christmas tree. When the presents were all under the tree he would tiptoe across the living room floor and into the dining room and carefully open the front door. With a sigh of relief, he would softly stroll out to the front of the porch and pause for a moment. Coming back into the house Dad was Santa Clause. No need for a suit or cotton-ball beard. The only one who could see him was him. As he came striding across the front porch, he'd stomp the non-existent snow off of his non-existent boots and when he opened the front door he'd call out a "Ho, Ho, Ho!" in his best Santa-voice. Once inside the house, he'd make a lot off fuss in the living room, as if he was unloading presents from his sack. All the time, I was hunched breathlessly behind the basement door, visualizing his every move. When the presents were in place, Santa didn't have to stop and eat a plate full of cookies and drink a glass of milk on the way out. We never left anything for him. We didn't want Santa to stick around, once he'd delivered our presents. Besides, he would have preferred a cold Pabst Blue Ribbon, but that would have blown his cover. As Dad headed noisily out the front door he'd call over his shoulder, "Ho, Ho, Ho, and a Merry Christmas to all!" and stomp his way across the front porch only to pause there once again. Then, it was a matter of sneaking back into the house without our hearing him so that he could hide behind the davenport. Mom always gave him enough time by telling us that we couldn't come out until we were sure he was gone, or we'd scotch the whole thing.

Mom would cautiously open the door, and we'd all burst into the living room. Or, at least I would burst. I'd be full of excitement, and start grilling Dad about what he'd seen.

"Did you see him, dad?"
"Oh yeah: I peeked around the corner of the davenport when he was putting the presents under the tree," he answered.
"Did you see his reindeer?"
"Naw: I couldn't see them from behind the davenport, but I heard their bells when they took off."

That was enough for me. It never occurred to me to ask the really hard questions like :"If he had all that snow on his boots, how come he didn't track any into the house? Mom would have had a fit!" Or, "How come there aren't any tracks in the snow in our front yard?" By then, the only question I had was "Can we open the presents, now?"

When I got older and realized that Santa Clause was my Mom and Dad, and I had been lovingly duped: not just by Mom and Dad, but by my sisters, Christmas took on more meaning. One thing about Mom, though. She always made it clear that Christmas wasn't just about getting presents. The most important thing was that it was a time to celebrate the birth of the baby Jesus. Those first few years, Santa Clause and the baby Jesus got along real well together, and I loved them both. It wasn't until I was four or five that I realized that only Jesus was real.

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 13 Dec 08 - 09:39 AM

Hey, Wendy:

Thanks for sharing your story. The last year of my mother's life, I wrote a book, collecting family memories, photographs and songs I've written. It was a beautiful time for all of the family, and a chance for me to fill in the details on many family stories, while mom was still alive. We celebrated her 99th birthday with her, and those are memories that we'll always cherish.

When my parents had their 60th Anniversary, the asked me to write a song for them. It was a real challenge, as I have rarely set out to write a song. Songs write me. My parent's marriage left a lot to be desired, so I couldn't honestly write a romantic song. Everyone would know that it wasn't real. I went back and read what was happening the year my parents were married, and wrote this song for them.

BOND OF THE HEART

Back when Lindy first sailed the Atlantic alone
And Jolson first sang on the great silver screen
And the sweet smell of Fels Naptha filled every home
And young Steamboat Willie first sailed the high seas

CHORUS:
That was back when my mom and my dad fell in love
And they swore to each other they never would part
Through the good time and bad times, fair weather and foul
There is nothing as strong as the bond of a heart

They raised up three kids who all turned out terrific
Well, maybe we caused them a gray hair or two
Now it's sixty years later and we're all together

.... man, it's been so long since I've sung this song I can't remember any more. It's all in my head. I just have to keep singing this much of it and the rest will come back.

Steamboat Willi was the first Mickey Mouse cartoon, and of course Lindy was Lindbergh.

I'll post the rest of the song when it comes back to me. I may even have it written down somewhere. I've got to start recorder all of my songs. I have at least three CDs of original songs that are just going to fade into the ether soon if I don't.

I enjoy your posts enormously, Wendy.

My book may be out before the end of this year. I am supposed to get a final proof of the book by next Wednesday, and I've already approved the cover, which is beautiful. I'll make a posting on the Cat on where people can get it, with a warning that it is a book of writings about my faith. Maybe it should have a sticker on the cover that says "Warning, this book contains explicit expressions of faith." :-)

Jerry

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: billybob
Date: 13 Dec 08 - 08:03 AM

Jerry
that is the most beautiful letter,what a delight your mother must have been.I am looking forward to reading the book.
thank you for sharing these lovely memories.
By the way, we celebrated mother and fathers 65th wedding anniversary last evening with a family supper, dad told us about the wedding, he was on leave from the RAF, but got recalled the day before the wedding to be posted overseas, mothers family had to cancel the arrangements. When he reported for duty the WAAF officer said that the boat had actually sailed!! So he was given three weeks extra leave. He phoned the ARP( air raid patrol) station where my grandfather was a warden and said the wedding was back on and travelled back to London in time for the service the next morning. He spent Christmas leave with grandma and grandpa while the bride had to return to the RAF station in the north of England where she was stationed, then in the new year dad was sent off abroad.
Wendy

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 12 Dec 08 - 08:00 PM

I thought you might enjoy this. It's a chapter from a book I wrote about growing up in Wisconsin, quoting a letter my Mother wrote for me about Christmas on the Waterman's farm where she grew up. My grandfather Holliday rented the farm from Mister Waterman. I suppose that I should have started the chapter with:

"Come you ladies and you gentlemen and listen to my song
I'll sing it to you right, though you may think it wrong
May make you mad but I mean no harm
It's all about the renters on Waterman's fFarm
It's hard times in the country, down on Waterman's farm"

Christmas on The Waterman Farm

From a letter from my Mother

I would like to give you a glimpse into the past, Christmas as I knew it when I was a child. By society's standards we were poor: eight children living on a farm, but Mother and Dad always made a wonderful Christmas for us. Many of our gifts: tables and chairs, cradles for our dolls, high chairs and beds for them too, my brothers and my Dad made for us. Every Christmas we got a new doll and Mother made clothes for them, and there were books, games, crayons and coloring books. My Aunts, A.E. and A.A and A.G. saw that we had warm coats and mittens, stocking caps and warm underwear, and living in an old farm house with only one wood stove to keep us warm, believe me we needed warm clothes.

The day of Christmas Eve, the house was full of the aroma of cookies baking, fresh bread, cinnamon rolls and pumpkin pies. We all helped to get things ready for Christmas. I especially remember one Christmas, we lived about 3 miles from our church and most of the time we had to walk. If it was below zero, Dad would let us use the horses and wagon. It seems there was always a full moon and as we walked, the bright moon sparkled in the snow and it crunched under our feet as we walked. We sang Christmas hymns and with eight "Holliday" voices and Mother's, we made quite a chorus. Mother always made our clothes. A store dress was unheard of. This particular Christmas, Mother made me a red velvet dress with a lace collar. I'll never forget how beautiful it was. We always had new shoes for Christmas. Mine, the toes and around the heel, they were black patent leather (so shiny.) They were shoes that came above the ankles" shoes, not oxfords. The tops were white leather. On the outside of the shoe were 8-10 shiny black buttons. We had to use a button hook to fasten them. With long white stockings and my red dress, I thought that I must surely be one of God's angels (I'm sure my Mother didn't think so!) and that was what I was in the Christmas program at church, in the manger scene. Ruth and I sang together (She had a red dress too!) Mother dressed us alike for a long time, we used to sing together a lot!

We always got a bag of Christmas candy and a gift from our teachers. After the program, we started home, not quite so full of enthusiasm as when we came. The older brothers took turns carrying Evelyn, as she must have been about three, but the rest of us trudged along, happy and tired. When we got home, we had cocoa and cookies and then headed for bed. Mother put large stones in the oven in the cook stove in the kitchen and wrapped them up and put them in our beds so we wouldn't freeze. We had a hard time staying awake to hear Santa Clause. My brothers would go up the road a ways with jingle bells and we knew Santa was coming, and soon we'd hear a commotion down stairs and we'd know that everything was under control and we no longer could stay awake. But, we'd be up early to go down to open our gifts. We had hung stockings up the night before. We always got an orange: the only one all year. There wasn't money for fruit. We had lots of apples from our trees. Dad would put them in big barrels. We always had to eat the ones with spots on that might spoil first. It seemed like we never ate a good apple!

When I was a little older, I learned there wasn't a Santa Clause. That just about shattered my world! But soon I realized it was Mother and Dad that made all the great Christmases we had, and I had a chance to say "Thank you."

From my Mom.

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 11 Dec 08 - 03:14 PM

This is a short chapter from my book.

A Short, Sweet Christmas Story

    God answers prayers: even when the "wrong" person receives them. Not that there is such a thing as the "wrong" person when it comes to prayer. We need all the prayers we can get.

   Christmas is a joyful time for me and my wife. And what is joy, if not to be shared? Every year, I design and print a Christmas card, and because our list is so long, sometimes we end up sending out a card to someone who has moved during the year. That doesn't
make our message any less heart-felt. That's exactly what happened at Christmas-time, 2,006.


   This afternoon, just when I was ready to fall flat on my face from exhaustion, the phone rang. The last three days had been real grinders, starting with Sunday morning when our water heater sprung a leak while my wife and I were getting ready to go to church. We had "church" mopping up water in the basement for half of the morning, trying to keep ahead of the water until the service man arrived. Monday, we spent half the day waiting for a new water heater to be delivered and when the man came to install it, he said that it was too difficult too work in such a cramped space and refused to do it. Today, we had another plumber come, and while he was able to install the new water heater, it took all morning and cost twice as much as we had first expected. After getting a great, running jump on preparing for Christmas, our house was a mess, and we were really dragging. And then, the phone rang.

   When I picked up the phone my caller ID said Claire Spellman; a name that 'd never seen before. I figured that it was someone trying to sell me something. When I said "Hello," a woman said, "I know that you don't know me, but I owe you an apology." As the woman explained, she had opened a Christmas card from us, not noticing that it was addressed to the previous tenant in her apartment. She was quite upset about it, and told me that she had never met the woman who lived there before her, and had no forwarding address for her. I had sent the card to our friend Barbara Hurley who had booked my gospel quartet, The Gospel Messengers, a couple of times. Barbara had surgery earlier in
the fall. I had received an e-mail from her after the surgery, and the last that I knew she was doing all right and was still living at the same address. I assured the woman on the phone that I wasn't upset that she'd inadvertently opened the card, and that I'd most likely be able to get Barbara's mailing address from her church. And then, she wanted to talk about the Christmas card.

   The front cover of our card looked like a present, wrapped with a bow, with the greeting, "Each new day is a gift from God." The woman read the text on the cover to me, saying, "I know all about that!" And then she opened the card and started reading the message on the inside.

    And the greatest gift is Jesus Christ
    One light to guide us all
    One voice to calm all fears
    One touch to heal all wounds
    One heart to bind all hearts"

She kept telling me how beautiful the card was, and how much it meant to her. Then she told me how much she appreciated the note that I had written to my friend Barbara. I had written that she was in our hearts and minds and that my wife and I would keep her in
prayer. And the woman said, "Oh, I appreciate that so much! I need all the prayers that I can get!" She had accepted the prayers as for her. I told her that I'd seen her name on the caller ID on my phone and thought that she might be related to Deacon Spellman, from
our church. She said, "No, we just moved up here from Brooklyn last year. That's probably hard to believe that someone would move up here from Brooklyn." I told her that my wife was from Brooklyn, and one of her brothers still lives there, so it didn't sound unbelievable to me.

   Finally, when she kept apologizing for mistakenly opening the card, I told her to keep the card as hers. She sounded happy to have it. Sometimes, we can raise the spirits of a complete stranger without even knowing that we're doing it. I thanked her for calling me, and wished her a very Merry Christmas.

   And in lifting her spirits, she lifted mine and my wife's.

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: billybob
Date: 11 Dec 08 - 12:14 PM

Thank you Geoff, I will look out for Maggie's album. Yes the concert was wonderful and Maddy sings better than ever,I have been playing the CD all the time at work and my clients have been loving it.I am really interested in the workshops that she runs at her home up near the Scottish border,I would love to spend a few days there, it looks fantastic.Enjoy the evening at the Sage.
Wendy

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Tootler
Date: 11 Dec 08 - 12:08 PM

Greetings to all round the table. I'll put some more coffee on.

Glad you enjoyed the concert Wendy. We are off to see them at the Sage a week on Saturday. We have been to their Christmas concert a couple of times recently and it really is an excellent evening and we are looking forward to it. The only downside is that it coincides with the Christmas session at one of my local folk clubs and that is usually a good evening as well - still, you can't win them all.

If you enjoy the old carols and folk Christmas tunes and songs, I can recommend the Magpie Lane album "Knock at the Knocker, Ring at the Bell" I got it for Christmas last year and it really is very good. I run a folk music [interest] group for our local U3A and we were playing it at our meeting yesterday and everyone there said how much they enjoyed it.

All the best to all
Geoff

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: billybob
Date: 11 Dec 08 - 10:17 AM

Hi Jerry,
I have been away from the kitchen for four weeks struck down with a nasty chest infection, dreadful cough and no voice, however reading your thoughts and stories, catching up today has really cheered me up. Thank you everyone.

Well we are nearly ready for Christmas, but tommorrow is a very big day for our family, my mother and father ( 85 and 88 years old) are celebrating their 65th wedding anniversary.
I am hosting a supper party for close family at our home. We are very blessed to have both of them and I can put my hand on my heart and say I have never heard them have an argument.They met when mother was 14 in a museum in London , looking though a butterfly display and father said mother was the most beautiful butterfly!
They married in 1943 when father was in the Royal Airforce and mother was in the Women's Royal Airforce.They are a wonderful example of marriage to us

We are looking forward to Christmas with all the family and it will be very special as our grand daughter Scarlett is now two years old and Reuben is one so they are old enough to enjoy the presents and the carol singing. However Scarlett"met" Santa at her kindergarten party this week and said she didn't like him as he had a big beard!
She will be a sister soon as Samantha our daughter is expecting a new baby on January 5th.

How lucky we are to have a growing family to share the joy of Christmas.

Last week we went to a concert in Ipswich, it was a very wet and cold night and the last thing I wanted to do was leave the warmth of home and nearly did not go, however it was the most magical evening. Maddy Prior and the Carnival Band singing the old traditional carols and playing very old folk christmas tunes. After all the gloom of the credit crunch and people losing jobs at this time of the year, it was a most uplifting experiece and at last I felt the christmas spirit.

Joy and peace to everyone round this table.
Wendy

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Georgiansilver
Date: 11 Dec 08 - 03:01 AM

Jerry, I know what it means to have a heart seated in Christ and to know that unsurpassed love that abounds when you come to believe. I thought I had it all in the sixties/seventies and eighties..... drink, women, cigarettes etc etc and lived life.. as I thought.. to the full. I too had no time for thinking about Christianity or faith, or God although I might have sneakily thought He existed because I always prayed when in difficulty and thought it must be some sort of instinct. Now I know it was! God did not fit in with my lifestyle so I guess I ignoredis existence. When people say "A leopard cannot change his spots".... I think of how I was pre-Christian days and reply that "With the Holy Spirit, anything is possible"..... Jerry you are a true Blessing to all around you as evidenced by many of your posts and opinions given by others. That you have the Lord in your life truly presents itself. I hope you and yours have the most Blessed season.
Best wishes, Mike.

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 10 Dec 08 - 10:38 PM

Thanks, olddude. Undeserved, but thanks.

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: olddude
Date: 10 Dec 08 - 07:07 PM

Jerry
You are a treasure to anyone who has ever met you or talked to you or even simply passed by. You are one of the kindest most sincere people I have ever met. Your heart is surpassed by none. I have met only a few people in my life that has the same heart. Harry Chapin was another and you so remind me of Harry.

God Bless you Jerry, because everyone who knows you is Blessed

Dan

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 10 Dec 08 - 06:54 PM

Before this thread settles in for a long winter's night, I'd just like to wish everyone a Merry Christmas. Whatever the season means, or doesn't mean to you, I hope that you find joy in these days amidst all of the endless distractions. Think little.

A couple of days ago, I was driving over to my Doctor's office for an appointment. As I was passing a cemetery, I noticed a bearded man all bundled up to ward off the bitter cold. He was pushing a shopping cart, and had several plastic bags tied along the sides. It looked like he was walking along the road hoping to find a discarded soda can or two that he could turn in for the nickel deposit. He was having difficulty walking, with one hip hiked up, dragging one leg
after his good leg. He was making slow progress, and he had to stop every few steps to catch his breath. When I'd passed him, I pulled over to the side of the road and turned around, heading back to where he was struggling along. He'd barely made it ten feet, and the wind was whipping across the cemetery.

I parked my car, and hopped out (How blessed it is to be able to hop out of a car, let alone own one on such a cold day.) I walked up to him from behind and called out to him, "Excuse me!" When he turned around to face me, I was shocked. He was dressed so raggedy and he had a full gray beard, but his face was youthful. I reached out my hand to him, holding a folded ten dollar bill, and handed it to him.
"Merry Christmas," I said. At first he looked confused, not comprehending what I was doing. He took the bill without looking at it, and held his arm out to me. I took it, and looked him in the eye and said, "God bless you!" He never said a mumbling word.

Sometimes you just have to follow your heart. In here, people can get all wound up if you say "God bless you!" They want to start a fight. I'm not telling people what to believe, or judging them. I am just speaking from my heart, out of love. There's precious little love in this world that it should be rejected so readily.

As I was walking back to my car I thought, "That could be Jesus." He said that what we do for the least of people we do for him. Maybe that's why I was so moved.

I post this understanding that this site has some deep-seated antagonism toward Christianity. I'm, not bothered by that. We all should feel free to express what we think and feel without being judged. Even Christians.

All we need is love.

Have a wonderful holiday season...

Jerry

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 06 Dec 08 - 05:15 PM

Hey, Pete:

A few years ago, I was asked to perform for a street fair sponsored by a black church in the poorest section of town. Now, I'd rip right in to a set of black gospel with my electric guitar and amp (not blasting, though) and get people dancing. Black gospel with an electric guitar is something the people are familiar with, and dance to. I just had my acoustic guitar and a feeble sound system, and it was the end of the day. They were already packing up the chairs and tables. Not your long-dreamt for chance to perform.

As I was tuning up over by the side of the church, three or four young teenage girls came over and asked me if I was going to play any top 40 hits. I told them, no, but I would do some "lower 40" hits. (over here when you talk about the lower 40, it was the poorer section of land... 40 acres of lowland, probably not suitable for planting.) When I finally got up to "perform" the crowd had thinned out and the older folks were packing up the folding chairs and tables. A good sized group of kids came over, though, and started dancing to my music doing an impromtu Buck and Wing. Now, folk music is good to dance to if your name is Morris or Square or Contra, but it doesn't easily lend itself to the Buck and Wing. Black kids have never heard folk, unless it's an insipid version of On Top of Old Smokey in third grade. But, I do a few country gospel songs that have a strong back beat and that was enough to get the kids out in the parking lot dancing up a storm. We surprised each other.

And yes, my cold is gone and I'm deep in writing Christmas cards. They've also told me that I will get two original cover designs for my book to chose from before the end of next week.

Jerry

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Waddon Pete
Date: 06 Dec 08 - 03:30 PM

Hello Jerry,

I hope the cold has been sent on its way now. Onion soup is good for colds. Mind you, onion soup is good for anything!

The status symbol of a good sound system in your car cannot be ignored. If you draw up at the lights and you are bopping along to Jerry Rasmussen's greatest hits this is not seen to be as trendy and today as having the whole car vibrating to the steady boomp boomp boomp from the enormous bass speaker in the boot. (Trunk to you on the left of the pond!)In the good ol' days the boot (trunk) would be home to a few leaves left over from the last trip to the dump, a foot pump and a pile of re-usable supermarket bags. Nowadays it is likely to be taken up by a massive loudspeaker! All that is then needed is an endless tape which plays "boomp boomp boomp" over and over again!

In such an environment, I'm afraid folk music doesn't cut it!

(Mind you, the job to train up for now would be something to do with the manufacture and sale of hearing aids!)

Best wishes,

Peter

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 30 Nov 08 - 08:00 PM

Hey, Pete:

I've been under the weather, with a stoooopid cold, but tonight I finally felt almost human. I wrote the text for the back of the book cover, and now everything is done and ready to e-mail off to the publisher tomorrow. I don't believe that the turnover time will be all that long, as I am publishing with a print on demand publisher. All it will need is demand... :-) The cover still needs to be designed and the text laid out to their specifications.

I've been thinking alot about quietness these days, something that is hard to find. Lucy Simpson, who was a wonderful singer and a regular in the New England area loved to sing the song Blessed Quietness. She sang it like she meant it, very soft and flowing. A few months ago, I was at a small black church where we were playing and the orgnaist lit into a Fats Waller sounding, breakneck version of the song. Apparently, the message must have slipped by him.

These days, everything is at eardrum piercing volume, whether it's the soundtrack in a movie theatre, or music in churches (at least in many of the black churches.) When I pull up to a stop sign and there is someone in a car in the lane next to me, the sound is deafening, even though both cars have their windows rolled up. I can't imagine how loud it is in the car that's playing the music. I don't know how it's like in England, but I suspect that it's the same. You folks are picking up all of our worst habits!

Jerry

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Waddon Pete
Date: 30 Nov 08 - 10:18 AM

Hello Jerry,

Well...the recipe said that the mushroom soup was "robust"....see what you think of it!

I guess there are quite a few folks out there who are waiting for a copy of your book, Jerry.

Thanks for keeping us updated.

Perhaps we could have a discussion on which supermarket has the most dedicated cashiers! ...and why is it that people who work in cut-price stores are so miserable?

Best wishes,

Peter

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 24 Nov 08 - 08:07 PM

This afternoon I stopped in at Walmart to get something and my friend the Checkout Clerk was there. I've shared chapters with everyone I've written about in the book, whether ther were mentioned by name or not. It just seemed right to do it. The other day I gave Sandra a copy of The Cosmos and the Checkout Clerk, which I see I posted in here a while back. She was very moved by it, and wants to buy a copy of the book when it comes out. She mentioned the book again today and I told her that I'd autograph it saying, "To Sandra, the Checkout Clerk" so everyone would know that she was the one I'd written about.

Every day I see people giving of themselves in what are considered menial jobs. No job is menial unless you make it that. You can be a corporate executive with a menial job or find vbalue in bringing in shopping carts from the parking lot. It all depends on the spirit in which you do the work.

Jerry

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 24 Nov 08 - 08:01 PM

We just got a beautiful e-card from Theresa Tooley. We'd sent her an e-card for Thanksgiving, chosen from Daysprings.com. Theresa was at our home on Halloween four years ago, and she is warmly remembered. It's wonderful keeping in touch with old friends. Now that I think of it, I said I'd attach a chapter from my book to her e-mail and didn't. I do that all the time... blush...

I'll do it right now before I forget...

Jerry