The Fall Of The Year.

To some people, Autumn is a favorite time of the year. The earth is warm, the vegetation is still green, and the sunshine is still warm on your face. As the weeks go by, many of the leaves begin to change color. Many people make tours to the forest areas, just to see the beautiful color of the leaves on the trees. The
leaves that were green and become yellow, and red, and brown, and almost black. This is truly amazing when you visualize this from a road looking at the horizon in the distance. When I was living in the North Woods of Wisconsin, I was thrilled by the color change each year, and I took many pictures. But the colors were not as vivid as in real life.

When I witness this happening year after year, I become very contemplative as to how and why is this all happening? You might remember that, as the earth rotates around the sun, it is tilted a little, and therefore the sun shines at an angle and produces our seasons. Now you might ask how did all this happen?

There are many theories, but the one I like the best is the Big Bang Theory, Now I
would like to go to the Bible and go to the Book of Genesis. It says that at the beginning there was a void, i.e. nothing there. Then God said "BANG", and everything fell in place. It says that God created the heaven and the earth. Now out of all the planets, God chose planet earth, and He put a little tilt on it to produce our seasons. In a way He gave us special treatment.

In the fall every year the leaves and the seeds fall to the earth only to come back next spring and regrow. There is a parable that says that a grain of wheat must die to produce a plant. That also applies to us humans since we are part of the animal system on earth. Our human body will die, but God made humans special by putting a spiritual soul in each of us. He put a little bit of Himself in each one of us which is spiritual like Him. This soul will leave our animal bodies when we die and go to heaven to be with Him if we were good.

My wife, Dorothy, died 15 months ago, and she told me she wanted to be buried in the ground. She was a very good and holy person. I was alarmed when she talked to me 1 month after she died. I heard her voice at two different times. Also about 3 days later, my grandson's wife, Kate, was sleeping, and she saw Dorothy, very radiant,in her dream. Dorothy also spoke to her. This is all happening 1 month after her death.

Recently I read in the paper that there are some people that don't believe in God or follow a specific religion. It is my belief that it is very difficult to deny that there is no human spirituality, or, if they do, not to follow a particular church. A person has to learn the difference between good and evil, and the best place is to go to church. This education has to start early and last a life time.

Nostalgia

As long as I can remember, I have always enjoyed reading the newspaper. This dates back to my school days, and it might be because this was about the only literary material readily available at our home. Regardless my fondness for newspapers exists even today, and my favorite is the USA Today.

So last week the finance section came out with a headline, "Recession appears over." The response to the announcement that the worst might be over was practically unnoticed. With our great American talent and expertise, we are avoiding a serious depression. There is a saying that when America sneezes, the whole world catches a cold. It appears that we have avoided a major depression so far.

Now I was 10 years old during the depression of 1929 that went around the world. I don't recall what really precipitated that depression, but it was
severe and long. People were committing suicide because they lost all their money and lost their homes. There were long bread lines where people were waiting for food. Then when the economy turned around, there was joy and happiness every where. There was also a song that originated called, " Happy Days Are Here Again." It was sung over and over, and it also expressed a sigh of relief that permeated through out the whole country, perhaps the world.

There is still an element of vagueness and slowness to the recovery, and there is a possibility of premature celebrating. However I believe that positive thinking helps and would help to restore better times. I would also like to see the song, "Happy Days," come back.

Speaking of songs, there was a sad article also in last week's paper. Remember the trio Peter Paul and Mary? Well Mary died last week. They were my favorites with songs like, " If I had a Hammer, Leaving on a Jet plane, Puff the Magic Dragon." Beautiful music,

These were in the 60's, and Dorothy and I made a European trip in 1964. It was a trip where we stayed in people's homes. Our last stop was in London. We stayed with a family that had a young boy about 14 years old. He was able to sing very well, and he sang, "If I had a Hammer,"right there in the living room.He did a great job, and that was our gift before departure.



I wish that type of music would return, because our people today are missing a lot. I also read in the paper that a mother, being interviewed, said that her daughter, after watching Dirty Dancing, lost her virginity. How sad !!! I would like to ask the mother who will take care of the baby? Enough said.

A cute Fishing Story

A grandfather was speaking to his 4yr. old grandson and asked if he would like to go fishing. His grandson said, "Yes, grandpa." Grandpa said,"OK but first we have to get ready."He proceeded to explain that first we need to get our fishing poles. Then we need to get the bait. We will also need a bucket for the fish. Now we also need the oars for the boat. We also need to check to see if there is an anchor.

Now after gathering everything, they proceeded to get it all into the boat. After setting the oars, grandpa began to row the boat out into the lake. After a short time grandpa looked around, and he mentioned that this would be a likely spot to start to fish. So he told his grandson,"We need to lower the anchor, so we would not be drifting all over the lake."

Now they were ready, so grandpa said, "Now get your fishing pole, but be careful because there is a sharp hook on the end." After finding it, grandpa asked to have the line end brought toward him. Be careful now because I have to handle the hook, and don't jerk the line. Grandpa said,"I will put the worm on the hook. Now you can put the line over the side and into the water."

It didn't take long,and his grandson very excitedly said, "I got a fish." And grandpa said, "OK, bring it toward me, and I will take it off. Oh boy, look at this fine blue gill,"as he put it in the bucket. Then the boy said,"Can we go back now. I got my fish."

When the Corn is Ripe

Last Sunday, Sept. 7th, was a beautiful warm sunny day, and after Mass, the three of us, my son, his wife, and my self, decided to go out for lunch. We also decided to go to Gurne which was about a 30 minute drive through the country side with corn fields all around us. My son mentioned that the corn silk was changing color.It changes from green to a dark brown. That indicates that the corn is ripe when the silk is brown. That reminded me about my experience with growing corn at Brozville in Wisconsin.

We had an area of ground which was on the border of a marsh which provided water to the soil. The soil was the result of composting of leaves and grass clipping over
the years. This resulted in a good rich black soil instead of fine sand every where else. The combination of soil and water made it ideal for gardening. So I thought I would try planting some corn. Besides I love fresh corn on the cob, and my neighbor up the road was raising corn every year. So one spring I made an area about 12'x12' for my corn planting. I bought one box of corn and planted them carefully in rows. They germinated nicely, and they were growing in rows just like the corn fields.
I watched them growing up to 6' tall with ears of corn on almost every stalk.Then I'm watching the green silk to see it changing color. The box that the seeds came in said that when the silks turn a dark brown,the corn is ripe.

It was happening according to plan, and one day when I came back from the garden, I told Dorothy that the corn about ready to be picked.I told her that tomorrow I will pick the corn. The next morning, when I went to the garden, I was shocked. All the corn stalks were lying criss cross on top of each other. Each ear was peeled back, and the kernels were eaten off the cob. I searched the whole area, and I found one ear of corn that was left behind. I carried it back home, and showed Dorothy that it was all that was left of my crop. She said to me,'How much did you pay for the seed?" I told her $1.00. Then she said," That ear of corn cost you $1.00."

What really happened was raccoons smell the corn when it is ripe, and bring the whole family for the feast. They actually climb up the stalks, and their weight brings the stalks down so they can reach the ears. They peel the ears back the same way we do before we eat corn on the cob.

Tears Of Joy

Over the week end, I was able to visit Brozville in Minocqua, WI for first time after Dorothy died which is about 14 months. My son, Ray and wife, Rita, drove, and my son Jack, came a short time later from Eden Prairie, MN. This was on Friday, but the main reason I'm there is to attend a concert by the Lakeland Babershop Chorus, my chorus that I sang with for over 20 years. We're a nice bunch of fellows, about 20, that meet every week all year round. I'm one of 3 charter members left. The show was on Saturday evening, and I went early to meet my buddies before the show,

That is when it all started. As I walked into the room,and they saw me, they started to sing," You're as welcome as the flowers in May." My eyes got full of tears, and tears are running all over my face while I'm shaking hands and getting hugs.I didn't stop crying until I got up stairs with the audience. Another fiend greeted me, and told me that those are tears of joy. I've seen that happen to others but never to me. What a different experience, and new things are still happening to me in spite of my 90 years.