See the streams of
living waters,
Springing from eternal
love,
We'll supply Thy sons
and daughters
And all fear of want
remove,
Who can faint while
such a river
Ever flows their thirst
to assuage,
Grace which like the
Lord the Giver
Never fails from age
to age
Glorious things of Thee
are spoken
Zion, city of our God;
He whose word cannot
be broken
Formed thee for his
own abode;
On the Rock of Ages
founded
What can shake thy
sure repose?
With salvation's walls
surrounded
Thou mayest smile at
all thy foes."
-----
"Glorious Things of
Thee Are Spoken"
....John Newton
(1725-1857)
.....Hymn Tune:
"Austrian Hymn,"
Franz J. Haydn
(1732-1809)
(One of the great hymn
tunes... of the world)
------
Mil
8 MARCH 2021
Photo "BANFF".
by Connor Moore,
(29/18)
"
Go with me into the
long ago dim pages
of early U.S. times..
--------
WWII had just ended.
We grade school kids
had helped win it by
gathering scrap metal,
building P51 airplane
models, and digging
foxholes on vacant
neighborhood lots.
We, at our house, every
morning while eating
our scrambled eggs...
or oatmeal and toast,
listened every
morning to KICA before school.
It was the time
of all the fighting in Europe
and the B-17 raids, like
the actor Jimmy Stewart
flew.
It was the time of great
songs-- "There'll be blue
birds over the White Cliffs
of Dover," and "We'll meet
again...don't know where,
don't know when...but I
know we'll meet again
some sunny day."
The old Poet can still
sing 'em -all of 'em to
you...80 years later.
(So ...when did you
"get a ROCKET?")
Interesting story--that.
Right after the war ended
and the boys were
coming home- I reckon
spring of '46' --we still
listened to KICA, every
morning.
The station
had added a chit chat
program, with local news,
weather, and
right at the end of the
program they had a
daily JOKE-TELLING
contest. You mailed your
favorite joke to KICA,
and if they read it-
you got an award! Kids
ate this up, big time.
I entered with a
WWII joke about Adolf,
the Nazi guy, my grand-
dad had told me...but I
didn't catch it at all...
until he explained it. I
guess you could call it--
a sort of old-timey joke.
("Why didn't Hitler have
anything to carry his
clothes in?" "Because
he lost his grip in Russia.")
I never thought it was
very funny but sent it
in anyway.. AND WON!
Got a letter saying "pick
up your award at
Western Auto, near the
Hotel Clovis, on Main Street."
IT WAS A
ROCKET.
Not the kind you're
thinking! That goes into
space! No sir:
It was a "Reynold's
Rocket," one of the
new Ball Point Pens!
It was sky blue, maybe
six inches long and with
a silver pocket clip...but
was really too long to
carry in a shirt pocket.
It came in a round
plastic tube, with some
paper of
instructions
the ink was blue
and balled up on the end
of the pen.
I proudly showed the
clerk my winning letter
and he nodded toward
a counter halfway back
in the store ...it had
those little glass dividers
and all kids of "notions."
That store is long-gone,
but I could take you right
to that counter today,
from memory, and pick
up a Reynold's even
now...fork you see--
kids in those times didn't
have much stuff or
ever win anything.
A great thing had been
introduced to the world
with the ball point pen.
As time went along, the
points were improved
and the ink doesn’t "ball up".
The CROSS Company,
one of the greats, has
provided the world with
the finest of pens.
Where my first ticket
went ...who can tell...
wish I'd kept it.
------
MIL
16 FEBRUARY 2021
Lessons from Nature
by Billy Gilbreath, Guest Writer
From Acorns
Alive, growing and still standing strong in the elements
Quercus texana, the famous live oak, the sturdy one
Unlike, others, its liveliness is always present by color
leaves, tough, the branches seem sturdy and strong.
Those roots must be embedded and giving support
That Daring Finch
Swinging on the feeder, a sock like, filled with seeds
Even the wind, doesn’t prevent its desire to succeed
Though the rewards seem small, the effort is present
Below those present pecking and gulping the obvious
The large grains, the broken ones and those falling
Falling from those above who continue with struggle.
Others About
Awaiting without patience and without an invitation.
Those who become warriors and rush to interrupt
Taking, fighting, scaring away those who struggle.
Soon to leave, leaving the hidden for those returning
Grackles, Surely they must ha have an ecological purpose
Prairie Dogs
Still around and still giving a lesson to be learned
Working together to warn of danger, signals
Below the surface with so much organization within
Returning to the openings with moments of clearance
Sharing their abodes with one of a different specie
Yet, suffering to survive the interruption of progress.
Lessons
WE find a lesson in each of these perhaps not obvious
A challenge for all as you considers and contemplate
Surely, Nature presents a lesson often not seen.
Ponder, as those of old and even receive a lesson.
Billy Gilbreath
Fo rMIL'S January 16, 2021
DONCHA KNOW
by Billy Gilbreath, Guest Writer
Doncha Know
Doncha know that running in the hall is wrong
She caught me the next day, I was running again
Mabel White, the mean one, caught me easily
Hiding nearby as a hunter would await its prey
Gotcha
Doncha know that that sign in black and white
Plainly stated clearly slow down to thirty-five
A black and white vehicle with a turning red light
Doncha know that there aren’t legitimate excuses
Gotcha
Doncha know eating those garden-fresh carrots
Will improve your ability to see those road signs
Need proof, read about the English and the Germans
Seems the Germans were convinced of the belief.
Gotcha
Doncha know that handling toads cause warts
Grandma and Grandpa both gave me warning
Got wart but perhaps not from touching a toad
Not a gotcha this time but sure others in time
Gotcha
Doncha know the song His Eye Is on the Sparrow
Sung for years and believed by those who sang
Is one we can sing today because in His Word
Matthew 6:26 reveals the caring of the birds
Are you not better than they? Gotcha Again
I Hope Not.
Billy Gilbreath
After my discussion with Joey
FOR MIL'S: January 18, 2021
The grandest PLACES in the world
for storing your stuff (i.e. "junk")
is in attics!
I do my best musing upstairs
in my nice cozy medium-sized pine
wood, much-loved room. you know-
you have read about it many times in earlier
years ...and likely you can describe that
wonderful place as well as I ...with
the sturdy GI 3/4 sturdy steel bed ,
old fashioned quilts,
faded and stacked neatly in a
straw-bottomed kitchen chair in the
corner, the six- foot rough pine bookshelf
rakishly sticking into one end of the shelf.hammered together by me with the
beat-up USMC Ka-Bar
personality in old attics,
Shall I go on ...fishing poles, minnow
bucket, hip-waders, duck decoys, old
hunting jacket (faded to light mustard)
Ah, and barely holding together is a
box of 12's ...high base...green heavies,
in a historical (beautiful ) old shotgun
shell box....marked "Ft. Sam Houston,
Texas Commissary 1946 @ $1.49.”
There are memories galore, flavor and
not to even mention the marvelous
aroma of OLD BOOKS!
They say, no self-respecting attic is
complete without an airplane
propeller and a seamstress dummy.
Someone gifted me these. I don't
sew.
Resting here in front of me on my
garage-sale table with the
old office Avanti fridge, the tiny
microwave and the coffee pot---
is my usual can of Beanie Weeneies,
my Delaware PUnch from old
Mexico, and a sack of Fritos....for
when I get "meditated out"
(I won't bore you this time with all
my great SNACKS over there in the
shelf.. for my esapes ...up here...
Like the sardines in mustard sauce...)
Oft up here ...as the wind whistles...
and the snow blows and whips the
branch outside, against the shutters...
I get out all my old high school and
college annuals and look through
them all remembering those who
are gone....many recently ...and calling
their names out loud ...in remembrance....
of our times together.
Sometimes I end up with an old Mark
Twain or Wordsworth book curled up in
my GI Bed, under several quilts...and
B.E climbs up the stairs and sticks her
head in the door and calls:
"You okay up here?"
-------
But on this early January Day in dreaded
2021 somehow I got to thinking/
"How lucky I am to be an American...
and especially TO BE A TEXAN!!!!!
No one can ever take that away from
you...if you are a real borned -Texan!
Why I even own a piece of land where
the sand blows, and the cotton grows,
the watermelons flourish, and the grape
arbors are loaded with purple grapes.m
I opened my Beanie Weenies and joy!
Found that B.E. knew of my New Year's
climb, and had stashed a bowl
of chili con queso in my little fridge.
Ah, portents, harbingers... omens
of a GOOD 2021?? Hope so!
---------
MIL
5 JANUARY 2021
...
misxrowave,
This great phrase from "Cantique de Noel " ever
thrills and inspires us mortals on this Earth!
O Holy Night, the stars are
brightly shining,
It is the night of our dear
Saviour's birth!
Long lay the world in sin
and error pining
'Til He appeared
And the soul felt its worth!
A thrill of hope, the weary
World rejoices, for yonder breaks
A new and glorious morn,
Fall on your knees, O hear the angel
Voices,
O Night, divine, O night when Christ
Was born,
O Night, O Holy night
O Night Divine.
Truly He taught us to love one another;
His law is love and His gospel is peace.
Chains shall he break for the slave is our
brother,
And in His name all oppression shall cease.
Sweet hymns of joy in grateful chorus
raise we,
Let all within us praise His holy name.
Christ is the Lord! O praise His Name
forever,
His power and glory evermore proclaim,
His power and glory evermore proclaim!
