Straight From The Hart

STRAIGHT FROM THE HART By Joan Rowden Hart I haven’t written many columns here this past summer, due to constant pain and lack of mobility. Lots of you have asked me about that, so I’m going to try and do more writing as we transition into fall. I’m writing today to tell you about Annie, who has been my constant companion as I read and worked on my sermons and poetry and other writings these past ten years.  I first met Annie back in February 2004 after Milan told me to go out and look for something I would like to have for Valentine’s Day and he promised to get it for me no matter what it was.  He has often joked that he should have  put some conditions on that.  But he didn’t, and so I headed straight to the Humane Society animal shelter. It had been two long years since we had put our beloved Maine Coon cat to sleep, a big pile of what appeared to be nothing but fur but with a huge heart  hidden inside.  We had named him Ollie in honor of Col. Oliver North who was ou

Oh, say can you see by the dawn's early light What so proudly we hailed at the twilight's last gleaming? Whose broad stripes and bright stars thru the perilous fight, O'er the ramparts we watched were so gallantly streaming? And the rocket's red glare, the bombs bursting in air, Gave proof through the night that our flag was still there. Oh, say does that star-spangled banner yet wave O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave? On the shore, dimly seen through the mists of the deep, Where the foe's haughty host in dread silence reposes, What is that which the breeze, o'er the towering steep, As it fitfully blows, half conceals, half discloses? Now it catches the gleam of the morning's first beam, In full glory reflected now shines in the stream: 'Tis the star-spangled banner! Oh long may it wave O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave! And where is that band who so vauntingly swore That the havoc of war and

Straight From The Hart By Joan Rowden Hart Recently Milan and I were watching an interview on television related to some current movies,and I made the statement about how shallow a person’s intellect would have to be to find entertainment in such mindless drivel,  and I wondered out loud, “Have people completely lost their brains nowadays?” As I was thinking about this to a greater extent later on, I realized that what we are dealing with in our culture today is indeed a devolution of the mind.  Those of you who are my age have only to think back to the time we were growing up to understand how far we have gone astray as a once civilized nation. Things just don’t make sense anymore.  They used to.  But the farther we progress in the habits and patterns of daily living, taking into account our morals and values, (or the lack thereof) , our lifestyles including what passes for entertainment and music, our family life with marriage,  (or the absence thereof), the way children are raised w

Here's a little silly something I got into when I originally posted on Facebook about my ice dispenser on the fridge jamming and then sending ice cubes all over my kitchen floor. Thought you all might enjoy it since it "harks back" to "when you and I were young Maggie". Trying to pick up little melting pieces of ice on a slick floor with basically long handled tweezers - not easy. managed to catch some of them, I wish I had played pickup sticks more when I was a kid. You never know how handy that stuff will come in when you get old. Which opens up a whole new discussion. Silly putty could be used to make a filling for your teeth. staying within the lines in coloring books could help the trembling fingers put on makeup in later years. monopoly could help us manage our Soc Sec checks. And "operation", oh my how handy would that be right now when we try to figure out where it hurts and what needs replaced. Simon Says would help trying to rememb