Escapees, the holiday season, a passive generation

Kobe and Kira got out of the yard yesterday. Mama was perplexed because none of the gates had been left open. Every time the dogs do escape the yard, they eventually return, but not being in the confines of the yard puts them in danger of traffic, hunters and ranchers in the area – especially if they are bothering cattle in their liberated escapades. They always come back filthy. By the time Victoria was home, the dogs who had been out twice, were in the yard once again. A bathing line was set up and both dogs were washed, rinsed and severely scolded. I thought the cleanup was premature because we had not determined where the dogs had gotten out. So, after feeding – because Mama was helping with the bathing – I started to walk the fence to see where the escape had taken place. Once that was found, I reinforced the fence, hoping that would be enough. I did not want to pile rocks, logs or cinder blocks along the fence. That is too noticeable. Too ugly. Instead, I used some old top bar from the fence in the pig area I am redoing to attach to the bottom of the fence that needs to be replaced. it does not look so obvious. hopefully, that will be all that is needed. Time will tell.

Tis the season for overeating. Not that it is the only time of year when we can eat far more than we need. But it is harder, it seems to me, to avoid overeating during the holiday season. I have always found that a challenge. Thursday of this week we have our annual Thanksgiving lunch. Saturday we will be having an early Thanksgiving dinner with Seth and Gabriella. Tuesday of next week we will have our annual Thanksgiving dinner at church and Thursday of next week is Thanksgiving. My favorite holiday. But as I have gotten older, I have found that I have to participate very carefully. It does not take away from the fun of the celebration, the feasting and the fellowship if I eat conscientiously. Not much anyway. The real fun for me is the cooking and preparation of the meals. That part is still non-fattening.

Mama will be shopping this week to get all the food items for the four meals stated above. It will be a more expensive grocery month than typical, but we have planned for it. Hopefully, well enough. Anyway, I will have to coordinate preparing a turkey and ham for our Chinese family as well as the turkey and ham I will be preparing for our family on Thanksgiving Day. Mama has purchased four turkeys so far this season. The ham is being given to us by the company I work for. That is a blessing. One or two of the turkeys will be kept for later. we have plenty of room in our freezers right now and Mama and I always enjoy turkey – even in the off season. It is one of the few dishes Mama will eat out of season.

In researching the generation of young people coming into the workforce, I stumbled across a one-word definition that really struck me. The professor speaking to Sebastian Gorka about the coming generation in our culture described them an “passive”. Along for the ride. Things have been given to them. Things have been done for them. Things have been thought out for them. They are mostly content with the way things are and are not looking for any discontinuance of that arrangement. I have struggled to come up with a concise definition for the prevailing attitude of the generation entering the workforce and that one word seems to capture the sentiment I am seeing. Not in every one of the young people, but generally across the culture. Perhaps that is why there is a growing appeal of socialism within our culture. I don’t know for sure, but the dots seem to connect.

Mama is going to Kimberlyn’s today. Picking up feed on the way home. If I am not mistaken, this will be the only time this month that the two of them will get together. The current focus is on making Christmas presents. That should be fun. I am obviously in favor of hand-crafted Christmas presents versus buying things. so many useless things change hands in the Christmas season. It would be nice to personalize Christmas this year.

We will have to wait and see how that works out.