Daily writing prompt

What makes a good neighbor?

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By the way, also, good window shades and maybe a good garage with a good door.

Actually, I shouldn’t make such rash generalized statements. I’ve mostly had good neighbors. Mostly I have not had any problems and they have actually helped a few times. In fact, if it weren’t for my neighbors, the two women ambulance attendants would have never gotten me in the ambulance when I broke my ankle. There is no way they would have been able to lift my 280 pound frame. And, incidentally, it didn’t help my confidence in them that they were busy reading instructions on how to install the air brace and pump it up.

One of my neighbors let us have their 60 pound dog, which helped scare the armed burglar away. I do miss the old dog but she was getting old and had a big bleeding tumor on her shoulder. One of her favorite things was crossing her paws on the arm of the chair and putting her chin on them.

I’ve lived here since the year Elvis died and I have seen a number of neighbors come and go. One night I heard a woman screaming. Once I realized she was out in the street, I went to see what was wrong. It turned out she just lost her, I guess about 7 mo baby. He died in the crib. They had just moved in a few weeks earlier. I never saw the couple again. They moved out a few days later.

I really wish I could have done something for them. I guess they did do something for me. I realized just how thankful I am that my two boys had so few problems, for which I will ever be grateful to the Lord.

The day after the 100 mph winds came through and toppled a couple of trees, keeping me from going to work, the teen next door came over to help and that was really great, considering I was still on crutches from my broken ankle. He didn’t ask if he could help. He just did it. I guess that is the sort of thing that makes a good neighbor too. I did make to work, though I was very late. It was spooky driving home though. No street lights or traffic lights. Really dark, even with the headlights.

Still, that good fence comes in pretty handy from time to time, especially when I can keep my dog from jumping it.

Daily writing prompt

What could you try for the first time?

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I’m 73. Not much for me to try for the first time and I’m not taking up skydiving or eating brains.

Daily writing prompt

What have you been putting off doing? Why?

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I was keeping up with it till this stupid virus. I got it, got over it and got it again. Took me a long time to build up my strength again. Truth be told, I am still not completely recovered. I don’t know if I ever will.

I managed to keep up with the front, more or less, but the weeds got almost 6 feet high in back. I work on it about an hour a day, as the heat permits. At 73, I just can’t stand up to the heat as I did.

Oddly my electric trimmer does most of the work but I do all the sweating. After an hour, I retreat inside and it takes well over an hour to recover. I huff and puff and drink the ice water.

About one more week, I will have the weeds under control, but there will be no grass till spring. Too late this year. Now, mostly dirt.

It’s the problem with weeds. They don’t care about reasons or excuses. You give them a chance…

Daily writing prompt

If you had a million dollars to give away, who would you give it to?

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Really , do I have to give it away?

Well, if I must follow the rules, Union Mission in Memphis. I can’t think of any organization that would put it to better use.

Daily writing prompt

What’s something you would attempt if you were guaranteed not to fail.

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In my mind, I changed the title of this post at least half a dozen times.  I may yet change it another 6 or 7 times.  In theory, the title should tell the reader something about the subject.  Yet it should not drive away the readers, which puts me in something of a quandary.  I guess, in a way I will have to resort to a little deceit, though I don’t really like doing that.  However, I really do want it to get to as many as possible if it will have the very success of The Daily Prompt’s mission to succeed.

More than most times, I feel the encouragement by God to write this.  However, don’t get me wrong.  I still have no claim to being a prophet, if only I were.  I would like to speak on this subject as if I had the authority of God.  Yet it is all common sense, or at least the most of us who have a conscience.

A little less than a week ago, I turned the radio on and found out that Hamas has again attacked Israel.  How terrible this is, I thought.  More senseless killing.  However, as time unfolded, I realized that things were worse, much worse.  It seems they were killing babies.  They were burning them, beheading them, right before their parents.

How horrible, I thought.  How can a people do such things to another people?  It did not gain them anything in their war effort.  It was simply because, well, I won’t go there.  As I said before.  I don’t know how people can do such things, and yet, if the reports are true, then they are.

Throughout history, people have been killing other people in war.  It is a horrible thing and, for sure, I would like to put a stop to it.  However, recently things have gotten worse.  A socialist, that is the communist bunch out of the Soviet Union and China have killed, seemingly just to kill.  Even more, year by year, the Israelites have become more targeted, apparently just because they live.  Certainly the Nazis were not the first nor were they the worst

If you want proof of the existence of God, here it is.  Why else would the world try to do away with the one people who must remain in order for the prophecies of the final days to be fulfilled?  I mean, does the Bible not speak of the Jews in the last book of the Bible.  How can these prophecies come true unless there are Jews?  So, in order to keep them from being fulfilled, Satan is putting every effort into killing Jews.

Some believe man actually thought of it.  Nope.  It was Satan.  And those trying to kill Jews are doing the will of Satan.

Nonetheless, let me return to the atrocity spoken of recently on the news.  You know, where the Hamas men were chopping off the heads of babies.  It does sound bad to just almost everyone.

How-some-ever, let me remind one and all.  We have people; highly respected people have done and will continue to do this in this very country.  And guess what, they get paid for it.  The dems call them doctor and have high regard for them and they are highly protected murderers.

They cut and chop babies into little pieces.  Needles-to-say, I would like to put a stop to that.  It is the one major thing I would like stop right now.  I would really like to be assured of my success.

But, alas, I am doomed to failure.  People listen not to my cry for the babies, nor to the speeches of others.

You see, it is about money; it is about convenience; it is about power for the dems.  Never is it about the baby.

However, before we get so all high and mighty about what the Hamas do, let’s get a mirror and glance at ourselves for a while.  They have killed their hundreds.  Our so-called healers have killed their millions, and it continues, mostly to black babies.

Daily writing prompt

Who are your favorite artists?

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That is what Thomas Kinkade got to be known as. If you are not familiar with his work, you might look him up. It’s not difficult. If you don’t remember his name, just enter “Painter of Light.” The reason he was given the title was because he generally painted landscapes with houses at dusk. The houses, the streetlights and even the moon seemed to give off a glow.

I have heard of people who had more copies of his paintings than they had room on the walls to hang them. It forced them to rotate them around from time to time.

He died a few years ago I am sad to say. I do believe he did bring a little light to us all who bought copies of his paintings, or just had the opportunity to see them.

Many did not like the way he did things. While all of his paintings were real, he had talented people make copies of his painting under strict supervision. As a result, there were many copies. Those in the world of established art believed in one copy of each painting and only by the artist, this despite that most of the Sistine Chapel was painted by assistants of De Vinci. The nice thing about the way Kinkade did it, he brought much more beautiful art to many more people. By the way, he also gave many aspiring artist a way to feed themselves while practicing.

I used to draw and paint when I was younger. I even considered painting the covers to my books, or at least a few of them. However, my painting is about like my books, not that good. Would anyone like to offer to do it for me?

Not all art is on canvas. Actors are considered artist too. I have many actors that I have liked over the years- Jimmy Stewart, John Wayne, Dorthy Kirsten, Gordon MacRae, Doris Day and a few others. However, Topol in “Fiddler on the Roof,” has to be my favorite. I have the DVD and have watched it many times. However, I also saw it on stage at the Orpheum in Memphis, with Topol. It was the last time he toured with the show and I just knew I had to see it.

I managed to get the night off of work. ( I had a very good boss, thankfully ) I went with my wife and we settled into our seats. The lights were lowered and a man stood on the stage. Topol had likely played the part thousands of times before. However, almost instantly, he was playing the part for the first time. Instantly, he was not Topol, but Tevye, a poor dairyman in early 1900s Russia. I wish I had some way of telling the man what a good and convincing performance he gave that night. I have tried.

However, he, his performance, the other actors, and the show brought to my mind something I just simply did not know before. There were tears in my eyes as I realized that as bad as the Russians were on the Jews, they chased the them into places such as east Europe, like Poland, Like Hungry, Austria , and of course, Germany. In truth, the mistreatment of the Israelites did not start in Germany and Poland. It was simply a stop along the way. It started in Ukraine. It went through Europe and it is going on this very day with help of our current occupier of the Oval Office.

And, by the way, did you know our very own Roosevelt (FDR) had a part in it. He refused to let them leave Germany and enter the US, even though they were well under Quota. That’s right, FDR was a viscous racist and he didn’t do much to hide it either.

I used to like to take pictures. I had about 160 slides of Vietnam. I used to look at them from time to time. An older woman I met took pictures too. She had been all over the world. Now SHE was an artist. I could have sat and looked at her slides for hours. It does make me wonder, where are those slides now. I certainly hope whoever inherited them knows what a treasure they have. More likely, no one has looked at them for years, if at all.

I don’t know the woman’s name. I wish I had thought to ask her for copies, but I wouldn’t be able to afford them anyway. It would be a tragedy if they have been lost. To me they would be worth more that anything that Leonardo de Vinci painted.

Sometimes, people underestimate the value of their art. I suspect all the artist I mentioned here didn’t really truly know what treasures they really brought into the world. I know Thomas Kinkade had an idea of it, but he couldn’t have really known. Topol has no idea what he brought into my life that night, and it wasn’t just the art. That woman with her slides. I know she wanted to bring something into everyone’s life. I just wished she had the vehicle for it. There is no doubt in my mind she had the talent and heart for it.