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WITandWISDOM(tm) - April 11, 2002 ISSN 1538-8794 ~~~~~~~ THOUGHTS: "Sometimes it's worse to win a fight than to lose." - Billie Holiday Source: Quotation Sensation, http://www.QuotationSensation.com Subjects: Fighting, Winning, Losing ~~~~~~~ SPECIAL THOUGHTS: DIRT ROADS By Paul Harvey What's mainly wrong with society today is that too many Dirt Roads have been paved. There's not a problem in America today, crime, drugs, education, divorce, delinquency that wouldn't be remedied, if we just had more Dirt Roads, because Dirt Roads give character. People that live at the end of Dirt Roads learn early on that life is a bumpy ride. That it can jar you right down to your teeth sometimes, but it's worth it, if at the end is home . . . a loving spouse, happy kids and a dog. We wouldn't have near the trouble with our educational system if our kids got their exercise walking a Dirt Road with other kids, from whom they learn how to get along. There was less crime in our streets before they were paved. Criminals didn't walk two dusty miles to rob or rape, if they knew they'd be welcomed by five barking dogs and a double barrel shotgun. And there were no drive by shootings. Our values were better when our roads were worse! People did not worship their cars more than their kids, and motorists were more courteous, they didn't tailgate by riding the bumper or the guy in front would choke you with dust & bust your windshield with rocks. Dirt Roads taught patience. Dirt Roads were environmentally friendly, you didn't hop in your car for a quart of milk you walked to the barn for your milk. For your mail, you walked to the mail box. What if it rained and the Dirt Road got washed out? That was the best part, then you stayed home and had some family time, roasted marshmallows and popped popcorn and pony rode on Daddy's shoulders and learned how to make prettier quilts than anybody. At the end of Dirt Roads, you soon learned that bad words tasted like soap. Most paved roads lead to trouble, Dirt Roads more likely lead to a fishing creek or a swimming hole. At the end of a Dirt Road, the only time we even locked our car was in August, because if we didn't some neighbor would fill it with too much zucchini. At the end of a Dirt Road, there was always extra springtime income, from when city dudes would get stuck, you'd have to hitch up a team and pull them out. Usually you got a dollar . . . always you got a new friend . . . at the end of a Dirt Road! Submitted by Alice Bryan, Braxton Hagele, Richard Walters Subjects: Roads, Values ~~~~~~~ THIS & THAT: PLEASURE HOME When people dream of owning a second home, they picture a gray-shingled saltbox with a view of the ocean, or a cozy chalet near a ski slope. My second home wouldn't be near the beach or in the mountains or at the end of a country road. It would be right up the street from my first home. It would be the kind of place where you don't have to wipe your feet to go inside. The chairs would be big, comfortable and falling apart. My wife and I wouldn't use our second home for vacations. On a rainy afternoon when our kids were bored, we'd say, "Why don't you go ride your bikes in the dining room?" We'd have birthday parties there and sleepovers and poker games. We'd bathe the dog and clean fish in the kitchen sink. Our second home would be the place where we would go when we were tired of keeping up appearances. In our second home, we would live the way people would live if they didn't care what other people might think. We would roughhouse and holler and throw things around. And because our second home would be the home of all the messy parts of our lives, our first home would stay pretty nice. If we decided to have company for dinner one night, we wouldn't have to spend a frantic afternoon picking glitter and birdseed out of the dining-room rug. All the glitter and birdseed would be up the street, at our other place. - David Owen, Around the House (Random House) Source: Reader's Digest, Copyright (c) August 1999, http://www.readersdigest.com Subjects: Home, Tidiness, Houses ~~~~~~~ KEEP SMILING: The four food groups: Fast, Frozen, Instant and Chocolate. Source: Gentle Humor, mailto:words@iop.com?subject=Subscribe Subjects: Diet, Food ~~~~~~~ TRIVIA: Jupiter is bigger than all the other planets in our solar system combined. For more information about Jupiter visit: http://www.seds.org/nineplanets/nineplanets/jupiter.html Source: Humor Net Subjects: Astronomy |