Author: Rev. Joe Dirt

Posted on

I can be a little ornery at times…

6 years ago I sneaked onto my bride’s Facebook page and posted this as if she had written it.  Fortunately, she did not beam me with a frying pan.

David has been crying the BLUES about missing the South. One of the things he misses is crepe myrtle. Do you know how hard it is find any that will grow in zone 6 aka St. Louis? Well, I found some. 3 of the suckers for $150. I planted those puppies along our property line. 2 red crepe myrtles and one pink. The son-of-a-sea-biscuit better stop the alligator tears about a blue bayou now.

Tee hee hee…

Did I hear someone say, “A little ornery? At times?”

After 6 years the crepe myrtle is still going strong, but they have never gotten tall like they do down south.  They basically die back to ground level every winter, and start fresh shoots at ground level in the spring.  They are very pretty in the middle of the summer.

Posted on

Keep Well, Go Well

I just finished listening to the audio book of Alan Paton’s  Cry, The Beloved Country. This is a wonderful book in whatever format it is experienced.  However, the reader of the audio book was absolutely perfect, pegging the South African accents of various peoples.

The book was published in 1948 and set in 1946.  It is a book of many flavors including that of a cautionary tale.  Knowing a little of the history of South Africa after  Continue reading “Keep Well, Go Well”

Posted on

Rev. Joe’s Random Thought #1,282

yeah I know you did not ask!

I have no idea if there is a god or not.   I am reasonable sure there is not a personal god like they speak of in various religious texts.  Given that, I really do not believe there is a devil.  However for some reason the lyrics to the Blood, Sweat & Tears song And When I Die comes to mind just about now.

One of my favorite quotes is from the singer/composer/actor Tom Waits which goes a little something like this… “Don’t you know there ain’t no devil, it’s just god when he’s drunk.”

That quote came to me in the middle of the night as I was staring at the ceiling reflecting on current events.  I decided if there is any truth to that quote then god must be a binge drinker and he is on a hell of a bender long about now.

Posted on

Rev. Joe’s Random Thought #8,958

yeah I know you did not ask!

After scanning the news headlines this morning I decided there are two courses that should be required in every high school. The first, Civics, so people have some general sense about how our government should function.

The second course would be Civility.  Reading about people misbehaving so badly in businesses that have reopened in the middle of this pandemic it seems many folks are lacking in basic manners. I keep thinking of one of my Mother’s pet peeves that she strove mightily to drive into core of her 5 sons…with varying degrees of success, CFOP.  Which stands for Consideration For Other People.  If she caught you in a faux pas in this regard she had a whole spiel she would launch into wherein the acronym CFOP was repeated an amazing number of times.

Just for good measure a few semesters of US and World History would not hurt also.

 

Posted on

Rev. Joe’s Random Thought #456

yeah I know you did not ask!

Faust Park is a county park about 3 miles from the house.  They have the trails at that park open, all of them one way to help with social distancing.  None of the playgrounds, bathrooms, carousel,etc are open.

This evening, myself and the whimsical Señora Weinhaus decided to take the wee dog for a walk around the park and through some of the wooded paths.  Actually, quite pleasant and for the most part folks were adhering to the guidelines. You are always going to have a few iconoclasts.

Coming out of the woods there were a group of people sitting more or less at the recommended 2 meters of separation. It was obvious they were having some sort of birthday party from the signage.  As we got closer I could see it was for an older lady who they had seated in a throne like chair with a chintzy  crown on her head.  Not that there is an ounce of danger in that direction, but if my kids ever did such a thing…

Anyway back to the story.  Our birthday queen had on a mask.  As we passed I overheard them talking about masks, probably because they wanted to take the queen’s picture.  That is when I heard one gentleman remark, “I have a mask too, but I am saving it for when I drywall.”  How utterly tone deaf can you be? He must be the uncle everyone talks about that disrupts the Thanksgiving dinner with his crackpot political views.

Posted on

“Yellow. I see a yellow”

My sister-in-law who is Korean, came to this country as a child, posted this on Facebook:

I was walking into the Mustang Walmart store and this customer wearing jean overalls with a big fat belly started saying “Yellow. I see a yellow. Hey yellow. Do you see a yellow. Hey you I’m talking to you”
So I looked straight into his eyes, smiled and walked away. After that he didn’t say anything.

It pisses me off how ignorant people can be! Why is it always The small town rednecks??

FYI – Mustang, Oklahoma is Continue reading ““Yellow. I see a yellow””

Posted on

Maybe it shouldn’t have, but it did…

Rightly or wrongly, or maybe just because I am stir crazy, I have decided it is alright to go to the driving range.  It is outside.  It is very possible to maintain a couple meters of social distancing.  What is not so good is the young clerk that is not so worried about her health, and without a doubt the baskets are not going though any sort of a sanitizing wash.  Golf balls at ranges are generally washed after they are picked  up out of the field, but never the baskets.  Wish me luck.

I was there today about half way through my extra large bucket Continue reading “Maybe it shouldn’t have, but it did…”

Posted on

Reasons to be cheerful

I was listening to a Freakonomics podcast this morning as I ran on the treadmill.  They touched on several things, but one them was an interview with David Byrne of Talking Heads fame.   He discussed how a while back he was overwhelmed by all the negativity coming at him in the news, social media, etc.  As a response to that he started collecting positive stories, and at the same time limiting his exposure to those sources.

His computer folder of positive stories has turned into a website.  I have not had a chance to do a deep dive into the website, but it looks interesting.  I know I can use some positivity in my life right now.  Here is the link: Reasons To Be Cheerful