Dot Hatfield

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I Know Something Good . . .

February 17, 2020 2 Comments

Was J.Lo’s dance Oscar worthy or pornographic?

Was Kobe Bryant a sports hero/role model, or a rapist?

Should Oscars be awarded on the basis of a politically correct rubric, or on talent?

Let’s argue.

Now, beginning the third decade of the 21st Century, adults have as many things to argue about as children do.  And we are just as good at calling names.

“Sticks and stones may break my bones, but words will never hurt me.”

That never was true by the way. Our mothers may have quoted those words to us hoping to help us cope with the playground “teasing” (now correctly termed bullying).

The New Year 2020 finds adults acting like children on the playground … only with graphics. Dig up an old video or catch someone on a hot mic. Let’s bring down a celebrity. Just for sport.

Get the media involved and the results are often ruination. Something to celebrate? Or perhaps were some of the words tweaked a little or twisted a lot?

Lately I have been visiting the past via a box belonging to my mother, who died in 1985. She was a fan of the poetry columnists seen in most newspapers back in the day. I found this poem written by Louis C. Shimon in 1935.

I Know Something Good About You

Wouldn’t this old world be better if the folks we meet would say, 
“I know something good about you!” And then treat us just that way?

Wouldn’t it be fine and dandy If each handclasp warm and true
Carried with it this assurance, “I know something good about you!”

Wouldn’t life be lots more happy If the good that’s in us all
Were the only thing about us That folks bothered to recall?

Wouldn’t life be lots more jolly If we praised the good we see?
For there’s such a lot of goodness In the worst of you and me.

Wouldn’t it be nice to practice That fine way of thinking, too?
You know something good about me! I know something good about you!

Wisdom from another generation.

I’ll explain later

May 19, 2019 Leave a Comment

While cleaning out a desk drawer, I came across this note from my youngest son: “I’m over at Alex’s. I’ll explain the fire extinguisher later.”

Now, 15 odd years later I don’t remember what that was all about, but it brings back memories that make me smile.

Back in the Seventies, my other son called me at work one day to tell me that he had “Good News” for me when I came home.  I was curious (and a little apprehensive) of course, but no amount of coaxing would move him to tell me anything other than it was “Good News.”

I worked 18 miles away in the city and I have to admit I drove home with a little trepidation. I remembered the day a few weeks earlier when I found a 7-foot cross in my living room. While striking the set after the praise musical, the youth director had asked, “Does anyone want this cross?” Of course Steve did.

So, on this day, I could not fathom what he might consider Good News. As it turned out, it was a copy of the Good News Bible, just recently released. Rather anti-climactic actually, after I had allowed my imagination go wild.

My boys have thus entertained me over the years. Soon after Phillip had moved out on his own, he told me, “You know, if I keep my dirty clothes in this duffel bag then when it’s time to do laundry I don’t have to gather it up.”

Had I never mentioned that?

Or, “If you squeeze out the kitchen sponge it won’t get all smelly.”

My sons have two older sisters and some day I’ll tell you stories about them. But, here I have to say having them first in no way prepared me for the boys that came after.

Morning Paper: The End of an Era

The end of an era

May 1, 2019 Leave a Comment

I got the letter yesterday. When I saw the return address, I knew what it was. I knew that inside that envelope was the announcement of the end of an era.

They call it modernizing, cutting costs, streamlining services. Of course that translates into deleting jobs and discontinuing certain services to the consumer.

Sometime in the next few months, the Arkansas Democrat Gazette is going “paperless” across the state. Beginning this summer, they will be almost completely online. The only issue published and distributed will be the Sunday Edition. The cost for delivery of that one newspaper? $8.00 per week. Wowzer.

But take heart. We who have supported this newspaper through our adult lives are not left without a solution. ADG will loan (or rent) us an iPad.

Every morning I can curl up in my favorite chair with a cup of coffee and the rented tablet. I can scroll and read to my heart’s content. I can cut out a recipe … whoops, maybe not. Probably can’t work the daily Soduku or crossword either.

Nope, it won’t be the same, which makes me a little sad.

Like I said, the end of an era.

Lent

Lent 2019

March 14, 2019 Leave a Comment

“What did you give up for Lent?”

Those of us who observe the discipline of the 40 day journey from Ash Wednesday to Good Friday and Easter Sunday are asked this question about as often as we hear “Are you ready for Christmas?”

It’s not a rhetorical question. Folks really want to know.

Lent is so much more than “giving up something”, but okay, we can talk about that. It’s a tenet of the 12-step program that one should replace the habit that is abandoned with positive behavior. It is also scriptural (Luke 11:26). Giving up a time waster? Read a good book.  Leaving off chocolate? Eat a salad.

When we compare the small sacrifice we make to what Jesus has done for us, it seems ludicrous.

He gave his life — Can I spare an hour? He fasted to the point of near death — Can I do without dessert? He has taken care of me for 85 years — Can I donate to the Little Free Pantry?

It’s not about what I “give up”, it’s about Him and His sacrifice.

“Jesus paid it all,
All to Him I owe.
Sin had left a crimson stain.
He washed it white as snow.”

The Little Free Pantry sits at the far corner of the First United Methodist parking lot, 302 North Main, in Beebe. Take what you need. Leave what you can.
facebook.com/beebelittlefreepantry/

How to open an easy-open can

February 5, 2019 Leave a Comment

Of course, the easiest way to open a can is with an electric can opener. But these handy small appliances may soon be obsolete.

A few years ago, Campbell’s Soup Company put out a line of soups with pop-top lids. Convenient, I suppose, for campers who forgot to bring along a can opener and, having caught no fish or shot any game, were now forced to eat the back-up meal packed by their pessimist wives.

The idea of pop-tops caught on and nowadays most cans have those ‘easy open’ lids. And just to be sure you pop that top, manufacturers make the bottom of the can round, unfriendly to any type of automatic or manual opener.

Soft drinks pop open easily, needing to make only a small hole to drink from. But try opening a large can of chicken, or 16 ounces of spaghetti sauce, without cutting yourself or spilling most of the contents. Thus the need for these instructions.

Pull up the loop on top of the can. Never mind you just broke a nail. Soldier on, you can fix it later.

Yank as hard as ever you can on the loop. This will probably break the loop away from the rest of the lid. Hopefully it will also make a slit wide enough to slip in the blade of a paring knife. With a twisting motion, increase the opening as much as possible.

When the lid is nearly off the can, you will again meet great resistance, making it impossible to budge the lid further. A pair of strong-grip needle-nose pliers should do the trick and finish the job.

Be sure to work over a pan in the sink to take care of spills. Also, keep a First Aid kit handy.

There. Isn’t that better than messing with an electric can opener?

These instructions come with a glossary of appropriate words that have no power to move the job along but might relieve some tension.

Next: How to open a peppermint without alarming the whole church.

If only life were like the movies

January 6, 2019 3 Comments

Years ago, in an old movie the name of which I have long since forgotten, a writer decided his book was no good and put it in a drawer to rot. His girlfriend or maybe wife retrieved it and secretly sent it to a publisher, who (of course) loved it and put it into print forthwith. In the next scene, the author received a package containing his beautiful book, hard cover. He immediately made the Times Bestseller List and lived happily ever after on the royalties.

Alas, this does not mirror real life at all.

In early November, 2018, I retreated to The Writers’ Colony at Dairy Hollow (Eureka Springs, AR) to finish my novel Worth the Candle. This story had long been in my head, first touched paper in 2015 under the working title “Meant to Be,” resided on a thumb drive most of 2017, and was the main focus of my 2018 resolutions: finish it or shred it.

So, Yay! The writing was completed in plenty of time (I thought) to see a book  by the end of the year. My publisher, Alderson Press, quickly sent me samples of a cover to approve.

I engaged a proof reader. After 10 days rest, I read the text again to locate redundancies, over-used words, needed clarifications, and even a couple of typos.

Off the manuscript goes to the printer, who returns a “proof copy not for resale” a week later (we’re now crowding December). Believe it or not, once I looked at the proof, I decided I wanted a major change in the formatting. Might as well do it right, right? These corrections were made immediately and returned to the publisher.

Screech. That’s the sound of brakes as everything comes to a halt while everyone tends to Christmas. My book was suddenly way on the back burner. I can expect to see my corrected copy later.

The publisher assures me my novel is correct now and they have even listed it for sale on Kindle and Amazon.com. But I have not seen a final copy! I’m told it was mailed to me on December 30 and will arrive before January 9. Really?

So, just about now I could use a movie scenario. A loved one who presents me with my beautiful, finished book. A listing in the New York Times. And of course royalties for the rest of my life.

More about Worth the Candle next week!

 

Dot Hatfield

Catching Up

October 21, 2018 Leave a Comment

What a wonderful birthday. Thank you, thank you, thank you all my family and friends.

There is nothing exactly like a Facebook birthday. I received over 100 greetings from near and far, old friends and new. There were images, videos, and throw-backs of memories. I “liked”every one of them.

Also, snail mail brought cards and the land line brought calls, all wishing me well. Such a wealth of attention leaves one thinking “it’s all about me!”

And speaking of me . . . I haven’t blogged here lately, have I?  Sometimes, for me, life gets too busy to write about. These past months have included a Writers Conference, trips, Lay Servant speaking, and a Dinner Theater production. (Pictured above is me speaking this morning in McRae.)

The weeks ahead will focus on a retreat to finish my 4th novel, Worth the Candle.

I will be here again around Thanksgiving . . . or surely by Advent.

Thank you all again for the good wishes.

Grace and Peace.

A Little Embarassed

Give the World a Smile Each Day

April 29, 2018 Leave a Comment

It’s often exciting when, at my age, something happens to me for the very first time in my life.

Not so much this time.

I have seen such occurrences in movies — usually for the comedy effect. But when it happened to me — well, humor is in the eye of the beholder.

Between Sunday School and Worship, I visited the ladies restroom and walked out engaged in conversation with my friend, Sandra. The hall was fairly crowded and as we zig-zagged, chatting away, she said, “. . . you have . . . uh. . . there is . . .”

I stopped and looked where she indicated. About a yard of toilet tissue, stuck to the bottom of my shoe, trailed behind me down the hall. It blessedly turned loose about that time, either by its own volition or the kindness of a passerby.

I didn’t retrieve it right then. First, because I don’t bend very well and second, someone needed to take care of Sandra! She was practically doubled over with laughter, unable to walk straight.

Momentarily she seemed to get a grip, only to be overcome once again. We parted at the door, since she sits on the back row and I was headed to the front with my family. I hope she made it okay.

The whole incident was a little embarrassing, and I have no idea how many others in the hall observed my foolishness.

But in the end I felt okay. At least I gave someone a reason to smile.

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