Prairie City — Have you got used to standard time yet? My system just will not sleep that extra hour for a few weeks. Think I’m finally getting there. Then in three or four months we’ll have to reverse it all over again. And it’s been scientifically proven that switching the time like that is hard on the body! So why do we still do it? OK, enough ranting …

Our first meal of the month had a huge helping of meatloaf and gravy, corn, scalloped potatoes (yeah!), pears and cottage cheese, and a big chocolate cupcake with lots of frosting. Mmmm, good. Thanks to cook Pam for our great meals. Delivery people included Gwynne, Carla, Carlos, Mary, and Ginger. Other helpers were Tom and Del. Pam did her usual great job at the registration desk. Thanks to all who have a part in this program. And thanks to all who order meals each week. May your tribe increase!

What we can’t figure out is why people are allowed to go to the cafes and dine but senior centers can’t do the same. And the senior citizens are patronizing the cafes with no problems. What’s the difference? It is just so frustrating to have gone through almost two years of this mess and no end in sight. Oops, there’s that soapbox again …

The holidays — that word is a corruption of holy days, did you know? Anyhow, the days begin with Thanksgiving, which is self-explanatory. Then came Hanukkah. Always wondered what that was all about, so I looked it up in my new book, “Essential Judaism.” And I quote: “Hanukkah is a celebration of the Maccabees, Jewish warriors who fought a lengthy civil war … until they drove the Syrians from ancient Israel. … When the Maccabees retook Jerusalem, they demolished the now polluted altar of the Temple and built a new one. … They found a small quantity of consecrated oil for use in the sacred lamps, but not nearly enough to use for the (required) eight days. … The priests lit the oil for the first day … and miraculously there was enough for the second day. And so it continued until the entire eight days of worship had been observed. (One commentator said that the real miracle was the faith of the priests who knew they didn’t have enough oil for eight days but who lit the lamps each day, trusting that God would provide.) … Today Hanukkah is a home-oriented holiday … with the singing of a special hymn and readings taken from the story of the dedication of the Tabernacle and of course the lighting of the candles.”

So, now you know. Our Thanksgiving was different this year: Son No. 2 and his family came to our little abode and brought the meal! Turkey, mashed potatoes and gravy, vegetables, and dessert. I set the table and gathered the chairs, and a good time was had by all! Since we have no TV, we didn’t even have to watch a football game! Thank you, son and family. It was really nice not to have to do anything!

Colossians 4:6 “Let your conversation be always full of grace, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how to answer everyone.”

Monument —

Crazy that it is now the month of December, and crazier even still is the fact that Christmas will be here in, like, three weeks! What? I don’t know how that happened. I never have ever gone to a Black Friday shopping spree. Standing in line and spending the night waiting for the so-called “hot deals” in the cold is just not my cup of tea. As I am getting older, the material things just don’t mean much in light of Jesus. He is my treasure.

Speaking of treasure, we sure have one in the town of Monument! We are so blessed with our senior center and our fabulous cooks. All the volunteers that put their heart and soul to help keep our facility going are all loved and appreciated.

Our cooks made us a nice meal of pork roast, carrots, dinner rolls and scalloped potatoes, with chocolate cake for our dessert, yummy deliciousness. We thank our cooks Terry Cade and Carrie Jewell for their fine work.

Our volunteers at the front table were Jimmy Cole and Kristi Guimont. They checked in all the guests, collected and counted up the money. Kristi led us in the flag salute and made the announcements. Yours truly prayed the blessing over our meal. Shirley Johnson of Spray won the free meal ticket. Sharon Falls won the Len’s gift card. Judy Harris won a turkey from the turkey raffle.

I also made an announcement. This was concerning the so-called “Vaccine Passport” that our state of Oregon wants to pass. To me it does not matter whether you are for the vaccine or not, but I believe that this infringes on our medical rights and our constitutional rights when, unless one can prove that you have been vaccinated, you cannot enter into business establishments or other facilities. We should be able to choose what we want to put into our bodies. Where will they stop if they are allowed this control? No thank you.

One of our Founding Fathers, Benjamin Franklin, put it this way, and I quote, “Those who would give up essential liberty, to purchase a little temporary safety, deserve neither liberty or safety.” Food for thought. This great nation and our freedoms were purchased with blood and sacrifice. I pray that we remember and fight for what is good, and right, and true.

On a lighter note, I think I like Scotty better than Belle. You know how when you look at the eyes, whether they are human or animal, you can see the intelligence behind it. Not only that, you can see gentleness, sweetness there too.

Scotty has just the sweetest and gentlest eyes! I don’t know how to describe it better, but Belle has “bratty” eyes. Ha.

She is highly more intelligent than her brother, which makes her more cunning, and clever. She is just not sweet! She is mischievous and a bit of a troublemaker. Scotty knows his name now too and just loves to be petted; Belle, not so much.

Psalms 26:8 O LORD, I love the habitation of Your house and the place where Your glory dwells.