It Was a Charles Dickens Kind of Year (standard:humor, 909 words)
Author: Godspenman	Added: Dec 01 2013	Views/Reads: 3061/1614	Story vote: 0.00 (0 votes)
While many people are out on a shopping spree to liquidate any cash reserves they might have left, I am taking this time to do a little bit of reflection.

While many people are out on a shopping spree to liquidate any cash
reserves they might have left, I am taking this time to do a little bit 
of reflection. 

Shopping is not my favorite thing to do. I forgot about it last week and
Thursday evening I took my granddaughter to Wal-Mart to buy something. 
The aisles were packed with people standing around waiting for some 
“event” to occur. Not knowing what that event might be, my little 
granddaughter and I slowly retreated from the store. I forgot it was 
black Thursday and I did not want to end up with a black eye. 

I do not go shopping that much, but, is it me or are shoppers mean
people? Just do not get between them and whatever event is taking 
place. 

I have come to the wonderful place in life that I can afford anything I
want. Fortunately, I cannot think of anything I really want. Not so 
with the crowd I found at Wal-Mart. They wanted something really bad, 
and I wanted to get out of the store really bad. Both got their wishes. 


I have since retreated to the solitude of my easy chair. Thanksgiving
dinner is over, everybody's focus is on Christmas and so I plan to take 
advantage of this space. Everybody is somewhere and I am glad (you did 
not hear me say it) they are not here. 

The Gracious Mistress of the Parsonage is in the kitchen doing whatever
she does in the kitchen. I have learned after 43 years of marital bliss 
that if I want to maintain the bliss in my marriage I need to keep out 
of the kitchen when someone else is there, especially her. I have 
learned to live with this and it is a wonderful life. 

Resting and reflecting in my easy chair, I began thinking about the past
year. 

The best way to sum up the past year for me was Charles Dickens, A Tale
of Two Cities. “It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it 
was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness.” 

Of course, I would have to fudge a little bit on “the age of wisdom.”
Outside of that, that sums up my past year very nicely. Just when you 
think everything is going smoothly, there is a little unexpected bump 
in the road. 

The other way around is also true. Just when you think all you have are
bumps in the road, you hit a smooth patch and you do not really know 
what to do. 

Take this Thanksgiving for example. Throughout the year I had managed
(under some very strict supervision from you know who) to lose around 5 
pounds. I was celebrating this loss quite jubilantly. That is, until 
the Thanksgiving dinner. 

I thought to myself, “Self, you have done a fine job this past year it
is time to celebrate.” 

There is celebration and then there is celebration. My problem is I do
not know the difference between the two; they all look alike to me. 

Hiding behind the roast turkey on our Thanksgiving dinner table were the
5 pounds I had lost during the year. They quite conveniently hid their 
presence from me but that was not the worst of it. Not only were they 
hiding behind the roast turkey, but also they had assembled relatives. 
For some reason these “pounds” heard that relatives were invited to the 
Thanksgiving dinner. 

I do not know how it happened; but it happened. The “pounds” I lost, I
have found and they brought relatives with them. I am not sure I want 
to complain at this point because I feel all warm and fuzzy inside. 

Here I sit in my easy chair bemoaning the fact that what I lost I
eventually found. If only I could find the hundred dollars I lost, I 
would be a happy camper. At least, I could afford to be a camper. 

Everybody should rejoice when they find something that they lost, but I


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