Tag ~ YOU’re it!

Posted on July 17, 2009 by Chuck

I received this “15 YOUs” tag from my friend, Star, of A Maiden’s Testimony on July 1, 2009.

She gave the following instructions:
1. Write something about 15 persons you know.
2. Don’t mention the names of these 15 persons.
3. If someone would asks who they are, don’t tell them.
4. Tag 15 persons but don’t include persons you refer to in your post.

— And away we go . . . —

Y O U

You – sent me into the closet. I sat on the basketball.

You – encouraged my learning experience and gave me access to school facilities.

You – are the reason I met Sylvia. That’s one more reason why you are my friend.

You – explained things in a way that I could understand.

You – read good books to me before I was ready to read them for myself.

You – made me feel like my tiny hands were helping you.

You – died when we were youngsters and my world seemed to fall apart.

You – brought me comfort like no other when my child’s world fell apart.

You – tell the funniest stories.

You – saved me when I was about to drown.

You – were a nice person that I knew in High School. Today you are a special friend.

You – loaned me your car so that I could take Sylvia to the hospital for the birth of our first born.

You – were obsessed with flying saucers. Whatever happened to you?

You – have a sick sense of humor.

You – might try to walk on water, but you’d no doubt sink to the bottom like a rock.

Now I’m supposed to tag 15 people. I would like my writer friends like Colleen, Marlene and Rita to accept the tag, but put them under no obligation. I’d like to see what Clara and Mikki would say. And so many others.

It’s really not that hard to think of 15 people that have crossed your path and made an impression. So please, dear reader, accept this tag and let me know when you post it on your blog. I’m looking forward to reading about your 15.

Blogosphere’s Got Talent I ~ The Winner

Posted on July 16, 2009 by Chuck

You’ve been waiting to hear who would win Secondary Road’s contest, Blogosphere’s Got Talent I. Before the winner is announced let’s review the entrants in this fabulous contest:

Lin

Her talent is dancing. She sent a picture of her square dancing with Joe. Did you notice that they are out of step with each other. In the second picture she sent, she is doing a solo Lithuanian rain dance while decked out in waders and long rubber gloves.

Clara

My Sister is a quilter and her links show bed covers and other projects that she has completed using her fabulous quilting skills.

Pricilla

Entered her friend Harry the Goat. Harry jumps from hay bale to hay bale. These bales are much larger than little bitty Harry. And that’s why it takes talent to do what he does. He also has good looks and charm working for him — as do all the other contestants I hasten to add.

Sharkbytes

Crochet is her game and she shared an afghan that she did. A very talented gal this one. She must do this in the winter when we Michiganians like to spend some time inside. The summers are far too nice. Right?

Ida

She is an actor. Okay she didn’t end up in New York City or Hollywood, but she’s had her starring roles. Give her a curtain call and a dozen roses.

John

When he revealed his talent for optimizing programs written in machine language, he even received a vote from Clara. Yes, she understands what that means.

And the Winner is . . .

That’s right! In a very close, hotly contested contest, Lin the gal garnered one more vote from Secondary Roads readers than Pricilla’s friend Harry the Goat.

Take a bow Lin. If you can in that fancy dance costume.

As the winner, Lin is entitled to eternal fame (or at least until next week). She also receives 1000 EC credits and the highly coveted Tommy Toe Award.

The Tommy Toe gets its name from what my mother used to call this wonderful fruit that makes such wonderful sandwiches with bacon and lettuce. The BLT was one of my mother’s favorites. Every year when fresh tomatoes were available in the garden, she would get together with a friend and they would make BLTs for lunch. I remember those days well, and I still consider the BLT to be one of my favorite sandwiches.

Congratulations Lin, and thanks to all of our participants. You are all winners in my book. Very special thanks to you dear readers who took time to leave a comment. You are very much appreciated!.

Foot Prints & Top Droppers (June)

Posted on July 3, 2009 by Chuck

I suppose it started when I learned that the church where I had served as pastor would be closing its doors. (See Monday’s posting.) I began to think of the folks from back then — back there. I realized that they had impacted my life. We had worked, played, laughed and cried together. I considered how I might share the impact that those folks had on my life. Then I realized that they had left their mark upon me, my life and my family. It was like they had left foot prints that were visible even though they were not in my life any longer.

Last Sunday, there were only a very few that had been in the church 32 years ago. And I never had a chance to share that thought with them. So I share it with you today.

Some you have made indelible prints on my life in such a very short time. We’ve shared our sorrows and our joys — our frustrations and victories. Together we have marveled at the beauty that surrounds us and the absurd silliness that infects the world of humankind.

As I prepared this, I remember the path between our front door and the front door of my maternal grandparents who lived next door. This path cut a straight line across our lawn. It was deeper than the surrounding ground, having been packed down by the daily passage of our feet. For the same reason, no grass grew on that path.

The grandparents passed away. The daily visits to their house ceased and the path slowly disappeared as dirt gathered in the low part and grass began to grow. That path is gone today, but the memory of the path and the wonderful folks at the end of the path remains.

I walked along a beach and left my foot prints in the sand. I returned the next day and my foot prints were no longer visible. The waves at high tide had washed them away.

Thanks to you who are leaving foot prints on my life and creating pathways thereon. You are special and you are much appreciated.

Top Droppers for June

Juliana’s World
A blog about everything else in between and the life of a former corporate mid-management professional who happily traded her power suit to jeans and sneakers. Originally from Manila, Philippines, now living happily in New York, USA as a childless full time housewife.

60 Were Enough
60 Were Enough bolog about Music, Artists, Mp3 and 60 Were Enough News.

My Meme Mania
This blog hosts a meme that celebrates accomplishments and victories over procrastination. It also is used to participate in a variety of other memes.

Cacai’s Step and Journey
My personal blog talks about my own wits, views, reviews, thoughts, beliefs, happiness, and my day to day experiences in this beautiful world we’re living in, of good quality standard for which everyone of all ages is welcome.

Learning Corner
Center for Personal Development, Professional Learning and Education, Finance, Smart Investment, Business Management, Business Strategy, Leadership, Business Success, Computer, Technology Update, Lifestyle Improvement.

Photography by KML
Photography by KML features the fine art and stock images of photographer, Kathy Libby. KML specializes in Landscape and Nature photos. The stock photos include concepts, food, backgrounds, abstracts, sports, architecture, transportation, and people.

sound of a soft breath
“Avoid silence, avoid solitude, avoid any train of thought that leads off the beaten track. Concentrate on money, sex, status, health, and (above all) on your own grievances. Keep the radio on. Live in a crowd. Use plenty of sedation…” Have you given this a try? Now …

Split Rock Ranch
A small ranch in the mountains of central Colorado where we raise, train and show llamas, harvest their gorgeous fiber and create beautiful fiber art

The Everyday Adventurer
A blog that introduces beginners to nature, hiking, adventure, and everything outdoors, in a fun and exciting way.

Frugal Healthy Choices
Follow along as I discover the right choices for a healthy lifestyle on a shoe-string budget.

As The Crackerhead Crumbles
The purpose of this blog is to help clear-up much of the confusion that now exists concerning our Heavenly Father and the righteousness of all of His most awesome ways.

Hello Kitty Gifts
Blog of News & Trips of my Hello Kitty and Limited Edition & Special Edition Hello Kitty Gifts for All Occasions and Everyone!

Juliana’s Lair
A blog about loving and living in the Big Apple. It details the dynamics in the household of a happily married interracial couple; she as a stay-at-home wife, and he as a Wall Street professional.

Stock Recomendations
Stock market recommendations, Technical Views and fundamentally view…..

Moms Lifestyle
This blog is all about the family life style and love of family

NARESH
Daily Updated Nifty Stock recommendations and intraday support resistance level…
Stock Tips and other Ideas related investment….

Cinnamon Spice & Everything Nice
Italian American comfort food using fresh ingredients.

PJ’s Prose
Life, love, and happiness

Denford Magora’s Zimbabwe Blog
Daily breaking news, commentary and analysis from Zimbabwe’s leading on-the-scene analyst. Everything from Mugabe to Zimbabwe’s economy

Blogopinionz
My blogging experiences and opinions!

Everyday Living
Weight-loss tips and stories, mixed together with humor and fun. All this and more, to help you get through the journey of Everyday Living.

Coming Back to Life
A personal journey thru life and faith with lots of fun mingled in.

On The Bricks
People, Places, Things, News, World happenings, weird stuff and sometimes just plain oh stupid and silly crap. Or just anything that I feel like posting.

Family Health Avenue
Health is The Family’s Ultimate Wealth

Let’s Jump Together
A little bit of everything is here – you can jump in with us – or not – feel free to leave a comment!

Many thanks to each of you.

6 Months Later ~ Thank You!

Posted on July 2, 2009 by Chuck

It was January 2, 2009 that I posted my first offering on this blog. Since then, I’ve not missed a day. This is my 187th posting.

I started with a list of topics that I would visit. Some of those remain on the list while others have been treated with benign neglect. Your feedback has helped guide the direction I have taken.

My sister Clara has been a big help providing tips and insights that have greatly shortened the learning curve. It is a real blessing to have a sister who is as big a nerd as I am. Thanks Sis!

By the end of January, I had started with Entrecard and through that have found a lot of nice friends with neat blogs. Yesterday, I registered with Adgitize. That is also enlarging my world.

Here in the blogosphere, I have found a community of supportive and friendly folks. Many have become friends, and I enjoy my daily visits to their blogs and the comments that they leave here. I thank each of you and appreciate you all.

I Did It! ~ Monday

Posted on June 29, 2009 by Chuck

Please join us for I Did It! – Monday. Details at Clara’s blog, My Meme Mania. Celebrate accomplishments. They can be your deeds or those of someone else.Tell us about it.

Have you noticed the change I’ve made to my layout? I’ve added navigation tabs and that allowed me to take some items out of the sidebar.

Dewey Fox and me.

Yesterday, Sunday, I attended a church where I was the pastor for one year. It was their final service before closing the doors after 129 years. The meeting was upbeat, and the message was brought by a fellow I’ve known since we were in High School. His one word to the congregation was, “Continue!” I also had the chance to see some friends from 32 years ago. One of them was Dewey, who is now retired from dairy farming. Our children had been friends, and his wife had given my older son, Bryant, piano lessons. It was very good to talk with this dear fellow. They had a nice dinner afterward, which really hit the spot.

After coming home, I accepted his invitation and called the Crotchety Old Man. He’s in the hospital with failed kidneys. We had a very nice chat, and it was good to put a voice to Da Old Man.

Truth be told, he doesn’t sound very crotchety to me. Could it be he’s just putting on a front trying to make us think he’s mean? That would be my guess. But your mileage may vary.

Best wishes to you Old Man. You blogger buds out here are praying that you’ll soon be back on your feet.

Awards ~ Thanks Cacai!

Posted on June 25, 2009 by Chuck

A couple awards have been granted to Secondary Roads. On my daily visit to her blog, I saw that Cacai had received these awards. I read about the awards and thought how richly deserved them. I failed to notice that she had passed them to me. That is until she sent me an e-mail.

Thanks Cacai your are kind and gracious. I invite the rest of you to visit my friend.

The Perky Blogger Award

I thought I knew what this meant, but to be sure, I looked it up in my Merriam-Webster’s Collegiate Dictionary 10th edition. It says “Briskly self-assured. Jaunty.” Wow. Thanks!

Your Blog Makes Us Smile Award

We shouldn’t need a dictionary to help us with this one. It’s talking about a positive outlook and an optimistic view of life. I hope I make you smile — at least once in a while.

Here are some folks who are jaunty, self-assured and who make me smile. For that reason, I’m passing these lovely awards to:

Fish Hawk at As The Crackerhead Crumbles

Lin at Duck and Wheel with String

Shawie at A Grateful Heart

Star at A Maiden’s Testimony

Fearless at The Fearless Blog

and Clara who hosts Coming Back to Life! and My Meme Mania

Please join Clara (and me) for I Did It! – Monday we would love to read about your accomplishments. Let the world know what you did. Brag. Brag about someone else, it’s okay just join in the fun.

Blogger Bud ~ Justine

Posted on June 12, 2009 by Chuck

And now for this month’s Blogger Bud . . . [fanfare] Justine!

Justine is the founder, and author of The Froggy Bloggy. Folks, you can’t make this stuff up. And what you read there has to be real. No one has an imagination that is that wild! Really!

Here we see her in a rare quiet moment with her hubby, Jimmy.

They have two daughters and some critters. The newest is a pup, but more about that in a moment.

This is the badge that she displays on her blog. Does it give you a clue?

That’s right. You’ve got it. She has a sister, and her name is Jill. A little rivalry? A little insanity? A little levity — okay a whole lot of that! It’s all in good humor. At least I think it is.

Justine bought a puppy, Strudel. Then Jill had to have one too, Cannoli. Then they went to a restaurant for desert. Well, don’t you think they did? Why else name their dogs like that? Neither of them has given a better explanation.

The stress of all this gets to Justine until she can hardly stand it.

That’s when she logs into FaceBook for a few hours on the farm. That farm living is the life . . . She may enjoy that more than blogging. [But I hope not.]

Before you know it, she’ll don her protective helmet and sit with her lap top atop her lap on the kitchen floor where she’ll write another adventure for The Froggy Bloggy.

And then she’ll sign off as always. Some of what I’ve said may or may not be true. Perhaps you should visit Justine at The Froggy Bloggy and find out for yourself. Be sure to take your sense of humor with you.

Wonder what she has to say about me? She wrote this on April 28, “Now we come to my good friend Chuck, at Secondary Roads. Two more different people have never graced this planet but I love him dearly, and for some reason he seems to like me too. He even gave me the Zombie Chicken Award recently, and to me? That spells L-O-V-E.” What can I say? She is right. We are completely different and [as much as I hate to admit it] I do like her, although I don’t know why. Maybe it’s the aluminum helmet?

Will You Pray for Alexa?

Posted on May 14, 2009 by Chuck

Alexa hugs her friend.

Some of you may already know about Alexa and the difficulties she has been going through lately. It has been reported on her mommy’s blog Jill’s Believe It Or Not. Lately, Auntie Justine has been reporting, because momma Jill is spending her time in the hospital with Alexa.

Take a bit of time and read about this young girl and what she is going through. Then take a few more moments to say a prayer for Alexa and her family. Thanks.

My Blogger Bud ~ Lin

Posted on May 8, 2009 by Chuck

Disclaimer: In a private e-mail I told Lin that I intended to write this review of her blog: Duck and Wheel with String. She responded, “Don’t go all sappy or anything.” Then she made me vow that I wouldn’t go at all sappy. I caved in, because you really have to [read that “must”] know about this blog.

Lin is happily married to Joe. They have two children; Colin and Emma, who refused to be photographed for this blog posting. They were shouting something about never being able to go back to school and face their friends . . . Fair enough. This is really about the blogger that we know as Lin.

She describes herself as, “Almost always funny, some times opinionated, [I get a bit confused here] but never controversial, passionate or thoughtful. [?] I am a stew pot of adjectives and you’ll never know what you’ll get when you stop here. Good, bad, or indifferent–it is all spunky lil ole me.” At least that’s the way I seem to remember the way she said it. I seem to have lost my notes.

In their Chicago home, which is located next to a frog pond, live their two feline friends as well as the human staff. Grace Ann ran off with the human children. Hobbes had to show off for the crew from Secondary Roads. Turns out that Hobbes is a wannabe mountain lion. Okay, he’s still working on the roar, but he’s making good progress with the rest. The alternate theory is that he went out on a limb to get a bird on the suet feeder, but when the bird flew Hobbes had to treat it with disdain. I believe he wants to be a mountain lion.

All of this is overseen by Violet. Violet was the custom creation of a famous sculptor who must remain unnamed lest the Immigration Service should pay a visit.

A word of warning is in order here. Don’t ever call Violet an “ugly little statue.” Never do it. I did. Once. Later in the emergency room, the doctor said, “The good news is that we’ve stopped the bleeding. The bad news is that the scars are forever.” Now everybody say it with me, “Violet is beautiful and I LOVE her!”

In a recent posting, Lin wrote about the talent show put on by their Neighborhood Improvement Association.” She dressed in traditional Lithuanian peasant costume and performed the well-known Lithuanian rain dance. Lin was one of the early acts on the program. Unfortunately, the rest of the program was canceled because of heavy rains and thunderstorms that suddenly appeared out of what had been clear skies.

Meanwhile, back at the pond, the frogs laughed until they croaked.

That’s my story and I’m sticking to it! You can’t make me tell you the truth. Remember, I took a vow not to get all sappy. Boy was I dumb!

Bottom line: Visit Lin at Duck and Wheel with String and tell her that Chuck sent you. You’ll be glad you did. She’s really funny, witty, charming, creative and she writes a great blog. Don’t forget she’s from Chicago and knows some people who might come and pay you a visit. Better go there today.

I just hope I didn’t get all sappy. 🙂