I, for one, am glad this election season is over. Every 2 years about this time I am completely sick of politics and, more specifically, political ads. I could go my entire life and never hear the words “and I approve this message” ever again. I guess the thing I really dislike about political ads, aside from the sheer quantity of them, is the fact that they exploit the weak.
I don’t claim to be all that intelligent. In the words of Leaf Coneybear, “I’m not that smart.” I can think for myself, though. I’d rather not be told what to think. Give me information and let me decipher it and make up my own mind.
The campaigns (and groups not directly affiliated with a campaign, but with a vested interest in the outcome) use TV and radio ads to generate fear. They use them to provoke hate. I rarely see an ad that is actually informative. They are generally used to motivate the base of the party producing the ads. I cannot remember ever seeing an ad that was truly meant to influence intelligent, thoughtful undecided voters. Instead, the ads prey on the uninformed.
I’m just glad we’re done with them for a while.
We’re headed to Gatlinburg this weekend. I’m excited. I’m anxious. I’m ready to go…now. The clock is moving too, too slow today. This is the first time we’ve been to the mountains on a vacation in about 10 years. I’ve been a few times over the last decade, and Misty and Jacob went with me once. Those times were all trips with one youth group or another.
The last time we went for a vacation Jacob was almost 2. We went to Cade’s Cove one afternoon hoping he could see some deer. We saw one or two as we were driving, but they were always on the wrong side of the car and Jacob never saw them. After we made the loop through the park we stopped at the Visitor’s Center. As we were walking up to the building, a small doe strolled nonchalantly through the people gathered outside. We were beside ourselves! Finally, a deer Jacob could see!
“Look, Jacob, a deer.” “Jacob, look!” “A deer, Jacob.”
We tried and tried for two minutes to get Jacob to look at the deer. He was uninterested. He looked at the grass. He looked at the bushes. He looked at the sky. Finally, we got him to look at the deer, which was now less the 2 feet from us.
He looked at the small deer, looked at me, and said, “Dog.” His attention went quickly back to the grass, the bushes, and the sky. So much for taking Jacob to see deer.
We performed another song that I wrote at The Edge this past Sunday. It went well. I have to take this opportunity to commend the musicians I play with on Sunday mornings. We spent all of about 2 hours combined time over Wednesday, Thursday, and Sunday morning learning and practicing this song. Then performed it (practically flawlessly) in front of 80-90 people. These guys (by “guys” I mean a group of people of mixed gender, not men) are amazing. They took what was an ok song and made it sound great. Each week I am in awe of the talent on that stage. The fact that they can take the mediocrity that I write and make it enjoyable (to even me, my harshest critic) is, to me, astonishing. You guys are awesome. I am honored to be a part of that group.
That being said, come see us. We play every Sunday at 9 am at Edgemont United Methodist Church in Florence. *End Shameless Plug*
Back to Gatlinburg for a moment. I’m very excited about going. Gatlinburg has been a special place to Misty and I. We used to spend a weekend there every November. In fact, it’s where I asked her to marry me 15 years ago this month. I’m anxious to see how much it has changed in the 5 years since I’ve been there. I hope we can resume our annual trips to the Smokies.
I’m starting to get excited about A Christmas Story. Monday we’ll start rehearsing at the Shoals Theater. I think I’ll really enjoy playing two different characters. My challenge right now is finding costumes. I’m supposed to have them by Monday. We’ll see how that goes. Speaking of costumes, anyone have a pair of chaps? I need them for my cowboy character. I promise not to ask why you have them or where/when you wear them. Brown fringy chaps would be best. I also need a bomber’s style hat. You know, the one’s with the earflaps. Again, any help would be appreciated.
I’ll end with another shameless plug. Come see A Christmas Story at the Shoals Theater in Florence. It runs December 4-7. Tickets are $10 for adults and $8 for kids. Let me know if you want to buy some. All cast members are selling tickets.
Have a great weekend! I’ll be in the mountains if you need me.
P.S. Kevin, sorry we can’t make it to Isabelle’s (is that spelled right?) birthday party. We really were looking forward to it. Hopefully we can hook-up some time soon.
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