Tag Archives: Hastings OK

11.17.19 later

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As it turned out, my assistance today was not needed,

And some old advice I had heard, I heeded –

“Too many cooks in the kitchen,” or something like that,

So I asked my brother to take me back, I have a lot to do before I pack,

Oh wait – pack? That I don’t have to do,

Because of everything I need, I now have two.

One here and one there,

Except when it comes to under-wear, it’s more like ten pair.

Even my bible and Amazon fire stick,

I ordered both on Prime and they got here quick.

But anyway,

Like I was about to say,

It worked out how it was supposed to – today,

Even the bulletin, it was meant to be that way,

And so Adam thought it was Wednesday.

It was God’s way of speaking to me,

He knew that was what I needed to see.

And thank you Sharon, for your text,

I hope your day is super-blessed!

11.17.19

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This morning it was crystal clear,

I could respond in love or react in fear.

I awoke with an attitude,

That unfortunately, was very rude,

I thought, “I don’t have time to help decorate,

Because once again, I am running late.

Behind schedule, I am, on all I wanted done

Before heading to Florida and soaking up the sun.”

But now, I am ecstatic to say,

That my mood did not stay that way,

And grateful, I am, to know better today

And to say to myself – “HEY! It’s okay.

Stop reacting in fear, start responding in love

And look for help from heaven above.

So I did and it’s been a much better day,

And don’t worry guys, the Christmas Cheer Squad is on the way!

11.16.19

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To the football game, I was not going to go,

And then I realized, it could be the last one with my bro.

A play-off game, it was last night,

And the Waurika Eagles were out of sight!

I am very glad went, even though it also meant

I did not get to my poem, but my jewelry mess, I made a dent.

So yes, there will be another game since they won,

But I will be in Florida soaking up the sun.

I will be back though in just two weeks,

And I hope to be in the stands and jump up on my feet

When the cheerleaders command the Eagles’ fans with their beat!

11.15.19

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I wrote and recorded my poem yesterday,

But before I sent it on its way,

I decided there were things I should not say

And so I shut down my computer and went to bed.

I started writing about staying in the “now,” 

But majorly got off-track and I do not know how

I did not see the big black cow

Or do I mean a white elephant?

Well today it has been bugging me,

I feel I let myself down, don’t you see,

Those of you in my family tree,

I’m sorry.

I am sorry if say something you’d rather I not,

I am sorry if I embarrass or put you on the spot,

I am sorry for other things that I have forgot

And I hope you can get over it.

I need to do this for me,

Writing the poem in an under an hour, this is the key

So it’s possible there will be things I do not see.

This is my disclaimer.

Through this, I am becoming free

To know who I am, and that, I shall be,

And if you don’t want me to, I’ll quit for a fee,

But until then, here I am, and I do hope you’ll watch.

I hope and I pray that you’ll let me be me

And though we may not always agree,

May we love each other without apology,

And that I remember to let you be you, too.

11.13.19

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I found myself feeling a little worried today

And then a voice said inside my head HEY!

Have you forgotten how you felt just the other day,

You had a calm sense of peace and knew everything would be okay.

Give no attention to the negative in your head,

Turn that talk around, generate positive, it said,

And if you’re having trouble putting circumstances to bed,

Get on YouTube and listen to your favorite thought-leader instead!

(That would be Brendon Burchard by the way,

Look him up whenever you need to brighten your day.)

So I started thanking God for Dave, he really is a dear,

And I am thankful he knows all about responding in love or reacting in fear.

For it has been such a blessing, his response to me staying here,

He has been supportive and kind, even though he wants me near.

My thoughts then turned back to going to Ardmore,

And the feeling crept in that it was some kind of chore.

So I adjusted my perspective and prayed for my will no more,

And I felt proud and humbled and thankful when I walked out the door.

If you know me, then you know I like to save the best for last,

Which is the Thanksgiving Dinner we attended at noon – it was a blast!

It was at the Hastings Senior Citizens Center, where we had quite a cast,

There were so many I wanted to see but the time went by too fast.

I really love this town and so I am trying to figure it out –

What we are going to do.

Sometimes I feel overwhelmed and so I start to doubt

That this, I will get through.

But then God somehow reminds me that in Him I can trust,

And that I can only live one moment at a time, and adjust my thinking to this, I must.

I do not know what our futures hold,

If I will remain bold or if I’ll even grow old,

But God does and He will let me know when I need to.

Needing to know before then, just makes me blue.

11.12.19

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Today we mostly chilled, quite literally.

We dreaded the drive to Duncan in the 27 degree weather

Then we realized that the car was the warmest spot altogether.

Cleaned out the car from our 9 day trip, we did that too,

And now the house looks like a zoo.

The cats don’t want us to leave again and they pout,

They won’t leave me alone, they were on my nerves and I wanted to shout.

Instead, I phoned a friend.

I told her nothing of my feline frustrations

Because I have no doubt

That when I’m dealing with this type of mood,

It’s not really what it’s about.

The cat did not create my seeming lack of care,

It was not what set me off,

My mood was already there.

So I searched deep within me

For what it was I feared and nothing could I see.

And because I believe whatever we fear

Can be countered completely with love,

In the end,

I phoned a friend.

11.11.19

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We made it back to Hastings fine

Although I thought it would be about 7

And it was more like 9 (eastern time).

It was raining in Dallas

And the wind was fierce

And my nerves, Google did pierce.

My maps app kept rerouting us,

With no ability to discuss.

“Accidents,” the voice would say,

“You better go this way!”

“No,” I screamed, “that doesn’t make sense!”

Leaving my brother in suspense.

“Which way do I go,”

He wanted to know,

“Do you know where we are?”

“No, Guess we listen to Google.”

Annual Asparagus Festival

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Every year for many years, we could count on my parents to stock our pantry with cases of home-grown pickled asparagus due to their abundant asparagus field and their talents in the kitchen. Even if we told them we still had plenty, my dad would say something like, “It will keep for years, and you never know when you’ll need it.” That was my dad. My mom, too, but mostly my dad.

The asparagus crop of 2019 produced much more than we could use. My mom tried to keep up, and she did pickle some, but being only six months after my dad had passed, she was still a mess. And it was overwhelming.

The fridge was full, the pressure cooker was cooking, piles of asparagus covered the counters, and pounds a day kept getting cut.

My brother had given so much to the neighbors, that when he tried to give them more, they sighed and said, “I still have plenty from the last time you came over!”

“What are we going to do with all this asparagus,” I exclaimed, sometime after I had arrived on April 19th, 2019.

“We can have an asparagus festival,” my brother said jokingly, at which I heartily laughed.

We had recently and frequently discussed how the small towns of Hastings and Waurika have so many festivals. It took us by surprise, I guess you could say, to hear about a different festival every other day. The fire department’s fish fry, the Sorosis Club’s fundraiser, the high school band’s breakfast, and that was just in one week. Every week last spring, it seemed , was like that. The all-day long and into the night event, “Meet Me Downtown,” was my favorite. I won $100 MasterCard gift card playing bingo that night, courtesy of FFNB.

So when my brother said, “Have a festival,” it was really for the chuckle. But I was like, “Yeah, let’s do!” My mom was like, “No, I do not want to do that.”

Once I convinced her that it wasn’t going to be an actual festival, it was just going to be me handing out bundles of asparagus after the Wednesday lunch at the Senior Citizens Center, she consented as much as I could expect her to. Oh, and I threw in a promise to do my best not to embarrass her.

So we, my brother and me, with our mom’s consent and our dad’s blessing from heaven, held “The First Annual Asparagus Festival” on May 1, 2019, and it was a hit!

Thirty bundles, almost a half-pound each, I gave away in less than a half-hour. “You know,” my brother (the idea-man) said, “saying it is a ‘First Annual’ denotes there will be a second.”

“Yep,” I concurred, “I guess we’ll just have to make it an annual thing!”

The Hastings Senior Citizens Center

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There was quite a spread served-up today at the weekly Wednesday lunch (as usual) and thankfully a handful of people walked in right at noon, helping to keep the Hastings Senior Citizen’s Center open. Six bucks is all it costs to have a home-cooked meal, including dessert and an ice tea or ice water. The money goes toward paying utilities and insurance on the building, so that it may remain open and available for rent.

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Several of the area’s residents each bring a dish to donate for the cause. There is generally a variety to choose from for all courses – the main course, side dishes and desserts. I like to try everything. Today, to save room, I mixed together two different side dishes and thought, “What a coincidence, they are both pickled!” Or were they? I don’t know, but I know they were both good that way.

A few of the folks who frequent the lunch went to high school with my mom and dad. I think that is neat. We sat with one of such friends at lunch. This person also attends the UMC in Waurika and we discussed how much we loved last week, seeing The Master’s Storyteller, and discovered we have had the same song rolling around in our head ever since. So, again I will say but in another way, if you ever get the chance to see Wesley Putnam, The Master’s Storyteller, I highly doubt you will be disappointed.

And, if you ever happen to be in the Hastings, Oklahoma area on a Wednesday promptly at noon, stop by the Hastings Senior Citizen’s Center for lunch. Not only will you get a great meal for only $6, you will be helping the whole town. No one wants to see the Center close down. It is located on Main Street across from the post office and available to rent for most occasions.