A Stodghill Says So blog:
Certain things that happen along the bumpy road of life are really disappointing. Like not finding a cherry in your serving of fruit cocktail. Or flopping down at your seventh grade desk in the morning only to find that the pretty girl in the next row is skipping school that day. Digging a near-perfect foxhole at the close of a dreary day, covering it with logs and dirt, leaning back contentedly while examining your handiwork and then hearing the cry, "On your feet, we're moving out in five minutes!"
This day has been free of disappointments, at least so far, and that's the best time to think about other days when that was not true. When everything is going wrong and the world lies heavy on your shoulders there's not much joy in remembering days when the bird of paradise dropped a load on your head. No, bad days are best recalled on good days.
Some people say disappointment and hardship build character. I say the hell with that idea, I'm enough of a character as it is. When you've been beaten into the dirt you don't want some guy hitting you over the head with a shovel and saying, "This is making a better man of you."
On the other hand, having it too easy isn't good for a person, especially a young person. If you always have a cherry in your fruit cocktail you don't fully appreciate the joy of finding one there. This is true, especially for other people. Myself, I've had more than my fair share of bad days and disappointments so you can yell, "On your feet, we're moving out in five minutes!" till your lungs burst because I ain't moving anywhere. Not even if the pretty girl in the next row never shows up again.

In the absence of a pretty girl, you'll have to make do with me ... but since you live with a pretty girl, I can't say I feel sorry for you.

Now push off.

Humor and good sense. Now that's a good post.

All fingers and thumbs today, Dick; typing too fast, I missed a few letters:
No words put ol' stodghill off.

Dear Dick,
Remember when that fruit cocktail was all the rage for enhancing the cherry jello?
It was years before I knew you could buy a whole little jar candied cherries to put in jello. By that time I had gone off jello completely. Remember when you could get the lettuce flavored jello and put celery and onions and cucumbers in it? Wow! That was some unusual stuff. I have not seen that for years!

I found some brined potatoes in a jar at the scratch and dent. I imagine they are potatoes perserved in salt water. What to do with them is the next question.


Love,
Betty

That's more like it, Shelagh. I think.
Betty, I sometimes am still fed Jello with stuff in it. Jackie thinks its good for you so I suffer in silence. Well, maybe not complete silence.

Just when the post was getting interesting Shelagh backs down with a lame excuse about typing too quick.
Now I'm Disappointed.

But then again "now push off" could be a poor spelling of Noo pooshkof which is an abrieviated ancient Telusian saying meaning no disappoint man with white hair and awsome pipe.

Now that's what I call a good definition.