by greg stone

Shuttle Run and Hush Puppies

Shuttle Run and Hush Puppies

When it came my turn to run, I could hear fellow students whispering and snickering. The whistle blew and I was off. When I got to the first block, usually with my sneakers I would expect to slide on the old, dusty floor, but the hush puppies gripped firmly, and I was quickly running back to set the block on the other end of the gym floor. Like a shot I turned and retrieved the other block, my silly looking hush puppies the perfect footwear for the shuttle run!
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Breathing

Breathing

Asthma forces me to slow down and breathe deeply. When I allow it, I take life as more of a dining experience rather than a rush through a drive thru. By focusing on my breathing, I have noticed I also slow my eyes, ears, and nose down as well. I take in the sights along Bear Creek Road of the trees, birds, and sky. I listen to the calls of the crow and cardinal. I smell the sweet air and Oak smoke from a neighbor’s fireplace. I talk with God and thank Him for the gift of each breath, of life, of family and friends.
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Fuzzy Christmas Lights

Fuzzy Christmas Lights

The first Christmas did not begin with "Silent Night," but with the cry of a baby. The baby, God with us, Emmanuel, entered our world not on a chariot, but in a stable. The cries of the newborn King broke into our fallen world with the understanding that life here is at times very fuzzy, confusing and hard...but even in the midst of this beauty can be found in the fuzziness.
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Grandma Marie

Grandma Marie

Whenever a bad storm brewed, Grandma refused to get out of bed, despite having a cellar on their property. When she was a little girl and the great and deadly tornado of 1920 traveled over her house in Walnut Shade on its path of destruction at Melvey, Grandma and her brothers and sister huddled together with her mother in her bed where she felt safe. From that moment on in her bed seemed the safest place to be in tornado weather, regardless of Grandpa or our complaints or pleas.
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Catching Leaves

Catching Leaves

Like the leaves, I realized my life is fleeting and slowly descending. All our lives, compared to Eternity, are but a wisp of steam escaping a cup of morning coffee, or a mist rolling over Lake Taneycomo. In our dance through life, floating and descending, we mingle, like the oak and maple leaves, with other lives. There is amazing beauty and a symphonic mystery to the dance of autumn leaves in the Ozarks, as there is amazing beauty and symphonic mystery to the dance of our lives, individually and collectively.
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Getting My Driver's License

Getting My Driver's License

Do you remember the mixture of fear, excitement, and stress you felt when you got your driver’s license? Do you remember the amazing feeling of getting your license and the freedom and independence you felt? I sure do. Great memories.  It makes me wonder why so many young people today aren’t in a hurry to get their driver’s license when they turn 16. I’ve heard from many friends who have experienced this. Could it be today’s teens already feel connected with their cell phones and Instagram and Snap Chat? For us, there were no cell phones, just the phone with the cord in the kitchen with everyone asking who I was talking with. A driver’s license meant freedom to drive to town to be with my friends. I just wonder if teens today are missing out on this wonderful rite of passage.
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Getting Caught in First Grade

Getting Caught in First Grade

As we tried to hide our crayon drawings, all of us try to hide our true selves to others and God. We stand in front of our pain, our hurt, our feelings of guilt or bitterness, and when asked what is going on, we say, “Nothing.” But it’s always something.
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Evening Television Before Cable

Evening Television Before Cable

There was no remote back then. One of us boys served Dad as the remote. “Change the channel!” There was no cable or satellite TV, and of course, no streaming or internet. Just our very large 24 inch TV screen with the nice rabbit ears with aluminum foil rolled on top to aide in reception. We got CBS, NBC and ABC only back then, along with PBS. Later we graduated to FOX as well.

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