Today was full of a lot of things.  Like, really great moments.  And a lot of learning too.

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Take for instance the fact that Maxie just wanted on my lap, just as I sat down to write.  So I obliged.  And she composed the line just above this paragraph.  Good dog.  Smart dog.  I am not sure what she wanted to say exactly.  You see… it is hard for her to type with those little paws.

Earlier in the day, I found out that a lot of people in the early 1900s, broke their arms when they would try to start their cars.  I guess those hand-crank starters could really kick back and hurt you.  So that very young Charles Kettering invented the self-starter for the automobile.  He, and a few others.  They did in a barn… the Deed’s Barn.

How do I know?  We took the grand boys  to Carrillon Park this morning… and afternoon.  What a great day, and what an incredible place.  It had been a lot of years since I had been there.  There is so much there to see and do and learn.

We saw tons of old, and very amazing cash registers.
We rode the carousel.
We found a secret door in one of the buildings.
And… we also discovered the last refrigerator produced at Frigidaire.  It was covered with signatures.  My Dad’s X is somewhere on that fridge.  But we couldn’t find it….as two sides could not be seen.

Then… we had a frightening moment. We saw the early Dayton Setters….. George and Mary Newcomb.  They were not the prettiest of people.  Nor was their daughter Jane. But perhaps they were quite smart people.  But they looked a little on the scary side.

We ate at Spaghetti Warehouse, where all little spaghetti and meatball lovers… like to go.  And we picked up plants of all sorts… at Stockslager’s Nursery.

There were some down turns to the day too.  A couple of bumps in the road.  Like… one of my tamest fish.. Mary Josephine,… was dead in the Koi Pond when we got home.   And Frances’ boy… Dashe… has a malignant tumor in his head.  He is my sister’s dog.  I love that boy.

Sometimes it is hard to balance my mood when there are good things going on, and bad things going on…. at the very same time.  It is like getting all those great presents on Christmas Morning… your G.I.Joe with the Kung Fu Grip… and everything.  But at the same time, you know there are children starving in Africa.  Your parents told you so when you didn’t want to finish your Pinto Beans three nights ago.  So you are torn between feeling happy and sad.

This is true for me… a lot of days of my life.  I am torn between the happy and the sad.  Maybe we are supposed to walk the line, like Johnny Cash said.  I just don’t know.

But I do know, that most days, life is very good to me.  And for that, I am eternally grateful.  So very thankful for all the blessings in my life, and there are many.  Starting right off… with the three people who were sharing my day today.

“Believe and act as if it were impossible to fail.”  —      Charles F. Kettering quote