#at least Samuel was fun!!! samuel was willing to take out his own grandsons for his daughter!!! that was!!! idk fascinating man!!!!

[quietwingsinthesky]

I would take five more seasons of Samuel and his shiny bald head over the men of letters is what I’m saying

[art-of-manliness]

Odds & Ends: July 21, 2023

“Children Lost the Right to Roam in Just Four Generations.” This article takes a look at four generations in a family and sees how far the kids were able to wander from their home. As expected, the range of roaming shrunk as the generations progressed; a boy in 1926 could walk six miles from his home without adult supervision, while his great-grandson can go no more than 300 yards from his house. It’s interesting. And sad. Reminded me of the series we did on the origins of overprotective parenting and the risks of not letting your kids do risky things. Outfoxed! Our family likes to play card and board games to while away the time, and especially likes those that are easy to learn and fun for all ages. Outfoxed!, which we discovered a few years ago, fits the bill nicely. The game is good for young kids, but even now that Gus and Scout are 12 and 9, we’ll still bust it out from time to time. You work together to figure out which of a set of fox suspects stole a pie. It’s kind of like Clue. And actually, having been inspired by recently watching the wacky 1985 Clue movie, we’re about to move on to try that game for the first time.  “Ida Red” by Bob Wills and the Texas Playboys. I enjoy western swing music. It’s a genre that combines country music with the swing of jazz. The undisputed King of Western Swing was Bob Wills. Bob Wills and his Texas Playboys performed a radio show from Cain’s Ballroom here in Tulsa for several years. “Ida Red” is a good introduction to Bob Wills and the joys of Western swing. In the video, Bob Wills is the guy playing fiddle at the beginning and making those “awwww yeahhhh” noises throughout the song. It’s lit, as the kids say these days. Or at least said five years back. The Wilderness Warrior: Theodore Roosevelt and the Crusade for America by Douglas Brinkley. There are a lot of biographies of Theodore Roosevelt out there. This particular tome is unique because it focuses on TR’s life as a conservationist and naturalist. You’ll see how the boy who collected animals and started his own natural history museum in his Manhattan brownstone would grow up to become a president who would set aside 230 million acres of American wilderness for posterity. Lots of great historical asides about the development of environmental law in the United States. Good book to listen to while you’re road tripping to a National Park.  Quote of the Week Your levelers wish to level down as far as themselves, but they cannot bear leveling up to themselves. They would all have some people under them; why not then have some people above them? —Samuel Johnson The post Odds & Ends: July 21, 2023 appeared first on The Art of Manliness. http://dlvr.it/SsXRwr

[themowrites]

One-Shot: All I Want for Christmas is You.

+ Snippet.

“So, I have this huge list of things we are going to do this Christmas, a HUGE list!” Crystal said happily as she drove down the street. “Just you wait, I haven’t had this much fun planning something in such a long time” she stressed eagerly. “Your mom is going to help with the food portion because you know I am not good in the kitchen at all, but, she’s always there to save the day. One of the many reasons I love that woman” the girl rambled. In Crystal’s mind, the more eager she was about Christmas the more Mercedes would be willing to get onboard with things. She looked over at her after a short while, hoping to have gotten some response from her but she hadn’t. Maybe she should keep talking just to get rid of the awkward silence her friend was giving her.

Mercedes looked to Crystal slightly for a moment before she looked back out the window, Christmas just wouldn’t be Christmas for her this year. Her eyes watched each tree counting them off in her head as Crystal drove them down the road, her mind elsewhere as the girl cheerfully spoke about nonsense she didn’t care about. She didn’t care about the parties, the games, the treats, and the dinner her mother was preparing for her. All she truly cared about was her husband, and he was miles upon miles away in a godforsaken place, and the thought of him not returning for Christmas made her very angry. Yes, going into this she knew there would be days like this but it did not make her feel any better. She thought she had prepared herself for this moment in case it happened but truthfully living in the moment, she was so ill prepared to be alone during one of the most cherished holidays. What could she say or do, she assumed the Military came first.

“Just you wait and see” Crystal repeated as she moved towards the Evans’ home, she parked in their driveway and turned the car off. “Alright” she said as she unfastened her seatbelt and moved to climb out of the driver seat. Moving behind the driver side Crystal opened the door to the backseat and she unfasten the toddler from his car seat swiftly. Resting Samuel junior to his feet she grabbed the child’s little backpack and closed the door. “This way” she told him moving towards the front door, she looked over at Mercedes for a second before she moved to get them all out of the cold night air.

Mercedes climbed out of the car, using the door for leverage as she rose to her feet. Licking her lips in the cold air Mercedes closed the door to the car and waddled her way towards her son and Crystal. Watching the little boy as he climbed the steps to the front door one at a time, she smirked to herself. As always, he was too busy gazing at the Christmas decoration her father put up for them this year as he made his way into his warm house. “Pay attention” Mercedes told him as she followed close behind, moving inside she sighed thankfully for the warmth. She took her coat off and hung it up by the door along with the scarf before she sat her purse down. “Coat” she told Samuel junior allowing the little boy to take it off himself and hand it over to her, Mercedes hung his coat up as well before she grabbed his hand moving towards the kitchen.

Crystal opened the front door and let both Mercedes and her son in before she closed and locked it shut. “We are home” she called out to Mercedes mother who was busy in the kitchen preparing dinner for them all. Crystal looked back to Mercedes and junior for a moment before she went to go grab her list of things to do, Christmas was just four days away and she wanted them to complete every single thing on her list. Samuel wasn���t coming home, this they knew there was no way around that, however she could at least make it fun for if not Mercedes their son. “Okay, I got my list” Crystal said sweetly as Mercedes entered the kitchen with the boy. “So, we are going to make gingerbread houses, we are going to make Christmas cards, we are going to make ornaments especially one for the baby” she smiled brightly looking to Mercedes every growing belly. “We are going to bake gingerbread men, sugar cookies, oatmeal raisin cookies, and brownies” she listed off on her fingers. “I have so much more” she said happily.

Mercedes mother looked to Crystal before she looked to Mercedes and her grandson. “Crystal honey, could you go down to the basement and grab something for me?” Simone asked her knowingly.

Crystal nodded her head “yes ma’am” she told her sitting the paper down on the counter. “What do you need Mrs. Jones?” she asked her politely.

“I need you to go down and grab us a few drinks from downstairs. We left some cases down there” she told her with a small smile. Simone licked her lips sitting the knife she had in her hand down before she reached her arms out for her grandson watching Crystal scurry off like she was told to do.

Mercedes looked to Crystal, she was a great friend, no doubt the best of the best. However, she had been so annoying in the past few days, it was starting to get on her nerves as well as piss her off. Couldn’t the girl simply accept the fact that she didn’t want to be a part of any of the festivities. Looking to her mother as she nicely dismissed the lighter-skinned woman, she asked “where’s daddy?” as she stole a piece of cornbread and begin to break pieces of it off to eat.

“He’s home, he should be over here very soon. Of course, he isn’t missing a meal. How are you? What did the doctor say?” Simone asked as she sat the little boy down on the counter and ran her hands through his curly hair.

Mercedes chuckled lightly to herself as she broke off another piece of cornbread, popping it into her mouth. She brushed the crumbs off of her chest before she answered her mother “any day now…” she breathed out knowingly. “Everything is on track, she’ll be here before we know it” she said in a melancholy tone. “Did anyone call about him…” she trailed off.

Simone nodded her head as she watched the little boy reach for his mother’s cornbread. She picked a piece up for him and handed it over, looking down. She shook her head at Mercedes question “no sergeant called here” she told her truthfully. “But it will be fine” she breathed. “I can’t give you all the comfort in the world because I have never been in your shoes however, for Sammy’s sake… I wish you would cheer up a little” she told her. “He’s going to miss him this year too” she said lovingly.

Mercedes swallowed hard at her mother’s words and as she went on she blinked slowly. Looking at her son she couldn’t imagine how selfish she was being, she was making such a big deal about the matter on her behalf and her unborn child’s behalf however her son would be missing a very prominent figure this Christmas too and she had completely ignored that fact. “I didn’t think about it like that…” she said dropping her head, she sat the half-eaten corn bread down, brushing her fingers off. “I’m a horrible mother for that” she sniffled slightly as she wiped a stray tear.

“Don’t cry” Simone said as she hoisted the boy up sitting him to his feet, “shush” she sighed. “I wasn’t saying that to make you cry, I was just bringing it to your attention sweetheart. Don’t upset yourself over it. Despite how irritating Crystal is being at the moment, I think we should give her ideas a try. So, he can have some real fun. Besides we know how Samuel is about Christmas, he would want to do all those things if he were here too” she chuckled lightly.

Mercedes nodded her head sniffling again, mostly it was her hormones but inside she was deeply saddened as well. As her mother went on she smiled a little, the joke was comforting and the comment about Samuel made her giggle a little as she wiped another tear. “He would, he’s such a big kid” she said in agreeance.  “We can do the things on her list” Mercedes said sighing, she looked to the boy as he looked to her before she pulled herself back together for his sake.

“I got a case of Dr. Pepper. I don’t know if it mattered what kind I grabbed, but this was the first case I saw!” Crystal said as she sat it down on the counter. “Gonna put them in the fridge to chill” she told them both as she moved to complete the task.

“Thanks dear” Simone said as she moved back towards the counter “I am just about done cooking, so everyone can eat. I don’t know where George is, but eat without him… if he were hungry he’d bring his A.S.S” the older woman spelled out as she, waved the silly man off despite he not being there. She brushed her salt-and-pepper hair over her shoulder, as she smiled down at Sammy quietly devouring her cornbread.

“Here” Mercedes smiled handing Samuel junior a marshmallow to place on his gingerbread house, he was nestled comfortably in her lap leaning over the table to decorate his home. “Momma I want to add you and daddy and the baby on here” he told her sweetly as he grabbed some teddy bears and placed them beside the house. “I think they would love that, I know I do” Mercedes hummed softly as she watched him, the smell of cookies baking filled the air. Crystal had settled down, she was too engrossed on decorating her own home to nag Mercedes much and it took the edge off for Mercedes for a while at least. “Here momma” the little boy said handing her a piece of candy and Mercedes dipped it in the icing and stuck it onto his house as well.

Simone watched the cookies bake idly before she looked to her husband who was more focused on the television than he were the Christmas activities. She side eyed him, the most he could do was participated especially if it were making Mercedes feel better, men. She looked into the dining room for a brief moment before she heard a distinctive noise, looking around she raised an eyebrow as the noise persisted. “What is that noise?” she asked curiously.

Hearing her mother, Mercedes looked up curiously herself, she couldn’t make out much probably because of how loud her father had the television.  Sitting up a bit mindful of the child, she held him at his waist “I don’t hear anything” she said.

Samuel waited patiently for someone to answer the skype call, it would be just his luck he called and no one answered. This Holiday season had to be the suckiest thus far, he missed Thanksgiving and now he was destined to miss Christmas definitely. He couldn’t imagine what his wife was thinking or how she felt, so this call was much needed. They had a son and a baby on the way, so close so he were sure he’d miss her birth too. But that was the life of a man in the Military, things didn’t always go as planned. This is something he had to adapt to and it still was a complicated pill to swallow sometimes, no matter. He had some time to waste and he knew no better way than to see Mercedes and Samuel juniors face, he had to tell her a little bad news but for the most part but everyone knew the damn government owns you. Just being able to see them if only for a few minutes would surely lighten up his day, so he was hoping the same for them.