Odds and Ends

In a world as busy as ours today, we may often discover that we,
again, did not quite manage to complete yesterday’s “to-do list”,
which can easily lead us to believe that, try as we may, we are simply
not up to the task of keeping up with all the important issues in our
lives and that of our children.

Life demands more of our limited efforts, at home and at work, than
all the vitamins and supplements available on our grocer’s shelves
can possibly provide. Colorful promotions of familiar nostra and
pills displayed on TV and on our Internet pages are placed there to
reassure us every day that America’s biochemical industries stand
ready to rekindle our failing spirits when the standard 24 hours in a
day is not quite enough to cut the mustard, as my Lowell relatives
used to say.

Naturally, self-medicating fluids in the form of beer, wine, whiskeys, a schnapps, or another favorite liqueur are also there to help resolve a busy person’s sense of temporary inadequacy.

Gardens, Appliance Repairs, Outdoor Painting Projects and More

Partially repaired rakes, hoses, water nozzles, ladders, lawn mowers and other familiar tools begin to fill our backyard storage cabins (Lowe’s has them for sale for around $1,200). These odds and ends sit there through the seasons of the year as a constant visual reminder that, somehow, we failed in our duty as homeowners to be trustworthy, vigilant, bold and brave.

This sad situation becomes even more intolerable when, as an aspiring raconteur of old stories, a hoped-to-be author like myself is forced to open an “Odds and Ends” category like this one on his web-site.

When will the life of the common citizen in this the Land of the Free and the Home of the Brave become more just and equitable?