What’s Your Favorite Easter Candy?

Posted on April 17, 2014April 17, 2014 by Dusty Roads

Easter is almost here. I remember Easter Sunday services. They were a big deal when I was growing up. We always had on our EASTER Sunday best.

You see there was our Sunday best but on Easter we really went all out.

We had hats (Easter bonnets) and white gloves and the first time I was allowed to wear stockings and pointy high heels was on an Easter Sunday. I remember one year Jackie Kennedy had made pill box hats the fashion so that year I had to wear one on Easter.

I went to church every Sunday. I was active in the choir but my Dad only went to church on High Holidays…Christmas and Easter. I remember one Easter I had the Easter Sunday Solo. I was scared to death but so proud that both my Mom and Dad were in the congregation that day.

After the church service we’d all stay for the traditional Easter Egg hunt.

Up in the Adirondacks it was not unusual for snow to still be on the ground where there was shade. Snow banks and snow patches were perfect places for those colored eggs. I wonder if my old church still has Easter Egg hunts.

Back home we got our Easter Baskets. They always had a chocolate bunny as the center peice but the really special Easter candy was a sugar egg. I never see them anymore. They were so pretty and delicate. They were almost magical. Eventually the egg got eaten just like the chocolate bunny and the jelly beans but part of me always hated to eat something so pretty.

As an adult I could almost believe that I dreamed it up but I remember the way the sugar melted on my tongue. It was like eating a sugar cube. But I could never find them anywhere. Then about 6 years ago I found them in a little candy shop in Old Saybrook , CT. I said I’d go back to get one at Easter but I never did.

Recently I did a search on the internet and I found them. There weren’t too many places to get them and they are really expensive but they are just as beautiful as I remember.

So what’s your favorite Easter Candy?

A Ben Stein Commentary

Posted on December 12, 2013December 12, 2013 by Dusty Roads

Apparently the White House referred to Christmas Trees as Holiday Trees for the first time this year, which prompted CBS presenter, Ben Stein, to present this piece which I would like to share with you.

The following was written by Ben Stein and recited by him on CBS Sunday Morning Commentary.

My confession:
I am a Jew, and every single one of my ancestors was Jewish. And it does not bother me even a little bit when people call those beautiful lit up, bejewelled trees, Christmas trees. I don’t feel threatened. I don’t feel discriminated against. That’s what they are, Christmas trees.

It doesn’t bother me a bit when people say, ‘Merry Christmas’ to me. I don’t think they are slighting me or getting ready to put me in a ghetto. In fact, I kind of like it. It shows that we are all brothers and sisters celebrating this happy time of year. It doesn’t bother me at all that there is a manger scene on display at a key intersection near my beach house in Malibu. If people want a nativity scene, it’s just as fine with me as is the Menorah a few hundred yards away.

I don’t like getting pushed around for being a Jew, and I don’t think Christians like getting pushed around for being Christians. I think people who believe in God are sick and tired of getting pushed around, period. I have no idea where the concept came from, that America is an explicitly atheist country. I can’t find it in the Constitution and I don’t like it being shoved down my throat.

Or maybe I can put it another way: where did the idea come from that we should worship celebrities and we aren’t allowed to worship God? I guess that’s a sign that I’m getting old, too. But there are a lot of us who are wondering where these celebrities came from and where the America we knew went to.

In light of the many jokes we send to one another for a laugh, this is a little different: This is not intended to be a joke; it’s not funny, it’s intended to get you thinking.

Billy Graham’s daughter was interviewed on the Early Show and Jane Clayson asked her ‘How could God let something like this happen?’ (regarding Hurricane Katrina). Anne Graham gave an extremely profound and insightful response. She said, ‘I believe God is deeply saddened by this, just as we are, but for years we’ve been telling God to get out of our schools, to get out of our government and to get out of our lives.And being the gentleman He is, I believe He has calmly backed out. How can we expect God to give us His blessing and His protection if we demand He leave us alone?’

In light of recent events… terrorist attacks, school shootings, etc. I think it started when Madeleine Murray O’Hare (she was murdered, her body found a few years ago) complained she didn’t want prayer in our schools, and we said OK. Then someone said you better not read the Bible in school. The Bible says thou shalt not kill; thou shalt not steal, and love your neighbor as yourself. And we said OK.

Then Dr. Benjamin Spock said we shouldn’t spank our children when they misbehave, because their little personalities would be warped and we might damage their self-esteem (Dr. Spock’s son committed suicide). We said an expert should know what he’s talking about. And we said okay.

Now we’re asking ourselves why our children have no conscience, why they don’t know right from wrong, and why it doesn’t bother them to kill strangers, their classmates, and themselves.

Probably, if we think about it long and hard enough, we can figure it out. I think it has a great deal to do with ‘WE REAP WHAT WE SOW.’

Funny how simple it is for people to trash God and then wonder why the world’s going to hell.
Funny how we believe what the newspapers say, but question what the Bible says.

Funny how you can send ‘jokes’ through e-mail and they spread like wildfire, but when you start sending messages regarding the Lord, people think twice about sharing.

Funny how lewd, crude, vulgar and obscene articles pass freely through cyberspace, but public discussion of God is suppressed in the school and workplace.

Are you laughing yet?

Funny how when you forward this message, you will not send it to many on your address list because you’re not sure what they believe, or what they will think of you for sending it.

Funny how we can be more worried about what other people think of us than what God thinks of us.

Pass it on if you think it has merit.

If not, then just discard it…. no one will know you did. But, if you discard this thought process, don’t sit back and complain about what a bad shape the world is in.

My Best Regards, Honestly and respectfully,

Ben Stein

Polite Dinner Conversation

Posted on November 18, 2013November 18, 2013 by Dusty Roads

I still have a couple of more stories from the Horse Show to share but I haven’t had time to prepare the photos so I’m going to take a break from that topic for today.

I was noticing on Facebook that lately my newsfeed has been full of religious posts and political posts. Luckily my friends haven’t stooped to sexual posts yet (for the most part).

It makes me wonder, didn’t anyone ever teach them that the 3 things that are never to be discussed at the dinner table (ie polite company) are religion, politics and sex? Now don’t get me wrong. I like religion, politics and sex but in small doses…moderation in all things; balance in life.

What particularly annoys me is when 1 friend posts 20 or 25 posts in a row all about how to be saved or how God in her life is carrying her troubles. Come on. I got it after the first one or two, especially when you considered this person does this multiple post thing two or three times a day.

I friended her because when I knew her she was an interesting, dynamic person. She had lots of things to talk about. Now it seems saving the souls of her facebook friends is all she can talk about…that and her weight loss. I don’t want to un-friend her but I would like my newsfeed back to normal.

It’s like religious spam. Don’t get me wrong. I respect her faith and her right to hold it close. I just don’t need to be reminded about it constantly. ( I have many very religious friends of all persuasions and only this one thinks it’s ok to spam)

Now on the political side. All these posts about Obama… all bad too…are a waste of space. I get it. The person/ persons posting this dribble didn’t vote for Obama and takes great pleasure in pointing out his shortcomings. What I don’t get is why I should care ( whether I voted for the man or not. ) It’s done. He won but soon he’ll be done. He’ll be out of office before you know it. He can’t run again. Move on. If you want to make political commentary then do it in an intelligent manner. How about discussing (please note I said discussing) the affordable health care law?

How is it affecting you? Research it so your comments are backed by some understanding. Too much of it is just sharing a political cartoon over and over . I love a good political discussion when it’s factual and well researched.

I have one friend that used to get wonderful , thoughtful discussions going on everything from the war on terror to gun laws.

His comments were always well thought out and researched. His friends that commented didn’t always agree but they were as articulate and informed as he. It made for some lively reading. I enjoyed it but he’s gone. Facebook got too trivial for him.

A few of my crude friends do occasionally post a “like / share “on a sexually explicit photo. I don’t know what gets into them because they know better and they would be the first to yell if they had children and saw it on their feed. I’m sure they just didn’t use good judgment. They just didn’t think.

So here’s the bottom line, then I will rant no more until the next time. 🙂

If you want to save my soul, please do it in moderation. If you want to raise political awareness, please do your homework, and if you want to look at sexually explicit photos, please don’t share. Remember what your mother should have taught you…Never discuss religion, politics or sex at the dinner table.

disclaimer: I don’t wish to offend anyone. These are just my personal observations of my own newsfeed.

Chapel of the Holy Cross, Sedona

Posted on March 24, 2013March 24, 2013 by Dusty Roads

And the answer is…The Chapel of the Holy Cross located in Sedona, Arizona.

The Chapel was a gift from Marguerite Brunswig Staude who felt that a church should be dedicated to finding God through art.

Sedona is known for its spiritual energies and seems an appropriate place for a church that still seems ageless even in 2013. The groundbreaking was in April 1955 and completed in 18 months at a cost of only $300,000 a modest sum even for those days. The dedication was in the spring of 1957.

The most prominent feature is the cross which seems to be wedged into the distinctive red rocks as though it was just planted there by some giant pilgrim.

When you go to Sedona one of the first things to do is take the trolley ride. It’s a great way to get a feel for the area. The trolley will take you right to the Chapel and allow you time to climb the ramp to the top and explore the interior.

Inside the chapel is intimate and unadorned. Benches hug the angular walls. Down the center are 14 pews in two rows of 7 each. Your eyes are drawn to the cross in the center with the floor-to-ceiling windows behind it.

It creates an atmosphere to let the spirit soar.

When I visited there was little decoration. Apart from two tapestries on the wall the only other striking color is the flickering ruby-red devotion candles.

The Chapel is surrounded by the iconic rock formations of Sedona, Bell Rock, Courthouse Butte, Cathedral Rock, even a spire known as Madonna and Child.