Author: Buddy McElhannon

  • The Great Cemetery Gratefulness Tour of 2018

    The Great Cemetery Gratefulness Tour of 2018

    Today is November 1st. On the Christian calendar, it is a holy day of remembrance. Called All Saints Day, it is a time to remember and honor the faithful departed. Recently, my wife and I did just that when we took a self-designed cemetery tour. While you may think that we have run out of…

  • October – A Time to Stop Bungee Jumping

    I have mixed emotions about October. There is much to love in this first full month of Fall.  Autumn’s beauty bursting forth, summer’s heat waves cooled by northerly breezes, Fall Festivals abound, the World Series caps a long baseball season, college football is in full swing, and stores are full of Halloween candy, costumes and the…

  • Avoiding the Insanity of Immobility

    Avoiding the Insanity of Immobility

    Here I go again. This past week I had surgery on my right heel to remove a bone spur that was aggravating my Achilles tendon. If that sounds familiar, it is almost the identical surgery I had on my left heel last Christmas. So, once again, I am facing 7-8 weeks of immobility as I…

  • Potty Talk

    Potty Talk

    Over the past year, I have grown weary of hearing politicians, on both sides of the aisle, spew forth mean and vile language that has no place in the public discourse. Their angry rhetoric reminds me of two kids fighting in a mud puddle. Everyone gets dirty. Is anyone else tired of all this potty…

  • Quenching the Flames of Resentment

    Quenching the Flames of Resentment

    I believe in absolute truths. When my oldest son was nine years old, he thought he would play Superman and jump off the roof of our garden shed. Halfway way down, he suddenly realized he was about to give a personal, painful demonstration of the law of gravity. Just as there are physical principles that…

  • Drinking from My Saucer

    Drinking from My Saucer

    It was January 1969, and I had started dating the teenage girl who would eventually become my wife.  That year found me hanging around the Smith household many evenings, weekends, and just as often as Mom and Pop Smith would allow this lovestruck teenager to linger. My future mother-in-law often enjoyed a cup of coffee…

  • In Defense of Four-Letter Words

    In Defense of Four-Letter Words

    Four-letter words have a bad rap. A synonym for cussing for as long as I can remember, speaking one of these bawdry four-letter words in my youth always resulted in a certain mouth being washed out with a bar of soap. It is only a wicked coincidence that the word “soap” also possesses a mere…

  • Always Keep Dating

    I must be doing something right. My wife complimented me tonight after dinner. Don’t laugh, it happens. This particular evening prompted an unexpected and pleasantly surprising comment. One I thought worth sharing with you romantically challenged guys out there. As I was cleaning up the dishes, Patrice commented that “Dinner with you is always like…

  • The Dignity of Work – Part III                    The Power of Appreciation

    The Dignity of Work – Part III The Power of Appreciation

    “The first responsibility of a leader is to define reality. The last is to say thank you. In between, the leader is a servant.” Max DePree, American Businessman. “The number one factor in job satisfaction is not the amount of pay but whether or not the individual feels appreciated and valued for the work they…

  • The Dignity of Work – Part II Finding Joy in Work or Why My Wife Wanted to Be a Garbage Man

    Mark Twain is said to have quipped, “Find a job you enjoy doing and you’ll never have to work a day in your life.” Few would argue with the premise of that statement. Most of us would also agree that finding a job you love to do is not always easy. What about those jobs…