Everyday, before I get out of my car at work, I stop, take a breath, and say “I am grateful” then add something about the weather, the planned events for the day, my co-workers, my job, my life and opportunities, etc. There is something to be grateful about every day, I just need to stop and recognize it!
The amount of money that the government would have used to have meetings, hire more people, set up committees who would hold more meetings, and try to come up with a way to get power to the area……….was used by this philanthropic couple who took it and went out and put power in the area. Kudos to them. 😀
Our longleaf pines are starting to grow again. Every spring they put out “candles” which are the growing ends, and pinecones are part of this structure. Last year the candles were up to 12″ long. We planted about 300 little trees 12 years ago, each about 5″ from root to tip. They are native to the south, and will become magnificent trees long after we are gone.
New grape vines are going in today if the ground’s dry enough, ditto a few pots of Louisiana iris in the slough. Russian pomegranates went in about 2 weeks ago, Russian kiwis to go in as soon as we can get some limb trimming and ground prep done – sure proof of Russian influence in our farming.
Those pine seedlings we planted (she failed to mention they were stored in our kitchen fridge while we were planting them) are quite happy, we have some now about 30 feet tall, good care = good growth. They’re a hybrid developed by crossing the largest and fastest growing pines the breeders could find so it took a while to develop this commercial strain but it grows well and is fertile.
I never read this story before, and it is an eye opener.
How A Russian’s Grocery Store Trip In 1989 Exposed The Lie Of Socialism
The fall of the Berlin Wall was indeed a watershed in the collapse of the Soviet Empire, yet one could argue the true death knell came two months before at a small grocery store in Clear Lake, Texas.
On Sept. 16, 1989, Boris Yeltsin was a newly elected member of the Soviet Parliament visiting the United States. Following a scheduled visit to Johnson Space Center, Yeltsin and a small entourage made an unscheduled stop at a Randalls grocery store in Clear Lake, a suburb of Houston. He was amazed by the aisles of food and stocked shelves, a sharp contrast to the breadlines and empty columns he was accustomed to in Russia.
Yeltsin, who had a reputation as a reformer and populist, “roamed the aisles of Randall’s nodding his head in amazement,” wrote Stefanie Asin, a Houston Chronicle reporter. He marveled at free cheese samples, fresh fish and produce, and freezers packed full of pudding pops. Along the way, Yeltsin chatted up customers and store workers: “How much does this cost? Do you need special education to manage a supermarket? Are all American stores like this?”
Yeltsin was a member of the Politburo and Russia’s upper political crust, yet he’d never seen anything like the offerings of this little American grocery store. “Even the Politburo doesn’t have this choice. Not even Mr. Gorbachev,” Yeltsin said…
His eyes were opened that day, and the revelation left the future Russian president feeling sick.
“When I saw those shelves crammed with hundreds, thousands of cans, cartons and goods of every possible sort, for the first time I felt quite frankly sick with despair for the Soviet people,” Yeltsin later wrote in his autobiography, “Against the Grain.” “That such a potentially super-rich country as ours has been brought to a state of such poverty! It is terrible to think of it.”…
Yeltsin deserves credit for laying bare the lie of socialism that so many others had refused to see. “[T]here would be a revolution,” Yeltsin told his entourage that fateful September day in 1989, if the people in the Soviet Union ever saw the prosperity in American grocery stores. Yeltsin was more right than he knew.
Nor I. it’s amazing how his eyes were opened when confronted with what we consider every-day ordinary shelves and bins of produce, breads, meats, dairy products, light bulbs, paper goods, condiments, cold medicines, vitamins, snacks, household items. It’s a story we should tell a lot between now and November 3rd.
You done did it, aus…since reading your post 4:25 pm, I’ve spent my time looking up old grocery store photos…LOL! Obsessive, nah it ain’t my middle name but close to it…hahahaha!
State Street Family Grocery, Houston Texas 1920’s
Grocery Store Of The Late 19th Century, USA
Interior Of The Original Piggly Wiggly Self-Service Grocery Store, Memphis, Tennessee. The First Self Service Grocery Store, Opened 1916. Picture From 1918
I posted the following a few minutes ago but it went to spam because I had too many links…so I took out one link for Bored Panda where the last three photos are from. I’m re-posting in case it doesn’t come out of spam…
State Street Family Grocery, Houston Texas 1920’s
Grocery Store Of The Late 19th Century, USA
Interior Of The Original Piggly Wiggly Self-Service Grocery Store, Memphis, Tennessee. The First Self Service Grocery Store, Opened 1916. Picture From 1918
I read another story similar to this one quite a few years ago, and I think it was in Reader’s Digest. It was about a woman (wife of a Russian diplomat, I think) who visited a grocery store in the DC area and reportedly burst into tears, overcome with emotion.
But Bernie wants us to emulate the countries where the shelves are virtually empty. I work with a man who grew up in Soviet controlled Poland, who is daily grateful and voiciferous about how great the capitalist west is.
I had coworkers who lived in the old Yugoslavia (one was very small when WWII was still going on) and Bulgaria. The Bulgarians told of how their neighbors would spy on them for the government. It was creepy.
My niece moved to Poland and married. She is raising a family there. They visited four or five years ago and we had a big, extended family party out on another niece’s farm. Kids rode a little donkey, petted horses and goats, etc.
The adults shot guns, including what the press likes to call assault rifles. The Pole was head over heels ecstatic. He went home and talked about it on Facebook for a year or so, that we owned so many guns and he could just shoot them if he wanted to. He also changed his profile pictures alternately with a rebel flag and a bottle of Jack. We sure influenced his life!
They live in one of the old Soviet era apartment buildings, if I understand correctly. Her mother told me they will be raising three children in an apartment about the size of the one used by her grandparents when they got old, a two room teensy place built onto the back of the house.
Saving quotes has always been one of my “hobbies” and there are hundreds stored on my computer. I don’t know where this came from but it was in an old format so it must have been from the 90s.
The ABCs of Thanksgiving
A lthough things are not perfect
B ecause of trial or pain
C ontinue in thanksgiving
D o not begin to blame
E ven when the times are hard
F ierce winds are bound to blow
G od is forever able
H old on to what you know
I magine life without His love
J oy would cease to be
K eep thanking Him for all the things
L ove imparts to thee
M ove out of “Camp Complaining”
N o weapon that is known
O n earth can yield the power
P raise can do alone
Q uit looking at the future
R edeem the time at hand
S tart every day with worship
T o “thank” is a command
U ntil we see Him coming
V ictorious in the sky
W e’ll run the race with gratitude
X alting God most high
Y es, there’ll be good times and, yes, some will be bad, but…
Z ion waits in glory…where none are ever sad!
Stellars…
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Good morning Lucille 🙂 !
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Good morning, lovely!
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Good mornin’ all ya’all!
Everyday, before I get out of my car at work, I stop, take a breath, and say “I am grateful” then add something about the weather, the planned events for the day, my co-workers, my job, my life and opportunities, etc. There is something to be grateful about every day, I just need to stop and recognize it!
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What a good suggestion. Set the tone for the day. 😀
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That’s beautiful, czarina! Thanks!
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Good news out of Australia…
Scorched Australia is Getting Power Back Thanks to New Solar Grids Funded by Philanthropist Couple
By McKinley Corbley – Feb 25, 2020
https://www.goodnewsnetwork.org/australia-getting-power-back-thanks-to-solar-microgrids/
Australian Firefighters Use NYC Billboard to Thank Americans for Their Help With the Fires
By Good News Network – Feb 24, 2020
https://www.goodnewsnetwork.org/australians-use-nyc-billboard-to-thank-us-firefighters/
LikeLiked by 2 people
The amount of money that the government would have used to have meetings, hire more people, set up committees who would hold more meetings, and try to come up with a way to get power to the area……….was used by this philanthropic couple who took it and went out and put power in the area. Kudos to them. 😀
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Good morning Kiddos 🙂 !
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Good morning!
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Good Morning folks, hope all is well.
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Mornin’ Gary. All is well here. Just more sun and some cool air. Winter in Florida. My favorite time of year here.
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Funny, we have the same hee today!
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Here.
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Good. 😀
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Good morning Gary! Snow here, and it’s almost March!
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We had one measurable snowfall so far Ms Stella, and that was before Thanksgiving.
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It has been a fairly mild winter here in the midwest. We have had several small snowfalls.
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Mornin’ Lovely, Lucille, and everyone.
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Hi there!
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Mornin’ sportsfans!
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His strings are knotted.
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Mornin’ Gary!
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Morning WeeWeed!
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Look at the tweets below this one in the thread. Some are very good.
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Mornin’ Z’s! Mucho freezin’ here, but sunny!
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Mornin’ WeeWeed!
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Mornin’ Stella!
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You mean he isn’t???????
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I thought so, too….
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Our longleaf pines are starting to grow again. Every spring they put out “candles” which are the growing ends, and pinecones are part of this structure. Last year the candles were up to 12″ long. We planted about 300 little trees 12 years ago, each about 5″ from root to tip. They are native to the south, and will become magnificent trees long after we are gone.
https://i.imgur.com/IqhR5d7_d.jpg?maxwidth=640&shape=thumb&fidelity=medium
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Rather impressive…
LikeLiked by 1 person
New grape vines are going in today if the ground’s dry enough, ditto a few pots of Louisiana iris in the slough. Russian pomegranates went in about 2 weeks ago, Russian kiwis to go in as soon as we can get some limb trimming and ground prep done – sure proof of Russian influence in our farming.
LikeLiked by 2 people
Those pine seedlings we planted (she failed to mention they were stored in our kitchen fridge while we were planting them) are quite happy, we have some now about 30 feet tall, good care = good growth. They’re a hybrid developed by crossing the largest and fastest growing pines the breeders could find so it took a while to develop this commercial strain but it grows well and is fertile.
LikeLiked by 1 person
I never read this story before, and it is an eye opener.
How A Russian’s Grocery Store Trip In 1989 Exposed The Lie Of Socialism
The fall of the Berlin Wall was indeed a watershed in the collapse of the Soviet Empire, yet one could argue the true death knell came two months before at a small grocery store in Clear Lake, Texas.
On Sept. 16, 1989, Boris Yeltsin was a newly elected member of the Soviet Parliament visiting the United States. Following a scheduled visit to Johnson Space Center, Yeltsin and a small entourage made an unscheduled stop at a Randalls grocery store in Clear Lake, a suburb of Houston. He was amazed by the aisles of food and stocked shelves, a sharp contrast to the breadlines and empty columns he was accustomed to in Russia.
Yeltsin, who had a reputation as a reformer and populist, “roamed the aisles of Randall’s nodding his head in amazement,” wrote Stefanie Asin, a Houston Chronicle reporter. He marveled at free cheese samples, fresh fish and produce, and freezers packed full of pudding pops. Along the way, Yeltsin chatted up customers and store workers: “How much does this cost? Do you need special education to manage a supermarket? Are all American stores like this?”
Yeltsin was a member of the Politburo and Russia’s upper political crust, yet he’d never seen anything like the offerings of this little American grocery store. “Even the Politburo doesn’t have this choice. Not even Mr. Gorbachev,” Yeltsin said…
His eyes were opened that day, and the revelation left the future Russian president feeling sick.
“When I saw those shelves crammed with hundreds, thousands of cans, cartons and goods of every possible sort, for the first time I felt quite frankly sick with despair for the Soviet people,” Yeltsin later wrote in his autobiography, “Against the Grain.” “That such a potentially super-rich country as ours has been brought to a state of such poverty! It is terrible to think of it.”…
Yeltsin deserves credit for laying bare the lie of socialism that so many others had refused to see. “[T]here would be a revolution,” Yeltsin told his entourage that fateful September day in 1989, if the people in the Soviet Union ever saw the prosperity in American grocery stores. Yeltsin was more right than he knew.
LikeLiked by 6 people
I had never heard this before.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Nor I. it’s amazing how his eyes were opened when confronted with what we consider every-day ordinary shelves and bins of produce, breads, meats, dairy products, light bulbs, paper goods, condiments, cold medicines, vitamins, snacks, household items. It’s a story we should tell a lot between now and November 3rd.
LikeLiked by 3 people
And, all of this has been available here for probably more than 100 years.
LikeLiked by 1 person
You done did it, aus…since reading your post 4:25 pm, I’ve spent my time looking up old grocery store photos…LOL! Obsessive, nah it ain’t my middle name but close to it…hahahaha!
State Street Family Grocery, Houston Texas 1920’s
Grocery Store Of The Late 19th Century, USA
Interior Of The Original Piggly Wiggly Self-Service Grocery Store, Memphis, Tennessee. The First Self Service Grocery Store, Opened 1916. Picture From 1918
Grocery Store In Bremerton, Washington (1925)
The last three photos…https://www.boredpanda.com/vintage-grocery-stores-usa-old-pictures/
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You were in the ‘pending’ queue, not spam.
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Muchos gracias! In the future I’ll try to count better!
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I posted the following a few minutes ago but it went to spam because I had too many links…so I took out one link for Bored Panda where the last three photos are from. I’m re-posting in case it doesn’t come out of spam…
State Street Family Grocery, Houston Texas 1920’s
Grocery Store Of The Late 19th Century, USA
Interior Of The Original Piggly Wiggly Self-Service Grocery Store, Memphis, Tennessee. The First Self Service Grocery Store, Opened 1916. Picture From 1918
Grocery Store In Bremerton, Washington (1925)
LikeLiked by 2 people
I read another story similar to this one quite a few years ago, and I think it was in Reader’s Digest. It was about a woman (wife of a Russian diplomat, I think) who visited a grocery store in the DC area and reportedly burst into tears, overcome with emotion.
LikeLiked by 2 people
We are soooo blessed! For so many not to recognize how great our American people and the nation itself is, that’s just plain sad.
LikeLiked by 3 people
But Bernie wants us to emulate the countries where the shelves are virtually empty. I work with a man who grew up in Soviet controlled Poland, who is daily grateful and voiciferous about how great the capitalist west is.
LikeLiked by 2 people
I had coworkers who lived in the old Yugoslavia (one was very small when WWII was still going on) and Bulgaria. The Bulgarians told of how their neighbors would spy on them for the government. It was creepy.
LikeLiked by 1 person
My niece moved to Poland and married. She is raising a family there. They visited four or five years ago and we had a big, extended family party out on another niece’s farm. Kids rode a little donkey, petted horses and goats, etc.
The adults shot guns, including what the press likes to call assault rifles. The Pole was head over heels ecstatic. He went home and talked about it on Facebook for a year or so, that we owned so many guns and he could just shoot them if he wanted to. He also changed his profile pictures alternately with a rebel flag and a bottle of Jack. We sure influenced his life!
They live in one of the old Soviet era apartment buildings, if I understand correctly. Her mother told me they will be raising three children in an apartment about the size of the one used by her grandparents when they got old, a two room teensy place built onto the back of the house.
LikeLiked by 2 people
When Yeltsin visited a Texas grocery store.
https://tifwe.org/the-failure-of-communism-boris-yeltsin/
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Sorry about posting the same thing below.
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Thanks for including the link.
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Saving quotes has always been one of my “hobbies” and there are hundreds stored on my computer. I don’t know where this came from but it was in an old format so it must have been from the 90s.
The ABCs of Thanksgiving
A lthough things are not perfect
B ecause of trial or pain
C ontinue in thanksgiving
D o not begin to blame
E ven when the times are hard
F ierce winds are bound to blow
G od is forever able
H old on to what you know
I magine life without His love
J oy would cease to be
K eep thanking Him for all the things
L ove imparts to thee
M ove out of “Camp Complaining”
N o weapon that is known
O n earth can yield the power
P raise can do alone
Q uit looking at the future
R edeem the time at hand
S tart every day with worship
T o “thank” is a command
U ntil we see Him coming
V ictorious in the sky
W e’ll run the race with gratitude
X alting God most high
Y es, there’ll be good times and, yes, some will be bad, but…
Z ion waits in glory…where none are ever sad!
LikeLiked by 5 people
Been a while since I’ve seen one of these.
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