“Honk If You WORSHIP the DEVIL”

    Bumper stickers.

The rolling Burma Shave signs of our existence.

 To those who’ve never heard of Burma Shave, they predate me, even. Burma Shave was something like Barbasol, Gillette and Schick, shaving soap. Their idea of advertising was to put a series of signs along the roadside, just big enough to contain a line of doggerel, like, “Does your husband / Misbehave / Grunt and grumble / Rant and rave? /Shoot the brute some / Burma-Shave”

You get the idea.

 As long as it can fit into something roughly twelve to eighteen inches long, and about five inches tall, you can say something meaningful (or not) and display it to the world. Everything from voter preference to food affiliation to (harking back aways) “Native” on a Colorado license plate background.

 A recent prank I saw on the doomscroll: the bumper sticker read: “Honk if you WORSHIP THE DEVIL”, and when someone did, the trunk would open up and reveal someone dressed as Jesus.

     Guerrilla Theater at its finest.

Click the link above for a sample.

In other news, …

In other news I’ve been watching old movies starring some of my favorites. I say ‘old movies’, but I’d never seen them before. Peter Sellers in ‘The Mouse That Roared’. Well, I’d seen that one a long, long time ago. George Martin’s ‘In My Life’, which included a pairing of Robin Williams and Bobby McFerrin on the song ‘Come Together’. ‘From Time to Time’, starring Maggie Smith (think Professor McGonigal or what’s-her-name’ from ‘Downton Abbey’), Robert Redford and Morgan Freeman in ‘An Unfinished Life’, and again Redford in ‘Lions for Lambs’, … And Paul Newman in ‘Fat Man and Little Boy’. I’ve not yet finished watching this film.

Unintentionally, many of these films have dealings with end-of-life, which is somewhat top-of-mind just now. I think I’m being overly concerned. What happens, happens.

The other things these films have in common is the taking our imperfect selves and rendering, not perfection necessarily, but the good, the best we are capable of. Of taking our good points, and even our flaws, and turning them into good results, of being a force for good, resisting evil, making the world a better place. Sometimes, even rendering minor miracles.

The overriding theme of this little stab in the dark, is ‘Yes, You Can!’

It is a lot of me taking what I have, or, in this case, what I have left, and stabbing at the world with the bludgeon of encouragement, the sword of love, the shield of faith (Paul had that right) to ward off the discouragements that are out there. I do not have a lot of strength left; all I can do is encourage, will my strength into those who follow.

Occasionally, like now, I take a break to eat a can of soup.

And listen to the Bear Cub dance and sing her heart and her joy. I love that kid!

 It’s the small things that keep us going.

 Good night.