Granny Hat’s better half always used to tell the kids not to wish their life away. This was after statements like, “I just can’t wait until summer break when I can go to camp.” or “I can’t stand Mr. So and So’s class one more minute, next semester will be better.” or for Granny herself when she said things like “When this show is over, I’m gonna take a long, hot bath and refuse to answer the phone.”
Each year is full of good times and hard times. At the close of each lap around the sun, most people hope for a better year, a happier year, a year with less trials. Christmas newsletters are replete with the happy highlights, no mention made of the “tear your hair out days”, the moments of despair and disappointment. Few of us want to list the losses, the tragedies, the unfair circumstances. But we all want a clean start to a New Year, one with more joy and less sorrow.
Granny rarely makes New Year’s resolutions. She knows she won’t get past Super Bowl Sunday with resolve. So why try? Instead, every January 1, she sneaks tippy toe into the New Year, trying not to roil the waters. Maybe this year will come with fewer mistakes, more maturity, peaceful feelings like the falling snow. She loves the clean, white re-set of Winter.
There was no time for peaceful reflection in 2025. The year was unsettling to Granny Hat on several fronts the minute the ball dropped in NYC. She wondered if it was just her or did everything seem to be falling apart and turning upside down. People she admired died tragically, unrest and division developed all over the country she loves. Her church went through a transition after a pastor resigned. Friends and family were experiencing real heartache and fear. Granny realized she can’t always believe what she hears, conspiracies abound, and truth is a rare commodity.
Granny Hat began to wish that 2025 would just go away and usher in 2026, a fresh start. “Don’t wish your life away” kept ringing in her ears, though. We aren’t promised tomorrow and today needs to count for something. So, she began to ask God to help her walk each day ready to learn what He wanted her to know. She found herself on her knees more, reading truth from the only place AI can’t intervene, the Word of God. The “peace that passes all understanding” began to fall like fresh snow on Granny’s heart. The year, yes even 2025, belonged to God. “Many are the plans in a man’s heart, but the counsel of the Lord will stand.” Proverbs 19 : 21
If you, readers, are anything like Granny, you probably realize how futile New Year’s resolutions can be. After all, we can’t see what is coming around every corner throughout the 365 or predict how we will react. Instead, we can wake up resolved every day to listen, learn and grow. We can ask God to make every single day count in some way to His glory, for His kingdom. We can be ready “in season and out of season to preach the Word”. 2 Timothy 4 : 2 Daily Resolutions!
Even when the “sky won’t snow and the sun won’t shine” (Eagles), the days of our next year are numbered, ordered and blessed by a loving God.
Every day is a journal page Every man holds a quill and ink And there’s plenty of room for writing in All we do is believe and think So will you compose a curse Or will today bring the blessing Fill the page with rhyming verse Or some random sketching
Teach us to count the days Teach us to make the days count Lead us in better ways That somehow our souls forgot Life means so much
Every day is a bank account And time is our currency So nobody’s rich, nobody’s poor We get twenty-four hours each So how are you gonna spend Will you invest, or squander Try to get ahead Or help someone who’s under
Teach us to count the days Teach us to make the days count Lead us in better ways That somehow our souls forgot Life means so much
Every day is a gift you’ve been given Make the most of the time, every minute you’re living
Happy New Year from Granny Hat. Thank you for reading, commenting and taking another journey around the sun with me.
mix some freezing fog,some wind and dust;you get hoarfrost
Once upon a time and not too long ago, Granny Hat and Dad found themselves stranded in Death Valley at the Natural Bridge Canyon trailhead, 20 miles or so south of Furnace Creek on Badwater Rd. They had enjoyed several days of off-road adventure, hunting down Nevadan ghost towns and old mines in a stick-shift, four-wheel drive XTerra. Maybe the poor car was tired or maybe there is substance to the tales about strange happenings in the desert. In any event, upon returning from the hike, Dad could not get that car to turn over.
Many of Granny’s fellow outdoor tourists were Good Samaritans. One home- school- road- tripping family from Maine was very excited to try out their brand-new jumper cable kit and sighed in unison when it didn’t work. They promised to report the stranded vehicle to the Visitor Center on their way out of the valley. Next was an Army veteran with a beefy pickup truck who towed Dad down the hill while he attempted to start it in gear, engaging the clutch. Nada. At least the tow resulted in a better parking position right at the highway where a ranger would see the car with its open hood.
Then it dawned on Granny! National Park employees had just been scattered to the winds in the new DOGE house cleaning frenzy. What if a ranger never drove by? She also learned quickly that there is very little cell service in Death Valley and no 911 availability except for at the Ranger Station and Visitor Center.
Death Valley has a published survival list which includes plenty of water, CHECK! Also, extra food and snacks, CHECK! Hats and sunscreen, CHECK! Perhaps they should add Satphones, a drone, flares and supplies for smoke signals to the list.
Fifteen minutes into the wait, a friendly NPS ranger named Lindsey drove up. Granny expressed thankfulness for the nice family that had alerted the rangers. She quickly assured her that she hadn’t been at the ranger station; she was on her way back from a day of work when she just happened to spot the stranded car. She offered to give Granny Hat a ride to Furnace Creek to contact AAA, leaving Dad with the car. (He later reported a long list of offered help from hikers, even ones with California plates! Very few things can live in the salt flats and rock outcroppings of the lowest, hottest point in the United States; a few pup fish, tiny spiders, the occasional lizard. But apparently the milk of human kindness is still alive and well, even in Death Valley. It gives Granny hope in her fellow man, or woman, of course.)
Lindsey quickly moved several packages of toilet paper from the front seat of her ranger vehicle, shoving it into the back seat on top of piles of more TP to make room for Granny Hat to ride. She explained that she is a maintenance ranger whose job it is to stock the porta potties at the trailheads all around the valley. She said it takes 2 – 3 hours to drive the route, hitting all the heads.
Granny Hat loves to meet new people and make conversation, so she asked the young ranger if the park had felt any impact from the DOGE cuts. Lindsey was eager to share on this topic and reported she was let go initially but hired back three weeks later. She added that Death Valley already operates with a skeleton crew, no one wants to work there. And she is considered an essential ranger because of her heroic work delivering the important papers.
Then Ranger Lindsey uttered the show stopping words: “Trump’s budget cuts are also going to impact our stock of Toilet Paper; we only have enough right now for one more month”. When asked what would happen to the porta potties, she solemnly said they would have to close them down, especially in the outskirts of the valley where all the really cool hidden treasures and obscure hikes are. There was almost a tear running down the ranger’s cheek.
This really hit Granny Hat right in the gut! What? No TP? No desert biffies? Alert the National Park Service immediately! They need to warn the public by adding the following to their survival list:
BYOTP
Manage your own crap
Leave no trace
Granny Hat really thought America had put Toilet Paper shortages and rationing behind. The pandemic taught her much, but she was naive to think it was the supply and demand war to end all supply and demand wars. Toilet Paper may very well be the canary in the coal mine for any economic, medical or political disaster.
For example, Granny Hat was at Costco the other day and noticed carts piled extra high with Kirkland brand important papers. What now? Then on her way home from town, Granny heard the talking heads on the radio discussing tariffs, supply chains and recriminatory actions by her neighbor to the north where the paper mill trees grow. It added up. When tariff threats roll out, TP purchases begin rolling into pantries across the fruited plain. After all, a Toilet Paper shortage is a national emergency of epic proportions! Furthermore, it totally stinks! No one wants to get caught with their pants down on this one.
Granny is a boomer who grew up in the golden age where TP grew on trees and was next to free. Way before tagging became ubiquitous, the prank of the day was toilet papering houses. Everyone’s larder had plenty of the stuff, parents didn’t even notice if their teen vagrants pinched some for a midnight lark in the neighborhood. These days, Toilet Paper is gold, a prized possession to be guarded and meted out conservatively. Reader, you will notice that at $7 a dozen, no one is egging houses anymore either!
Granny Hat digresses, back to the adventure of the Valley of Death. Granny was able to contact AAA at the ranger station and then settled in to wait 5 hours for the tow truck to drive out from Pahrump, Nevada. Yeah, she had never heard of that town either. She worried down some free coffee at the ranger station and then decided to make good use of the lovely flush toilets at the visitor center while there was still an abundance of TP.
Sunset was closing in, so she was very happy to see that bright yellow Two Star Towing rig pull in. The driver was quite a character. Granny is not in the habit of hitching rides with desert rat type strangers from places like Pahrump, but she jumped up into that truck with complete confidence. It’s revealing what being stranded will do to normal routines and habits of one’s life. Desperate times call for desperate measures – any port in a storm and all that. Jerry was suddenly Granny’s best friend, second only to Lindsey the TP Superhero.
After picking up Dad, who had stayed busy eating most of the snacks and drinking all the water in the XTerra, Jerry drove Granny, her better half and the tired four-wheeler into town, swapping tall tales and Death Valley stories all the way. Jerry’s bread and butter is towing abandoned cars out of the fiery furnace but that’s an involved discussion for another day. The adventure turned out to be not so bad, car was easily fixed and road trip resumed.
Granny Hat and Dad always learn valuable life lessons on their road trips. They meet interesting people, marvel at God’s creation and make unexpected discoveries along the way.
looking west over lowest point in the USADesert Color
They also learn to be thankful for life’s simple pleasures and conveniences. Next time you cross paths with a National Park Ranger (if you can even find one) be sure to thank him or her for their service, especially the maintenance crew. They are the unsung heroes of our National Park System. They keep everything running smoothly.
And just to put things in perspective…….
Google reveals that some form of early “Toilet Paper” (more like silk squares or soft bark) dates to early AD Chinese dynasties. The modern TP that exists today originated in 1857 in America when Joseph Gayetty created a product called “Medicated Paper, for the Water Closet”. Whether one believes in a young earth or not, these papers we can’t live without are relatively new on the block. No need to panic, life will go on with or without the soft, cushiony rolls.
PS. A word to the wise, stock up on TP just in case, but don’t be a hoarder. And take a tip from Granny’s dad, the late great septic system pundit, use important papers sparingly. You may be flush with plenty now, but you never know when you will run out or why. Besides, too much paperwork can clog the system real fast; just ask any fed. And, whatever you do, don’t waste Toilet Paper like Granny Hat and her friend Kim did years ago when they decided to toilet paper Granny’s own house, but that’s also a story for another day. Oh, one more tip, a dead-ringer stock tip: since TP will always be a much-desired commodity, buy Kirkland shares immediately.
Desert Burros, Hobo Hot Springs (stumbled on this one out in the middle of nowhere – lovely 100 degree spring soak on a windy 45 degree day, Weird Desert Art at Rhyolite Ghost Town, Granny’s Better Half pointing out geologic interests.
“Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil for Thou art with me” Psalm 23
Happy Resurrection Day, readers! Because He lives, we can face tomorrow.
Granny Hat was minding her own business, doing some mending and watching one of her British murder mysteries when the Free Vee ads interrupted with “Baby Boomers! 99% of you have the shingles virus sleeping within, soon it will strike, you never know when.” This was followed by a pitch for the latest, greatest vaccine and a long, harrowing list of side effects, many of which are actually more dangerous than the shingles. Baby Boomers have a lot to worry about.
Not only is their chicken pox, calamine lotion, scars and itching threatening to come back with a whole new level of vengeance but Boomers are being blamed for all manner of societal calamity these days. Granny is horrified to learn that she and her generation stand accused! They are depleting the social security coffers, are often too patriotic, think it’s their way or the highway. And they can’t shut up about the good ole’ days.
Even worse, apparently Boomers can’t be trusted; they embraced Reaganomics and told their kids that a college education was all they needed to live a charmed life. Gen X was told they could be anything they wanted to be; the Boomers traded in lessons about work ethic & saving a buck for privilege & entitlement. They told their kids they “believed in them”. And now, nobody believes in the Baby Boomers!
Granny Hat is standing up for her generation. How about some r-e-s-p-e-c-t and compassion for Granny Hat and her peers? Consider the passage of time, the changes in society that they have suffered. Life used to be simpler and easily defined. Everything these days is sooo confusing.
For example, Boomers used to be able to explain the birds and the bees to their offspring (those millennials). But now, they have to explain the birds and the birds, the bees and the bees, the birds that used to be bees, the bees that used to be birds, the birds that look like bees, plus bees that look like birds but still have a stinger.
Granny remembers going to school to learn things, useful things, things that were true. Now she has to face the idea that tattoos and piercings might not keep you from getting a job anymore, that meritocracy doesn’t matter, that recycling doesn’t either, grades don’t matter (especially in the birds & the bees class – all the answers are right), participation is more important than performance, that government isn’t of the people by the people OR for the people, need she go on? (and which people are we even talking about?)
Maybe Boomer education was flawed. Maybe they should blame the Greatest Generation for imposing outdated ideas on the American school system. Granny Hat recently stumbled upon an article entitled 12 Things That Boomers Learned in School That Are Obsolete. She is going to list them for you with just a few comments. She wants to hear from her readers, are these items indeed obsolete? Were we wasting our time becoming adept at skills that no longer matter?
Cursive Writing and Penmanship: Granny’s better half says when he went back to college at the age of 45 he could take notes faster than the millennials with his cursive, and what about artistic dexterity?
Slide Rules for complex mathematical calculations: readers, what do you think?
Typing Class: again, dexterity?
Diagramming Sentences or “Grammar Bootcamp”: Granny has to ask, is our culture MORE or LESS articulate with the English language than it used to be? Are we able to say what we need to say? Are we able to say it beautifully? Do we understand the power of punctuation or prepositions?
Let’s eat Grandma! or Let’s eat, Grandma!
Home Economics: teaching “obsolete” skills like budgeting, cooking, sewing. Granny thinks we could use a little of these obsolete skills.
Memorizing State Capitols: now this one made Granny Hat mad, she was really good in geography class.
Balancing a Checkbook: rated obsolete because we have online banking now, but how many people would be helped by having to painfully write down what they just spent, subtract it without a calculator and see what they have left before buying more?
Spelling Bees: “you don’t have to be good at spelling anymore”, they say, “just use spell check.” Granny says every time you use spell check you save a few seconds but lose some much-needed brain cells.
Dewey Decimal System: ok, maybe this one is irrelevant but Granny Hat knows quite a few kids that can’t put things in alphabetical order.
Reciting Poetry: ??? Granny can’t even believe this is on the list. They tell us Boomers that one of the best ways to stay sharp is to memorize things.
Nuclear Classroom Drills: like hiding under a desk could help! LOL
Granny Hat’s last word, because she always has one: If you give up on any of the above irrelevants, please keep memorizing. If you are a follower of the Word of God, by all means, memorize as much as you can. Many a prisoner of war throughout history will tell of the comfort, fortitude and blessing they received because God’s Word was written on their hearts. Let us keep learning that which is eternal and will never be obsolete.
“May my teaching drop like the rain, my speech condense like the dew; like gentle rain on grass, like showers on new growth”. Deuteronomy 32:2
Granny Hat and her Baby Boomer siblings. We are Boomers, we read, we write, we spell, we type and we know stuff.
Granny Hat 