College Town At Christmas 2023: The Holiday Season Is For Dogs

    I am a dog walker and dog lover.

     And I also an observer of dogs. Especially when I'm walking my eight year-old Red Merle AKC Australian Shepherd named "Jude." on the Greenway close to my house. I pretty much walk him every morning. I think a lot and wonder about everything especially dogs. Mainly, I watch Jude walk and sniff.  I see him smiling and how happy he is when he goes for a dog walk with his human. He loves to go for walks on the Greenway. (A dog's sense of smell is 10,000 to 100,000 times more acute than a human's. According to Wikipedia 'For every scent receptor a human has, a dog has about 50.')  As I walk Jude in his harness and a retractable leash, I can keep a close eye on Jude and close to me.  The street that the Greenway is located next to the CSX railroad tracks and is very dangerous because vehicles tend to spend up and down the road and they do not obvisouly go the speed limit of 35 miles per hour as posted with the proper signage. It is very dangerous if a dog is not on a leash. Plus we have a leash law in the city of Bowling Green.

     However, as Jude walks, he keeps his nose close to the ground sniffing the grass and blades of long grass stems that have turned brown and dried out from the fall weather not far from the railroad tracks.  He always sniffs the dried leaves too laying on the ground and the remnants of dried out dog poop too from other dogs as well as their markings of dog pee I am sure.  I wonder what Jude is thinking and what calculations are adding up in his little doggie mind. Is he thinking about the time period that the other dog was just there? Are the dogs sending him some sort of signal or message?  Those are the things I wonder about.  Just what is Jude thinking? I wish I knew.

  I have read that dogs can communicate by other dog's poop and pee left on the ground. (Again, according to Wikipedia, "Dogs have a keen sense of smell and use their urine and feces to mark their territory and communicate with dogs. This marking behavior helps establish their presence in their environment.) Jude thinks he owns the Greenway apparently just like he thinks he's the boss of our house.  I admit, we have spoiled him rotten.  He probably owns more dog toys than any other dog in Bowling Green.  And he always gets the best vet care, dog food and doggie daycare and overnight boarding that money can buy. Remember, "The Puppy Rules!"

   Dogs have a strong sense of belonging. Especially to a human family or to "a pack" as I like to say.  Jude gets extremely excited when the Christmas season arrives.  The day after Thanksgiving, I go to the attic pulldown stairs in the hallway of our house and pull the stairs down.  Then I climb up into the attic and take down the artificial Christmas tree and decorations. He starts to run around the house huffing and puffing and begins to bark. He gets real excited! Then we play Christmas music and he gets even more excited. I made the mistake that of telling him early this year that Santa Clause was going to bring him some Christmas presents like he always does and he started looking to the top of the book shelf where we always try to hide his presents.  He kept looking and whining. Eventually, he just laid down on the floor and kept looking up at the top of the book shelf and whining into the evening.  But there were no presents to be found. This went on for several hours. Poor little fella. Now my wife and I have agreed not to bring it about the presents again until it gets closer to Christmas. 

   We treat Jude like he is our child.  Our only grown son is grown and lives in Nashville plus he is married now.  So Jude came into our lives eight years ago and filled the empty nest syndrome. This Christmas season be sure to share the Christmas spirit and joy with your pets whether you have dogs or cats or any other critter. Be grateful for them because they know too when you are happy because they can sense how you feel. They feed off your vibes and energy.  If they sense when you are happy or not. If you are are happy and feel happy and loved.  Plus they feel safe and secure in the furever home. God Bless you and Merry Christmas to all from Galen, Patty and Jude!


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College Town At Christmas: 2021 "Growth, Newcomers, The Deadly Tornadoes And Hope Again"

   In last year's annual "College Town At Christmas" blog I wrote about the "Five Stages Of Hope" for our college town of Bowling Green (the third largest city in Kentucky).

    It appeared that our community of 72,000 citizens was pretty much healing and doing a lot better from the recovery of the covid outbreak across the nation and the world.  Especially, in a political sense, it appeared that many of our citizens had a gained a certain level of acceptance that this is the way it was going to be from now on-virus outbreak preparedness. And it appeared that the mood in our town was that the covid outbreaks had calmed down quite a bit in 2021 and the high number of vaccinations in our community were up and coming along pretty good is the main reason that there has been a sense of calmness politically in the community where there had been some major divisions amongst friends, neighbors and coworkers.  It had also appeared that healing was taking place physically, mentally, emotionally and spiritually in our community with a lot of Hope for 2021.

   And there had been some good news for 2021 just before the new year.  When 2021 arrived, it was announced the Livability magazine had selected Bowling Green as one of the Top 100 Places To Live in the United States. This award is given to to communities that offer a high quality of life at an attractive cost of living for both individuals and families. So after covid struck in 2020, in 2021 we started noticing a lot newcomers moving into town from all across the nation such as California, New York, Maryland, Texas and amongst many other places across the country.  Then of course, Bowling Green has always had a long history of manufacturing with new plants springing up more rapidly in the new industry Transpark located across town near Warren East High School as new subdivisions and apartment complexes where popping up everywhere too in town and in the county. However, some of our citizens have been worried and are still concern about the rapid growth and the effects on the community with too much traffic and the roadways not being designed correctly to handle the heavy flow of automobiles and trucks. Capitalistic hardworking business people have found Bowling Green to be a gold mine for real estate and development as we have become a basically bedroom community of Nashville since we are only 60 miles away from that major big city in the American South.  Nashville has experienced tremendous growth in the last 20 years also.  Then we also have new shopping centers and restaurants springing up too lately along with many other types of businesses and small businesses also. We also have a large and very diverse immigrant and refugee community in town.  The City of Bowling Green and the Warren County government and our schools systems have done a tremendous job to accommodate them also.  Let's just say, our college town where Western Kentucky University is located with an enrollment of 20,000 students, is booming these days in-spite of setbacks in the last two years.

   

But then two deadly tornadoes hit Bowling Green recently in the early morning hours of Saturday, December 11th, killing 17 people and 76 across the Commonwealth of Kentucky.  The one big tornado basically cut a path through town starting at I-165 (formerly known as the Natcher Parkway) cutting across Whisphering Hill subdivision, Russellville Road area, Creason Avenue, Sumpter, Nashville Road at WKU, U.S. 31-W By-Pass, Maganolia Streets and the Cemetery Road and Indian Hills.  This is probably one of the worst tornadoes to ever strike Bowling Green with this much death and destruction causing millions of dollars of damage to our homes and businesses. But again, there is much Hope for Bowing Green this Christmas season and for the New Year of 2022.  Hundreds of volunteers, organizations, the City of Bowling Green, the Warren County government, FEMA, BGMU, Warren Rural Electric Cooperative Corporation, Spectrum Cable, the National Guard, the Salvation Army, churches, volunteers from across the county, the Bowling Green Fire Department, the Bowling Green Police Department, the Warren County Sheriff's Department, the Kentucky State Police, Med Center EMT's, Warren County Coroner's Office and hundreds of others have given many hours of their professional time and dedication. And many thanks to businesses and restaurants in our college town that has donated their time and money to help the community such as Walmart, Hickory & Oak restaurant and Hughes and Coleman law firm just to name few who are helping out with some major donations and necessities.

     Needless to say, we as a college town, will help put our community back together along with the help of our local, state and federal governments in 2022. We will get it everything back to together one way or another,  I am sure.  And we hope and pray that the healing process will continue for the victim's families of the tornadoes and homeowners and business owners who have suffered losses can rebuild ASAP.  Material things can be replaced but human lives cannot.  So let's remember those Bowling Green citizens who lost their lives this Christmas season.  Light a candle and say a prayer for them and their families.  And let's continue to pray for our College Town and let's continue to be involved and let our let "Heartlight" shine through. I have lived in Bowling Green almost 34 years-now and I wouldn't want to live any other college town in the world except ours.  God Bless and Merry Christmas! Peace-Galen A. Smith Sr., Bowling Green, Ky.

College Town At Christmas 2020: The Five Stages of Hope In Bowling Green, Ky.

BOWLING GREEN, KY _ I remember the last Catholic mass I attended at my church this year was on March 7th. And I remember talking to one of my fellow parishioners about this strange "virus" getting ready to hit our college town and he was talking about the stocking up of toilet paper?  Honestly, I thought he was joking about the toilet paper. I couldn't imagine why everybody was going to need so much toilet paper.  I had some weird thoughts in my head at the time but I won't describe them in this blog entry. Lol. But I did not pay much attention to what he said about it really. All I remember that it was hard for me to believe something of this magnitude was going to take place in good ole Bowling Green as well as the State of Kentucky and the United States of America.  In my mind, killer viruses only happened in places like China and other far away foreign countries like that.

   Originally, I was in denial.  With my wife being a housewife, she would give me reports about what was happening across the country and in Washington DC with President Trump and his administration and how they were handling things with their medical task force regarding the virus.  I would get these reports when I came home from work for lunch because she had been watching TV. And sure enough, eventually, the toilet paper frenzy and shortage started happening in our community and everybody began to stock up on the toilet paper, paper towels, hand sanitizer, wipes, cleaning products, ammo, guns, survival items and can goods among many other items. It was ridiculous and crazy but a necessity at the same time that hundreds of people were rushing to do in our community. And it was happening all across the country also!

   Then the anger hit.  Everybody went to war on Facebook and social media all over the political spectrum on the different aspects of the virus whether or not that the virus was a hoax or not which many thought it was brought into American on purpose by the global socialists and communists.  Then it became a liberal vs. conservative thing.  A Republican vs. Democrat thing.  One by one, people started being alienating and blocking friends, neighbors and family members.  The divide in America over politics got even deeper and wider over issues of having to wear masks mandated by the Kentucky governor, the quarantines, the school closings, travel restrictions, shut downs of businesses and the limitations of gathering of people among tons of other restrictions. And over the things you could do and could not do. Many citizens felt that we were becoming a socialists country over the virus was occuring in America. Not to mention the riots that were happening in the streets again in America this summer and fall over racial tensions and the rise Black Lives Matters and how many people were turned off over the fact that the NFL and NBA took a stand with BLM.

Then people began bargaining with the fact that wearing masks into public buildings was being mandated by the governor and that the Covid-19 virus was real.  We realized that there was not much we could do about it and yes, hundreds of people were dying as they said.  Also, we began to bargain with the fact that this was going to be our way of life for a while until the vaccinations began to arrive and people we're given their shots. And then maybe, things would get better eventually. We hoped.

Then the depression hit.  People who were not essential workers in society began to get depress because they were staying home all the time, not enough money to live on because of unemployment or not wanting to go back to work because they were making more money drawing unemployment rather than going back to work.  Also a lot of small businesses in the community folded and collapsed because of the virus restrictions eventually causing them to go out of business for good.  Also, lots people lost their jobs because of the virus and a lot of people ended up filing bankruptcy.  And then it was being reported that a lot people have avoided going to the doctor altogether because the lack of money or no health insurance.

And finally, acceptance.  Fortunately, I was able to avoid the depression part and jumped from the bargaining part straight into acceptance.  This is where hope comes into the picture for me. So it is my hope this Christmas Eve, that all citizens in our college town of Bowling Green, Ky., finds peace and happiness in their lives in the final stage of acceptance of the virus.  In order to survive, we have to have faith and hope this Christmas season no matter what. We have to look deep inside of ourselves. I feel very blessed that I have my faith, a job, a home, a family, a dog and my health. Mainly, we have to have hope and faith in our medical professionals and the new vaccinations and we must have hope and faith in each other and work together towards a common goal in our college town-getting back to normal in 2021!  God Bless and Merry Christmas!

College Town At Christmas: The Highs and Lows of 2019

    I have to admit that I have been struggling a bit lately on what to write about for this year's annual Christmas blog.  So finally it dawned on me this morning that I should write about the highs and lows of 2019. In other words, the good, the bad and the ugly

    In some ways, 2019 has been a great year for me but a lot of hard work.  My tag team partner in crime (lol) who is my wife, Patty, is a full-time housewife and takes excellent care of our home. She does the cooking, cleaning, laundry and mainly takes care of our beloved and very protective almost four year-old Australian Shepherd male dog named, "Jude." She also likes to workout at the gym, go out to eat at local restaurants, go to movies, works crossword puzzles, play computer spelling games, Facebook and watches jeopardy.  And me?  Ah, I just work all the time. (lol).  I am in my prime working years and saving for my retirement. Like they say, "Make hay while the sun is shining, right?" And that's basically all I am doing currently in my life these days. But I do still like to write some (when I get a chance), go the the gym some, ride my bicycle some, do yard work and fool around on the computer (Youtube, Blogger and Facebook) and use my iPhone for social media apps besides for work purposes  So here my list for 2019, the highs and the lows. 

The Highs:

1.) We traveled to Pensacola Beach twice again this year and stayed at our favorite hotel, Margaritaville Pensacola Beach Hotel.  We have stayed there at least eight times in the last six or seven years and always enjoy our time and money spent there.  The love the Gulf of Mexico, the view, the beach and the seafood. The only problem is that we never get to stay long enough because of the type of work I do.

2.) We were able to see the Blue Angels practice this year at the Naval Air Station at Pensacola.  Wow, what an awesome and incredible display of American's finest military jet aircraft and some of the world's best display of highly skilled pilots flying those jet aircraft! Exciting and exhillarating!

3.) Bowling Green and Southcentral is very ripe with a large amount economic growth and we are a growing community.  Apartment complexes, stores, restaurants and factories are popping up everywhere in this town and our surrounding communities. There's plenty of work here for me and our company to do and for everyone else also.  I had another successful year in my job at work. It just takes for someone to put forth a conscious effort and work hard if you want to make a decent living for yourself and your family in this college town where Western Kentucky University is located. You have to keep pushing yourself and be dedicated and committed.

4.) We had some home improvements done to our house this year that I am very proud of.  My house is the same age as me (57 years-old) but they don't build them like this anymore. It's a solid brick home and it's in good shape in a fairly decent neighborhood in Bowling Green and we want to keep it that way.

The Lows:

1.) My brother-in-law passed away in Memphis in this fall.  He had been married to my sister for almost 50 years.  He was a very intelligent and good guy and I loved him very much as my brother-in-law and friend.  He will be greatly missed by all who knew and loved him. My wife and I attended his funeral mass at Church of Nativity in Bartlett, Tenn.

2.) My beloved alma mater of the University of Mississippi in Oxford, Miss., or affectionately known as just "Ole Miss" has had major struggles these past few years.  There's many alumni, students, friends and parents such as myself who are upset that the extreme liberal leftists professors and administrators are destroying the college's traditions and heritage such as wanting to move the Confederate statue off campus. They also got rid of the Col Reb. as the mascot and quit playing the Dixie song at football games. They got rid of the Rebel flag years ago. Mainly, the took one of my former professor's name off the journalism building as he was accused of being a racists because he supposedly posted some pictures on Facebook about some things going on the downtown square late at night.  He had given the university five million dollars for the journalism school.  Needless to say, after they removed his name from the building, he took the money back and gave it another non-profit organization in Mississippi.  I don't blame him one bit for that.  We also have a Facebook group called "Make Ole Miss Great Again." (MOMGA) where all over 6,000 of us comment and discuss all of the issues and are trying to take action to try to fight the extreme liberal leftist activities on campus that are effecting destroying our university as we used to know it.

3.) The impeachment process of President Trump. It's a bunch of liberal Democrat bullshit and lies in my opinion.  And that's all that I going to say about that.

4.) And finally as we all just saw on the world news yesterday, a second lieutenant in the Saudi Arabian military who was involved in flight training at the Naval Air Station in Pensacola, Fla., shot and killed three people and wounded eight others.  This is very sad too me since Patty and I had just visited the base this past summer to see the Blue Angels practice.  Everyone was super nice and friendly and we also went inside and visited the Military Aircraft Museum and watched the IMAX movie about aircraft carriers. Security personnel only asked for was to see our driver license ID in order to get on base, other entry points and the museum. The Blue Angels practice was free along with entering the museum.  However, we did have to pay a small fee to see the IMAX movie.  Most likely after this deadly shooting, there will probably some additional security measures added.  At least I would hope.  All in all, it's a very sad and Patty and I send out prayers to the victims and the wounded and to their family and friends as well as all military personnel, base personnel and law and safety enforcement personnel. 

    For me, 2019, was not a bad year in all.  Like I said there were some highs and lows.  Everybody has highs and lows in their lives.  As we get older, we have to learn to take the good along with the bad.  We learn to work and provide for ourselves and our families.  And as human beings, we learn survival instincts in the modern world of machinery, cars, planes, chemicals, natural disasters, disastrous weather, drugs, crime and just pure evil in the world.  However, no matter how good things can get in life, people still resent other people because of race or skin color, financial envy, refugees, foreigners, atheists, gay people, religious, hypocrites, lazy people, drug addiction, alcoholism,
mental illness and homeless people. But there is hope and a bright inner light in the world.  And his name is Jesus Christ who died on the cross for our sins.  I am believer and I attend Catholic mass regularly.  However, I view myself as no better than any one else.  Because I believe as a Catholic, we all go to the same table for communion to partake in the body and blood of Jesus Christ whether rich or poor or black or white.  It's does not matter what your background is as long you believe and become a full fledge Catholic in communion with the church. (Note: converts like me require RCIA classes).  I may not like everyone at our church but at least I can look everyone in the eyes and know the real reason we are there together under the same roof.

    So this is my Christmas blog for 2019 "College Town At Christmas" in Bowling Green, Ky. I hope you enjoyed it.  If not, I'm sorry. But regardless, I pray for those who are suffering because of lack of shelter, food, medical care and for those who are addicted to drugs or alcohol.  And I pray for the darkness in the world.  For those people who hate our government and our president and want to destroy him.  And for those who hate Ole Miss for what it used to be and how they want to change it to a liberal cess pool, taking away everything for what it used to stand for, our traditions and heritage.  God Bless America and Merry Christmas! And Hotty Totty!

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College Town At Christmas, 2018: Looking Back At My 30 Years Of Living In Bowling Green, Ky.

    I remember years ago when I first moved to Kentucky in 1987, I used to get homesick for down South.  I missed my native city of Memphis, Tenn., and North Mississippi, the place where I spent my teenage years.  I used to miss my friends and family also.

    It's also where graduated from high school and went to college.  I was a Southern Boy and I am still am.  But things have changed tremendously back home.  To be honest, I can't keep up with it hardly anymore.  It's all becoming a blur now it seems.  Our memories do seem to slip as we get older they say.

   

Patty and I before a Christmas party in 1992

However, by fate, I met a lady through the Roman Catholic Church in Oxford, Miss., while I was college student at the time at the University of Mississippi, (Ole Miss) in the 80's. And then after we where married and our son was born, we eventually ended up in Bowling Green, Ky., home of Western Kentucky University.  WKU is where my wife went to college back in the 70's when she lived in her hometown of Russellville, Ky., which is 30 miles west of Bowling Green.  She said she had always loved Bowling Green and thought it would be a nice to live one day and to raise a family.  And indeed, Bowling Green or "BG" as it is affectionally known to us and its loyal citizens, has a been a great place for us to live, work and raise our son for these last 30 years.  Our son, Galen Jr. or "Tony" as he affectionally known to us and all of his family and friends, is a graduate of WKU and now lives and works in Nashville, which is 60 miles south of Bowling Green.

Our little family, 1988. Patty, Tony, Santa and me.

During this Christmas season, I have been reflecting a lot on my life and my life of living in Bowling Green all these years.  No, I have not made a big impact on the city by running for political office and serving as a leader making important decisions that ultimately effect its citizens or businesses in one form or fashion.  Nor have I been a major player in the Bowling Green business community making tons of money by managing a factory, a store or being a private business owner along with being a member of the local chamber of commerce.  Nor I have I been a professional such as a doctor, lawyer, a counselor and priest or a pastor by having a direct impact on its citizens and families on a personal level.  However, I have been a productive citizen, a homeowner and a taxpayer and staying out of trouble for the most part all these last 30 years of living here.  Yeah, I have ruffled a few feathers here and there regarding some of my strong letters to the editor in our local newspaper or stating my assertive opinions on the local morning AM talk radio program in the past.  But for the most part, I've had a good run in Bowling Green and I hope to have another 30 years! Being a writer, an observer of life and a sales and service professional all these years, I have met many fine people in this city and from the surrounding towns and counties alike.  Like everywhere else in the world, there's a story on every corner in Bowling Green and Southcentral Kentucky. I have found this to be extremely true.  And I don't have to look very far either.  There's a lot of interesting people who live here. I have always been like a sponge through the years, absorbing everything I can about its people, its places and its culture.  It's only natural for me to be curious and to ask questions regarding people and their lives. And it's also the way that I was trained in journalism school while I was at Ole Miss.  Basically,  to ask questions and write stories along with taking pictures. ( I like making short videos these days too).

Me, Jude, our Australian Shepherd, and Patty with Santa in 2016

    So as I reflect back on my past Christmases of living here, BG has been very good to me and my little family.  For the most part, it is a safe place to live because we have an excellent police force as well as a great county sheriff's department and a wonderful Kentucky State Police force.  Also, the WKU police force is great too. Although, we are not natives to this town, BG has been accepting of us and thousands of others who come from all over the United States and from around the world.  We have a large Bosnian community and a growing Burmese and Congo African community too.  And like most places in the South, we have a large Hispanic community too.  WKU brings in students from all over Kentucky, the South, and other parts of the US.  And the university has its fair share of international students too.  So I feel very fortunate and blessed to live in Bowling Green.  God has been good to me all these years and I have received many special blessings by living here.  We have a wonderful church which is Holy Spirit Catholic Church and I have fairly good health, a good job, a good home, a good neighborhood and most importantly, a wonderful wife and son.  So if you live in Bowling Green, be thankful this Christmas season and for what this city does for us, its citizens.  We have good streets and roads and excellent schools.  We also have a good medical community too. 

      Mainly, we are a very blessed community especially during Christmastime.  Go outside and feel the Christmas spirit in the air.  And drive downtown, and see the Christmas lights on the square or eat at one our many fine restaurants.  Eat, drink and be merry! Be cheerful and jolly also! (But don't drink and drive. Get a Uber. Or the BGPD will get you!)  Yes, we are very blessed this Christmas season in Bowling Green and I thank God for that.  Merry Christmas and God Bless!

  

College Town At Christmas: Bowling Green, Ky., 2015

     Although Western Kentucky University in Bowling Green, Ky., (Kentucky's third largest city now) had an enrollment of 21,000 students this past fall semester in our town with a population of 65,000 or more these days, you really can't tell that things have slowed down much for us this Christmas break.

     I painstakingly made a long detour last night just to avoid heavy traffic on Campbell Lane and Nashville Road not to mention Scottsville Road and Campbell Lane where the Greenwood Mall is located.  It seems everybody and their brother were in Bowling Green last night from every small town in the 10 county area surrounding us.  Of course, we love our booming economy and the millions of dollars that are spent our college town each day but not the heavy traffic.

     But between the new Star Wars movie, cheap gas with heavy traffic, internet Christmas shopping, grocery shopping at Kroger, terrorism, the Republican debate, the gun debate, the NRA, the Obama administration, the California Muslims terrorists killers, the Paris, France, Muslims killers and the murder and rape of little seven-old Gabbi Doolin of Scottsville, Ky., this has been a very trying Christmas season so far for all us in our college town.  Finally, now it seems that citizens of Bowling Green are getting into the Christmas spirit somewhat with everything that has been going on.  We are a busy, hardworking class of people.  We are college professors, administrators, intellectuals, students, nurses, doctors, lawyers, accountants, factory workers, office workers, restaurant workers, bricklayers, construction workers, pastors, laypeople, sales peoples, service people and everyone else in between in our college town.  We have more houses and apartments being built than ever these days.  Also, old restaurants and houses on the By-Pass are being torn down to make room for new construction among other areas in town for new commercial developments.

    No, Bowling Green is not that the same college town that it used to be even since I moved here in 1988.  It has grown and changed tremendously.  For instance, Western Kentucky University's football team the "Hilltoppers" have had winning seasons these last several years. They have played more televised games than ever and they played in the Bahamas Bowl last year and they are going to play in the Miami Beach Bowl in Miami on Monday. We are proud of the major efforts and strides that the Hilltoppers have made with their football program these last several years bringing national recognition to WKU and our college town.

    However, I think the bottom line for us this Christmas season of 2015 in our college town is to try to strike a balance between the heavy traffic and our spiritual dynamics.  (No, seriously). We have to ask ourselves, "Where do we fit in this season with the big picture of Christmas?"  As a Catholic conservative, I am challenged to make choices and decisions everyday about my faith and how I judge and treat other people even though I may not like them or they may not like me.  Maybe they were not born in America.  Maybe they are not Christian and they are Muslim or another religion. Or no religion at all. That's what I am talking about this Christmas season.  Maybe it's challenging your faith and your belief system this Christmas like it's challenging mine.

     As Christians, we believe that Jesus Christ was born on Christmas Day, right?  And that's why we do everything that we do this time of the year-the hustle and bustle, Christmas shopping (internet) or shopping at the Greenwood the mall, driving in traffic (ugh), gift buying, exchanging gifts at Christmas, parties, decorations, Christmas music and food, family and spirits. But deep down in our hearts, we have to ask ourselves, "How does Jesus want us to treat our fellow human being?" Is it based on whether they are gay, straight, American, non-American, Christian or non-Christian?"  I think that's the real challenge of Christmas this year in our college town. Remember, it doesn't hurt to be cautious and be aware of suspicious activity and people.  If that's the case, please let the Bowling Green Police Department know what's going on.  But I think we have to somehow allow the light shine through us and allow the Christmas spirit glow inside us as bright as ever this Christmas even though it's been awfully dark and gloomy in the world around us. Just maybe, we can make someone else's Christmas a little brighter with even a touch of kindness and a smile. That's all. (And that doesn't mean flipping someone the bird and honking at them when they cut you off in traffic. lol.). Anyway, Merry Christmas and peace be with you my friends!

College Town At Christmas, 2014

BOWLING GREEN, KY. __ Usually Patty, my wife, will call me on my cell phone when bad news happens. This year it happened twice and I was out of town both times. Once was in the early fall when a young lady from our community sat down on the railroad tracks in front of a moving train less than a block from our house and killed herself. Another time, Tony's (our son) best friend's little brother was killed recently in an vehicle accident on his way home from Nashville in the early morning hours. Then, one Saturday morning, I woke up just a couple of weeks ago and found out that one of our young local musicians from the BG Music Scene was killed in a two-vehicle collision on Smallhouse Road. He was killed by a 19 year-old boy driving a Jeep who was taking a powerful antipsychotic drug while drinking on top of it. Also, a sophomore Western Kentucky University student died in a Bowling Green house fire at the end of October. Tragedy has struck our town this year with the loss of young life.

I also attended a memorial service for my elderly neighbor's son-in-law who was just a little older than me and it was a very emotional but beautiful service for somebody that I only knew casually and his body had been cremated. Near the end of the service, the hospice minister who was presiding asked two poignant questions, "What joy do you have in your life and what joy have you brought to others?"
I suppose that's the two questions for me to ponder this Christmas season. What joy do I have and what joy do I bring to others? Right off the bat, I find joy in the small things (or the big things I should say) of life. My home, my wife, my son, my job, my church and my community. And I hope and pray that I have managed to bring some joy into other peoples lives in my 52 years on this earth so far.

However, my wish for this College Town At Christmas In 2014 is that I pray for healing for the families that are hurting from the loss of their love ones that I mentioned above. Beyond all the hustle, bustle, money, materialism, excitement, parties and decorations, may they somehow find peace, comfort and joy in their hearts and minds this Christmas. Help them not to be lonely, bitter, depressed or hopeless. Help them to know that there are others in Bowling Green, who care and are hoping and praying that they somehow they find the Christmas spirit this year in our college town.