Jan 29 2008
The Gloom Period
On Sunday I entered the church at the same time as another woman. She was cheery and brightly dressed. I was wearing black and white and in a gloomy mood from several days that barely got above freezing. Apparently, your outlook and attire can greatly influence your attitude. Who knew? When we were attending West Point, one of the most depressing times to be a cadet was from January to March: the sky was gray, the buildings were gray, our clothes were gray. We called it the gloom period. It is difficult to be cheery and upbeat when surrounded by gloom. Of course, I found it difficult to be cheery and upbeat throughout all four years of that awful place. I went there wanting to discover why all those people threw their hats with such joyful abandon. After enduring the four years, I understood it oh so well. When we returned to West Point years later for Dale’s teaching assignment, it was in late spring and everything was in bloom. It was beautiful. I was shocked. I asked Dale if it had always been this pretty. He said, “Yes, Mugs. It has.” I never saw it. I was so miserable the four years I was there I never saw the beauty of the place. After that shocking revelation, I committed to never again get so full of gloom that I don’t see the beauty around me. So, today, I put on a red shirt and went outside in a better mood. I might have been influenced by the fact that it was sunny and warmer. When we lived in Hawaii, it was always lovely. Other than some heavy rains, there was rarely a bad day. However, I realized something when I was there. You don’t really appreciate spring if you are not forced to endure winter. The joy that comes when the sun shines, the weather warms, the birds sing, and the flowers bloom springs forth from a gladness of recognition that the cold no longer grips you.
i love you Mugs…
this time without dale is gloomy for you and that’s understandable…
i’m praying for you sis
and i care.
i’m the type though that i love love love winter…
i dread the summer time…and not too keen on our spring…
wear that red with pride….
tee hee
by the way…
i don’t see it posted anywhere but what are some things
dale would like to receive in a package?
This is why I could never return to live in the UK. I get depressed if it is overcast for more than a couple of days. Just another reason why Oz is awesome
WE LOVE YOU MANRY’s and we feel gloomy coz you guys left us here.. we need you to come back.. we can’t handle these hillbrickers by ourselves… (Trudy lol…) Anyways.. we know you guys are not planning on coming down this way for quite some time.. soooo we are packing our bags and coming to see you instead! Okay.. trud has something to say… HELLLLLO, we just watched a movie and Jed and Liz are scaredy-cats… it had a whopping PG rating.. They were clinging to each other for comfort and screaming saying “TRUDY.. what have you done to me!!!!!!!” and that was just the opening sequence….. Okay (Liz grabs the keyboard back).. I’m thinking that’s enough from Trudy.. that movie Should be re-classified as R okay.. that’s all I’m saying.. so the blood was blue.. it’s still blood!!! anyhoo.. as you can see Karl brought his wine over and I think we’ve had one toooo many.. (just between u & me.. Trudy is now dancing outside.. alright that might be stretching the truth somewhat.. we REALLY just wanted to jump on and say that we MISS you guys SOOOOOOOOooooooooooOOOOOOOOO mucho.. and can’t wait to c you.. seriously.. we want to come and c yous.. January 2009.. take care x us Briens and Hillbricks xoxoxoxox
Thanks guys. Your post really made me smile. We miss you all terribly. Dale misses you too, even if he won’t admit it.
Mugs,
For the record I did not supply these juveniles wine. I support this by what happened last time I made such a mistake. To cut a long story short, Jed leaped on and then across our dinning room table in a competitive mindset when playing spoons, this was a card game that include jed’s father-in-law.
Liz, please no journalism next time you blog.
Dale, Ever since you left there is nobody else to guard the back door to the funny farm. Please send reinforcements.
peace,
Karl
Hey there Manrys. A sad Mugs … can there be such a thing? I would have to see that to believe it!
After looking at the previous blog comments i just had to hop on to show your Yank friends that not all Aussies are crazy, but then i remembered, Liz is a POM, Karl is German and Jed is … (well, Jed is Jed so lets not count him). That only leaves me and Trudi to hold up the flag for Australia!!
Hehehe, guess that is not really a compelling argument, is it
Remember Mugs “you don’t sing because you are happy, you are happy because you sing”. Belt out a few lines of your favorite “happy song” and you will be smiling in no time - it works for me at least.
The Honorable Mr Thompson
I must say the absurdity of Jed wrestling a spoon out of the hand of his father in law, Karl’s denial of being a member of the funny farm, the thought of Trudy dancing outside with Liz’s neighbors, and the honorable Mr Thompson declaring himself a sane Aussie all made me laugh. If I was still there, you’d never let me stay in my gloomy mood and even when I’m not there, you force me out of it.