"The Wisdom of Hot Chocolate"

By Clint Cox

I am not a coffee drinker. Apparently it is not a genetic trait because my dad could drink coffee all night long. I tried to learn to drink coffee when I worked the midnight shift as a correctional officer, but I just did not care for the taste. When I took little packets of instant hot chocolate, I got a pretty good ragging from my co-worker correctional officers. They did not see hot chocolate as being very manly. Especially when I messed up and took the packets with the little marsh mellows in it.

I’ve always liked hot chocolate and my wife forwarded an e-mail to me recently. She obviously felt that I could benefit from the message. After reading it I felt compelled to share a slightly modified version with our readers. I think we could all benefit from "The Wisdom of Hot Chocolate"

A group of graduates, well established in their careers, had gathered for a reunion and went to visit an old professor who was now retired. During the visit the conversation turned to complaints about the stress of the graduate’s work, lives and relationships.

The old professor went to the kitchen and returned with a pot of hot chocolate and an assortment of cups. Some cups were porcelain, some glass and some crystal. Some were plain looking while others were expensive and exquisite looking. He invited each of his former students to have a cup of hot chocolate. When they all had a cup of hot chocolate in their hand, the wise old professor started to share his thoughts.

"Notice that all of the nice looking and expensive cups were taken, leaving behind the plain and cheaper looking cups. While it is normal to want the best, that is the source of your problems and stress. The cups add nothing to the quality of the hot chocolate. In most cases the cups are more expensive and even hide what we are drinking. What you really wanted is the hot chocolate. You did not want the cup but you consciously choose the best looking cups. And soon you began to eye one another’s cups.

Now consider this. Life is like the hot chocolate. Your jobs, your money and your position in society are the cups. They are just tools to hold and contain life. The cup does not define nor does it change the quality of life you are living. By concentrating only on the cup, we fail to enjoy the hot chocolate God has given us.

Always remember this, God brews the hot chocolate. He does not choose the cup. The happiest people don’t have the best of everything. They just make the best of everything they have.
So Simply Put…Live Simple…Love Generously…Care Deeply…Speak Kindly… Enjoy your hot chocolate…And leave the rest to God."

From the front porch: Coach said the richest person is not the one who has the most but the one who needs the least.

Simply Put-12/18/08

Simply Put
"Mr. Roy would have loved IT"
That thought occurred to me last Thursday night in Malone as I was there covering the Sneads Pirates boys basketball game against the host Malone Tigers. The Malone gym is called the Roy B. Beall Gymnasium in honor of Mr. Roy. I realize that some folks don’t know who Mr. Roy was (sounds like a good idea for a Yesteryear feature), but there are plenty of folks around that still remember all that he did for basketball in the county.
The Pirates and Tigers locked horns in another all Jackson County matchup. One of the great things that I love about Jackson County basketball is that every varsity team plays each other on a home and away basis during the regular season. That is not the case with many of the other sports, so basketball really gets the inner-county rivalries cranked up. And no matter the records or how the teams have been playing, every Jackson County game is a heated contest.
Thursday night was no different. The Sneads Pirates fans travel as well as anybody and they had a large contingency on hand. Malone as usual had their home folks in full force. All of these folks were packed into a gym that for the most part looks no different than it did 50 some odd years ago when it was built. And while I know some Malone folks would love a new gym, in my opinion the old gyms have much more character than the new gyms.
So the house was packed and the game was a classic. The two squads traded the lead through out the game. And with each lead change the crowd grew more intense. Malone got hot from outside the 3 point line and pulled out ahead in the fourth quarter. Their fans were in a frenzy as it looked like they might put the Pirates away. But back came the Pirates and a NBA style 3 pointer with five seconds to play sent the game into overtime and sent the Pirate fans into their own frenzy.
While the teams prepared for overtime the opposing fans rose to their feet and tried to out shout each others battle cries. In the end Sneads prevailed with a four point overtime win. It was a hard fought game on both sides. The players, and fans for that matter, were physically and emotionally drained when all was said and done. And while Mr. Roy’s loyalties would have leaned more toward Malone than Sneads, he really did a lot for basketball in the county as a whole. It wasn’t just for Malone and Marianna as some might think. So, Simply Put, Mr. Roy would have loved last Thursday night because it doesn’t get any better than an overtime battle of Jackson County basketball.

From the front porch: Uncle Bob noted that the early fish gets hooked for the same thing the early bird gets credit for.

Simply Put -"Honest Folks Still Around "- Dec. 11, 2008

By Clint Cox
Every day we are bombarded with news about all the ills of our society. Turn on the TV, pick up most newspapers (of course not The Times) or gather around the water fountain at work and most of the news you hear will be about folks, especially "these young folks" doing the wrong things. If we are not careful, we allow ourselves to think that the whole world is full of nothing but bad and dishonest folks.
But that is not true, and every so often my faith in honest and decent folks gets reaffirmed. One of those reaffirmations happened to me recently. I had made one of regular mandatory payday runs to Wal-Mart last Thursday night. On these mandatory pay day trips to Wal-Mart I always get the cashier to place a $100 dollar credit on a Wal-Mart gift card.
I use this gift card as a gas card at the Wal-Mart gas pumps since I can save an extra three cents a gallon when filling up my vehicle. The previous two weeks I had not traveled much so I actually already had about $45 dollars still left on my gas card. But sticking to my routine, I had the cashier ring up an additional $100 credit on the card. I grabbed my groceries, made my way to the car and headed home.
Three days later it was time to gas up but I could not find my gas card. After looking in all possible locations and unable to locate the card, I wondered if I might have left it at Wal-Mart. Of course my next thought was that if I forgot to get the card from the cashier or if I dropped it, there was a good chance that someone would have taken advantage of my hard earned $145 credit on the card. But I hoped for a long shot and on my way to Tallahassee that day I stopped in to see if the card might have been turned in.
To my amazement, the card had in fact been turned in to customer service. The cashier had put a little note on the card indicating that a customer (me) had left the card. It would have been so easy for the cashier or someone else to use the card. It is basically like cash and there would have been no trace of who used it. But the young lady did the right thing and turned the card in, thereby allowing me to reclaim it three days later. I wish I knew the young ladies name, but unfortunately I don’t.
One of my purposes or goals in writing a weekly column is to spread positive stories and ideas as much as possible. "Keep on the Sunny Side", as the old song says. So remember, Simply Put, there are still honest folks out there that do the right thing for the right reasons.

From the front porch: Coach said keep smiling! And if you notice someone is missing one, give them yours!

Simply Put-Dec. 4, 2008

"County Loses Big Sports Fan "
With the sudden passing of Ed Revell (see front page), Jackson County has lost one of our biggest sports fans. My path has crossed the path of Ed’s many times throughout my life and he certainly ranks among the top supporters of local athletics in the last 50 years.
I grew up playing sports with his son Steve and always remember Ed being around. He coached a lot during the early days and then served as one of the key men of the numerous booster clubs endeavors that supported our teams. Since Steve and I were in the same grade, I’m pretty certain that Ed saw every game we ever played and was at almost as many practices.
My association with Ed and local sports moved to a different level 18 years ago when I began covering Marianna sports on the radio. As I later added writing sports for the local paper, that association grew even more frequent. You see, during much of the past 18 years Marianna High was blessed with a trio of outstanding athletes by the names of Jake, Jeff and Jill Mathis. They are the children of Ed’s daughter Bunnee and son-in-law Danny Mathis. You won’t find a finer family around and for my money, Jeff or "Pup" as we called him, is the best all around athlete to ever wear the purple and gold of the Bulldogs.
Ed absolutely loved to follow his grandkids teams and he supported those programs with his attendance, hard work and finances. While a Farm Bureau agent he was one of our regular sponsors for Bulldog athletics on the radio.
The news of his passing took me by complete surprise for just two days before he passed away I had seen Ed. Both of us happened to stop in at McCoys to purchase a bag of oysters (we agreed that no winter holiday would be complete without oysters). There happened to be a long line of other folks with the same idea, so Ed and I chatted for 15-20 minutes while we waited. There were the usual inquiries about each other’s families. I commented how proud us Marianna folks felt every time we turned on the television and watched Pup play for the Los Angeles Angels.
As our chat drew near to a close Ed made a comment that now seems almost prophetic. He said "You know Clint, all our kids and grandkids have turned out really great. I’m so fortunate and I have truly been blessed with a wonderful life." We loaded up our oysters and wished each other a happy thanksgiving. Two days later Ed was gone.
Many folks have a lifetime of heartaches and headaches. Simply Put, we’d all be so fortunate to live a full life like Ed Revell and conclude that life by being able to say that we have truly been blessed with a wonderful life.

From the front porch: Uncle Bob said you have to wonder about folks who think God is dead and Elvis is alive.