Roy’s Sunday Letter for May 18, 2025
PAGES FROM A FULL NOTEBOOK
Each week I make notes of what might be included in the Sunday Letter. Here are the ones thar made the selection from notebook to screen.
** It is not with joy; I share Fort Worth has reached a citizenship of one million. I am not confident in the positive benefits. It means more cars, traffic, street/airport construction and repair. More concrete heating replacing cooling green grass and trees. The missing conversation is what the ‘We’ of all of us want FW to sound like, taste like, look like? We Texans resist slowing down, taking a pause, to ask, or to listen.
- Beth and I attend a Meditation Practice on Tuesday morning. I attend a weekly Chair Yoga for stretching and balance. On Thursday, we shared an evening meal of Thai curry with friends. I often hear, “I could do this at home, or I can just watch You Tube, or take out is so much easier.” Is it an elder stage to know the value of gathering, of common experience, of making the effort to touch edges, to listen to the stories of life and family together? Yes, whether young or older, there is the pressure to isolate, to protect ourselves from being really known? In 2025, we are at our best when we encourage each other to be brave, to keep moving, to invite others to care about us, to know us, and we them.
** Driving to pick up a prescription or visit friends in the DFW mid-cities is the same in many if not most cities. Road construction has taught drivers how weave with the signs of Left Lanes Closed, Detour Ahead, or Repaving Begins Monday…Expect Delays. Our lives, at whatever age or gender, has similar detours, vocations choices that open, close, or present us with an unexpected lane closure or even a U-Turn. Life’s speed bumps can throw us off our path. And like the construction staff holding the Stop, Slow sign, we need guides along the way. So, our lives are always under construction in one or more areas. We yell out our ‘Watch Out or Come This Way’ message to those coming behind us. Hopefully we all find our way safely home, wiser or at least more experienced.
- McDonalds located near Ft. schools have adopted a new dining room policy. High school student flow out at lunch, crossing busy streets to nearby fast food and markets. It is unfortunate students have left restrooms and dining area a mess and make dining unpleasant for other diners. The age to enter McDonald’s the dining area is now 21. All this is too new to know if the new policy will help or not. To me, what a great opportunity for local Student Councils to develop student conservations and general problem-solving.
Lastly this Sunday a 34-minute Netflix short film showing us and telling us of hope, of daily encouragement, of developing the skills to rise above, to add to goodness even in a troubled world. Eight to ten inmates in a federal maximum-security prison are quilters. The men have taught each other the patterns and the stitching it takes to vision colors and fabric into a completed quilt. The quilts are given to children’s medical treatment centers and nonprofits serving the poor and the underserved. So, lift your spirits up and watch and learn from “The Quilters.“
Roy, a reminder that broken crayons can still create art
More elbow room says Daniel Boone!
Both elbows and cars want more space
Neither availble
“Hey buddy, watch, we are pouring concrete where are standing.”
Bob and weave now TX driving practices………RB
I came to TCU in 1966 and coming from St. Louis I found Fort Worth to be a delightful place where everyone spoke to you, offered you help when needed and enjoyed visiting in the front yard. Adding more people has not made our city a better place to live. We walk down the street avoiding eye contact, very few of us know all our neighbors and the traffic and air pollution has increased to be unbearable at times. Just being larger doesn’t make us better. We need to make the effort to be more like a small town. I watched The Quilters and was amazed at how much they enjoyed their work. There must be other activities that could make inmates feel useful.
Delighted you saw joy in Quilters,
I am not typing much here due to small print font….could and wish for more……Roy
I found the quilters intriguing to watch. I think they were traveling to find there intended selves. Many have had few opportunities to find a path of fulfillment. I find digging in the dirt to be very fulfilling and then watching the beauty that results from my labor. We live in an uncharted environment. Roy, I find your Sunday news letter a wonderful enlightening and enchanting moment of my week.
Peter…..you have found and made your way in the best of ways…..glad for your presence in my world…..Roy
Some excellent points. City growth seems to be a source of pride. Competition is an ongoing motivator, regardless of consequences.
Seniors who apply the growth concept to their own lives seem to be happier spirits.
Meg, you be one of my happier spirits, and that is good.
Yes, civic pride in growth has little to do with building culture, peaceful living, and appreciation of others.
Meg, you be important to me and so many others…..RB
Regularly leave my phone behind in order to be present and connect. Devices provide a shield of anonymity that “protects” but doesn’t nourish.
And a false protection it is you, and also the others. Being known requires being Brave, showing Courage.
Tis our humanity is it not.Thank you for allowing us to see, know, hear your good self. RB
You must live along MacArthur Blvd in Irving. Every time I take an extended journey I say to myself it will be finished when I return. Well, after 4 extended road trips it still isn’t done! And what a can of worms are opened when you start talking about teaching teen-agers to respect other people’s spaces. If only!
And thanks for mentioning The Quilters. I will try to catch that this week. Sounds great.
A friend watched The Quilters. She asked how inmates in a federal prison could be having so much fun>
Worth the watch….worth the fun…..RB