Someone in our old Geezer Group mentioned seeing on TV about a rural fellow, Mike Pederson who lived in Nora, South Dakota, population of two people. Pederson, a bachelor, 40 years ago bought a defunct general store and fulfilled a lifelong dream and restored a pipe organ in it.
Once he finished the restoration, he then wondered who could enjoy his playing the organ. So, he advertised in a nearby paper and invited people to join him in singing Christmas carols in the restored Nora Store.
Well, it worked. Pedersen and his pipe organ have performed every Christmas for the past 35 years. And from nearby towns across South Dakota to neighboring states like Minnesota, Nebraska and Iowa, tens of thousands of people have joined him to share the joy of holiday music.
Pederson’s wonderful Christmas story caught the attention of CBS newsman David Begnaud, who aired the story and let the world know there is still good news.
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Well, not to be out-done with a story about a rural organ player, one fellow in our group, ol’ Keene Recawl, dredged this story out of his years-ago past.
He said that a rural church he attended in his youth bought a fine pipe organ from a music dealership. However, since the church didn’t have the cash for the organ purchase, it bought the organ on time and worked diligently to meet the monthly payments.
As the first-year anniversary of the organ purchase approached, the dealer who sold the organ came out to the church to do the annual maintenance and make sure the organ wuz still in tune.
As he tuned the organ, the dealer started lustily playing loudly one raunchy, honky-tonk country-music song after another. They were typical, irreverent, lively country music songs about beer-drinking and broken romantic relationships.
The good pastor of the church, the Reverend Neal Downe, wuz sitting in a nearby pew as the tuner played the music and he took sanctimonious umbrage at the un-religious songs being belted out on the church’s organ.
So, the Reverend broke in and told the tuner, “I don’t think you should be playing such irreverent songs in our church. Hymns would be much more appropriate.”
Keene, the dealer/tuner, turned to him and replied curtly, “When your church catches up and resumes its payments, then I’ll start playing hymns.”
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Since the winter solstice has passed and the days are getting longer (don’t forget where you stored your bathing suit), I wuz rummaging through some of my old paper files searching for column material.
I found a clipping entitled “My, How Terms Have Changed! ” that wuz sent to me decades ago by Harry and Mary from Mt. Vernon, Mo. Here are the contents:
“As the world changes, so does our language. In fact, one can almost pinpoint an era in time by the meaning of words. For example, remember when pot referred exclusively to something to cook in? And grass was to be mowed (with a hand mower, of course’)? Bust had nothing to do with a police action, but was part of a lady’s anatomy and gay described a mood? These were the days when AIDS were folks who helped in schools and hospitals and rock music was skipping flat stones on water.
Back then, no one dreamed of eating anything that was mostly fiber, the word cholesterol was found only in chemistry books ‘and our chief association with McDonald’s was an old farmer of that name and an “ee-eye-ee-eye oh.’ These were the times when Made in Japan was a synonym for cheap, shoddy merchandise and only in geography books would we find Bikini. Bugs and Rabbits had legs instead of wheels. How naive we were.
Remember when a moon walk was something that courting couples like to do and a rocket scientist made fireworks? Space ships were seen only in the comics and the closest thing we had to a guided missile was a schoolboy’s spitball. The only beeper we knew was a motorist who kept blowing his horn and the office copier consisted of a supply of carbon paper. Hostile takeovers weren’t that uncommon, as when your big brother borrowed your bicycle and insider trading was limited to comic books.
Yes, times change, words change and we change! As a philosopher once said, “Look to our language. It is here history leaves its mark.”
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The changing of terms with the times is accelerating in our time. Words and terms like internet, bytes, artificial intelligence, robots, drones, etc., etc. All are new words. It’s hard to keep up.
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As the year ends, I won’t close with words of wisdom. I’ll close with a fact to think about. Global trade is about universally thought of as a good thing. And, protecting the environment is also thought of as a good thing.
Yet, the two are not compatible. Google search for “fuel used by ocean-going cargo ships and tankers.” You’ll discover that those huge shipping vessels use from 70 to 400 TONS of fuel per “HOUR.” And, the most-used fuel is a thick residue, almost tar, that’s left over from oil refining. It is an extreme pollutant.
Wouldn’t it make more economic and environmental sense for nations to make and consume all they could at home and only trade for what they don’t have or can’t make?”
Just something to think about. May the new year of 2026 be great for you.
