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A short video of gratitude this Memorial Day weekend.

We wish you a restful and safe holiday weekend.

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In the Horatio Hornblower series by C.S. Forester, Acting Lieutenant Hornblower is quoted, "Each of us has a maggot in our past which will happily devour our future."

Horatio speaks the truth eloquently from the pen of C.S. Forester. I have been guilty of allowing my past to erode my future... what about you? Are you where I have been before, or have you experienced the moment of truth as I have? The maggots of our past may be exterminated, but only when you decide for yourself you tired of feeding them with your present and your future. Begin to starve them out today.

Alumnus Walter Wilhoit says Robert Frost became his favorite poet when his LCU professor, Elaine Perrin introduced him to this poem. Enjoy.

I went to turn the grass once after one

Who mowed it in the dew before the sun.

The dew was gone that made his blade so keen

Before I came to view the leveled scene.

I looked for him behind an isle of trees;

I listened for his whetstone on the breeze.

But he had gone his way, the grass all mown,

And I must be, as he had been,-alone,

‘As all must be,' I said within my heart,

‘Whether they work together or apart.'

But as I said it, swift there passed me by

On noiseless wing a 'wildered butterfly,

Seeking with memories grown dim o'er night

Some resting flower of yesterday's delight.

And once I marked his flight go round and round,

As where some flower lay withering on the ground.

And then he flew as far as eye could see,

And then on tremulous wing came back to me.

I thought of questions that have no reply,

And would have turned to toss the grass to dry;

But he turned first, and led my eye to look

At a tall tuft of flowers beside a brook,

A leaping tongue of bloom the scythe had spared

Beside a reedy brook the scythe had bared.

I left my place to know them by their name,

Finding them butterfly weed when I came.

The mower in the dew had loved them thus,

By leaving them to flourish, not for us,

Nor yet to draw one thought of ours to him.

But from sheer morning gladness at the brim.

The butterfly and I had lit upon,

Nevertheless, a message from the dawn,

That made me hear the wakening birds around,

And hear his long scythe whispering to the ground,

And feel a spirit kindred to my own;

So that henceforth I worked no more alone;

But glad with him, I worked as with his aid,

And weary, sought at noon with him the shade;

And dreaming, as it were, held brotherly speech

With one whose thought I had not hoped to reach.

‘Men work together,' I told him from the heart,

‘Whether they work together or apart.'

I don't fancy myself a grammarian, however I have my list of words and phases I love to hate. I'll start with one I have mentioned enough times that I now generate rolling eyes, but it makes me feel smart to know something.

1.

In the photo above there is a podium and I assume you spotted it right away. You know it is the platform upon which the speaker will present from, don't you? A podium in a raised platform, that is why the emcee will often call someone up to the podium. We draw conclusions based upon what we can see, and all we can see from our seats is typically the lectern.

2.

Do you have a hot water heater in your house? I seriously doubt you do. Hot water does not need to be heated, you have a water heater.

3.

Where is your hot water heater at? I don't think I need to explain this one, so just let me say how refreshing it is to hear someone ask, "Where is your water heater? If you say both versions out loud, the later may give you chill bumps from beautiful simplicity.

4.

Save over $100! I would prefer to save more than $100. When making reference to a quantity, you have more than (amount) or you have fewer than (amount).

5.

Now, here is the one I struggle with and try to use a different word.

Affect vs. Effect

I know affect with an "a" is typically used as a verb. The action had an influence, so it was an affect.

Effect with an "e" is the result of the influence. I know the rule but I still can't make sense of it. Is it possible to have grammar blindness the same way you might be color blind?

The examples for using the two words correctly don't help me. I will express my gratitude to former co-workers, Renee Underwood and Lori Walling for trying to explain this one to me in ways I can understand. You have taught me more than 100 grammar lessons, and that has had a very positive affect - no wait - effect, or is it affect on me? Either way, I appreciate you both.

(No podiums were negatively effected during the writing of this post.)