Thoughtful Hodgepodge questions

This week's Hodgepodge questions are making my brain sizzle.   After some thoughtful time, here are my answers to Joyce's questions.  How would you answer them?

1. Americans will celebrate Labor Day this coming weekend.  Do you know what we're actually celebrating?  (Without consulting Google or Wikipedia, ahem).   What's a project you're currently "laboring" over?

Ok.  I hope I don't look too stupid right off the bat here.  I believe Labor Day was created as a national holiday to honor the hard working people of our country who "labored" during the wars years.  It was considered a day to rest but also a day to celebrate the sweat that was required to keep the country strong.   Am I close??    
My project:  I continue to labor for the women "laboring" at our nearby hospital who do not have a support system and are in need of basic items for their infant.  With the help of my church, I have set up a layette program and each week I "deliver" (get it?) 4 or 5 baby layette baskets to the hospital.  The nurses distribute them to new mothers in need.  The baskets have a few onesies, a receiving blanket,  baby wash & shampoo, baby wipes, diapers, and other items that I find or are donated:  pacifers, hats, bath towels and washcloths, and a little stuffed animal.  I try to put a handwritten note in each too.
(Donations are ALWAYS accepted. Email me for details.)

2. Labor Day also signals the unofficial end of summer for most of us.  What summer food will you miss the most? 

I think I will miss the great, ripe, juicy tomatos that I have been getting from local produce stands.  Lately I have been making tomato & cheese sandwiches for lunch...AND having a few tomato slices with my dinner. 

3. A well known proverb states "It's easier to seek forgiveness than to ask for permission."  Your thoughts?

Well known?  Not for me Joyce.   Hmmm.   I think the proverb says to me that it is easier to seek forgiveness from God. All we have to  do is ASK and it is forgiven.  Thank you God.  It's a lot harder to ask the person you offended or hurt for forgiveness, especially if you ask them face to face.  It can put a lump in your throat and you might need a bit of a push to say you were wrong and to ask for forgiveness.

4. Food critic, film critic, book critic, art critic. Which hat would like to wear?

Again, after some thought, I would like to be a film critic.  Why?  I think so many movies that are made today are "pointless" and too violent.  I wish Hollywood would try harder to make a movie that has a reason and that will live more than 4 weeks in the theatres.  I admit I am not a sci-fi person. I am not into fast action, car chasing, blow everything up movies.  I like good writing,  I like a touching comedy, or a historically true re-enactment.   Special effects don't impress me.  (Computers can do anything now.)  I have gotten much more careful with my movie dollars because I know that is what speaks to the film industry.  But, saying that, there is nothing better than the experience of seeing a good movie on a big screen as an "event". 

5. When you were a kid, who (besides your parents) was your favorite adult?

Again, I had to ponder this question and it makes me sad that an adult name didn't come right to my mind.  I can think of some adults in my childhood that I thought were kind, but I can't think of one special person who made a difference in my life.   Sad.  I HOPE I can be a special adult in someone's life (besides my own daughters.)  I think that is important to me.  I think children need loving adults in this crazy world.  "It takes a village."   I want to be a role model and I want to show my love and care about all children. 

6. The astronaut, Neil Armstrong, passed away last week. He was regarded as a hero by many generations of people all around the world. Do we still have modern day heroes?  What makes someone a hero?

Another thought-provoking question!  I can remember where I was watching Neil take his step off the ladder on to the moon's surface that July evening.  I think Neil Armstrong was considered a hero by many because he was commited to the cause - and not afraid to do it.  Obviously he trained and trained, and was prepared, and yes, was the right man at the right time in the NASA program.  But, since his historic "first step for mankind" he stayed humble and he considered space exploration his cause.  He was not pompous.   Today it is hard to find a person so devoted to doing something they believe in without looking like it's to make themselves look good.  That's one of the big problems with our politicans today.  They seem to be more interested in impressing themselves and looking good than in making a difference for the people of the country.

In that light, a modern hero?  I think it's the person,  the "unnamed" everyman out there, using their life to better their environment, who care for the people around them, and  go about that business without looking for applause.

7. I never get tired of ______________________ .

My first thought: food!  I never get tired of my favorite coffee drink, Cafe Francais.  I never get tired of peanut butter.   Of mexican food.  And, pizza!
I also never get tired of summertime, I never tire of music, or times with friends and family...  or...evenings on the porch with wine...  or reading a good book....    

8.  My random thought:

Thinking about hurricanes.  I hope and pray Isaac doesn't do much damage to the lives & homes of all the people in the gulf region.  It's getting to mid - hurricane season and I wonder what is coming next.  I live in a region that doesn't get hit by hurricanes that often (coastal SC) but we have had some major ones before I moved here.  In my 6 years of living along the coast I have had few scares and no need to evacuate.  I think my "good luck" with hurricanes can't last forever.  I have a plan ready if needed, but I still worry about my pets and the damage that might happen.