Proud to be an American

My nephew, serving in Afghanistan, holding the star portion of the flag on this mountainside. They did not exactly retake this hill, but did climb up as part of training they were doing with some of the locals. JR graduated from West Point in 2009 and I could not be more proud of him!

Not so fast, people!

In watching the news this weekend, and even some before, there is again a huge push (no pun intended) to get Chris Christie into the race for the presidency for 2012. I am a fan of his on some issues, but Chris is totally off the mark on others. One of the radio shows I watch/listen to plays some sensual music when they talk about Chris Christie and his fiscal policies, but when he goes off on the goofy stuff like ‘global warming’, illegal aliens not being illegal, and tightening gun laws, the music stops. He would be a one-hit wonder, I am afraid, and not a worthy enough opponent. Might even be a ‘frying pan into the fire’-type of situation. I am thinking that perhaps political insiders are pushing this as a ‘bait and switch’ maneuver. Never mind his weight, which I think is a non-issue. Does Taft come to mind?? It was not a problem, as far as I am aware, in those days, but then they didn’t have instant publicity and live footage of events. Our society pays far more attention to symbolism (or appearance) over substance. (“It’s society, isn’t it, Jerry? Oooh, I hate society!” George to Jerry, on “Seinfeld”).

My blankets felt nice and snuggly warm this morning as the low temps were in the 50’s last night, and I kept my patio doors opened while I slept. That might account for my sore throat, now that I think about it…Not only is my throat raw but I am nursing a tired back. I think I must be getting old, although these two maladies are not necessarily age related, or age exclusive. I know kids with sore throats! The other night I swept the floor in the kitchen which seems to have been too much for my back…can that be true??? Come on…really? Most of the afternoon I rested it and hope I can return to normal activity soon.

Monday is a busy one for me with Bible study, lunch, and then Ladies’ Group in the evening. We are having a used book sale at church and Judy reported that it seemed like the proceeds have been good after the first day. We are asking 25 cents for soft covered books, and fifty cents for hard covers, with the proceeds going to the “Friends of C****” program. I only took two soft covers over and, of course, did not buy anything from the stacks. Last year after the Great Flood, I went through many of the books, the kids’ books and such, too, and sent them to the yard sale at Christ Lutheran. Kids’ books are quite popular at these sales and I saw many going out the door of the Fellowship Hall before and after worship at GS. My books which were cast offs I gave to Mary Lew and she told me a week ago that she has read every one of them!

Recent sunrises have been so spectacular and I have to wonder if it is because the humidity is lower. The colors are sharp and, if they had an odor, would be pungent. Many folks are just loving the cooler weather but as you know, I am a huge fan of hotter weather.

I am not sure how I feel about the publicity being shown to the protestors at Wall Street. If no one is looking, perhaps it will go away. On the other hand, the nation needs to see what our ‘future’ looks like in action. The millionaire actors and activists are going down to the site to urge the crowd on, who are supposedly protesting corporate greed. They likely have no clue what they are opposing, and not one of those actors appear in movies for free! When asked what they are marching against, the kids often say, “I don’t know…I was just invited to come down to protest…” It’s cool to do this, “second generation protestors”, I have heard them described. IF the Unions (who actually organized these protests: Stephen Lerner, of SEIU fame, planned this current protest) are so opposed to greed, why do they keep making demands for more for their members? When is greed not greed? It makes me think about how estranged couples kill the one that is dumping them. “If I can’t have her, no one can!” This comes down to a 10^th Commandment issue, I believe.

Lunch was so delicious after church, with one of Judy’s granddaughters joining us. Morgan was a little sweetheart, getting her uncle Mike to play tic/tac/toe with her while we waited for our meals. Terri T. was with us as well. Chili’s offers a trio appetizer that I like for my meal, choosing the mini-burgers, chicken tenders, and potato skins. Half came home plus some of Terri’s extra onion strings. I didn’t want to eat them for lunch because I had to help my upstairs neighbor, Nancy, with saving some files on her computer and did not wish to breath onions on her! The Jags lost, sadly again, but the Packers won. Makes for a good day over all!