June Cleaver's SITREP

Abide In Him

2010-07-24T05:26:00.000-07:00

I haven't written since my diagnosis of glioblastoma, which is a type of brain tumor. Really we were on a fast moving train between the initial "shadow" that showed up in a CAT scan in St. Loius, to the the full blown diagnosis a few days later back in Kansas at KU Medical Center. It does all seem a bit of blur, especially after the biopsy was done and before radiation treatment began. MD Anderson, the huge cancer medical center in Houston gave us a call with the possibility of operating to remove the tumor. I must say, I made that trip thinking "I don't know about this Lord!"

After a couple days of testing and a special MRI, the Docs said this is a "No Go!" To tell you truth the I had already gotten that message from the Lord! The thing is though that we had make that trip so we could assure ourselves that we got a second opinion, and would never question that we were moving forward in the right direction. God is so good about that reassurance!

Well, we are now done with 4 out of six weeks of radiation and chemo, and aside from being bit fatigued, I am handling it quite well. I have lost some hair, but have very cute hats and scarves for cover (I know, such vanity!).

My family has been such a blessing by taking turns getting me to daily radiation treatments in Kansas; everyone has taken a turn; my son and his fiance, a good friend who just happened to visit, and my sisters. The extra added bonus--quality time with people I love--blessings upon blessings!

That brings me to my whole attitude about having this illness. I know the Lord has this whole thing under control! From the moment I heard the word "shadow" I knew this was a brain tumor and and I also knew the Lord would help me handle everything that would be happening to me. God's grace is sufficient for me. He also gave me a verse about abiding in Him. I am still working on that . . . it means to remain in Him. I intend to do just that!

Biblical Manhood and Womanhood (hey, it needs to be said)

2010-05-31T04:45:00.000-07:00

Years ago after becoming a Christian I wrestled with this . . . probably because I had become entrenched in feminist ideology. After only a few years of studying the scriptures it was all made clear to me. It wasn't complicated at all, God has a plan, a purpose and a design. The Danvers statement helps clarify things in a more succinct manner than I ever could though, and luckily for me they allow for any and all to copy and disperse their well written statement. (It's a sad commentary on the modern church that they had to though, isn't it!)

The Danvers Statement on Biblical Manhood and Womanhood

In December, 1987, the newly-formed Council on Biblical Manhood and Womanhood met in Danvers, Massachusetts, to compose the Danvers Statement on Biblical Manhood and Womanhood. Prior to the listing of the actual affirmations that comprise the Danvers Statement, we have included a section detailing contemporary developments that serve as the rationale for these affirmations. We offer this statement to the evangelical world, knowing that it will stimulate healthy discussion, hoping that it will gain widespread assent.

Rationale | Affirmations

Rationale

We have been moved in our purpose by the following contemporary developments which we observe with deep concern:

The widespread uncertainty and confusion in our culture regarding the complementary differences between masculinity and femininity;

the tragic effects of this confusion in unraveling the fabric of marriage woven by God out of the beautiful and diverse strands of manhood and womanhood;

the increasing promotion given to feminist egalitarianism with accompanying distortions or neglect of the glad harmony portrayed in Scripture between the loving, humble leadership of redeemed husbands and the intelligent, willing support of that leadership by redeemed wives;

the widespread ambivalence regarding the values of motherhood, vocational homemaking, and the many ministries historically performed by women;

the growing claims of legitimacy for sexual relationships which have Biblically and historically been considered illicit or perverse, and the increase in pornographic portrayal of human sexuality;

the upsurge of physical and emotional abuse in the family;

the emergence of roles for men and women in church leadership that do not conform to Biblical teaching but backfire in the crippling of Biblically faithful witness;

the increasing prevalence and acceptance of hermeneutical oddities devised to reinterpret apparently plain meanings of Biblical texts;

the consequent threat to Biblical authority as the clarity of Scripture is jeopardized and the accessibility of its meaning to ordinary people is withdrawn into the restricted realm of technical ingenuity;

and behind all this the apparent accommodation of some within the church to the spirit of the age at the expense of winsome, radical Biblical authenticity which in the power of the Holy Spirit may reform rather than reflect our ailing culture.

Affirmations

Based on our understanding of Biblical teachings, we affirm the following:

Both Adam and Eve were created in God's image, equal before God as persons and distinct in their manhood and womanhood (Gen 1:26-27, 2:18).

Distinctions in masculine and feminine roles are ordained by God as part of the created order, and should find an echo in every human heart (Gen 2:18, 21-24; 1 Cor 11:7-9; 1 Tim 2:12-14).

Adam's headship in marriage was established by God before the Fall, and was not a result of sin (Gen 2:16-18, 21-24, 3:1-13; 1 Cor 11:7-9).

The Fall introduced distortions into the relationships between men and women (Gen 3:1-7, 12, 16).

In the home, the husband's loving, humble headship tends to be replaced by domination or passivity; the wife's intelligent, willing submission tends to be replaced by usurpation or servility.

In the church, sin inclines men toward a worldly love of power or an abdication of spiritual responsibility, and inclines women to resist limitations on their roles or to neglect the use of their gifts in appropriate ministries.

The Old Testament, as well as the New Testament, manifests the equally high value and dignity which God attached to the roles of both men and women (Gen 1:26-27, 2:18; Gal 3:28). Both Old and New Testaments also affirm the principle of male headship in the family and in the covenant community (Gen 2:18; Eph 5:21-33; Col 3:18-19; 1 Tim 2:11-15).

Redemption in Christ aims at removing the distortions introduced by the curse.
In the family, husbands should forsake harsh or selfish leadership and grow in love and care for their wives; wives should forsake resistance to their husbands' authority and grow in willing, joyful submission to their husbands' leadership (Eph 5:21-33; Col 3:18-19; Tit 2:3-5; 1 Pet 3:1-7).

In the church, redemption in Christ gives men and women an equal share in the blessings of salvation; nevertheless, some governing and teaching roles within the church are restricted to men (Gal 3:28; 1 Cor 11:2-16; 1 Tim 2:11-15).

In all of life Christ is the supreme authority and guide for men and women, so that no earthly submission-domestic, religious, or civil-ever implies a mandate to follow a human authority into sin (Dan 3:10-18; Acts 4:19-20, 5:27-29; 1 Pet 3:1-2).

In both men and women a heartfelt sense of call to ministry should never be used to set aside Biblical criteria for particular ministries (1 Tim 2:11-15, 3:1-13; Tit 1:5-9). Rather, Biblical teaching should remain the authority for testing our subjective discernment of God's will.

With half the world's population outside the reach of indigenous evangelism; with countless other lost people in those societies that have heard the gospel; with the stresses and miseries of sickness, malnutrition, homelessness, illiteracy, ignorance, aging, addiction, crime, incarceration, neuroses, and loneliness, no man or woman who feels a passion from God to make His grace known in word and deed need ever live without a fulfilling ministry for the glory of Christ and the good of this fallen world (1 Cor 12:7-21).

We are convinced that a denial or neglect of these principles will lead to increasingly destructive consequences in our families, our churches, and the culture at large.

We grant permission and encourage interested persons to use, reproduce, and distribute the Danvers Statement. Printed copies of a brochure are available for a small fee. Visit the CBMW Store or contact us to place an order.

Rock Out

2010-05-04T14:06:00.000-07:00

When I found out Betty and her husband were going to make me a "Grammy" I immediately wanted to go shopping for baby clothes. Unfortunately, I wasn't going to find out the gender of erstwhile named "Nigel" until he/she was born. Well, that puts a cramp in one's style for buying baby things . . . they are all very gender specific with either football, baseball themes or pink, very pink feminine ruffles.

So, I had to tame my urge with the thought, that OK, I will concentrate on buying one big thing. What one big thing could I get that they would need, and I say need, because the parents involved here are very practical. No frivolous purchases please. Well, then it had to be a rocking chair.

When dealing with infants, if memory serves me correct, when trying to calm them some type of rocking is necessary. Having a chair makes the process so much easier! It's also great for nursing. I expect it will be a stress reliever for anyone involved.

So my quest began. I really would have liked to purchase an antique rocker, but after looking a while without much success I settled on a newly made oak hand-rubbed rocker made by inmates at the Fort Leavenworth DB (disciplinary barracks). Not only are they beautifully crafted used dowels (instead of staples) they come close to the design that Dad of baby-yet-to-be-named favored; the Cracker Barrel wooden rocker. So, hopefully I scored some points there.

Now that the gift is purchased, I await that very special call! My bag is packed, I will load up the rocker and I can be at their home in 4 1/2 hours. Get ready to rock out!

TV Law and Order: NOT

2010-03-22T06:52:00.000-07:00

Last night Ward and I were flipping channels and this show caught our eye. We are not regular followers, we rarely watch any current TV shows, but the idea of a pregnant teen's boyfriend going on trial for killing the unborn baby of his girlfriend by beating it death in the womb caught our attention. As we watched there were subtleties about the case that we couldn't figure out. It became curiouser and curiouser, until BAM it hit us right between the eyes.

The show is Law and Order: Special Vicitms Unit and it was the episode titled Rockabye. Here is TV.com's summary:

After sixteen-year-old Lauren Westley loses her unborn child due to a severe abdominal beating, her father's insistance that Lauren was raped leads detectives to the baby's father, but it isn't long before the detectives realise that Lauren was an active party in her own beating, and the two teens had found it necessary to take the steps they did because the abortion clinic kept putting off Lauren's request for an appointment. Novak faces a tough opponent in her own office when she and Branch disagree over the appropriate action to be taken against Wayne Mortens, the young girl's boyfriend.

Isn't that interesting wording, that the two teens found it "necessary to take the steps they did"? No, they couldn't just have the baby and give it up for adoption, that thought never occurred to them. But I digress, the plot line follows the story as to the plight of their dire situation, that after having tried for two whole weeks to get an abortion. You see the doctor at the abortion clinic said she had a fever at 22 weeks and she shouldn't have the procedure done due to risk of infection. But she called the clinic everyday (gosh sometimes three times a day) for two weeks and then because she was past 24 weeks they NO CHOICE but to take matters into their own hands, gee these poor kids were forced to brutalize the fetus. Oh the inhumanity of it . . . as their case is told in court about how the cruel doctor kept them at bay, the judge realizes in a light bulb moment that here we have a very simple case of medical malpractice! This doctor obviously was subverting abortions!! It was the doctor's fault that they had to kill their baby, oh wait, we're only allowed to call it a "fetus" in court . . . but it was the doctor's fault that they had to terminate the pregnancy in the only way their feeble little teen minds could come up with . . . they pummeled it to death. Having aroused the sympathy of the entire court room, the judge says, let's let these poor kids go. Please see to it that the doctor is arrested on grounds of criminal malpractice (or some such charge).

So the twisted logic of the court seems to say, because the doctor didn't kill the baby, if was his fault the baby was killed!

Now I realize that I am getting all worked up about some idiot television show, except that I am told that these shows are based on real cases. And if that is true . . . God help us all!

Meet Me In St. Louis

2010-03-19T16:38:00.000-07:00

Spring break is always a challenge. Stay home and be bored or venture out and try to do a road trip with the family. This year I got to do a bit of both. The guys (Ward and the Beav) headed off for a four day weekend of college wrestling magic with the finals in Omaha. It is a dream come true for Ward, who wrestled in high school. The Beav is just going along for the male bonding!

I, on the other hand, did a singular road trip of my own to do some serious female bonding. I spent the first half of the week in St. Louis, visiting a getting-to-be-very-pregnant Betty. She and the expectant father-to-be are amazingly informed and calmly ready. They are attending Bradley classes, watching birthing videos, reading and carefully monitoring protein intake. If they were any more prepared they would be having twins!

We went into St. Louis for some shopping and a short trip to the Art Museum. I was scolded by the concierge for loitering too close to a painting, and all I was doing was pointing out some wonderful detail . . . I remarked later how horrible to have a job whose sole purpose is to be negative . . . "You're too close! Step away from the painting! Don't touch the artwork!"
After the museum we went to have lunch at a little Tea Shop in the city. A turkey panini, keemun tea and lemon blueberry cake and oh, I didn't have to eat the whole thing! We split it just the way we used to when having lunches out at Starbucks. I love having a daughter!

I finally got to see the inside of a Trader Joe's and buy some "two-buck chuck". It should really be called "three-buck chuck" now, and really it is an awesome price for fairly decent wine.

We did some other shopping at Whole Foods, whose nickname is "Whole Paycheck" and I can see why, but really what a wonderful store . . . everything a "crunchy-granola-organic-mother-earth hippy" could possibly want.

The best part of the whole trip was seeing my daughter and her husband getting ready for my grand baby! They are waiting to know the sex until birth, which is wonderful but makes it very hard to buy cute little baby outfits. There are no unisex outfits and it has been hard to wait, but we did get to one little shop where I got to purchase the cutest little diapers and covers. It helped the craving to buy all things baby . . . but only a little!

Transformations

2010-02-19T17:17:00.000-08:00

Things are changing. Things cannot remain the same, though we wish it we cannot make time stand still.The next year will be a time of great transformation.

I will go from being a mom to also being a grandmother. That is a change I look forward to. As is the change of having a daughter-in-law. Expanding family is a wondrous and wonderful thing!

Then there is the transformation of the baby of the family, Beav, into a young adult. I know that this has been a gradual thing, and the chrysalis has been dropping away for quite some time now, but there are definitive moments when you feel it is done, a finished thing. That happened today when we had one of those chance conversations while riding in the car together. This young man talked about taking classes next year as a senior that would enable him to get college credits. And he added, "That would be a good thing, don't you think?" Huh?! Is this the same child that was arguing with me six months ago about . . . well, about everything?! These moments can catch you off guard, but, because this is my third child I actually recognize milestones when I see them and savor them.

A more traumatic transformation looms a few months down the road. We will be leaving the military lifestyle as Ward puts in his retirement papers and heads off to the civilian world. This is a huge change. For over twenty-six years we have lived and loved this way of life. As challenging as it has been, it has also been a source of pride that Ward has been allowed to serve this wonderful nation as a leader of its young men in uniform. He was good at it, and I like to think I was good at supporting him in doing his job well.

However, we won't look back with any regrets. We look forward to finding out what God has planned for us next. Stay tuned for how he helps us become first time home owners and transition out into "the real world."

Dinner with Robert Gates, Kansan of the Year

2010-01-30T09:01:00.000-08:00

Ward and I were in Topeka last night to celebrate the 149th birthday of Kansas at the annual Native Sons and Daughters of Kansas banquet. No, we are not natives of Kansas, but lucky guests invited by a military foundation. After arriving and running a political gauntlet (some type of Republican convention was taking place in the great hall next to our dinner) we also saw in attendance four of the state's six members of Congress, Gov. Mark Parkinson and U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius. But, this was not an occasion for political hobnobbing. This was an evening to recognize and honor U.S. Defense Secretary Roberts Gates as he accepted the Kansan of the Year award.

Mr. Gates, who is originally from Wichita, spoke of growing up in Kansas, "My youth in Kansas was rich with good and modest people. Surrounded by such people, character and integrity, Kansas values, and Kansas common sense became the bedrock of my life."

And what a life! After serving in the CIA for some 27 years, he went on to Texas A&M University as its president, and from that post he was named secretary of defense. He has served under eight presidents.

Yet, he stood before us last evening as a humble man of sincere character reflecting on lessons he had learned from growing up in Kansas. He spoke in particular of his high school track coach Bob Timmons' life lessons in leadership, integrity, discipline, motivating people and treating all of them respectfully. And because Mr. Timmons was in the room last night, seated at the same table as Mr. Gates' own 96-year-old mother, he got to give a very personal, "Coach, thanks."

Mr. Gates said, "I will always consider myself first and foremost a kid from Kansas who got lucky." He made us also feel lucky to be in the same room on this very special occasion. And when you work inside the beltway in Washington D.C. I would say that is nothing short of a miracle. Good work Kansas!

Do You Remember Your First Car?

2010-01-26T16:34:00.000-08:00

Of course you do! But I am so much older that when my son asked me about it I really had to think. I mean the first car I drove was my Mom's blue Nova, which was a piece of, well, you know! And my brother would also let me borrow his very unreliable blue Ford Pinto hatchback. Seriously, when it wouldn't start we would pop the hood and hit some part of the engine with what ever was handy, and for me it was usually a book. That would dislodge or re-engage whatever part that needed lodging or re-engaging and then the car would start. This was 1973 and I know that my Dad had a truck (that I was not allowed to drive EVER) because one of the cars I was driving was a standard on-the-column and it would always slip ot of gear on my way to work, and this always on a hill! So my Dad said he would follow me to help . . . and you guess it, it slipped out of gear and rolled right back into my Dad's truck. Hey, I TOLD him it would do that! But I guess he thought I would know to brake.

Anyway, after working many hard nights as a waitress at Ramada Inn (my first job) I saved enough to get my own car. This was the era of Datsun and Honda and Toyota and those cute little cars, which of course many of my friends drove. But this is what my $400 could get for me at that time:

It was a light blue 1965 Bonneville. Good grief it was a block long and none of my friends would ride anywhere with me. But it was reliable and got me back and forth to school and work.

New Year, New Food

2010-01-04T15:05:00.000-08:00

We began our New Year with lots of family in and celebrating our favorite thing to do: Eat! For our first dinner I made Julia Child's Beef Bourguignon. A day long process, but very worth it! Savory chunks of tender beef in a butter laced au jus with carrots, mushrooms and pearl onions are ladled over crusty bread. Sigh. Make that a "French sigh!"

New Year's Day was perfect for a foodie as well. We began the day with Belgian waffles, made from scratch by the men of the house. Topped with cherries and whipped cream. Whoah! Did they taste especially good because I didn't have to make them? I did try to sneak in and give advice, but was finally booted out! Hey, I was just trying to show them what "soft peaks" are!!

We put a brisket on for the New Year's Day meal. Non-traditional, I know, but great to feed a crowd that maybe wouldn't have like my German sauerkraut, meatballs and mashed potatotes meal. And to tell you the truth, I liked the brisket better too! I had planned to serve some sauteed green beans, assorted rolls, and baked macaroni and cheese with the brisket. My plans went a little awry due to tobogganing! And my niece brought too really delicious sides; a corn casserole and a pineapple casserole. That together with my yellow baked macaroni and cheese made for a very uniform palette on the dinner plate as I somehow didn't get those green beans cooked! Oh well, it was all delicious! Dessert was Ghirardelli double chocolate brownies topped with vanilla ice cream.

The final morning I made an old family favorite, though to tell you the truth we usually made them for a light dinner or dessert. But I had the ingredients and I knew it was my last chance to make what I grew up calling German Pancakes, but are simply crepes filled with sweetened whipped cream cheese and topped with cinnamon sugar. Oy! Very good, with lots of hot tea or coffee.

Favorite Christmas Ornaments

2009-12-23T05:58:00.000-08:00

Our Christmas tree is a small history of our marriage and family. We still have the first ornament we bought in 1976, but many others have been added since then. Of course some have not weathered the journey over the years, still it is fun to put the ornaments on from the past every year and add to them as well. Here are just a few of my favorites:

Father Christmas is a recent addition and I love his old worldiness, it reminds me of my German heritage.

This great glass blown cowboy boot is all about Texas!!

I got this baseball player because of our love of the game. Sorry Beav that it's not a Royals player, but how can you not love Albert Pujols?!

Betty got this ornament for us a few years back, big surprise there!

In keeping with the in-house rivalry we quickly added this one to the tree.

This kewl dude reminded me of our youngest, so we had to add it.

This is a salute to my favorite soldier!

Cows hold some type of weird fascination for me, so I'm always watching for cow ornaments. There were cows at the stable, right?

For Unto Us A Child Is Born

2009-12-22T07:00:00.000-08:00

This is the time of year when I long to hear Handel's Messiah and reflect on God's goodness in sending a Saviour. (Aren't I lucky that we have modern technology and youtube?!) All around me is the crass commercialism of this high holy day, our Christmas! Many people who take the holidays off don't even know why!! How can that be? I realize that traditions passed down often get watered down to meaningless occasions, but this is a religious holiday. If you are a Christian this may be the biggest!

I always get overwhelmed with emotion when I think of how it all happened. I accept it whole-heartedly with a fascination as to how all of the details were foretold, came to pass and now here we are centuries later marveling in song as to God's very presence in our lives. Because if you accept the premise of the Christmas story you have Jesus still alive and involved intimately in your life. And it is more than just getting carried away by the beauty of the music, it is my very soul rejoicing with the angels. That is what listening to this is like for me!

For those who think of Christmas as just another break from school or work, I feel so sorry for you. You are missing the meaning of the most glorious event the world has ever known. It is not about presents, or food, or family gatherings, though those things highlight the importance of Christmas. Listen to Handel's words taken from Isaiah 9 verse 6 :

For unto us a Child is born, Unto us a Son is given: And the government shall be upon His shoulder, And His name will be called Wonderful, Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.

Lady Emma Fire Stryker

2009-12-12T08:07:00.000-08:00

We chose her from a large litter of sweet Golden Retriever pups because she was the one who came and laid her sweet little head on our feet. Plus she was one of the few that hadn't been spoken for! She came with "papers" and we had to follow guidelines for naming her, the name "Fire" had to appear in her title. That was easy as our military posting at the time was Fort Lewis, Washington, home of the newly built "Stryker" armored vehicle. The name of Emma was chosen by Betty for her obvious love of Jane Austin novels, so it was a good fit all around!

Her first year at Lewis in our home in DuPont was filled with sweet memories of a gangly puppy who did not like to be alone, lasted for only part of her long walks and had to be carried home, but then grew more spunky with each passing month. I do remember her getting frisky with the neighbors Australian Shepherd through a hole under the fence. They would have made great playmates, but the other dog in that yard was a cantankerous old black lab and he sent Emma yelping to our back door with a nip to her nose! She learned a valuable lesson that is good for us as well; don't stick your nose into your neighbor's business!

She and our cat Mr. Knightley sorted out the hierarchy of the animal kingdom within the household very quickly. With a few well placed kitty swats, Emma learned to respect the fat cat and the coexistence of the two species went along just fine.

We moved to Carlisle, Pennysylvania for Ward's one year War College course. Carlisle is a tiny postage stamp sized post, but it did have some great walking areas and even an area designated for dogs. We took advantage of that area to let Emma run free until one fateful day in late fall when she chased a squirrel right through an open area in the fence. Just as I called our for her to come back, she turned but was still struck by a car. She came back through the opening with a broken leg! We were mortified, and got her to the local vet. After x-rays he said he was too complicated a fracture for him to set, so he bandaged it and we made an appointment for a vet specialist located two hours away the next day. I will never forget that night as Emma lay next to our bed. She would whine with the pain, but as soon as Ward reached over to touch her, she would be silent and rest again. Her human touching her did that much for her!!

How we got through those painful months of recuperation is a blur. It was slow and cumbersome because of the pins and trips two hours away to the vet, but early in the spring the pins were out and the cast was off, but sadly her leg would never be quite healthy.

We made a trip that summer to my brother's cabin in Colorado. We did an overnight which was a few miles hike in and out and Emma seemed to handle all of that walking just fine. I remember a friend of my brother's visiting us at his cabin. The deck is raised and there are about 10 open wooden stairs to climb from the back yard to get there. His friend had his two large labs and my brother has a smaller lab, and then there was our wounded warrior, Emma. The dogs were getting along fine, but this gentleman decides he needs to clear the deck of all animals and starts shoving them with his foot down the stairs. I see this and in my mind's eye I am doing the slow-motion "no-o-o-o" but it is too late. Down they all go . . . and when Emma returns she is limping! Oy! She favors her leg for several days, and then all seems well.

After Carlisle we move to Fort Leavenworth. Emma adjusts well with each move, but we notice odd things about our girl. She licks everything in sight. It is an annoying habit! We ask the vet about it and he can offer nothing but, "probably allergies." She eats everything that is not nailed down. On more than one occasion I have to use the old trick of "one-part hydrogen peroxide to one-part water" to get her to throw up various harmful things she has ingested, to include bags of Dove chocolate (I mean the entire bag!), pans of brownies, loaves of bread, bars of soap, and even parts of chemical fire logs! Occasionally her stomach adventures lead to serious upsets so we would put her on a bland diet of chicken and rice until things returned to normal.

For all that, Emma was the sweetest dog I have ever known. Her temperament was beyond passive, especially with other dogs! When we decided to get Kip, our black-lab-hound mix pup, I became concerned that this little two month old Kip was too aggressive to Emma!! Kip was just too Alpha for our Emma. With help from a trainer, I learned to become the Alpha in our home and got control of the situation.

I can't believe that just a little over a week ago Emma was her happy, sweet self. We had noticed some odd things, just a bit of drooling and took her to the vet on a Friday. Early Sunday morning she died. The vet was as shocked as we were. He had done blood work, checked her lungs. He thinks it may have been a tumor. Whatever it was it came in by storm and took her with lightning speed.

This week my heart still can't believe she is gone. I am troubled by the thought that we should have done more. But I do rest in the fact that we gave her a good home and loved her well, though not as much as she loved us!!

The Best Things In Life Are Not Things

2009-12-02T11:45:00.000-08:00

Finally have a few moments to write about Thanksgiving. Ward and I and the Beave flew down to Texas to spend the holiday with my sister's family. Betty and Wally and their significant others joined us. Between the two families that made twelve for Thanksgiving dinner. That's a lot of pumpkin pie!!

This holiday was one of so many new beginnings. Where to start with a heart that is so full?

Betty and her husband are expecting! She is barely "showing" but feels the affects of the pregnancy fully, but is hoping the morning sickness will soon be over once she gets well into the second trimester. I am so excited about becoming a "Gram" and I am hoping that somehow this little family will live closer that halfway across the country. That's for God to decide. But he's been pretty good to us so far.

And then Wally introduced everyone to his future bride. We made the trip over to meet his future in-laws. All doubts were put to rest when her mother talked about how she had prayed for a special young man, and how her prayers were answered by my son! I get goosebumps just thinking about this. And that evening I was overcome with emotion and thankfulness.

You see, I too have prayed for all my children from birth. One of the big things on that prayer list was for spouses "after the Lord's own heart." Two times now that prayer has been answered with more than I could have hoped for!!

Since I have been home I have been reflecting on the Lord's goodness. The turkey and pies are gone, but my Thanksgiving is not over yet. The best things in life are not things!!

Is It Mean To State The Truth?

2009-11-23T04:52:00.000-08:00

In the following article the author hits the nail on the head about why we as Christians cannot condone what God calls a sin. Why then do I always feel like I am hurting peoples feelings if I should mention this?

If we saw someone we know and love trying to rob a bank would we not think to try and talk them out of it? Is this particular sin any different because it involves sex? I have some friends who are not persuaded that this is one of the issues God cares about . . . but I believe God cares about all sins equally and for us to remain silent is just wrong, and we will be judged for that silence. I think it is just too convenient for us to remain silent, and silence can be interpreted as agreement.

I'm certainly not saying to go out and harass homosexuals. I myself, am much like the dinosaur in the movie Toy Story; I don't like confrontation! But we should be able to state an opinion when asked, gulp, about gay marriage. How does one engage in that type of dialogue without being considered "homophobic, intolerant, wingnut, etc., etc." I don't know, but I am working on it!

Why sin cannot be condoned by state

On Being American With No Hyphen

2009-11-01T04:30:00.000-08:00

Just a short thought:

Theodore Roosevelt’s ideas on being an AMERICAN in 1907. “... it is an outrage to discriminate against any such man because of creed, or birthplace, or origin. But this is predicated upon the person’s becoming in every facet an American, and nothing but an American...There can be no divided allegiance here. Any man who says he is an American, but something else also, isn’t an American at all. We have room for but one flag, the American flag... We have room for but one language here, and that is the English language... and we have room for but one sole loyalty and that is a loyalty to the American people.” - Theodore Roosevelt 1907

My evening with the patriotic Mr. Park, who came to this country in 1977 and stayed and became a citizen who knows the history of this country and why it is a great nation, and is not a Korean-American, but an AMERICAN, reminds me that we should never take for granted the humble beginnings of all who came here. My own mother is a naturalized citizen, from Germany, and has never taken her rights, or responsibilities, for granted. She votes in every election. She stays current on what is happening, and of course her blood pressure goes up watching the nightly news. She has never been a German-American. She is an AMERICAN with proud German roots.

An Evening With Mr. Park of Lawrence, Kansas

2009-10-31T07:51:00.000-07:00

We are lucky again in this assignment at Leavenworth in that Ward and I get invited to all of the International events. Last night was the quarterly dinner in which all participants bring a dish to share. It is an international potluck! With over eighty countries represented, there was everything from ceviche to Korean glass noodles to Canadian moose milk. But although the cuisine is sublime, it is not the best part of the evening. Meeting new people, that's the sublime part of the night!

Mr. Park, of Lawrence, Kansas, was my dinner partner to my left. And because the gentleman to my right was the director of the event he was kept busy with keeping things running smoothly, I found myself for the most of the dinner, engaged in conversation with this TaeKwonDo philanthropist from the university. Mr. Park provides trips for foreign students to tour the university and to get into games, play golf and if they and their host country are interested a way to attend the university for a year after attending CGSC here at Fort Leavenworth. He was telling me how many foreign students had done this in the past and had gone on to become heads of state.

As the evening went on we spoke together about Seoul, where I have lived briefly and where he was from originally and how he came to come to the U.S. and become a citizen. We talked of the differences between Japan and Korea. And Mr. Park amazed me with his candor, but also his love of his adopted nation. He is an American now and a patriot! Wow, his knowledge of history and his point of view in that our country is one that, "never asks for a fight, but when called out goes in full force. And we never nationalize those countries we defeat! We help them rebuild and then get out." Of course he went on to say that did you know that Japan has never apologized for Pearl Harbor, and that we need to keep an eye on them even now. I also remember that not only did they never apologize to Korea for the atrocities that took place even before WWII, there was a controversy even when we were there in 2000-2002 over that part of history in their textbooks. I am amazed that the two countries were able to share hosting the World Cup!

The dinner portion was over too soon, and a DJ began playing tunes and the one thing that seems to be truly universal among the students began. The dance! I was mesmerized be a particular Italian officer who, being single, took over the floor with any available female dance partner he could find. Ah, to be twenty (OK, thirty!) years younger and to do the salsa! Ay carumba! Next time I am going to bring a camera to capture the sheer fun of this . . . did I mention that the students were all dressed in their native costumes?

Home Sweet Army Home

2009-09-29T09:22:00.000-07:00

Here is a photo taken yesterday of our home at Fort Leavenworth. Great old Army house. Looks very nice doesn't it? Inside there is roughly 4700 square feet of wife killer dusting, vacuuming and stair climbing. Let's play word semantics and call the interior charming and rustic. Or as Betty commented on the kitchen the first time she saw it, "wow, Mom, you could so decorate retro!" Yes, I surely could. My moniker is June Cleaver, but I'll cast my pearls away if they would tell me they'd remodel the kitchen!

Plectranthus

2009-09-28T15:18:00.000-07:00

I have a new favorite fall plant--Plectranthus--or Mona Lavender. I don't have anything against the ubiquitous fall mums, except they are so ordinary and common. The Mona is stunning! I paid as much for it as I would have for the boring old mum, but the colors are magnificent in their light purple flowers and deep green leaves, the underside of which are variegated deep plum. I took the plastic wrap from around the body and this plant just unfolded into grandeur. And if I am careful I can winterize it and keep it for next summer.

I hope I can keep it alive.

Blooming Where You Are Planted

2009-09-23T10:41:00.000-07:00

Army spouses have long used the phrase "bloom where you are planted" to help us feel good about being constantly uprooted and replanted.

The last couple of moves I think the Lord has expanded that and used flowers to help me know that we are where He wants us. Five years ago when we moved from Fort Leavenworth, Kansas to Fort Knox, Kentucky he used a sunflower. The sunflower is the Kansas state flower and I came to love that simple yellow bloom, probably because I really enjoyed our time in Kansas. It was a good fit for our family. The sunflower became symbolic of a warm, folksy community, where kids still gathered in the summer for pick-up baseball games. And I adopted the sunflower as my logo. It was on my business cards, stationary and even in a potted plant in our home.

That made the move to Fort Knox a little painful for us. We had been in our new home for about three weeks and I was still feeling a bit glum about it. I was walking the dogs and when returning from the walk I happened to notice a small sunflower in among our bushes. There were no other flowers planted in that area. It was a fluke. Or as I took it, a sign from God! That one lone sunflower said to me that we were where we needed to be at that time. From that point on I looked for what He wanted me to do there at Fort Knox.

Then when our time at Fort Knox was supposed to come to an end after two years, Ward was asked to do an overseas assignment. He didn't have to go. We prayed about it and the decision was made. Still, last August, when I was out on a run and feeling lonely and overwhelmed, I questioned that decision. And then I looked up and saw an entire field of sunflowers! It was an affirmation that what we were doing was right. And this field of sunflowers had not been there the year before! I asked and it was due to some construction and new dirt in the field . . . or was just placed there just for me at a time when I needed it!! Because that's the way the Lord works.

This year we made a move again. This time away from Fort Knox and the wonderful friends that He had provided for us there. It was made even more heart-wrenching by the death of a dear friend and the timing seemed impossible.

We've been here at Fort Leavenworth almost two months and I'm still a bit dazed by the move and leaving those close ties. But here's the thing. Last week I was walking in our yard after clearing some land mines (hey, they are big dogs!) and coming along the side of our house I see a single yellow rose. This on a nearly dead rose bush that Ward and I had just weeks before thought about removing because it looked so bad and stubbly. We had cleared away most of the weeds but just hadn't gotten around to the hard digging out part. But there it was! And how I love yellow roses . . . so once again the Lord gives me a sign that this is where we need to be! The bush is a scrappy, haphazard mess. But zoom in on that beautiful single yellow blossom and tell me that doesn't give one hope. It's going to be okay.

Great Blue

2009-09-22T07:54:00.000-07:00

Yeah, I finally get to post a pic of the Great Blue Heron that I see almost daily on my walk around Merritt Lake here at Fort Leavenworth.

Isn't he something? Ain't he a beaut!? He cooperated so very nicely in August when I went down to the lake, without the dogs!
I made a special trip back down to the lake hoping to find him and capture him on film. It took several attempts, as I usually spot him when walking the dogs in the early morning or after dinner time. I would get home, leave the dogs, grab the camera and usually by the time I got back to the lake he would be done with his morning feeding and off to the river, I'm guessing.

Anyway, this morning in late August he was feeding around the edge of the lake and I just followed. I stayed well back and didn't seem to bother his searching for fish at all.

Hitting The Wall

2009-09-08T09:51:00.000-07:00

This happened to me the last time we moved into a 4700 square foot home. I've hit the wall in home decorating. Actually, I'm hitting several blank white walls!

We did quite well the first couple of weeks. Ward unpacked the boxes and organized them so it should have been easy to put things up. But no, this is an over one hundred year old house and it's going to take some time to make it feel like a home. That's because we have a budget of course, but more than that, there are just too many huge areas of space to cover.

The dining room was the easiest. We have a fireplace and that's a great place to place a picture. Between windows, a built in china hutch and my own china hutch there's not too much empty wall space. But the kicker here is that there is a wall ledge that splits the room horizontally and it breaks too high to even place pictures on. Hmmmm?

The kitchen and dining room went together relatively simply with standard items, although I had to use sheers on the four large living room windows because the walls couldn't support anything heavier without major drywall repairs. Ouch! Not going there.

The real trouble I am having is with the bedrooms on the second floor. Two of those will be guest rooms. We placed single twin beds in each of those, and we had some furniture for one room. But they still look rather empty and cold.

That's really what "decorating" is all about. You want your home, not so much as a showcase, but as a warm and inviting place for your family and friends to congregate.

I am so not there yet. And Army families don't have the luxury of time, of settling in over the years and adding a piece here and a something there over the years. After three years at Fort Knox we were just getting the feel of comfortable . . . now at Fort Leavenworth we have to begin again and get a whole new vision.

I'm having trouble with that. Sigh.

A Recipe Worth Sharing: Tear Soup

2009-08-31T11:54:00.001-07:00

My friend Laura shared with me the title to a book someone gave her on healing after a loss. The title of the book is Tear Soup. Laura, who recently lost her wonderful, exuberant and loving husband to brain cancer said it was a help to her. I picked it up because I am also going through my own grieving process at the loss of this exceptional man who I counted as a friend, knowing full well that what I am experiencing is nothing, not even a tiny scintilla close, in comparison. Still, it has affected me deeply as a personal loss; and the sadness and empathy I feel for Laura is overwhelming.

Here in this little book is a short story for all who walk through that valley. It is illustrated brilliantly, saying things like "Not fair, bad news, big disappointment, serious heartache, profound loss, major loss and more than I can bear," which all go into a pot with "the memories, all the misgivings, all the feelings and all the tears she needed to stew in the pot over time."

In a simple, yet poignant manner this book speaks about how to grieve. In our fast paced culture we have lost the art of grieving. And it is an art. No two people grieve the same. And why should they?

My grief for losing Mark will be a totally different recipe than Laura's, but we can share a bowl from each others pot. And listen. And cry. And laugh. And remember. This sweet little book doesn't tell us anything we don't already know instinctively, but reading through it reminds us that it's Okay to go about it in our own good time and way, using our own individual recipe and ingredients.

On Pulling Up Roots

2009-08-17T07:53:00.000-07:00

And having to replant!

We have moved. This move was pretty much like all of our others. The packing up at one end, racing to the new post with both cars stuffed to the max with luggage, the kid, the animals and various and sundry items needed to feed them.

But this time was so different. Moving is usually a hard emotional experience, it is one of the top stressful situations you can have in your life. But we had more than that on top of it. We had the roller coaster ride of additional stresses. The first being that Ward returned home from deployment. We have taken enough life management courses with the Army and we know that there can be a huge adjustment time, but we didn't get that. We had to pack out in one week!

On top of that was the death of a good, good friend that very same week. We had expected it, but maybe not quite so soon. God's timing is always good and to be trusted. We were able to be there for the final goodbye. But now my best friend and I are miles apart during this heavy duty grieving. I can't look out the window, see her and run and give her a hug or just run over to talk. The need to do that seems to create another huge sadness for us both.

So between unpacking and painting walls there is weeping. And a husband who probably doesn't understand though he tries.

This too shall pass.

I no longer try to force God's hand, but I wait patiently. I have learned something through walking with Him all these years. He will give me something to do here. He will help me replant the roots and it will be something that will delight my heart.

This Situation Stinks!!

2009-07-10T16:23:00.000-07:00

Our hound-lab mix scooted out the front door last night around 9:30 p.m. I grabbed the lead and hustled after him because on the rare occasions that he gets loose he heads straight for the creek in back of our housing area. It's stinky and sludgy and full of high weeds which makes it hard to get him out, especially since the hound part of him gets fresh scents of all kinds of wild critters; we have deer, coyote, raccoons, foxes and oh yes, SKUNKS!

And Kip found him one of those last night; I can't believe that in my 60 second lapse time he had gotten himself sprayed!! I found him thrashing about in the tall weeds and at first thought he was fighting with some animal. He came quickly when I called him, but oh . . . the smell!!

I learned some things last night. First if your dog gets sprayed by a skunk, keep him outside of your home until he's cleaned!! I took him in because I wanted to check him for wounds. He was OK on that . . . then I googled to find what would clean him up the best. A solution of hydrogen peroxide, baking soda and a small squirt of dishwashing liquid did wonders. Unfortunately that is not a solution I can use of my carpets, walls, or anything else that came into contact with Kip, including visitors!

So I now have a very sweet smelling dog and a super-stinky home!! Oy! And my packers come Monday. Oy!! Febreeze doesn't cut it with this odiferous malady. I'm trying white vinegar sprayed on everything and getting all of my smaller rugs outside to air.

Ah, the visiscitudes of life!!

Home At Last!

2009-07-06T16:23:00.001-07:00

This picture says it all!!

Tie A Yellow Ribbon

2009-07-06T09:07:00.000-07:00

I love this tradition!! Ward is on on his way home and the yellow ribbons go up to welcome him back. Our front porch declares to the neighborhood that a soldier is home from a deployment and the blue star in the window can come down . . . until next time.

My Son As A Comic Strip Character

2009-06-29T18:05:00.000-07:00

When the Beaver was about five years old we compared him to Calvin; he had so many of the characteristics of that cute, but devious little boy and he even had his own stuffed Hobbes. The comic strip of Calvin and Hobbes in which the broad themes of the strip dealt with Calvin's flights of fantasy and his friendship with Hobbes, his misadventures, his unique views on a diverse range of political and cultural issues and his relationships with the people in his life, especially his parents.(Wikipedia)

Now that he's older he is soooo much like the 15 year old Jeremy of the comic strip Zits! The strip is set in Midwestern suburbia, and centers on Jeremy as he tries to balance life while hanging out with his friends, developing an awkward relationship with his on-and-off girlfriend, struggling through school projects, practicing to become a rock god, and tolerating his embarrassing parents.(Wikipedia) And of course Ward and I fit the stereotype of the long suffering, but loving parents.

Wild Thing, Part Deux

2009-06-29T08:59:00.001-07:00

The wildflowers are starting to show a few more blooms; there really needs to be a field of them to truly appreciate the variety and colors . . .

But I have my first morning glory bloom!

Wild Thing

2009-06-24T15:23:00.000-07:00

This year I went for totally unconventional plants both in my flower boxes and my little bedding area in front of our quarters. Things are just now beginning to fill in. If we were here until August, I think it would have turned out quite nicely.

Anyway it's different than your standard impatiens bed. The first photo above is from the area in front of the house; the only plants I remember for sure are the yellow lantana; I picked the others for color and dependability. The ivy growing along the brick wall will slowly fill in up to the iron railing and should have pretty blue or purple blooms. It is morning glory and tends to take over.

The two center photos show a little experiment I did. I bought a packet of wild flower seeds and put them in a ground box that is next to our outdoor "patio" area.
They have just started to bloom and for the longest time they looked like a bunch of weeds! Actually unless I get some more blooms, I think it still looks similar to weeds, but I can see that there are a number of heads getting ready to open. Maybe in a week it will look like the a beautiful mountain meadow . . . or not!

Honoring My Children's Father

2009-06-21T10:56:00.000-07:00

Happy Father's Day . . . Soldier Dad!

"By profession I am a soldier and take pride in that fact. But I am prouder -- infinitely prouder -- to be a father. A soldier destroys in order to build; the father only builds, never destroys."
Douglas Macarthur

"My father didn't tell me how to live; he lived, and let me watch him do it."
Clarence Budington Kelland

"The most important thing a father can do for his children is to love their mother." Theodore M. Hesburgh

Bul Go Gi to Biryani, A World of Taste

2009-06-14T09:15:00.000-07:00

That's right the International Group of Fort Knox World of Taste Cookbook is hot off the presses. This little labor of love has recipes from Turkey, Pakistan, Korea, the United Kingdom, Australia, Belgium, Bahrain, Germany,Ecuador, Finland, Canada, France, Brazil and of course the good old USA. Best of all it also has pictures of our club members from the past few years, and every gathering involved sharing at least a small smackeral of something to gnosh on. We do so love to gnosh!

I'm going to share one recipe with you that was made for me by a very special friend from Saudi, though the recipe was written by a friend from the USA.

Djaj Mhammar (Baked Chicken)

1/4 cup olive oil
1/4 cup lemon juice
1 tsp salt
1 tsp oregano
1/4 tsp pepper
1/4 tsp cinnamon
1 chicken, fryer, cut into serving size pieces

Rice
Pine nuts

Combine all of the oil, lemon juice and spices in shallow baking pan. Roll cut up chicken in marinade. Bake in hot oven at 425 degrees F basting occasionally. Bake until tender when pierced with a fork (approximately 30 minutes). Remove from oven and baste again. Serve around a bed of plain rice. Sprinkle rice with cinnamon or pine nuts sauteed to a golden brown. Chicken juices may be reserved in a separate bowl to pour over rice. Serves four.

Two Innings of Redemption

2009-05-30T08:42:00.000-07:00

The Beaver played his last game of the season on Thursday evening. The Falcons had not had much of a season this year with more than half of their games having been rained out, along with a lot of practices. This team had never really gotten the chance to mesh or bond. They had about four returning players and everyone else was new and some had never played baseball.

In fact it had been a Bad News Bears kind of season and spirits were low, especially after the loss two nights before. Attitudes were dismal and a pep talk was in order. I know that Beaver got one from me and certainly the coach gave them one before this last game. The boys didn't drag out onto the field, they hustled on and off. That in itself was a tremendous improvement from the previous game.

Maybe that's what made the difference in their play that night. Fielding was spot on and the bats were moving. The other team noticed it too and you could see that they knew that this was not going to be the cake walk that they had assumed it would be. At the third inning Falcons were down just 1-0 and were at the top of their line-up. The first hitter got on with a single. The second player doubled, but was later put out on a steal. The Beaver got a double. The fourth bunted to bring a runner home. The fifth batter got a double and brought in two! The boys were ecstatic, the dugout was exuberant! I'm not sure exactly how the rest of the inning went but we ended with three runs.

The Beaver pitched and somehow managed to get out of the bottom of third with no hits.

Then came the top of the fourth. Three up, three down for Falcons. Beaver pitches bottom of the fourth, three up, three down.

Now it is the top of the fifth inning; Falcons are up. First batter strikes out. Second batter, strikes out. Beaver is up, gets a single. Fourth batter, who has been a power hitter in the past, but hasn't really been hitting well this year, hits it out of the park!! Falcons are up 5-1 at this point in the game!!

In the bottom of the fifth the other team manages three runs so it is then 5-4. Though they go on to lose this in the bottom of the 7th when the other team gets a single and then a home run, which sounds familiar!

Just for memories sake I am going to mention the sweet pick-off the Beaver had in the third inning, when he got a third base runner out on a bullet fired to third, he never knew what hit him! Then when he was back as short stop in the sixth inning there was a sweet double-play 5-6-3!! Ouch! Runners at second and home, you're outta there!

But somehow the way they played in the third and fifth inning has redeemed the entire lackluster season for these boys!! Not that they were happy to lose, but they gave a good fight and left that field with their heads up having given 100 percent effort. I always thought the statement, "it's not whether you win or lose, it's how you play the game!" was trite, but now I know that it can ring true!

The Measure of a (Young) Man

2009-05-27T08:32:00.000-07:00

“The measure of a man's real character is what he would do if he knew he would never be found out.”

This world can analyze and size you up and throw you on the scales
They can I.Q. you and run you through
Their rigorous details
They can do their best to rate you
And they'll place you on the charts
And then back it up with scientific smarts
But there's more to what you're worth
Than their human eyes can see
Oh, I say the measure of a man
Is not how tall you stand
How wealthy or intelligent you are
'Cause I've found out the measure of a man
God knows and understands
For He looks inside to the bottom of your heart
And what's in the heart defines
The measure of a man
Well, you can doubt your worth
And search for who you are
And where you stand
But God made you in His image
When He formed you in His hands
And He looks at you with mercy
And He sees you through His love
You're His child and that will always be enough
For there's more to what you're worth
Than you could ever comprehend
Oh I say the measure of a man
Is not how tall you stand
How wealthy or intelligent you are
'Cause I've found out the measure of a man
God knows and understands
For He looks inside
To the bottom of your heart
And what's in the heart defines
The measure of a man
You can spend your life pursuing physical perfection
There is so much more
More than ever meets the eye
For God looks through the surface
And He defines your worth by what is on the inside
I say the measure of a man
Is not how tall you stand
How wealthy or intelligent you are
'Cause I've found out the measure of a man
God knows and understands
For He looks inside
To the bottom of your heart
And what's in the heart defines
Oh, I say the measure of
The measure of a man
Is not how tall you stand,
How wealthy or intelligent you are
Oh, I've found the measure of a man
God knows and understands it
For He looks to the bottom of your heart
And what's in the heart defines
Yeah, what's in the heart defines
Yeah, what's in the heart defines
The measure of a man
I know, I know

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UB18zuNyr_I&feature=related

The Incredible Edible . . . Eyeball

2009-05-18T07:54:00.001-07:00

The above is the Beaver's edible science project. None too tasty looking if you ask me, but in reality it actually is. The eyeball consists of white cake covered with frosting, the muscles holding the eye in place are fruit roll-ups; the veins and capillaries are gel tube frosting as is the iris; the cornea is clear gelatin and the pupil is a mini-Reese's cup.

I know what you're thinking. This thing is a good candidate for the Cake Wrecks site, but bear in mind that it couldn't look too professional or the teacher might suspect that the Beaver didn't do this on his own.

Angus You Are Amazing!

2009-05-15T18:58:00.000-07:00

Our friend, Major Angus Benson-Blair accepts a prestigious award on behalf of the Royal Scots Dragoon Band. Click here to check it out:

http://itn.co.uk/tags/classical_brits.html

Classical Brit honour for UK forces

An album recorded by a military band in a sweltering tent in Iraq has won a Classical Brit, beating Katherine Jenkins and Andrea Bocelli to the prize.

Spirit Of The Glen: Journey was named album of the year at the glittering event at the Royal Albert Hall and the band immediately dedicated their gong to Britain's servicemen and women.

Collecting the award, Major Angus Benson-Blair of the Royal Scots Dragoon Guards said: "The award is obviously about the album but I know everyone in the armed forces will see also each vote as supporting us in everything we do.

"So on behalf of every single soldier, sailor and airman I would like to say a huge and heartfelt thank you for every vote for the pipes and drums of the Royal Scots Dragoon Guards. Thank you so much."

It marks the first time that non-professional musicians have won a Classical Brit.

To Angus and his Royal Scots Dragoon Band: Hey! Mukker! Thumbs up to you and yer boys. Watched the clip and you looked in grand fettle. Ye'll no fin the brither o't in monie a lang day!!

The Necklace

2009-05-08T14:55:00.000-07:00

When does a piece of jewelry become a conduit for friendship and community involvement? The answer is when it is shared by thirteen middle aged women with sometimes little in common other than each owning a share in The Necklace.

This biographical read by is the engaging story of how thirteen women from Ventura, California of various backgrounds come to form a circle of friendship based on the communal ownership of one brilliant, stunning diamond necklace. Just the fact that they convinced each other to take part in the experiment is marvelous in my mind. When the necklace gets marked down to $13,000 from $37,000 . . . well, that's an opportunity too good to pass up!

And because I am roughly the age of the participants I can see both the value and the excitement of belonging to such a group. (Shoot, the whole reason I belong to my book club is for the fellowship; it is a benefit that also forces me to read books I wouldn't necessarily choose for myself. Part of the fun is the discussing the books and the differences of opinion that we all have.)

It's good that the author is not a member of this "club" because I believe she then gives us a clearer picture of each of the ladies of this unique sorority. What begins as a challenge proceeds to shape each of the women and touch them in surprising ways. What they learn about sharing the necklace is important; sure it's fun to share a gorgeous piece of jewelry; but it comes with its share of problems as well. The relationships that they build from those struggles are worth far more than the $1000 they each paid for their share.

What did they learn? Why that one of the healthiest things for women is to have and maintain friendships with other women.

Chip and Dale, Applecore, Who's You're Best Friend?

2009-05-06T06:04:00.000-07:00

When we first moved here and saw chipmunks scampering about out front in and around the flower beds it brought back memories of those cute little imps from Disney, Chip and Dale. Now I feel like Donald in the cartoon Donald Applecore.

The little rodents are driving me nuts. They burrow holes all over the lawn and then my dogs dig bigger holes trying to get at them! They tear up newly placed bedding plants. This year I was trying to save a little money and thought I would go with mostly seeds. Everything has been overturned and dug up! Even the window boxes have been thoroughly destroyed. I don't think the seeds will make it. I am going to have to start all over.

Applecore! Baltimore. Who's you're best friend? Not me!!

Enough Is As Good As A Feast

2009-05-03T17:38:00.000-07:00

"Gratitude unlocks the fullness of life. It turns what we have into enough, and more. It turns denial into acceptance, chaos to order, confusion to clarity. It can turn a meal into a feast, a house into a home, a stranger into a friend. Gratitude makes sense of our past, brings peace for today, and creates a vision for tomorrow."
--Melody Beattie

Platitudes of Gratitude

2009-04-29T11:03:00.000-07:00

For the last 100 daze (no that's not a typo) I have been feeling a bit negative. And now I realize that it is up to me to appreciate all of the good things in my life and stop focusing on the bad. It brings to mind the movie Pollyanna where the young heroine of the movie changes a whole community with her "Glad Game." In one scene in the movie she comes upon the Reverend Ford practicing for his hell and damnation sermon for the upcoming Sunday service. Pollyanna's deceased father was also a minister, but his take on life dealt with all of the glad verses of the Bible. John Ford uses the old compare and contrast brilliantly in that scene. If there are over 800 glad verses in the Bible, I hope to find them and along with other platitudes of gratitude, make my way back to the light.

A PSALM OF THANKSGIVING
Make a joyful shout to the LORD, all you lands!
Serve the LORD with gladness,
Come before His presence with singing.
Know that the LORD, He is God;
It is He who has made us, and not we ourselves;
We are His people and the sheep of His pasture.
Enter into His gates with thanksgiving,
And into His courts with praise.
Be thankful to Him, and bless His name.
For the LORD is good;
His mercy is everlasting.
And His truth endures to all generations.
~Psalm 100~

Trashing Miss California

2009-04-22T05:09:00.000-07:00

I find it interesting from the folks who ask us to be tolerant of their lifestyle choices are so publicly NOT tolerant of others beliefs. I would hope that they change the title to "Miss Liberal USA." At least the contestants would know what they are in for.

From Michele Malkin's April 20 column:

Celebrity leech/trash blogger Perez Hilton took to the Internet and TV airwaves to humiliate a beauty pageant contestant who gave what he considered an “offensive” answer about gay marriage. Hilton, inexplicably serving as a judge for the Miss USA contest, asked Miss California, Carrie Prejean, whether she supported the legalization of gay marriage. Prejean respectfully answered: “I think that I believe that a marriage should be between a man and a woman. No offense to anybody out there, but that’s how I was raised.” President Obama, by the way, defines marriage the same way Prejean does.

No matter. Hilton immediately lambasted Prejean as a “dumb b*tch” in a viral YouTube video he taped after the pageant Sunday night. He apologized the next morning for the attack, then retracted his apology, then escalated his divisive rhetoric. On Tuesday afternoon, Hilton told an MSNBC female anchor that he was thinking of an even more vulgar epithet—the “c-word”—as he listened to Prejean’s answer. The female anchor said nothing. Basking in his new role as thought and speech enforcer, Hilton told CNN’s Larry King that beauty pageant contestants must bow to the tolerance mob: “Yes. I do expect Miss USA to be politically correct.”

And apparently, the Miss USA organizers agree. Instead of apologizing for Hilton’s vile behavior, the pageant director of the Miss California contest, Keith Lewis, sent a note to Hilton throwing Prejean under the bus: “I am personally saddened and hurt that Miss CA USA 2009 believes marriage rights belong only to a man and a woman. … Religious beliefs have no place in politics in the Miss CA family.”

But gutter profanity and misogyny do?

While We're On the Subject

2009-04-21T09:33:00.000-07:00

Does gay marriage or even the homosexual agenda affect anyone. Most people think no, and take the position the military is required to take; that of "don't ask, don't tell" and we'll all get along just fine. Unfortunately, the estimated 3% of our population are not satisfied with just quietly leading their alternative lifestyle, they really do want to force their way on the rest of us, who believe me, just want to quietly live our lives. Here some great points made by Bryan Fischer:

Our choice: liberty or the homosexual agenda

Bryan Fischer
Bryan Fischer
April 20, 2009

On the pages of the Idaho Statesman, the Gem State's largest newspaper, Amy Herzfeld recently expressed her determination to continue pressing for legislation at the state level that will grant special workplace protections to those who engage in homosexual and transgender sexual behaviors.

Laws that provide special rights and privileges based on "sexual orientation" or "gender identity" are bad public policy because they represent a clear and present danger to religious liberty, freedom of conscience and freedom of association. Such laws are quickly used to harass, intimidate and punish individuals, businesses and organizations which adhere to traditional, time-honored values regarding human sexuality.

What follows is just a sampling of what happens under "sexual orientation" and "gender identity" statutes:

*A Christian photographer was fined $6,637 by the New Mexico Civil Rights Commission for declining to photograph a lesbian commitment ceremony, even though same-sex unions have no legal status in the state

*Christian fertility doctors in private practice in California have been barred by the state Supreme Court from declining to artificially inseminate lesbian patients on conscience grounds

*Catholic Charities of Boston shut down its work of finding homes for hard-to-place adoptive children because Massachusetts' "sexual orientation" law required staff to place children in homosexual households

*The Methodist Ocean Grove Camp Meeting Association was found guilty of violating New Jersey's discrimination law for declining to rent space to a lesbian couple for a civil union ceremony

*The Cradle of Liberty Boy Scouts of Philadelphia were evicted from a building they had occupied since 1928 because the organization does not allow homosexuals to serve as Scoutmasters, even though the Supreme Court has upheld the Scouts' policy

*eHarmony, a match-making site for heterosexuals, was compelled to create a dating site for homosexuals, despite the fact that hundreds of such sites already exist

A nightclub in the Midwest is being sued for denying entrance to a cross-dressing male because he insisted on using the women's restroom despite the club's common sense concern for patron safety and privacy

This latter case demonstrates that privacy protections for every bathroom, dressing room, and locker room will disappear under "sexual orientation" and "gender identity" legislation.

Congress is even now considering "hate crimes" legislation, which provides enhanced penalties for those convicted of bias crimes against homosexuals.

The problem here is that this gives more protection to some victims of crime than others, which violates the fundamental principle of American justice that we are all equal under the law. Every victim of violence ought to have the full protection of the law regardless of his sexual orientation.

The murder of a cross-dressing man is a cause célèbre in Colorado right now. We join with homosexual activists in wanting his murderer prosecuted to the full extent of the law.

But we want justice for the victim because he was made in the image of God, not because he dressed as a woman and wore breast gels. We want every victim of homicide, regardless of sexual orientation, to have the same legal protection, no less and no more. Every crime, in fact, is a hate crime.

In addition, "hate crimes" laws are "thought crimes" laws. They punish an individual not for what he did but for what he was thinking when he did it. But as Thomas Jefferson said, "[T]he legislative powers of government reach actions only, and not opinions."

Religious freedom is the first right guaranteed to us in the First Amendment. Special rights for homosexuals receive no explicit mention in the Constitution whatsoever. Yet now we must choose between liberty and the homosexual agenda because, it turns out, we can't have both.

John Adams: "Facts are stubborn things . . .

2009-04-20T09:05:00.000-07:00

and whatever may be our wishes, our inclination, or the dictates of our passions, they cannot alter the state of facts and evidence."

Myth # 1:GOD LOVES EVERYONE, SO HOMOSEXUALITY IS FINE. God does love everyone, but not our sins, which is the reason Christ died and rose again--to save us from sin. God loves murderers, anorexics and liars-- and wants these people to stop their damage to others and to themselves. It's the same with homosexuality. Such desires are directly the opposite of positive, healthy choices, and scientists remain unconvinced that any humans are born to become homosexual. Plenty of evidence attests to the damage to the body, mind and spirit resulting from homosexual sex. There are many logical reasons why it remains a sin.

Myth #2: THE BIBLE DOES NOT OPPOSE HOMOSEXUALITY. If the Bible's clear passages against homosexuality can't be believed, it isn't believable on anything. Consider: "You shall not lie with a male as with a woman; it is an abomination." (Leviticus 18:22) And, "For this reason God gave them up to vile passions. For even their women exchanged the natural use for what is against nature. Likewise also the men, leaving the natural use of the woman, burned in their lust for one another, men with men committing what is shameful, and receiving in themselves the penalty of their error which was due." (Romans 1:26-27) And these aren't the sole passages, but the others are similar and convey the same message: Don't.

Myth # 3: THE STORY OF SODOM AND GOMORRAH DID NOT CONDEMN HOMOSEXUALITY. On the contrary, the destruction of the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah (Genesis 19) is quite obviously about homosexuality. The sins of the people were numerous, but their "trademark" sin was homosexual sex, which is apparent in the original passage as well as later Bible references to the event.

In the Genesis account, Lot and his family barricade themselves and their male guests inside their home as protection against the sexual depravity of a gang of males: "Now before they lay down, the men of the city, the men of Sodom, both young and old, all the people from every quarter, surrounded the house. And they called to Lot and said to him, 'Where are the men who came to you tonight? Bring them out to us that we may know them carnally.'" (verses 4-5) Lot begs them to go away, then offers them his virgin daughters instead (one more clear indication of the predators' goal). Despite Lot's questionable parenting here, the mob threatens Lot and accuses him of being judgmental (shades of 2005!), then begins to break down the door. The two guests, who've previously been identified as angels (verse 1), pull Lot back into the house and send a blinding light to disperse the crowd. The angels then instruct Lot and his family to flee the town, which they are about to destroy. This destruction occurs soon afterward.

The Bible provides a laundry list of grave sins committed by the Sodomites: pride and insolence (see Ezekiel 16:49-50; 2 Peter 2: 6-10), gluttony (Ezekiel 16:49), greed and laziness (Ezekiel 16:49-50) disrespect toward God and His true believers(Isaiah 3:9, Ezekiel 16:50), false worship (Deuteronomy 29:23-26; Isaiah 1:10-11; Jeremiah 23:14; Ezekiel 16: 46-56), lies, especially by the prophets/priests (Jeremiah 23:14), violence (Isaiah 1:21) and neglecting the poor and orphaned (Isaiah 1:23, Ezekiel 16:49-50). The main sin mentioned is sexual immorality (Jeremiah 23:14; Ezekiel 46-56, 2 Peter 2:6-18; Jude 7-19), specifically homosexuality (Genesis 19:4-5; Ezekiel 16:50; 2 Peter 6-18; Jude 7-8) Subsequent references to the "twin cities" in both the Old and New Testaments use them as a metaphor or simile for many types of bad behavior, by which we get more information about their nature and reputation. Sodom and Gomorrah are also frequently referenced as examples of total corruption, subject to God's wrath (Genesis 18:20; Deuteronomy 29:23; Isaiah 13:19; Jeremiah 49:18 and 50:40; Amos 4:11; Zephaniah 2: 9-10; Romans 9:29; 2 Peter 2:6-19), including by Jesus Himself (Matthew 10:15 and 11:24; Luke 10:12). Jesus was describing the fate of those cities refusing to hear the Gospel.

Some ill-informed Christian writers contend Sodom and Gomorrah really describes the consequences of being "poor hosts" to strangers, violating customs in the ancient near East. When one reads all the relevant Bible passages, such a pitiful and inadequate explanation is not possible.

Myth #4: REAL CHRISTIAN LOVE CALLS FOR ACCEPTANCE OF HOMOSEXUALITY. On the contrary, the authentic Christian is characterized by devotion to truth and love as revealed by Christ, not mushy sentimentality swayed by today's worldly trends. While Christ is often merciful even to those who have sinned, He never excuses sin or calls it less than what it is. John the Baptist's primary message to the world to prepare for Christ was not a call for tolerance; it was a call to repentance. (Matthew 3:2; Mark 1:4) Christ told the woman caught in adultery, "Go and sin no more." (John 8:11) Love as exemplified by Christ was always framed with His truth and righteousness. Christ said, "He who has my commandments and keeps them, it is he who loves Me." (John 14:21) and "If anyone loves Me, he will keep My word." (John 14:23) Real love starts with love of Christ and all He taught.

The passage, "Judge not, that you be not judged" (Matthew 7:1) cautions us to judge carefully without hypocrisy, not to withhold judgment. Four verses later, Christ completes the thought with, "Hypocrite! First remove the plank from your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother's eye." (Matthew 7:5)

Myth #5: JESUS NEVER SAID ANYTHING ABOUT HOMOSEXUALITY. And Jesus is never quoted on the subjects of rape or wife beating either. Would that mean that these actions are okay? Christ was God on earth, and as such, was part of all the Old Testament teaching on sexual morality. The Jews were more than familiar with this, so there was a lot that didn't need to be said. And Christ specifically described marriage as being "from the beginning" between one man and one woman. (Matthew 19:4-6; Mark 10:6-9).There's no reason not to believe as the apostles did that sexual immorality still included homosexual acts.

Taken from the Ears to Hear website.

"Those who advocate full acceptance of homosexual behavior choose to downplay the growing and incontrovertible evidence regarding the serious, life-threatening health effects associated with the homosexual lifestyle." The Negative Health Effects of Homosexuality Issue No.: 232 by: Timothy J. Dailey, Ph. D.

I take it for certain that the physical satisfaction of homosexual desires is sin. This leaves the [homosexual] no worse off than any normal person who is, for whatever reason, prevented from marrying...Our speculations on the cause of the abnormality are not what matters and we must be content with ignorance. The disciples were not told why (in terms of efficient cause) the man was born blind (John 9:1-3): only the final cause, that the works of God [should] be made manifest in him. This suggests that in homosexuality, as in every other tribulation, those works can be made manifest i.e. that every disability conceals a vocation, if only we can find it --C. S. LEWIS, IN A LETTER TO SHELDON VANAUKEN

Watching Thunder

2009-04-19T09:11:00.001-07:00

That's what we did yesterday! On a whim, Beaver and I and a couple of his pals went to Louisville for the opening event of Derby week, Thunder Over Louisville. The days begins on the Ohio River front portion of downtown Louisville with an air show and continues until the climax of the pyrotechnics power of an awesome fireworks display between two bridges! Thunder is aptly named; between the roar and rumble of jet engines and the booming barrage of the fireworks your ears get quite a workout!

We didn't arrive until 5:30, but thanks to my prayers, we found reasonably priced parking right away and walked the ten blocks or so to the river front. The air show was visible from any part of downtown and the fly-bys and aerobatics were amazing. I kept grabbing arms and saying "wouldja look at that!"

There were crowds, as I knew there would be. We scoped out where we thought we could find a spot and again, "the force" was with us as we found an little park area off the beaten path and actually had seats, albeit cement ones, and a really nice view of the fireworks. We actually had time to get to a Panera to eat a bite and when we came back our spot was still there.

And getting home was just as easy, crowds and all. We walked back to our parking spot and I saw the entrance to our highway a block away. I had envisioned a nightmare of traffic, but again we were good to go and home by 11:30!

It's A Slow Fade

2009-04-16T11:07:00.001-07:00

Be careful little eyes what you see
It's the second glance that ties your hands as darkness pulls the strings
Be careful little feet where you go
For it's the little feet behind you that are sure to follow

It's a slow fade when you give yourself away
It's a slow fade when black and white have turned to gray
Thoughts invade, choices are made, a price will be paid
When you give yourself away
People never crumble in a day
It's a slow fade, it's a slow fade

Be careful little ears what you hear
When flattery leads to compromise, the end is always near
Be careful little lips what you say
For empty words and promises lead broken hearts astray

It's a slow fade when you give yourself away
It's a slow fade when black and white have turned to gray
Thoughts invade, choices are made, a price will be paid
When you give yourself away
People never crumble in a day

The journey from your mind to your hands
Is shorter than you're thinking
Be careful if you think you stand
You just might be sinking

It's a slow fade when you give yourself away
It's a slow fade when black and white have turned to gray
Thoughts invade, choices are made, a price will be paid
When you give yourself away
People never crumble in a day
Daddies never crumble in a day
Families never crumble in a day

Oh be careful little eyes what you see
Oh be careful little eyes what you see
For the Father up above is looking down in love
Oh be careful little eyes what you see

Grass Roots vs. Community Organizing

2009-04-16T04:19:00.000-07:00

What happened all across the United States yesterday gave me hope that Americans are still a thinking bunch of folks. The Tea Parties were held everywhere in cities and towns and that is what a grass roots movement is; average citizens waking up and saying we don't like what's happening in D.C. and we'd like to have our voices heard. Some of the media heard you better than others!

Grass Roots versus Community Organizing; genuine concern and action versus paid pandering!

Here We Go Again, Military Moves

2009-04-14T12:41:00.000-07:00

Moving again, I mean. Only this time we might move off post. We can live on post and that's what we did the last time we were at Fort Leavenworth. But as the Beaver said, "Do we have to live in the drafty old run-down ghost ridden 4700 square foot historic house that sits overlooking the Missouri River?" Well, no, we don't. But that means house hunting and though it is a good time to buy with interest rates so low and the $8,000 tax credit; it's kind of hard to do on the internet!

I have been trying! And when we were there last week over spring break we actually looked at a few homes. Here's the thing, Ward and I can't decide if we should go for the dream house or go more modest. I'm for going more modest and still getting a very nice home, maybe smaller than Ward would like, but I'm thinking of our future. I'm not sure we need a 4300 square foot home when in two years the Beaver will be off to school. But I do want a place where everyone can fit when they visit all at the same time. (Including grandkids, hint, hint.)

Ward may be thinking, and rightfully so, that we have sacrificed a lot over the years living in less than ideal military quarters. We were a family of five squeezed into 1200 square feet at West Point! In Korea we survived monsoons, power outages, bugs and separate quarters (Ward lived two hours away). We've rented some nice places over the years, but the Army's allowance was never enough to cover our costs so we always took a beating when we rented.

The thing is we will probably retire in the Leavenworth area, so we probably should buy to get some equity built up. I'm for the smaller home in a nice established area, and Ward's looking at the upscale, good for entertaining, eat up the budget home! There must be a compromise in here somewhere!!

Stay tuned!

Can She Say That?

2009-03-30T08:34:00.000-07:00

Star Parker can say what a lot of us think because she is black, and the media won't get all over her like they would us.

Gospel of dependence from National Urban League
Townhall.com ^ | March 30, 2009 | Star Parker

The National Urban League has just issued its annual State of Black America report. It provides a troubling statistical snapshot of where blacks stand today in our country.

Like Marc Morial, president of the National Urban League, I'm concerned. But after concern, we part company. We have very different ideas of what it is we should be concerned about.

Morial, I am sure, sees his organization as part of the solution. From what I see, it is a well-funded symptom of the problem.

Shouldn't it embarrass black Americans that one the nation's largest and most prestigious civil rights organizations offers a long list of proposals to improve black life in our country, and every single proposal is a government program?

Government funded jobs as the answer to unemployment, more government money in public schools, government health care, government business loans, government money for retirement accounts, government programs for counseling homebuyers, government worker training programs, government money for building construction, and on and on.

There's not a single proposal that I could find in a several hundred-page report about improving black life that does not start with government. The civil rights movement once was about freedom and liberation. Now it's about government dependency. We should be ashamed.

The report is crafted to disabuse any notion that since we now have a black president, our discrimination woes are "relics of the past." The proof: blacks are "twice as likely as whites to be unemployed, three times more likely to live in poverty and more than six times as likely to be incarcerated."

But with all the statistics reported, methodically ignored is that blacks are little more than 12 percent of the population, yet we account for 50 percent of new AIDS cases, almost 40 percent of abortions, and 70 percent of black babies are born to unwed mothers and grow up in single parent homes.

Please, hold the hate mail telling me that I only want to show the ugly side of black America. No, I want to show the side of black America for which we ourselves are responsible and which really point to where our problems lie.

The National Urban League report talks about black poverty. But it does not bother to point out that hand in hand with poverty are single-parent homes.

That black households with two married parents are not living in poverty and their household incomes are on par with those of white households.

Breakdown in family and values is at the root of poor education, unemployment, and crime as well.

Blacks have the highest church attendance in the country. If we paid attention to the gospel heard on Sunday, we wouldn't think that extorting welfare from taxpayers was the answer to our problems the other six days of the week.

Regarding discrimination, you have to wonder what it will take to get off this convenient excuse. Some 40 million white Americans voted for Barack Obama for president. That is two million more white Americans than voted for John Kerry in 2004.

As the civil rights movement transformed into a government dependency movement, the original focus on law and the U.S. constitution as the vehicles to protect all citizens has been lost.

My friend Pastor Walter Hoye sits in jail in Oakland, California for violating a clearly unconstitutional city ordinance prohibiting him from peacefully standing in front of an abortion clinic offering life literature to the mostly black clientele.

A black pastor's civil rights have been violated as he tried to save black babies. It happened in the district of Congresswoman Barbara Lee, chair of the Congressional Black Caucus. Yet, she could care less and has done nothing. The National Urban League could care less. The NAACP could care less.

What's wrong in black America? You won't find the answer in the National Urban League's report.

Profanity--It's Not Just For Sailors Anymore

2009-03-26T07:03:00.000-07:00

Or farewell to the ingenue, that naive, innocent girl of yesteryear who would no more let a *bleep* pass her lips than . . . well I couldn't say that out loud! Because the Beaver has many teen friends I have been made aware of this phenomenon which I liken to as a brazen assault on the civility of the spoken word.

What I hear, and see in printed messages, is a new model of language filled with conversational flatulence of extreme expletives, obscenities, vulgarities and all manner of guttural language.

What these young adults aren't aware of is that what comes out of the mouth is a reflection of what goes on in the head; it reveals the character of the speaker. What becomes obvious is that they are mere lemmings following the group over the proverbial cliff; not realizing that cursing becomes a habit and the pandemic potty mouth soon becomes a vitriolic toxic waste dump not easily cleaned up.

Please don't tell me this is all a harmless phase teens go through. This is a reflection of our culture being manifested in our young people. And the words reflect an attitude--a kind of pathos, towards mankind. I followed the written account of a particular young lady(?) and she was very proud of her mean-spirited attack on a peer launched with no substance other than a volley of hostile and crude words. The scary part was that she knew she had made him feel small but excused her own behavior by saying he deserved it.

Again, for all of you who use profanity, and consider it harmless I ask: What good does it do? I'll agree that it is a part of our lexicon and for use in extreme situations. I can think of one account when Ward used it to great affect. His men were not accustomed to hearing cursing from their commander; when after being up for almost two days without rations, hearing that a superior officer was going to hold said rations, this young officer let loose with a string of expletives that he didn't even know he possessed! The superior officer apologized, sent the rations, and told Ward never to do that again.

But for the current generation of epidemic potty mouths what are we to do? There is help and I found it online! Look at Cuss Control Academy or pick up Cuss Control: The Book, by Jim O'Connor. Still not convinced? Look at this excerpt from the site:

What's Wrong With Swearing?

Swearing Imposes a Personal Penalty
It gives a bad impression
It makes you unpleasant to be with
It endangers your relationships
It's a tool for whiners and complainers
It reduces respect people have for you
It shows you don't have control
It's a sign of a bad attitude
It discloses a lack of character
It's immature
It reflects ignorance
It sets a bad example

Swearing is Bad for Society
It contributes to the decline of civility
It represents the dumbing down of America
It offends more people than you think
It makes others uncomfortable
It is disrespectful of others
It turns discussions into arguments
It can be a sign of hostility
It can lead to violence

Swearing corrupts the English language
It's abrasive, lazy language
It doesn't communicate clearly
It neglects more meaningful words
It lacks imagination
It has lost its effectiveness

Even if your friends and associates commonly use cuss words, you will be perceived as more mature, intelligent, articulate, polite, considerate and pleasant if you control your language and the emotions that typically prompt expletives. You can choose to have character and class, or be considered rude, crude and crass.

From 1976 Until 2009; He's Still The One!!

2009-03-21T07:37:00.000-07:00

This is dedicated to the one I love. Happy Anniversary!! (An oldie but a goodie!)

STILL THE ONE (Orleans)

We've been together since way back when
Sometimes I never want to see you again
But I want you to know, after all these years
You're still the one I want whisperin' in my ear

You're still the one I want to talk to in bed
Still the one that turns my head
We're still having fun, and you're still the one

I looked at your face every day
But I never saw it 'til I went away
When winter came, I just wanted to go
Deep in the desert, I longed for the snow

You're still the one that makes me laugh
Still the one that's my better half
We're still having fun, and you're still the one

You're still the one that makes me strong
Still the one I want to take along
We're still having fun, and you're still the one

Changing, our love is going gold
Even though we grow old, it grows new

You're still the one that I love to touch
Still the one and I can't get enough
We're still having fun, and you're still the one

You're still the one who can scratch my itch
Still the one and I wouldn't switch
We're still having fun, and you're still the one

You are still the one that makes me shout
Still the one that I dream about
We're still having fun, and you're still the one..

Army Wife Stuff

2009-03-10T09:09:00.000-07:00

Here we go again. Every two years or so, Ward has to make a job change. His rank may stay the same, but that's just the way the Army works. One year, two years tops, at the same position. And occasionally, these jobs will involve being top dog, king of the hill, the big kahuna, you are in charge of this mess, type of position. Ward just left that kind of a job last year. He was a brigade commander. So, it was time to move on and he got posted in Iraq for a year. The last few months he has spent seeking his next position.

That has meant a roller coaster ride for the Beaver and myself. Will we go to Germany where there is no baseball and the Beaver would have to graduate high school overseas? Will it be Belgium? (Who cares if there's no baseball, they have the best chocolate in the world!) We've gone through this process so many times, it should be routine, right?

No, we always take into consideration our chidrens' needs. And that is what can make the process excruciatingly difficult. Like the time Ward got a battalion command position in Korea. We home schooled our kids so it shouldn't have been a tough one, but Wally would graduate high school in the middle of it, and besides he was pretty much through everything we could do at home. So we put him in a private boarding school (think $$$) so that he could bridge right on into his university studies. That worked out well, but it was oh so hard being out of the country when your oldest goes off to college.

Then there was the time in Korea when Ward could have taken a more prestigious position, but Betty just couldn't hack another year overseas. We honored that and came back to the states, knowing it might hurt Ward's chances for advancement.

So here we are again at the "two roads diverged in a yellow wood" juncture. What to do? What we always do. We pray, and let the Lord guide us. And "that has made all the difference."

The Mother Of All Comfort Foods

2009-03-05T03:10:00.000-08:00

And you just know that is Mac and Cheese! Yesterday I made a whole cafeteria style comfort food meal and I didn't even get to eat it.

On the menu? Well, the best Macaroni and Cheese ever, which is homemade of course, Betty Crocker's meat loaf, your elementary cafeteria green beans with bits of bacon, and the pies de resistance, lime jello with pears! All that was missing was a lunch room lady and a hair net.

The reason the Beaver and I did not get to partake is that I made this meal for a special family who's Dad has brain cancer and has just completed radiation which has all but wiped out his taste buds and mouth lining. He needed something easy to chew and swallow, it didn't much matter what it tastes like. His eyesight is fine though. I hope that seeing all of these old school cafeteria specials (hey, I never missed Mac and Cheese day at school!) would bring back some happy memories.

My friend and her family were smiling broadly as I unloaded the "retro" fair. I'll find out today if it went down well, but they know that it was served with a big helping of love.

I Love My Pets, But . . .

2009-02-26T09:49:00.000-08:00

They take over, they really do. Even now as I typing in this post, our cat, Mr. Knightley, is hogging most of my office chair. I am sitting on the very edge, being oh so careful not to bother his midday nap. But still, it's nice to have the company.

And then at night, and especially with Ward off to war, my bed is filled with critters. I am an early to bed person, but Kip-the-wonder-dog usually beats me to a spot on our queen sized bed. We are later joined by Mr. Knightley, which is funny, because Kip usually chases him around the house, but when Kip sleeps, he sleeps hard. I can barely budge him to get some space. So there we are and if someone says, it's crowded, roll over, well we do and make room for Emma, our Golden Retriever. So it becomes a two-dog night and it's not even cold. I should have Beaver take a photo, but I would die of embarrassment as you would see that I cling for dear life to my space at the edge of the bed. But still, it's nice to have the company.

I'm sure my son-in-law thinks I'm crazy, as do my husband and my two sons. It's not funny to them that they have to make room on the sofa while watching TV. But still, it's nice nice to have the company.

Oh, and who do I have to thank for all of this company?! The one that begged and pleaded for first, Mr. Knightley, then Emma and finally Kip? To that unnamed person I'll just say, thank you for making sure I'm not alone!!

No Man Comes To Ruin Overnight

2009-02-24T09:31:00.000-08:00

It is a process. And if you find yourself going in the wrong direction, stop, turn around.

But know this, that in the last days perilous times will come: For men will be lovers of money, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, unloving, unforgiving, slanderers, without self-control, brutal, despisers of good, traitors, headstrong, haughty, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, having a form of godliness but denying its power. And from such people turn away.

II Timothy 3:11

But at what point do we turn away?

Truthspeak or Wordspeak or Blatent Lie?

2009-02-18T08:16:00.000-08:00

What do you call saying things in terms that really does not speak truthfully about what you actually mean? Some people say “politics as usual” some say “wordsmithing” but I remember reading in the George Orwell novel, 1984, that describes it as truthspeak. We really should add truthspeak to our urban lexicon, because there is a lot of it going on in D.C. these days. Or maybe we should call it wordspeak, because there really is no truth in what passes as identifying laws or bills these days. Three cases in point:

1) The Stimulus Bill: this one is so obvious we don’t need to go into the details, it should have been called the Porkulus Bill.

2) FOCA, Freedom of Choice Act. Really?! As I read in this column, calling it this is an insult to our intelligence. What choice are we talking about here?

The Freedom of Choice Act, or FOCA, would eliminate all laws passed since Roe v. Wade that restrict or regulate abortion. Among them are parental notification laws for a minor’s abortion, informed consent (patient information on aftereffects of abortion and fetal development of the unborn child), waiting periods, and freedom of conscience rights for healthcare workers. It would also allow more tax dollars to be used to pay for abortions, allow healthcare workers other than physicians to perform abortions, and allow partial-birth abortion, which was deemed unconstitutional in 2007 by the United States Supreme Court.

In the past few months, I’ve heard the term “FOCA” so many times, but have never given serious thought to exactly what the consequences would be. snip

Why is it seen as a threat to women’s health for women to be given told that abortion could increase her chances of infertility, depression, breast cancer or subsequent pre-term birth? Why is it so dangerous to tell a mother that her unborn child has had his own heartbeat since he was just 21 days old?

Why should parents have no involvement with their teen daughter’s pregnancy, especially when school employees, abusive boyfriends, or ignorant girlfriends can be so manipulative and coerce her to abort?

I maintain that women are smart! If women were given accurate medical information, they would seek alternatives, not abortion. And, the abortion industry doesn’t make money from women who choose life.

As it stands right now, though some laws exist to ensure informed consent, women are not told the truth about their pregnancies or about abortion. They realize the harm done only after it’s too late, and the result is millions of wounded women who regret their choice.

To make FOCA the law of the land is to declare their pain invalid, plunging these hurting souls into depression. As a nation, we need to validate the pain of so many women suffering after abortion, not to continue to keep women in ignorance and pain before, during and after abortion.

For abortion advocates, it is a dream come true for abortion to remain shrouded in secrecy, however the result is a nightmare for women suffering after abortion as the entire culture shuns her pain and mocks her trial.

For more information about FOCA, please visit www.fightfoca.org.

3) Fairness Doctrine. Again, really?! This is about controlling what we hear. How is that fair? Why not let us choose, by say, turning the dial?

June 20, 2008
The Fairness Doctrine at Work
By William Tate
While some Democrats push to re-impose the Fairness Doctrine, an example of the harmful effects of doing so has played out in the most unlikely of places--the Aspen airport.

For those not familiar with the Fairness Doctrine, it was a Federal Communications Commission policy that required radio and TV stations to, in effect, provide equal time on matters of public importance. A station which did not do so ran the risk of losing its broadcast license, something which Rupert Murdoch once famously compared to having a license to print money.

The Fairness Doctrine was originally intended to encourage a public dialogue on controversial issues by ensuring that both sides of a topic were aired. As a former radio and TV journalist, I can assure you that the opposite was true. Station owners were afraid that their licenses would be yanked if there was the slightest possibility that they could be accused of violating the doctrine; it was far safer to simply avoid controversial matters.

That, and its questionable constitutionality, caused the Reagan-era F.C.C. to repeal the Fairness Doctrine. Within months, Rush Limbaugh's program was nationally syndicated, and radio programming has never been the same. Many industry observers credit Rush with single-handedly saving the AM band, one reason he has achieved cult-like status among broadcasters.

Does anyone else see the pattern here?

Oh wait, I forgot another one:

The Employee Free Choice Act, commonly called the "card-check bill," that died in the Senate in 2007, is expected to come before Congress again in spring or summer. It is often considered the most significant labor bill since the National Labor Relations Act of 1935 established the ground rules for union organizing. What does it do? Under that act, in effect today, at least 30 percent of an employee group must sign cards requesting union representation. Once that threshold is met, the National Labor Relations Board certifies the cards and sets up a private vote. Approval by a majority of eligible employees puts union representation into place.

The new proposal would streamline the process, making unionization easier. Unions would be certified simply by getting a majority of workers to sign cards on the spot, avoiding the whole election process in which employers usually oppose organizing efforts.

Free Choice Act? How can it be free if you do not have a private vote? Can you imagine the pressure that could be put on from both sides?

Geesh, you cannot make this stuff up!

A Person's A Person, No Matter How Small

2009-02-16T14:41:00.000-08:00

Do you think this twelve year old could speak to the President and get him to change his mind on FOCA? How about we send him and every member of congress a copy of Dr. Seuss's Horton Hears A Who!

International Bowling

2009-02-15T15:15:00.000-08:00

I finally uploaded the pictures from our bowling outing last weekend. The International Group hosted students from around the world to bowling and pizza. I even talked the Beave into participating and he actually enjoyed himself. Look for him in the photo in the lower right hand corner, he is wearing his Be The Reds t-shirt from the 2002 World Cup which was the official Korea fans t-shirt. (Funny, huh, that it was in English.)

The students had a great time and as always we had to be careful and make sure we had plenty of veggie pizzas on hand. Some of the students had never bowled before and so we put up the bumper guards. A couple of times we had to rescue a ball when it was thrown as the pins were being set . . . I don't think the manager appreciated the balls hitting the set up device :)

This Is Dedicated To The One I Love

2009-02-14T04:23:00.000-08:00

This was our song when we first started dating because Ward went to school an entire state away and our relationship developed the really old fashioned way, by written correspondence. So this is dedicated to my high school sweetheart and now my better half of over thirty years who is away . . . again! Some things never change!

Happy Valentine's Day Ward!!

(Check out the fashion revolution of 1974; the pantsuit!!)

A Box of Lemon

2009-02-13T09:36:00.000-08:00

Lemon in a box, my new favorite food product! One of my favorite drinks is a squeeze of fresh lemon in plain old tap water. But that meant always keeping lemons on hand and remembering to use them . . . it doesn't sound hard, does it? But it just wasn't all that practical for my lazy self.

Introducing True Lemon, crystallized lemon, 100% natural, zero calories, no sweeteners, just really fresh-squeezed taste of lemon. It's actually almost better than fresh squeezed because there is no slight sharpness that you get with fresh lemons.

And convenience! There are 32 packets in a box and no rinds, no slicing, no "oops I forgot that lemon in the bottom of my fridge that now looks like a science experiment."

The packets fit in my purse and are less than the size of a small band aid, I just hope I don't confuse the two!

The cost is under $3.00 for me at the commissary, well under what I would pay in fresh lemons.

I will still keep fresh lemons on hand for cooking of course, but for my eight glasses of water (OK, at least I try to get that many in) I will be using True Lemon.

What's In Your Wallet (Handbag)?

2009-02-12T09:32:00.000-08:00

Besides the kitchen sink?! Well, here's my list as I empty my purse:

Wallet (Fat, a few bills, lots of cards, some credit, one debit, driver's license, military I.D., emergency post numbers, voter registration card, stamps, multiple receipts)
Cell phone
Sunglasses and case
Comb
Lip glosses (yes, that's plural)
Hand cream
Tissues
Small zipped card holder
Mini emergency kit w/band-aids, antiseptic wipes
Checkbook
Small 2009 calendar booklet
Spare keys
Name tags
Car phone charger
Mini flashlight
Mini pocket knife
Pen
Small pack of business cards (some mine)

Gee, I seem to be missing my duct tape!

And that's all I need.

The Slanket Wars

2009-02-10T15:31:00.000-08:00

Here you have a true American success story; a young entrepreneur solves a personal problem and then sees the value of his solution, how others could benefit from it, borrows money from family, patents his idea, manufactures it and starts a new craze! How could you not support this, especially if you are one who gets cold watching TV and want to change the channel without getting up?

And yet there are those that mock the idea. Shame on you! Allow those of us with poor circulation to enjoy a degree of comfort without making fun of us. This is not fashion, it's convenience. And don't get me started on the imitation Slanket. (I think the Snuggie is a cheap rip-off, not even worthy to be mentioned.)

I am happy to have the Slanket and happy that this young man is profiting from taking a chance. It's the American way!

Who Shrank My Pants?

2009-02-07T13:44:00.000-08:00

Don't you hate when that happens. You go to put on your favorite jeans and they are just a bit, um, snug. Between the holidays and the below zero temperatures which make it impossible to do my runs, my pants shrank. Only time will tell if they will regain that extra measure needed to fit correctly again (meaning I can breath in them) or I will have to foot the bill for new ones a size larger, which is every woman's nightmare. And I've worn the same size since high school, though admittedly things have shifted . . . I blame gravity!

Things That Grow On You

2009-02-05T10:26:00.000-08:00

The idiom “to grow on you” means to become increasingly liked or appreciated by you. Some changes, if they are gradual you can get used to, but here I am talking about things that grow on you literally! Those are the kinds of changes I really, really dislike.

And of course that’s different than things that grow IN you, like a little person, because they eventually come out and then you are physically back to square one. No, I’m talking about things that grow on you that aren’t supposed to be there, and that you will never like or appreciate.

Like a ganglion cyst for instance. When did that get there?! There on my ankle, how long has that little bump been there? I only noticed it after a run when it hurt a little and I thought I had tied my shoes too tight. At my age, you get a bump or a lump, you figure you’d better check it out. So I went in to see the DOC this morning and he said, “You’ll live,” doing his best Woody Allen impersonation which was funny because I’m pretty sure he was of Malaysian descent, though it’s best these days not to profile, if you know what I mean.

If it’s not bothering me there is no need to cut and I definitely have an aversion to cutting so I’m just going to loosen my running shoes and hope it doesn’t get bigger.

Cuisine For The Adventurous

2009-02-04T16:10:00.000-08:00

I have had a couple of requests for recipes from foods I mentioned when our book club read The Shack. I did look those items up and found a couple of recipes, but I never have actually made them. Still the South Indian dish of kori bananje sounds like it could be good. It was only through digging through a MANGALOREAN CUISINE website that I found it. The Kori Bananje is just a variation of another dish substituting chicken for fish in a spicy chili sauce. But here is a snippet of the article where I found it:

The district is the local mouthwatering delicious cuisine. Kori roti (chicken curry and rice roti), varieties of fish food, local special eatables will definitely take you to the different world. Idly sambar, masal dosa, mangalore vada, golibaje, pathrode, etc. are some of the dishes, which are unique here.

People here use more of rice, coconut, coconut oil as they are plenty here. Even the use of boiled rice is more among the rural people. Boiled rice ganji and chutney or pickles is famous morning food among most of the people here, which they say would keep them active all the day. Even different festivals marked with preparation of different kind of food items. To enjoy the real taste of food of this region you have to visit here once.

Bangude pulimunchi, silver-grey mackerels straight from the seas lapping the Mangalore coast and cooked in a fiery tamarind-red chilli sauce without the ubiquitous coconut, its chicken equivalent “Kori bananje”, crawly-fresh crab masala, Marwai Aajadina (shell fish dry curry) and the steamed rice delicacies all - Aritha pundi (dumplings), Neer Dosa (lacy pancakes), Appam and Kori Rotti (dry rice flakes dipped in gravy before serving) A cuisine of flavoursome chicken and prawn curries made with fresh coconut milk and fiery masalas, and a vegetarian repertoire that ranges from red cucumber to raw jackfruit and white pumpkin to green banana and taste of its own Pork Bafat.

Puli Munchi (Meet Mirsang)
Ingredients

1. Salt ½ cup.
2. Long red chillies around 100.
3.Cumin seeds - 5 tsp.
4. Turmeric Powder - 1 tsp.
5.Vinegar to grind.

Method: Grind all the ingredients with enough Vinegar without adding water.
*Bottle the ground paste.
*Can be used for frying fish, meat or vegetables.
*Can also be added to fish curry.

I’ve also listed another Kori recipe as the name was similar but used a few different spices, mainly ones we Westerners consider sweet, and was more like a stew that a rub, which is what the above seemed like.

Kori Sukka
Ingredients
1 kg Chicken (cut into medium pieces)
4 cloves
3 sticks of cinnamon
3 tsp ghee
1 onion (thinly sliced)
3 tomatoes
2 potatoes
Salt to taste

Masala for grinding:
4 Onions
6 Red Chilies
2 tsp coriander seeds
2 tsp jeera
1 tsp turmeric powder
3 tsp Coriander Leaves (chopped)
3 cloves garlic
1 inch ginger
6 pepper corns
Small lemon sized tamarind
Method
Boil the Chicken and potatoes, with cloves, Cinnamon, Salt and keep aside.
Take ghee in a pan and fry one onion till golden brown, then add tomatoes fry and then add the masala and fry thoroughly for about 15 minutes. Add the cooked chicken along with stock and if required also add water and bring it to boil. Garnish with coriander leaves.

The Melt Off '09

2009-01-31T14:20:00.000-08:00

It has finally warmed up and the ice covered trees are shedding their layers with great crackling droppings--the dogs and I had to be careful to dodge these natural ice machines on our afternoon walk. We were middle-of-the roaders today!

If you look carefully (click on it for a better view) at the picture above of our street you can see the bits and pieces being shed.

Ice Storm of '09

2009-01-29T09:54:00.000-08:00

Brrrr! For two days now the Beave and I have been without power, ergo no heat, no light, but we did have hot running water because we have gas. And I could cook, boil water, and most importantly, take a hot shower. We are powered up for now, but it may not last. Poor Kentucky's grid is likely to go on the blitz again. I really feel for those line-men out in this weather.
God Bless 'Em!

This photo of our home was taken this morning through a haze of frozen ice-covered branches. You can just see Ward's ice-encased FJ Cruiser on the left (see that bit of Voo-Doo blue?) Our entire street is littered with broken branches. As I am writing this I'm looking out of our second story office window at the beauty of huge old ice-covered trees. Awesome!

Where Everybody Knows Your Name

2009-01-25T06:13:00.000-08:00

Yesterday the Beave and I went to town on the pretext of looking for a pair of shoes. Truth was we just wanted to get out of Dodge after being cooped up by the freeze of last week, and it was warm and sunny and just begging us to be anywhere but here. Turns out that's how everyone else felt too! We kept running into people we knew from post and from the Beave's school. It got to be a Let's Count How Many We've Seen game.

On reflection though it was more than that. It's a sense of belonging in the community. We were genuinely glad to see everyone, even if we had just seem them yesterday, or a couple of hours ago. When we found a spot in the crowded Panera's who do you suppose was sitting next to us? Friends from post! When we popped into Barnes and Noble we ran into more friendly folks.

So this is what it feels like to be a part of Mayberry. For us military families, it's hard to come by and once we find it, even harder to give up. But we will this summer and we'll have to start the whole process of integrating into a community again. The thing is, though some places it can take longer than others, we always manage to make ourselves feel at home and part of a place Where Everybody Knows Your Name.

Cheers Theme Lyrics

Where Everybody Knows Your Name by Gary Portnoy and Judy Hart Angelo - Cheers Lyrics

Making your way in the world today takes everything you've got.
Taking a break from all your worries, sure would help a lot.

Wouldn't you like to get away?

Sometimes you want to go

Where everybody knows your name,
and they're always glad you came.
You wanna be where you can see,
our troubles are all the same
You wanna be where everybody knows
Your name.

You wanna go where people know,
people are all the same,
You wanna go where everybody knows
your name.

Malapropism or Freudian Slip?

2009-01-24T14:29:00.000-08:00

“I do not underestimate the enormity of the task that lies ahead,” said President Obama in his acceptance speech in November. Then again, in his inaugural address at the Lincoln Memorial he said again, “Despite the enormity of the task that lies ahead I stand here today as hopeful as ever that the United States of America will endure.”

Ok, first things first, he didn’t say misunderestimate, I’ll grant you that, but why would the United States of America not endure?! But I digress, what I’m questioning is his use of the word enormity, and to be fair, only because it was brought to my attention that this word might not be exactly the word one might want to use in the context of the ginormousness of tackling job the of President of the United States. . . but then again, maybe he knows whereof he speaks.

Enormity (ĭ-nôr'mĭ-tē) pronunciation
Enormity Definition, n., pl. -ties.
1. The quality of passing all moral bounds; excessive wickedness or outrageousness.
2. A monstrous offense or evil; an outrage.
3. Usage Problem. Great size; immensity: “Beyond that, [Russia's] sheer enormity offered a defense against invaders that no European nation enjoyed” (W. Bruce Lincoln).

[French énormité, from Old French, from Latin ēnormitās, from ēnormis, unusual, enormous. See enormous.]

USAGE NOTE Enormity is frequently used to refer simply to the property of being great in size or extent, but many would prefer that enormousness (or a synonym such as immensity) be used for this general sense and that enormity be limited to situations that demand a negative moral judgment, as in Not until the war ended and journalists were able to enter Cambodia did the world really become aware of the enormity of Pol Pot's oppression. Fifty-nine percent of the Usage Panel rejects the use of enormity as a synonym for immensity in the sentence At that point the engineers sat down to design an entirely new viaduct, apparently undaunted by the enormity of their task. This distinction between enormity and enormousness has not always existed historically, but nowadays many observe it. Writers who ignore the distinction, as in the enormity of the President's election victory or the enormity of her inheritance, may find that their words have cast unintended aspersions or evoked unexpected laughter.

I am willing to give our new president the benefit of the doubt, but our media, should they really just parrot back what their adored one says? An example is from KATIE COURIC who interviewed Mr. Obama on January 14 with this opening question, “So, President-elect Obama, which you'll be president when this airs, by the way because this is gonna be for a primetime special on next Tuesday night, are you starting to realize the enormity of your new job?” If he’s not Katie, the rest of us surely are!

Bottom line, words have meaning!

Time for a Poem!

2009-01-23T06:17:00.000-08:00

Because I miss Ward and he seems well over 10,000 miles away!

My Love Is Like A Red, Red Rose by Robert Burns

0, my love is like a red, red rose,
that's newly sprung in June.
0, my love is like a melody,
that's sweetly play'd in tune.

As fair thou art, my bonnie lass,
so deep in love am I,
And I will love thee still, my dear,
till a' the seas gang dry.

Till a' the seas gang dry, my dear,
and the rocks melt wi' the sun!
And I will love thee still, my dear,
while the sands of life shall run.

And fare the weel, my only love!
And fare the well awhile!
And I will come again, my love.
Tho it were ten thousand mile!

Nihilism

2009-01-21T07:08:00.000-08:00

My Word of the Day the day after the inauguration. Interesting! Below the definition of nihilism is a snippet of an article that first brought this word to my attention. It does seem to me that we are not just on the path to nihilism, we are there!

nihilism
One entry found.
Main Entry:
ni·hil·ism Listen to the pronunciation of nihilism Listen to the pronunciation of nihilism
Pronunciation:\ˈnī-(h)ə-ˌli-zəm,
Function:noun
Etymology:German Nihilismus, from Latin nihil nothing — more at nil
Date: circa 1817

1 a: a viewpoint that traditional values and beliefs are unfounded and that existence is senseless and useless b: a doctrine that denies any objective ground of truth and especially of moral truths2 a: a doctrine or belief that conditions in the social organization are so bad as to make destruction desirable for its own sake independent of any constructive program or possibility bcapitalized : the program of a 19th century Russian party advocating revolutionary reform and using terrorism and assassination

The Cybercast News interview with the jurist Judge Robert Bork also touched upon the place of religion in public life.

“I don’t think the disputants talk much about God anymore,” Judge Bork commented. “That’s one of the things that I think is regrettable--and I know liberals have said the same thing, it is not a conservative position particularly--but it is regrettable that religion has dropped out of our public discourse. I think it impoverishes it and makes it more violent.”

He explained that he believed this violence was not armed conflict, but rather “violent language and propaganda.”

Judge Bork said he also thought that America is “now going down a path towards kind of a happy-go-lucky nihilism.”

“A lot of people are nihilists,” he continued. “They don’t think about religion. They don’t think about ultimate questions. They go along. They worry about consumer goods, comfort, and so forth.

“As a matter of fact, the abortion question is largely a question about convenience. If you look at the polls about why people have abortions, 90 percent of it has nothing to do with medical conditions. It’s convenience. And that’s I think an example of the secularization of an issue that ought to have a religious dimension.”

When asked whether a nihilistic society can remain “happy-go-lucky” for long, Judge Bork replied: “I don’t know. I guess we are going to find out.”

Wicked

2009-01-19T07:12:00.000-08:00

Oh my heck! this is one good play! Thank you Betty for recommending it, and thanks too for not revealing the plot line so there were all of those little surprises.

This musical was just what a Broadway play should be, interesting plot with a light cheesy story line, great memorable characters and the very best singing in the world! Never once did I fidget in my seat or look at my watch. I was captivated, as was everyone in the audience last night. This is what entertainment should be!

Beave and friend and yours truly headed into the city early, to make sure we found the Kentucky Center for Performing Arts, got parking and had enough time to grab a light bite. That went well, and we actually were close enough to walk through the Fourth Street Live area before catching the show.

The only damper to our evening was the white-knuckle drive home. Due to an ice storm we were forced to go as slowly as 15 mph, and I have all wheel drive! We saw many cars, and lots of trucks, sliding off the highway. But we made it home!

Just one other comment about the play. Try not to think of Elphaba, aka The Wicked Witch of the West, in context of the original Wizard of Oz movie as shown in the second photo above.

If you do you could never imagine that Fiyero, the love interest of both Elphaba and Glinda, would fall for the former, as shown in the top photo from the play.

Lie or Lay?

2009-01-18T10:59:00.000-08:00

I can never get this one right. Lay the book down, I lie down, but it is, now I lay me down to sleep. In the grand scheme of things it doesn’t really matter all that much, except I love the English language and I want to get it right, or do I mean correct?

I looked this one up and found several good explanations. This one from Wikipedia was just good and straightforward about these two troublesome words:

The usage lay has been used intransitively in the sense of “lie” since the 14th century. The practice was unremarkable until around 1770; attempts to correct it have been a fixture of schoolbooks ever since. Generations of teachers and critics have succeeded in taming most literary and learned writing, but intransitive lay persists in familiar speech and is a bit more common in general prose than one might suspect. Much of the problem lies in the confusing similarity of the principal parts of the two words. Another influence may be a folk belief that lie is for people and lay is for things. Some commentators are ready to abandon the distinction, suggesting that lay is on the rise socially. But if it does rise to respectability, it is sure to do so slowly: many people have invested effort in learning to keep lie and lay distinct. Remember that even though many people do use lay for lie, others will judge you unfavorably if you do.

(Hey I am never one who likes to be judged unfavorably!!)

The verb lie is intransitive, meaning it does not need an object. Example: I lie down. The verb lay is transitive, meaning that it DOES need an object. I lay the book on the table.
Tenses are as follows: Lie. Past. I lay down. Past Perfect: I have lain down for five hours. Lay. Past. I lay the book on the table. Past Perfect. I have laid the book on the table.

Lay versus Lie, from another blog:

A frustrating pair. Here's the deal. In the present tense, lay is a transitive verb, meaning it takes a direct object: you lay something down. Lie doesn't take a direct object: something just lies there. If you're tired of holding something, you should lay it down; if you're not feeling well, you should lie down. (Of course I'm excluding lie, "tell an untruth" — this is just the reclining lie.)

Not too bad: if this were the whole deal, there'd be nothing to worry about. But it gets messier, because the past tense of lay is laid, and the past tense of lie is, well, lay.

This whole thing came up when I had to put the kibosh on a certain boy and girl watching a movie together on a couch in my living room, and in that case I got the usage absolutely dead on; for the correct word in that case is SIT!!

Kibosh

2009-01-17T04:36:00.000-08:00

Isn't that an interesting word? I used it last night in thinking to myself, "I'm going to have to put the kibosh on that." Only in my thoughts I had spelled it wrong (kabosh). The etymology of this word is listed as unknown, but it sounds Brooklynesque to me.

kibosh
One entry found.
Main Entry: ki·bosh Pronunciation: \ˈkī-ˌbäsh, kī-ˈ; ki-ˈbäsh\
Function: noun
Etymology: origin unknown
Date: 1836: something that serves as a check or stop — kibosh transitive verb

So I think that as I come across interesting words I will post them under the What's Up With That Word? label or Words I Have Known and Loved, or maybe just boring old Word of the Day?

SAD Or Just Glum

2009-01-14T05:55:00.000-08:00

It's the time of year when SAD kicks in for many people. Seasonal Affective Disorder? Why do we have to have a clinical definition for every mood we feel?! According to Wikipedia:

Seasonal affective disorder (SAD), also known as winter depression or winter blues, is a mood disorder in which people who have normal mental health throughout most of the year experience depressive symptoms in the winter or, less frequently, in the summer,[1] repeatedly, year after year. The US National Library of Medicine notes that "some people experience a serious mood change when the seasons change. They may sleep too much, have little energy, and crave sweets and starchy foods. They may also feel depressed. Though symptoms can be severe, they usually clear up."[2] The condition in the summer is often referred to as Reverse Seasonal Affective Disorder, and can also include heightened anxiety.

Why do we need an excuse for everything? I challenge calling this feeling a disorder. I think it's perfectly natural. Why not just say we're human and in the winter when the days are dark and gray we get glum? But when the days are sunny I feel better, or as in Wikipedia's definition, though symptoms can be severe, they usually clear up. Ha ha ha! Also works: a cup of hot tea and some chocolate!

Another Western

2009-01-10T16:32:00.000-08:00

It was just serendipity that I chose 3-10 to Yuma from Netflix and it arrived just after my book group finished reading So Brave, Young, and Handsome. And it involved those Pinkertons again. So FYI I've included an excerpt from Wikipedia on those famous detectives of the late 1800s:

We Never Sleep", the famous motto of the Pinkerton Agency, redirects here. For the 1917 film starring Harold Lloyd, see We Never Sleep (film).

The Pinkerton National Detective Agency, usually shortened to the Pinkertons, was a private U.S. security guard and detective agency established by Allan Pinkerton in 1850. Pinkerton had become famous when he foiled a plot to assassinate president-elect Abraham Lincoln, who later hired Pinkerton agents for his personal security during the Civil War.[citation needed] Pinkerton's agents performed services ranging from security guarding to private military contracting work. At its height, the Pinkerton National Detective Agency employed more agents than there were members of the standing army of the United States of America, causing the state of Ohio to outlaw the agency due to fears it could be hired out as a private army or militia.

The Pinkertons engaged in this movie were employed to guard a stagecoach from the Ben Wade's (Russell Crowe) gang of murderous, thieving scum-of-the-earth outlaws. They didn't really stand a chance and somehow our protagonist, rancher Dan Evans (Christian Bale) gets mixed up in trying to bring Ben to justice via an edge of your seat, shoot 'em up trip to catch the train at Yuma by 3:10. Of course it's much more complicated than that, and to tell you the truth I don't think I have enough testosterone running through my veins to really enjoy this kind of bloody, rough riding drama. It gives a kind of a sad twist of fate moralistic ending, but again it was just too gritty a tale for my liking.

Really, I kept thinking, how do these guys go to the bathroom out there on the dusty trail? And just how bad do they smell with no showers for days, weeks (months?!) on end . . .not to mention all of that blood and guts staining what was probably 100% cotton or wool clothing!

Spaghetti Western

2009-01-09T12:32:00.000-08:00

So Young, Brave, and Handsome by Leif Enger, was our book choice for this month. And we were hard pressed to find a food theme for it, but if only I had thought about this genre, the Spaghetti Western, I would have served spaghetti! But I didn't, and so we had white bean chili, a wonderful salad, rolls, and hermits for dessert. None of which would have likely come out of a Zane Gray novel, which is what I compare this book to, even though I've never read a Zane Gray novel. I have heard enough about the quintessential western to know that our choice certainly fit the bill.

This first-person narration gives us at the helm of our journey, Monte Becket, who is certainly not a prototypical western hero, but he provides us one. Having authored a one-hit wonder along the likes of Riders of the Purple Sage (by Zane Gray) he has spent several years trying to krank out other novels, to no avail. Having quit his average-Joe job at the Post Office he begins to feel the pressure of writer's block. Enter Glendon Hale, hero (or anti-hero depending on how you look at it) quiet builder of boats with a sketchy past, including leaving the love of his life some twenty years past.

Glendon suddenly decides he needs redemption and sets out on a quest to find and get forgiveness. He asks Monte to accompany him, and Monte says yes with the blessing of his own loving family. The two set off on what becomes an increasingly dangerous journey, as Glendon's past is brought to light and the law still has an interest in him.

This journey to redemption is well written, almost lyrical, and through Monte we get an insightful look at the characters with all of their humanness--frailties and strengths alike.

The antagonist of the story is the archetype of evil, Siringo, an ex-Pinkerton (you learn something new everyday!) and he is unrelenting in his pursuit of the two. And of course that makes the story!

There is a lovely irony in the story that Monte, having written a great romantic western that people recognize him for, when living out a tale similar to it, is completely overwhelmed by the true grittiness of such a life.

What I particularly liked about this story, besides it being a quick and easy read, is that the author researched his history, and the people and places he mentions are true, outside of his fictional characters, that is. I love the fact that the Hundred and One was really a ranch in Ponca City, Oklahoma and his description was accurate. We also get a glimpse of the end of an era, the cowboy age, and the beginning of a new one, with the use of automobiles.

So though it was a long and dusty trail, with some shoot-em-ups, there is a type of reconciliation. But it might not be the one you expected.

New Year, New You?

2009-01-07T08:24:00.000-08:00

Nope, it ain't gonna happen! The list of changes needed would be overwhelming. But!!
I do resolve to get some things done. Being an avid list maker, as noted in an earlier post, I have already succeeded in accomplishing some things on my short list.

Monday was the beginning. These things were done:

Art work to studio for framing. I've had these two items a long time (one over 2 years) so this is big, on second thought, it's HUGE!

Bags of used clothing to thrift shop for donation. Again, those have been sitting here for a couple of months.

Tickets to the Broadway play Wicked in Louisville on January 18. This is big in so many ways! First, I bought three tickets. So that means the Beave is going with! (I should get an Olympic medal for this fact alone!) Second, it means he gets to invite his friend, and I get to chaperon their first "date." Does it get any better? Why, yes it does. January 18 is a Sunday and though the play is in the evening, the next day is an army training holiday so we won't have to worry about getting home late, we can actually go out for dinner afterward. That should make for a very nice evening of culture and manners.

So the short list is waning; the long list is still, well, long. And while I make no resolutions I do aspire to accomplish those things steadily over the next six months. Hey, I have to stay busy until Ward returns from Iraq!

Days of Auld Lang Syne

2009-01-04T14:25:00.000-08:00

Isn't it fitting that my first post of the new year include the following by Robert Burns:

Should old acquaintance be forgot,
and never brought to mind ?
Should old acquaintance be forgot,
and old times since ?

CHORUS:
For auld lang syne, my dear,
for auld lang syne,
we'll take a cup of kindness yet,
for auld lang syne.

And surely you’ll buy your pint cup !
And surely I’ll buy mine !
And we'll take a cup o’ kindness yet,
for auld lang syne.

CHORUS

We two have run about the slopes,
and picked the daisies fine ;
But we’ve wandered many a weary foot,
since auld lang syne.

CHORUS

We two have paddled in the stream,
from morning sun till dine† ;
But seas between us broad have roared
since auld lang syne.

CHORUS

And there’s a hand my trusty friend !
And give us a hand o’ thine !
And we’ll take a right good-will draught,
for auld lang syne.

CHORUS

Never mind the fact that I'm not sure what exactly this scottish verse means!

I've heard it so many times on New Year's Eve and it's been in so many of my favorite old classic movies that it stirs my heart every time I hear it.

I Have A Dream

2008-12-29T12:19:00.000-08:00

I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true . . . no wait, that's someone Else's dream!

The dream I just had has to do with the photo we took Christmas day. It involved that same cabin, only this time Betty and her husband had taken up residency nearby in a similar cabin, only smaller because they don't have kids yet?

This is a real dream of mine, to be able to live near my adult children so that when they have children I can spoil those grand kids! I just didn't picture it would be quite so rural!

(Click on the photo to get a better view!)

A Kentucky Christmas

2008-12-27T05:41:00.000-08:00

We don't have many family pictures so this is special! Here we are on Christmas day in front of the Saunder Springs cabin which is just a mile from the back gate of Fort Knox. Now if only Pa would be shootin' at some food and hit some black gold instead.

Home For The Holidays

2008-12-17T14:56:00.000-08:00

Getting home for the holidays takes on new meaning when you have to travel half-way around the world to get there! But that's just what Ward did. He's here!! From Iraq to Fort Knox in just about 2 days, but at least he's here, bleary eyed, jet lagged and all.

What is going to make this extra sweet is that the entire crew is coming in. Betty and her husband, Alex P. Keaton, will be arriving on Christmas Eve. Wally made it in last night. The Beaver, when not hangin' with his homies, will be at home.

Sigh!

So You Think You Can Stop After Eating Just One? Ha!

2008-12-12T16:02:00.000-08:00

I finally decided to make Rugulach for our book club meeting get together. This great cookie has been around for centuries and the name means "little rolled things." But as my title implies they are so delicious it is hard to stop at just one. Here is the recipe:

Walnut and Apricot Rugulach

Pastry:
1 (8-ounce) package light cream cheese, softened
1 cup butter, softened
2 tablespoons packed brown sugar
2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour

Filling:
1 1/2 cups coarsely chopped walnuts, toasted
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ground ginger and cardamom
1/4 cup apricot marmalade

Topping:
1 large egg
2 tablespoons coarse sugar (Raw or Turbinado sugar)

1. For Pastry: In large bowl, beat cream cheese and butter until fluffy; beat in sugar. Stir in flour until well combined. Form into a ball; cut into 4 pieces and shape into discs. Wrap individually in plastic wrap; refrigerate at least 2 hours and up to 1 day. Let stand at room temperature for 15 minutes before rolling.

2. For Filling: In small bowl, stir together walnuts, brown sugar, cinnamon, ginger and cardamom.

3. Assembly: On lightly floured surface, roll each disc into an 11-inch circle, about 1/4 inch thick. Spread 3 tablespoons marmalade over top; sprinkle with 1/4 of the walnut mixture. Cut into 12 wedges. Starting from the wide end, roll up each wedge to for a crescent roll.

4. Place each crescent 2-inches apart on a parchment-lined baking sheet. Refrigerate at least 30 minutes. Repeat with remaining dough and filling.

5. Beat egg lightly; brush over each crescent and sprinkle with coarse sugar. Bake in 350 degree oven until golden brown, about 25 minutes. Let cool on pan 5 minutes before transferring to rack to cool completely.

Makes 48 rugulach. Note: I used a lot more than 1/4 cup marmalade. Also, please be sure to use the parchment paper when baking these as the marmalade bubbles out but won't stick to the parchment. These are yummy, and the title of this post is the Yiddish meaning for the word "rugulach!"

On Reading and Eating, Not Necessarily in That Order

2008-12-05T17:57:00.000-08:00

I love my monthly book club meetings.

We've been trying lately to get together with meals that somehow match the theme or setting to time period of the book we've read. Our read this month was The Shack by Wm. Paul Young. Without getting into a critique of the book (that's a whole 'nother post) I have to say that it was still difficult to find a food theme that ran throughout the story.

The story involves an allegory of sorts about the a man's meeting with God in all of his forms, i.e. the Trinity: God the Father, God the Son (Jesus), and God the Holy Spirit. In the book, the Trinity is represented by three physical beings, a black woman, a Middle-Eastern man, and Far Eastern Asian (oriental) woman. I think the author chose the most PC characters he could think of, but anyway, they did have meals during the course of their meeting, most of which the main character, Mack, couldn't readily identify, making it tough for our book club to figure out our luncheon.

There were some specific items mentioned that I googled to find out what they were. Turns out they were multi-ethnic dishes with some hard to find ingredients. But there were also several items that I could easily whip up if I wanted to. For instance I think I could handle the Sticky Toffee Pudding, which is a British pudding cake that actually sounds pretty good. The shaomai, ugali, nipla, or kori bananje were a bit trickier, though I did find recipes for them.

Anyway, my group has been emailing back and forth to decide what we should do and given the spiritual nature of the story I just naturally sought some proverbs on the subject.

Here are some I found on food:

Laughter is brightest, in the place where the food is. Irish

He who stirs the pot eats first.

A smiling face is half the meal. Latvian

Talk doesn't cook rice. Chinese

The way you cut your meat reflects the way you live. Confucius

Whose bread I eat, his song I sing. German

Here are some I found on reading as our emails got totally focused on food and I sought to redirect us back to books:

Reading books removes sorrows from the heart.

A wise man without a book is like a workman with no tools. Moroccan

We read to know we are not alone. C. S. Lewis

Some books are to be tasted, others to be swallowed, and some few are to be chewed and digested. Francis Bacon
And that's how we ended it, back to the gastronomic!

Everything's Amazing!

2008-11-30T10:51:00.000-08:00

I, like so many of us, take "everything" for granted. My daughter in her down to earth wisdom reminded me of this the other day when I whined to her about the length of time it was going to take to have the Beave's cell phone repaired. More than a couple of days, it was!! Can you believe that? But no empathy from Betty as she couldn't really see the importance on world events of a teenager being without his texting for a few days. Sigh, I knew there would come a time when my kids would not only think that they were smarter than me, but actually . . . were! As if in perfect timing to corroborate her feelings on the matter came this:

"We live in an amazing, amazing world, and it's wasted on the crappiest generation of spoiled idiots"

And isn't it funny that this comes on Thanksgiving weekend, where I really should be just counting my blessings. And I am! Really we live in an amazing time. Please don't let me be like just another spoiled idiot!

A Foray Into The Youth Culture

2008-11-26T08:04:00.000-08:00

Last night I took a walk on the wild side. Not really, it was more like a walk on the mild side . When your youngest is 15 and wants to attend a band concert that’s what happens when you are the parent elected to take the group. And I’m not driving 45 minutes to Louisville to drop my kid off and then returning 3 hours later. So it was that I got to check out the pre-rock-pop culture scene first hand.

It all started when Beave’s best friend got his first “gig” at the Bull Dog Café just up the road in Louisville last summer. They then made several trips up to play. Now the Bull Dog sounds more upscale than what it actually is, which is a hole in the wall burger joint with a mostly plywood Rube-Goldberg built staging area. It is an ideal location for garage bands to get their first taste of playing for an audience, especially since the audience is usually no more than 20-30 people, mainly friends and family, and the cover charge is five bucks, unless like last night, they get a big name, and then it’s ten bucks.

Anyway, last night was my first time at the Bull Dog. Four excited young men rode with me, and that is in itself a glimpse at the life of a teen today. I was pretty quiet on the way up, but in their excitement, they pretty much forgot I was in the car and I got to hear all of the latest buzz. Who knew guys gossip the way girls do?!

I had been forewarned about the Bull Dog so it pretty much met with my lowered expectations, maybe even a bit cleaner than I expected. Remember this is a food joint, not a bar, so it didn’t reek of old beer and cigarettes, so that was a positive sign. But as we were a bit early, I got a clear view of the mostly empty place and I was taken aback by the sight of an elderly woman in a motorized wheelchair in the corner. She was covered with a blanket, but with all of the tubes and an oxygen tank nearby, it certainly appeared she was connected to life support! And some of the wires went straight up to the television mounted above her head. My first impulse was that someone should check for a pulse! The boys must have seen the look on my face, because they smiled and said, “Oh, that’s the owner” as if that was all the explanation I needed.

For the first half hour I was the lone parent in the crowd (if you can say thirty kids is a crowd). But then I was rescued. Another Mom arrived and we sat together; she wasn’t about to leave her 15-year-old daughter who had come to meet our guys. She was an Army spouse too, whose husband had retired. Army spouses always have a lot in common so we spent the next three hours sharing previous assignments and quite a few mutual friends. After the first band played, we moved to my car. It was parked directly in front of the café where we could still see in and remarkably enough, still hear the music(?) quite well.

All in all, not a bad way to pass an evening. We allowed our kids to have a night out, enjoy their music, and even make an observation about it. When I was the Beave's age a lot of the music was pretty innocuous and mostly about love with a few commentaries on culture thrown in. Look at the top 25 songs of 1970 listed below:

1. Bridge Over Troubled Water, Simon and Garfunkel
2. (They Long To Be) Close To You, Carpenters
3. American Woman/No Sugar Tonight, The Guess Who
4. Raindrops Keep Fallin' On My Head, B.J. Thomas
5. War, Edwin Starr
6. Ain't No Mountain High Enough, Diana Ross
7. I'll Be There, Jackson 5
8. Get Ready, Rare Earth
9. Let It Be, The Beatles
10. Band Of Gold, Freda Payne
11. Mama Told Me (Not To Come), Three Dog Night
12. Everything Is Beautiful, Ray Stevens
13. Make It With You, Bread
14. Hitchin' A Ride, Vanity Fair
15. ABC, Jackson 5
16. The Love You Save/I Found That Girl, Jackson 5
17. Cracklin' Rose, Neil Diamond
18. Candida, Dawn
19. Thank You (Fallettin Me Be Mice Elf Again)/Everybody Is A Star, Sly and The Family Stone
20. Spill The Wine, Eric Burdon and War
21. O-o-h Child/Dear Prudence, Five Stairsteps and Cubie
22. Spirit In The Sky, Norman Greenbaum
23. Lay Down (Candles In The Rain), Melanie and The Edwin Hawkins Singers
24. Ball Of Confusion (That's What The World Is Today), Temptations
25. Love On A Two Way Street, Moments

I guess by 1970 the antiwar crowd and counter culture singers were all busy trying to make a living!

Now the songs are innocuously whining about life. Though I couldn’t really understand many of the slurred lyrics, I imagine their being something like this . . . ‘I need a better cell phone, oh yeah, cuz texting is my life, uh huh, my parent’s won’t get me a new IPOD and this one’s really old, la la la. All I wanna do is rant about you, oh yeah!”

It's Time For a Poem

2008-11-24T17:51:00.000-08:00

A Psalm of Life
by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

(What the heart of the young man said to the psalmist)

Tell me not, in mournful numbers,
"Life is but an empty dream!"
For the soul is dead that slumbers,
And things are not what they seem.

Life is real! Life is earnest!
And the grave is not its goal;
"Dust thou art, to dust returnest,"
Was not spoken of the soul.

Not enjoyment, and not sorrow,
Is our destined end or way;
But to act, that each tomorrow
Finds us farther than today.

Art is long, and Time is fleeting,
And our hearts, though stout and brave,
Still, like muffled drums, are beating
Funeral marches to the grave.

In the world's broad field of battle,
In the bivouac of Life,
Be not like dumb, driven cattle!
Be a hero in the strife!

Trust no Future, howe'er pleasant!
Let the dead Past bury its dead!
Act, -act in the living Present!
Heart within, and God o'erhead!

Lives of great men all remind us
We can make our lives sublime,
And, departing, leave behind us
Footprints on the sands of time;

Footprints, that perhaps another,
Sailing o'er life's solemn main,
A forlorn and shipwrecked brother,
Seeing, shall take heart again.

Let us, then, be up and doing,
With a heart for any fate;
Still achieving, still pursuing,
Learn to labour and to wait.

Canine 9-1-1

2008-11-22T16:36:00.000-08:00

If only James Herriot lived in the neighborhood I could have called him and he could have treated our golden retriever, Emma, and also gotten a good chapter for a new book!

But, it seems I was on my own this afternoon! It went down like this: I had run to the store and been gone about 30 minutes. Upon my return I noticed several strange things. First in my bathroom I noticed a guest soap wrapper on the floor, and then there on the bathroom rug were several bits of soap "crumbs." As Emma likes to go into my bathroom and lay next to the tub, I thought "stupid dog, why are you eating soap?!"

Then not five minutes later I go into the living room and notice another torn up wrapper of some sort. I'm blaming the Beave for leaving a microwave popcorn bag out but then on closer inspection I see that it is something entirely different . . . and then with horror I see a half-eaten "Ready-Start" fire log on the carpet. OMIGOSH! Alarms are going off in my head. If that doesn't beat all . . . Well, it hasn't been that long, but I am sure that that log is loaded with toxins, so we've got to get it out of her.

I go to my old standby home remedy given to me by a veterinarian I called when Emma had eaten an entire bag of Dove Chocolate. That is the hydrogen peroxide bring-it-up-chuck mixture of 1 part hydrogen peroxide to 1 part water, and for a dog Emma's size about 1/3 cup should do it. Trust me though, easier said than done. Note to self: get some disposable plastic medicine syringes and keep them on hand.

With the Beave's help we got enough of the mixture down Emma's throat to do the job. Ten minutes later, a frothy mixture (remember that bar of soap she had was in there too) along with lumps of fire starter log all made its way back up and out. What a relief!!

So if you have pets please keep those easy start logs where they can't get to them. It must be the hickory BBQ like aroma that convinced Emma it would make a nice snack. Though I can't really figure out the soap chaser, unless she was just feeling funky. No I'm at a loss why she would go there, but I guess I'm really going to have to "dog-proof" my home.

Authors I Have Known (Really!)

2008-11-20T10:38:00.000-08:00

While looking for books for Ward to read in his spare time while in Iraq (LOL) and as Christmas gifts, the first place I perused was the History section. There I stumbled across the title of a relatively new release written by an old friend from West Point, COL James Scott Wheeler. The title alone is a bit of a dissertation: The Big Red One: America’s Legendary 1st Infantry Division from World War I to Desert Storm (Modern War Studies). I’m out of breath just saying it! But I was so tickled to find it that I immediately ordered it, not just because it got good reviews, but how cool is it to actually know the author?!

Then I got to thinking that we know several published authors. Our good friend Dana Mangham wrote the tome (well it is large!) Oh For The Touch Of A Vanished Hand: Discovering a Southern Family and the Civil War. Is that not the most poetical, romantic title, Ann with an E? And it was I who commiserated with Nan on how much time Dana spent away from home on research! But what fun we had when it was finally published and we attended one of his first book lectures in Atlanta.

Another friend, Steve Eden wrote, Military Blunders: Wartime Fiascoes From the Roman Age Through World War I.

Then there is the author of Learning to Eat Soup With a Knife: Counterinsurgency Lessons from Malaya and Vietnam,John Nagle, who came to our home for dinner with a PCC group a few years ago. He and Ward stayed up half the night discussing the new type of warfare.

Of course the common thread with all of these books and authors (other than their all having excessively long titles) and myself is that we met through the Army connection. It is not surprising that what they write about is military in its scope, but what is surprising is that they are very good reads. Fiction cannot compete with real life drama or history.

That brings me to the another author that I remember from West Point, Wesley Allen Riddle. He has published mostly articles of a political nature, and I’ll never forget when he and Ward stayed up almost all night tracking Clinton’s second win. What a heartbreak that turned out to be.

But how appropriate this quote from Wesley is in the light of today’s political climate:

If some do not recognize their impending slavery, it is because the tyrant who steals our freedoms is subtle, multifaceted, sometimes benevolent, and wears the mask of a smiling bureaucrat and government social worker, who has your supposed best interest in mind... The liberty we have gotten is not the sort the Founders intended. It serves no purpose nor ends but our own destruction. We witness now the onset of social chaos sanctioned by government, without the consent of the people to do it.
"Secession and the Moral Compact", Vital Speeches of the Day, Wesley Allen Riddle, August 1, 1995, pWest Point is USA equivalent of Sandhurst military officers academy in the UK.

Impossible Vicissitudes

2008-11-19T09:40:00.000-08:00

I never really liked this painting. But now it captures the exact way I am feeling today. Much like these lines from Wordsworth's Michael Angelo:

Do not call up to me those days departed
When I was young, and all was bright about me,
And the vicissitudes of life were things
But to be read of in old histories,
Though as pertaining unto me or mine
Impossible.

Now I have reached the age where I know better. Untenable things happen to me and mine, and recently to friends of mine. Things that make a heart cry out WHY? They are real and present and how we cope with them tells more about our character than we sometimes wish to know.

What do you say to a family who loses their three year old baby girl to brain cancer after fighting the battle for over 13 months?

What do you say to a family whose father just found out he has an inoperable brain tumor?

The horrible human truth is that you feel guilty that your family is whole and healthy. You feel relief that it’s not you going through the ordeal.

But you want to help. Help in any way possible, beginning but not ending with constant prayer.

International Thanksgiving Dinner

2008-11-15T13:24:00.000-08:00

Each year we host our foreign students to an early Thanksgiving Dinner at our Leader's Club. This is a real turkey dinner, with mashed potatoes, stuffing, gravy, cranberry sauce, yams, and home made pies (among many other home made goodies).

We begin by telling the students what that first Thanksgiving was all about. We have an invocation and follow that with a song, Come Ye Thankful People Come. I really wish we had a better song. Not many people are familiar with that one, I'm certainly not, and I've attended a variety of chapel services from Episcopal to Baptist and that's just not one I remember either growing up or from any recent hymnal. In fact, it reminds me of a creepy movie and I have no idea why!

Then we serve the dinner. Now we had 180 people in attendance but we serve this family style. Though it's at a club, there is a more informal connotation only with no kids table and no Uncle Joe telling off-color jokes in the living room. So at all of our different tables we had the opportunity to tell the guys from Turkey, Greece, Jordan, Saudi, Egypt, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Slovenia, Thailand, Morocco, Senegal, Korea, Belgium, Hungary and Canada to "please pass the turkey."

My dinner partner to the right had just arrived from Saudi two days ago. Well, not actually Saudi. He had come from Texas where he spent nine months at the language school in San Antonio. In a way that is unfortunate because they come saying how great San Antonio was, and then Fort Knox is a bit of a disappoint, and cold right now to boot. In our conversation I asked if he was staying in Kentucky through the holiday break in December, but he said no, they were headed to Florida to warm up!

After dinner a chosen group of foreign students puts on a Thanksgiving play. We have the pilgrims depicted on their hard journey to the New World. And their meeting with the Indians, and finally the first celebration of Thanksgiving. Some of them are given lines that they deliver with great accents and some prompting, but it always supplies hilarity for the audience.

My friend Abdullah was there with his two boys. But the Saudi spouses were conspicuously absent, though it is understood why.

I dragged the Beaver with me, though he was not thrilled. He surprised me by speaking with the Saudis at our table, but he bailed on us right after dessert, so he missed the wonderful performance!

Campfire Diplomacy with S'Mores

2008-11-10T06:07:00.000-08:00

A picnic in November? This was my third International Group Fall Picnic, and the weather cooperated, thankfully. Still it was in the mid-50s range, so our menu of hot soups, hot cider, hot tea was a good idea.

The students arrived, we had our introductions, and the fun began. I'm beginning to think our friends don't trust us though, because we got a lot of "what's in this?" So after many reassurances of "No Pork!" they began to chow down.

The hot cider was a big hit. Many had never tasted anything like it. My recipe was so simple. Pasteurized cider warmed with those little dot sized cinnamon candies, a handful per 1/2 gallon. It beats all of the spices floating on top. I also attempted some chai, made the old-fashioned way with tea, spices and then adding warmed milk and sugar. It went over well too. The officer from Pakistan said it could have been a little stronger.

Our soups were potato, lentil, cabbage, and vegetable beef. We then had traditonal American desserts; apple pie, cookies, and pumpkin bread.

The picnic was held in what we call the "pit" which is directly in back of my home. The post just recently renovated it and it was clean with new outdoor lights and freshly painted picnic tables. It also has a fire place, so we started a nice roaring fire.

One of the ladies had thought to bring marshmallows, graham crackers and Hershey chocolate bars.

I was the lucky one chosen to demonstrate to our foreign students the art of making a S'More!

HOW GIRLS MAKE S'MORES --
(1) Place Hershey bars on graham crackers. (2) Toast marshmallows. (3) Place toasted marshmallows on Hershey bars to melt chocolate.

HOW BOYS MAKE S'MORES --
(1) Eat Hershey bars. (2) Eat marshmallows. (3) Throw graham crackers at other boys.

I chose the way girls make them! So we rounded up some nice long sticks and I proceeded to cook the first marshmallow. I am the "brown not burn" school of marshmallow cooking thought, and as I was roasting the marshmallow the students lined up to watch. Then the comments started, "Oh, I saw this on a movie, please may I try one?" "Yes, I did too, may I also." So before a few minutes had passed we had a circle of S'More makers. Then I asked them which movie . . . and they all said some horror movie! Oh my! So that's why I hadn't heard about that scene, though if you think about it, I'm sure there are lots of movies that have a S'More making scene . . . Sandlot comes to mind.

Anyway they had fun literally tasting a bit of American culture.

But the whole movie thing got me to thinking, do our foreign students take their views of us from the movies they watch? I shudder to think!

Tie a Yellow Ribbon

2008-11-06T16:08:00.000-08:00

Today we put a new record in the Guinness Book of World Records for the largest man made, I mean literally, yellow ribbon. Yeah!

I remember my first time dealing with the yellow ribbon and what it symbolized. It was back in the day of the Iran Hostage Crisis. (This was premilitary assignment for Ward.) I was a member local organization and we wanted to show that we cared and bring recognition to the plight of these prisoners, so American wouldn’t forget them. We folded little yellow grosgrain ribbons and fastened them with straight pins. We made up bunches of these and just stood outside of a local supermarket and asked people to wear them. It was purely symbolic, but people said time and again, that, yes, they would be happy to wear this ribbon, thank you for reminding me to think of them!

That little yellow ribbon packs a great symbolic punch!

Then when Ward went into the military I found that spouses would use that yellow ribbon when their husbands were deployed. The first time I tied yellow ribbons around trees was for the first Gulf War. That symbolism carried a lot more weight for us then . . . it was heavy with fear for our guys’ safety and longing for them to return home unharmed.

Now Ward is deployed again and I wear a little metal yellow ribbon pin and I marvel that something so mundane as a little yellow ribbon can hold all of the following meanings of love and pride and faith and honor.

So when our group of over 2000 wives, children and soldiers stepped out onto Godman Airfield on Fort Knox this morning to form a giant yellow ribbon with our yellow t-shirts and caps, we knew that it meant all that it has ever meant; we are proud of our soldiers and we can’t wait for them to come home!

Prop 8 and The Big O

2008-11-06T09:39:00.000-08:00

California voters approved a ban on same sex marriages this past Tuesday, but it is already being challenged in the courts. So much for the will of the people!

What is the argument for legalizing marriage really about? Try talking to a gay friend from a Christian perspective and you will likely go in circles, for the argument becomes a circuitous one; due largely to two unyielding and polarized worldviews. I call that argument: The Big O.

The conversation goes as follows:

Friend, “We lost this round, but we will never give up the fight for equality.”

Me, “In what way do you feel unequal?”

Friend, “Well, we should be able to marry, legally, like any other couple.”

Me, “But you are allowed to have civil unions, and legally you can have just about any other legal contract, what is it about legal marriage that would make you equal, I mean what rights are you lacking?”

Friend, “We want to be recognized as normal in this culture, that our lifestyle choice is equivalent to heterosexuals’.”

Me, “Well, our cultures’ values are largely based on Judeo-Christian values. This is an age old arrangement put in place by G-d for the benefit of children and women, for their protection.”

Friend, “Yeah, but I’m tired of being judged! I don’t believe in G-d! Who are these sanctimonious people to tell me what’s right or wrong about the way I feel!”

Me, “So you’re saying you want to be accepted by a culture whose G-d you reject, whose values you reject? Yet you want them to sanctify a union that their value system cannot allow them to.”

Friend, “Yeah, what is the big deal?”

Me, “The big deal is that sanctity means the quality or condition of being considered sacred, it implies a holiness of life; G-d is the author of one man, one woman for marriage. How then, could we honor something that G-o-d explicitly condemns?”

Friend, “Geesh, I’ve said we should leave religion out of it! I want to be accepted as equal in this culture, as legitimate. Why is that so hard to understand?”

My friend and I will continue to argue in this circular manner, but we will never convince each other that the other one has a valid point.

No matter how good it makes me feel, I cannot go against what G-d has ordained.

And that is likely to remain true for as long as we’re friends. For as long as our culture maintains its Judeo-Christian beliefs, there will be no “normalizing” gay marriage. How long that will be remains to be seen, for I also see that what was once a solid Judeo-Christian value system is being eroded, even within the church. How sad, that Christ’s bride cannot hold true and fast. I remember what He said about being lukewarm!

A Mighty Wind

2008-11-05T13:51:00.000-08:00

"I feel like we got a righteous wind at our backs here, but we're going to have to work. We're going to have to struggle. We're going to have to fight." - Barack Obama, Virginia 2008

Hmmmmmmm. sounds familiar...

"The righteous wind of socialism is on the rise. By the end of this year the victory of socialism will be greatly assured. Naturally there will be many struggles ahead and we must struggle hard." - Mao Zedong, The Writings of Mao Zedong Volume 1

How To Explain Halloween to a Saudi

2008-10-31T09:32:00.000-07:00

Trust me it's a difficult task! This came up a few weeks ago when I was first invited to the Saudi's home for dinner. First of all, foreign culture exchanges can be tricky. I first met the student at one of our International Meet and Greet functions. This is just a get together with light refreshments to welcome all incoming foreign officers who are here to study at Fort Knox for the next six months. I thought it a little odd at the time that this particular student asked for my cell phone number, but that's what I volunteer for--to help sponsor these students. So I was a little surprised when I got the call . . . "Hello! Can you come to our house for dinner tonight?" This was at 5:00 in the late afternoon, for dinner at seven! Oops, that first time I was in Lexington at the State Soccer tournament and there was no way to make it.

A week later I get another call, "Hello! Can you come to our house for dinner tonight?" Well, I couldn't say no two times in a row, so I went. And I thought to ask if Ben could come with. "How old is he?" "Fifteen." "No, Mum, I am sorry he is an adult and our custom is . . . " Oh, I was just checking, no, I understand! I will come alone! Whew! That was a close one.

So I went to their home here on post and enjoyed quite a lovely evening. The pretty young wife did not have to wear her hajib and was actually wearing western clothes, much like the uniform of every American wife: jeans and a nicer t-shirt top. The boys were so cute, watching Sponge-Bob and eating the sweets I brought for them. And the baby was just a little doll. This young couple explained their customs and showed me some photos of their homeland via the laptop. And we talked about some of our differences and because the housing areas were all decorated for Halloween that topic came up.

How to explain Halloween, especially since it is my least favorite of all pagan holidays! I wimped out and just said that the kids have fun dressing up, and going out to get as much candy as they can from the neighborhood. It was too difficult with the language barrier to go into further detail than that, and really for the most part that is what most people view Halloween as, just a fun little diversion from the routine.
,
My student sent me a sweet text message a little after I returned home, "We are very glad to see you . Come again soon . Good night"

Anyway, I just sent a text to my student and asked if I could drop by around 5 this afternoon. I have some special Halloween treats for the kids and even one for his wife. He answered, "Wellcom we will be haby"

Do I have a great job or what?!

Foreign Film Faux Pas

2008-10-29T17:49:00.000-07:00

Since joining Netflix I am averaging a new movie or two a week. Well, not really new, because my selections have included mostly old classics and foreign films.

The foreign films are intriguing, but this evening's selection proved to be hilarious, and it was not a comedy. I think it was aiming for mildy amusing, though it is a 1984 film. In Jean de Florette two men scheme to acquire a neighboring farm by preventing a natural spring from flowing, a water source that the new owner, Jean (Gerard Depardieu) needs for his crops. BTW, don't you just love saying Gerard Depardieu's name?!

But something funny happened in the English sub-titled version. I'm sure that some things should be universally understood as the sound is not off, so in addition to English sub-titles for the French conversation, the following was put onto the screen for our viewing edification:

Rooster crowing.
Clattering.
Whistling.
Chicken clucking.
Snoring.
Grunts.
Men laughing.
Bell Ringing.
Goat bleating.
Shushing.
Goat bleating.
Creaking.
Playing harmonica.
Water splashing.
Indistinct chatter.
Exhales.

Seriously! After the first few showed up on the movie, I had to grab a pen and take notes. I've never minded subtitles, but this was . . . just too much!! I don't know whether to just laugh it off, or be seriously offended. The French always seem to look down their noses at us . . . how would you put a subtitle on that: superior sneer?

Being An Army Wife

2008-10-26T16:45:00.000-07:00

I attended a farewell gathering for a spouse who's husband has just retired. They are making their home in nearby Louisville (pronounced Loo-ee-ville, or Lou-ah-ville, depending on who you ask).

It is such a bittersweet thing for an Army spouse. Over the years we grouse about all the moving, the bad housing, the bad schools, our husbands who work 24/7 and certainly don't get overtime, but the one thing we have never complained about is each other. Oh, mind you, I've had a few bad experiences with some wacko-wives, but on the whole we have made the best friends and had a wonderfully rich and diverse life experience as Army wives.

So as this wife was getting all misty-eyed we all got a speck of something in our eyes as well. But we all agreed that it was a good, good life. We have no regrets about choosing to be a camp follower. Yes, we do choose it, because others have opted out along the way.

This was given to me years ago but still expresses it best:

What is an Army wife? An Army wife is mostly girl, though there are times, when her husband is away and she is mowing the lawn that she begins to suspect she is also boy. She usually comes in three sizes: petite, plump, and pregnant. During the early years of her marriage it is often hard to determine which size is her normal one. She has babies all over the world, and she measures time in terms of places, as other women do in years. "It was at Rucker that we all had the mumps." At least one of her babies is born, or one transfer is accomplished while she is alone--causing her to suspect a secret pact between her husband and the Army, which provides for a man to be overseas or on temporary duty at this times.

An Army wife is international. She may be an Arkansas farm girl, a French mademoiselle, a Japanese, doll, an es-Army nurse. When discussing their Army problems, they speak the same language.

She can be a great actress. Watching her childrens heartbreak at transfer time, she gives an Academy Award performance. "Arizona is going to be such fun. I hear they have Indian reservations ... and tarantulas ... and rattlesnakes ..." but her heart is breaking with theirs, and she wonders if this Army life is worth the sacrifice. One day later, en route to the new assignment, and filled with a spirit of adventure, she knows it is. That is, if the baby hasn't come down with a virus, or the twins with the measles.

An ideal Army wife has the patience of an angel, the flexibility of putty, the wisdom of a scholar, and the stamina of a horse. If she dislikes money it helps.

She loves to gripe. (Why shouldn't the commissary bag my groceries like the supermarket?) She lets off steam, then goes back to the present system.

She is sentimental, carrying her memories with her in an old footlocker. She often cries at parades without knowing why.

She is a dreamer, "We'll never move again;" an optimist, "The next place will be better;" a realist, "Oh well, as long as we're together!"

You might says she's married to a bigamist--sharing her husband with a demanding other entity called "Duty." When "Duty" calls, she becomes the No. 2 wife--and until she accepts this fact her life can be miserable.

She is many persons. She is the tired traveler coming down the concourse with a smile on her lips, love in her eyes, and a new baby in her arms. She is the colonel's wife smiling in a receiving line until her cheeks ache. She is the foreign bride in a strange American world. She is above all, a woman who married a soldier who offered her the permanency of a gypsy the miseries of loneliness, the frustrations of conformity--and the security of love.

Sitting among her packing boxes, with her children squabbling nearby, she is sometimes willing to chuck it all--until she hears the firm step and cheerful voice of that lug who gave her all this.

And then she is happy to be--HIS ARMY WIFE.

He Ain't Heavy

2008-10-25T12:38:00.001-07:00

Living on an Army post I see all kinds of training take place. Every once in a while I'll see something that I haven't seen before.

I was doing my morning jog and it just happens that I pass a training area for some Armored Cavalry soldiers about the time they do their morning PT (physical training). They are usually doing various calisthenics, such as push-ups, sit-ups, stretches, etc. But today was different as they were doing a kind of race between sets of teams. It was a relay that went like this, one soldier hoisted a fellow soldier across his back much like a rescue carry, then ran up and then back down a small hill. Then they switched out. Now these soldiers varied in height, weight and yes, even fitness! But it was an interesting concept, they were obviously in some kind of rescue training as the guy being carried kind of hung like a rag doll (simulating being injured?). It certainly didn't look easy. But it was the ultimate He ain't heavy, he's my brother kind of training!

That's what I love about our soldiers! They participate in daily PT, then go on to do their daily jobs which can involve anything from shooting a gun or a tank, to working in an office, to teaching multiple career courses. In the Army you have to multi-task. And they are generally speaking very good at it!

Hoisted By Your Own Petard

2008-10-23T09:50:00.000-07:00

The more the media point out that we should not like Sarah Palin, the more conservatives like her! Yesterday they were raking her over the coals for the amount of money spent on her wardrobe. Good grief! Have they investigated how much Obama spends? Biden? McCain? I would think their suits are comparable in price to Sarah's. But how is this relevant to the election?!

I guess it must grate on them that she is so well received by conservative crowds. Yes, we like a straight talking, no nonsense, "say it ain't so Joe" demeanor.

And yes, now the drive-bys are going after Joe the Plumber. For Pete's sake, he is a private citizen. The American KGB are digging up dirt on the one John Doe who had the audacity to ask a question! (And in doing so, point out the obvious about a candidate who himself said he wants to spread the wealth around.)

I don't understand why the folks who clamor for socialism can't bring themselves to use that word!

Socialism refers to a broad set of economic theories of social organization advocating state or collective ownership and administration of the means of production and distribution of goods, and the creation of an egalitarian society. Modern socialism originated in the late nineteenth-century working class political movement. Karl Marx posited that socialism would be achieved via class struggle and a proletarian revolution which represents the transitional stage between capitalism and communism.

Socialists mainly share the belief that capitalism unfairly concentrates power and wealth among a small segment of society that controls capital, and creates an unequal society. All socialists advocate the creation of an egalitarian society, in which wealth and power are distributed more evenly, although there is considerable
disagreement among socialists over how, and to what extent this could be achieved.

It is so clear that this is what Mr. Obama supports. Why can't they just admit it? Because if he did, he would be hoisted by his own petard. That is, if average Americans paid attention, they could see what is in hidden in plain sight . . . and I believe most Americans do not want to live in a socialist country.

Didja ever notice . . .

2008-10-21T15:48:00.000-07:00

The male species does not see the same way the female species do? Case in point, when I look at an area of my home that needs tidying up, say before a group of twenty or so ladies are coming for a get-together, I look around and see piles of stuff that need to be put away, namely: soccer shoes, soccer ball, soccer shin guards, not to mention regular shoes, piles of books and school papers, hoodies that haven't been worn in a week or so, baseball bat, glove and balls, and various baseball caps. When asked about these things, the owner says, "what stuff?"

And then we have the area on top of a certain bookcase where this male person keeps his two fish. In two separate containers. Now, he does take very good care of the fish; cleaning the tanks and feeding them with no reminders having to be given. But all of the paraphernalia necessary to do this is left . . . right there! Bottles of PH balancers and fish food and fish medicines all just crowded there on the top two shelves of the book case; and then the water containers are in the nearby bathroom with nets and scrubbers. I think a person of the female persuasion would keep all of these items out of sight when not being used. My male guy can't figure out why he should put them away when he's just going to have to get them out again in a couple of weeks!

So my only conclusion is that they look, but they don't really SEE!!

Apfel strudel? Ja wohl!

2008-10-19T09:27:00.000-07:00

When I was growing up my German mother would make apple strudel the old fashioned way. It took 3-4 days from start to finish. It was the delicate pastry that had to be rolled and stretched daily over the course of that time. The end result was truly a work of art, both in taste and delicacy of the flaky pastry. It never lasted long in our household of six growing children. It was something I had never even thought of attempting to do . . . until now, and thanks to that wonder product from Pepperidge Farm, Puff Pastry Sheets.

The following recipe gives a passable apple strudel, but be sure to make it only hours before you want to serve it as it really must be served fresh and warm, preferably
with fresh whipped cream or vanilla ice cream!

Apple Strudel

1/2 of a 17.3 ounce package Pepperidge Farm Puff Pastry Sheets (1 sheet)
1 egg
1 tbsp. water
2 tbsp. granulated sugar
1 tbsp. all-purpose flour
1/4 tsp. ground cinnamon
2 large Granny Smith apples, peeled, cored and thinly sliced
2 tbsp. raisins
Confectioners' sugar (optional)

Directions

Thaw the pastry sheet at room temperature for 40 minutes or until it's easy to handle. Heat the oven to 375 F. Lightly grease a baking sheet. Beat the egg and water in a small bowl with a fork.

Stir the sugar, flour and cinnamon in a medium bowl. Add the apples and raisins and toss to coat.

Unfold the pastry sheet on a lightly floured surface. Roll the pastry sheet into a 16x12-inch rectangle. With the short side facing you, spoon the apple mixture onto the bottom half of the pastry sheet to within 1-inch of the edges. Starting at the short side closest to you, roll up like a jelly roll. Tuck the ends under to seal. Place seam-side down on the baking sheet. Brush the pastry with the egg mixture. Cut several 2-inch-long slits 2 inches apart on the top.

Bake for 35 minutes or until the pastry is golden. Cool on the baking sheet on a wire rack for 30 minutes. Sprinkle with the confectioners' sugar, if desired. Slice and serve warm.

Das hat sehr gut geschmect!