Dear Government, Protect Us From Tyrannies

“Of all tyrannies, a tyranny sincerely exercised for the good of its victims may be the most oppressive. It would be better to live under robber barons than under omnipotent moral busybodies. The robber baron’s cruelty may sometimes sleep, his cupidity may at some point be satiated; but those who torment us for our own good will torment us without end for they do so with the approval of their own conscience.”

-C.S. Lewis

To bring new life and new hope to this country our government is fulfilling this quote by C.S. Lewis. I am a firm believer that government should be small and govern, not take control of and manage corporations. I fear the actions of late will hinder the recovery of our great nation’s economy if by no other means than to stifle capitalism. Imagine the post office actually showing a profit. That’s hard because it has not happened. I am in the market for a new full size pick up for work. I refuse to even look at GM or Chevy because it is ran by the government. I won’t by a foreign car truck because I’d rather send my money to Ford who has a great pick up in the F-150. I have spoken to several people who feel the same way. My chief complaint is that we are being force fed what ever the main stream media deems necessary and just in their eyes. Journalism died in 2008. The media should not try to lead or mislead the country and the news should not be politicized. It should be direct and honest with some integrity. Ahh there’s the word which is lost in this country and has been for a few generations. Integrity no longer is taught to our children, our college students, our politicians. The word is spoken but the meaning has been lost. The current meaning is bent and twisted so people can lie with a straight face, Mrs. Pelosi on enhanced interrogation techniques , and continue to further their adgenda. Our country has no checks and balances system this term because in part the media pushed their agenda and because the GOP lost it’s fiscal conservationism and were in control for what the American people decided was too long. I feel most things coming from Washington will hurt the country in ways we have not even began to imagine, but I also can admit that I do not know if these actions will actually hurt the US. History says it will depending on which history book you read. Universal health care has not worked in any country that has it. Costs are cut by cutting services. People wait and wait for surgery or just die because they were turned down. Will the good Congressmen and women use this system? No they will not. They have their own system. Which brings me to the question, what is the legacy cost of our Congress? We hear about the legacy cost of automakers who have been strangled by the UAW. What of our Congress who receive full benefits after only one term? How much money do they take for themselves? More than you and I that is for certain. My days here near Washington are coming to a close but I’d like to thank our good congress for the tax breaks I get because I work here and live 320 miles away and commute on the weekends. I get to claim my mileage, rent, phone, food, and every other thing while I work here. I asked my accountant why I get such a great tax break and he told me that Congress also gets to claim all those benefits of working here but living there. Ahh and again it makes sense. I get the scraps that fall from the table of our omnipotent government. If you feel no outrage at our government then wait and you will. Maybe. Again I have a strong belief that this administration will not benefit the country but I could be wrong. Time will tell.

Cap and Trade Tax

Another great political season ended in November of 2008 and like all political seasons in recent history we were lied to again. Does anyone remember “a tax cut for 95% of Americans”? Well in all fairness, that did happen in the form of about $13 a week on our paychecks. I do not believe that money will help much when the cap and trade tax is passed. Estimates represent anywhere from $1300 to $3000 a year increases in energy costs. They do not call it a tax but what else is it?  That is not accounting for inflation which will be here in a couple of years.  Politicians love the cap and trade because they can claim to tax industries that pollute and fail to realize that any business who is taxed has to make up those taxes in order to be solvent, therefore you will be charged for the tax.  It truly will be trickle down taxation.  Jason Chaffettz, Utah Republican, House of Representatives wrote in the Washington Times the he would like to make sure utility bills would be itemized so the consumer could see how much of their bill is taxes.  This would promote transparency in who exactly pays for this cap and trade.   Cap and trade is pushed by global warming and Al Gore.  Al Gore’s home is uses more energy than any other single family home in the state of TN and his private jet is an old jet and leaves a much larger carbon footprint than newer jets.  Al Gore’s motivation is money.  His net worth after his terms as Vice President was about 2 million.  Today he is worth over 100 million.  The evidence that we cause global warming is opinion at best and the sun is dead.  Well not actually dead but the lack of sunspots indicate a possible cooling trend for our planet.  So if we use cap and trade and all the science offered is correct, can we afford to drop the temperature of our planet that one half of one degree Celsius?  The one half of one degree Celsius is the total benefit of a world cap and trade system.  In my opinion, it’s all about the money.

Lies are tossed at us every day.  Go find the truth because it’s not offered.

Reconciliation and Health Care Reform

As a user of our health care system and someone who understands the legislative process I am concerned about the “victory” our congress plans to give our president before his 100 day anniversary. This completely undermines any bipartisan debate on the health care system through another hard line partisan power grab. This congress has set aside something like 800 billion dollars for the health care initiative. The problem is that they want this passed by Wednesday, President Obama’s 100 day anniversary, without debate. Just like the 1100 page stimulus package which was not read by one member who voted for it. I site the AIG bonuses which Barney Frank and Chirs Dodd were appalled about. They quickly passed a tax on those bonuses to take them back. The problem with and why those bounuses stopped being talked about. Congress, when they passed the stimulus bill also passed the AIG bonuses. They would have known that if they had read it. They are going to push this bill through too under reconciliation which will hold the senate vote to majority and not the normal 60/40 vote. I am concerned and wanted to voice my opinion. Do you have an opinion? Have you sent email or called your congressman or senators? I have and plan to follow this closely. The country does not need to be ran by partisanship but by citizenship.

Thanks for reading my little blog. God Bless America.

The Deficit! How Much Is It? Depends Who You Ask.

I keep hearing that the deficit is between 500 billion dollars and 3 trillion dollars.  Which is it and how do they come up with that number?  Is the interest on our debt included in our deficit? Are we so deep in deficit that we must print money which some say will cause hyperinflation?   As you can see I have many questions and no matter where I go I cannot get a clear concise answer to these questions.  I get answers but never the same one twice.   That is what my post is about today.  I hope someone can help me understand why those answers are hard to find.  I understand that they are questions not easily answered but answers are very easily produced to boost one view or criticize another view.  Can anyone help me understand?

LEFT, RIGHT, WRONG, OR INDIFFERENT

According to Homeland Security I might be a terrorist. I am an American veteran of Desert Storm and Shield. I would like to see some sort of immigration control. I am a conservative. I didn’t think we were to use that word terrorist anymore. Wait, you can use it if you want to promote your agenda of oppressing the outcome of the Tax Day Tea Parties. If you switch the word terrorist with the word redneck then you’d sound like Jeff Foxworthy with his “might be a redneck” jokes.
Next let me talk about T-Bagging. This is the most obscene thing I’ve seen on the prime time news. I was upset but when my 14 year old daughter sent me an email asking what is T-Bagging, I was downright irate. After all I asked her to watch both right and left leaning news channels to teach her to stay informed in politics and the news, and she noticed the difference between Tax Day Tea Party and T-Bagging because Keith * “bathtub boy” Oberman was using the term liberally. Thank you Mr. Oberman. I have a great reason to pull one more viewer from your ever falling ratings and to write a letter to the FCC because you obviously need regulating. You sir and your on-air T-Bagging left wing extremists are repulsive and this was reprehensible.
My last soap box stand is to ask Mrs. Secretary Janet Napolitano failed to mention the “left wing extremists” in here smack down on the military, border security seeking Americans, and quite possibly every conservative in the country. Why not also mention the Uni-Bomber, a liberal, or the strong young men in fatigues, berets, and ray ban sunglasses holding sticks at the polling places in Chicago and Philadelphia? Why not mention David Ayers and the Weather Underground? This report was obviously politically motivated. I understand there are and have been dangerous extremists on both the left and right over the years. I would like to see FACTS in a report like this and not total speculation and race baiting.

* “bathtub boy” is a term of endearment John Gibson uses when describing Mr. Oberman because he stayed in his bathtub for a week when President Clinton had his scandal with his intern.

Tax Day Tea Party

The 15th of April, 2009 has been designated as a day of political revolution or at the least to get the attention of some legislators. I plan to attend one in Reston, VA at 6:30pm to see what it’s all about. The amount of coverage for this grass roots liberty varies from the parties being called bythe Constitutional right of the people to a sham put forth by GOP think tanks who are well funded by republican corporations. These people have the right to meet in a peaceful manner and talk about their government and how to change what they do not like. This is a republic, not a democracy, and we have the right. We the people have the right to stand up to government and ask the questions that have been ignored. TARP, the first bailout in September of 2008 we called our legislators and left messages. We wrote letters and sent e-mail. All this to no avail. Next the 800 billion dollar stimulus package and we called, wrote, and emailed. Then the pork ridden (9,000 earmarks) Omnibus bill and the legislators heard nothing from us the silent majority. The budget which takes us TRILLIONS more into debt. Again the calls, emails, messages, and letters spoke no volume of concern to our legislators. The next step, logically, is to show up in force. Not the force where we are carrying our guns and clutching bibles but a show of force in numbers. Numbers of Americans who also feel they have not been heard.

A member of the British parliament, Daniel Hannan, who stated to his Prime Minister, “you cannot spend your way out of recession or borrow your way out of debt”.  These words speak volumes to me and our state of the union.   These parties are just and are right.  I am not writing today to emote my patriotism or conservatism or to hop up on my soap box and preach about our founding fathers and what they would think.  I am writing to condemn those liberals who feel the need to demean these parties by continually using the term “Tea-bagging” which is most offensive and to voice concern over the Department of Homeland Security statement warning of  “right-wing extremist activity” with no facts and a lot of maybe.  Is this a tactic that the liberals accused President Bush of or a simple tactic to scare Americans to stay home and abstain from the Tea Parties.  Of course offensive material is hurled by all sides of this.  I keep hearing my own words after the election.  “I did not vote for Obama but he is my president and I will support him until he gives me reason not to.”  He has given me reason to withdraw support with all the debt my child will have to pay for over the next several generations.  I also remember the liberals saying when George W. Bush was elected in 2000.  I did not vote for him and he is not my president and I will never support him, ever.  And they never did.   I remember the Patriot Act setting the liberals afire with terms like unconstitutional and Impeach.  Last week President Obama decided to keep the Patriot Act alive and well.  Why is this not declared unconstitutionally by the left?  Well the answer to this is simple.  Double standards.  If this country cannot come together then we will fall apart. I have a strong pride in my country, state, county, and town.  I am an American first and conservative second.  I see the points made by both sides and I have picked my side.  I do not want to be ridiculed because I want to express my opinion.  But as I continually watch the liberal media and how they mock and ridicule I remember that last year I was called a racist by a liberal because I had the want and need to know what those associations with Bill Ayres and Tony Rezko were before I formed my opinion of the man. I know that Bush had his problems and the left kept us mightily informed of those short falls.  I however have yet to hear any criticism of Obama and his democratic Congress from the left.  I suggest that if you are not in the know about these things then you should educate yourself because the next several generations are at risk.  Thank you for your time.

Don’t Arrest Me! I’m With The 82nd Airborne!

My wonderful cousin Tammy blogged about a funny little story and made me think about the funny things I’ve done and seen. At first it was a melody of funnies in my mind which brought me a chuckle and then one stuck and I could not get it out of my mind.

DISCLAIMER!  People who have never seen me this way, remember this was almost twenty years ago and I haven’t drank like this in many many years. If this is not funny to you then I apologize because I lived it and it was funny from where I sat.
Let me set it up. It was July and I was stationed with the 82nd Airborne Division out of Ft. Bragg, NC back in about 1992. Each year the 82nd has it’s annual convention and this year it was in Nashville, TN. The rules for going to the convention were this, you pay the $65.00 for the convention and you get the entire week off from work. All you had to do was sign in there and you were good to go with a week off. Jim, Joe and I left in Jim’s mid 80’s  Volkswagen Vanagon (a cab over the front wheels, no front end having van that drove like a bus) with the complete intent on returning the next day with a week off to share with our families. That night we stopped in on a friend of mine in Winston-Salem just to say hey because his house was two miles from the interstate and we needed to stretch.  Little did we know there was a party going on and the next thing I knew it was early morning and we were severely behind schedule. When I awoke it was strange. The house was empty save me and Joe.  Jim and my buddy Mike had left before we woke up.  I had knew Mike for years and Jim for only a few months.  I knew Mike was always initiating his Jedi mind trick way of picking out who he could hang out with and who he couldn’t.  He was with Jim who was one of the craziest, most spontaneous people I had ever met.  I’ve actually looked at Jim after one of his irresponsible acts and said, “Did he just do that?” out loud.  One example is the night Jim and his wife were at my house and Jim being older than the rest of us was talking about going out for the batallion boxing team.  He was around 30 and thought he needed to prove something.  The next thing I knew my wife was raring back and hitting Jim really hard in the face.  Like a man.  Clinched fist and the sound of flesh pounding flesh.  Not once but several times.  He was training to be a boxer and my ex-wife was glad to teach him.  The next day he said his jaw was sore. They returned after a few rounds at Bennigan’s and enough milk and vodka to make white russians for a lot of Russians. Jim said Mike had decided to go with us we tossed those two drinkers into the back of the van and hit the road. Now this is where it starts to get funny or at least concerning.

About three or four hours into the drive Jim and Mike were getting rowdy. Joe and I were both sober and trying to maintain control. Just then the van door slid open and Jim started giving Mike jump commands. If you’ve jumped from a military aircraft then you know what I am talking about. I heard, “Twenty minutes!”, and then “Ten Minutes”. I thought they needed a little air and were messing with me. Bear in mind I was driving this van on I-40 at around 70 miles per hour. I heard, “Outboard Personnel Stand Up!”, then “Inboard Personnel Stand Up!”. What in the world were they doing? I was beginning to climb the mountain on I-40 almost into Tennessee. I told Jim to knock it off because I knew Mike was a very very brave guy even though he wasn’t in the Army the was as tough as they come. I then heard, “Hook Up!” and “Check Static Lines!”, and “Check Equipment!” I was getting concerned. “Sound Off For Equipment Check!”. They must have rehearsed it because Mike sounded off with “All OK Jump master!”. Jim sounded off with, “One Minute!” to signify that the drop zone was one minute out. Oh no I still had no idea how crazy it was all about to get. “Thirty Seconds!” was sounded. Then the dreaded “Stand In The Door!” came out of Jim’s mouth. Mike grabbed the leading edge of the door just like you would jump from a C-130 (I know they don’t jump from those anymore but this was in 92 you cherry.) Jim bellowed out “Green Light! GO!” and slapped Mike on the rear to let him know he was over the drop zone and it was time to jump. But it wasn’t a drop zone, it was I-40 at 70 miles per hour in a van. Mike being one person who does not back down ever from anything gripped the door edge and jumped! I thought I was going to crash the van. Mike was outside the van hanging on the gutter that went around the van. The gutter can’t be more than a half an inch wide.  Holy Crap!  He gripped that gutter for all he was worth and shimmied around the van. I mean all the way around the van to my side and Joe pulled him through the window behind me. I must admit that managed to get the tailgater off my bumper and most people who were driving behind me were much farther behind me than before.  After this bit of excitement I pulled over at the next exit so we could get a breather.  Well more booze was bought and we headed back out to the road.  Joe and I were still sober.  I was driving when I noticed some paratrooper type language (some of you may know it as sailor type language) coming from the back seat.  Mike and Jim were fighting in the back seats to beat the band.  Now this was intriguing because Jim was a full foot taller than Mike and at least 70 pounds heavier.  The intriguing part was the fact that Mike was holding his own and the van was catching the wrath of both men bouncing from one side to the other. Joe and I decided to let them go at it because we thought that if one of them got knocked out then the other would go to sleep and we’d be better off.   Remember white russians are made with milk and it was July and they were fighting in the back seats.  By the time this skirmish was over the van was soaked with milk and vodka.  I didn’t think we’d make it to Nashville without an arrest but we kept on.  At this point we were still at least a couple hundred miles from Nashville.  Was this trip a mistake?

We finally arrived in Nashville at about midnight on the second day.  Should have been back at Bragg by now.  Oh man we were in trouble.   Trouble with a capital T.  We were broke.  Remember I said we were going to drive to Nashville, sign in and get back to Bragg.  So we didn’t have money for a room.  We slept in the van in the parking garage of the hotel where the convention was being held.  But not after Joe and I played a little catch up with Mike and Joe.   The next morning we awoke at around 8:00 am or so.  We decided to head to the pool down stairs.  Jim told us he thought they’d have showers there.  They did and after telling the guy over the pool that we didn’t have room keys because our roomies had the keys but we were with the 82nd.  We took a dip in the pool and got those much needed showers.  We then went upstairs to the ball room because booze and food were free with the $65.00 convention fee.  It opened at 10:00 and it was exactly 10:00.  But the doors were closed.  What the?  Then someone reminded us that we crossed a time line and it was really 9:00.  Well what to do for an hour?  Oh we figured that out quickly.  The old timers had a hospitality suite upstairs.  We went up there to chat with some old timers, drink some beer, and eat some nasty form of yesterday’s smoked meat.  I have no idea what it was.  Some how we stayed with these old timers all morning through mid-day and then into the evening.  Then someone from someplace decided that we needed to go to The Oasis.  I thought, Oh yea from the Garth Brooks song.  That bar was great.  It had a country band in one part, a hip hop band someplace else, and a Fleetwood Mac cover band in the back room.  I jammed and drank and rocked on and drank some more.  I didn’t happen to see that Mike had passed out at the bar and they escorted him outside.  We actually closed the place down at 3:00 in the morning and that was at least a 19 hour spree of drinking.  And it felt like more.  I remember riding in the back of a pickup with a bunch of people I did not know.  When we got back to the hotel we went to the van to get some sleep.  I had the key and unlocked the door and whew, I had never smelled anything that bad in my life.  The milk that was spilled in the fight was rancid in the carpet.  Yay rancid milk.  It actually smelled so bad that the flys would not go into the van.  That’s bad.  I slept that night with my head hanging out of the van.  This was the end of day three.  I was in so much trouble  and the van would not quit spinning.

The next morning we went about our business of deciding who we were going to drink with today.  I didn’t want to drink I wanted to go home.  Oh well, majority over ruled me and there we were with the old timers again talking about war, jumping from airplanes, fighting, women, and killing.  We stayed with those guys until late and we were drinking with a lot of the current 82nd soldiers as well as the brass.  We wound up at a party in another hotel.  The Holiday Inn where you could see from the top floor all the way to the lobby.  That place was great and I was happy the walls were high.  We stayed there way too late and caught a ride back to the convention.  We went back to the van to crash but a watchman told us we couldn’t stay there.  Someone decided that Mike could drive since he had more sleep the night before because he passed out at the bar.  Umm.  Ok.  So we got directions from the lady we paid to get out of the garage.  We wanted to find a park someplace.  Going down a street Mike started talking about food and being hungry and we missed our turn.  Then we hit a fence with the passenger side of the van which caused the loss of one rear view mirror and several scratches.  But it was the fence’s fault.  It was sticking into the road.  I think.  After driving around for what seemed like forever we found a patch of grass about 6 feet wide between two parking lots and that’s where we crashed.  It was raining as hard as I’ve ever seen it rain and even though I hated the smell of that van I hated sleeping in the rain more.  So for the second night I slept with my head hanging outside the van’s sliding door. The others slept in the rain on that six foot wide patch of grass.   This was how we ended day four.  I feel asleep thinking about the T word again.

The next morning I woke up to a commotion just a few feet away.  I looked up to see a Nashville city police officer standing over Mike with smelling salts just in time so see Mike spring awake swinging his fists wildly.  Then in quick recovery of his senses Mike said, “Don’t arrest me!  I’m with the 82nd Airborne convention!”.  He only one of us who was not in the 82nd and it worked.  The nice officers let us go and commented on how we should do something with that stinking van.  We did.  We took it to a car wash and hosed out the inside with a high pressure line and some soap.  It helped but not much.  Day five consisted of getting out of Nashville as quickly as possible.  This was a motley crew leaving Nashville.  Joe was always like the camel.  Joe cool.  No matter what and no matter when.  Even when someone was in cardiac arrest and Joe saved the day, but that’s a different story.  Jim was older than the rest of us and the continuous days of drinking had worn on him badly.  I just wanted to get home and I think Mike was of the same mindset.  I was riding in the co-pilots seat making sure the trash can that Jim would periodically puke into would not turn over while Jim drove the van.  We had all the windows down and about twenty miles from that I-40 mountain heading out of Tennessee I felt the van do a funny thing.  It was all over the lane and then we hit new asphalt and it cleared up.  Must have been the road.  About three miles into the down part of “going down the mountain” the van started shaking bad.  It was coming from the front of the vehicle, which was about where I was sitting in this van with the cab over design . The whole floor seemed to shimmy under my feet.   Jim hit the brake.  The brake hit the floor!  Jim hit the brake.  The brake hit the floor! Umm.  I knew right then that we should have left Bragg, drove straight to Nashville, and straight back.  Jim pumped the brake three or four times and puked in the bucket.  He had it under control.  He managed to pull the parking break real easy, downshift into third gear, and let up off the brake.  The van was still shaking but slowing down.  He did this again to get it into second gear and finally into first as we made our exit off the interstate.  We hopped out of the van to see the driver’s side front wheel smoking and the wheel had turned blue from the heat.  The inside of that wheel bearing had gotten so hot it wielded itself to the spindle. It was Sunday and no repair shop was open.  A tow truck driver happened by and gave us a lift to the auto parts store and luck would have it they had one bearing that would fit but no grease seal but Jim said the old one was good enough to get us home.  We bought a hammer, chisel, some sandpaper, and a tube of grease.  We spent the next three or four hours beating, sanding, chiseling, and cursing the wheel bearing repair and finally getting the wheel back on.  It was dark, hot, and Jim was still puking.  All day from the time we got up until later that night Jim puked.  Boy he sure did drink a lot.   There was a small hotel at the end of the ramp and we elected to get one room because the van obviously did not want us in it any longer.  How did I get involved in all of this?  Who’s idea was this?  I remember the headache I had that night.  I could still smell the puke bucket and rancid milk.  The end of day five.

Well I won’t get into all the details about how bad it was for Jim and I when we pulled into Jim’s driveway at just before dark on the six day of our free week away from the Army.  It was bad.  The screaming and yelling and throwing of stuff at my head was at a premium that sixth night well into the morning of the next.  But it was worthit.  I really had a great time with friends and the old timers of the 82nd.  The guys that jumped in on D-Day and Normandy and Sainte-Mere-Eglise.  Those old battle tested heros saved liberty and it was an honor to share drink and swap stories with them, for days.  I get cold chills and can still remember their faces when they would talk about watching entire planes explode just yards from their own and getting out of the plane to find they were so far off course and couldn’t find anyone they knew.  I remember them talking about hard men they had served with.  Hard men?  These protectors of democracy were the hardest men I had ever known.  I never once heard one of them talk about their own glory but always found someone to give it to.  To these great men I say, AIRBORNE!

Truth or Lies? Do you believe our politicians?

Today in the age of technology we get more information than ever before. How much of it can we trust? This last election cycle I became addicted to the campaign and rhetoric.  Now after the election I am convinced we need some kind of political overhaul.  Lies stack up from both sides and as an American I am sick and tired of politicians who lie in order to advance their party and not the country’s best interests. If you win an election by 51% then you still represent 100% of the people.   I would like to see a strong third party where the people actually have a voice after an election. If you think you have a voice, call your congressman or senator.   See if you can get through.  You cannot.  I feel that the majority of the country has a center view verses a far right or far left view .  Politicians, for the most part, are far left or far right.  They seem to fight for not what they believe in but against what the other party is fighting for. How can we progress as a country with these political games controlling everything from taxes to bail outs to the free market to our quality of life?  In my opinion, if you belong to the top five percent of the wealthiest people in the country you should not be allowed to run for office because these people are not about serving us they are about them.  Granted a lot of people start meager and finish big in life and I commend all of the honest hard working people who have done so but as a rule I feel that these people have fought so hard for what they have that when elected they keep fighting for their own best interests.  An example of this is a Senator who owns a transportation contracting company and has a say in what areas of that state will receive federal aid and for what projects. Is this a conflict of interests? I think it is but I am not privy to all of the information that would help me decide. I see things done like the White House taking over the census. Well not taking over but making the Treasury Dept. report to the White House and then what next? The White House has said that those communications will be under the radar, so are we to believe that no politics will come into play on this unbiased, bipartisan, vital process we go through ever ten years. Will Congressional lines be moved in order to provide more votes for their party or will it be clear and transparent? Judging by history I think we all know the answer. Politicians rarely serve the people over their party. A strong third party would provide a checks and balance to all of this. We have the same system of checks and balances that is a major foundation of our governmental process.  Why not have a third party?  Well if I remember correctly Minnesota had so many people registered Independent that they changed the way you register for fear of a third party uprising. The fact of the matter is that both the left and right will fight, politically destroy, undermine, chastise, belittle, and snuff out any opposition to their views. This undermines our political process but when you have hundreds of millions of dollars in your campaign fund then you can pretty much do what you want. This is of course only my opinion but it is something I wanted to blog about.

To Find Your Way Out

On Thursday I woke up someplace I had never been. The walls and floor were a made of rough sawn lumber. The lone window was hazy through the dirt.  I could not see out from the corner which I awoke. The door to my right was standing slightly ajar.  I stood shakily in disbelief.  I then noticed a candle burning on a table under the window.  As I approached it a slight breeze pulled the flame.  I spun on my heel to see the door standing wide and a huge cat at the thresh hold.  It seemed to stare straight into my eyes.  Into my soul.  I blinked and the cat turned its head just as so many other cats had done in the past.  When they seem to ignore your total existence.  I timidly walked to the door to see the most beautiful site of my life.  I was nestled on the steep mountainside in a small cabin that had been built under an outcropping of rocks.  There were signs of roosting birds of prey high above in the trees.  The mountain lead down to a swift moving river contained on the other side by another series of peeks and spurs rolling up as steep as this mountain.  How had I gotten here and why was I here?  I chose one of two paths leading away from my awakening.  One up the mountain side and one down.  I went up because I wasn’t sure I could ford the river below.

Once reaching the summit and catching my breath  I noticed a clearing that was at least a hundred yards by a hundred yards.  The field’s north side held a peculiar tarp covered shape.  I eased around the clearing in the wood line listening and moving slowly.  Someone had been here and some how I was here so my thinking was to take caution.  After a pained few minutes I realized my position beside the tarp.  I gently pulled up on one corner to find it staked into the ground.  After working the stake loose I could see MREs, the military Meals Ready To Eat.  It had been years since I ate one of those nasty congealed treats for breakfast but, I was hungry.  I pulled out a random meal and began to eat.  As I ate I began looking at the contents of the tarp.  Judging by the packaging and tubing it was a disassembled motorized hang glider, an ultra lite.  This forced me to recall an old cadence we would sing when running in the Army.  “My recruiter told me a lie; Join the Airborne and learn to fly.”  I had always wanted to learn to fly and here was my opportunity.  After taking an inventory of the tarp and the glider I made one more circle around the clearing tucked in a few meters inside the wood line with my eyes and ears working hard to make out everything around me.  I saw a fox sneaking toward the spot where I had ate.

I found myself assembling the tubing for the seat and wings.  The fabric was thin but very strong and it was like I had put this thing together many times before.  The two-cycle motor and blade just snapped onto the machine and the controls were in place in just a minute or two.  There was even a full container of fuel there.  After doing an inspection of my new flying machine I was ready to give it a whirl.  I started the engine and let it run for a few minutes to make sure there were no problems.  It ran fine and I eased to the southern edge of the field.  I picked that edge because the trees there were taller so I thought I might be able to clear the northern trees easier.  I held the brake and poured on the gas.  The thing lurched forward but the brake held.  Once I had reached what I thought would be a good place to go, I slammed the brake down.  The little glider that might take me home if I was anywhere close to home began to roll north at a pretty good click.  Before I knew it I was pulling on the stick and the front wheel was off the ground.  I continued to push up on the throttle and then I was truly Airborne, wind in my face, and my heart in my throat.  I had to push down a scream.  I cleared those northern trees by what looked like three inches but I am sure it was at least three foot.  I began circling and gaining altitude.  I could see one road far below.  I followed it for a while before I found a little town that looked some what familiar.  It was Dublin.  I could see the new jail.   I was on my way home.  How had I gotten in that shack and what was I doing flying this machine?  I continued straight south  and found highway 100 and then over the town of Hillsville.  I must confess that I thought of dropping my MRE processed cheese on the steps of the new courthouse but I think that was a little of my mischievous youth trying to scratch it’s way out.  After all I was flying a little glider and I was feeling pretty young.  How had I gotten there?

I found myself traveling over US HWY 52 South down Fancy Gap Mountain.  I was flying high enough not to get caught in a cross breeze between the gap in Fancy Gap or a tree but I was low enough I could see the people in their cars.  Halfway down Fancy Gap I could see my house.  I banked hard right and straight down.  I could see the old Brick House at the Brick House Pond and I aimed for it.  I had always wanted to buzz something in an aircraft.  Here was my chance.  As the house got closer the harder I’d push on the throttle.  I pulled the stick back and came over that house so low that one of the rear wheels touched the ridge cap ever so slightly.  Now straight up and over the next hill I banked to the left and lined up on my long straight road and began to throttle down.  As the wheels touched the road and I coasted to a stop everyone was coming out of their houses to see what was going on.  How had this all happened?  My daughter and wife came running out to ask where I had been and how I had gotten there.  I did not know… wait my wife.  I’m not married anymore but I will be, hopefully soon.  And there more houses on my street now that before.

I blinked once and then again.  I could smell the fumes from the ultra lite engine and feel the wind on my face.  As I awoke for what would be the second time today I realized my yard man was weed eating and the window was open.  What a strange wonderful dream to have on a  Thursday morning.  The sun is bright and the birds are back for spring.  I had found not only my way out but I had relived a childhood dream of my own ultra light glider.  My memories of youth and excitement and the all peaceful contentment of nature, family, and dreams.  It all reminds me of my youth and has helped defined who I am.  Oh I cannot wait until my next vivid dream of youth and opportunity.

Choose To Be Happy?

There are many people who barley get through their day because of sadness. I realize there are many people who need help. People who could use a good therapist. But there are many of us who are simply blue and maybe just not satisfied in their life. I once heard a woman on a christian radio show who had two children with down syndrome and had just lost her husband in a horrible car accident. After a few minutes of upbeat conversation the radio host asked this woman why she wasn’t very sad and how she was happy. Her reply changed my life. I was going through a divorce and running very low on funds. I had not eaten or slept in weeks. I lost 65 pounds in less than 6 weeks. Her reply was simple. She said she was happy because she chose to be. I wish I had gotten her name and been able to get in touch with her to tell her thank you. You see that day was going to be one of my last.  I had enough misery and didn’t think I could take many more sleepless nights.  I couldn’t cut another hole in my belt to keep my loose pants up.  I couldn’t fight anymore.  I couldn’t live with such a loss for very much longer.  I realized right then that no matter how bad my problems were there were people with much worse problems who were dealing with them much better than me. I pulled off the road and thought and cried and thought some more. Finally I decided she was right. The pit of misery I was in did not change overnight but that wonderful lady dropped me a ladder and I stepped on the first rung. A few weeks later I was eating, sleeping , whistling and snapping my fingers. I chose to be happy. One rung at a time. I hope that wonderful lady somehow reads this and knows how much I appreciate her.  I still choose to be happy.  Sometimes I have bad days but all in all I am so much better off now then before.  I hope someone reads this and can see that first rung and that they have the strength to put a foot on it and climb out.