The problem

Fox news is running a story about a plan to grant amnesty to illegal immigrants. Well hell why don't we just eliminate that irritating border thing, and just call ourselves the united states of america and mexico. The reason for having a border is simple, keep non americans out. According to cityrating.com, pheonix, being an amnesty city, is above the national crime rate in all areas. Car theft rate is three times the national average. In Arizona alone, the Buenos Aires National Wildlife Refuge has been closed to americans, warning them of violent drug smugglers, and people smugglers. Lets think about this shall we. The immigration issue has become such a problem, ranchers in southern Arizona being killed, crime skyrocketing on Tuscon and Pheonix streets that we are going to grant them amnesty. HMMM. They kill our people, and we forgive them. Rather nice of us isn't it? How about instead of forgiving them we send in Special Forces, along with A-10's, and apache gunships, clean up the Buenos Aires NWR, turn the ICE loose with a few battalions of soldiers, and stop all this illegal immigrating once and for all. We Americans must make our wishes known to our elected officials in overwhelming numbers, so there is no mistake. When our representatives in government do not do as we wish, vote them out. Most of all, get our heads out of the sand, and look around. America is under invasion.

to Grandpa on fathers day.

These are my memories of the man I new as grandpa.
Grandpa was an old school man of the world. A hard line southern democrat, he was a deacon at a small baptist church, and though strict, he was always good to me, and life was simple with him.  From my earliest memories I remember grandpa with his pipe, and the sir walter raliegh tobacco he always smoked. Years of smoking this same old pipe had made his left index finger crooked, and that crooked finger had the magical ability to freeze me in my tracks. For a kid, grandpa's garden was a wonderous place. I was always digging fox holes, or forts, and always seemed to finish them, and play in them for a while before grandpa, and that crooked finger would make me fill it in. I remember walking through the garden, and sometimes in the summer picking peaches, or cherries from the tree, and only today realize just how good they were. My early life was a collage of sliding down the cellar door after a rain, and saturday afternoon wrestling on TV with koolaid to drink, and sometimes having to adjust the antenna. Grandpa grew honeysuckles in the front yard along the fence, and the sweet nectar they yielded was always a welcome treat.
Thank you for all my memories, and for giving me the moral standards that serve me well, even today. Happy Fathers day grandpa.

gas prices and other irritating stuff

I have heard all the rumors, gas prices five dollars a gallon and higher, rationing, yadda yadda yadda. I bought gas the other day in a rural farm metropolis for 2.52, and it made me think. The normal summer price hike hasn't happened, and oil is spewing into the gulf at an alarming rate, both of which should send gas prices soaring, but hasn't, why?
Any time a corporate giant misses a perfect opportunity to make a larger profit, I get skeptical. Just the mear mention of a hurricane hitting an oil processing plant was enough to send prices three to four dollars higher, if only temporarily. That temporary hike was enough to net millions in profits. So, why now, with the perfect excuse polluting the gulf, have not the oil companies raised prices to the panic level? Are they sending donations to BP, and in sympathy chosen to mimic them? Is there a BP benevelant society that oil companies are joining now? Sorry, my smart ass is showing. But then by all accounts, I am a fifth generation smart ass. The generations before me all had terminal smart ass. Both my daughters have it, my grandchildren have it.
Its genetic.
While we are discussing irritating things, here is another one, condo's. The thing that irritates me is they are apartments, and someone convinced others to buy them. "here, here is this apartment, it's 1200 square feet, built shoddily,  but we want to sell it to you, wanna buy it?". By the way there's this bridge in NewYork that is up for sale.
Another irritating thing is iphone aps. Who cares if your iphone can access your DVR, and make it record, it would have been much easier to just push the record button on the dvr anyway. Not to mention cheaper. Now there are aps that will let you corner the market on precious metals, check out day care establishments, schedule a dentist appointment, or even buy a car. I have noticed an interesting phenomenon amoung the american public these days, thumbs are getting more well developed, and backsides are getting wider. All those things you used to have actually go, and do, you can now do by iphone. See the movie "surrogate", and take a lesson.

The Adults Prevail

You would have thought we were trying to get them to eat freshly dealt reindeer snot.
The baked squash my wife made, with carrots, and bok choi, was seasoned just right, baked in a foil pouch, and yummy. We had determined, my wife and I, that the two grandchildren visiting our home would eat some infinitismal amount of baked squash. We lit candles, made the secret sign, and with our hearts, and minds hardwired together, we set on our task.
The meal the GK got was, I thought, wonderous in its complex simplicity. Using the desktop grilling machine to its fullest potential, she created mini corndogs out of a pack of weinies, and store brand cornbread kits. Her creativity in top form, and kitchen skills never finer,  she weaved her web of culinary art for these two, whom our hearts love, and adore, and amid flying, and twirling utensils, set the meal before them. Myself, playing devils advocate, informed them they would have to eat all the vegetables, and  hinted at a treat if they did so easily.
It was here the trouble began. The younger realized carrots are the least offensive of the two, and ate them quickly. Amid hurled threats of violence against his person, ate the offending vegetable, and so earned his reward. The older of the two, somewhat set in her ways, tried valiantly to refuse this assault on her humanity, and with all the weapons at her disposal, fought bravely to win the day. In the end, the battle knowleldge, and experience of the grandmother won. The last ditch effort to spit out this offending morsel, was met by me, and with all my determination, down the morsel went.
Later that night, when we were alone, the GK tucked in, and sleeping, this woman I love and I shared a secret smile, and reveled in our accomplishments, for despite the trials of veggie eating, we had won.

The circle

It has often been said that life is a circle. Seasons come, and go,and come again. Todays predator is tomorrows fertilizer. The weak feed the strong, the strong become food for the weak. The great circle. It is true of all things in nature, the animals carry the days, and nights within them, the birds carry the cycle of migration, from where they depart, only to return, again and again. The great circle. We as humans walk on four legs in the morning of life, two in the afternoon, and three in the evening. From seed we are born, to seed we return. ashes to ashes, dust to dust. The great circle. In this world, what is not being born, is dying. It is perhaps comforting knowing ones place in the world, we are born with a purpose, to create life. Not just to procreate, but to leave with others our knowledge, our experience, strength, and hope.
Today I looked into the eyes of a child. She was the flesh of my flesh, blood of my blood, a child of my child. I saw in her eyes, complete trust, and perfect love. For a moment I saw forever, the line of my family from the beginning,  far into the future. In her small hand, was hope, the hope that one day far in the future, nothing I have done will have been in vain. That of my family, she will remember. That of my life, she will smile. That I have lived, one small child will know.  The great circle.