OPTIMISM

 My previous subject was intended to be followed by my next posting: Optimism.  To me, this is the flip side of Procrastination.   There are so many things to be missed by putting things off.  When I
have done that, I miss out on my favorite activities.  Most things in my community start early, so I have learned that I must get myself on an earlier schedule.  instead of being lazy, and sleeping in until 9AM,

By then, everything has already started.  It is a bit late to begin my household chores, because in the summer,  it gets too hot to work outside by 11AM.   I have decided to begin golfing, which is also an early morning activity.  Most people I know that golf are on the course by 8AM, getting up long before 9AM.

Another thing I want to do is learn to fly an airplane.  I have taken a few lessons, but decided to wait until we got over here in Eastern Washington.  No trees or other planes at Paine Field, where we used to live by, to worry about.  So, I have lots of things I want to do,

We live in a retirement community called Desert Aire, and when we first arrived, my only desire was to jump in the Columbia River,  in front of our home.  And I have done that, and have been content to do this for several hours per day.  The  hotter the temperature, the better!  I still do it, but as I have met some lovely friends, I want to do other things, also.  I am still young, and have many years ahead to accomplish more dreams, like flying.  I may leave golf for after flying. lessons.  So, there is a lot more to do here than play in the water!

                                         Me, playing in the water

                                           Playing in pool

                                        on deck at Desert Aire.

PROCRASTINATION

My blog is titled Thoughts for the Day.  Meaning that it is not done everyday, however, once a month is a little longer than I had started out thinking.  I certainly have a thought provoking spark come into my brain everyday, but some days, I just sit in my chair and stare.   Or read, but not think.

I think it started when I was working.  I was either teaching, or flower designing,  which required a lot of thought and creativity,  so when I retired, my brain did too.
After I begin to forget what I was going to get when I got there, I decided I had better begin to stoke up my brain a little.  After all, I have a new baby granddaughter to give wisdom to, besides my other wonderful 2.  I am so amazed that they are so bright and beautiful.  And I never thought we'd have a third baby girl (neither did Son James, probably)

                                         Me, Willard the cat, and my beloved flowers

                                         Grandson Parker, Granddaughter Cailin, and boyfriendl

.                                        Baby Ara Mae

I don't know how fortunate I am to have such beautiful grandchildren, but I do.  And they are such nice kids.

I also have a nice home my husband John and I chose, in our retirement resort of Desert Aire.  So I guess I tend to get reticent about doing anything, and begin not to notice the glorious life I have.   My days of sitting and staring are just my days of procrastination.  I know that now that I am retired, I don't have to do a smidge, but now

days. I do not feel that I should waste my days, any of them. @ Desert Aire with my family.

The Days of Wine and Restaurants

RESTAURANTS:

I remember when we were growing up in Bellingham, WA, we only had one restaurant -- the Royal Cafe.  And fancy dining was at the BellinghamYacht Club (for yachtsmen), Elk's Club (Elks) & the Bellingham Country Club (for golfers) by fancy people.  Then, suddenly, as women began working "outside the home" a few more restaurants cropped up, like The Black Angus, then Herfy's and then MacDonald's.  (My Baby Jimmy loved the Herfy's Wacky Burger Box), until I would eat a french fry from it!

Then, in the '80s, it became the decade of the Restaurants.  More and more eateries cropped up --Mexican, Italian, Asian food from many countries, etc.  Everyone began enjoying sampling many different foods, and fast foods and slow, elegant dining.

WINE:

Soon, many men & women, whom were newly single, began to sample wine, and so the light went on in entrepreneurs to start some wineries in Washington, because wine consumption was increasing here.  And we were in the same latitude and climate in France.  BINGO!  People began to sample wines from the fancy Winery Mansions in droves.  Wineries cropped up all over the state, and so did wine tasting.  To keep their places open, wineries began to sell multiple wine tools like openers, stoppers , wine corks and different paraphernalia for their participants to use as a symbol of their sophistication of this lovely beverage.  And a New Era

Although California had wineries in the '60s and earlier, we, in our state, had just begun.  I didn't even like it, and begun to search for trinkets for my wine drinking friends, who were considered quite sophisticated.  Soon, wine glasses were decorated according to personalities.  There were wine stoppers, fancy decanters, and total wine drinking restaurants.

VOILA!  Our wineries!

WINE ERA!                           Chris, from L'Ecole No. 41 Winery

FACEBOOK

What a concept!  It even replaced Email as a way of communicating so amazing that I have been  reacquainted with many old friends as well as new.  Of course, with something like this, there
is bound to be problems.
  Now, after being inundated with massive amounts of  SPAM all over
all of my writings, and photos meant for friends and family, it is hard to sift through everything
to find new messages, and not knowing if they are for me, or for everyone on your lists.  I will be writing away and BLING!  see Sally Field's claim that she is no longer acting. and then her mug displaying before and after views of having miraculous changes by using only someone's miracle cream.  Suddenly, she has many jobs, and her wrinkles and jowls have disappeared.

I wonder if these stars are even aware of their image plastered in facebook ads.  Many pop up with wigs of many colors.  I really want a blonde one like Jane Fonda's.  It would really show you how you would look with hair of many hues.  Humm.

And the games like BINGO and one that you have to search for images hidden in pictures.  I was happily playing one when, suddenly you are locked out until someone asks for you, or you pay some amount .  I refuse to pay like $1.00 a line, or something.  If it's free, I'll do it!  At that rate, I would spend $100 dollars a day on games.  Some people do spend money on online games.
I suppose it is no different than going to a Casino.  You really spend all day on facebook, unless you are playing with your Cell phone., or writing on you Blog.  I am starting on my 3rd hour on my computer, and I will stop now until I figure out how to put  Facebook pictures on my blog, or blog pictures on facebook

Crow vs blackbird

Crow Vs. Blackbird
We were driving  along the road in Desert Aire, and I saw a black bird, that didn't look as obnoxious as a crow.  I didn't see much difference in these birds when I lived on the Northwest Coast.  In fact,

I found their Cawing very annoying.  Of course, the beautiful blue Stellar Jay squaks also.  They all are like gorgeous people with terrible voices.  

When we moved to our wonderful home in Desert Aire, on the Colombia River, I began to notoce birds with red on their wings, blue birds that were crow-like, and Black Birds, daintier than crows, or Ravens, so I looked them up in my bird book, and found that there were many kinds of "crows" and some of them were quite pretty.  You. whom do not live in this area, don't know that we can see many more creatures, because of lack of luscious cedar anCCd fir trees, and greenery.  So I was quite in awe of the markings on black and blue birds.  Even the "not so attractive" blackbirds have yellow beaks , or blue ones.   I became quite interested in them.

While in a Waiting Room in a Doctors office, (where seniors spend a lot of their time, as their bodies become in need of the medications that they  can't afford), I came upon an Audubon magazine about, guess what!  "Crows' Feats".  I know that our Good Lord does bring these amazing creatures to my attention, because I thought they were so ugly and annoying.
When I began to become more of a bird watcher, I saw beautiful blackbirds with bright red markings.  I found out, after studying my Sibley Bird book, that it was a kind of crow!

The members of the Crow family, known as the Corvids, are known as some of the most intelligent birds in the world.  This is scary, but the are known to use tools, playing tricks on each other,

and even bury their dead.  And blackbirds are darker shades of blue, and when the light hits them juat

 right, their yellow beaks and slight color changes are amazing. . The amazing behavior of Corvids has fascinated scientists for a  great group of birThe Hyds to study,  There are plenty of them, and their brains are large compared to the rest of their bodies,  The Hippocampus of aPinyon Jay, or a nutcracker gives them amazing memories.--Crows and Ravens large areas in their brains make them closer to primates in their abilities to analyse problems and come to solutions for a variety ot things., and higher levels of sensory processing and sensory behaviors. 

An experiment marked a Raven, gave it information , and it remembered it 10 years later.  I could go on, but I am afraid of quoting the Audubon Information on crows and hawks Feats.  If only they had singing lessons for them.  Their voices are so annoying, even the Stellar Jay!

Celebrate the Small Things: Holidays (a little late!)

Holidays for our family was a busy time for us.  As divorced grandparents, we are a "modern family", our children are all we care about, and we are madly going from family to family to celebrate with everyone!

I am posting this for those of us Boomers who do have complicated lives.  And those in my age group are the first of them.  I am on the "fence" of the "old and the new" lifestyles.  I still believe in Family, and adore my "merged" family.  My only child is divorced, so this requires 2 more "Families" to visit.  My grandchildren's mother will always be my Daughter-in-Law.  My new Daughter-in Law to be is also loved.  Due to their culture, she will soon give birth to my new granddaughter.  I love my 2 grandchildren now so much, that I don't know how my heart can hold another.

But that is what I LOVE about my heart.  It grows and grows bigger with LOVE.  I can't wait for Ara to be born.  I will hold her, and love her and as she grows, she will be amazing, like Cailin and Parker.

Son Jeff, Daughter-in-Law Susan & Papa John

. Son James and Marussa.

.Our Pets L. Willard, R. Lily

.Grand-daughter Cailin

.Daughter-in law Bev, Parker, & Cailin

Is Our Nation Changing from its original Constitutional Meaning?

Is our Nation changing from it's Original Constitutional Meaning? Our suspicious concept of other nations entering our country is becoming real. Ever since 9/11, our open arms greeting other nations is part of the United States of America's Creed.

“Give me your tired, your poor,
Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free,
The wretched refuse of your teeming shore.
Send these, the homeless, tempest-tossed, to me:
I lift my lamp beside the golden door.”

― Emma Lazarus

quote-on-the-statue-of-liberty

I get that the United States is "full", however we need to develop a new "Creed" that is inclusive, but also knows that we are a Christian Nation, and just because we have religious freedom does not mean that Christianity should take the back burner on our Government properties, or in the Government school districts. If we want to salute the flag, and have prayer in these places, we are guaranteed to have the freedom to celebrate our beliefs, as well as the religious groups have the right to not have those beliefs. I cannot possibly express my feelings better than the following item:


AN AMERICAN AIRLINES PILOT SPEAKS HIS MIND No name calling, no hatred, no political agenda.

A CANADIAN COMMENT APPEARS AT THE END OF THE ARTICLE AND IS MEANINGFUL. THERE ARE ALSO SOME RECENTLY ADDED BRITISH & AUSTRALIAN COMMENTS.

[This pilot hits the nail right on the head in his open letter]

A newspaper stated that a Muslim Doctor is saying we are profiling him because he has been checked three times while getting on an airplane. The following is a letter from a pilot. This well – spoken man, who is a pilot with American Airlines, says what is in his heart and says it beautifully:

YOU WORRY ME!

By Captain John Maniscalco, American Airlines Pilot I've been trying to say this since 911, ..... You worry me. I wish you didn't. I wish when I walked down the streets of this country that I love, that your color and culture still blended with the beautiful human landscape we enjoy in this country. But you don't blend in anymore. I notice you, and it worries me. I notice you because I can't help it anymore. People from your homelands, professing to be Muslims, have been attacking and killing my fellow citizens and our friends for more than 20 years now. I don't fully understand their grievances and hate, but I know that nothing can justify the inhumanity of their attacks. On September 11, ARAB-MUSLIMS hijacked four jetliners in my country. They cut the throats of women in front of children and brutally stabbed to death others, hacking their necks, over and over, with box cutters. They took control of those planes and crashed them into buildings, killing thousands of proud fathers, loving sons, wise grandparents, elegant daughters, best friends, favorite coaches, fearless public servants, and children's mothers. The Palestinians celebrated, the Iraqis were overjoyed as was most of the Arab world. So, I notice you now. I don't want to be worried. I don't want to be consumed by the same rage, hate and prejudice that has destroyed the soul of these terrorists. But I need your help. As a rational American, trying to protect my country and family in an irrational and unsafe world, I must know how to tell the difference between you, and the Arab/Muslim terrorist. How do I differentiate between the true Arab/Muslim Americans and the Arab/Muslim terrorists in our communities who are attending our schools, enjoying our parks, and living in OUR communities under the protection of OUR constitution, while they plot the next attack that will slaughter MORE of the same good neighbors and children?

The events of September 11 changed the answer. It is not MY responsibility to determine which of you embraces our great country, with ALL of its religions, with ALL of its different citizens, with all of its faults. It is time for every Arab/Muslim in this country to determine it for me.

I want to know, I DEMAND to know and I have a right to know, whether or not you love America ...... Do you pledge allegiance to its flag? Do you proudly display it in front of your house, or on your car? Do you pray in your many daily prayers that Allah will bless this nation; that He will protect it and let it prosper? Or do you pray that Allah will destroy it in one of your Jihads? Are you thankful for the freedom that this nation affords? A freedom that was paid for by the blood of hundreds of thousands of patriots, who have through our history, who given their lives for this country? Are you willing to preserve this freedom by also paying the ultimate sacrifice? Do you love America ?? If this is your commitment, then I need YOU to start letting ME know about it.

Your Muslim leaders in this nation should be flooding the media at this time with hard facts on your faith, and what hard actions YOU are taking as a community and as a religion to protect the United States of America . Please, no more benign overtures of regret for the death of the innocent, because I worry about who you regard as innocent....

No more benign overtures of condemnation for the unprovoked attacks, because I worry about what is unprovoked to you. I am not interested in any more sympathy; I am interested only in action. What will you do for America - our great country - at this time of continuing crisis, at this time of war?

I want to see Arab-Muslims waving the AMERICAN flag in the streets. I want to hear you chanting 'Allah Bless America '. I want to see young Arab/Muslim men enlisting in the military. I want to see a commitment of money, time and emotion to the victims of this butchering and to our returning wounded and to this nation as a whole.

The FBI has had a long list of people they’ve wanted to interact with regarding the threats that they believe to be ongoing. Many of these people live and socialize right now in Muslim communities. You know them. You know where they are. Give the FBI a heads up as to where they may be. Better yet, hand them over to us, NOW! But I have seen little even approaching this sort of action. Instead I have seen an already closed and secretive community close even tighter. You have disappeared from the streets. You have posted armed security guards at your facilities. You have threatened lawsuits. You have screamed for protection from reprisals.

The very few Arab/Muslim representatives, like CARE, that HAVE appeared in the media were defensive and equivocating. They seemed more concerned with making sure that the United States apologize and take responsibility for actions defending our own people. They seemed more concerned with protecting their fellow Muslims from violence directed towards them in the United States and abroad than they did with supporting our country and denouncing 'leaders' like the late Khadafy, the late Hussein, Farrakhan, and the late Arafat.

If the true teachings of Islam proclaim tolerance and peace and love for all people, then I want chapter and verse from the Koran and statements from popular Muslim leaders to back it up. What good is it if the teachings in the Koran are good, pure, and true, when your 'leaders' ARE teaching fanatical interpretations, terrorism, and intolerance? It matters little how good Islam SHOULD BE if huge numbers of the world's Muslims interpret the teachings of Mohammed incorrectly and adhere to a degenerative form of the religion. A form that has been demonstrated to us over and over again.

A form whose structure is built upon a foundation of violence, death, and suicide. A form whose members are recruited from the prisons around the world. A form whose members (some as young as five years old) are seen day after day, week in and week out, year after year, marching in the streets around the world, burning effigies of our presidents, burning the American flag, shooting weapons into the air. A form whose members convert from a peaceful religion, only to take up arms against the great United States of America, the country of their birth. A form whose rules are so twisted, that their traveling members refuse to show their faces at airport security checkpoints, in the name of Islam.

We will NEVER allow the attacks of September 11, or any others for that matter, to take away that which is so precious to us -- our rights under the greatest constitution in the world. I want to know where every Arab Muslim in this country stands and I think it is my right and the right of every true citizen of this country to DEMAND it. A right paid for by the blood of thousands of my brothers and sisters who die protecting the very constitution that is protecting you and your family.

I am pleading with you to let me know. I want you here as my brother, my neighbor, my friend, as a fellow American...... But there can be no grey areas or ambivalence regarding your allegiance, and it is up to YOU, to show ME, where YOU stand. Until then, " YOU WORRY ME!"

CANADIAN COMMENTS:

We Canadians totally agree with this sentiment. I hope you will forget all about the 'political correctness' mandate we've had rammed down our throats by so many on the left, and see if this doesn't ring true in your heart and mind.

For Canada , with all the multiculturalism we've been told is so important.... why should we not, as Canadians, expect that the millions of new people immigrating to our country will show their love for our country, their allegiance to our country, their willingness to obey the laws of our country, and acceptance that we are a Christian country?

Just because they are able to enjoy exercising their own religion, they should NOT expect us to be ashamed of ours.

They knew Canada was a Christian country when they came here. Why are we erasing Christianity because immigrants who are unwilling to adopt our way of life expect us to? There is just too much insanity in the world, and we have to start taking a stand.

I hope you will forward this, so that others will feel they are not alone if they are starting to feel the same.

BRITISH COMMENTS:

At last a clear non - racist example of the concerns that the vast majority of our Nations population probably share. The pilot's letter encapsulates all that is fair and just about national pride and protection of one's national culture. I fear it may be too late here in UK , BUT we too want our country back in the form that attracted all these different cultures to come here in the first place!! In all our conversations with a wide range of friends and acquaintances we have not met one that disagrees with our own views.

If only we all had the courage of our convictions to pass this on, it is a statement that should be accepted as the heart-felt feelings of someone with honest commendable national pride.

Not all Muslims are terrorists but all terrorists to date have been Muslims.

Stand up and be counted!

Australian Comment :

Best email I have had in years it needs to be in every paper every day until we get some answers.