"Don't Fence Me In"

Last Friday, June 26, Jackson and I went to see my friend, Rex Lamoreaux, to ride horses. Jackson had never been on a horse before, and I couldn't stand the thought of another generation of my posterity not experiencing horseback riding. Rex was really kind letting us take an hour of his time for a little boy to dream of being a cowboy. Jackson's eyes were the size of plates as we walked up next to "Speedy." "Is THAT a HORSE?" he exclaimed. He thought they were a lot smaller, I guess.

Next thing you knew, Jackson was up on the back of old Bert, legs dangling over the sides of the saddle because they couldn't reach the stirrups. Rex led Bert and Jackson around the pen a few times, telling Jackson how to tell the horse to stop and how to use the reins to steer him. And within a couple of minutes, Jackson had control of the horse and was riding him around the enclosure. Bert was really gentle and an easy ride for a new rider.

Then it was my turn to mount Speedy. Speedy was well named, I can tell you. He likes to move. We were in a pen perhaps 30 feet long full of pine trees, and all Speedy wanted to do was lope or gallop. Finally I got him out of the pen where he could move more freely, and move we did. He was a great ride, if a little spirited for someone who hadn't been in the saddle for a couple of years.

Finally, Rex took Jackson over to the roping area and taught him how to throw a lasso. Rex is a professional roper, so he has ropes and practice steers on his property. Jackson got the hang of roping pretty quickly. It was really a fun hour for both of us.

As we were leaving, Jackson asked how long we had been there. I told him it had been nearly an hour. "An hour? It felt like two seconds!" he remarked. That, to me, is the sign of a successful morning with grandpa and grandson. I, too, wished we had had more time.

Hope and Change for the Better

Back in the days of the Soviet Union, there were two state-run newspapers (unlike the USA today), named "Tass" (the News) and "Pravda" (the Truth).

The common wisdom shared among the Soviet people was "There is no truth in the News, and no news in the Truth."

I am beginning to realize just what they felt. When I see headlines in the Republic like, "White House Warns of Global Environmental Catastrophe Unless Pollutants are Cleaned Up" I am aware that if I bother to read that article, I will just be getting spin - no analysis or attempt at truth. I am not alone in these feelings. As you look all over the country, major newspapers are meeting their demise as people, no longer trusting them to deliver the truth, stop buying the papers. And as you see politicians in Washington trying to give papers bailout money to keep them afloat, you might ask yourself, "Why would politicians want the newspapers to survive?"

Sorry, I know I promised no more political stuff on my blog, but sometimes I have to say something, or my sorrow over the demise of this country just gets too much to bear. We are watching the systematic dismantling of everything that made this country great by the very people who swore an oath to protect and defend the Constitution and us. So I am sad. I have been in mourning since November, and nothing I see on the news helps alleviate the sorrow.

But there is a bright note. We have known this was coming for a very long time, and we know what happens on the other end. So the worse things get, the closer He is to coming and saving us again. I know that God's hand will be seen in miraculous ways in the preservation of this country. So fasten your seatbelts, everyone. It is going to be a bumpy ride before it gets smooth and we get our God-given freedom back.

Worth Reading

My Mother sent this to me this week, and I wanted to preserve it, so here goes...

Written By Regina Brett, 90 years old, of The Plain Dealer, Cleveland , Ohio
To celebrate growing older, I once wrote the 45 lessons life taught me.

It is the most requested column I've ever written. My odometer rolled over to 90 in August, so here is the column once more:

1. Life isn't fair, but it's still good.

2. When in doubt, just take the next small step.

3. Life is too short to waste time hating anyone.

4. Your job won't take care of you when you are sick. Your friends and parents will. Stay in touch.

5. Pay off your credit cards every month.

6. You don't have to win every argument. Agree to disagree.

7. Cry with someone. It's more healing than crying alone.

8. It's OK to get angry with God. He can take it.

9. Save for retirement starting with your first paycheck.

10. When it comes to chocolate, resistance is futile.

11. Make peace with your past so it won't screw up the present.

12. It's OK to let your children see you cry.

13. Don't compare your life to others. You have no idea what their journey is all about.

14. If a relationship has to be a secret, you shouldn't be in it.

15. Everything can change in the blink of an eye. But don't worry; God never blinks.

16. Take a deep breath. It calms the mind.

17. Get rid of anything that isn't useful, beautiful or joyful.

18. Whatever doesn't kill you really does make you stronger.

19. It's never too late to have a happy childhood. But the second one is up to you and no one else.

20. When it comes to going after what you love in life, don't take no for an answer.

21. Burn the candles, use the nice sheets, wear the fancy lingerie. Don't save it for a special occasion. Today is special.

22. Over prepare, then go with the flow.

23. Be eccentric now. Don't wait for old age to wear purple.

24. The most important sex organ is the brain.

25 No one is in charge of your happiness but you.

26. Frame every so-called disaster with these words 'In five years, will this matter?'

27 Always choose life.

28. Forgive everyone everything.

29. What other people think of you is none of your business.

30. Time heals almost everything. Give time time.

31. However good or bad a situation is, it will change.

32. Don't take yourself so seriously. No one else does.

33. Believe in miracles.

34. God loves you because of who God is, not because of anything you did or didn't do.

35. Don't audit life. Show up and make the most of it now.

36. Growing old beats the alternative -- dying young.

37. Your children get only one childhood.

38. All that truly matters in the end is that you loved.

39. Get outside every day. Miracles are waiting everywhere.

40. If we all threw our problems in a pile and saw everyone else's, we'd grab ours back.

41. Envy is a waste of time. You already have all you need.

42. The best is yet to come.

43. No matter how you feel, get up, dress up and show up.

44. Yield.

45. Life isn't tied with a bow, but it's still a gift.

Why the Debate Isn't Over

OK, I'll do another political post, at the request of my family and friends:

Those true believers in Global Warming declare "the debate is over" and denounce non-believers in the same camp as "holocaust deniers." In fact, there is a lot of disagreement regarding this "global emergency," and several questions need to be asked.

1) Is it really happening? It is still too cool to plant here in Pinetop-Lakeside, and we have only once been above 80 degrees this summer.

2) If it is happening, is it bad? Would a slight increase in overall temperatures lead to more land for agriculture, avoiding famine? When many more people die from cold than from heat every year, might this save lives? If we could save even one life, wouldn't it be worth allowing global warming? (I'm joking of course - this is the liberals' favorite argument for increased government control of our lives.)

3) If it is real, has it ever happened before? There is a lot of evidence to show that the earth has warmed and cooled many, many times in the past.

4) If it is real, is it caused by man? Many of the earth's warming trends happened long before the "scientists" accept the existence of human life.

5) If it is man caused, can we change it? I think you would be hard pressed to find any law that has ever been passed that had a global effect on anything.

6) If we change it, can we undo the change? You and I could start a rock rolling down a hill, but we might have a hard time stopping the rolling.

I have noticed that fewer and fewer of my liberal friends (yes, I do!) still refer to "global warming." They have now adopted the new buzz phrase of "global climate change." It's hard to sell warming when it is still in the 30's at night in June in Arizona!

So basically the world is divided into two camps - those who believe that God is in control of the universe, and those who believe that they are in control of the universe. To the latter group, God is a threat to their own desires for power. They use catch phrases like "let's put science back in its rightful place" - that is, go away, God, I am here.

This has nothing to do with global environment - it has everything to do with government control of our lives. Don't drink the Kool-Aid on Global Warming. It is a hoax.

Mantra for Today

Repeat these words over and over again until you believe:

"Computers make my job easier and my life better."

There now, don't you feel better?

Great News!!!

I will no longer post politically charged sentiments on my blog. No one reads them, and if they do, they don't like them and don't comment on them, so what's the use?

From now on, no more political commentary. Great news for anyone who still reads the angry ramblings of an old curmudgeon. Only happy thoughts and politically neutral thoughts. Not one more mention of Pres. What's-his-name.

What if...

I am no fan of President George W. Bush, but in the last couple of months I have grown increasingly nostalgic for “the good old days.”

I wonder how the liberal left (and their lap dogs, the Press) would have reacted if:

If George W. Bush had made sure he appeared on as many television shows as possible, including the Jay Leno Tonight Show…

If George W. Bush, while on television with Jay Leno, had made a joke at the expense of the Special Olympics…

If George W. Bush had demanded the removal of Winston Churchill's bust from the White House…

If George W. Bush had given Tony Blair a set of inexpensive and useless (to Tony Blair's UK video formatting) DVDs, when Tony Blair had given him a thoughtful and historically significant gift…

If George W. Bush had never held a real job before running for President…

If George W. Bush had given the Queen of England an iPod containing videos of his speeches…

If George W. Bush had insisted that he was the only person to rise through the ranks of the Chicago political machine having never become corrupted…

If George W. Bush had bowed to the King of Saudi Arabia…

If George W. Bush could not utter a coherent sentence without the aid of a teleprompter…

If George W. Bush had included in his first budget funding for a private army accountable only to himself…

If George W. Bush had visited Austria and made reference to the non-existent "Austrian language"…

If George W. Bush refused to entertain questions at his press conferences from journalists or networks he didn't like…

If George W. Bush had filled his cabinet and circle of advisers with people who turned out to be a bunch of tax cheats…

If George W. Bush had paid billions of taxpayer dollars to his political cronies who elected him, including criminal organizations like ACORN…

If George W. Bush had blamed everything that happened the first three months of his first term on Bill Clinton…

If George W. Bush promised to reject lobbyists in his cabinet, then appointed lobbyists throughout his cabinet…

If George W. Bush had campaigned with the mantra of "Change," then filled his cabinet with people who served in his Dad's cabinet…

If George W. Bush had ordered the CEO of a major corporation to resign, even though he had no constitutional authority to do so…

If George W. Bush disregarded folks protesting (tea parties) his policies as minor irritations…

If George W. Bush had proposed to double the national debt, which had taken more than two centuries to accumulate, in one year…

If George W. Bush had then proposed to double the debt again within 10 years…

If the Bush Administration had allowed Air Force One to fly low over New York City while 9/11 remained fresh in the minds of New Yorkers…

If after promising transparency in government George W. Bush had refused to release the photographs of Air Force One flying over New York City…

If George W. Bush had claimed tax cuts for family's earning less than $250,000 per year, and then the fiscal budget set the income threshold at $200,000 per year…

If George W. Bush had called Democrats "bitter"…

If George W. Bush's Department of Homeland Security had released a report calling liberals "leftwing extremists," and possible "domestic terrorists"…

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Please, anyone, help me understand how Obama is so brilliant and impressive.

And this is only the first few months - we still have three years and nine months to go!