No such thing as an eternal flame

Cindy Sheehan just gave up the fight. Her exit letter is here. It seems that the fervor after giving up so much for this "disaster of a war in a Iraq" just didn't last forever. She began by attacking the president, and when the Democrats were held to the same standard she attacked them too. The Democratic "Left" began to ignore her. The "Right" will always hate those who dissent, that is the way of totalitarianistic philosophies.

I find myself rather sad at this. I have not openly attended any peace rallies or marches. There has been no "peace" bumper sticker on my car. I have written no letters to senators, congressmen, the white house, anyone. Yet, I yearn for peace. I long for the call to return of our troops from that god-forsaken place. I desire that we take action here at home such as, electric vehicles, reduced consumption of middle-east goods, secularization of our people, and moderatism; that will draw money from economies which feed the real murderers of the American dead of 9/11.

I just thought that if one loses a son in a pointless war, driven by a mindless president, that the raw vulcanized emotion would spew forever and drive a parent frantic with opposition and drive to stop it all. I would not sacrifice my child on the oilfields of political mendacity. The very thought of it now raises the hackles of my paternal love.

In a news broadcast yesterday a clip of a 5 year old child surprised by his military father's surprise return from Iraq misted my eyes. As the soldier entered the room, the camera zoomed in on the boy. He stopped, almost startled, jumped up and accelerated towards the waiting arms of his Goliath father. The boy embraced, was scooped up, and wept. I felt his joy. Then I thought, "how many just-as-loving boys shall never hug their father's/mother's again? How many of those longing children have sacrificed just such a blessed moment so that saber rattlers in Washington can have their ego's fed and their lies perpetuated?"

I am ashamed of my government... Ashamed of myself for doing so little... Ashamed that my small candle of dissent was never even lit. I mourn for the loss of young innocent Iraqi lives, and the young loves of our soldiers. Damn this Administration! Damn the enablers! and Damn the passively acquiescent! I mourn the loss of my own rationalizations for doing nothing. I am, in the end, a coward. Shame on me. At least, I am not alone.

HH

Things certainly did pick-up at work. Last week I thought that I would slip quietly into a coma in my office and no one would find me until I cam up missing during summer break. I have been meeting, testing, working on crises, and having some good-old training (actually catching up with my colleague. We didn't attend much to the presentation).

Our Fence is almost complete. Half of the posts need to be "set" and then its: wait for cement to dry, put in rails and stiles, and then run around the back yard naked. Should be fun. My wife's new outdoor spa was also delivered last night. I was pleased with how pleased it made her.

As I look at our highly diminished checking account balance I whimper just a little. I am amazed at how much freaking money we have spent in the past 3 weeks. And it looks like we are going to need a new vehicle soon. I hate debt, and don't want any. We have paid for most things from savings, but we will have to tap the home-equity line to get a new vehicle. If I didn't have to take the kids to school I could just ride my bicycle. Darn kids *wink*.

I was reminded of the word "resilient" yesterday. It seems an incident involving a gun, a large black male, and a 10 year-old-boy grabbed my crisis list yesterday. I expected to find a child in fear. Instead I found a young man who had full understanding of what had happened and was completely adjusted to this strange circumstance. I spoke with the boys mother and was impressed with her insights and parenting abilities. This young man had gone through a very traumatic experience, debriefed with his mother, and then slept like a baby. He met me with a smile shining across his face. I asked the questions a psych asks, and watched his non-verbal behavior for any signs of stress/tension/anxiety. Nothing! The resiliency of this child was remarkable.

I often wish adults had the resiliency of children. I know plenty of parents who freak out at the smallest issues that arise. For example, a neighbor of this boy called the school superintendent at 6:00am to notify that this "tragedy" had happened. She kept her own children home from school (even though the incident happened at a park near her home, and nowhere near the school). Finally, she demanded that counselors and myself be available to help children cope with this incident. For the love of Pete! I want to shake some histrionic people until their empty little heads fall off sometimes. The boy who actually went through the trauma handled it better than an adult who had only heard of the incident!? WTF??!!

I had probably get more resilient towards a busy schedule I guess. But, I am adult... I have an excuse.

HH

Check this out!
This is one of the funniest vids I have seen in a while. Its called "Kissing Hank's Ass." Just for kicks and giggles.


HH

A good life and a good wife...

Ahhh... another Monday morning. I am dragging myself around today. Spent most of the weekend outside. My son discovered Tennis. Thus, I played out in the hot sun for the past two days. The boy can play! We played one set (mind you he never set foot on a tennis court until his PE class a week ago) and I barely won 7 games to 6.

I have been taking some antibiotics. Having spent so much time in the sun, I am wiped out. I had a fever last night. Sound like I am whining? Well, I am a little. I have been feeling great the past week or so. Whatever I have had since last Sept. is finally starting to clear. So in the stupidity of feeing good I over did it. Luckily my office is freezing. IT is barely 60 degrees in here. And the A/C runs all day. I keep a jacket with me when the frost sets in.

The school year is winding to a close. For me, it is ending with a real whimper. I haven't had a new case, or evaluation, in 2 weeks. A scattered meeting here and there, and the rest of my week is reading journal articles and wishing for hour-8 to roll around. Gotta say, boredom does not suit me.

Had a wonderful Mother's day. I thought of writing up a little diddy on mother's yesterday, but it really is hackneyed. But I just think my wife is the greatest mother ever. I don't know what lucky star shot past the day I met her, but the proof of my true intellect has been my choice of spouse. Every now and again, I impress myself.

Well, one of those infrequent meetings is in 5 minutes so better run. Happy warmth!

HH =)

Sometimes Happy kicks Right's butt.

Had a wonderful time at the in-laws yesterday. One BIL was outside working on his vehicle, while the other was inside chatting with family. I am often surprised by the sense of "bonding" I have when looking under the hood with a bunch of other guys. It just seems comfy. Perhaps it is a recollection of the times in my youth when my father and I spent real time together. I usually held the light while he used tools and swore like a sailor. It brings me a spot of joy recollecting it just now.

The other BIL and I had a quick chat about politics. He started it by inquiring about the Hannity-Rocky debate. Of which, I was not impressed. To call it a debate it is to spit at Roberts and his "rules of order." They talked past one another. Now this BIL is a die-hard republican and Hannity listener. We spoke about the republican candidates and the Dem. candidates as well. He was a tad irked at Rocky's assertion that Bush deserves impeachment. He stated that Bush gets more crap than he deserves. I, of course, am of the opinion that Bush deserves much more scrutiny and impeacment should be the mildest consequence he faces. "He is a war criminal," I stated.
"I am not going to talk about it. I get too angry, "BIL said. We agreed to disagree. We did touch further on politics later, but that was the only testy period we had.
Now, I think my BIL is one of the kindest, gentlest, most decent men I have had the good fortune of knowing. HE is a loving father, husband, and brother. His character is beyond reproach.
I found myself wanting desperately to appreciate his political point of view. Not agree with it... appreciate it. Cutting each other some slack certainly seems a more ethical and moral thing to do. It makes me wonder why we don't do it more often. It seems that emotions (especially political and religious) are very raw in the USA these days. But every now and again, the wiser of our instincts kicks in, and we try to be happy rather than right.
I was reading online and came upon a wonderful blog post. IT is here. Now I couldn't disagree with Jeff Lindsay more often regarding his contorted apologetics for his mormon faith. But every now again, he deserves a little respect (when he gives a little). Jeff if you read this, as an exmormon, I appreciate your desire for peace in that post. Here is a sample of it:

"Many who leave do not do so because the moral standards were too high or because someone snubbed them at Church or because tithing was too painful or they just got sick of home teaching or were victims of gossip or had a serious moral sin that they wouldn't quit. It is understandable, in fact, that people would get upset over polygamy or several other things in LDS history or even in the Bible that would lead them to reject the Church or organized religion in general. There are certainly powerful arguments to be made and often no simple answers."

It is behavior like this that gives me hope and replenishes my weary American spirit. We need to agree to disagree. I agree that I should stop blogging and get some work done. Disagree all you like, I respect that. *wink*

HH