Veterans Day

Well folks, today is veterans day. I would invite you to do something today, but wish you would do it every day....When you see someone that you identify as a veteran, (many wear ballcaps that show what ship they were assigned to, or which war they are a vet of); just take a moment out of your day to go up to them and introduce yourself and thank them for their selfless service to our country. We; as civillians will never know the hardships that they and their families were put through to have them give years of their life to serve us and this wonderful country we live in. Do it, and take it one step further...if you have a young child, explain to them what you are about to do and include them in this. This will do two things- it will add to the gift of love you show them and will also put in place something I hope will stick with your child for years to come. We see movies and all with the harshness of war, and the toughness of millitary life depicted, but till you live it (me included) we will never know all of the sacrifices made by the men and woman in uniform that they make to give those years of their life to a cause that keeps us free and able to do the things we do in this country without the fear of prosecution.
Think of it- what would it be like to live in a place where we couldnt be free to do the things we enjoy; to speak our mind freely without fear of retribution....to be able to come and go as we please, to do anything that is legal at anytime we choose. Its really a great gift we have, and it is all being made for us by the people that give their lives and sometimes; all too often their life so that we can do such. Its such a great gift. Would you be able to lay down your life for our cause; to be free, and make the considerable sacrifices these people make day in, day out, and do it with virtually no thanks ever shown by the public? And all for wages that sometimes; (all too often) qualify these heroes for welfare and food stamps? That is a shame when we have sports figures that make up into the MILLIONS a year for playing a game; and they sometimes cannot even keep their noses out of trouble for that rediculous amount of money.
What these people do for us is so unbelievably over the top in ways we take for granted every day. And we are able to take these freedoms for granted because these wonderful human beings keep us so safe and secure that we rarely have to think or worry about them being removed from our existance. What a gift we are given by God, to be born in this country, where we are so free to do anything we desire. We take our freedom for granted so much, and these people make it possible for us to do so.
So.......if I can impress one thing to you in this short, misspelled, mispuncuated (is that even a word?) rant I have made this morning, is to do something for our millitary folks, both currently on duty and retired that will make a wonderful impression on them, and take just a moment of your time...Walk up to them and look them in the eyes and tell them that you just want to thank them for the service they have given and the sacrifices they have made. I have done it many times and I have seen the appreciation they have for that one small act of kindness you give. Two words coming straight from your heart, "Thank You"; seem so little untill you look them in the eyes and show them that you mean it. Its the very least we can do for someone that knows the meaning of giving, and they have done that giving for each and every one of us.
That being said, I wish to say one more time to any veteran that may be reading this; Thank You!!! From the bottom of my heart, I want to let you know that this person values his freedom highly, and I know that I would not have it if it were not for you giving such a gift to us all, in the greatest country in the world. YOU make it happen. And THATS a good thing!

WOW

Man have times changed in the last few years. Ok, the last 30. Used to be, you saw a rancher, asked if you could hunt on his place and the answer was yes or no. You respected that. Somewhere akong the lines, things changed. Now is the day of the "deer lease". AND, USED to be, they were reasonably priced, with a farmer or rancher just trying to add a little income to their life. Now.....the prices have gotten so out of hand that it is rediculous the money it costs to go hunting. Leases from 1500 dollars to you name it. The days of the poor old working man finding somewhere to hunt are about over. They have priced ME out I know- I am forced to go on "day" hunts. One day. Used to be, I would be waiting on deer season like a dog waits on a plate of steak. It was a yearlong process really- you really never stopped hunting- you shifted gears and went to the mode of fixing feeders, stands, scouting, and looking over your equipment and buying new stuff to sneak into the house. You looked it over as you dumped it out on the floor of your living room as your wife rolled her eyes and said things that wern't very nice. You watched the weather for opening day and got your stuff ready, and then next time you had the chance, you did it all over again. That is no more for me, as there is really no excitement in it anymore. Not having a place to hunt really sucks the big one you know? I don't know what did it to us hunters, but nobody will just let you on their place anymore. And I would ALWAYS leave their place in better condition than I found it if I possibly could. I was always doing something for them to let them know I appreciated what they did. So now, I am sitting here bummed out about not having a place to go deer hunting and theres just not the "want to" of getting your stuff out, and all the excitment and anticipation and nervousness and all that goes with it. Its gone. Its almost replaced by a crappy mood that the world is getting like this. But thats where I am and Im trying to change it, trying to find a "day lease" so I can at least go hunting ONCE this whole freaking deer season.

Classic rock,and the way it was

Anyone here catch themselves driving down the road and hear a great song come on that you had'nt heard in years, and catch yourself reliving some point in time that you associate with the song? I know someone other than this poor soul does it. I mean, I have a huge music library and to just click on a song and start to listen to it nearly always brings me back to a point in time when I associate it with something I was doing, who I was with, or something of the sort. Right now I am listening to Elton John sing "Funeral for a friend" through headphones and I am transformed back a couple (ok a few) decades when I was something of a free spirit; did what I wanted, when I wanted to, and to hell with who did not like it. Now, many many years later, I find myself, an aging "hippee" still enjoying that same music I did back then, with other agendas on my plate- some I wanted, some forced on me. I am thankful I grew up in a time when we were free to make our own decisions for ourselves, and didnt have them forced on us by corperate america's thoughts of right and wrong. Maybe they are not as right as they thought they were (or are). Just a thought in this old grey matter, of how things may have got better here in this country in the past several decades, but some HAVE got worse. You people that grew up with me (I am now 50) know what I am talking about. Well, I am going to go now, I will post more when I have some thoughts that I feel might interest y'all. Later.......Peace.