September 11 - I'm angry!

Maybe this is inappropriate, today of all days ... but I am angry!
I'm angry that this act of terrorism happened here in the USA. No advance warning ... no ransom notes to the press prior to the attack. No hint to this nation that this was about to happen.
What could we have done if we were forewarned? Hard to tell.
Were our defenses spread too thin? Too many of our efforts going overseas where, I'm sorry, the terrorism started. We may have even trained some of the dastardly individuals who executed this horrendous crime.
Should we commemorate the day by flying the flag on the outside of our homes and businesses? Good question. I would suggest flying it with a black ribbon attached to the top of the pole, and if possible, flying it at half mast.
Anger is NOT good for the soul. I know that. The lump that is in my throat and the tears that are stinging my eyes as I write this are not good for the heart, mind and body. But it is all there .. the anger, the lump, the tears.
Can I forgive? We are told that we should forgive in order to rise above it.
Can I forget? Never.

Happy Birthday Little Brother

I miss my little brother Georgie Porgie. I was less than four years old when he came along to make our family complete. Big brother Billy was 2 years and 9 months older than I, so that makes me the middle child - a girl,no less.
Georgie was a beautiful little boy with big blue eyes and blonde hair. My mom would put him in his playpen on the front porch during the summer and put the task to Billy and me to 'watch the baby'. Oh great! We had other things to do and places to go to play. We did not want to 'watch the baby'. So we would pick dandelions and bring them up for him to smell, coaxing him to 'look at the pretty flowers, Georgie ... smell them', knowing full well that he would start to gag - and we would of course call mom because Georgie was gagging. We would get off the hook and Georgie would be safe and sound in his crib inside the house.
Georgie was always referred to as 'the baby' by my mom - we would laugh about it, but it didn't make any difference.
Georgie became a man and married and I no longer called him 'Georgie' ... he was George. He coached baseball little league in our home town. An avid fan of the Pittsburgh Pirates, he could tell you anything you wanted to know not only about the Pirates, but about any of the other teams in the league. His collection of baseball cards was horrendous when he was still living at home with my mom. A lot of them were lost along the way, but he could still give you any information you asked about.
George and I were separated by over 200 miles for lots of years since I moved away from home back in 1956. When I would travel home I would see him and my brother Bill, but the bulk of my time was spent with my mom. I wish now I had traveled back home more often - I wish I had spent more adult time with George and his family.
About 3 years before his death in 2005, we re-established the line of communication through the internet - email gave me back close contact with him and his family. Several times a week I'd get a short message from him which would be answered with an epistle that was really long, sharing information about my family and life.
George died in September of 2005 - and I miss him. Happy Birthday to 'the baby' - Georgie Porgie.

Fall is just around the corner ...

If I were to have to choose my favorite time of the year, I would have to say it is FALL!!!

Sleeping with the bedroom windows open to enjoy the freshness of outside air versus the flow of the airconditioner ...

Being able to breathe when you go from the indoors to the outdoors ...

Watching the shadows as they lengthen almost daily across the vastness of our yard ...

Checking each morning to see just how cool it did get overnight and into the early dawn ...

Seeing the gradual changes in the colors of the leaves on our many Pennsylvania Maples ...

Keeping an eye out for the school buses when I'm driving the county roads ...

Waiting for that first good frost so that I know Fall is finally officially here.

Having had a sun stroke in my early twenties at a swim party, I know the symptoms of impending heat exhaustion and just plain don't wander out into the world when the heat and humidty dictate problems. It's another case of BTDT, and don't want to do it again.

Winter months bring the icy conditions that I must avoid completely less I slip and fall. This could be disasterous in my case right now, but has always been an issue when I ventured out even as a child.

Spring is lovely when you can watch the bleak landscape start to brighten up and the weather is more bearable (albeit unpredictable). I watch for the first daffodil to sprout out of the ground. I look for the buds on the trees that turn them this kind of fuzzy mauve just prior to breaking out into the beautiful greens.

But FALL, ah Fall ... I decorate for Halloween. My front porch is ablaze with autumn leaves and scarecrows and colored lights on my small grapevine tree. This is probably the only time during the year that I go all out. The autumn colors are my favorite.