Livin' Small

As I ruminate on Father’s Day this morning, I’m reminded of the good times I’ve had with my sons. 

I built bikes for both of them and they rode them all over the neighborhood.  I took them fishing and remember the day one of them caught a “fish”.  It was really a dead fish that the crabs had already eaten all except the head, leaving the skeleton attached.  I never heard such a scream before or since. 

I saw the excitement when I took them into my bike shop Christmas morning and told them to pick out anything they wanted to put on their bikes.  I enjoyed the races we went to at Coastal Plains Raceway Park.  Erick got so sunburned on his neck it gave him sun poisoning.  It looked bad, but he got over it. 

I remember the time his mom had to get between him and me when he ran his 72 Chevelle into a ditch, so I wouldn’t “get physical” with him.  I got over it, when he had a Ford truck pull it out of that ditch.  Seemed like fair retribution. 

I remember how Matt didn’t want that little pickup truck I bought for him, but he dressed it up and won trophies with it at car shows as a member of a lowrider club.  His windshield banner said “Slam it or Sell It”.  I remember wondering if Matt would ever keep a car after trading cars at least five times while he was in college.  (He hasn’t stopped that habit yet and he’s 36.) 

I remember how I jacked him up the wall once for talking disrespectfully to him mom.  (Life isn’t always full of “good” memories mind you.)  I remember taking Erick to the MEPS center in Raleigh to be inducted into the Air Force over twenty years ago.  He’s a MSgt now.  I remember going to Matt’s graduation from UNCW with a Batchleor’s Degree in Business Administration.  He’s now a District Manager for Wells Fargo. 

I watched both get married to women who I believe were meant specially for them.  In spite of what may be, I love my sons and their wives.  And I love my Charlotte and Christina and John.  They’re my prodigy. 

Their days are in full swing and mine are winding down.  My consolation in getting old is that I have two men who were raised to contribute to society.  Not take away from it. 
I will conclude by saying that I love Libby.  She has been a great help to me although she’s never met these two men in my life.  Someday I hope she can.

The Polarization of America

The United States of America. This sounds majestic. Yes?

A little over two centuries ago we fled tyrannical rule by kings and church hierarchy as a people looking for freedom from governmental and religious oversight. Our forefathers wrote the Constitution, fought for and stood by their convictions in a fledging experiment in democracy.

I’m not here to rewrite or influence different thoughts on the history of our country. I’m here to give a view of what I feel kept the United States of America cohesive for so many decades. For certain, divisiveness had a hold on some aspects of our society over these times, but overall we realized the overarching effect government could have on the people of its influence. The Civil War stands out as the heading of a beast of the prior decades of those times that inflamed and threatened that cohesiveness. But we had a fledgling love for freedom still in us to the point we were able to overcome this point in history.

Many times in our history we’ve seen issues develop and try our stamina to survive as a nation, but we’ve always maintained our senses towards the idea of freedom. It was a happening event for our nation. It represented many things to many people, yet with one goal. That was to create a mighty nation where men could practice their freedom and pursue happiness with undue governmental rule.

The one thing that stands out to me is what we used to call ourselves, The Great Melting Pot. This great melting pot is a metaphor for a diverse society becoming more alike. These groups melted together into a common culture. Many from afar came to America and assimilated to become a nation of great respect and power over time. But upon study I find that in the 1970’s the desirability of assimilation was challenged by people who wanted to promote multiculturalism. This paradigm was presented as a positive thing by calling it a mosaic society or different cultures mixed together, yet remaining distinct as a nation. I’d dare to say this has had no positive effect on our nation as seen by today’s society.

During the time of mass immigration people would come here with multiples of languages, strange, hard to pronounce names. They would learn English and for the sake of the new society many changed their names to a more Americanized spelling and pronunciation. Cultural differences were still practiced, yet all these people recognized the common goal of freedom and the pursuit of happiness. That meant compromise. The Irish, the French, German and English as well as many other countries came with this in mind to make this new democracy work.

World War I brought many here to further escape tyranny of dictators and despots in and around the world. This worldwide event caused a further homogenization of a multicultural people into one who stood as true Americans, without tribute to any other nation. Pride to be an American was further solidified through the depression and another world war. The height of American Patriotism reached its peak during the early decades of the 1900’s. Not to say that the Revolutionary forces of the earliest of days was less patriotic, but the nation had grown to so much more in the worlds of governments during these times that it set us in place and as super power among the world’s governments.

But as I mentioned earlier, multiculturalism came to the forefront in the 70’s. This has been more divisive than cohesive. Those who championed this view represent loose immigration controls and programs that promotes bilingual education and affirmative action which offer privileges to minority or immigrant groups. It has become a special interest grouping. Before then people came and put their hands to the plow and worked their own place in the sun in the new land. They earned their way. Now comes special treatment for people who have become used to entitlement and have done nothing to earn it. The land of the American Dream where people once could work and when they get to a point could take a step back and look over the accomplishments they have made to better the new society they were in. No so today. Entitlement has made a whole new society of something like little birds in a nest with mouths wide open waiting for a free meal.

The American Dream is now gone. It has exited this society. I, as well as many, have earned what they have by hard work. Government for the people has become the government over the people. No longer working for us, this government has become a juggernaut that feeds at the trough of our wages telling us we need to give more, so it can be spent on people overseas and on special interest groups. There are really very few programs run by government that needs to be in existence. Defense of the country being the forefront and programs for citizens only of this country that would temporarily help them get back on their feet in times of trouble. This isn’t an exhaustive list by any means. I’m just saying government is too big.

This short treatise isn’t meant to be exhaustive. There are many views of our history in relation to what I’ve brought to attention here. My main concern here is the direction this mighty society has taken and where it is possibly heading if corrections in course are not taken.

I wonder sometimes will it ever end

My ex seems to live in the past,

For me it’s no place to spend.

Give it up and move on I say

It’s just no good

Turn the leaf and live a new day.

I’ve moved on in life

Why can’t you?

You only create for yourself strife.

Life is what you live

Cut the past loose

You have more to give.

Just not to me.

She has eyes that shine

Lips that caress 

I know she’s mine.

She makes me smile

Someday I intend

For her walk the aisle

True is my love

For only her

Not just “sort of”.

She gives her all

As do I.

She’s such a doll.

On FB a friend made a comment on gun control  I couldn’t help but respond.  I’m not a “survivalist” type or anything.  I just know the human “climate” and having realized that, I have to take action to protect myself and those around me.  I’m not even have a love for guns like some of my friends.  So.  Below is my comment on the subject.  The ending statement is my ultimate take on it all.

I don’t think this person is saying directly that one should own a gun to protect themselves, so much as down to basics that it is a right to protect one’s self and family with a gun being one of those options to do so. “Baked” into the Constitution is the right to bear arms. It wasn’t an afterthought. There was a reason for it being there. Governments in the past and present have made the general public go without “arms” and that’s like a robber “getting the drop” on someone to rob them. Criminals do not abide by law. There are still criminals bearing arms in countries that ban them. And you have to believe that makes them feel superior in some sort of way. If they knew someone else may be “carrying” they would not feel so superior in their thinking. I would like to know that I could live in a society where guns didn’t need to be carried. We didn’t worry about that so much back in the 50’s and 60’s. I lived in a neighborhood where we left the keys in our cars overnight and our home doors unlocked. We just didn’t worry that someone would initiate a home invasion or steal our car from our driveway. Unfortunately time has changed and not for the better. People have fallen out of the middle of the road into one ditch or the other. We’re either passive or aggressive. The point is that people are the source of violence, not the choice of weapons. A baseball bat, trophy on the wall, a sling shot, or more progressive. . .biological or chemical weapons can be utilized more for killing than a gun. Say a student is smart enough to introduce anthrax into a school water system or some other biological type. If guns were not available does that mean these methods would not be an option to someone wanting to hurt or kill people? Guns kept by teachers would be useless in such an event. You’ve heard the say that you can fight fire with fire? Well a weapon carrying teacher or even an officer patrolling school grounds carrying a weapon would possibly save lives in the event of a student or others from coming on campus with a gun to shoot students or teachers. I don’t think we need more guns in my final statement. We need more higher morals. Then guns would not have to be anywhere but a locked box in the home or a hunters hands. It’s a “people issue”, not a “gun issue”.

My girlfriend says she’s getting old

One minute she’s hot

The next she’s freezing cold.

Her lips are full and juicy to me

Her kisses make me weak in the knee.

She says her legs look like a roadmap.

I think they look good to me.

Long and slender, I’m just a sap.

She says she can’t remember

Her brain cells are dying away

But in there I know there’s still an ember.

If anything I can say good about it,

I can tell her the same story over and over

And she’ll not remember it one whit

And enjoy it all over again.

Hey, I think she’s still sane.