Monthly Archive

Tonight I was talking to a close friend of mine about a decision I made to move back to Oregon soon.  Well, as soon as I can.  That will probably be this spring or summer.  But anyway, I was telling her all about Saturday Market and how fun it is and the wonderful hiking trails near my old apartment I lived in before I moved to Ohio.  And how they’re building a brand new hospital building in town that will be opening in August.  She laughed and said it sounded like I was very excited about this decision.  I realized I am.  Then I described to her how I used to spend my “perfect” days off work when I lived in Oregon a few years ago before I ended up in Ohio…

I would sleep late, have a good breakfast and get in the car.  I would sing along loudly and off key to the radio as I drove to the coast.  Then I would go shopping in the funky fun little shops on the bayfront of maybe check out the craft and antique store.  Then I would go for a very long walk on the beautiful stretch of beach near where I grew up.  (It’s also near the sand dune that my sister tried to convince me the Easter Bunny lived at the top of, but that’s another story.)  I would just soak up the carefree feeling of the sand between my toes.  Then I would stop by my very favorite hole in the wall seafood place right on the beach for the most wonderful shrimp cocktail and clam chowder for dinner.  And then I would drive home singing loudly and off key along with the radio again, smiling and happy and tired from the fresh salt water air.  I’m looking forward to spending a perfect day like that again. 

Yesterday was a very productive day for me.  Let me clarify that.  It was a productive day off work.  Now that may not sound like much of a proclamation to most of you who have productive days every day.  But let me explain… I live by myself and have no children.  I may have a lot of responsibility while I’m at work and am productive every day at work, but when I get home there is just myself and the cats to be responsible for.  There just aren’t a lot of things I have to get done, so if I don’t want to be very productive on a certain day, I really don’t have to. 

Yesterday I cleaned house, lugged a few bags of donations to the Salvation Army, made a fleece blanket for my youngest niece, went to the grocery store, and made a batch of fudge.  Then I even cleaned the kitchen up after dinner and the fudge making.  I’m not sure where the energy came from or what the burst of productivity was all about, but I enjoyed it.

Now a side note about the cats.  Some of you may know how skittish and scared my little girl cat, Tinkerbell, was when I adopted her about four months ago.  She wouldn’t come out from under my bed for two weeks and wouldn’t really let me pet her for a month.  Well, she’s definitely decided she trusts me.  She lets me pet her any time I walk up to her and even comes to sit next to me and meow to ask to be petted sometimes.  And a few nights ago while she was laying next to me she rolled onto her back with her belly bared to me and let me pet her belly for a few minutes.  I’d say that’s a sure sign she is coming to trust me!

Ok, so this post is going to be a little different coming from me.  Those of you who read my blog with any regularity know I don’t usually comment on political issues.  But something has come to my attention recently I wanted to take the time to comment on.

I’m sure most of you reading this, if not all, have received a mass e mail about the campaign to send Christmas cards addressed to “Any Wounded Soldier” to Walter Reed Army Medical Center, right?   And then you probably also received another one with a link to the page on www.snopes.com (a site that dispels urban legends) explaining why this mail can not be delivered.  Basically, it’s a National safety issue.  There is always the chance that a terrorist could put anthrax or some other biological agent in a Christmas card.  Just because it’s a Christmas card does not automatically mean it is safe and innocent.  There is also the issue of hate mail being sent to wounded soldiers in the guise of a Christmas card.  I can’t begin to imagine the morale crusher that would be.  Here’s this man (or woman) who was wounded fighting for their country and they are spending Christmas in a hospital instead of with family and then they receive hate mail.  

There are those people who might say it’s an overreaction to stop this mail from being delivered.  Some might say we could get around the problem of biological agents and hate mail by screening every piece of mail before it’s delivered.  Now, I support our troops 110%.  I have family members who are former members of the military.  A few have fought in Vietnam and the Persian Gulf war.  While I love the idea of Christmas cards being sent to these soldiers to support them, it is just not safe.  Terrorist could very easily tamper with innocent looking Christmas cards for nefarious purposes.  If the people in our country charged with keeping our military men and women safe have thought of this, you can be damn sure terrorists have, too.  And as for screening every bit of mail, well, that sounds like a good theory.  And if it were at all practical I’d be behind the idea totally.  But it simply is not practical.  You would be putting the people doing the screening in danger of being exposed to whatever biological agents may be in the mail.  And you would also need to determine just where the manpower to spend the time screening each and every piece of mail was going to come from. 

I don’t think it’s an overreaction at all keep this mail addressed to “Any Wounded Soldier” from being delivered.  I think it’s a matter of it being better to be safe than sorry.  That’s my two cents.  Feel free to let me know your thoughts.