4th of July

I just took an online citizenship test. Immigrants wishing to become US citizens must pass a written test. How many US citizens who were born here could pass the same test? Now, maybe with studying for the test prior to taking it more people would be able to pass it. But just pulled off the street, out of the blue, and plunked down to take the test -- how would we do?

I received a 90% although I admit to having to guess at some questions. Maybe I'm feeling a bit smug about my score. But my online test was multiple choice and the real test is fill in the blank (at least that is my understanding).

Maybe all of us should have to take and pass the citizenship test every 5-10 years to be called a US citizen. But, I suppose forcing someone to be informed would be a violation of our independence.

Meditation

I'm in an 8 week meditation class, and it has been a most positive experience. There are 7-8 middle age women in the class, and the teacher, an OTR, is very low key. Much time is spent paying attention to our breathing....not increasing it or drawing it out but the mere effort of breathing. We have also spent two weeks on body scanning and this week we are concentrating on Hatha yoga poses. I am soooooooooo relaxed when I leave class. But even better than that is I remember to stop myself when in stressful situations and concentrate on my breathing. One time in irritating traffic I turned off the radio and thought about breathing. The immediate lessening of stress was magical.

Butt Crack Rock

This picture is too good not to post. This is a rock in Joshua Tree National Park we discovered on the second day at the park. The park does not advertise it as Butt Crack rock, prefering to designate another rock that looks sort of like a skull as Skull Rock hence indicating their assumption that people will think it an important picture taking spot. But this rock is stunningly simplistic and just so right for today's culture. I just had to share the picture.

City Deer

Another popular lawn ornamentation in Wisconsin are deer statues. Some of us call them "city deer" since they are displayed in front of homes in the middle of a city where no deer would graze. The deer in this picture were found loitering in the lawn of a house near Walmart. Anyone familiar with Walmart knows no self-respecting deer would go near Walmart. Guns are sold at Walmart. Guns are sold at Walmart by people who should never be allowed near guns to people who should never be allowed to touch a gun. I am convinced city deer are in danger of being shot during deer hunting season but probably are in danger even in the off season -- especially near Walmart.

Do people buy "city deer" to bring the home owner closer to nature while living in town? Are they deer lovers? Do they worship the deer? Do they have an obsession with deer that stems back to the traumatization experienced from watching "Bambi" as a child?
So many questions.......

Book Quotes

The Worst Day of My Life, So Far by M.A. Harper holds three great quotes. Not your run-of-the-mill inspirational quotes but real people having a bad day quotes. The protagonist has come home to care for her elderly mother and the book tells the story of the mother and daughter at this time in their lives.

"Every morning that I woke up in Auletta and realized that I had not yet poisoned her, nor put my head in the oven, I figured I was doing okay."

"Never look at your high school yearbook when you're depressed, I learned. Unless you know for a fact that the Homecoming Queen now weighs three-eighty. Or is dead."

"Chocolate is a serotonin booster, cheaper than Prozac. As a matter of fact, chocolate and a couple shots of bourbon and a yearbook full of fat dead people have been known to induce actual laughing fits."

Down to earth and honest is what I like about these.

The War

This war is impacting our nation in so many horrific ways. The death of soldiers was not unanticipated. That doesn't mean the deaths are any less important or any less of a loss but death is a known entity of war. But what of the reprecussions of war now demanding attention?

Soldiers wounded in this war have a 90% survival rate which is applaudable while also presents the injured with rehabilitations never before seen in a war's wounded. Savage head injuries and facial disfigurations cause mindboggling challenges to the survivors. Loss of limbs have been a tragedy of war since wars began but ingenuity/progess in prosthetic design helps survivors better adapt to non-military life.

2007 soldier suicide rates were at an all time high and soldiers with facial disfigurement committed suicide at an even higher rate. (2100 soldiers injured or tried to kill themselves in 2007 compared with 350 in 2002; 210 succeeded in killing themselves)

And then there are the children of wounded soldiers. ABC News ran a segment tonight about the impact of parental war injuries on children. Head injuries and PTS can cause a parent to experience extreme mood swings, anger issues arise, wounds create physical challenges -- and it isn't just the soldier who deals with all this. Their children suffer from the changes in their parent.

It is clear our country's leaders did not prepare for this war in any capacity other than to invade Iraq. Troops were inadequately equipped, medical facilities in the US are embarrassingly shabby (think Walter Reed), and the VA is unable or unwilling to provide veterans with the care they need and deserve.

I despise this war and the leaders who got us into this situation. But the soldiers who volunteered are doing their job, at an embarrassingly low salary, and should be given excellent treatment upon their return. Their families must be recognized and healed also. I'd like to see our elected officials receive the care given to our returning soldiers; things would change quickly then.

Saint's Bracelet Continued

I've started wearing the Saint bracelet again. I wore it while in River Falls for Ann's college graduation and while paying the lunch bill at Mariachi Loco, the gentleman who waited on us complimented the bracelet. He then asked if I had a favorite picture and I showed him the angel that I like. He picked out three he liked and said that the picture of baby Jesus reminded him of his three year old son. Since this is a bracelet popular in Mexico I was tickled he liked it. He is from a small town near Guadalajara but only gets back there once a year.

This is a perfect example to a drive by conversation that I will always remember. The sincerity and interest shown by this stranger was endearing and, like many of these kinds of conversations, I would have loved to continue talking to him but time did not allow for it. As short as it was, the impact of this chat will be long.