Starting out lightly...

I am excited to start writing my blog and have lots of ideas running around in my head (arguing with each other of course.)  However, I'm going to start out lighter, draw you all in, and then mix it up later. 

This blog was written last summer as I reflected on our family vacation.  We spent two weeks in Washington D.C., which is one of my favorite towns ever.  You can just see and feel the wheels of motion moving.  It's where you remember that you really do love your country but want to smack it upside the head once in awhile. 

Enjoy.

As I sit in the Holiday Inn Express in Lima, Ohio on the last night of summer vacation I have some reflections. Some are serious and some are not but they all truly reflect my thoughts on this vacation. Here goes…

In a country as prosperous as ours there should not be homeless people. I understand there are many life events that lead to one becoming homeless. Sometimes it can be a result of a life of bad choices. Sometimes it can be less avoidable such as returning vets who have seen the horrors of war. Sometimes people find themselves homeless with their family, as a result of loss of job. We saw many homeless people while on our trip to D.C. It was apparent that some had severe mental illnesses. Some were nice and talkative and appeared fairly “normal”. Whatever the situations it seems so unacceptable and fixable to me. And it pulled at my heartstrings thinking but for one or two or three intervening circumstances it could easily be any one of us at any given time.

More than ever I believe in immigration. I was so proud to see all the different people in D.C. from different lands. Our hotel alone was like an international meeting in the morning breakfast area. I heard so many different languages and saw so many different skin colors in our hotel alone that it made me feel good. Now this doesn’t mean I believe we should open our borders and let everyone in to swipe up the few jobs that are available. We can have an influx of legal immigration with reasonable parameters and work harder to escort those here illegally out. (Toughen up on crime, toss the useless American criminals away and make some room for hardworking immigrants maybe??) Our country is rich with a kaleidescope of culture. We would do well to not forget that melting pot stuff which I feel is highly underrated.

People driving down south drive crazy. The swerving in and out of traffic, especially on 4 and 5 lane highways freak me out!! I mean, I can drive and keep up with the best of ‘em but seriously… Those folks are good!

Vacationing with three young children in the heat of summer and the air condition out in your van is a recipe for grouchiness.

Love the hotel housekeepers. Love the hotel housekeepers. Did I mention that I LOVE The hotel housekeepers??

Subway. Metro. Undergound. Totally cool. I know for sure now that I am easily amused. I could ride the subway all day and just hop on and hop off at different stops. In D.C. it’s almost like every stop takes you into a slightly different world. Fascinating.

Hooters really does have good food! I can honestly believe my husband now when he wants to go there “for the food”!

I’m more than a little freaked out by the idea behind GPS. (Global Positioning Systems for those who aren’t as down with technology as I am. Which should be approximately 10 people in the entire country.) The Tom-Tom knew exactly where we were, what the speed limit was, where the stop lights were, and even flashed a red light at us when we were speeding. Talk about Big Brother! Although it’s cool, more than once it made me think, what else do “they” know. Whoever “they are…..

Friends and Family. Seeing people I don’t see very often and picking up right where we left off. How priceless is that?

Showing my kids the things that are important to me is very important to me. Grant is at the age to understand the significance of all things D.C. but not Will or Gabby. But it didn’t matter because I planted the seed. I will hand down to them the significance of being an American and to not ever take it for granted. And to always, always, always keep those men and women in mind who died to make your life as free as possible.

Testing the Waters

I have a lot of thoughts in my head.  Some are really stupid like how did it come to be that someone thought to put soft sheets of a paper on a roll and hang it next to the toilet? See? Stupid. Thankfully, many of my thoughts aren't quite that inane.  I like to contemplate people and their futures.  I wonder things like why there is such a disparity between people's situations in my country.  I ponder things like heaven and hell.  I question everything.  When, why, where, and how are staples in my vocabulary.  Many times I drive people crazy by asking and subsequently forcing them to think about something they long since thought they had figured out.  I hurt for hurting people and wonder if there will ever be a way to fix them all.  My remedies are idealistic in nature and almost always impossible as "fixes" to any problems.  I am at that intersection in life where my idealism is turning to pragmatism and it has made me sad. Did you know that not everything can be solved by a group hug?  I know, right?

This blog will be an intersection where history, politics, social justice, religion, spirituality, responsibility, awareness, disabilities, and life in general meet.  Although I was raised with seriously-evangelical-extreme-conservatism type roots, I am happily recovered.  I'd like to think I am a moderate but truth is I hang more to the left these days. Except for extreme ideology, I enjoy debating back and forth.  I have a son with a terminal brain disorder who requires full-time care.  At 7 he has already outlived his life expectancy.  I do think he has changed me.  Not necessarily for the better; perhaps for the clearer. Things that are important are more clear now. Life is more clear.  Or is it?  Come along with me and let's try to make the world better one discussion at a time!