Say What?

My four-year enlistment in the Navy seemed like a long time when I was living it from the ages of 18-22. Today, four years seem to go by so much more quickly. But what about four years in the life of a child? What about 8 years in the life of an impressionable child? I worry about the effect the current administration will have on the lives of so many young people who are watching the President of our nation and learning from his example .  I know it's foolish of me to get my hopes up about the outcome of the election in just 9 days, but I am. The early-voting turnout is breaking records in many places even as people are having to put up with hours-long lines (during a pandemic, no less) due to Republican-designed voter suppression. I heard one report that Democrats were outpacing Republicans 2 to 1 in terms of voting to this point. I'm hopeful that the same enthusiasm from Democrats will continue through election day, sweeping in Biden and Harris while taking back the Senate a...

My blog turned 17 years old this month and although I write to it with only half the frequency I once did, it still holds an important place in my life. Oftentimes I'm simply writing superficially about my life and my experiences along the way, posting videos of my rides and such for a later time when I revisit these pages years or decades from now, God willing. Other times, it's where I go to sort through my thoughts as I try and understand our world. It's here, in these online pages, where much of my growth as a person occurs. I own the words I write here and because I do, I actually ponder them before publishing them.  I kept a daily journal for the last 3 years of my 4-year enlistment in the Navy in the mid to late '70s. The journals were Christmas gifts from my mother. How could she have known that this was something I'd run with? When online blogging came on the scene (more than 20 years later), it seemed like a natural fit for me. The personal growth I'm ...

All indications are we're heading for a rout on November 3rd with Democrats poised to take back the White House and quite possibly the Senate. I'm feeling more confident about that with each passing day as Trump's poll numbers continue to sink while he shows us, again and again, his incompetency to lead and his complete lack of fitness for the presidency. He actually called for the indictment of his rival, Joe Biden  last week as well as others for their role in the Russia investigation; an investigation the Republican-led Senate said was justified. He's refusing to commit to a peaceful transition of power if he loses. He's recently referred to our service members as "suckers and losers" and he's refused to condemn white supremacists. And yet people still support him. What am I failing to understand?  The demand for absentee ballots has never been anywhere near as high as the levels we're seeing. In spite of all of the attempts by Republicans to su...