poetTess

If I Could

Tue, 18 Nov 2008 20:08:01 -0500

If I could live in any era of human evolution, what would it be -- List 10 reasons why.

1.The era would be Pre-Columbian America. 2. My tribe were Hichitis and we ranged 3.through out the Triple River Valley during 4.the Woodlands Tradition nearly 6,000 years ago. As had my ancestors from the 6.beginnings of time, my people traveled a big circle through the Triple River Valley. 7.The rivers of Oconee, Ocmulgee and Flint flow through where we live.

8.I am Ona of the Wind Clan and this clan 9. shares the spirits of birds - hawks, owls, herons all the birds - chik a dees and finches.

10.Our rivers run north to south and our paths go east and west, from the coast to Alabama.

This fullfills the initial 10 facts, not reasons why. Why are these unformed stories wrestling to burst out with one good question?

Here is CC’s response to the same question.

1.I feel connected to all time because I was in a war.
I am a warrior in the true sense of the word.
I have killed complete strangers I had nothing against.
This transcends time.
4. War is universal but also
has 10 million reasons why,
but that sums it all up.
7. War seems to be a human condition,  8. not the human condition but one of them.

This was a writing assignments. Somebody ask us another good question!

We Were One

Mon, 10 Nov 2008 10:29:36 -0500

CC at High Street Church,
Sunday Nov. 9, 2008

Welcome to my church.

Tuesday is Armistice Day. On this day in 1918 World War I ended on the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month of the year. This day is now observed as Veterans Day. This is the day that Americans are supposed to honor their veterans.

Will all the Veterans here today stand so that we may all see who you are and honor you. Thank you. I would especially like to give recognition to our newer veterans because as a veteran of the Vietnam War, it was many years before we as group were honored by our fellow veterans of other wars and by some citizens.

This must never happen again to another generation of men and women who have willingly risked their lives and their health to help create a better tomorrow for all of America.

Here is a passage from the book, “Shoulder to Shoulder with the Marines Who Took Fallujah: We Were One” by Patrick O'Donnell.
“After locating a vast quantity of unexploded ordnance and re-clearing thousands of rooms, most of them empty, Lima Company was rotated back to Camp Fallujah for a few hours of R&R, and their first hot showers in weeks. After living in the field for three weeks [and being in combat], the Marines were quite ripe. When they arrived at the camp, a hot Thanksgiving turkey dinner with all the trimmings was waiting for them. While moving through the chow line, Sojda ran into a high-ranking officer who asked him if he was wounded during the battle. With a stone-cold expression he responded, “Sir, everybody, in my opinion, was wounded; whether you shed blood or not, your memories are scarred for life.”

Serving our Nation through military service is a two edged sword. While it gives those who serve many opportunities for education, travel and job training; it also gives rise to some of the most horrendous experiences imaginable. No one serves without being changed.

And though we may not always support the reasons for the wars, it does not change the fact that the men and women serving in the military are our children, nieces, nephews, brothers, sisters, lovers, parents and grandparents. When they come home, we must work to integrate them back into the fabric of our daily existence, helping them find the resources they need to be as productive as possible. Because another generation of veterans are coming home without limbs, eyes or with brain injuries. and many of them need help to overcome the trauma of repeated deployments in war zones. Alcoholism, Drug Use, anger management issues, physical problems and emotional turmoil are some of the problems that cripple each generation of war veterans.

Thanking a veteran for their service is a good thing to do, but my experience is showing me that there are many veterans that need more than our thanks and so this is a call to action. People with skills and compassion can help these veterans by becoming service officers. These service officers help veterans wade through the mountains of confusing paperwork so they can claim the benefits their service has earned them.

There are many organizations in this area that help veterans. I have a list of some in the area ones. If you are interested, I will share them with you. Try going by and offering your time and expertise. There is much to be done.

And on a final note - Tomorrow is the 233rd Birthday of the Marine Corps. Happy Birthday and Semper Fidelis.

Early Election Evening

Tue, 4 Nov 2008 20:54:07 -0500

11:00pm
The Daily Show says

“President Barak Obama”

I get chills.

10:55pm
Jon Stewart says that Virginia has gone for Obama. A shout out to you, Anna! Some commonwealth there!

Colbert blames the plumbers who didn’t show up to vote. And we didn’t hear enough from the hockey dads.

I can’t make myself believe it. The year 2000 flashes all around me. I am afraid to go to bed and find out I am dreaming Obama is wining. Am I dreaming? Hoping?

10:45pm
It is an historic night.

10:25 pm
How about these graphics? Slate.com and Salon.com.

They say he has won!!!

10:10pm
In the Election Mix channels that our satelitte TV provides us, the Comedy Central Channel is on. Colbert and Jon Stewart are hosting an election commentary!!

And don’t forget to tune into BBC!

10pm
Georgia is a red state. Oh well. What else is new? I have been in a very small minority for a long time. So Saxby Chambliss gets another term. At least maybe Jim Marshall will most likely stay up there. That is small consolation. I know he is a democrat, but he is a Zell Miller or Lieberman kind of Democrat. That is better by far then another Saxby type of Republican.

Locally, the Monroe County Commissioner race narrows. I am pulling for a new commissioner. The one that is incumbent is running a most dysfunctional commission. I don’t like his political style. Divide and conquer. Conflict.

9 pm
Well, it is election night. The last two days I have felt as if I were in a vacuum. I have just quietly been hanging in there. Now I have several web windows open - CNN, Huffington, Mymcr (my county) and 13maz - another local news. I am scared but hopeful. Please let Obama win. Imagine being blue in a red state. That is me. I have to admit, I just don’t know what I will do if McCain wins the presidency. I guess I will just keep on keeping on, but I won’t believe it. I will be sure the vote was tampered with.

I need this country to vote resoundingly that torture is wrong, that the war in Iraq must stop, that the criminal politicalization of our justice system must be stopped.

I come from a strong social justice background. It always amazes me when what passes for reasonable people becomes a bigoted and bullying public entity.

On another note, I got this email from Myrtle this afternoon:

Dear Friends - I just received a call from a newspaper reporter who told me that the Bibb Co Commission is voting TONIGHT, Nov 4, on an ordinance requiring vaults and leak-proof coffins for all new burials in Bibb County. We need people to attend the meeting to oppose this resolution. The commission meets at 6:00 pm at the Bibb County Courthouse on Mulberry Street. Please come if you can and support us. Thank you!

and just now got this one from Oak:
I am so exasperated that hate and ignorance has won this round.....

http://www.macon.com/149/story/514700.html

My God, in a hush-hush, last minute meeting meeting, Bibb County has outlawed the planned Green Cemetery.

This is stunning. My first thought is that it must be happening all over the nation - secret government meetings passing all kinds or ordinances and laws and starting goddamned wars in the dark of night as we vote them out of power.

What lunacy does this night hold?

Breakfast, Birding, Jamming

Mon, 3 Nov 2008 10:08:07 -0500

OK, It has taken me awhile to get to tomorrow. That is somewhat normal for me. But here we are at breakfast the day of the jam. Our crowd from middle Georgia who supports rivers and wild life and fun.

So how to spend our day? CC and I are nervous, I have to admit - with his “health crisis” of the day before. Our plans are to go birding with Myrtle and her husband, Bob the Builder. So we do. We go to Harris Neck where CC won’t necessarily have to do much walking. We had fun, though we may have cramped our friends style of bird watching, they were completely gracious about it.

We saw flocks of wood storks right as we were walking up. They were flying across the lake and settled in trees across the water from us and watched us the entire time we were there.

See, this is what birding looks like.

Gee, that bird must be close by. Oh no. Wait. It isn’t a bird - it is a....

Alligator!!!

And Lordy, does Harris Neck Wildlife Preserve have some beautiful trees.

I love that place.

After birding, the clam jam. Toni and Carl had a bidding war on the adarondeck chairs. They both lost. Our friend, Bob the Builder, had contributed a cedar box for the silent auction. The hotly contested box went for $500.

The steamed oysters were delicious. The sunset was gorgeous.

We had fun.

Sunday we went home. Holly was so glad to see us. You can see though that I still carried some concerns.

Next: Sunrise in the Smokey Mountains.

Clam Jamming

Wed, 8 Oct 2008 20:29:10 -0400

Ever hear of the RiverKeepers? They had their 2nd Annual Clam Jam down in Darian this weekend and CC and I went. It was an epic journey.

1st I had to stop at Summerland and take some photos of a wild flower in bloom.

and these doves too.
I believe the wild flowers are liatrus. Or something like that. They would not have been photo worthy next week. So to save gas, we went to take the pictures on the way out of town.

Next stopped at Crabby Joe’s and ate. There we saw a whole pond ecosystem founded on the restaurant’s scraps.
Then we arrived in Darien at our bed and breakfast, the Sailfish Inn. After we checked in, I wanted to see this whacky looking store across the street, so I dragged CC over there.
Within seconds of entering the store, CC went careening out. “I have to get out of here,” he said. I figured I had better follow him and see what was up.
He sat on the bench outside and told me his heart was doing that thing again. Check here for the last time his heart did that thing. Then CC said he had to lay down. And he laid down right under this big oak tree. I kneeled down beside him and put my hand on his hammering heart. He began breathing deeply. His eyes were twitching madly and a shiver ran through his body. I was desperately gauging the situation and asked, “do you want me to call 911?” Then he began calming down. After awhile he got off the ground and moved back to the bench. Then shortly thereafter we walked back to our room. We decided CC had enough excitement for the day and parked him in a rocking chair where he proceeded to call his son and begin relaxing.
After a bit, Toni and her husband, whom had also come down for the clam jam, came over and we walked down to the restaurant behind us for supper. There we all had a most excellent meal.
Later we walked back to our room and listened to music, looked at photos and laughed and laughed like there was no tomorrow.

Next Post: Tomorrow