When the Smoke Clears

I know it may not be seen as a good thing right now by some critics, and I’m sure there will be constant mention of it in any report on a violent attack, but with Sad-dam Hussein executed, I hope the Kurds especially find some peace of mind.
I don’t celebrate the death of an [...]

…and I have plenty of my own to do, but a good friend, and an extremely good man, asked me to look over something of his. One of my favorite Majors is going through Command and General Staff College right now. He had a situational report paper due and asked me to read through it [...]

And no, not Valentine’s day.
Most likely if you are reading this you are part of my group of friends out there who have known me for years and are checking in on occasion, or you are some of the great people I have met through this blog and a few others. I take it [...]

Tonight I was whisked off to a semi-secret event. I was the only civilian present. I wish I could describe more about it, but to do so would give away a lot of things I’m not ready to. Let’s just say that the honor of being there was immense. I recognize the significance of the [...]

Waterdrops are striking the roof of the cabin randomly tonight, with the occasional violent acorn landing and rolling down the steel surface. The last several days have been blankets of rain. I’ve not been here enough recently. I’ve been chasing social butterflies elsewhere when the real color of the days can be found in my [...]

- Two glowing eyes darting up and down in the pitch black woods: a deer. Two eyes moving side to side in the woods: probably a bear.
- When someone starts yelling, you can try to listen for the underlying message behind the voice, or shut them the f- out if they can’t figure out how [...]

Saw this on BlackFive. It’s a public service spot to air on MSNBC detailing the sacrifice made by one of our finest during this war, proclaiming his name without shame and explaining how he was awarded the Medal of Honor. Posthumously, however.

I haven’t had regular TV or cable hooked up in my home in [...]

Not to bring everyone down, but as the general consensus for today’s theme among our little blog-group here is Family Day, it’s time to chime in. This isn’t some feel-good 24/7 site. This is my writing and as much of my world as I care to reveal.
Regular readers will be able to point to the [...]

That’s what I told the judge today, sort of.
I had to go to traffic court. Well, okay, I didn’t HAVE to go, but I went anyway. Why?
There is a road in our county that I almost never travel but a few weeks ago while doing best-manly duties, I had dropped the newlywed couple [...]

In tribute to the victims of 9/11, many of us are taking one or two and writing about them. Some of us can find information. Some of us, such as Michelle, have very close ties to many who were killed that day.
I’ve heard from other places that it is time to get over this, [...]

Here’s a little thing for all y’all writers out there, even the commenters who write, just not on a blog site, but especially Tori and Eric since I know they are working on big stuff.
Do you listen to music when you write? Does the music have lyrics?
I can’t shut out external stimuli anymore, [...]

My friend’s operation took place today. He’s an older, gentle man with almost no family and very few friends left. Seeing him in the hospital bed with tubes in all directions, booties on his feet applying pressure every 20 seconds and the lurid stitches knitting up the front of his throat was sobering.
Doctors removed [...]

Long time readers and recent newbies who rummage through the archives know this blog’s title was inspired by part of a song called “Everyday” by Toby Lightman, a beautiful, powerfully voiced singer/songwriter living in the hell of the Left Coast. (see An Explanation)
She’s even emailed me (with a positive note) and I gushed a little. [...]

Friends, it’s supposedly hot out. But it’s not, really. Weeks of temperatures scrambling for the triple digits have left us pleasantly surprised to find a nice, temperate upper 80s today with a light breeze blowing. Last summer we would have been complaining of the heat, today we welcome the cooling.
A friend decided to bail [...]

Funny that the Cat mentioned sleep a little earlier. One of the things guests at the cabin notice is the sleep factor. Generally, the first night staying there, if left uninterrupted and without an alarm clock, almost everyone sleeps at least 10 hours straight through. My mom makes it an understood part of her trip. [...]