This past weekend I tried to make some sort of sense of the tragedy in Sandy Hook. I couldn't. It was a senseless tragedy and while I believe in everything happening for a reason, I cannot fathom any reason for this to have happened. 

It seems that almost everything I read online or hear on the TV is later disputed. I am not sure what more anyone needs to know other than that 26 human lives were senselessly cut short, 20 of them were children ages 6 & 7. The other 6 were courageous teachers who did their best to protect the children in their classrooms and paid for that with their own lives while managing to save some young lives if not all. 

Why does this story need to be dissected and rehashed unmercifully? Is this how some folks deal with their grief? By going on the attack and nit picking the facts apart? "That teacher didn't do what the news said she did, it was really another teacher who did that". Does the fact that a teacher died shielding her students with her own body rather than hiding them in closets, cupboard and bathrooms make her any less a hero? Come on!

And there is the Facebook user who posted a piece about glorifying all the rampaging shooters there have been this year, thus giving an explanation of why they think it continues to happen. They then attributed the commentary to Morgan Freeman. It was later disclosed that Morgan Freeman didn't release the statement at all. I say, So what, perhaps he should have released the statement! I completely agree that the shooters get more press than any of the victims and this has got to stop. Let them die a "sad nobody". 

On that note, I close with the names of the Sandy Hook victims as read online in the Huffington Post on Sunday, 12.16.12 <http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/12/15/sandy-hook-shooting-victims-names_n_2307354.html>

- Charlotte Bacon, 2/22/06, female
- Daniel Barden, 9/25/05, male
- Rachel Davino, 7/17/83, female.

- Olivia Engel, 7/18/06, female
- Josephine Gay, 12/11/05, female
- Ana M. Marquez-Greene, 04/04/06, female
- Dylan Hockley, 3/8/06, male
- Dawn Hochsprung, 06/28/65, female
- Madeleine F. Hsu, 7/10/06, female
- Catherine V. Hubbard, 6/08/06, female
- Chase Kowalski, 10/31/05, male
- Jesse Lewis, 6/30/06, male
- James Mattioli , 3/22/06, male
- Grace McDonnell, 12/04/05, female
- Anne Marie Murphy, 07/25/60, female
- Emilie Parker, 5/12/06, female
- Jack Pinto, 5/06/06, male
- Noah Pozner, 11/20/06, male
- Caroline Previdi, 9/07/06, female
- Jessica Rekos, 5/10/06, female
- Avielle Richman, 10/17/06, female
- Lauren Rousseau, 6/1982, female (full date of birth not specified)
- Mary Sherlach, 2/11/56, female
- Victoria Soto, 11/04/85, female
- Benjamin Wheeler, 9/12/06, male
- Allison N. Wyatt, 7/03/06, female

Dear Facebook Friends

Dear Facebook Friends,

This morning I saw a picture posted on my wall of a young woman disrespecting our military dead at Arlington National Cemetery. (No I am not going to share the link because I do not believe in attention for bad behavior.) After seeing this, my mind was reeling on so many different levels.

Just to set the records straight. I consider myself a bleeding heart liberal, always have, always will. I take great offense at people who use the excuse that they are liberals to cover up for rude, lewd, inappropriate and disrespectful behavior. Actually, I take offense at the use of any belief, political or otherwise, as an excuse for rude, lewd, inappropriate and disrespectful behavior.

I believe in respecting and caring about my fellow human beings. I believe that everyone has the right to live their lives in peace and voice their opinions RESPECTFULLY without fear of retaliation. This has nothing to do with religion or spirituality. This has everything to do with common decency towards those we share this planet with. I think there are simply too many, people out there who have either lost site of this concept or have never been taught this concept. To me it really is this simple.

Pvt. James Brown, USMC

Sep 21, 2012

Today is National POW/MIA Day. I never knew that since I used to wear a POW/MIA bracelet. That made every day POW/MIA Day.

I remember when the war came home to our neighborhood in Garden Grove, California. Buddy Miller, 18, was KIA. His family lived just a few houses down the street from us and this made the war more real than it had ever been, even though my father was in the Navy. I have no idea whether my father lost friends in Vietnam, he was very closed mouthed about work when he was home. I suspect that he did even though he never saw action out of country. I think what made it different with Buddy was that he was only four years older than I was and I was friends with both of his brothers.

As a result, my father took me to a large hanger at the Los Alamitos Naval Air Base where he was stationed at the time. I still remember walking into that big hanger and seeing rows of banquet tables full of boxes containing the bracelets with names of those soldiers who were POW/MIA. I could not even guess how many boxes there were but I am sure there were thousands and thousands of bracelets. My father told me I could choose one to wear.

The soldier I choose was Pvt. James W. Brown, USMC. He went MIA on April 5, 1966 at the age of 19. The Viet Cong shot down the helicopter he was riding in and he was the door gunner. I know this much as a result of a letter that I wrote to his mother in Texas. She wrote me a nice letter back describing her son to me and telling me what the government had told her. She sounded so very proud of her son and seemed to be particularly proud of the fact that he was a door gunner. The letter has since gone to pieces as a result of years of wear for I read it often.

When the war ended and the newspapers began publishing the POWs as they were released. Back then when you wore a bracelet you didn't know if the soldier had been captured or not. Everyday I checked the newspapers for Pvt. James Brown, USMC. Every day he was not there. Years passed and each time I would hear about prisoners being released or remains being found I would check the list of names. Pvt. James Brown, USMC, has never come home and is still listed as missing in action. Although the bracelet has broken, I still keep it in my jewelry box and I have never forgotten.

Today I found a site where you can order POW/MIA bracelets. I found Pvt. James Brown and have ordered a replacement for the broken bracelet. I don’t usually tout selling sites anywhere on the web but this seemed important enough or me to do that so here it is: http://www.memorialbracelets.com/powmia.php

Settled In

Been a while again. Not as long as the last time though. All moved to North Mankato and settling in, the humans and the furballs. It has been interesting living in North Mankato which really does qualify as a small town and still has that small town atmosphere. I suspect the residents of this town work hard to keep it that way. The strange part is that all you have to do is drive across the bridge over the Minnesota River and you are in downtown Mankato which is quite a large city compared to North Mankato. It does make it an interesting drive to the grocery store as Mankato is such a diverse city, especially now that  MSU is in session, kind of a mini melting pot. More on that later, hopefully with pictures.

Once again, it's been a while since I have posted but there has been a lot going on that has spurred me to do a lot of thinking. This photo was taken of a sunset the night before I sat down to do some soul searching about my health and my spiritual growth. Kind of a sunset on the way things have been for the last several months.

It is definitely time to get back to my spiritual growth and quit worrying about the mundane world quite so much. In other words it is time for me to get back to caring for myself a little bit more, both physically and spiritually. 

Physically, Wii Fit here I come again! Spiritually, back to the plethora of books I have, both read and unread. Due to the move I opened the first box of books I came across and picked the book that sat right on top. This method might sound strange to some but it has never failed me. The book is an older one, The Inner Dance; A Guide to Spiritual and Psychological Unfolding by Diane Marie Child with Shuli Goodman.

Now I have a bad habit of annotating my personal books and am planning on doing the same with this one, however, I will do my level best to share insights and annotations on this blog as I have time. 

The living room is getting there too. MScot did a lot today and it has occurred to me that once the pictures come down it will look more like we are truly moving. There is a definite echo about the place up front. I am hoping to get everything up front to the point of moving the last of it out on moving day. Then I can get busy in the bedroom. Not a whole lot left in there but am figuring on getting dressers and most clothing out yet this weekend. The plan sounds so good as I write these words and I know that it will not go as smoothly as I expect. Can only hope that it goes more smoothly than it would of if we hadn't planned and been somewhat organized.

Living before today.

MScot working on the living room, getting the big stuff out.

Living room after today, almost there.

Worked on completing the kitchen today. Before (bottom) and after (top) pictures don't show a lot of difference but all the cupboards except one with a few dishes are empty, stove is clean and the oven is cleaning itself. As I look at these pictures I realize what a tiny little kitchen it is. I am not sure that the new kitchen is much bigger but I do know there are more cupboards and drawers and I am hoping it will look a lot neater than this one ever did.

So here we go... 5 days to vacating this place and hopefully 4 days to moving into the new place. Doesn't look like too much is done, at least to me because I am here all the time. Some big items are moved out into the garage already and all cupboards and closets are empty except for the kitchen. Ahhh, the dreaded kitchen. For some reason I hate moving the kitchen. Probably because this is where I tend to squirrel things away because I might need them someday. Today is the day kitchen!

Sunday we were off to New Ulm, Minnesota for the baptism of my youngest grandson Aiden. After baptism is was off to my son's farm near Gibbon, Minnesota. It was a wonderful Mother's Day here!

Took a break from packing today and spent some time relaxing on a farm by the lake with friends. A good time was had by both two leggeds and four leggeds. I also found some very cool pictures of time past. Not sure what the old wheels are from but I suspect they might have once held a portable saw mill. Back in the day, farmers would all have these portable mills as well as a section of land that was wooded. Many houses, especially farm houses, were heated with wood burning furnaces before the advent of fuel oil and our modern hearing systems.

So it begins. For reasons unknown other than the time felt right, I started doing some packing tonight in the kitchen and worked my way down the hallway. The place is a fright right now and I need to get past that as I continue to prepare to move. I keep telling myself that in less than 4 weeks we will be in our new place and I can't wait. The grand plan is to pack everything we don't absolutely need and store it ALL in the garage for maximum efficiency when moving day arrives, hoping that loading will go more quickly than if we were hauling it all out of the town home on moving day. My ulterior motive is that I don't have to dodge packed boxes for the next three and a half weeks.

Of course the furballs are starting to get a little skittish. They know about moving but I don't think that cats have very long memories. The best I can do for them is keep their basket bed where they can get at it when they are feeling insecure. Right now they are just going around snooping in anything and everything they can. They are especially enjoying shelves and the tops of cupboards as they become empty. Gotta love cats.

This is the leading edge of the wall cloud that rolled through Nicollet County this evening. It was quite spectacular and energizing. Although it did bring some large hail with it, no tornadoes were spawned that I know of at this point in time. Crazy weather, went from near freezing temperatures a few days ago to nearly 80° today. Last night, instead of temperatures going down they just kept rising all night. Gotta love Minnesota, if you don't like the weather just wait a few hours and it will change.

Wow, had some storms roll through this evening and they were quite impressive. First time in a few years that I have heard tornado sirens here in St. Peter, Minnesota. Awesome energy in those storms and they slide just south of us here.

Good lord! Has it really been 6 years since I have posted here?!?!? Apparently so. Since the last post I have lived in two different place, both in St. Peter. I am now in the process of moving to Mankato, Minnesota and have come a long with since that last post, both in the material world and the spiritual world. 


Not to worry that I have lost my spirituality, I have not. I have figured out that my spirituality is not necessarily reading books on spirituality non-stop. Nor is it heralding my spirituality to the masses. My spirituality is very personal and for me it is living my spirituality quietly, everyday in all that I do and say and create.


Not to worry that I am still living with next to nothing to my name, I am not. I have figured out that it is okay to have some nice things around to make life in the mundane world a little more aesthetically pleasing. I have returned to the concept of re-purposing (guess that is what they are calling it these days). If you can't fix it, find another use for it. I have also surrounded myself with original art. Not the kind you will find in galleries for high prices but the kind that means something to me and makes me feel good. It is the artwork that I and my loved ones have created over the years. It is the artwork I have inherited from loved ones who have passed on. and yes, it is the photographs of my ancestors to remind of where I came from. This suits me just fine.