“Do the next thing”

Fran called me this afternoon. He told me that two soldiers with Maine ties died in Iraq over the weekend. One man is 48-year-old Staff Sergeant Dale James Kelly Junior, from Richmond, Maine. That isn’t far from here and I wonder if someone I know is acquainted with his family.

The other is Staff Sergeant David Michael Veverka who was a student at University of Maine Orono; his hometown is in PA. These men were members of B Company, 3-172 Infantry Battalion of the Maine Army National Guard. (more…)

Erik took this photo while we were at the airport seeing Fran off on April 22nd.  I just like it!

Homeschooling? I guess the general public has gotten past the question, “Is it legal?” Now they most commonly reside on the declaration that Homeschooling cripples children socially. To keep this short, let me just say, I disagree. In fact, one of my biggest reasons for deciding to homeschool is for socialization reasons. (more…)

This might be a case of comparing apples and oranges, but I’m going to risk it.

We have a Netflix membership. You make a list of movies in your on-line account. Then they send you the movie at the top of your list. You watch it when you feel like it, mail it back, then wait for the next movie to be shipped. I have been a bit distracted lately, so I haven’t kept too close a watch on what I put into my queue and what is next to be sent to me. Last week sometime we received “The Long Walk Home.” Finally, yesterday, we put it in to watch. (more…)

What about the Heroes? And don’t even tell me that there aren’t any. We all know better than that. We know that simply because the United States of America has men and women fighting in Afghanistan and Iraq. There are heroes because there is a war going on. They are waging a protest against evil and for freedom and liberty. This guarantees that there are stories to be told that just aren’t being written.

What are reporters doing that they aren’t seeing and printing the whole news? I challenge anyone worth his weight in the business to find the heroes and write about them. You might be surprised. Pleasantly surprised. What are you afraid of? Afraid that US Citizens might suddenly begin to swell with pride over the types of extraordinary people we have in our armed forces? Afraid that this improved morale might just stem the tide of negativity that we have experienced over this whole pursuit? (more…)