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When I was kid, I only wore shoes when I was forced to do so. Even after suffering countless stubbed toes from attempting to stop my bicycle with my bare feet and stepping on frogs and toads hidden in the grass (the latter explaining my intense disdain for the slimy beasts to this day), going barefoot was always preferable to the confinement of shoes. And while my child-mind would most likely not be able to express or even comprehend my reasoning, I think it had much to do with feeling directly connected to earth I trod upon. Shoes were a barrier to that connection.

Fast forward to today.

I rarely go without shoes on my feet. Granted, unless inclement weather forces me to do otherwise, my shoes are almost always sandals or flip flops, but I still feel the need to protect my feet against the many hazards which await the naked foot. I even wear flops in the relative safety of my home, and when my feet are bare, a pair of flops are almost always close by for those times when Buddy Love the daschund needs to make a trip outside.

Except for yesterday.

Yesterday when Buddy starting whining, I realized that I had left my flops in the bedroom. Normally I would have simply gone in there a put them on, but on this day my husband was napping in there after a long flight and I didn’t want to disturb him. Yesterday I braved the back acre of the property with no barrier between my feet and the dangers of a south Texas lawn. Of which there are many:

There are prickly weeds and stickers hiding in the grass.

Angry fire ants waiting to attack should you disturb their mounds.

Large piles of fallen acorns which can be surprisingly painful to the arches of your feet.

Along with the obvious hazards of walking barefoot in the yard of a dog owner.

Yes, I went there. Sorry/you’re welcome.

In the five minutes or so it took to walk Buddy Love through the back yard to take care of his business, I could think of little else other than these dangers which might potentially befall my naked feet. Gone was the little girl who thought nothing of stubbed toes and the squishy deaths of amphibians and only of the freedom of running unencumbered through the grass. She had been replaced by a middle-aged woman concerned more about discomfort which might befall her than the simple pleasure of feeling the cool grass beneath her feet.

Some say dogs are acutely sensitive to their human’s state of mind. If that’s true, maybe Buddy took an opportunity to reach out to that little girl long forgotten and simply say,

Stop worrying about what might happen…

And just enjoy the moment we’re in right now.

Now if you’ll excuse me, I’m off the walk barefoot in the grass.

This time not by necessity…

but by choice.

“Security is mostly a superstition. It does not exist in nature, nor do the children of men as a whole experience it. Avoiding danger is no safer in the long run than outright exposure. Life is either a daring adventure, or nothing.”

~Helen Keller

image courtesy of photobucket.com

September 11, 2001: We will never forget

Really? Ask a New Yorker if they agree with that statement. Many will tell you that they think most of the world is trying to do just that. Forget the attack. Whitewash history. Remember the who people died, just don’t mention why they died and who murdered them.

In the spirit of tolerance, build a mosque in the shadow of where the World Trade Center once stood. And no, I’m not going to debate that issue again. I still think it’s wrong and no amount politically correct pandering will change my mind about it. That’s not what I’m upset about (today).

Today I am angry about a World Trade Center memorial. Not what it will contain, but what it will not. The following is an excerpt from the Save the WTC Sphere Petition:

The bronze globe sculpture “The Sphere” was created by artist Frtiz Koenig. It stood as the centerpiece of the World Trade Center plaza for thirty years as a symbol of world peace.

On September 11, though severely damaged in the terrorist attacks, it emerged intact from the rubble of the WTC. It was thus embraced as a symbol of the strength and perseverance of America.

It currently stands in Battery Park, about a half mile south of Ground Zero. It was installed there with much ceremony on March 11, 2002, the sixth month anniversary of the attacks, as a “temporary memorial.” There was full intent at the time, and the 9/11 families were promised, that the Sphere would be returned as the centerpiece of the future 9/11 memorial at the World Trade Center.

Instead, however, the Sphere, the only remaining intact remnant of the WTC has been banned from Ground Zero and the “national” Sept. 11 memorial.

The designers of the memorial have ruled that it CANNOT be returned. In order, they said, “to protect the integrity of the design.”

The memorial design will include over 500 trees. Mayor Bloomberg and his deputy mayor, Patricia Harris, will not permit any of those trees to be cleared to create a proper space that allows the return of the Sphere and respects its history and significance.

At Ground Zero, landscaping takes precedence over 9/11.

This is a denial of history. It is an affront against the American spirit that triumphed 9/11; it is an assault upon truth and memory. It betrays the memory of the innocents slaughtered there.

Here’s a portion of an interview of Michael Burke, brother of Captain William Burke, a firefighter who lost his life on 911:

What this particular clip does not include is what I consider to be another  “oversight” of the planner of the memorial. Before the commercial break, anchor Martha MacCallum made mention of the names on the memorial and how they would be presented. The names of the victims will be there, but only their names.

Captain William F. Burke

For Captain William F. Burke, Jr., who was the captain of Engine Company 21, who got all of his men out alive and stayed behind in an attempt to rescue, among others, a quadriplegic man trapped inside, who sadly lost his life when the tower collapsed before they could get out, it will say William F. Burke, Jr. His title of Captain, which in and of itself helps tell the story of his heroic role on this terrible day, will not appear on the memorial. Many lives were lost that day, and I’m not suggesting that his life was more valuable than others who perished. But I think it’s incredibly important that people 100 years from now understand that when others were fleeing from disaster, brave men like Captain Burke were rushing towards the danger in order to save the lives of others. Their sacrifices should be remembered and honored.

When asked why the titles would not be included, Captain Burke’s brother Michael offered this explanation:

“This is the crux of the situation. The memorial is not designed, not intended to tell the story of 911. It is not supposed to remind us of what happened here. This is why it was chosen. Arad (the designer of the memorial) says it. In fact, the jury that picked the memorial said there can be no history of the attacks included in the memorial to protect, quote, the integrity of the design.”

I don’t often sign petitions, because frankly, I don’t know how much good they do in many cases. But I signed the petition to Save the Sphere, and I’m asking you to join me. Enough with this political correctness run amok where we bend over backwards not to offend the offensive and dishonor those who lived and died with honor.

Here’s a link to sign the petition: Save the Sphere

Enough is enough.

image courtesy of photobucket.com

It’s been awhile since I’ve read the Declaration of Independence, but I think it is an amazing document. As I read it last night on my iPhone, head propped up on several pillows from the comfort of my very comfortable bed in my very comfortable, air conditioned house while sipping on an iced cold Diet Coke that I was able to purchase by getting into my late model Jeep and driving 5 minutes to the grocery store, something occurred to me. Something that has been come to my attention more and more as of late. I take a lot of things for granted. Things that people left their homelands to seek; that men and women have fought and died for.

No, not my bed, or house, or Diet Coke, or car. Sure, I take those for granted, too. No, what I take for granted is the right to pursue the desire for all these creature comforts. Nothing on the aforementioned list is of great importance to me, but if I were to be denied the right to choose any of those things, or if I was told someone else with more authority would chose them for me, I wouldn’t like it. Not one bit.

I don’t talk politics on this blog. But as I read this document written and signed 235 years ago, it occurred to me that many have forgotten (if they ever knew) the reasons the founding fathers felt compelled to write it in the first place. If it’s been awhile since you’ve read it, I invite you to read it with a fresh perspective in light of the political climate of this country. Our United States of America. And remember that We the People are we, the people.

In Congress, July 4, 1776

The unanimous Declaration of the thirteen united States of America

When in the Course of human events, it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another, and to assume among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature’s God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation.

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness. That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just Powers from the consent of the governed, — That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness. Prudence, indeed, will dictate that Governments long established should not be changed for light and transient causes; and accordingly all experience hath shewn, that mankind are more disposed to suffer, while evils are sufferable, than to right themselves by abolishing the forms to which they are accustomed. But when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same Object evinces a design to reduce them under absolute Despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such Government, and to provide new guards for their future security — Such has been the patient sufferance of these Colonies; and such is now the necessity which constrains them to alter their former Systems of Government. — The history of the present King of Great Britain is a history of repeated injuries and usurpations, all having in direct object the establishment of an absolute Tyranny over these States. To prove this, let facts be submitted to a candid world.

He has refused his Assent to Laws, the most wholesome and necessary for the public good.

He has forbidden his Governors to pass Laws of immediate and pressing importance, unless suspended in their operation till his Assent should be obtained; and when so suspended, he has utterly neglected to attend to them.

He has refused to pass other Laws for the accommodation of large districts of people, unless those people would relinquish the right of Representation in the Legislature, a right inestimable to them and formidable to tyrants only.

He has called together legislative bodies at places unusual, uncomfortable, and distant from the depository of their Public Records, for the sole purpose of fatiguing them into compliance with his measures.

He has dissolved Representative Houses repeatedly, for opposing with manly firmness his invasions on the rights of the people.

He has refused for a long time, after such dissolutions, to cause others to be elected; whereby the Legislative Powers, incapable of Annihilation, have returned to the People at large for their exercise; the State remaining in the mean time exposed to all the dangers of invasion from without, and convulsions within.

He has endeavoured to prevent the population of these States; for that purpose obstructing the Laws for Naturalization of Foreigners; refusing to pass others to encourage their migrations hither, and raising the conditions of new Appropriations of Lands.

He has obstructed the Administration of Justice, by refusing his Assent to Laws for establishing Judiciary Powers.

He has made Judges dependent on his Will alone, for the tenure of their offices, and the amount and payment of their salaries.

He has erected a multitude of New Offices, and sent hither swarms of Officers to harrass our People, and eat out their substance.

He has kept among us, in times of peace, Standing Armies without the Consent of our legislatures.

He has affected to render the Military independent of and superior to the Civil Power.

He has combined with others to subject us to a jurisdiction foreign to our constitution, and unacknowledged by our laws; giving his Assent to their Acts of pretended Legislation:

For Quartering large bodies of armed troops among us:

For protecting them, by a mock Trial, from Punishment for any Murders which they should commit on the Inhabitants of these States:

For cutting off our Trade with all parts of the world:

For imposing Taxes on us without our Consent:

For depriving us in many cases, of the benefits of Trial by Jury:

For transporting us beyond seas to be tried for pretended offences:

For abolishing the free system of English Laws in a neighbouring Province, establishing therein an Arbitrary government, and enlarging its Boundaries so as to render it at once an example and fit instrument for introducing the same absolute rule into these Colonies:

For taking away our Charters, abolishing our most valuable Laws, and altering fundamentally the forms of our Governments:

For suspending our own Legislature, and declaring themselves invested with power to legislate for us in all cases whatsoever.

He has abdicated Government here, by declaring us out of his Protection and waging War against us.

He has plundered our seas, ravaged our Coasts, burnt our towns, and destroyed the lives of our people.

He is at this time transporting large Armies of foreign Mercenaries to compleat the works of death, desolation and tyranny, already begun with circumstances of Cruelty and perfidy scarcely paralleled in the most barbarous ages, and totally unworthy the Head of a civilized nation.

He has constrained our fellow Citizens taken Captive on the high Seas to bear Arms against their Country, to become the executioners of their friends and Brethren, or to fall themselves by their Hands.

He has excited domestic insurrections amongst us, and has endeavoured to bring on the inhabitants of our frontiers, the merciless Indian Savages, whose known rule of warfare, is an undistinguished destruction of all ages, sexes and conditions.

In every stage of these Oppressions we have Petitioned for Redress in the most humble terms: Our repeated Petitions have been answered only by repeated injury. A Prince, whose character is thus marked by every act which may define a Tyrant, is unfit to be the ruler of a free people.

Nor have we been wanting in attention to our Brittish brethren. We have warned them from time to time of attempts by their legislature to extend an unwarrantable jurisdiction over us. We have reminded them of the circumstances of our emigration and settlement here. We have appealed to their native justice and magnanimity, and we have conjured them by the ties of our common kindred to disavow these usurpations, which, would inevitably interrupt our connections and correspondence. They too have been deaf to the voice of justice and of consanguinity. We must, therefore, acquiesce in the necessity, which denounces our Separation, and hold them, as we hold the rest of mankind, Enemies in War, in Peace Friends.

We, therefore, the Representatives of the united States of America, in General Congress, Assembled, appealing to the Supreme Judge of the world for the rectitude of our intentions, do, in the Name, and by Authority of the good People of these Colonies, solemnly publish and declare, That these United Colonies are, and of Right ought to be Free and Independent States; that they are absolved from all Allegiance to the British Crown, and that all political connection between them and the State of Great Britain, is and ought to be totally dissolved; and that as Free and Independent States, they have full Power to levy War, conclude Peace, contract Alliances, establish Commerce, and to do all other Acts and Things which Independent States may of right do.

And for the support of this Declaration, with a firm reliance on the protection of Divine Providence, we mutually pledge to each other our Lives, our Fortunes and our sacred Honor.

——————————————————————————–

John Hancock

Button Gwinnett
Lyman Hall
Geo. Walton

Wm. Hooper
Joseph Hewes
John Penn
Edward Rutledge
Thos. Heyward, Junr.
Thomas Lynch, Junr.
Arthur Middleton

Samuel Chase
Wm. Paca
Thos. Stone
Charles Carroll of Carrollton
George Wythe
Richard Henry Lee
Th. Jefferson
Benja. Harrison
Thos. Nelson, Jr.
Francis Lightfoot Lee
Carter Braxton

Robt. Morris
Benjamin Rush
Benja. Franklin
John Morton
Geo. Clymer
Jas. Smith
Geo. Taylor
James Wilson
Geo. Ross
Caesar Rodney
Geo. Read
Tho. Mckean

Wm. Floyd
Phil. Livingston
Frans. Lewis
Lewis Morris
Richd. Stockton
Jno. Witherspoon
Fras. Hopkinson
John Hart
Abra. Clark

Josiah Bartlett
Wm. Whipple
Saml. Adams
John Adams
Robt. Treat Paine
Elbridge Gerry
Step. Hopkins
William Ellery
Roger Sherman
Samuel Huntington
Wm. Williams
Oliver Wolcott
Matthew Thornton

And for those of you in need of a short history, here’s one courtesy of Schoolhouse Rock –for my money, still the best educational children’s programming available.