Choices

With a fresh cup of steaming coffee in hand I look at the blank page in front of me. Without a clear plan for today’s blog I’m not real sure where the path of words will take me. It all seems a little gray and fuzzy, like the scene outside my window this morning. The good thing about a blank page or a new day in front of you is that you have a chance to mold and shape them anyway you choose. Being that this is my last day off before I go back to work I feel the need to pack as much into it as I possibly can. I don’t like going back to work thinking I missed out on something.

 

For those that know me well know that I ride my motorcycle nearly everywhere I go. Motorcycle riding has been in my blood since my teenage years and will probably remain there for my duration. When given the chance to combine this passion with any of my other hobbies the enjoyment level really escalates. One example would be metal detecting. By strapping my detector on my bike I am able to combine two great hobbies into one day. Not only do I get to ride and hunt for treasures but I save gas at the same time.

 

Having a booth in the basement section of Finders Keepers in Cullman I am always on the lookout for items I think people will want to buy. Once again my bike plays a part in this venture as well. Since I ride all over the southeast anyway, I get to stop in at places and shop around, sometimes finding the coolest things. One man’s trash is most definitely almost always another man’s treasure. The trick is to get these two people together.

 

So where will this day take me? I haven’t a clue. Will I find a three or four thousand dollar coin today or become one of the great American pickers…not if I don’t get moving. You guys have a great day. Get out and do something…you won’t regret it.

Unforgettable Trip in The Boundary Waters

Unforgettable Trip in The Boundary Waters

Writers Block?

Well I’m about to end this day the same way I started it…listening to the rain. Kinda relaxing don’t you think? I’ve done more reading and researching today than actual writing. It seems that my mentors, actual published authors have quite a lot of advice for us wannabes. I can’t imagine a writer’s life before the internet. Just think if you wanted to research a subject and the library was closed you were out of luck. Not only that you had to take your own photos.

 

The internet has made our lives easier in more ways to count. As a writer these days there should be no such thing as “writers block.” If you are ever stuck just pull up some strange place or town on Google Earth and fly down to street level.  You can then roam about until you find something interesting to write about. Don’t think you’ll find anything, try it you’ll be amazed. Myself I like to ride and see the country on my Harley; but when that isn’t possible I don’t mind using the other tools I have available.

 

You guys have a great night, I’m gonna go listen to the rain a little more.

God bless you Newtown, Conn.

All across our country and the world for that matter, moms and dads sent their little ones off to school. For many this was the last school day before Christmas vacation. Now is a time for rejoicing and celebration and also time away from the daily grind of school and homework. But for twenty little innocent souls and eight grownups it would simply be their last day.

 

In the quaint little town of Newtown Conn. a deranged gunman would alter the lives of so many in a matter of minutes. Adam Lanza walked into an elementary school and committed the most horrible crime imaginable; he gunned down school teachers and an entire classroom full of kindergarten children. At the time of this writing no motive is known for what spurred this maniac into such madness. Not that it would matter, the terrible damage and devastation to these victims, their families, the community and even our country has already been done.

 

As Newtown searches for answers as to why such an atrocity took place in their town, I only hope the rest of the nation searches for a real way to prevent such events from happening. There has to be a solution for keeping the people that don't belong in school out of the school. This trend in school shootings is on the rise, we need to quickly send that trend in the other direction. Schools don't have to be patrolled by our military but they do need to be secure. Courthouses across our nation are becoming more secure every day. Why can't our schools where our most precious children go to learn and play adopt the same policy.

 

God bless you Newtown, Conn., the victims and their parents and the whole Sandy Hook Elementary School.

 

Politicians are all liars and hypocrites.

Don’t really care much for politics, actually I don’t care for politics at all. Sadly enough, this usually leaves me in the dark when political conversations come up at work or anywhere else I may be at the time. I don’t miss much sleep over it though. Why, you might wonder? Because I already have it all figured out. Politicians are all liars and hypocrites.

Even though I try hard not to listen to all whining and bickering I still hear my fair share. For instance, one side or the other is always blaming the people for the high unemployment rate. Claiming that the people wouldn’t work if they had jobs to go to. In some cases that is true but not for the most part. There are still plenty of Americans able and willing to get up and go to work everyday to support their families. What about all of the career politicians, especially the ones actually claiming to work for the people. Would they get up and go to “work for the people” everyday if we put them in the same tax bracket as the rest of us? I doubt it. These people knew before they even left high school what they wanted to be when they grew up, fat, lazy, non-working rich politicians sponging off the working class. So what is the difference between them and say some healthy person living off of a disability check that they don’t deserve. Some might argue that at least the politicians do hold a job and play a productive role in our society…really, can’t hardly see the results if they are.

Hmmm… I like where this line of questions is going. What do you think our government would look like if suddenly they were all put on lower middle class pay scale? I think it would look like rats running from my bush hog as I mow my hay field. But you know what? Sometimes in order to promote new growth you have to burn out all the old growth. Maybe such a drastic change in government would actually let in a few people that really would work for the people. Maybe such a change would bring back the mom n pop businesses that have always made our country special. Maybe then the American dream wouldn’t seem so impossible. Surely to God the American dream isn’t get up and go work at Wal-Mart everyday. I can imagine our forefathers turning over in their graves, wondering “what are they thinking.”

I think the system as a whole needs revamped. It’s not just the Democrats or Republicans fault, the whole system is screwed up. Here we are down here in the working world paying these politicians to work for us and what are they doing? Their making deals and investing in all the right stocks and getting filthy rich. Hell, maybe it’s our fault since we are after all the farmers. Maybe for the last fifty years or so we’ve just been planting bad seeds. I say we burn off the field and start completely over. With real people. God Bless and good night. PS. If God Bless and good night offends you, I don’t really care about that either.