A View From the Park

The Millers are in an RV Park in Bullhead City, Arizona.  Sometimes when I look around at the dessert I feel like I have been dropped on the planet Arrakis from the movie Dune!  There is nothing like going from a world of water to a world almost devoid of water.


The dessert is beautiful in a stark way.  The shades of tan change with the sun, shadow and moon-glow.
There are mountains that we look at daily.  They are across the Colorado river and in the State of Nevada.  I find that I am as mesmerized by them as I am by Cerro San Gil in Guatemala.  The clouds and other celestial bodies play across them in an ever changing kaleidoscope of shadow and sunlight.

And there are birds.  We have a Roadrunner that comes by every day at 4pm.  You can almost set your watch by him.  He has been as close as a foot away and doesn't run if you approach slowly.  It reminds of Edgar Allen Egret from Mario's Marina.  We also have quail.  Can't get them to approach the motor home, but with enough food we may yet be successful.

It is a little chilly for my tropically thinned blood.  I am even wearing long pants and shirts with sleeves!  But I find if I stand in the sun and close my eyes I can hear the water lapping against the boat, if just for a moment.

"...And So This Is Christmas.."

I have always loved the Christmas song by John Lennon.  I woke up thinking about it with the lyrics and tune going through my head.  Part of it is about war being over.  I wish that was true.  It is not.

We have troops in Afghanistan and Iraq.  The Korean Peninsula is a tense situation once again.  We have troops all over the world.  Many are away from home for the first time.  Some are war weary and just want to come home.  But soldiers today and always are out there doing their job.  Securing us from all enemies foreign and domestic.  There was a time when SAC (Strategic Air Command) had a B52 in the air twenty-four hours a day to keep us safe.

So this morning when I opened my email there was this poem.  I share it with you so that perhaps you will remember just for a moment all those who serve today and wish that they were home with family and friends.

TWAS THE NIGHT BEFORE CHRISTMAS, HE LIVED ALL ALONE,
IN A ONE BEDROOM HOUSE MADE OF PLASTER AND STONE.

I HAD COME DOWN THE CHIMNEY WITH PRESENTS TO GIVE,  AND TO

SEE JUST WHO  IN THIS HOME DID LIVE.

I LOOKED ALL ABOUT,  A STRANGE SIGHT I DID SEE,
NO TINSEL, NO PRESENTS, NOT EVEN A TREE.

NO STOCKING BY MANTLE, JUST BOOTS FILLED WITH SAND,
ON THE WALL HUNG PICTURES OF FAR DISTANT LANDS.

WITH MEDALS AND BADGES, AWARDS OF ALL KINDS,
A SOBER THOUGHT CAME THROUGH MY MIND.

FOR THIS HOUSE WAS DIFFERENT, IT WAS DARK AND DREARY,
I FOUND THE HOME OF A SOLDIER, ONCE I COULD SEE CLEARLY.

THE SOLDIER LAY SLEEPING, SILENT, ALONE,
CURLED UP ON THE FLOOR IN THIS ONE BEDROOM HOME.

THE FACE WAS SO GENTLE, THE ROOM IN SUCH DISORDER,
NOT HOW I PICTURED A UNITED STATES SOLDIER.

WAS THIS THE HERO OF WHOM I'D JUST READ?
CURLED UP ON A PONCHO, THE FLOOR FOR A BED?



I REALIZED THE FAMILIES THAT I SAW THIS NIGHT,
OWED THEIR LIVES TO THESE SOLDIERS WHO WERE WILLING TO FIGHT.

SOON ROUND THE WORLD, THE CHILDREN WOULD PLAY,
AND GROWNUPS WOULD CELEBRATE A BRIGHT CHRISTMAS DAY.

THEY ALL ENJOYED FREEDOM EACH MONTH OF THE YEAR,
BECAUSE OF THE SOLDIERS, LIKE THE ONE LYING HERE.

I COULDN'T HELP WONDER HOW MANY LAY ALONE,
ON A COLD CHRISTMAS EVE IN A LAND FAR FROM HOME.

THE VERY THOUGHT BROUGHT A TEAR TO MY EYE,
I DROPPED TO MY KNEES AND STARTED TO CRY.

THE SOLDIER AWAKENED AND I HEARD A ROUGH VOICE,
"SANTA DON'T CRY, THIS LIFE IS MY CHOICE;

I FIGHT FOR FREEDOM, I DON'T ASK FOR MORE,
MY LIFE IS MY GOD, MY COUNTRY, MY CORPS."

THE SOLDIER ROLLED OVER AND DRIFTED TO SLEEP,
I COULDN'T CONTROL IT, I CONTINUED TO WEEP.

I KEPT WATCH FOR HOURS, SO SILENT AND STILL
AND WE BOTH SHIVERED FROM THE COLD NIGHT'S CHILL.

I DIDN'T WANT TO LEAVE ON THAT COLD, DARK, NIGHT,
THIS GUARDIAN OF HONOR SO WILLING TO FIGHT.

THEN THE SOLDIER ROLLED OVER, WITH A VOICE SOFT AND PURE,
WHISPERED, "CARRY ON SANTA, IT'S CHRISTMAS DAY,

                                ALL IS SECURE."

ONE LOOK AT MY WATCH, AND I KNEW HE WAS RIGHT.
"MERRY CHRISTMAS MY FRIEND, AND TO ALL A GOOD NIGHT."



This poem was written by a Marine stationed in Okinawa Japan. The following is his request. I think it is reasonable.....

PLEASE. Would you do me the kind favor of sending this to as many people as you can? Christmas will be coming soon and some credit is due to our U.S. service men and women for our being able to celebrate these festivities. Let's try in this small way to pay a tiny bit of what we owe. Make people stop and think of our heroes, living and dead, who sacrificed themselves for us. Please, do your small part to plant this small seed.

Christmas Week

It is Christmas Week and I am in the States.  You would think that it would be just what the doctor ordered.

Parts of it are wonderful.  You have more shopping options.  You are with family.  But there are down sides too...
You have more shopping options.  That means that you have to be out there among them.  There are carols playing, but there is pushing and shoving.  Shelves are looking a little bare.  What you want is sold out.   At least in Central America I had a handy excuse.  Now it just my own procrastination.

I love being with my family.  My sister, Helen, Cynthia, and I spent the day baking cookies.  Orin I will apologize right now.  I am not sure that I will be able to get any cookies out to mail to you.  They have guards on the doors.  Rumor has it there will be more baking tomorrow.  I am not sure that my feet can take it.

It has been rainy and chilly.  Dare I say it, I miss the hot and humid of Guatemala.

I think that it is time to put the chanting Monks on and listen to some soothing Christmas music.

Kia Motors America, Inc RULES!

Some of you know that we bought a Kia Soul in August.  It was 2010 model and we loved it.

As we were driving, it appeared that there was a little more play in the steering wheel than when we first got the car.  While in San Antonio it really got bad.  So we figured when we got back to Tucson we would go to the dealer, Jim Click Kia and have it looked at while they did the routine oil change.

The Service Adviser let us know that the bolt that holds the steering shaft in the column was gone!  Kia did not want us to drive the car.  No problem.  We didn't want to drive it.  So they called and ordered the bolt.  The next thing you know they are calling us and telling us that Kia is going to....drum roll please...replace our Soul with a  new 2011 Model.  This is at no cost to us.

Not only did they give us a new 2011 model they paid all the fees to transfer our plates, rental car, etc.  This all happened in less then 48 hours.

The Service Manager at Jim Click and Kia Motors America really made us believers that some companies really do care about their customers.

Some of you may think that they were just trying to save a law suit.  May-be, but they sure made it all painless for us.  I don't know of many companies that would step up like this one did.

Babies and Old Men

My daughter, Sarah, recently gave birth to a little girl.  As with all new mothers she has questions that she is a little hesitant to ask.  I remember those days.  You don't want to look like you don't know how to take care of this new little person that is depending on you for everything.

It has been my experience that babies and old men are very similar in their needs and views on life.  This is of course a generalization and may not apply to the baby or the old man in your life.

Crashed and burned

asleep on the sofa

1.   I am the most important person in the room, house, street, city, country, and world.  PAY ATTENTION TO ME!
2. I want to eat.  Not in 5 minutes.  Now if you please.
3. Both love breasts.
4. Naps are most important to the happiness of the entire household.  If the baby or old man is napping perhaps, you should be napping also.
5. I do NOT sleep well in my own bed.  Swaddling may help with the baby, but be careful swaddling an old man.
6. I sleep best in my recliner, sofa, bouncer, or your arms.  Sending or putting me in bed will only awaken me.  I may ask to be fed.

Samantha and Papa holding hands

Sarah has finally had one night when the new baby actually slept in her crib.  One night Sarah was so tired that she allowed the baby to sleep in her bed.  I warned her that this could start a bad habit.  I know I let an old man sleep in my bed one night and haven't been able to get him out yet!