2016 arrived in my home town just behind a record snow storm. I did not really celebrate on New Year's Eve as my bride was out of town, so I did not imbibe in intoxicating beverages. Fate must have had a hand in it because the next morning (while getting ready to leave town) I was summoned to work; therefore, it was a good thing that I had no hangover on New Year's Day.
I worked all day then came home and quickly loaded my car with the duffel bag and other things I would take with me. I was headed for Central Texas to visit my folks and to meet my lovely bride on Saturday, when she returned with her sister from visiting our relatives on the Third Coast.
On the five hour trip to my mother's abode, I had plenty of time to think - to ruminate about my life, the events of the newly departed year, and what was in store in 2016. Along with all the things going on in my personal life, there are many things going on in the political world, the world news scene, the gun-grabbing, executive order-obsessed person holding the White House just now, the War On Terror (WOT, and so many other things that make great blogger fodder.
The political scene in this state (Texas) and this nation (the United States) is quite volatile. The division in this nation at this point in time seems no less than that going on in the United States of 1860. So many things are going wrong in this nation and around the world. The WOT has been raging now for much longer than our "police action" in Viet Nam, with no end in sight. Along with the endless war is the never-ending erosion of our rights and freedoms at home. People across this nation are suspicious of our government and fearful of our law enforcement agencies.
On the other hand, so many things are going right as we head into a new year. I am speaking of personal things and family things, mostly, but also of things going on in the nation and the world. A new granddaughter in the family has brought many of us closer together. The parents of the granddaughter are blessings in our lives as well. We did not lose a daughter...we gained a son. Those words are so true. And we have spent more time with our son during the past year or so than at any other time since he left high school. Our family was blessed with the new baby not so long after we said goodbye to my bride's mother and to my sweet grandmother. Sad as we were, we were so happy to have the little girl. I am certain that the granddaughter and so many other things will bless our lives even more as the year goes on.
As I blog this year I hope to focus on positive and good things more so than on the negative and the gloom. There are so many things that concern me, so many things that threaten the freedom of this nation, but there are also so many things that bless us (all of us) and I hope to feature these things as well. I will continue also to honor the heroes of law enforcement as I have done in this blog for over five years. But one thing I would like to do differently is also to honor heroes of our nation who are not members of law enforcement. I have seen so many times that heroes can be ordinary people as well as our brave public servants, and I will feature some of these in my blog.
A mistake (or an intention) of our United States government is to use the awesome power (legal and illegal) at its disposal to "protect" American citizens from "terrorists" as well as from the government's perception that we do not know what is best for us in our personal and collective lives. I intend to continue to write about government over-reach and the unconstitutional acts of our leaders when I feel that such actions warrant a little "coverage."
Finally I hope to write about things that will be of interest, things that may be a little obscure, and things that are close to my heart...hopefully to yours as well. I look forward to blogging through this year and on into the next, or for as long as the Good Shepherd allows me to do so. And I would like to say before I am finished with this first blog of 2016 that I am so happy that so many of you take the time to read my feeble words. I am more excited than I can say when I see that there are readers not only in Texas, not only in the United States, but also in so many nations around the world. I know you could choose to read anything, but you chose to honor me by giving me a few minutes of your life by reading my blog. Not every blog will be Pulitzer Prize worthy, but every blog will be straight from my heart and hopefully will be interesting, thought-provoking, or even controversial. Thank you all for your readership and your support. Happy and prosperous New Year to all of you.
I worked all day then came home and quickly loaded my car with the duffel bag and other things I would take with me. I was headed for Central Texas to visit my folks and to meet my lovely bride on Saturday, when she returned with her sister from visiting our relatives on the Third Coast.
On the five hour trip to my mother's abode, I had plenty of time to think - to ruminate about my life, the events of the newly departed year, and what was in store in 2016. Along with all the things going on in my personal life, there are many things going on in the political world, the world news scene, the gun-grabbing, executive order-obsessed person holding the White House just now, the War On Terror (WOT, and so many other things that make great blogger fodder.
The political scene in this state (Texas) and this nation (the United States) is quite volatile. The division in this nation at this point in time seems no less than that going on in the United States of 1860. So many things are going wrong in this nation and around the world. The WOT has been raging now for much longer than our "police action" in Viet Nam, with no end in sight. Along with the endless war is the never-ending erosion of our rights and freedoms at home. People across this nation are suspicious of our government and fearful of our law enforcement agencies.
On the other hand, so many things are going right as we head into a new year. I am speaking of personal things and family things, mostly, but also of things going on in the nation and the world. A new granddaughter in the family has brought many of us closer together. The parents of the granddaughter are blessings in our lives as well. We did not lose a daughter...we gained a son. Those words are so true. And we have spent more time with our son during the past year or so than at any other time since he left high school. Our family was blessed with the new baby not so long after we said goodbye to my bride's mother and to my sweet grandmother. Sad as we were, we were so happy to have the little girl. I am certain that the granddaughter and so many other things will bless our lives even more as the year goes on.
As I blog this year I hope to focus on positive and good things more so than on the negative and the gloom. There are so many things that concern me, so many things that threaten the freedom of this nation, but there are also so many things that bless us (all of us) and I hope to feature these things as well. I will continue also to honor the heroes of law enforcement as I have done in this blog for over five years. But one thing I would like to do differently is also to honor heroes of our nation who are not members of law enforcement. I have seen so many times that heroes can be ordinary people as well as our brave public servants, and I will feature some of these in my blog.
A mistake (or an intention) of our United States government is to use the awesome power (legal and illegal) at its disposal to "protect" American citizens from "terrorists" as well as from the government's perception that we do not know what is best for us in our personal and collective lives. I intend to continue to write about government over-reach and the unconstitutional acts of our leaders when I feel that such actions warrant a little "coverage."
Finally I hope to write about things that will be of interest, things that may be a little obscure, and things that are close to my heart...hopefully to yours as well. I look forward to blogging through this year and on into the next, or for as long as the Good Shepherd allows me to do so. And I would like to say before I am finished with this first blog of 2016 that I am so happy that so many of you take the time to read my feeble words. I am more excited than I can say when I see that there are readers not only in Texas, not only in the United States, but also in so many nations around the world. I know you could choose to read anything, but you chose to honor me by giving me a few minutes of your life by reading my blog. Not every blog will be Pulitzer Prize worthy, but every blog will be straight from my heart and hopefully will be interesting, thought-provoking, or even controversial. Thank you all for your readership and your support. Happy and prosperous New Year to all of you.
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