EOW: Sheriff Gary Painter, Midland County Sheriff - 26 May, 2019

Note: Usually I reserve End Of Watch (EOW) posts for peace officers and other public servants who lose their lives in the line of duty.  I am making an exception today.  Sheriff Gary Painter did not die during the performance of his duties, but he truly gave his life to the people of Midland County while serving as sheriff for over three decades.  I believe it is right to honor Sheriff Gary Painter with an EOW post on these pages.

I had awakened for some reason around 4 AM this Sunday, and I happened to glance at my I - phone which was lying on a night stand.  The news alert app was flashing, and I opened it out of habit.  There was Sheriff Painter's picture, and all I could make out of the news headline were the words "passes away."  Grabbing my glasses, I read the headline again...yes, Sheriff Gary Painter had died in his sleep just after midnight...

In the days since Sheriff Painter's passing, many law officers and others have written page after page expressing both their shock at his sudden death, and their praise for the life of the great man and his career, but especially of his service to the community.  Gary Painter served as a member of the United States Marines during the Vietnam War.  After his service in the armed forces, Mr. Painter joined the Texas Department of Public Safety.  He later served as a sheriff's deputy in two West Texas counties before joining the Midland County Sheriff's Office in 1982.  Just three years later he ran for, and was elected, Sheriff in 1985.  He served in that capacity ever since.

As I said, many peace officers and local dignitaries have already written about Gary Painter, and there is nothing I can add regarding Sheriff Painter's career.  Instead I will just mention a couple of contacts I had with Sheriff Painter over the years.  I met Sheriff Painter in 1991 when I was thinking about applying with the Sheriff's Office for employment.  Although I never went to work for the Sheriff's Office, I was instantly impressed with Sheriff Painter.  And this is no exaggeration...the Sheriff never forgot my name or my face.  He always called me Mr. Meeks after that first meeting.

A year or so later I bumped into the Sheriff and asked his feelings about the (then) new law allowing concealed firearm carry for those who sought and obtained a gun permit.  Sheriff Painter said, "Personally I don't believe in "state license" to carry a gun.  The United States Constitution gives everyone the right to bear arms, and I never did see how Texas or ANY state could require its citizens to get a license to carry a gun."  Gary Painter was a very strong supporter of the Second Amendment, as well as all the amendments that make up the Bill of Rights.  I loved it!  I never voted for any other candidate for sheriff after that.

In 1999, I was employed with Texas Children's Protective Services. I had transferred back to Midland after working in the Austin office for nearly two years.  I had not seen the Sheriff since my encounter with him in 1992.  I happened to be in the Midland County courthouse for one reason or another, and I saw Sheriff Painter in one of the hallways.  I waved at him and he said, "Hello, Mr. Meeks."  After that I was convinced he had a near photographic memory, at least a great memory of faces, and the names that went with those faces.

One day I saw another side of Sheriff Gary Painter.  On October 9, 2014 at around 1:00 PM I passed sheriff's deputy Sergeant Michael Naylor in the emergency room at our local hospital.  Mike had just received an emergency call ever his radio, and the last thing I said to him was "Be careful!"  Less than an hour later Michael Naylor was dead, slain by barricaded suspect even as Sergeant Naylor was trying to talk him into peaceful surrender.  At Sergeant Naylor's funeral, Sheriff Painter seemed like he had lost his own family member as he honored the fallen deputy, then did a final role call for Sergeant Naylor.  That day Sheriff Painter openly wept as he held Mrs. Naylor in his arms.  He openly prayed for her and all those hurting that day, and he openly acknowledged that only God could truly comfort Michael's loved ones in those first dark hours and days after his death.

Little did I know that only seven days ago I would see Sheriff Painter for the last time.  That day, the Sheriff came to the local emergency room after the patrol vehicle one of his deputies was driving was struck by a train, as the deputy was responding to an emergency call.  As on the day Sergeant Naylor died, Sheriff Painter was concerned about the injured deputy almost as if the deputy has been his own son.  The Sheriff frantically asked me if he could leave his pickup parked at the emergency entrance briefly while he went to check on the deputy.  I told him that it was fine.  Sheriff Painter then went into the emergency room.  Nearly half an hour later Sheriff Painter came out and moved his pickup, but only to a nearby law enforcement parking slot.  Then he was back inside.  Very luckily, the officer escaped a potentially fatal accident with only minor cuts and bruises.  But the Sheriff did not leave the hospital until he knew the deputy was safe.

Sheriff Gary Painter, as the many tributes tell us, was well respected within local, state, and national law enforcement circles, and rightly so, but he was respected by civilians as well.  As prominent as he was in law enforcement, and as busy as he was with his duties, Sheriff Painter was never too busy to help people in need.  I recall one day, now over a decade ago, that a house was on fire near my residence.  I happened to be driving by and I saw that there was only one fire truck on the scene, and the firemen were still pulling hose and equipment off the fire engine.  They had only just arrived.  The next "unit" to arrive was Sheriff Painter.  Without hesitation, he joined the volunteer firemen in their effort to save the house.  Unfortunately, the house was nearly fully engulfed when that first truck arrived, and was a total loss when the fire was finally extinguished.  But to the end, there was Sheriff Painter, helping when he could, and comforting the family when it was obvious that the home could not be saved.

Sheriff Painter will be laid to rest tomorrow.  I pray that the Good Shepherd continue to comfort his family, his loved ones, and his officers as they all carry on without him.  The Thin Blue Line in Heaven has one more officer in its midst tonight, a bigger-than-life lawman, and a true servant of the people of Midland County.

End of Watch: March 24, 2019 - Deputy Sheriff Peter Herrera, El Paso County Sheriff's Office, El Paso, TX

Deputy Sheriff Peter Herrera gave his life in the line of duty.  He was shot multiple times by a felon, but survived initially.  He was in critical condition but it appeared that he would likely survive, his body armor having stopped most of the bullets.  Unfortunately, that assessment was premature.  Deputy Herrera died two days later.

In just over two weeks, two Texas peace officers lost their lives.  First, Officer Heidelberg in Midland, then Deputy Herrera.  Officer Heidelberg, as I noted in a previous blog, lost his life due to one of the stupidest acts of a gun-owner that I have ever heard of in fifty years of living.  Deputy Herrera lost his life because of the stupidity a felon who was "brave enough" to ambush a lone officer but, as is so often the case, meekly surrendered "without incident" when confronted by two or more officers.  To be honest, I was just too heart-sick to publish this post on March 24th.

On March 22,  Deputy Herrera found himself in a situation that many officers face, and quite often come out on the losing end.  The problem: How to approach an "innocent citizen" in a dangerous situation, but one which may not be perceived as dangerous by the average person; the very MINOR offense, for instance, of having one tail light out on your car.  To the average person in this situation, a cop approaching the citizen with gun drawn would be "too much."  After all, the only "violation" is a minor traffic offense.  A police officer has to balance the risk to his own safety with the need to appear as "nonthreatening" as possible to the citizen.  To further complicate the situation, the officer actually does not know if he is approaching the "average citizen" or a felon who is violating his parole and thus will do anything not to go back to prison.

Deputy Herrera must have felt that he could not justify having his gun drawn when he stopped the man who would in seconds become his killer.  Deputy Herrera followed procedure by calling in his location and the description of the vehicle.  That was probably his last radio call.  As he approached the vehicle, the driver stepped out and immediately emptied his semi-automatic pistol's magazine.  Most of the shots struck Deputy Herrera's chest, at least one shot striking the officer's head, and other shots hitting his arms.  The deputy was not able to return fire, or even to draw his own weapon.  The suspect and his companion were found hiding in a shed a short time later, and of course, surrendered, probably yelling,"Don't shoot! Don't shoot!"  And with the restraint demanded of professional peace officers, no officer did what many people would want to do to someone who had just killed a friend.  The suspect was not shot, was not even injured. 

I was in Deputy Herrera's situation many times.  I have pulled over vehicles for minor equipment infractions during the hours of darkness, when most, but not all, "law abiding citizens" are usually at home in bed.  I had good police trainers, and had read several books concerning police survival "on the streets."  I am in no way criticizing Deputy Herrera's actions or his training, just talking about my own experience.  There were times that I approached vehicles during the night with my weapon somewhere other than in the belt holster.  I won't elaborate further, but my gun was ready to go.  But there were also many times that I felt such an approach to be unjustifiable.  Nonetheless, I, like Deputy Herrera, had no idea whether or not the driver, or someone else in the car, was about to shoot or otherwise try to harm me. 

The truth is that no officer can know when a violator (major or minor offender) will shoot at him/her.  And, as the Midland incident reiterated, an officer can not even be sure when a home-owner will shoot him/her.  Law enforcement is a dangerous profession, and as long as police officers are expected to take the least offensive approach possible, to appear as non-threatening as possible, criminals will always have the edge.  Nonetheless, officers continue to do their job every day, and new officers daily join the ranks of the Thin Blue Line.  And, officers will continue to give their lives in the service of their communities and nation.

Deputy Herrera leaves behind his wife, his loved ones, and his fellow officers at the El Paso County Sheriff's Office.  I am proud to honor Deputy Peter Herrera here, and to thank him for his eleven years of service to the people of El Paso and El Paso County.

Sweet Dreams of You: Patsy Cline - March 5, 1963

(This post was intended to run on March 5th but was postponed in respect of the fallen Midland Police Officer Nathan Heidelberg, who gave his life in the service of his community during the early hours of March 5th. )

On this day in 1963, one of the greatest country singers of all time, Patsy Cline, was killed in an airplane crash near Camden, Tennessee.  Patsy (born Virginia Patterson Hensley) had an enrapturing voice that captures one's soul even these several decades after her death.  I was a toddler when she died, but by the time I was old enough to listen to country music on my grandfather's radio in the dairy barn, I was already a Patsy Cline fan.  As one radio DJ said, "Patsy Cline can sing any song and IMMEDIATELY make it her own."  I have to agree wholeheartedly with that assessment.  For instance, Don Gibson, a country superstar of the 60's, wrote and recorded "Sweet Dreams of You."  Gibson's version was not a Top 10 hit, but Patsy Cline's version, released in 1963 only months after her death, completely overshadowed Gibson's version by reaching Number 5 on the country charts and breaking the Top 20 on the Pop charts.  Patsy Cline's "Sweet Dreams" went on to become one of the signature songs of country music.  Today many younger people do not even know that Don Gibson released this song, much less wrote it, but love to hear Patsy Cline's melancholy, yet sultry rendition. 

Patsy Cline put her special vocal "touch" on many country "standards" including some of my favorites, such as "I Fall to Pieces," "Crazy," I Go Walking After Midnight," "She's Got You," and "Faded Love," just to name a few.  "Back" in the days of CDs (compact discs, in case you are under thirty) I wore out two or three Patsy Cline disks.  And celebrities loved Patsy Cline's voice as much as the fans did.  Madonna idolized Patsy Cline's beautiful voice and considered Patsy Cline to be very influential on her own music.  Madonna felt that Patsy Cline had one of the greatest voices of all time and conceded in one interview that her own voice paled in comparison.

Although Patsy Cline left us so many years ago, her memory lives on in her songs.  Even these decades after her death, Patsy Cline's haunting voice in her ballads, in her upbeat tunes, and her bluesy, melancholy songs of broken love, will continue to pull at the hearts of her old fans, while at the same time attracting new admirers, for many years to come.  Thank you, Patsy, for your beautiful songs.  I will always love your voice and your songs, and will continue to have "Sweet Dreams of You."

Patsy Cline
September 8, 1932 - March 5, 1963

End of Watch: March 5, 2019 Officer Nathan Heidelberg, Midland Police Department, Midland TX

This, my first post in weeks, which I planned several days ago to cover a different subject, has been roughly and brutally shoved aside, and my heart is very sad with the post I am forced to write this evening.  I did not know Officer Heidelberg, other than to wave at him as he passed in and out of the hospital where I work.  But he was a respected officer of the Midland Police Department, and had the honor and responsibility of serving as a Field Training Officer, an assignment not lightly passed out by police management.

When a police officer loses his life in the line of duty, it is always tragic.  Many times officers are murdered by criminals, many times officers are struck by vehicles, and many others are killed in various ways each year...but I have to say, Officer Heidelberg's death has to be one of the most senseless waste of an officer's life I have ever heard of, and this makes this tragedy so much the harder to bear for his family and his fellow officers.  And this is one of the most senseless actions of an armed citizen that I have ever heard of in my life, again, making this officer's death all the more difficult to understand.

Officer Heidelberg, the "rookie" officer he was training, and two other experienced officers, responded to a residential burglar alarm.  This alarm was the type this is monitored by an alarm company, which then summons police to the location in question.  One other thing the alarm company does (or is supposed to do) is find out if the owner is home, and if so, inform the owner that police are on the way.  I have no idea if the particular alarm company followed this procedure.  The Texas Rangers are investigating all of these things.

Whatever the case, the four officers approached the residence, at which time the owner stepped out the front door.  The police officers (as verified by multiple body cameras) loudly announced repeatedly that they were police officers and that they were there to check the home and property.  Not only that, but there were at least three patrol cars parked outside the house when the owner stepped outside.  Inexplicably, the owner opened fire, striking Officer Heidelberg in the chest just above his ballistic vest.  In what must be one of the greatest acts of restraint of force ever by police, the other officers gave the shooter a chance to lay down his weapon.  Certainly they would have been justified in returning fire upon seeing Officer Heidelberg struck down.  But, in fact, the homeowner was not injured.

This man later (after hiring an attorney) said that he thought the officers were "invading" his home.  Never mind that this man ran OUTSIDE his home and began wildly firing at persons who identified themselves as police officers, were in uniform, and had left marked police cars parked on the street.  To invade a home, the actors would need to at least be AT THE DOOR OR WINDOW OF THE HOME AND ATTEMPTING TO MAKE ENTRY.  He would not have been justified firing at real burglars, much less the police, in these circumstances.  The man was rightly arrested and charged with killing the officer, although not capital murder.

May the Good Shepherd enfold Officer Heidelberg's family, friends, and fellow officers tonight, and comfort these people as only the Good Shepherd can. May the Good Shepherd protect the officers that are left to carry on without Nathan Heidelberg with them tonight.  I am honored, yet saddened, to lift up Officer Heidelberg here, to thank him for his service and his ultimate sacrifice.

I also hope the shooter, in light of this most senseless action that he has taken, will voluntarily give up the ownership of his guns.  He is clearly not responsible enough, nor capable of clear judgment, to ever be trusted with deadly weapons again.  He could have easily shot his own family member or a neighbor who might have been coming to the residence to check on his safety.  His actions are inexplicable.  Was he so afraid that he decided to shoot anything that moved near his house?  Worse, was he so arrogant and careless that he would shoot anyone found outside his residence, no questions asked, just because his burglar alarm had been triggered?  We all know that many things, including inclement, extremely cold weather, can activate burglar alarms.  Yes, a person has the right to protect himself and his family, but with that right comes the responsibility to clearly identify any potential target as either a criminal or someone else.  The death of Officer Nathan Heidelberg was so senseless and needless, and so very avoidable, had the homeowner acted reasonably.

And the Thin Blue Line in heaven boasts one more officer tonight.

David Crockett Went To Texas

Today in US History, and perhaps I should add, Texas history, is the day in 1835 that David Crockett gave his famous "...you may all go to Hell, and I am going to Texas" farewell speech.  By the way, before I go further I would like to add, for Mr. Crockett, that he hated being called "Davy."  I have read this in more than one biography, so in respect to Mr. Crockett I will not call him "Davy" in this post.

My research into David Crockett's life and character has shown me that Crockett truly embodied all the stereotypical characteristics, even those of Hollywood, that you and I today have come to expect of all "frontiersmen."  He really did occasionally wear a coonskin cap, although he seemed to prefer to wear more traditional crowned hats at least as often, if not more.  He actually did hunt for food when he was very young.  Actually, most frontier children, especially boys, learned to hunt at  a young age, because their fathers were away from the house either fighting, farming, or running businesses.  Crockett actually wore clothes with fringes on the sleeves and legs, but the fringes were not decorations.  Actually, they represented high technology for that day.  The Indians with whom these frontiersmen had contact wore fringes for an actual purpose - the fringes acted as collection points for water, allowing the water, from rain or from crossing creeks and rivers, to drain off their clothing more quickly.  And Crockett was not "educated."  His education came from his life experiences and from his own self-education.

Although David Crockett was indeed a frontiersman, he was making inroads into politics by his early twenties.  He was an early county commissioner in North Carolina, and held various local public offices for the next few years.  He was constantly working as well, which left little time for formal education.  Crockett did not let his lack of education hold him back.  Instead, he rather shrewdly capitalized on his "country backwardness" by using his life-experiences and colorful anecdotes to represent his constituents and lull his opponents.

One of the most important aspects of being a frontiersman, one which I did not list above, was "being your own man."  Frontiersmen were fiercely independent, both in their actions and in their thinking.  David Crockett was no exception.  He believed in educating himself, both in general knowledge, and about local and national political issues.  Once educated, Crockett believed, a person should decide how he or she stood on an issue, then STAND.  Stand, no matter what other people said.  David Crockett said, "Be sure you are right, then go ahead." 

It was Crockett's fierce independence and his desire to be his own man that eventually led to his ouster from Congress.  In 1835 Crockett stood against President Andrew Jackson on his treatment of the Indians.  That was political suicide, and all of Crockett's colleagues told him so.  As one of his biographers put it, "Crockett was elected as a 'Jacksonian' but quickly became an 'Anti - Jacksonian' and lost the election of 1835."  No one in his right political mind would defy Jackson, but Crockett further nailed shut his coffin by stating on the House floor that "President Jackson is a worse tyrant than...Napoleon."  And so it was that in January, 1836 David Crockett uttered probably his most famous quote, "...all of you may go to Hell, and I am going to Texas."

Shortly afterward David Crockett set out for Texas.  On the way he and his three companions joined with a company of men from Louisiana who were headed to a crumbling, difficult to defend fort/mission called "The Alamo."  It may be that Crockett knew he was riding into Destiny.  He gave away his Mason apron, something a practicing Mason would never do.  Something about the Texas Revolution appealed to him, yet something else told him that he was heading into his last fight.

David Crockett is one of my favorite men of US History, and one of my favorite quotes of his is "You may all go to Hell, and I will go to Texas."  The defenders of the Alamo were doomed, and Crockett and the men with him did not change the final outcome.  But the few survivors of that famous battle all agreed that David Crockett lifted the spirit of those doomed men, both with his singing and with his encouraging words.  As Death closed on those men during the final minutes before the last assault, David Crockett's motto, "Be sure you're right, then go ahead" must have gone through their minds.  They, along with Crockett, went ahead into the final hopeless fight, and into perhaps the most famous battle of modern times.  Who knows, perhaps Crockett's presence, his wit, his personality helped the men fulfill all that would be required of them in their finest hour.

You may all go to Hell, I am going to Texas


God Bless America

Sweetie, It Sure Is Quiet Now

The house is finally quiet again.  Yes, my wife is speaking to me, and yes, the television is on, but the house is STILL quiet.  Child A has spent his obligatory twenty minutes with us, and is now back in his room, but that is not the "source" of the quiet.  The source of the quiet, of course, is the fact that  both grandchildren are now back with their parents.  And the house, though full of conversation and television noise, is oh so quiet.  That is one of the parts of "grandparentism"that has amazed me since my lovely bride and I were gifted with our first grandchild, and continues to strike me even after our second grandchild came into our world.  How quiet the house is after "the children" go home.  I know the grandchildren will visit again, relatively soon, but how quiet it is after they go home!

My precious Baby Baby is now three years old and will be four in just a few months.  She seems so grown up!  She talks so well, problems solves well, helps with little chores, and most of all LOVES for Poppee (me!) to play with her.  Yes, I am her playmate.  And I love it just as much as she.  I have gone through countless Peppa Pig adventures with her.  Today's Peppa adventure included me starring as "Monster Poppee" who endlessly trapped "Princess Peppa," only to foiled in his evil plans by "Prince George" who in "real life" is Peppa's younger brother.  Next we spend hours playing "True and Bartleby"  I don't know the actual name of the cartoon, I think it may be "The Adventures of True" but that is just a guess on my part.  True is a young lady who goes on many adventures, and shares those adventures her friend and CAT, Bartleby.  When we are "in character" as True and Bartleby, True addresses Bartleby, who then answers, "Yes, True."  If Poppe does not get that answer right, play is stopped immediately until "Bartleby" answers correctly..."Yes, True."  We go to the Wishing Tree to get three wishes that help solve the particular problem in a certain adventure.  Then we hurry to the "scene" of whatever the problem might be by riding on "Cumulo," a friendly cumulus cloud who is always ready at True's beck and call.  If one were to visit our home while Baby Baby was there, that person would be treated to the delightful scene of "True" leading around her friend (and cat) Bartleby by the hand, telling Bartleby some important bit of information, then hearing True say, " No Bartleby!  You have to say 'yes, True.'"

While all this is going on, Baby Derek, our latest addition, is playing in the floor or bouncing and making noise in his "jumper."  Baby Derek is one of the two sweetest babies I have ever seen.  The other was his uncle, Child A.  Baby Derek is all smalls, and so loving.  And he is already a "Honey's baby."  That means that he much prefers Honey to Poppee, just as Baby Baby does.  For cuddling or comforting purposes, both children prefer Honey to Poppee.  The good news is that when Honey is not available, and the choice is between Poppee and being totally ignored, they happily choose Poppee.  But Baby Derek a strange little quirk.  He has a very bad temper!  If his bottle is a few seconds late, he turns red, bulges out the vessels on his cute little head, and suddenly looks like a pint-size, red-tinted miniature Hulk!  A wet diaper turns our sweet little man into Hulk 2, as does placing him on his blanket on the floor for "tummy time" if he thinks he is not ready.  But he is such a joy!  He and his sister have greatly decorated our lives, my Lovely Bride and I.

And that is what makes the house so quiet when they leave, our little Baby Baby and Baby Derek.  They decorate our lives, as I am sure that all grandchildren do for all grandparents.  Our children are not "dethroned" by the arrival of grandchildren, but instead our lives, blessed by children, are doubly blessed when grandchildren appear in our lives.  The laughter, the occasional tears, and yes, even the hours spent as True's friend, Bartleby, all decorate our lives, literally brightening our happy home.  So when it is finally time for the children to go home, even though I know they will be back soon, it seems so quiet.  My lovely bride comments in a somewhat saddened voice, "Sweetie, it sure is quiet now."  She is right. Even with the TV on and conversation going on, the house seems so very quiet.  And so it is, but only for a short while.  The babies will be here again soon, and once again, the quiet will be chased out of the house for at time.

In just the wink of an eye, 2018 is in the past, and the New Year is upon us!  I am excited about the new year and what it holds in store.  At the same time, I am so amazed that what was supposed to be "just a few days off" for me turned into several months off.  We welcomed our second grandchild into the world during 2018, and that took some time away from writing and other things, but it was a pleasure to spend so much time with my precious grandchildren.  If time cannot be recovered, then this was certainly one of the best ways I could have used this time.  Some of the time I did lose without the hope of recovery and with the knowledge that I would have rather done almost ANYTHING else was the time I spent "filling in" for employees who seemed to be unceasingly ill, who needed off at the spur of the moment, and for one who took off whenever the time off was desired, until that employee was fired.  In 2019 I will not make THAT mistake again.

Christmas 2018 proved to be one of the "merriest" Christmases ever for my immediate family.  None of us stressed this year as far as trying to find the "right" gifts or spending a lot of money just to spend money.  Even without all that, this Christmas was a blast!  Our little grandkids (and their parents) along with our son were all gathered with us this year, and I have to say that was the biggest and best gift of all, far outshining all of the things that were gifted.  My lovely bride and Child B (my daughter) tickled our tummies with some great cooking and some great cookies as well.  We all had such a great time.

Now, on this first day of 2019, I begin the new year with several goals to meet, but only one "resolution" and that is to LIVE each moment in the present.  Yes, goals hark toward the future, but if one has no goals, and no plans on how to reach those goals, than that person is not moving forward, not growing.  The alternative is no longer acceptable for me.  I have some goals, and I have the plans to meet those goals, but whether I do or not, I am going to enjoy my life and my loved ones.  For all of my readers, I have you in my thoughts and prayers as the new year breaks upon us.

I am not going to discuss most of my goals on this blog, but one of my goals I want to talk about, and will accomplish, is to finish a book by the end of this year.  I have, for the past two years or so, been in touch with a very accomplished and successful writing team, each of them successful in their own right as well.  I have gained a lot of knowledge from these two special people, and I intend to soak in even more from them this year.  I will not reveal their names, but they have numerous books to their credit, and have even featured some of my experiences in a couple of their books and magazine articles.  Some of their credits include several installments of the Indiana Jones series, and it has been an honor and a privilege that they have shared their time and their experience with me.

It is great to have the blog rolling again, and I hope to have some interesting posts, some educational posts, and some emotional posts, that will be engaging and thought-provoking.  I will also post some articles that will just be entertaining.  One difference in the blog for the coming year, and for the remaining time that I blog, is that I will make very few, if any, political posts this year.  There are plenty of political blogs and political websites out there, as well as on television, so I will not add my little political knowledge and feeble opinions to that particular hue and cry. There are so many other things to blog about, as far as my interests, and hopefully yours too,  are concerned. Thanks again for sticking with me, and Happy New Year!!!