A time to remember our veterans…

Memorial Day weekend, 2005.

Jeannie and I hope and pray that you and yours have a safe, and thoughtful, holiday weekend.

This is indeed a time of reflection; of meditation; of prayer because of the ultimate sacrifice that those who bravely served in our armed forces gave…their very lives.

Being a vet myself (USN), I know the awesome responsiblity behind speaking that sacred oath when I enlisted back in 1980 under the Delayed Entry Program:

“I, (state your name), do solemly swear (or affirm) that I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic; that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same; and that I will obey the orders of the President of the United States and the orders of the officers appointed over me, according to regulations and the Uniform Code of Military Justice. So help me God.”

Notice the last four words. “So help me God.” This is given to our Creator as a promise to do whatever it takes to defend the Constitution of this great nation of ours; to defend our very freedoms that we hold so dear; to give up our very lives if need be. So many brave men and women did just that in the many wars and conflicts that America has faced over the years, and Memorial Day is how we honor their willing sacrifices.

Please take a moment on Monday to reflect back on your life, and how our military men and women have made a difference in it, by upholding the spiritual, moral, and ethical laws that this nation was founded upon. If it wasn’t for our Armed Forces, America perhaps might have been under dictatorial, communistic, or another form of suffocating governmental regime.

Never take our freedom for granted. It is precious.

And there are those who have given up their freedom so that we can have ours.

It’s high time that we take a moment to say, “Thanks for a job well done.”

Awake is not the usual way to snore…

After three hours of sleep last night (courtesy of finishing up the Marceline IDA site), I believe I am hallucinating sitting here.

LIke Morpheus says, “Have you ever had a dream, Neo, that you were so sure was real? What if you were unable to wake from that dream? How would you know the difference between the dream world and the real world?”

Today I feel like Neo…most definitely.

Whoa.

For those of you who want to know how the website turned out, click on the newly established link to the right and drop me a line to let me know your thoughts.

As for me, I’m gonna unplug and catch some zzzzzzzzzz.

Dia de Joroba

Or Hump Day, if you prefer in English.

Park Board meeting last night; meeting with Kaye Malins and some others this evening on promoting and marketing Marceline to the masses.

Sheesh. The work is never done. No wonder time is flying past so quickly.

After that, it’s church, choir practice, and some tinkering around with the audio-visual system in the sanctuary. Used it for the first time Sunday evening; went pretty well with just one minor glitch (words didn’t show up on one song that was sang). Hey, if that’s ALL we have to complain about, then we’re doing great!

Speaking of grreeeeaaatt!! The voice behind Tony the Tiger (Frosted Flakes commerical, for those of you who don’t have a clue) died a few days ago. Man, what a loss. Thurl Ravenscroft was also responsible for singing “You’re a Mean One, Mr Grinch,” one of my all-time favorite Christmas songs from the multitude of animated wonders back in the day. Great song, and WHAT a deep voice. Whoa. Makes me sound like a tenor.

Besides that bit of nostalgia, nothing much going on here. Just living the life of small-town living; sidewalks roll up at night, people gather on the stoops to gossip, and the seconds hand on our watches slow down to a crawl.

Ah, the joys of a rat race free life.