Coming up for air
Sorry, possums. I know that posting has been erratic and rushed. I've been putting in 8-10 hour days at the rehab center and then getting caught up in a whirlwind of friends and family in the evenings. After all that, I'm usually pretty much empty upon my return. Sometimes even too exhausted to enjoy a refreshing adult beverage - now, that's exhausted! Hah - hah.
Right now I'm looking out over a neighbor's pretty green field dotted with white sheep and a baby llama. A dog is barking, the sun is shining, birds are singing and the air smells fresh washed. America the beautiful. "God shed his grace on thee."
One of the highlights of the week was getting together with a longtime friend for a drink at the local bar that is pure small town Americana with a redneck edge. Barack ------- Obama would no doubt say that the people who live there are bitter and cling to their guns and their God. Got the picture? The town is so small there's not even a stoplight to brag about. The bar, has a name but everyone just calls it 'The Bar' and it is probably a throwback to the pubs found in the country in the UK as it's located in a region that was populated by the English, Scots, Irish and Welsh. It reminds me of some of the pubs I have visited there, too.
It was a quiet night and I arrived earlier than my friend. Guys were playing pool and the bar area was comfortably full. A hush fell over the place when I walked in - clearly I was an interloper and was being checked out. Bellying up to the bar and ordering a Diet Coke didn't exactly improve my street cred, but I was left alone and even got to watch a little NBA action while waiting. Ellie arrived after too long with big hugs and the temperature in the room seemed to improve markedly. I was eyed with curiosity still, but it was a kinder kind of curious.
After Ellie ordered a Long Island Ice Tea, (yikes!) she introduced me to the barmaid as "Mitch's sister" and everything was cool after that. (My bro was the best friend of the bar's owner until he passed away from cancer. His son took it over and bro is still golden there.) Somebody bought a round and Ellie and I got caught up on each other's lives.
Later in the evening, we decided to come back to the house to get something to munch on and I flipped on Fox News. We sat and listened for a while with me cracking wise with the tv every now and then. The Dems and their talking heads present such easy targets. Barack ------- Obama was making a speech somewhere and FNC was broadcasting it in it's entirety. We listened for a bit before Ellie (more than a little drunk by this time) blurted out,
True, she was a little drunk by then, but she was also pretty distressed at the thought of an Obama presidency. She has more of a stake in this than most of us - Ellie's daughter and son-in-law are both US Army. Her daughter is now stationed in Virginia after a tour of duty in Korea. Her son-in-law will go back to Iraq tomorrow morning. Please join me in sending prayers with him as we remember all of our brave soldiers this Memorial Day.
Hope you all have a great Memorial Day - Dinah.
......
Right now I'm looking out over a neighbor's pretty green field dotted with white sheep and a baby llama. A dog is barking, the sun is shining, birds are singing and the air smells fresh washed. America the beautiful. "God shed his grace on thee."
One of the highlights of the week was getting together with a longtime friend for a drink at the local bar that is pure small town Americana with a redneck edge. Barack ------- Obama would no doubt say that the people who live there are bitter and cling to their guns and their God. Got the picture? The town is so small there's not even a stoplight to brag about. The bar, has a name but everyone just calls it 'The Bar' and it is probably a throwback to the pubs found in the country in the UK as it's located in a region that was populated by the English, Scots, Irish and Welsh. It reminds me of some of the pubs I have visited there, too.
It was a quiet night and I arrived earlier than my friend. Guys were playing pool and the bar area was comfortably full. A hush fell over the place when I walked in - clearly I was an interloper and was being checked out. Bellying up to the bar and ordering a Diet Coke didn't exactly improve my street cred, but I was left alone and even got to watch a little NBA action while waiting. Ellie arrived after too long with big hugs and the temperature in the room seemed to improve markedly. I was eyed with curiosity still, but it was a kinder kind of curious.
After Ellie ordered a Long Island Ice Tea, (yikes!) she introduced me to the barmaid as "Mitch's sister" and everything was cool after that. (My bro was the best friend of the bar's owner until he passed away from cancer. His son took it over and bro is still golden there.) Somebody bought a round and Ellie and I got caught up on each other's lives.
Later in the evening, we decided to come back to the house to get something to munch on and I flipped on Fox News. We sat and listened for a while with me cracking wise with the tv every now and then. The Dems and their talking heads present such easy targets. Barack ------- Obama was making a speech somewhere and FNC was broadcasting it in it's entirety. We listened for a bit before Ellie (more than a little drunk by this time) blurted out,
"What are we going to do when all these people who hate our country get in?
When there's no more patriotism?"
True, she was a little drunk by then, but she was also pretty distressed at the thought of an Obama presidency. She has more of a stake in this than most of us - Ellie's daughter and son-in-law are both US Army. Her daughter is now stationed in Virginia after a tour of duty in Korea. Her son-in-law will go back to Iraq tomorrow morning. Please join me in sending prayers with him as we remember all of our brave soldiers this Memorial Day.
Hope you all have a great Memorial Day - Dinah.
......
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