Holidays and Celebrations

[fangz1956]

Happy Thanksgiving to all of my friends and foes on this forum. Here's hoping your day is wonderfully warm and full of family, friends, and gratitude for simply being who you are.


GOBBLE, GOBBLE, GOBBLE!!!! (NO!!! I AM NOT A HOKIE!!)

[Sam]

Hugh Bouchelle
More Thanks Than Worries
Tomorrow is Thanksgiving. But as I sit pondering politics, even this time of year, it’s easy to be drawn away into worries for my country.
I worry that even after the people spoke with such a strong voice this last election that the Obama administration may have already put in place enough of a socialist structure to rule the country by executive fiat. We need to keep both political eyes open.

I worry that Republicans think they won the mid-terms. They are wrong. Conservative principles such as less government spending, more focus on policies that support the businesses that create real economic growth, less intrusive government and the need for politicians who actually read the bills they pass and listen to the people they work for won the election. The Republicans just happened to be the lucky recipients.

I worry that political correctness has gotten us to a point where we are willing to surrender the privacy and dignity of some of our most vulnerable citizens at airport screening stations rather than profile behaviors and backgrounds that can identify those most likely to be terrorists and single them out for additional scrutiny.

And I worry that too many Americans have lost their faith in the goodness and intrinsic value of freedom and self-reliance and have become willing to accept the government dole and ignore the cost of their gilded cage.

Yet the day before Thanksgiving 2010, I am more thankful than worried and more hopeful than discouraged.
Part of this renewed hope is due to the mid-term elections. I needed some proof that Americans were waking up and reading the writing on the wall - and I got it. Let’s hope the politicians got it, too.

I’m thankful that so many Americans see how demeaning and un-American TSA’s new enhanced invasive policies are. Maybe government bureaucrats can also learn from the people, and will begin to move forward with real reform that protects citizens and targets the real danger.

I’m thankful for all those who voted in the mid-term elections (I still worry about those who didn’t). And I’m especially thankful for those who, perhaps for the first time in their lives, took an active part in the political process because they were worried about the direction our country was heading. You are just as much a patriot in my mind, as the man or woman wearing an American uniform overseas.

And I’m thankful to live in a country where hotly contested elections end without violence, and political leaders, at least for the most part, must still answer to the people.

I am thankful, perhaps more than ever in my life, for the genius of the Founding Fathers, who divided the government and pitted each branch against the other to limit government power. And I’m thankful that they had enough faith in the people to give them the ultimate sovereign power.
Mostly however, I am thankful for things that the government doesn’t control but instead should strive to protect.

I am thankful for my family, for the love we share, and for the fact that I can travel through four states to visit my granddaughter and never show my papers at a checkpoint.

I am thankful for my faith, and that I can worship according to the dictates of my conscience.

I am thankful that for most poor in America, their best hope for help with dignity is still the generosity of fellow Americans and not the government. I am thankful for the millions of Americans who this holiday season will give of their time and money to help the poor, feed the hungry, and make sure the children receive gifts.

I am thankful for the journalists who still believe in telling the truth - who have risked their jobs, reputations and even their lives to bring it to the people.

I am thankful everyday for the men and women of our armed forces, past and present, who risk it all to protect those very principles given to us by our forefathers.

And I am thankful for the police, fire and rescue workers and the many, many volunteers who lay it on the line daily, so I can sleep at night in safety and peace.

I’m thankful that I can write this article and I don’t have to worry about government censors knocking on my door to haul me away in the dead of night.
And finally, I am thankful for you, the readers of this column, who love your country and your fellow beings enough to care. I know that as long as you are out there, I am not alone. And that’s a lot to be thankful for.

I was going to write something folks, but felt this said it all better.

[Amy Probenski]

OK, Sam, I read it. You owe me one.

Next time I'll just stick my finger down my throat.

That's a less unpleasant way to toss my cookies, better than tortured slogging through Hugh Bouchelle's god-and-country drivel.

[Sam]

Ok Gal, I guess if I wrote down my feelings which I find echoed in Hugh's column you woud have to stick your finger down your throat. I find myself doing that when some of these goll dang democrates open their mouths. With them I need a couple of shots of good old mountain thunder to wet my whistle but never felt like sticking my finger down my throat. But as my youngest grandson likes to tell me what ever floats your boat. Now I may have that wrong, I can't keep up with these younger generations.

[Wise One]

Any year when you find yourself to be still alive and mostly happy is a good one indeed, so HAPPY NEW YEAR to all!

Lest you lose perspective, this is a useful reminder of how special you are.

(viewed best by clicking the full screen icon at bottom right of frame; advance with spacebar or arrow keys)

[fangz1956]

WOW!!!!!!! Thanks for that reminder, WO. Tears just streamed down my face as I watched that clip. It's easy to forget just how lucky I am and how much I really do have. The blur of daily living sometimes makes it difficult to hang on to that kind of gratitude.

Thanks for everything and for bringing new ideas, thoughts, and concepts to my life.

HAPPY NEW YEAR EVERYONE!!!!

[crux]

May the New Year be a blessing for you all and yours... 1-1-1...and counting.

The slide show is a reminder of the incredible gift it is, to have been born into Liberty.

...and a gentle whisper from the Angel on my better shoulder...Humility.


crux


(Although, I highly doubt 11% of the world is gay, so I can't help but wonder, about those other NPR numbers... )

[Sam]

Just wanted to wish all those great ladies a Happy Mother's Day. Without our Moms we all would be nothing. I know I am grateful to my Mom for all her sacrifices and especially toward my wife for all times spent with all our kids while I was traveling for so many years. Also Happy Mother's day to all those other ladies out there.

[stonewall]

Well another Thanksgiving has rolled around, so your humble administrator joins you in hopes for a happy and thankful holiday. May its only regrets be those of large fowl failing to secure a presidential pardon.

And my special thanks go to Rockbridge Forum participants who have kept this place lively by expressing their opinions, collecting facts to buttress them, and for sometimes making us laugh out loud.

Keep it up!

[Juggler]

[fangz1956]

There is still much beauty in the world. We need only open our eyes and look around.....and this is something beautiful for all of my friends here at the Forum.




Peace, Love, & Happiness to you all.

[coondog]

Whatever your reason for spiking the eggnog, let us maintain the hope that the collective spirit of seasonal celebration will herald the rebirth of something good.

This yuletide salutation brought to you by

Coondog

.........and his eight tiny airline size bottles of Old Grand Dad. Ho Ho Ho!

[stonewall]

May you and your family and friends have a most wonderful holiday interlude. Go forth and bring smiles to as many faces as you can.

We love smiles, but confess to liking barbs also. The Rockbridge Forum welcomes all !

[Firebringer]

Belated wishes for a fabulous Christmas. Hope it was happy.

[stonewall]

Happy Thanksgiving to all my Rockbridge Forum participants, and may your family time be warm and wonderful during this holiday period.

[crux]

It is a special time. I am thankful for the life I have been given. May God bless you and yours, all.

[Wise One]

Happy New Year to my fellow Forum participants. May it be a good one for all.

I appreciate the educational dialog here and have learned from all of you, even including that sometimes odd fellow Crux. I am grateful to him for so obligingly presenting fat targets to shoot at, thus making this a more interesting place than it would otherwise be.

[crux]

Happy New Year to my fellow Forum participants. May it be a good one for all.

I appreciate the educational dialog here and have learned from all of you, even including that sometimes odd fellow Crux. I am grateful to him for so obligingly presenting fat targets to shoot at, thus making this a more interesting place than it would otherwise be.

AwWW!!! AO, I missed that... Thanks big guy. You present quite the large target too my friend. Having a good winter?

You are such a sweetie I might call you wo for a while, less'n you act up...