Rambling Prose...

Rambling Prose...
.Let's take a walk together.....

Monday, June 25, 2012

At the Half-Way Point...June 2012.






The days, weeks and months seem to have skipped by since the first of this year.  New Years came and went like the blink of an eye.  March blew in and out...and then we were at the beginning of April.  Paula had a wonderful birthday party...the first at our new home...on April 14th.  May 9th I stepped into 73, just in time to celebrate Mothers Day!  Ariana was a beautiful girl of 11 on May 23rd...and before you knew it, June had brought us all to the half-way point of 2012!


I believe that the last 6 months have been some of the best for Paula and me.  We are back in California, living in a wonderful home in Rancho Bernardo, making new friends and getting reacquainted with previous ones, enjoying an abundant life, setting aside funds for travel to Ireland in 2013, enjoying all of our "adult children" and grandchildren, staying physically active and healthy, and living everyday to its fullest!


Paula is continuing to build her business...Body Energetics Wellness...creating new clients, developing new programs, volunteering with Hospice, staying fit, and providing services to customers who have been with her for years.








I am writing in my blog, creating a new blog (working title:  Creative Leisure), volunteering in local and national politics, planning our trip to Ireland, enjoying our family with BBQ's galore, landscaping our yards, planting a vegetable garden, staying up on world and national news, and generally having a great time!


My little modest "theory" about why things are going so well:  We have given up the "struggle" on certain life-issues that seem not as important as they use to be.  Things... like "keeping up with the Jones'", having a need to buy everything in sight, eating too much, worrying about the future(still working on that), overly concerned about what people think, and, I'm sure there are other issues that don't come immediately to mind.


My "theory" is a rather simple, but obvious conclusion....It is harder to paddle upstream than down stream!  Remember that '60's comment about "Going With The Flow"?  Well, now in the Fall of my life, it makes real good sense.  Trying to MAKE things happen is just not the best way.  Let your heart and head guide you to the right path, don't over analyze things, trust in yourself, and remember that there are no such thing as failure, just results!


So enough of playing the philosopher, let's "Ramble" into something relevant like politics (;-).  Talk about paddling upstream, the current political mess in the United States and the rest of the World appears to get worse each day.  We are witnessing perhaps the nastiest political campaign in decades, carried out by both parties.  The public mudslinging is being orchestrated primarily by a handful of very affluent individuals, corporations, and interest groups, who are making every effort to "buy" this election.  (The Republican side appears to have the deepest pockets.)


Congress continues to be the most inept institution in our government, the Presidency can't seem to get its act together, and the Supreme Court has become too powerful, far exceeding their original  mandate established  by our Constitution!  Corporations are now "people", the middle class is disappearing, unions are on the ropes, and accord has been thrown out and replaced by malicious partisan politics and barely disguised racism!


So...if we were looking at these national and world events rationally (really Larry), applying my "theory" would seem to be common sense.  We would stop watching the nightly news, ignore the bastards in both political parties, care less who gets elected, go under the radar living our blissful lives, and just "go with the flow!"  Well, sure.  Sorta like dropping out in the '60's, smoking a little dope, loving everybody, and seeking Nirvana and Enlightenment.  Continuing with my loose metaphor...paddling down stream...if we did the above, we'd be going down stream, through some life-threatening rapids, and going directly over the Falls into oblivion!  Not such a pretty picture.  


Well...then what should we do? (My oracle)  I know....how about we get out of our boat, and decide not to paddle anywhere! (I told you this blog was titled "Rambling Prose.")  Either that or just putting our head in the sand, and hoping for the best.  I guess trying to ignore these events swirling around us might be an option, but probably not a very good one.


We would still be affected by those powerful clowns controlling our government, and while I may not be around when the house of cards comes down, my wife, adult children, grandchildren, and younger friends would surely feel the effects.  


Oh, oh...here comes that annoying phrase we all dislike:  PERSONAL RESPONSIBILITY!  Yes, I guess I would have some responsibility in making sure that my family were safe and secure in the boat or out.  While the notion of going with the flow has a wonderful sound to it, I can't and I don't choose to "Opt Out!"  My responsibility is to stay informed about current events, without becoming addicted to the "Nightly Drama called News.  My responsibility is to analyze what the political candidates are saying (and not saying), and then step into that booth and cast my vote.  My responsibility is to stay open to dialogue with those I don't agree with, and try to reach a consensus with some civility.  My responsibility is to insure that "me and mine" will never be a financial burden on others.  I'm certain my personal accountability doesn't end with these I've mentioned, but, give me a break!


Well with all this Rambling, I've probably used up my "Muse Credits" today.  Thanks for bearing with me.  It's 5:00 PM and a cocktail would be quite nice after this baring of my soul.






   


  
Larry...




A Post Script....
July 23, 2012


After ruminating over these Ramblings, I've concluded that I have a few more things to say. 

My current thoughts come after the awful shootings  in Colorado by a man who grew up and attended school in San Diego (just a few miles from where we live).  A young man from a middle class family, who was academically very intelligent, seen as a "loner" but apparently never  viewed as a threat to anyone.  
Then at some point after moving to Colorado to attend graduate school, he went over the edge!  He bought an assault rifle, a shotgun, and 2 Glock pistols at a local gun shop, and then purchased hundreds of rounds of ammo on the Internet.  No problem buying those guns, and complete ease in purchasing the ammo and other personal protective clothing normally used by police and the military!  He then methodically planned the movie theater shootings, "booby trapped" his apartment with explosives, only to meekly surrender to police  outside the theater after killing 12 (current numbers) and wounding scores of people.


I haven't been able to grasp all of this....and yet some "questions" do come to mind.  Were there any early indicators that this man was disturbed?  Did parents, teachers, counselors, friends notice anything that would lead them to take some sort of action..counseling, therapy, etc.?  Could any early intervention get him the help he obviously required?  At what point in his life did he decide to commit this horrendous crime?  Was this the act of a sociopath?  Would stronger gun laws have stopped these needless killings?  Do we all have some responsibility in taking action to deter such crimes in the future?


Lots of questions and few answers at this point.  
I would only say this....why are we the most violent society in the world (be happy to provide you with references); why does our country have the largest number of gun owners; why do gun owners have to have the "right" to buy an assault rifle...my God, what are they hunting; why does the NRA have the Congress "cowed"into not making laws that restrict the use of certain types of firearms; why does the United States export more firearms then any other country; why do President Obama and Mitt Romney not wish to talk about gun control...it's not smart politically; 


and the most important question...as far as I'm concerned...how can we all sit back, rationalize our inaction, and just go on with our lives like nothing has happen!  Church on Sunday where we learn to love our fellow man!  The attitude that it isn't my responsibility if crazy folks use guns to kill others!  Don't mess with my second amendment rights, I'm just a gun collector!  My world is a dangerous place, and I need to be armed to the teeth!  After all, with the current level of technology, I'll never have to go to the theater to see Batman!!


I'm certainly not writing this with believing that I have any answers/solutions to this national problem.  However, I do believe that if we all ask the right questions in a nation-wide dialog, we can come up with some reasonable gun laws that will help to deter any more killings.


Hey....here's an idea!  Let's create some type of forum on Facebook (and other social media), and start talking about this challenge we are all facing.  I'm certainly prepared to dialog with others...young, old, those of the Right, those of the Left, gun owners, and people like me who only like to fish!


If you have interest in discussing this on FB, email, whatever...please contact on my Facebook Wall, or email me at:  LarryGithens@earthlink.net




Larry...




































1 comment:

  1. Larry, I like what you have to say here. You are not pretending to have the answers and are open to dialog ~ an exchange of ideas where people freely express their feelings without assaulting the other with barbs or insults. I, too, believe that among thinking adults in our country we can come to a respected accommodation of everyone's rights. Well said and thanks for sharing your views.

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