This month marks two years of blogging – who knew it would come to this? Almost 300 posts with subjects ranging all over the place. This being Lent I have given up TV which leaves more time for musing and wondering where I am going, what I’ve done, and why.

Just put up a little TED video on how to live to 100+. Much of my blog has to do with the pluses and problems of aging. Unfortunately there aren’t many people my age who follow my blog but it might be of some help to those who have to deal with, cope with, care for older folks. If you’re browsing this blog to see what old age is really  like, don’t stop here. Click on Days With My Father. This is how 98 looks and acts.   If it doesn’t bring a tear to your eye, you must have a heartstring missing.

In the past two years my own walking has become progressively worse – much slower, not nearly as sure-footed, with an occasional stagger.  My “senior lapses” and word-finding difficulties have become more frequent. At Christmas-time, for example, I tried to remember the name of my poinsettia and could only come up with forsythia and pachysandra (they had the right number of syllables and both ended with “a”) but the word poinsettia was nowhere to be found. Yesterday, saying the  rosary with a group, I couldn’t remember what day it was and what mystery we were saying. But, as you see, right now I’m pretty sharp! My blogging skills are increasing somewhat. When I forget how to embed or upload an image, it will probably be time to stop.

Early on, I thought I’d be writing about the things I wrote about all my life – mostly religion (catholicity, charismatic renewal) and science ( covering a broad range of subjects from evolution to motherhood and breastfeeding to homosexuality) and these things have indeed been frequent topics. Who could have told me I’d be taking on the Mormons? In my humble opinion, the video on my recent post on DNA and Mormonism is as devastating at it can get.

And who would have guessed I’d become so political and have so much to say about persons known as Obama and Palin, who I place at opposite ends of the poles of trustworthiness. These have been two of the most critical years in our country’s history. We went from a pro-life president to the most pro-abortion president in our history. We went from a country with the motto “In God I Trust” to a county antagonistic to any sign of religion in the public square. We went from a culture of life to a culture of death. Against the manifest will of the people, the Democrats wheeled and dealed themselves, Chicago-style, into the most astounding power grab ever!

Recent release of visitor logs at the White House revealed that Nancy Keenan, head of NARAL (National Abortion Rights Action League) , visited the White House ten times in Obama’s 13 months and Planned Parenthood president Cecile Richards has had frequent access as well. Pro-life groups were left out in the cold. How’s that for an inside glimpse into the heart of the presidency? Now the most powerful woman in Washington is not Nancy Pelosi but Kathleen Sebelius, Health and Human Services Secretary, who could not possibly be more pro-abortion.

Obamacare has put the health of all Americans into government hands – and we all know how efficient the government has been to date.   The issue is not really health care – it is freedom.

Here I am, getting all wound up again. My blog seems to have covered not only the daily happenings in an old lady’s life, but a national upheaval in our beloved country which I find most disturbing. Lou Pritchett, former Vice-President, Sales and Customer Development for Procter and Gamble, has written a more trenchant commentary on what has happened than I ever could. Pritchett “is one of corporate America’s true living legends – an acclaimed author, dynamic teacher…foremost leader in change management. Lou changed the way America does business by creating an audacious concept that came to be known as “partnering.” He wrote the following open letter to President Obama. He sent it to the New York Times but they did not acknowledge it.  (Hardly a surprise.)

Dear President Obama:

You are the thirteenth President under whom I have lived and unlike any of the others, you truly scare me. You scare me because after months of exposure, I know nothing about you.

You scare me because I do not know how you paid for your expensive Ivy League education and your upscale lifestyle and housing with no visible signs of support.

You scare me because you did not spend the formative years of youth growing up in America and culturally you are not an American.

You scare me because you have never run a company or met a payroll.

You scare me because you have never had military experience, thus don’t understand it at its core

You scare me because you lack humility and ‘class’, always blaming others.

You scare me because for over half your life you have aligned yourself with radical extremists who hate America and you refuse to publicly denounce these radicals who wish to see America fail.

You scare me because you are a cheerleader for the ‘blame America’ crowd and deliver this message abroad

You scare me because you want to change America to a European style country where the government sector dominates instead of the private sector.

You scare me because you want to replace our health care system with a government controlled one.

You scare me because you prefer ‘wind mills’ to responsibly capitalizing on our own vast oil, coal and shale reserves.

You scare me because you want to kill the American capitalist goose that lays the golden egg which provides the highest standard of living in the world.

You scare me because you have begun to use ‘extortion’ tactics against certain banks and corporations.

You scare me because your own political party shrinks from challenging you on your wild and irresponsible spending proposals.

You scare me because you will not openly listen to or even consider opposing points of view from intelligent people.

You scare me because you falsely believe that you are both omnipotent and omniscient.

You scare me because the media gives you a free pass on everything you do.

You scare me because you demonize and want to silence the Limbaugh’s, Hannitys, O’Reillys and Becks who offer opposing, conservative points of view.

You scare me because you prefer controlling over governing.

Finally, you scare me because if you serve a second term I will probably not feel safe in writing a similar letter in 8 years.

Lou Pritchett

A recent CNN special revealed that Americans generally view their government as corrupt. On this rather dismal note, I begin a third year of blogging. Did I tell you I saw an opossum in my yard last week? And yesterday, two robins (or perhaps the same robin twice.) The crocuses and daffodils are blooming,  the peach tree and the lilac bush are budding, and my daughter has moved in next door. There’s a new greatgrandbaby up in New Hampshire. His name is Caleb Nicholas. It would seem life will go on, willy-nilly.

As Thomas Paine wrote, “These are times that try men’s souls.”  We obviously need serious prayer and much moral courage.

I just want to say, “Welcome into my life, such as it is. I would be pleased if we were friends.”


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Let God arise, let his enemies be scattered: let them also that hate him flee before him. – Psalm 68:1