The Silence

I was almost 10 years old when the U.S. declared war on Japan. As long as that war lasted you could not pick up a newspaper without seeing the war as the main topic on the front page. It was also the main topic in newsreels and radio news broadcasts. We bought "Defense Stamps" at school and pasted them in books until we had enough to buy a "War Bond." We collected paper and metal for the "war effort." We planted "Victory Gardens."

Now, most days, by looking at the front page of our local paper, I would never know we are involved in a war. That puzzles me.

The bad state of the economy is there but it is mostly attributed to the crisis in the housing market. Wouldn't you think all the costs of the war would be a main part of the problem?

I wasn't puzzled when we went into Afghanistan to find and destroy the terrorists whose plot brought down the World Trade Center. I was puzzled when, faced with the costs of that war, our president decided a tax rebate was in order. I "gifted" that money back to the government.

I was beyond puzzlement when we declared war on Iraq looking for weapons of mass destruction. I thought we were fighting terrorists.

We didn't find weapons of mass destruction in Iraq. We also found that most of the terrorists who brought off the World Trade Center attack were natives of Saudi Arabia.

I don't understand Bush's recent friendly visit to the Saudis during which he promised to push for the sale to them of advanced weapon systems. Doesn't anyone remember where most of the World Trade Center plotters came from? Do the news people remember?

Why is it treated as good news when foreign money comes in to prop up Citi Bank? We are trillions of dollars in debt and borrowing more each day. It looks to me like we are selling our country piece by piece.

And Bush's solution to our current economic problems? ---another tax refund. By going out and spending this gift of borrowed money we would revive the economy.

There must be something I'm not understanding. With all the noise of this election year, to me there seems to be a great silence out there.

Long Time Between

Christmas is past. On our part it is getting quite simple as the grand kids and we two elders advance in age. A small, fun gift to open --- but the main gift is CASH. That makes it good for both old and young. They get what they want and we (with Amazon's assistance) avoid the Christmas crowds at the stores.

We had the extended family "Goodie Party" at Jenny and Stuart's house on Saturday (a tradition since 1972), and brunch at Ellen and Martin's on Sunday. That was all the time we had for all of us to be together. Jenny and Stuart then left for Aptos. Stuart's father died on Dec. 9 and the memorial service was on the Sunday following Christmas. All his family were in Aptos for Christmas and in the days following prepared for the service on Sunday. Dave's family and Ellen's family were here on Christmas day (Tuesday.) Dave's family stayed on until Thursday morning.

We traveled to Aptos on Dec. 30 for the Memorial Service for Stuart's father, Deane. Ellen drove us in our car. It was a lovely service in a Methodist church on a hilltop, very picturesque. The pastor could have passed for Friar Tuck from Robin Hood. He was short, round, robed and sandaled. He was also a man of many talents. He played the piano for the hymns and also the accordion. The most touching part of the ceremony was when taps was played and our grandson, Zach, walked slowly down the aisle and presented the folded American flag to his other grandma, Hazel, Deane's wife.

January 4th brought a big storm with strong wind and rain. None of our trees went down but lots of dead branches fell, debris everywhere. Last Friday Ellen came up with her three teen-agers and three of their friends. They helped George collect all the litter and pile it in a big pile to be burned later. We paid them with pizza.