My sister has asked me to finally write about the election. I have not since the primaries and not in depth since I wrote about being a democrat. I was not sure why I had not until my sister-in-law wrote on facebook that this was the first time that someone she had voted for lost. I had the opposite experience. I was almost holding my breath, not wanting to jinx this, something I hope was unconscious. This is the first time that I have voted for someone that won.
I first heard of Barack Obama when I heard him speak at the Democratic convention in 2004. When I heard him speak I could not believe that he was not nominated on the spot instead of Kerry.
I include this speech here, even though it is long for a internet link, because I think that it is the same argument that convinced me to vote for him this time. He argues for ending the war, closing Guantanamo, protecting civil liberties, and most importantly I think he believes in his own message of hope. Just listen to the references he makes at the end of the speech to slaves and spirituals and to the "audacity of hope." (OK, I admit that may be a plug for his book)
As I talk about the election with friends from Church, I get the feeling that this is almost like a sign of the apocolypse. Nothing could be worse for the US they seem to be saying. One friend of mine is convinced that he will push changes that will further destroy the US economy as well as making us as evil as Europe. They whisper that he is a socialist, the most "liberal" senator.
I don't think he will bankrupt the government worse than the republicans already have. Health care reform would be welcome, but I think he is a pragmatist and will have to deal with economic and international concerns first. He does support the bailout plans that seem like such a bad idea to me, but so do the republicans. I think his international and dare I say Muslim heritage is an asset that may help us get out of the Iraqi quagmire. He wants to close Guantanamo bay. I hope he tries to balance the budget and reduce the national debt. He seems to be an honest and moral man, and I hope that he is that and will live up to his own hype.
Tuesday, November 25, 2008
Wednesday, November 12, 2008
Fall Blahs
I am afraid after the excitement of the election that fall blahs have hit us pretty hard.
First of all it gets dark now at 5:30 PM. That means there is an hour of day light after I get home to do chores and unfortunately cold wet winter weather means more chores for me and the family.
We now have pigs, chickens, cows, a dog, a cat and three kids to feed and water every day. Feeding the animals is one of the things I like to do best because they appreciate it so. The pigs come and sniff your hand and then go back to trying to out eat each other. The cows won't let you pet them but they will sniff at you and eat all of your grain. The chickens just eye you like you're a funny fox of some sort. I think their theory is that if you ignore each other no one will get hurt. I guess we do eat their eggs for breakfast and the black rooster is going to be dinner at Aleah's birthday party since he jumped up on Leila.
Sam the dog runs around during all of this full of bravado until the cows blink and he takes off.
Monday we were going to start the shots to prep the cow for artificial insemination. The shots induce the cow to go into heat and then in 14 days the vet can put a straw of sperm inside the cow. Emily and I took a bucket of grain and the cows followed us out of the pasture, into the barnyard and into the barn. The plan was to put them in a stall so that when the vet put the shot in the cow wouldn't take off or break anything, especially part of the vet or me. Unfortunately just as we got them in the barn Sam the dog decided to show how tough he was and barked at the cows. The cows shot through the back doors and out into the unfenced paddock by the pigs and right into the electric fence. Which caused them both to run around kicking and mooing. Then, they escaped into the corn field. By this time Emily had got Leila to come help and together with Leila's full bucket of corn and me waving my arms we rounded them up and got them back in the pasture. But after an hour or so of chasing them and shaking the bucket of grain the cows were not going into the barn or the stall and the vet went home.
Yesterday I went to give them some more grain and went into the barn to check it out and they both followed me right inside as if they went there every day.
First of all it gets dark now at 5:30 PM. That means there is an hour of day light after I get home to do chores and unfortunately cold wet winter weather means more chores for me and the family.
We now have pigs, chickens, cows, a dog, a cat and three kids to feed and water every day. Feeding the animals is one of the things I like to do best because they appreciate it so. The pigs come and sniff your hand and then go back to trying to out eat each other. The cows won't let you pet them but they will sniff at you and eat all of your grain. The chickens just eye you like you're a funny fox of some sort. I think their theory is that if you ignore each other no one will get hurt. I guess we do eat their eggs for breakfast and the black rooster is going to be dinner at Aleah's birthday party since he jumped up on Leila.
Sam the dog runs around during all of this full of bravado until the cows blink and he takes off.
Monday we were going to start the shots to prep the cow for artificial insemination. The shots induce the cow to go into heat and then in 14 days the vet can put a straw of sperm inside the cow. Emily and I took a bucket of grain and the cows followed us out of the pasture, into the barnyard and into the barn. The plan was to put them in a stall so that when the vet put the shot in the cow wouldn't take off or break anything, especially part of the vet or me. Unfortunately just as we got them in the barn Sam the dog decided to show how tough he was and barked at the cows. The cows shot through the back doors and out into the unfenced paddock by the pigs and right into the electric fence. Which caused them both to run around kicking and mooing. Then, they escaped into the corn field. By this time Emily had got Leila to come help and together with Leila's full bucket of corn and me waving my arms we rounded them up and got them back in the pasture. But after an hour or so of chasing them and shaking the bucket of grain the cows were not going into the barn or the stall and the vet went home.
Yesterday I went to give them some more grain and went into the barn to check it out and they both followed me right inside as if they went there every day.
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