One thing you can be sure of in Montana.  Winter is coming.  This year it may come early.  My 87 year old dad says that when the quack grass grows taller than the fence posts it’s a sign that the winter will be coming early.  He has many sayings like that and I don’t know where he got them.  An old indian friend or trapper probably.  I listen and I know winter will be coming.  Now is the time to do all the chores that you can’t during winter and get all the machines maintained for next spring and summer.  Tie up all the loose ends and I’ve had one here. 

Sorry I haven’t been paying as much attention as I should to my blog.  I’ve been extremely busy with the folks place and trying to wrap up Dad’s pavillion project for his little park.  It’s taken a month or more and it’s nearly finished.

Today I’m leaving you with a thought starter.  Something we should all do from time to time.  Hope you enjoy it.

                                                Embrace your Child

There is a child in all of us, young with energy to spare.

It moves the dusty old limbs of the tree gone stiff and manages to sprout a few green shoots from time to time.

Embrace your child.

Search him/her out.

Find pleasure in the innocence of discovery again.

Search your memory for dreams long since abandoned.

Forget for a moment what you’ve been told or taught about how unrealistic those dreams were.

Discover them anew.

Act on them now with the experience you’ve gained since having them and no matter how farfetched they seem, hold them to the light of your scrutiny to see them in their true elemental innocence.

Feel the excitement of the process as your thoughts carry you through the possibilities they promote. 

Bring that youthful optimism back to your resigned reality.

Surrender to the exercise.

Embrace those dreams that you’ve kept locked up in your “someday” box.

Feel your pulse quicken.

We’ve invented these responsibilities of adulthood.

We’ve capped our optimistic view of what could be.

We’ve settled for the way things are.

We’ve suppressed this child long enough!

The one who was happy to whittle on a piece of wood.

The one who found pleasure in looking with wonder on a bug crawling across the floor.

The one who couldn’t wait to go out in the snow and get wet and freezing cold and then experience the love and warmth of a mother doetting over us, plying us with hot chocolate, admiring our snow fort from the warmth of the kitchen.

Be that child in you again, who for hours could find a use for the box that boring gift came all wrapped up in.

Throw off those thoughts of responsibility for a while today and take a moment to sit under a tree and just listen. 

Think about what you’d like to do when you grow up.

Just use an hour or two for you.

The end of that innocence has only come because you have let it escape.

It’s still there tucked away in the corner of your minds eye and can be a blessing if you’ll only let it overcome the needs of having to get things done.

You have plenty of time for the statesman, warrior, or industrialist to do their bidding, but you need to find the child again or all your well laid plans and goals will have little meaning.

Accomplishment will never take the place of the magic that is seen through this child’s eyes and the discovery that looking on the surroundings with a youthful attitude of possibility can bring.

Like the family dog, who will never be more than a pup, we have a child within us that will never be more than a child no matter how old, knowledgeable, or jaded we become.

Embracing that child, for its energy, enthusiasm, and optimism about what could be, will carry you through the toughest times and help you in miraculous ways!

Sing!

Dance!

Ponder!

And Wonder again.

Light hearted you’ll find yourself, and with that, laugh at what unreal pressures you’ve brought upon yourself.

Seek the child and grow.

Age will become an indifferent consequence of new possibilities!

Jw 12/24/00

I’m tying up some loose ends.

john

Once again I apologize.  I haven’t written anything really enlightning for a while.  Thanks for coming to my site. I promise I’ll do better in the future.

Just wanted to let you know that the Pavillion project my father had me working on is finished enough for my Mother’s church party.  It’s been non-stop for three weeks.  It’s also been very interesting and rewarding spending the time with my 87 year old father and fulfilling yet another of his dreams.

As a result of all this time spent, I’ve been neglecting the promotion of my book. 
Right now I’m taking a much needed break and I’ve gone fishing.  Yes…once again…I’m throwing out a line.

Hope you taking a break also during these dog days of summer.  Looks like fall and winter might be coming early this year in Montana so I’m making hay while the sun shines as Mom used to say.

Please return again to the sight.  I promise after this weekend I’ll try to be more productive and write some real thought starters for you.

John

Hi,

Saturday, August 7th I had an enjoyable time at the Madison Valley Arts Festival.  I was there as an author and met many fine local and visiting people.  Sold a few books…but hey…I’m really not attached to the outcome.  I commend the fine staff that put on the festival.  They were very helpful and concerned that everything was just right. The Ennis Arts Association has got this one down.

Live music, all kinds of juried art, good food and a small town friendly atmosphere.  A great way to spend a Saturday. The weather even cooperated which had a lot of us concerned for it hasn’t been the best for the past couple of weeks.

I met some of the other Montana authors who were set up in the tents provided for us.  I met some great people from out of the state also.  One from Nicaragua, a couple from San Francisco, another couple from Arizona, a man from New York, and a family from Washington state.  I’m sure there were other notable mentions but it was all such art in motion. 

I love to people watch and my book signings are a great opportunity.  There seems to be an incredibly congenial atmosphere around these kind of events.  Art walks, Festivals, May day celebrations, all bring out the families to have a great time.  I never heard a crying child.  Saw a lot of them with painted faces.  I never heard any cross words or anyone having a problem.  People were helping each other and asking nothing in return..nor were they expecting anything.

This is the country.  This is what America is all about.  This is sharing and caring and networking on the best level.

Face to face.  One at a time. Sharing ideas and thoughts and experiences.

Thank you Ennis Arts Association for having this venue.  It was a very pleasurable experience.  Hope I get to the next one.  As a matter of fact I’m putting it on my to check calendar right after I sign off.

Madison Valley Arts Festival…truly a Montana celebration of great art and camaraderie.

John

I apologize for not taking care of my blogging responsibilities.  I’ve been taking care of my family responsibilities.

My Father now has a pace maker and he has been having a trying time with it.  It’s the kind that they insert inside of you and there was some problems so they had to go in again and rectify those.  He’s been a little grumpy about it but is finally seeming to accept that his life may not have gone on if he hadn’t had the procedure. Knowing my Father, of 87 this year, you would know that he is not wild about doctors, lawyers or politicians.

While he is recovering, I have been building a dream of his to put a pavillion in his little park on the property.  We poured the cement slab of 20 by 24 feet last year and so this hot summer we are building the upper part.  It is almost finished.  I put the green metal roof on this morning.  Had it done by noon.  All we need to do now is some more bracing and the gable ends.  Then the fun will begin.  He has all sorts of plans for a rock wall seating area, a cooking area and a sink and counter top.  Of course, I’ll be doing those things because he can’t even lift anything for six weeks due to his surgery.  I’m his arms and legs. 

The reason I tell you all of this is that I’ve been very busy with maintaining the place for Mom and Dad anyway and with this project also it’s taking up most of my time. 

I have had a number of incites while hammering , screwing and sawing, however, they slip away as fast as they come to me.  Being tired at the end of the day doesn’t help me write an inspiring blog.

Those are my excuses.  I know I really don’t need any excuses.  It’s my blog. I can write if I want to write.  I just don’t want to disappoint those of you who come visit my website.  I want you to know that I appreciate your comments and the fact that you do return from time to time to see what is up.

Today I want to leave you with another of my writings from my mind musings of the past.  I hope you enjoy it.

“Qualifying School”

                                                            By-John Walker

Standing on the brink to begin your life. Face the anxiety.  Eat humble pie. Prepare.

Are you ready?

The time has arrived.  It’s a Marathon not a sprint.  Out fast, high expectations, no time to kill, impatience, gratitude.  Life’s lessons learned.  Huge emotional highs, devastating wordless lows. Reasons challenge personality, fighter or performer?  Keep your dreams alive.  Competitive passion. Keeping a positive outlook.  What’s ahead? Don’t dwell on history, make the most of it, and confidently move ahead. 

A world of opportunity, materialization, evaporation, remain upbeat, ponder the trials, reach to your support, and believe in your abilities, discipline.

Keep doing what you’re doing. Stay focused.  Just another beautiful day, suppress the nerves, have a good time, Be full of confidence, hide nervous ambition, stay with yourself, don’t erode focus, storybook inspiration.

Acceptance.  Pursuit of perfection, a matter of when.  Confidence never waning, emotions carry you through.  Be there.  Carry hope on your shoulders.  The odds are

staggering, deflect the pressures, enjoy the moment. 

The marathon continues.  Self-actualization, handwriting on the wall, finality creeping in. Life importance coming from the backside of the bubble, a glimmer of hope.  Turn it around quickly, nothing is guaranteed.  Determination. It’s been an emotional roller coaster.  What you do is all that matters. Doubt creeps in, nerves frazzle.

Resolute acceptance, lesson in patience and remaining in the present.  You’ve been on the brink.  Hope, frustration, confidence, and mission accomplished. 

Return evident.  A good dream never dies.  Countless emotional moments. Released amazement. Guarded disappointment. 

The license to chase your dreams.

Congratulations.

Class dismissed.

Hope you’re having a great summer!

John

I couldn’t believe it when I received this file so I’m posting it to share it and see what you think.

Please leave your comments.

IACOCCA SPEAKS OUT ON OBAMA

Just as true today as it was when his book first came out. He was, and still is, a brilliant businessman!    Often we need to be

reminded of Iococca’s words.

Remember Lee Iacocca, the man who rescued Chrysler Corporation from its death throes? He’s now 82 years old and has a

new book, ‘Where Have All The Leaders Gone?.’ Lee Iacocca Says:

‘Am I the only guy in this country who’s fed up with what’s happening? Where the hell is our outrage with this so called

president? We should be screaming bloody murder! We’ve got a gang of tax cheating clueless leftists trying to steer our ship

of state right over a cliff, we’ve got corporate gangsters stealing us blind, and we can’t even run a ridiculous cash-for-

clunkers program without losing $26 billion of the taxpayers’ money, much less build a hybrid car. But instead of getting

mad, everyone sits around and nods their heads when the politicians say, ‘trust me the economy is getting

 better..’ Better? You’ve got to be kidding. This is America , not the damned, ‘Titanic’. I’ll give you a sound bite: ‘Throw all the

Democrats out along with Obama!’ You might think I’m getting senile, that I’ve gone off my rocker, and maybe I have. But

someone has to speak up. I hardly recognize this country anymore.. The most famous business leaders are not the

innovators but the guys in handcuffs.. While we’re fiddling in Afghanistan , Iran is completing their nuclear bombs and

missiles and nobody seems to know what to do. And the liberal press is waving ‘pom-poms’ instead of asking hard

questions. That’s not the promise of the ‘ America ‘ my parents and yours traveled across the ocean for. I’ve had enough.

How about you? I’ll go a step further. You can’t call yourself a patriot if you’re not outraged. This is a fight I’m ready and

willing to have. The Biggest ‘C’ is Crisis! (Iacocca elaborates

 on nine C’s of leadership, with crisis being the first.) Leaders are made, not born. Leadership is forged in times of crisis. It’s

easy to sit there with thumb up your butt and talk theory. Or send someone else’s kids off to war when you’ve never seen a

battlefield yourself. It’s another thing to lead when your world comes tumbling down. On September 11, 2001, we needed a

strong leader more than any other time in our history. We needed a steady hand to guide us out of the ashes. A hell of a

mess, so here’s where we stand. We’re immersed in a bloody war now with no plan for winning and no plan for leaving. But

our soldiers are dying daily. We’re running the biggest deficit in the history of the world, and it’s getting worse every day!

We’ve lost the manufacturing edge to Asia , while our once-great companies are getting slaughtered by health care costs.

Gas prices are going to

 skyrock again, and nobody in power has a lucid plan to open drilling to solve the problem. This country has the largest oil

reserves in the WORLD, and we cannot drill for it because the politicians have been bought by the flea-hugging

environmentalists.

Our schools are in a complete disaster because of the teachers union. Our borders are like sieves and they want to give all

illegals amnesty and free healthcare. The middle class is being squeezed to death every day. These are times that cry out for

leadership. But when you look around, you’ve got to ask: ‘Where have all the leaders gone?’ Where are the curious, creative

communicators? Where are the people of character, courage, conviction, omnipotence, and common sense? I may be a

sucker for alliteration, but I think you get the point.. Name me a leader who has a better idea for homeland security than

making us take off our shoes in airports

 and throw away our shampoo? We’ve spent billions of dollars building a huge new bureaucracy, and all we know how to do is

react to things that have already happened. Everyone’s hunkering down, fingers crossed, hoping the government will make it

better for them. Now, that’s just crazy.. Deal with life.

Name me an industry leader who is thinking creatively about how we can restore our competitive edge in manufacturing.

Who would have believed that there could ever be a time when ‘The Big Three’ referred to Japanese car companies? How did

this happen, and more important, look what Obama did about it!

Name me a government leader who can articulate a plan for paying down the debit, or solving theenergy crisis, or managing

the health care problem. The silence is deafening. But these are the crises that are eating away at our country and milking

the middle class dry. I have news for the Chicago gangsters in Congress. We didn’t elect you to turn this country into a

losing European Socialist state. What is everybody so afraid of? That some bonehead on NBC or CNN news will call them a

name? Give me a break. Why don’t you guys show some spine for a change? Had Enough? Hey, I’m not trying to be the voice

of gloom and doom here. I’m trying to light a fire. I’m speaking out because I have hope – I believe in America . In my

lifetime, I’ve had the privilege of living through some

 of America ’s greatest moments. I’ve also experienced some of our worst crises: The ‘Great Depression,’ ‘World War II,’ the

‘Korean War,’ the ‘Kennedy Assassination,’ the ‘Vietnam War,’ the 1970’s oil crisis, and the struggles of recent years since

9/11. Make your own contribution by sending this to everyone you know and care about. It’s our country, folks, and it’s our

future. Our future is at stake!!”

WHAT DO YOU THINK?

Thanks for stopping  by the website.

Check out the book “Freedom’s Call.”

John

Independence Day.  Yes..it’s a movie…July 4th has inspired many songs…it is full of booms and bangs…it is a platform for political speakers….it’s a time for barbecue and get togethers of all sorts.

It is a celebration of our Declaration of Independence.  Have you read it recently.  Why not now?

Declaration of Independence

Here is the complete text of the Declaration of Independence.
The original spelling and capitalization have been retained.

(Adopted by Congress on July 4, 1776)

The Unanimous Declaration
of the Thirteen United States of America

• Teachers & Students: Free Downloads of Rare Scenes Of Early America’s People, Places & Events!

When, in the course of human events, it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another, and to assume among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the laws of nature and of nature’s God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation.

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights, that among these are life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. That to secure these rights, governments are instituted among men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed. That whenever any form of government becomes destructive to these ends, it is the right of the people to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their safety and happiness. Prudence, indeed, will dictate that governments long established should not be changed for light and transient causes; and accordingly all experience hath shown that mankind are more disposed to suffer, while evils are sufferable, than to right themselves by abolishing the forms to which they are accustomed. But when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same object evinces a design to reduce them under absolute despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such government, and to provide new guards for their future security. –Such has been the patient sufferance of these colonies; and such is now the necessity which constrains them to alter their former systems of government. The history of the present King of Great Britain is a history of repeated injuries and usurpations, all having in direct object the establishment of an absolute tyranny over these states. To prove this, let facts be submitted to a candid world.

He has refused his assent to laws, the most wholesome and necessary for the public good.

He has forbidden his governors to pass laws of immediate and pressing importance, unless suspended in their operation till his assent should be obtained; and when so suspended, he has utterly neglected to attend to them.

He has refused to pass other laws for the accommodation of large districts of people, unless those people would relinquish the right of representation in the legislature, a right inestimable to them and formidable to tyrants only.

He has called together legislative bodies at places unusual, uncomfortable, and distant from the depository of their public records, for the sole purpose of fatiguing them into compliance with his measures.

He has dissolved representative houses repeatedly, for opposing with manly firmness his invasions on the rights of the people.

He has refused for a long time, after such dissolutions, to cause others to be elected; whereby the legislative powers, incapable of annihilation, have returned to the people at large for their exercise; the state remaining in the meantime exposed to all the dangers of invasion from without, and convulsions within.

He has endeavored to prevent the population of these states; for that purpose obstructing the laws for naturalization of foreigners; refusing to pass others to encourage their migration hither, and raising the conditions of new appropriations of lands.

He has obstructed the administration of justice, by refusing his assent to laws for establishing judiciary powers.

He has made judges dependent on his will alone, for the tenure of their offices, and the amount and payment of their salaries.

He has erected a multitude of new offices, and sent hither swarms of officers to harass our people, and eat out their substance.

He has kept among us, in times of peace, standing armies without the consent of our legislature.

He has affected to render the military independent of and superior to civil power.

He has combined with others to subject us to a jurisdiction foreign to our constitution, and unacknowledged by our laws; giving his assent to their acts of pretended legislation:

For quartering large bodies of armed troops among us:

For protecting them, by mock trial, from punishment for any murders which they should commit on the inhabitants of these states:

For cutting off our trade with all parts of the world:

For imposing taxes on us without our consent:

For depriving us in many cases, of the benefits of trial by jury:

For transporting us beyond seas to be tried for pretended offenses:

For abolishing the free system of English laws in a neighboring province, establishing therein an arbitrary government, and enlarging its boundaries so as to render it at once an example and fit instrument for introducing the same absolute rule in these colonies:

For taking away our charters, abolishing our most valuable laws, and altering fundamentally the forms of our governments:

For suspending our own legislatures, and declaring themselves invested with power to legislate for us in all cases whatsoever.

He has abdicated government here, by declaring us out of his protection and waging war against us.

He has plundered our seas, ravaged our coasts, burned our towns, and destroyed the lives of our people.

He is at this time transporting large armies of foreign mercenaries to complete the works of death, desolation and tyranny, already begun with circumstances of cruelty and perfidy scarcely paralleled in the most barbarous ages, and totally unworthy the head of a civilized nation.

He has constrained our fellow citizens taken captive on the high seas to bear arms against their country, to become the executioners of their friends and brethren, or to fall themselves by their hands.

He has excited domestic insurrections amongst us, and has endeavored to bring on the inhabitants of our frontiers, the merciless Indian savages, whose known rule of warfare, is undistinguished destruction of all ages, sexes and conditions.

In every stage of these oppressions we have petitioned for redress in the most humble terms: our repeated petitions have been answered only by repeated injury. A prince, whose character is thus marked by every act which may define a tyrant, is unfit to be the ruler of a free people.

Nor have we been wanting in attention to our British brethren. We have warned them from time to time of attempts by their legislature to extend an unwarrantable jurisdiction over us. We have reminded them of the circumstances of our emigration and settlement here. We have appealed to their native justice and magnanimity, and we have conjured them by the ties of our common kindred to disavow these usurpations, which, would inevitably interrupt our connections and correspondence. They too have been deaf to the voice of justice and of consanguinity. We must, therefore, acquiesce in the necessity, which denounces our separation, and hold them, as we hold the rest of mankind, enemies in war, in peace friends.

We, therefore, the representatives of the United States of America, in General Congress, assembled, appealing to the Supreme Judge of the world for the rectitude of our intentions, do, in the name, and by the authority of the good people of these colonies, solemnly publish and declare, that these united colonies are, and of right ought to be free and independent states; that they are absolved from all allegiance to the British Crown, and that all political connection between them and the state of Great Britain, is and ought to be totally dissolved; and that as free and independent states, they have full power to levy war, conclude peace, contract alliances, establish commerce, and to do all other acts and things which independent states may of right do. And for the support of this declaration, with a firm reliance on the protection of Divine Providence, we mutually pledge to each other our lives, our fortunes and our sacred honor.

New Hampshire: Josiah Bartlett, William Whipple, Matthew Thornton

Massachusetts: John Hancock, Samual Adams, John Adams, Robert Treat Paine, Elbridge Gerry

Rhode Island: Stephen Hopkins, William Ellery

Connecticut: Roger Sherman, Samuel Huntington, William Williams, Oliver Wolcott

New York: William Floyd, Philip Livingston, Francis Lewis, Lewis Morris

New Jersey: Richard Stockton, John Witherspoon, Francis Hopkinson, John Hart, Abraham Clark

Pennsylvania: Robert Morris, Benjamin Rush, Benjamin Franklin, John Morton, George Clymer, James Smith, George Taylor, James Wilson, George Ross

Delaware: Caesar Rodney, George Read, Thomas McKean

Maryland: Samuel Chase, William Paca, Thomas Stone, Charles Carroll of Carrollton

Virginia: George Wythe, Richard Henry Lee, Thomas Jefferson, Benjamin Harrison, Thomas Nelson, Jr., Francis Lightfoot Lee, Carter Braxton

North Carolina: William Hooper, Joseph Hewes, John Penn

South Carolina: Edward Rutledge, Thomas Heyward, Jr., Thomas Lynch, Jr., Arthur Middleton

Georgia: Button Gwinnett, Lyman Hall, George Walton

Source: The Pennsylvania Packet, July 8, 1776

Happy 4th of July.

John

Have you got a project that you just can’t get started?

I know the feeling.  Do we really “need” that new patio? 

Projects always turn into five projects in one.   Before you do one thing…the MAIN thing…you have to do 5 other things before you can get started on the main thing.  To complicate it all there is always someone, who wanted you to do it in the first place, looking over your shoulder and wanting to change the plan in the middle of the job.  It’s enough to make you want to go fishing and just forget about the project all together.

That’s where I’m at today.  Of course, if I just start and take the first step, I’ll have a finished project and be the hero.

You know, I was listening to one of those inspirational speeches by Dr. Wayne Dyer and I believe I understand what he was saying now.  He said that he was just useless around the house.  He said his family didn’t believe he could do anything.  He is not known for being a do-it-your-self kind of guy.  He says he could get out the screw driver and fix that light fixture or fix the faucet washers etc, but his family doesn’t think he can and he likes it that way.  He says, and I think he has truly come up with an end to the “honey do” list, “I write the checks,” “that’s what I do.”  Keeps him out of harms way, like falling off a ladder, and gives him plenty of time to contemplate his next writing project uninterrupted.  Except for writing the checks, of course.

Wish I could be more like him.  I just find it hard to let someone else do what I can do myself.  But I think he certainly has worked it out well for himself.

Now I must take the first step and get to building that patio I promised someone I would do. It’s a design fault I accept. Somehow when I was created the DNA was strung together in such a way that I must do it myself.

Listen, if you find yourself in this situation today, call someone and have them do it for you.  It’s only money. 

I’ll let you know how the patio project is going.  How my bad back is holding up and how many times I’m interrupted with a plan change.

You just relax.  I’ll take the blame for anything that goes wrong today.  Have a great day and go fishing if you can. 

John

Okay…I’m sorry I haven’t written a new blog post for this whole week but I’ve been very busy taking care of my folks place while my sister took them to a family reunion and to visit some relatives.

I have checked my emails through, and I’ve had a couple of interviews about my book “Freedom’s Call.”

The interviews were fun and I’m thankful that there is interest in the book.

The emails were a little disturbing.

I have to admit, in all the confusion of this past week, I missed the fact that Monday was “Flag day.” A day to honor our national symbol.  My Flag was flying proudly however.  Which brings me to those disturbing emails.

One was showing our President with four military officers standing in front of a big American Flag , with all but our President, saluting or having their hand over there heart.  Our President was doing, what the email called, a Crotch salute.  I found it discouraging.

Another email showed him at a press conference about the Gulf situation without an American Flag behind him.  I don’t believe I’ve ever seen a press conference where our President didn’t have an American Flag close.  It was a barren yellow cloth with a couple of gold or brass stands with flowers on top, I believe.  This was also discouraging.

Is there a subliminal message here? 

I, for one, have always respected the office of the Presidency and given whoever the President at the moment was, the respect that he deserves as our leader.  I wasn’t happy with many over my lifetime.  However, he is our President, and whether I voted for him or not, agree with him or not, give him the respect he deserves as our leader.

I wasn’t happy with the attics of Clinton.  George Bush before him made some decisions with which I couldn’t agree. George W. Bush certainly had his short comings.  Through out history, many Presidents have had controversy following them and their decisions.  But, they were our Presidents.  They made it to the top. 

I think it all comes down to common sense and respect. 

We have the power to elect our leaders.  We have the right to feel the way we do about our leaders because we are Americans.  That is what this country is all about.  Freedom.

I never understood the vitriol feelings towards President George W. Bush.  If you were harboring those feelings towards him, you had the right.  He was at least, indisputably American.  He was cocky.  He was irritating at times. He was our President in a very tough time.  He could have handled things much better.  He was and is a proud American. Proud to be American.  Proud to stand in front of our country’s symbol, the American flag and stumble, be human, and our President.

By not standing in front of and saluting our flag, what is President Obama saying to us?

This is the first time I can remember that I’m having a hard time respecting my President.  His actions are speaking louder than his words.  His words seem hollow and his promises fleeting rhetoric. 

We need to send him a message.  Give us your birth certificate.  Give us your college records. Tell us how many Social Security numbers you have.  What is your real name?  Put to rest all the questions that have been asked about your citizenship.  Who supplied all the money to get you elected. Just do it!  Take the bull by the horns and prove that you are truly American and that you love this country.  Show us you are a patriot.

Stand before us and salute your national symbol.

Call everyone in the world that can help and get this oil spill stopped! Cut through the political red tape.  Get the job done quickly before we destroy the only reason we are on this rock. The water.  This is a global problem.  It needs strong leadership and a global response for a solution. BP money is not going to mean much if our oceans are ruined.

Where is your common sense?

Be our President!  Be a true leader!  Show us through your actions!

We’ve heard the rhetoric. Give us reason to respect you!

You are our President.  It’s time to act now!

November could be very interesting.

John

Sunday is a favorite day of mine.

It’s a beautiful morning this morning.  Blue sky as huge as Montana can provide.  The birds are calling and the little animals are scurrying around doing their business.  From where I sit this morning, I can imagine the Deer, Elk and other wildlife making the most of this morning.

Tomorrow I’ll get back to work on all sorts of projects but Sunday is a day of rest and reflection.  A chance to just goof off and not feel bad about it.  You know, stop and smell the roses.

I’m sure it’s not as relaxing and beautiful in the Gulf right now.  My thoughts and prayers go out to those who are caught up in the mess physically.  I’m also really getting worried that our leaders are not taking this oil spill more seriously.  This is not just a U.S. problem.  This is a global problem.  I would like them to consider what will happen when the hurricanes start taking the oil into our atmosphere.  Has anyone considered the possibility of acid rain? The currents in the oceans are going to take this stuff all around the planet if we don’t get it stopped soon.

It seems unconscionable that the world leaders can’t pull this thing together and get this problem behind us. 

Our planet is hemorrhaging and it is not just some little local problem for the poor folks in Louisiana.  This is a major problem and should be first on every one’s plate. 

Why is our government not accepting and asking for help from other countries who have experience with this kind of problem?  Why are the people who have proposed simple, but effect, clean up answers not being given an opportunity to try their theories and expertise?  Why are those who make their living in the wetlands of Louisiana, Alabama and Florida not being allowed to put down their sand bags and stop the oil from ruining their resource? 

Put the politics and ego’s aside and get this done before it’s too late!

Sitting here on this beautiful sunny calm day in the clean environs of Montana almost makes me feel guilty this Sunday morning when I think about what is happening in the Gulf.  It may make you feel helpless.  However, I think , if we make enough noise about this and hold those in charge accountable, just maybe we can save our planet.

The HOLE is dumping 2 million gallons a day into the reason we are survive on the rock.

Without the oceans we would not be inhabiting this planet.  This is a global problem. 

I would like to pose this question:  If there was an asteroid bearing down on us with no doubt that it was going to hit the planet, don’t you think all the government leaders on the planet would be pulling out all the technical experts and working together to alleviate the problem?  

This oil spill could be devastating to our way of life on this planet.  The global community needs to realise that this is not a little problem.  This problem needs to be alleviated.

Now my Sunday, although it is environmentally beautiful, seems a little less relaxing.

Writing our congressmen and emailing our views to someone who may have some pull and care enough to pass our concerns along may help put pressure on the right people to help with this problem.  Do your part as you see fit.

OK…I guess I’ll mow the lawn.  It’s Sunday, a day of rest, but now I’ve got to do something.

Have a nice day.

John

Hey, does it seem like things are going at breakneck speed to you?

Everyday with everything that is happening in the world, that really does effect all of us in one way or another, it seems like there is just not enough time to get everything done.  Today, my mother wants to plant a garden, I need to get more book signings booked, need to fix the weed eater before the grass becomes a hay field, need to make some important calls, wash my car and clean it which I haven’t done in months, get my camper ready for a trip, stack the wood at my folks place, get things ready for my sister’s arrival, get my father’s present for Father’s day ready, write this blog, contact my publicist, etc, etc, etc.  I think I need several clones. 

They haven’t stopped the Oil yet.  Damn!

Have you heard about the behind the scenes goings on with Hillary?  They are planning to take away our 2nd amendment rights.

Tornado’s and storms are causing havoc.

It all seems a bit much today.

That is why I’m going to insert a piece of prose that I wrote some time ago in this blog today.  Hope you enjoy it and can find a little time to relax in your life.  I’m going to hurry off now and get my “to do” list started.

This is from my writings called “Contem-Plato.”

                                                            Why Worry?

                                                                   By – John Walker

Worry.    Why?

Has worry brought you to a better space?  

To worry about anything, you have to assume there is something wrong.

If you are contributing a lot of thought to what may happen, you may be supporting the idea to the extent of bringing it on.

The fallacy in assuming anything, takes you out of the moment and leads to an unhealthy prevalence of stress.

If something is wrong, no amount of worry will make it right.  Focusing on the negative aspects of anything worrisome will only cause the negatives to loom larger.

How many times have you worried about some particular problem or circumstance, only to find that you’ve wasted a lot of time and energy you could have used to improve some other facet of your life or the life of others?

If you can buy into the idea that everything begins with a thought, then, the thought process can either manifest the problem you are worrying about, or embrace the problem as an opportunity.

To worry is a waste.   To focus on a creative solution will keep you in the moment and help you find an answer.  If you deduce that no amount of worrying will change the problem, then embrace the thought for just a moment and let it go.

If you can’t change it, it is not worthy of focusing your time and energy to make it more of a problem.

There is so much more gratification in focusing on that which we can change than to spend any of our precious time here worrying about something we can’t change.

If you can’t fix it in five seconds, don’t worry about it.

Be careful what you focus your thoughts on, for everything you think about in a very serious manner and really desire to have in your life will be manifest.

You can use this to your advantage and manifest miracles in your life and the lives of those you hold dear.

Worry…… Why? Effect change in a positive way?  Why not?!         

                                                            Why Worry?

                                                                   By – John Walker

 

 

      

I hope you have time to stop and smell the roses today.

John