The New American Digest

While I’d just as soon stay away from “politics” as a primary focus on this site, there are some issues that just come up. One being illegals.

My wife’s an immigrant. Came in legal like and became naturalized. The process is not easy or fun. The office where she started the process was so … nasty, I had to stop going with her because I’d have spoken up and those damn bureaucrats would have taken it out on her.

On the other hand, she came and wanted to become a US citizen – she put up with the process, she didn’t yell and protest and wave her old country’s flag around.

Every time these illegals gather round like this, it seems it would be easy for the National Guard to come in, surround them, and deport every single one of them.

And cut off welfare for any Yankees that participate. Yep – as a US citizen you have the right to protest. But being on welfare should have consequences – one of them being that if you depend on the government to survive, you give up your right to bite the hand that feeds you.

If he sees his shadow, he ducks back under cover and we have 6 more weeks of winter.
If he doesn’t see his shadow, he decides to go back to bed and we have 6 more weeks of winter.

Or something like that.

Up here in the hills of Idaho, it’s going to be a wet, rainy day with temperatures predicted to be in the 40s. It didn’t get down to freezing last night.

Florida has had more “winter” than we have this year. Snow-pack levels up high are OK, but down here, barely at the level to need “high-altitude” cooking directions, we’ve had two snowfalls the entire season – one a month or so ago, the other last Friday. Both were only ¼ inch or so, neither lasted the day. Most “winter” we’ve had was 10 days straight of pogonip. Frosted up the trees heavy enough to be concerned about breaking branches. Then it went away.

Now I’ve lived up in these hills for more than 20 years and I’ve seen it snow nine feet in a week – three storms one after another dumping 36″ each time; chains a daily necessity even on a 4×4. I’ve never seen essentially no snow.

Which leads me to wonder what the rest of February, March, April, and sometimes into May has in store for us.

Like most things, life tends towards a balance.

In composing my series on the Overland Trail; in preparing other articles – at least in my mind; and in thinking about my now-only-annual road trip into the back country … and in reviewing some of Gerard’s works – I ran across this quote of his which seems appropriate to this place that I find myself.

I’m not so much interested in “discovering” new places anymore – I’ve been to most of those places that interested me … and been to quite a few that fit “I’m glad I went, now I don’t have to go again“. A few “shortcuts” come to mind …

I find I’d rather return to those places I once discovered for myself; the ones I passed by too quickly, or at the wrong time of year, or just those that stuck in my mind that “I need to get back here someday“.

Looking at those numbers on my drivers license makes me realize “someday” is more or less now – how many more years left to put something off until I get to it?

A few I suppose, barring accidents – I’m pretty healthy for my age and can still get around like a crippled 30 yo.

We live in a small enough town that the contractors for odd jobs beyond my ability – this time installing gas service to a now-we-need-it new stove that was electric and will be dual fuel – are also friends. Sometimes age is forgotten and Dude and I started talking investments just yesterday. He was enthusiastic about purchasing some land that’s not quite ready for development. “DT“, he says, “This will be a great payoff in 20 years“. He has early teenagers.

I could only look at him.

“Oh, Dude“, says I, “if only I could plan on 20 more years …“

So I swiped Gerard’s quote and put it up on the header – just to remind myself …

It was so much nicer having the luxury of saying “I’ll get to it later” and having it be true.