"ROE" stands for Rules of Engagement and is one of the most heinous phrases and realities that constricts the defenders of our nation when they are on the front lines and the creators of the ROE are in their cushy offices or on their yachts.

Back story: Even though I've known about Marcus Luttrell, Navy Seal, for years; I've just now gotten around to reading his book Lone Survivor. It's a book every American needs to read. It's not a book to critique for its fine writing because the way in which its written may make the "artiste" cringe, but the heart and soul of the man, the SEAL, the patriot are clearly conveyed.

The events which took place in Afghanistan back in 2005 point out clearly how the ROE is a damnation. It gets our fighting men and women killed and keeps them from doing what they were tasked to do.

God bless Marcus and all the Navy SEALS who are the ultimate patriots. Hooyah, Marcus!

Nothing really coming together into any sort of form or fashion, so I'll just amble along through this blog entry.

Bessie mooed! Now that might not seem strange or interesting since Bessie, after all, is a cow. However, in all the months we've had her, she's never mooed. What would incite this reaction, you ask? Well, I'll tell you. My husband, Glenn, came home with a new round bale for hay for the horses and Bessie. The pasture is too muddy to drive the forklift down to where the hay is usually put. So, Glenn and his helper, J.J., put the round bale in the upper part of the first pasture. I went out to open the gate so Bessie could come up the hay. She got to the place where the hay was "supposed to be," and stood then a moment. Then, she put her head up in the air and mooed. "Where the hell is my hay! It is supposed to be right here!" Glenn had to call her on up to where the hay was, but you could tell she was not happy. Animals don't like change; routine is their forte.

Christmas dinner yesterday was delicious if do say so myself - and I do! We ate at about 1:00 and then didn't need supper. I ate modest portions, and Praise God! the scale actually went down a few 10ths. I was sooo glad. This was even with a small serving of peach pie.

Today, it is bright and sunny even if it is still pretty cool (cold). I need to check the weather prediction for this evening. Glenn said he thought he saw that it was going to get down below freezing. This means that if I want to save my outside plants, I have to cover them. It's a really exhausting task. I'm not looking forward to it.

I couldn't get into Christmas music this year. Played a Nat King Cole CD and that was it besides a few Christmas tunes by Aaron Neville while sitting at the computer.

Earlier today, I put away all the Christmas decorations. Well, not quite. There is always something somewhere I miss. A star my youngest son made long ago made that list this year. I'll tuck into the box I can reach in the closet. The wreaths on the front gates are also not yet down, but I'll leave that to another day. They get stored in the old house at the front of the property.

I need to get up and clean litter boxes because they need it and tomorrow is trash day - but, my back hurts and I don't want to get up and then bend over, etc.

Butch and Sundance are fighting in their bird cage, flapping wings, doing their dove laugh, an pecking each other. It doesn't seem to ever get really serious. Butch is cooing now. I've never really learned the meaning of their various carry-ings-ons or whatever you want to call it.

Oh, and if you've been following: "Georgia on My Mind" is another Georgia song.
 

"It's a rainy night in Georgia" "Midnight train to Georgia" - wonder why it's always Georgia. Why not Texas? Why not Virginia? Why does Georgia have a corner on the market for those sweet, sad songs?

Anyway, it's a rainy day in Texas right now. Drizzling outside my window; I walked in it earlier. Cold and wet on my daily deer walk. No deer found in the pasture.

Christmas Eve day finds me in the house now with all of the ten dogs in the house, five dog bodies strewn about the floor in my office. Finished breakfast awhile ago, had to feed the husband.

Wonder - do any of the television stations go off the air in the middle of the night and play the national anthem and then show that target kind of thing and just buzz? Or are they all programming 24/7? Since I don't have a television hooked up to anything but a VCR, I can't test it out to see. Wikipedia makes it sound very doubtful. Seems like it went out of fashion decades ago. One more thing in the trash basket. The national anthem seems to be following that same path as more and more people disrespect our nation and its customs.

percy goodfellow says people haven't changed even though technology has. I don't agree. I think anyone born after 1980 or so is a whole other species in most cases.

On another but closely related subject - take Christmas for example. We've allowed the sub-normal to take away our sense of celebration for the right reasons and placed a panoply of guilt over the whole occasion. If we don't include every damn atheistic leaning, we are told we are doing something wrong. No more singing of Christmas carols, might offend someone. Let them be offended and our children learn to sing the old ones about the birth in the manger and the angels singing; it's a part of history we've let be stolen by our ignorance and our passiveness.

Jesus came to earth in the form of a human being, probably not in December, but it's a good thing to remember and consider. Why December 25 was chosen, it really doesn't matter. It's the relevance and the reverence which are important. Jesus, only Son of God, came to redeem us and live among us to face our enemy for us and come away with victory. Now, don't get me started on what subnormal people have done to our precious Easter!

That old saying, "Jesus is the reason for the season" remains true even if it is trodden on by millions every year. Put up the Santa Claus and the holiday tree, but don't dare put up the stable with Mary, Joseph, Jesus and the shepherds. Old Rudolph with his red nose gets more press than the baby Jesus.

Did you know that not one place in the scripture does it say that angels sing or sang at Jesus birth. They make announcements. Huh. I'm thinking they'd like to make one big pronouncement of condemnation on the people of this current day in age if God would let them.

Do tigers purr? The debate is still ongoing. From my limited research, it seems that if they purr, it is only on the exhale unlike the "domesticated" cat who can purr either inhaling or exhaling. It's something about the physiology of the throat of the big cats which allows them to roar but restricts any purring to a one way street. Leopards and cheetahs do not roar.

Tigers are my favorite wild animal. They are marvelous creatures. Here's a little piece I wrote about them: "The Mighty Predator" 

As to the "domestication" of cats - well, that is also debatable. Here is a poem I wrote on the subject: "Invalid Item" 
 

Yeah, it's closing in on us! No, not Christmas, the Winter Term for New Horizons Academy. The catalog and admissions pages are to be ready by Dec. 23, and admissions opens on January 2. Not much time left for all the instructors and administration to get everything ready to go.

Today, I've been working on various other pages as well as dog-sitting. It's sort of like baby-sitting without the miserable little rug rats - dogs are soooo much better. Cats are second.

You know, dogs are real close to their feral relatives. The pack up and will turn on a dime against another dog, even one of their own pack who is down on the pecking order - OR - one will turn against the head dog if he senses a weakness there and thinks he can become the head dog. When this happens, the others join in attacking the head dog even though they will not emerge the head dog.

Cats not so much. They are not pack/group animals for the most part. But they do get annoyed when another cat is introduced into the "herd/family." I think the concern is that there might not be enough food with a new one around - and - the attention given out will be divided by one more.