The Presidential Medal of Freedom Awards

Washington, DC Tuesday, May 29, 2012 

President Obama participated in an event honoring the 13 recipients of the Presidential Medal of Freedom in an East Room ceremony at the White House. The Medal of Freedom is America's highest civilian honor and recognizes exceptional meritorious service. It was created in 1963 by Former President John F. Kennedy through an Executive Order. Recipient Bios from the White House

The following individuals received the Presidential Medal of Freedom at Tuesday's ceremony: 

 Madeleine Albright - 64th U.S. Secretary of State, the first woman to hold that position

John Doar - Former Justice Department official that led federal efforts 

to protect and enforce civil rights during the 1960s 

( Mandel Ngan, AFP/Getty Images / May 29, 2012 )

 "It was a scorching hot day in 1963, and Mississippi was on the verge of a massacre. The funeral procession for Medgar Evers had just disbanded, and a group of marchers was throwing rocks at a line of equally defiant and heavily-armed policemen. And suddenly, a white man in shirtsleeves, hands raised, walked towards the protestors and talked them into going home peacefully. And that man was John Doar. He was the face of the Justice Department in the South. He was proof that the federal government was listening. And over the years, John escorted James Meredith to the University of Mississippi. He walked alongside the Selma-to-Montgomery March. He laid the groundwork for the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Voting Rights Act of 1965. In the words of John Lewis, “He gave [civil rights workers] a reason not to give up on those in power.” And he did it by never giving up on them. And I think it’s fair to say that I might not be here had it not been for his work."

Department of Justice Blog 

 James Meredith is flanked by U.S. Marshal James McShane (left) and John Doar of the Justice Department, as he prepares to attend his first class at the University of Mississippi. / File photo/Library of Congress/U.S.  Clarion Ledger: Doar Freedom-Medal

Bob Dylan - Influential American musician  

“Today, everybody from Bruce Springsteen to U2 owes Bob a debt of gratitude. There is not a bigger giant in the history of American music. I have to say I am a big fan."

Read more: Presidential Medal of Freedom

Jewish Ledger - Bob Dylan Walking in the Footsteps of the Jewish Prophets

  William Foege - Physician and epidemiologist that led the successful 

campaign to eradicate smallpox in the 1970s 

 “In the 1960s, more than 2 million people died from smallpox every year.  Just over a decade later, that number was zero — 2 million to zero, thanks, in part, to Dr. Bill Foege.  As a young medical missionary working in Nigeria, Bill helped develop a vaccination strategy that would later be used to eliminate smallpox from the face of the Earth.  And when that war was won, he moved on to other diseases, always trying to figure out what works.  In one remote Nigerian village, after vaccinating 2,000 people in a single day, Bill asked the local chief how he had gotten so many people to show up.  And the chief explained that he had told everyone to come see — to “come to the village and see the tallest man in the world.”   Today, that world owes that really tall man a great debt of gratitude.”

 John Glenn - Former United States Marine Corps pilot, astronaut and United States Senator 

Gordon Hirabayashi - He openly defied the forced relocation and 

internment of Japanese Americans during World War II

“Gordon Hirabayashi knew what it was like to stand alone. As a student at the University of Washington, Gordon was one of only three Japanese Americans to defy the executive order that forced thousands of families to leave their homes, their jobs, and their civil rights behind and move to internment camps during World War II.  He took his case all the way to the Supreme Court, and he lost.  In Gordon’s words, ‘It takes a crisis to tell us that unless citizens are willing to stand up for the Constitution, it’s not worth the paper it’s written on.’ And this country is better off because of citizens like him who are willing to stand up.”

Members of the Japanese-American Mochida family awaiting re-location
 to a camp, Hayward, Calif., in May 1942. 

 (Photo by Dorothea Lange/Getty Images)

Gordon Hirabayashi as a young college student

Hirabayashi ended up hitchhiking to Arizona to serve his time in an internment camp.  The site of his internment is now the Gordon Hirabayashi Recreation Site in the Coronado National Forest, on the slopes of Mount Lemmon just outside of Tucson.

University of Washinton A&S

 The Rafu Shimpo 

Dolores Huerta - Notable human right activist and co-founder of

 the National Farmworkers Association in 1962

 "Dolores was very gracious when I told her I had stolen her slogan, 'Si, se puede.' Yes, we can," Obama said during the Medal of Freedom ceremony. "Knowing her, I'm pleased she let me off easy, because Dolores does not play."  News OK 

 

   Dolores Huerta Foundation

Secretary of Labor Hilda L. Solis on Dolores Huerta receiving the Presidential Medal of Freedom

 
Jan Karski, who served as an officer in the Polish Underground during World War II, was among the first to provide eyewitness accounts of Nazi Germany’s murder of the Jews. Karski, who died in 2000, was cited by President Obama as being among the Righteous of the Nations. “Among them was Jan Karski,” a young Polish Catholic who witnessed Jews being put on cattle cars, who saw the killings, and who told the truth, all the way to President Roosevelt himself.” said Obama in a speech given at the Holocaust Museum in Washington, D.C. in April.

Telegram.com on Karski 

Juliette Gordon Low - Founded the Girl Scouts in 1912 

 

“Growing up in Georgia in the late 1800s, Juliette Gordon Low was not exactly typical. She flew airplanes. She went swimming. She experimented with electricity for fun. (Laughter.) And she recognized early on that in order to keep up with the changing times, women would have to be prepared. So at age 52, after meeting the founder of the Boy Scouts in England, Juliette came home and called her cousin and said, “I’ve got something for the girls of Savannah, and all of America, and all the world. And we’re going to start it tonight!” A century later, almost 60 million Girl Scouts have gained leadership skills and self-confidence through the organization that she founded. They include CEOs, astronauts, my own Secretary of State. And from the very beginning, they have also included girls of different races and faiths and abilities, just the way that Juliette would have wanted it.”

Daisy (JGL)

Juliet Gordon Low Birthplace

Toni Morrison - Celebrated American novelist 

Shimon Peres - Advocate for Israel's security and for peace
 Shimon Peres, president of Israel. He won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1994 for his work during the Middle East peace talks that led to the Oslo Accords. He will receive his medal at a separate event.

John Paul Stevens - Associate Justice of the U.S. Supreme Court from 1975 to 2010 

Pat Summitt - All-time winningest coach in NCAA basketball history

 “When one doctor told Pat Summitt she suffered from dementia, she almost punched him. When a second doctor advised her to retire, she responded, ‘Do you know who you are dealing with here?’ Obviously they did not. As Pat says, ‘I can fix a tractor, mow hay, plow a field, chop tobacco, fire a barn and call the cows, but what I’m really known for is winning.’ In 38 years at Tennessee she racked up eight national championships, more than 1,000 wins. Understand, this is more than any college coach, male or female, in the history of the NCAA. And more importantly, every player that has gone through her program has either graduated or is on her way to a degree. That’s why anybody who feels sorry for Pat will find himself on the receiving end of that famous glare. Or she might punch you. She still is getting up every day and doing what she does best, which is teaching. The players, she says, are her best medicine.”

Inside Tennessee on Pat Summitt

We defy augury: there is a special providence in the fall of a sparrow. If it be now, 'tis not to come; if it be not to come, it will be now; if it be not now, yet it will come - the readiness is all. "Hamlet" , V, ii, 210-212

Great Uncle Eugene

Modern Text translation of blog title:
I thumb my nose at superstitions. God controls everything—even something as trivial as a sparrow’s death. Everything will work out as it is destined. If something is supposed to happen now, it will. If it’s supposed to happen later, it won’t happen now. What’s important is to be prepared. Since nobody knows anything about what he leaves behind, then what does it mean to leave early? Let it be.


Matthew 10:29

Are not two sparrows sold for a penny? Yet not one of them will fall to the ground outside Your Father's care. And even the very hairs of your head are all numbered. So don't be afraid; you are worth more than any sparrows.


Every Grain of Sand, Bob Dylan

I hear the ancient footsteps like the motion of the sea
Sometimes I turn, there’s someone there, other times it’s only me
I am hanging in the balance of the reality of man
Like every sparrow falling, like every grain of sand

"We came not into this life by exile, but we came as innocent creatures of God, to learn how to worship the holy and eternal spirit and seek the hidden secrets within ourselves from the beauty of life. This is the truth which I have learned from the teachings of the Nazarene." Khalil Gibran

Gibran Khalil Gibran
January 6, 1883 – April 10, 1931

Kahlil Gibran in Middle Eastern costume
with leopard skin and staff, seated, Detail, 1898, Platinum print.
by photographer F. Holland Day

Your Thought and Mine
Khalil Gibran

Your thought is a tree rooted deep in the soil of tradition and whose branches grow in the power of continuity. My thought is a cloud moving in the space. It turns into drops which, as they fall, form a brook that sings its way into the sea. Then it rises as vapor into the sky. Your thought is a fortress that neither gale nor the lightning can shake. My thought is a tender leaf that sways in every direction and finds pleasure in its swaying. Your thought is an ancient dogma that cannot change you nor can you change it. My thought is new, and it tests me and I test it morn and eve.

You have your thought and I have mine.

Your thought allows you to believe in the unequal contest of the strong against the weak, and in the tricking of the simple by the subtle ones. My thought creates in me the desire to till the earth with my hoe, and harvest the crops with my sickle, and build my home with stones and mortar, and weave my raiment with woolen and linen threads. Your thought urges you to marry wealth and notability. Mine commends self-reliance. Your thought advocates fame and show. Mine counsels me and implores me to cast aside notoriety and treat it like a grain of sand cast upon the shore of eternity. Your thought instills in your heart arrogance and superiority. Mine plants within me love for peace and the desire for independence. Your thought begets dreams of palaces with furniture of sandalwood studded with jewels, and beds made of twisted silk threads. My thought speaks softly in my ears, "Be clean in body and spirit even if you have nowhere to lay your head." Your thought makes you aspire to titles and offices. Mine exhorts me to humble service.

You have your thought and I have mine.

Your thought is social science, a religious and political dictionary. Mine is simple axiom. Your thought speaks of the beautiful woman, the ugly, the virtuous, the prostitute, the intelligent, and the stupid. Mine sees in every woman a mother, a sister, or a daughter of every man. The subjects of your thought are thieves, criminals, and assassins. Mine declares that thieves are the creatures of monopoly, criminals are the offspring of tyrants, and assassins are akin to the slain. Your thought describes laws, courts, judges, punishments. Mine explains that when man makes a law, he either violates it or obeys it. If there is a basic law, we are all one before it. He who disdains the mean is himself mean. He who vaunts his scorn of the sinful vaunts his disdain of all humanity. Your thought concerns the skilled, the artist, the intellectual, the philosopher, the priest. Mine speaks of the loving and the affectionate, the sincere, the honest, the forthright, the kindly, and the martyr. Your thought advocates Judaism, Brahmanism, Buddhism, Christianity, and Islam. In my thought there is only one universal religion, whose varied paths are but the fingers of the loving hand of the Supreme Being. In your thought there are the rich, the poor, and the beggared. My thought holds that there are no riches but life; that we are all beggars, and no benefactor exists save life herself.

You have your thought and I have mine.

According to your thought, the greatness of nations lies in their politics, their parties, their conferences, their alliances and treaties. But mine proclaims that the importance of nations lies in work - work in the field, work in the vineyards, work with the loom, work in the tannery, work in the quarry, work in the timber-yard, work in the office and in the press. Your thought holds that the glory of the nations is in their heroes. It sings the praises of Rameses, Alexander, Caesar, Hannibal, and Napoleon. But mine claims that the real heroes are Confucius, Lao-Tse, Socrates, Plato, Abi Taleb, El Gazali, Jalal Ed-din-el Roumy, Copernicus, and Pasteur. Your thought sees power in armies, cannons, battleships, submarines, aeroplanes, and poison gas. But mine asserts that power lies in reason, resolution, and truth. No matter how long the tyrant endures, he will be the loser at the end. Your thought differentiates between pragmatist and idealist, between the part and the whole, between the mystic and materialist. Mine realizes that life is one and its weights, measures and tables do not coincide with your weights, measures and tables. He whom you suppose an idealist may be a practical man.

You have your thought and I have mine.

Your thought is interested in ruins and museums, mummies and petrified objects. But mine hovers in the ever-renewed haze and clouds. Your thought is enthroned on skulls. Since you take pride in it, you glorify it too. My thought wanders in the obscure and distant valleys. Your thought trumpets while you dance. Mine prefers the anguish of death to your music and dancing. Your thought is the thought of gossip and false pleasure. Mine is the thought of him who is lost in his own country, of the alien in his own nation, of the solitary among his kinfolk and friends.

You have your thought and I have mine.

Aaron John - Five Years Without You

In fulfillment of the promise of peaceful life, symbolized by the pouring of oil upon his head , Aaron's death, as described in the Haggadah, was of a wonderful tranquility. Accompanied by Moses, his brother, and by Eleazar, his son, Aaron went to the summit of Mount Hor, where the rock suddenly opened before him and a beautiful cave lit by a lamp presented itself to his view. "Take off thy priestly raiment and place it upon thy son Eleazar!" said Moses; "and then follow me." Aaron did as commanded; and they entered the cave, where was prepared a bed around which angels stood. "Go lie down upon thy bed, my brother," Moses continued; and Aaron obeyed without a murmur. Then his soul departed as if by a kiss from God. 

The cave closed behind Moses as he left; and he went down the hill with Eleazar, with garments rent, and crying: "Alas, Aaron, my brother! thou, the pillar of supplication of Israel!" When the Israelites cried in bewilderment, "Where is Aaron?" angels were seen carrying Aaron's bier through the air. A voice was then heard saying: "The law of truth was in his mouth, and iniquity was not found on his lips: he walked with me in righteousness, and brought many back from sin"

Aaron the High Priest of Israel

by William Etty 

He is shown wearing his priest's robes and ceremonial breastplate. 

The breastplate is set with twelve jewels, one for each of the twelve tribes of Israel.

 

  Jebel Haroun which in English is the mountain of Aaron. On the peak you can see the shrine to the prophet Aaron the brother of Moses. Aaron is recoginzed as one of God's prophets according to the Quran.  A Day in Petra

The Tomb of Aaron is the burial-place of Aaron, the brother of Moses. It is disputed among Biblical scholars and archaeologists whether his tomb is on Mount Hor, near Mount Sinai in the Sinai, or at a location near Petra in Jordan

 Images of Petra

One Jewish tradition states Aaron died, and was buried on Mount Hor. Mount Hor is located near Mount Sinai in the Sinai. Others believe Aaron, known as Harun in Arabic, died and was buried on Jabal Harun, or Aaron's Mountain, near Petra in Jordan. A mosque was built at Jordanian location in the 14th century

  Aaron's Tomb

The burial-place of Aaron, which, according to Num. xx. 23-28, was Mount Hor, on the edge of the land of Edom. A later tradition, evidently of Mohammedan origin, refers to this hill as the one near Petra, called the Hill of Aaron. On its summit Aaron's tomb is still pointed out. This identification, however, does not agree with the itinerary of the Hebrews from Kadesh, as given in Num. xxxiii. 37, 38 (Jewish Encyclopedia)  Tomb of Aaron

Talia - Dew of God

TALIA  

Aboriginal/Greek/Hebrew/Russian

Talia is a contraction of two Hebrew words (tal and y-uh), and means "dew of God."

Dew and rain are both considered great divine blessings, both mentioned many times in the Bible. Of the two, however, dew is considered a greater blessing. This is for several reason, one being that dew is constant, while rain is less dependable. Another advantage of dew is that it is always a blessing, whereas rain is not. Rain can fall to the extent that it is damaging, while dew brings only good.

Chassidic texts explain that rain and dew are both metaphors for divine bounty. Rain isn't a constant, at times there are droughts, because the divine blessing symbolized by rain is dependent on human effort and merit—which aren't always constant. Dew, on the other hand, represents God's kindness that isn't contingent on our actions or behavior, the kindness that stems from His unceasing and immutable love for His children.
  
 Destiny number - 7 (16)
The number 7 Destiny suggests that the direction of growth in her lifetime will be toward thought, analysis, and the development of a mind skilled at searching out the truth. Talia must become accomplished at analyzing, judging and discriminating, so that little escapes her observation and deep understanding. In this Talia will become increasingly introspective, and value seclusion and solitude.

Talia is the type of person that can really get involved in a search for wisdom or hidden truths, and Talia must become an authority on whatever it is she is focusing on. This can easily be of a technical or scientific nature, or it may be religious or occult, it matters very little, Talia pursues knowledge with the same sort of vigor. Talia can make a very fine teacher, or because of a natural inclination toward the spiritual, Talia may become deeply emerged in religious affairs or even psychic explorations. Talia has excellent capabilities to study and learn very deep and difficult subjects, and to search for hidden fundamentals.

Talia tends to operate on a rather different wavelength, and many of her friends may not really know her very well. At full maturity Talia is likely to be a very peaceful and poised individual. Talia likes to work alone, at her own pace and in her own way. Talia neither shows or understands emotions very well.

The positive aspects of the 7 Destiny are that Talia must be a true perfectionist in a very positive sense of the word. Talia is very logical, and usually employs a quite rational approach to most things she does. Talia can be so rational at times that she almost seems to lack emotion, and when Talia is faced with an emotional situation, she may have a bit of a problem coping with it.

 If there is an over supply of the number 7 in her makeup, the negative aspects of the number may be apparent. The chief negative of 7 relates to the limited degree of trust that Talia may have in people. A tendency to be highly introverted can make Talia a bit on the self-centered side, certainly very much self-contained. Because of this, Talia is not very adaptable, and Talia may tend to be overly critical and intolerant.

The Gypsy

New Morning

Or So It Appears: A Play On Words

 "A memoir is how one remembers one's own life" Gore Vidal

Cast of Characters:

We Mind (Heard but not seen)

Mother (Mommy)

Father (Daddy)
1st daughter
2nd daughter
3rd daughter
Only son
4th daughter 5th child

Setting: The Humble family abode. Relatives and friends are sitting in rows of folding chairs which have been set up in the back yard. The five adult children of Mother and Father Humble are standing on a  raised wooden platform which Pooh, carpenter extraordinaire, has thrown together for the occasion. They are facing the audience of seated people and about to address them. Small children are running, climbing trees, playing on swing sets and a trampoline. Older children are playing yard tennis and horseshoes . It's a lovely Spring day. Father is snoozing under a Mimosa tree in his hammock. Mother is off in the distance, sitting on a wicker divan between an Ironwood and a Magnolia.  She is writing her memoir in a large spiral bound notebook and shows no interest in what's going on around her.  She is having a very bad hair day.

We Mind:
Mother is crazy.  But why is she crazy?  What makes her crazy?  What defines her craziness?  The Annual Conference on Mother’s Insanity is about to begin.  Alright, who’s kidding who?  Is this not the Daily Conference on Mother’s Sanity?  We will try to answer these and all other pertinent questions in the limited amount of time (and space) allotted.  We being, the soundest mind in the business.  Don’t roll your eyes.  Don’t snicker.  It’s true.  We won out.  We passed the test with flying colors.  We is the champion.  We done did it.  How did We do it?  Listen up.  We will tell you.  All minds were put in a shoe box, the lid of which was tightly secured with two fat rubberbands in crisscross fashion.  The box was then shuffled and shaken, tossed and hurled, kicked, batted, dunked, dodged and volleyed.  Only one mind survived this rigorous ordeal: the We Mind; the Master of Ceremonies, the Voice that speaks to you now from the marvelous surround sound that Father installed this very morning.  Thank you, Father.

1st daughter:
Yes. Mother is crazy, or so it appears. All of us have expected as much for years. But, how did she get that way?  What drove her there?  That's what I'd like to know.  That's what we'd all like to know, I'm sure.  So, with these questions and their many derivatives in mind, let us get down to the business for which we have assembled. Daddy, you can bang your gavel now. Daddy? Daddy! Will someone please wake up Daddy? Anybody want a beer? How about some coffee? Oh, never mind. Please stay in your seats.  Here comes Daddy now.  Daddy?  Daddy, where are you going?  You're supposed to bang the gavel.  Really?  You have to do that right now?  Can't you do that later?  No?  Alright.  Never mind.  Forget it.  Go do what you've got to do.  I'll bang the gavel.  Bang,bang,bang! The Annual Conference on Mother’s Sanity will now begin. 

2nd daughter:
We are hers, she is ours; we have a stake in her sanity, and we are determined to make things right for her and for ourselves, for we are inseparable, we are a family. And so, for that purpose, we have come together as a unit, to offer our individual observations and interpretations of mother’s mental state, and to provide a six part integrative therapy, each part or mode from our own particular area of expertise, and hopefully, complimentary to it’s counterparts.  So, let's get this show on the road, folks.  No point in putting it off any longer.  We don't want your tailbones getting numb.  Not to mention, I've got a tennis match in three hours.  Okie dokie then.  Our first order of business will be in the form of a Power Point presentation offering you a brief overview of our strategies for bringing about the “Social Adjustment” of Mother.  Peace out.  The devil made me say that. 

3rd daughter:
What’s that? Oh, yes. We would like to mention; there will be workshops following the lectures where we can actually try out the proposed therapies on Mother, or each other if you like. After all, we only have one Mother and she can’t be everywhere at once. And though I am sure we would all agree that no one could ever take her place, please feel free to be a sub, so to speak, be her stand in, her proxy. Sit in Mother’s chair, wear one of her many hats, slip into her shoes (God knows she has enough of them), put on one of her many aprons (yes, she still wears aprons.  Daddy thinks they're sexy - (yeah, I know, right?) and try to act and react as Mother would, or as you think (knowing her as well as you do), Mother should.  Over to you, Pooh. 

Only son:
The workshops and their leaders are as follows:
1. Labor Camp Headed (Enforced) by Daddy
2. Creative Insanity, Facilitated by 1st daughter
3. Sports for the Out-of-Sorts, Led by 2nd daughter
4. Politically Correct Obsessions, Offered by 3rd daughter

5. Wilderness and the Weird, Guided by moi, only son 4th child, Pooh.  Egad.  Will she ever stop calling me that? 
6. Putting the Squeeze on Anxiety, Demonstrated by 4th daughter-5th child

I hope you all brought your appetites. As usual, Mother has cooked for an army. You will find a sumptuous array of her specialties spread out on the dining room table. And please, remember your manners, and I am not speaking of your table manners. Remember, good therapists set good examples. Must I define “good’? No hee-hawing, no slapping of the thighs, no eye-rolling, no elbowing, and above all, no profanity. We can't berate Mother for using the F-word if we are going to use it ourselves. 

4th daughter 5th child:
Thank you one and all, our many aunts, uncles, cousins, friends and neighbors for your attendance at this conference today. It is reassuring to know that you have our Mother’s best interest at heart, and that we can count on you for input and support during these trying times. Yes Uncle Bud, what is it? Ah yes, Uncle Bud has asked me to announce that the keg is on the back porch and open for business. Daddy, you may now have the floor. Daddy. Daddy? Daddy! Will somebody please wake up Daddy.

Father:
I would like to begin with a quote from my own father. “Work all your life and what do you get? Dirty, rotten macaroni!” I remember hearing him say this many a time after a hard day’s work as he scraped the macaroni off his plate and into the garbage. And how is this anecdote, or whatever you want to call it, relevant to our reason for being here today? Yes, you over there in the blue shirt. Please speak up. Did everyone hear that? The guy in the blue shirt in the third row sitting next to the lady in the red beret - Tom isn’t it? – Mrs. Spencer’s son from two doors down, if I’m not mistaken – Tom has very accurately answered my question by saying “in no way whatsoever”. Very keen of you Tom, to realize that my father’s words have no relevance at all to the present plight of my dear wife and our gathering here today in a collaborative effort to break the cycle of her apparent craziness.

My wife is an excellent cook. Always has been. Nope. There’s no complaint in that department. Even on her worst days she manages to have a nice dinner waiting for me. My point here is this: even the craziest of mothers can continue to function and pass as perfectly sane. This is the case with you-know-who. But to those of us who know her best, who see her everyday and who must, for reasons of proximity, interact day-in and day-out with her, we, the chosen few who live under the same roof, (and a good roof it is I’ll have you know) have all the evidence we need that she is not all there, or here, if you will.

I can not pinpoint the exact moment of her departure. She, in lucid moments, traces it all the way back to our first Christmas together as man and wife, and that my friends is a paradox, because when she brings up all that old shit she is anything but lucid. But bring it up she does, again and again and again. Now you tell me, what good is that story and why has she hung on to it all these years? Tom, please put down your hand. Give someone else a chance. Somebody other than Tom please. Yes, Aunt Mabel. No, you don’t have to come up here. You can stay in your seat. No, please Aunt Mabel, stay in your seat. Well, okay then, if you insist. What’s that? You want to sing a song? But really, Aunt Mabel, this is not the time and place. What's that you say?  Carrot cake?  Donny, will you go out to Aunt Mabel’s car and get the carrot cake in the back seat? There’s been a little change in the program folks. Aunt Mabel will now sing “Blessed Assurance”.

Very nice, very nice. Thanks, Aunt Mabel. Now, where was I?  Ah, yes. Excuses, excuses, excuses. The accused are always looking for excuses. “Excuse me please, I’m crazy but I have a good excuse.”  Nonsense, there is no excuse for craziness.  I don't buy excuses.  It's best to turn a deaf ear.  There is no excuse for laziness. If everyone was like me, there would be no insanity. Hard work. That’s what people need. If everyone worked as hard as I work they wouldn’t have time to be waylaid down the idle avenues that lead to mental instability. That is my dear wife’s problem. Too much time on her hands. We have got to keep her busy so she can’t sit around making up stories. Why do you think I leave my stuff lying all around the house? Yes, Tom, go ahead, just shout it out, why don’t you? Because I’m a slob? Very funny, Tom, very funny. No. Not because I’m a slob. I leave my stuff all over the house to keep my her busy. She can’t stand to see my crap everywhere. It drives her crazy. She has to put it away where it belongs. See? You got to keep them busy. 

We Mind:

Yes.  We would do well to keep busy, wouldn't We?  But We must not fail to understand that appearances are deceiving.  Mother has her own way of keeping busy, and although it may appear that she is staring into space and doing nothing, she is in fact, busy.  She is busy thinking.  How many times has We seen her sitting at the kitchen table with her chin in her hand gazing up at the ceiling or down at the floor, as a fortune teller gazes into a crystal ball, and when interrupted at such times, how often has We heard her say, “Don’t bother me, I’m busy.”   Busy is as busy does, and when Mother is thinking, she is most busy doing.  We must do what We can do to provide peace and quiet for her to do what she does. When there is too much noise she can’t  see or hear herself think.  Mother doesn’t think as We thinks.  Mother doesn't do as We does.   We has noticed that at times Mother provides sound effects to accompany or enhance her thinking.  It may appear to the untrained observer that she is talking to herself but We knows better.  We knows she is in the act of creating.  We bets you don't know that Mother can read an entire book, silently, mentally, in the voice of Donald Duck. How does that grab you?  She once told We that she found it very frustrating to be able to think and read in Donald Duck but not speak it.  Her mind is never still or dull or boring, it is always looking for a challenge.  Who knows?  With practice, and cooperation, Mother may one day meet the challenge and master the art of speaking fluent Donald Duck.

(to be continued) (maybe)