Moving to Oregon

Spent several days in Roseburg OR looking for a place to live. It is a nice quiet little town. I love the green, the rain, the deer, and all of the really neat stuff that is there. Roseburg is only 90 miles from Coos Bay, there are waterfalls, covered bridges, hiking trails, and it is just a nice place to get lost in. The people seemed really nice too.

I found a house I liked and I am trying to get the financing together to buy it. It sits on top of a small mountain and overlooks the Ompqua river. No one is lending money right now so I am being very creative in my thoughts and prayers tying to make this move happen. Please keep my efforts in your prayers.

All my bags are packed I'm ready to go. Remember that song? Well it is time for a "ROAD TRIP" to Idaho with Russell for Jamison's blessing. Look for pictures soon because I am teaching Russell how to take photos and then he will start his own blog with his pictures and thoughts. I am excited about heading north to cooler weather (I hope).

Amish Flower Shop on the Eastern Shore of Maryland

I took a week off and flew back to Maryland to spend a week with Barbara and her family. Barbara had been in Maryland for a month before I joined her. Two of Barbara's sisters live on the Eastern Shore so we went to spend a night with them. While we were there we went for a drive and ended up at an Amish Nursery. The flowers were so pretty that I got carried away with the camera and have decided to share my photos with you. Just click on the flower to watch the show. Enjoy.

Emotional Chaos

Wow, just cannot figure out my feelings today.  I got a call from the Oprah Winfrey radio show and was interviewed by Dr. Angelau Maya.  Wow, what an honor.  I have read all of her poems and Russell has come to respect her and her words.  But the interview was about my military experience and what it was like to be a veteran.  All of my emotions came flooding back and the only thing that kept me together was the knowledge that war makes people do things that they normally would not do.  So to help me through this moment I have decided to post the pictures of the Viet Nam Memorial.  

I am still trying to deal with my emotions of my military experience and what the Wall represents to me.  The day I took the pictures I could not bring myself to touch the Wall.  I knew in my heart that I would cry for the ones who died and who's names were engraved in the stone.  I was overcome with the immensity of the memorial.  The way the wall grew in depth in the soil instead of in height above the lawn.  The feeling of the tragedy of what happened in Viet Nam overcame me and I wanted to run from my emotions again, but I did not.  I stood there very proud of who I was and for the first time I was not ashamed to be a veteran. 

I hope the pictures will show how I felt that day and that evening last fall.  In a couple of weeks I am returning to DC and I will visit the wall again in an effort to find myself.