And they're off . . .

I forgot.  I can't find a lot of my photos.  I messed around with the computer yesterday and I think I've thrown out things I didn't mean to throw out.  Oh well, c'est la vie! This is the Live Oak in the backyard, probably taken in March.

They're off to Ponchatula to pick up Big Kiddo's brand spankin' new travel trailer. The "they" is comprised of P&D's Pop, Big Kiddo and Southern Daughter. It's really pretty darned exciting. They already have a place to camp for this weekend when they go to New Orleans for some travel team baseball. Southern Daughter's nephew plays in a league and there are a couple of games this weekend. He's from Texas and has been warned not to go hanging out in New Orleans at night because you have to know how to maneuver in NOLA but he said that wasn't on the agenda. I believe his wife and young son will also be there to root him on. I have to find out the team's name. It's pretty neat that Big Kiddo already has a place to go on the first weekend that they have their travel trailer. We'll keep the puppies. We'll be old hands at this puppy sitting soon! We already know that we only need one crate for old Shelby and just a dog bed for Daytona. I think they're going to like it here! Old dog just likes to eat and sleep in her crate; new dog likes to lie outside in the shade and watch the world go by. They're very easy to have as guests! I even have two old blankets, one which I made for our kids and one which Ma Tante Rose crocheted they can use for lying out on the porch in the shade or in the cool of the kitchen.

It's been a little busy this week as I've been to Slaughter to help M. get to her doctor's appointment and physical therapy. She can't drive yet because she has to take pain pills before the therapy but Wednesday, with no pain meds, I will accompany her and B's foster children to their visitation appointment in Livingston. The child will be fine in the car but if the baby gets grouchy M. will need help and I hope I can help! Both kiddos are doing so well with the love and care they are getting from B. It's too bad the state insists that their parents must still be allowed access to their castaways. I certainly don't have the answers but I do believe that if someone is taking my tax money I should be allowed to tell them they can't make any babies and I will pay to have them neutered. I also believe that visiting parents who refuse to care for their progeny, and by that I mean, feed them, keep them clean, teach them right from wrong and educate them, should not be allowed to be a part of the children's lives. When children are treated worse than animals it's time to lock up the parents in a jungle with all the other bad parents, throw them bread and water and let them try to live in that environment. It can bring you to tears to see how some people live and it is grossly unfair for the state to perpetuate this.

Gee, hadn't planned to go into children's welfare but there it is. This has nothing to do with ethnicity but everything to do with politics. Our society has produced an underclass of good-of-nothings and allows them to breed. The problem is not poverty because that underclass can also be found in the wealthy communities;  the problem is in a society with no behavioral expectations of its citizens. Perhaps if the schools were allowed to instill discipline in all children and expectations were set for behavior and learning we might overcome some of the trauma you read about daily in the media. But that would be hard work and we would need a judiciary that would insist on keeping children safe, clean and educated in basic reading, writing, arithmetic and history with a capital H. I'm a bit of a pessimist now because I don't see the state helping out except if the politicians can get some votes for themselves to keep the lowly low and keep the power in their own hands. The churches must step in but I'm starting to think churches can also be a problem when they are more interested in telling bible stories than doing the hard work of saving the children from a society that has no rules or expectations. Maybe we need a really good strong intelligent tyrant!

Well, certainly have written some incoherent thoughts today. I should probably quit reading the newspaper! It seems there is never a dearth of stories about the slime and corruption of the political class and the heart rending stories about people behaving worse than any of the other animals God has created. Perhaps the ability to think is a curse.

Quote:  Whether it be for good or evil, the education of the child is principally derived from its own observation of the action, words, voice, and looks of those with whom it lives.  --The friends of the young, then, cannot be too circumspect intheir presence to avoid every and the least appearance of evil.    ___Jebb