Dec. 13, 2003 ~ Angels working overtime
I talked to Soldier Boy this morning, who had some excellent news. The plans to go to Iraq have been officially canceled. It turned out that the rumor about them going was true, and he could not say anything about what they were going to do there, but the higher-ups did tell them that plans have changed. So it looks like he will be coming home for a visit shortly after Christmas. We will probably wait and celebrate with him. Well, I did already mail his gifts, just in case, but I will probably just buy a few more little things, so he will have something to open here with us. My best present will be having him come home, but even more than that, I am especially grateful that he will not be in harm's way any time soon. Well, no more than usual, anyway. It looks to me as if his angels have been working overtime.
As one son is preparing to come home for a visit, another son is getting ready to spread his wings and fly away. Not too far, but far enough for him to be on his own. College Boy will be transferring to another school in just a few weeks. That reality is sinking in, for all of us. The other day, as we sat at the dining room table, he said, "Wow. I'm leaving soon."
"Yes," I said.
"Will you miss me?" he asked.
And that about sums it up. He is well and truly leaving, and yes, we will miss him. Our nest will be empty for the first time ever. He can come home fairly often if he wants to, and he knows he is welcome, but it's also okay if it turns out that he wants to spend his weekends there.
A funny thing happened at a fancy-shmancy party last night. Husband and I were sitting at a table with several folks, one of whom is a pretty good friend of mine. We meet for lunch when we can, we email often, we call each other up and just talk. But it seems that there is one subject we have NOT discussed, and that is politics. That seems odd now, but it just never came up. Actually, I was already aware of her political leanings, because of something she'd once said. She, however, knew nothing about my opinions, and just assumed I shared her beliefs. Last night she found out otherwise. I think she's still in shock. The conversation went something along these lines:
"You listen to ___________ (fill in the blank with name of a certain talk-radio host), don't you?"
"No."
"Never?"
"Never."
"But, but, you're a good _________ (fill in the blank with political beliefs of your choice), aren't you?"
"No."
"YOU'RE NOT?" she gasped, eyes wide open.
"No."
"But... but... what are you, then? You don't mean... you aren't... you can't be... YOU MEAN YOU'RE A __________?" (And yes, you're supposed to fill in that last blank with the name of a political party. You pick.)
That last sentence was spoken very loudly. My friend seemed stunned. I think she thought I was kidding. There was a singer circulating in the room, who was actually quite loud. My friend's final question was loud enough to be heard over the music.
Then everyone at the table started talking about how easy it is to assume that other people are just exactly like us, when they really aren't, and how we should not make that assumption.
The thing is, though, that I'm the same person I was before my friend knew how I felt about politics. And I'm not so sure that I like being labeled as one thing or another. I'm just me. Still me. It's not like I eat puppies for breakfast, or kick small children. And I'd like to believe that whatever our particular beliefs or opinions, we're all more alike than we are different.
Anyway.
On a totally different subject, you can expect meat prices to go up. Well, DUH, right? But seriously, they will. Maybe not right away, probably not in the near future, but they definitely will go up. In the past, when we've gotten terrible prices for our cattle at auction, supermarket meat prices remained high for quite some time afterwards, but they eventually came down. Supply and demand. And now supply and demand is working in our favor. Our last check from the sale barn was higher than it has ever been. Supermarket meat prices, though, do not seem particularly high. But they have to go up, and they will. Just thought I'd let you know.
There were about a dozen brown ducks on our little pond this morning! When I opened the gate to the back pasture, most of the ducks took flight... all but one. And of course I worried and fretted about that one. Was he hurt? Sick? Deaf or blind? Did he not realize that the flock had left him behind? How would he ever catch up with his friends? I made a lot of noise, hoping he would get the hint and depart, but he just swam in lazy circles. I busied myself tending the cattle, and next time I looked, our little brown duck was gone. Whew.
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