Tuesday, April 26, 2011

Counting Our Blessings

Sorry guys for keeping radio silence for so long, but I have been out of town for three weeks working for Joe Hobbs in Mobile and New Orleans. It is always hard to leave home and get a new rhythm going. Joe is an old friend and he is an amazing guy to work for; we got right to work and started checking things off the list. 
I have not spent much time in Mobile before this month, to report in Downtown is booming and coming up. Lots of youthful art and culture, a great music scene (The Suzies). It was wonderful to be in the South in spring time, but it was very hard to be away from my family in New Mexico. Though, New Orleans did keep me warm and fuzzy while I was away. I haven't been there since before Katrina hit, it is still not 100% there but that place has a heart that will beat long past when the clock stops ticking. Don't get me wrong, we worked hard but man that city will shake you awake.  
 I arrived home a few days ago and my parents came along to visit. I have been showing them around my neck of New Mexico and it has been great to rediscover with them how beautiful and expansive it is.
 On one of our adventures we went to The Vietnam Veterans Memorial at Angel Fire. The memorial was built in 1968, long before our nation would leave Vietnam or Americans would begin to honor the sacrifice of the young men and women who were sent to serve the whims of men who sat behind desks. It is a beautiful piece of art that would survive the critique of even the most jaded. It is a beautifully somber and emotional place, I do not believe that anyone could walk the grounds there and not shed tears for those we have lost. It was an especially emotional experience for my father who is a Veteran of Vietnam; and though I may never be able to walk in his shoes with the weight he carries, I was lucky to have shared this experience with him. Never Forget.
 As a kind of footnote, I hope we all remember that war is evil but the poor and disenfranchised that we send to battle are never to blame for the idiocy of bureaucrats.
                                                  "What a waste of life."    Richard Ziemba