Hope

Sam said that if I become fluent in Spanish (or Italian - we aren't picky), then we can move to the matching country! I regularly read two blogs, one written by Rebekah, who is from Pennsylvania and the other by her husband, Paddy, who is British, about their life in a tiny village on the Camino de Santiago in Spain:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Way_of_St._James

They moved to Moratinos a couple years ago and their home is open to Pilgrims who need a place to stop while walking the Camino. Their lives sound lovely and they continue to remark that there is no place they would rather be. The other day Paddy commented on the fact that there is no class structure in the village and that he has no way of knowing (or caring) if they are the wealthiest, or the poorest, folks in town. That sounds so wonderful to me.

So as soon as I finish writing this I will start my Spanish lessons!

Last night we went to hear Robert F Kennedy Jr speak. He is an environmental advocate who has been at it for 25 years. His stamina and his optimism are inspiring. The revelations that he made about the truly evil and numerous illegal actions of the Bush administration were astounding - appalling, but in ways, not surprising. Nearly every word that came out of his mouth confirmed what I have always known (or suspected), but it was somehow enncouraging to hear someone give names, statistics, dates, etc. to confirm it all. For the sake of my reader(s) I won't go into depressing details, but his website tells much of it: www.robertfkennedyjr.com

Here is the hopeful part....he assured us that the Obama administration GETS IT! The essential players understand the urgency and understand the steps necessary for solutions. They understand that you don't put someone in charge of a department that they have never believed in, but instead you find leaders who are ethical, honest, and truly commited to enforcing laws that protect the environment and to finding alternatives that will stop and reverse global warming. He talked about going to Europe with his father 40+ years ago and of the thousands of people who came to hear his father, waving tiny US flags - throught western and eastern Europe. People wanted to meet an American politician and they had hope in our leadership. He talked about the two weeks after 9/11 when hundreds or Muslims had candellight vigils in the streets of Tehran showing their love and support for the United States. But Bush destroyed all of that. We became the most hated and least repected country in the world. But RFK Jr was in Europe two weeks ago and he said that we are loved again. The world has so much hope for our new leadership and the wounds and scars of the past eight years are already healing.

Change of subject:
In 1973 there was a movie called "Sunshine" and in 1975 they made it into a television show that only ran for one season. I loved the movie and the show. I was 14 when the TV show was on and I immersed myself in it each week. The theme song was John Denver's "Sunshine on My Shoulders," and I sang along...I wanted to be in the lives of the characters on the show. Here is the interesting part - the story was about a man named Sam, who's wife had died of cancer, and now he was raising her daughter (from a previous marriage) in the Pacific Northwest. hmmm...sounds at least vaguely familiar.

That is about all I have to tell today...