Now the only time I like to go to the doctor is when I have some bug that’s gone viral – okay, bacterial. Of course I have to make sure I have been sick enough for enough days so that the doc will indeed give me some antibiotics. A few days later I feel much better and that’s the end of that.

As an adult, with some years of life experience, it’s the preventive doctor visits I dislike. I go in feeling fine, believing all is well … and then I get some call saying, oh you need to come back in for a re-check.

Mammograms are a great example. Fortunately for them, men do not get to endure this crushing pain. Literally. Crushing. Pain. Open refrigerator door – insert appendage – close and push with all your weight. And by the way, hold your breath and don’t move the entire time. What a refreshing way to conduct an examination.

Inevitably they call me back. As if one crushing experience wasn’t enough fun, they need to repeat it, along with a couple extra images this time. A doctor or tech told me once my boobs are “dense.” Maybe they were calling my boobs dumb, but I took it to be good news as a contributing factor to this extreme stress they cause me year after year with the call backs.

The eye doctor is of course the exception. I’ve needed glasses since 5^th grade so I really don’t have to worry much there. The glaucoma check might ring a teeny, tiny alarm in the back of my head just in case that might come up positive. But except for the nearsightedness, now a bit complicated by presbyopia, my eyes are good. (If you are too young to know what presbyopia is, you probably still think going to the doctor is no big deal.)

Dr. Dentist, sorry but you were never and still are not my friend. That one bad experience with some whack job when I was six or so, followed by my parents scolding me for crying because you caused me severe pain, coupled with lots of fillings and crowns, leaves me with nothing but dread. It is only my shred of hope that the regular semi-annual exams will prevent further problems that bring me to your chair twice a year. Just know that if you make one wrong move, I’m outta there!

Instead of 18 kazillion layers of packaging and 11X17 paper folded down to 1/2-inch thick to fit in the box, Ciba Vision prints all that excess stuff – they call it “supporting information” – on the inside of the box. Now that’s the stuff most of us don’t read anyway so probably nobody misses it.

I was looking for one particular fact and went searching for it. Side of the box says, “See carton inside flap for supporting information.” To make it even better, Ciba Vision makes sure the box opens easaily once you open the “Tamper Resistant” top.

In this era of over-packaging, this makes me happy. We Americans are still wasteful with all our things, but little steps like this can make a difference.

Her glow reminds me of a harvest moon … a partial harvest, even stark perhaps, in the leanness of 2011′s economic environment. Still, a sign of promise for the New Year. We will have a harvest again in 2012 and for many of us harvest is to have just enough of what we need. In fact, shouldn’t that be all we want?

Champagne-lit moon in her bed of deep, clear midnight blue. Her gentle light blurs the sparkle of any stars, but I don’t really mind. She leads each night into a new day, and into a new year. A constant amid a life of constant change.

Patrol officers, the front line out on the street, are often at the greatest risk. They are the first responders for a diverse range of calls from a cow or gator (or insert any animal indigenous to your area) in the street to domestic disturbance to a fatality. And one such call took the life of a Bismarck, North Dakota, police officer Friday night.

Bismarck is hometown to both my husband and me, and our daughter. My husband was a Bismarck police officer for more than 10 years until he moved to law enforcement in Florida. Bismarck is generally a typical, mid-American place where the quality and pace of life feels to many like a step back in time. There is crime but for the most part you feel safe there.

Bismarck police officer and K9, photo from BismarckTribune.com

Yet it’s important that each of us remember the danger police officers insert themselves into every day, every shift. They come to work prepared for the worst and hoping for the best.

In Bismarck, like many towns across America, homicides are rare and officers killed in the line of duty rarer. It is heartbreaking that the job we needed this officer to do cost the officer’s life, and it is wrong. None of us have any right to take out our problems and frustrations on innocent bystanders. We call officers to help because they are trained to do so. They serve and protect—us.

Because they do their jobs so well, most of us stay blissfully unaware of that ‘dark’ side of our respective cities. When you live in a place like Bismarck you are hardly aware of any bad element in the city because the Bismarck Police Department contains it and keeps us safe.

Please keep this officer’s family in your prayers. When you see a police officer, thank him or her for doing their jobs. I suspect the officer will be humble and a bit embarrassed by it, and deeply appreciative.

Jacksonville loves fireworks!

Happy Independence Day!

With the prelude of cannons, like the bride and groom at their first wedding dance, we cheer the colorful embers dancing with the stars! Star-Spangled Banner, My Country ‘Tis of Thee mix with patriotic country ballads and Bruce Springsteen. Our bellies are full from burgers, hot dogs or fried chicken and Grandma’s potato salad, and our skin is sticky with dried sweat from a long day in the summer sun. Even though we’re just a little bit comatose from all that abundance, we stand to cheer and ahhhh at this deep-rooted tradition that is America.

This year of 2011, governments are damned if theydo, damned if they don’t. In tight budget times with high unemployment, there is a faction that will cry foul if cities go forward with their usual fireworks displays on the Fourth of July. And there are others, like me, who will decry the decision to cancel fireworks displays.

Modern America is not known for its philosophy of moderation. We are a nation of extremes, so we rarely consider the opportunity to find middle ground. In this instance, where our service men and women continue to help foreign countries fight to obtain and maintain independence, across America we owe it to them to honor and celebrate our 235 years of independence.

A lazy day of backyard cookouts with family and friends is the core of our July Fourth tradition, and as American as baseball, Mom and apple pie. A fireworks display at sunset is the enormous bow on the package of a life of freedom!

In Florida where I live it is so dry that we shouldn’t have fireworks for safety reasons. That makes me sad but I understand because safety comes first. But the budgetary excuses irritate me. Scale back, 10 percent, 15 percent or even 25 percent. Just do something that reminds your local residents to revel in the privilege of freedom we have in the USA.

Freedom is reason to celebrate!

(Photo Source: http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/5532992/4th_of_july_fireworks_in_jacksonville.html?cat=8)

The question that serious people should be asking themselves now is, how did the US get to a situation where our elected officials cannot agree on what problems face America?  Republicans are stuck on the theme of cutting taxes (with a clear view that there are massive budget deficits as far as one can see) combined with deep cuts in government spending (oh, yes the largest expenditure, defense, is off the table).  Democrats see many injustices ( … Read More

via Regaining the Center

It is not about parties. It is about doing the right thing and getting the job done. What would your mothers (or grandmothers) say? They taught you to play nice, didn’t they?

The same rules apply in this important, grown-up ‘playground.’ It is time for you all – from the President, and Congress, to state governors and legislators, and city mayors and commissioners – to behave like grown-ups.

This is a challenging time and you face serious issues to manage. Nobody argues that; however, you asked to be in this role to serve the public. It is not about your ego and how wonderful you are in your opinion. Your role is about service to the American people.

Congress – it is time to get the job done. Pass the budget. Do what every other American worker, private and public sector, does when he or she has a deadline. We work extra hours to get it done, and get it done on time. You are already way past on time, so play nice and get it done today.

State leaders – solve the real problems and stop making scapegoats of public education, public safety, and public service to our country’s needy and underprivileged. It is only by the grace of a higher power that you and I are not in their shoes. Enjoy your rich and famous lifestyle without forgetting the responsibility you have to the least of these among us.

Again, we all appreciate the difficult tasks you have in this environment. Your constituents across this great land know that our country has the most creative and entrepreneurial spirit around. Tap into that to find new ways to address these ongoing and often old problems. Make the difficult decisions that may impact your lifestyle. Cut your own salaries and benefits, and for goodness sake, change the laws that allow you to receive your exorbitant pay while you let the federal government shut down to leave thousands more Americans without paychecks.

Government, at all levels in our democracy, provides services to citizens. It is not a for-profit corporation and the attitude to run government like a business is irrelevant. Go look in the eyes of the neediest in your constituency and tell them you want to cut programs that serve them. I dare you.

Before our eyes, seven lives ended. Dramatically. Forcefully. Explosively.

One was not even a ‘real’ astronaut. She was a school teacher. While the term wasn’t coined yet, this was probably one of her ‘bucket list’ items.

Now, 25 years later, I wonder if she or her family fully embraced the danger of the mission she chose to make. I suspect like most things in life, they acknowledged the risk, signed any appropriate paperwork and expected to celebrate a successful mission with her once the Challenger returned to Earth. Bucket List: Travel to Space = check!

Thankfully our space exploration program continued despite the loss, the fear, the horror. It is not perfect — how can pioneers even expect perfection? The Columbia tragedy would come in 2003 costing us another seven brave explorers. Yet our space program continues, and our society continues to benefit in both measurable and immeasurable ways from the intelligence of these myriad experts who epitomize “thinking outside the box.”

It is a tribute to all those who have died as part of the NASA space program that we forge ahead. To do otherwise, belittles the sacrifices they and their families made  toward the betterment of the USA.

I live in Florida now and my Florida bucket list includes watching a shuttle launch live and in person. It appears that I have three remaining opportunities to cross that one off my list and I plan to get it done. I will continue to pray for the safetly of all upcoming shuttle missions and look forward to watching soon from Cape Canaveral.

Maybe we could all just take a moment to fix our own mistakes. Instead of chiding others.

Maybe we could all just take a moment to share a kindness. Instead of an attack.

Maybe, just maybe … in those moments, we could prove to a little nine-year-old angel watching from above, that her family’s loss is a giant step toward a better society.

Maybe, just maybe … in those moments, the judge now next to our heavenly judge will see that we finally understand that justice means giving, not taking.

Maybe just maybe … in those moments, while we wait for a courageous woman to win her life back, together we will begin to heal our States’ fractured Unity.

Maybe, just maybe … in those moments, parents will pause to show their children that they matter more than things. They matter enough to boldly question their choices and help them find a path to peace, not violence.

Maybe. Just maybe.