After getting through St. Peter at the pearly gates, God’s question of you will be, “What did you do with what I gave you?” before you hear, “Well done, good and faithful servant!”

Over the past three decades, my husband & I have certainly endeavored to make good use of our inborn talents, if not in our "native" part of the country.  Apparently we've been obeying the following Biblical command originally given to Abra(ha)m:

Genesis 12: 1-3  Now the LORD had said unto Abram, Get thee out of thy country, and from thy kindred, and from thy father’s house, unto a land that I will shew thee:  And I will make of thee a great nation, and I will bless thee, and make thy name great; and thou shalt be a blessing: And I will bless them that bless thee and curse him that curseth thee: and in thee shall all families of the earth be blessed.

Off we went, first he by himself to southern climes thanks to his USAF orders, then both of us to the British Isles for three years, then back to Dixie and the house he bought in the process.  After 24 years in the same spot, what comes next?  I’m getting itchy, as it’s the longest I’ve ever lived in one place (I was in the house where I grew up for 17 years and couldn't wait to vacate that, either)!  The difference now, of course, is I'm no longer an inexperienced college graduate moving out on my own; this house is paid in full, so we can do whatever we choose to with it (rental income?) while pursuing our paths further down the trail of life.  We've been joking lately, citing Pinky and the Brain:

"Are you thinking what I'm thinking?"
"I think so, Brain; but...(fill in blank with weird suggestion of Pinky's)"

Direction is certainly desired, and a change feels like it's in the offing, but change for the sake of change is seldom useful to anybody!

Alternatives to protesting Monsanto

Life in all its busyness has kept me off of here for a while.  However, in recent weeks I've been seeing more and more often some things that made me feel the need to vent loudly.

One of my boys is now engaged; he & my future daughter-in-law are very health conscious.  She is also an educator & supportive of the current effort to persuade corporations such as McDonald's to stop marketing directed at young children.  Personally, I've never had any particular beef (pardon the pun) with Ronald McDonald.  As the parent of four, I can understand the viewpoint, particularly after having children who preferred Happy Meals offering toys to balanced ones.  Personally, I've made an effort to avoid eating at McD's due to diet/health reasons for several years.

This past weekend I happened to drive past the South Carolina state capitol in Columbia on my way to complete an errand while my daughter was at a swim meet.  There was a small number (perhaps 15) of people standing out there forming their own "March Against Monsanto" with signs protesting Monsanto's grip on the food chain, ad infinitum.

The thought occurred to me that if these well-intended folks had used the time (presumably a good bit of the day, as I saw them around noon & they appeared to have been out there for quite a while) to instead break some dirt in their yards (or in pots on a patio or porch) and thrown in some tomato, pepper, eggplant, or other edible crop plants into it, they'd have a nice little organic garden to work with and some veggies they WOULD NOT HAVE TO BUY nor worry about what chemicals had touched them!

Just my two cents.