Hello on Monday morning

Dear Friends,

We finally had a quiet day with no commitments. This is not true for the
upcoming week!

My day started in between the local Sunday newspaper and the Boston Globe when
I decided to take a walk at my favorite local track. There was one other person
on the track when I arrived at 8 AM. The other person was woman who looked like
she was in the late forty year old range. After 30 minutes, a male arrived with
a coffee in hand, and walked with her for a good portion of her walk.
The only other person at the track was a guy sitting in a old pick up truck who
never left the cab of his truck. As I rounded the track, I saw that he was
reading a newspaper. I hope that he didn't tell his wife that he went off to the
track to get some exercise.

I filled up my bird feeders when I arrived home, and pretty much settled in for
an afternoon of watching professional football. Every once in a while, Linda
called for me to help her out with some project that she was involved in. I did
push her to go outside, and plant some tulip bulbs, 90 to be exact!
While she was doing some thinning of clothes in her closet, I settled down to
watch my football games. The only physical activity which I did was to ball a
couple of expensive yarns which Linda purchased at the "Sheep & Wool" Festival.
Speaking of the Sheep and Wool Festival, we are already booked into the same
hotel for next year's festival. I can't wait!

Social Calendar -- For the next two days we will be involved with political
stuff. There is a Mayoral election as well as City Councilor positions up for
grabs. As stated in previous e-mails, we are supporting the incumbent Mayor.
The Mayor not only lost his wife to cancer a month ago, but his 92 year old
mother died on Friday. She spent the last 12 years of her life with Alzheimer's
disease. The funeral services are private otherwise this would be another
funeral which we would be attending.
At 3:30 PM today, we were supposed to be holding visibility signs for the
Mayor. I will be doing so without Linda. She will be at the hospital with her
girlfriend whose husband will be having rotator cuff surgery.

On Tuesday, election day, I will be holding signs once again. Linda will be
having more fun playing Mah Jongg with her usual Tuesday group. Tuesday evening,
we will be hopefully be off to a victory party or two. If the people whom we are
supporting aren't victorious, we might skip the parties.
Of course, there is always the Tuesday evening Irish Session at O'Laughlin's to
keep us entertained if the political stuff doesn't work out.

Observation -- While I am at the track, I do my walking while listening to a
portable radio. I was listening to some golden oldies before I switched over to
the Irish American hour half way through my 1 hour walk. As I switched channels,
I caught the last minute of a religious program which is on just before the
Irish American Hour. The minster closed his program by saying that "As soon as
we recognize that we are all sinners, and we accept Jesus Christ as our savior",
etc.
I began to think about his comments as well as questioning my Religion. I began
to think about me as a "sinner". Outside of maybe a little excess of food and
drink, what are "my" sins?
I think that I am a pretty good person. I show love and respect to family, and
friends. I volunteer in the community to help the less fortunate. I participate
in taking care of my aging parents. I am married to the same person whom I
exchanged vows with over 38 years ago.
The "Fire and Brimstone" speeches might have worked when I was a child, and
when authority was never questioned, but times have changed. Has your religion
changed with the times? I am not sure if the Catholic Religion has changed that
much at all.
Priests should be allowed to marry. Women should be allowed to become priests.
Gays and Lesbians should be accepted which they are not. Do you wonder why the
Church goers are mostly the elderly? Do you wonder why Churches have shut down
their doors everywhere? If you don't have paying customers, you can't run a
business.
I had a college history professor, during his opening lecture, say that: "You
are all are "A" students, until you prove otherwise." Maybe starting off by
telling people that they are all "Sinners" is the wrong approach to Religion!

Sports -- I was hoping for a three way New York teams loss, but it didn't
happen. In Football, the Giants, and Jets got beat, but the Yankees now lead the
World Series by a 3 to 1 margin. I want the World Series to just end. I hope
that the Yankees win the next game in Philadelphia.
I was also happy to see that Brett Farve went into his old Stadium, and show
his old fans that he can still quarterback a team at 40 years old.

Well, have a great week at work or play.
Talk to you soon. The Curley Lad