Where Have I Been II

Back on 06 January, I posted the first half of my trips to visit family up and down (literally) the east coast.  I promised that I would, on the next day, post the second half.  So here it is nineteen days later, and I realized that I had let down my loyal fan.  Er, fans.  Both.  So, without further ado, here is the second half of my travelogue (with pictures (and parenthetical statements inserted where apropos)):

Killing a Child for Acting Like A Child?

I, with (((Wife))), have two children.  Well, we actually have one young adult college student (now taking general studies courses with as many art credits as he can fit in) and one teenaged young lady.  Both are in school, both have jobs, both have become remarkably productive human beings (or are, at least, showing signs of becoming productive human beings).  Of course, (((Wife))) and I can smile no matter what happens.  Why?  We remember what they did as really little kids.

(((Girl))) once ate a firefly.  She did it to see if she could make her butt glow.  She also, during a party with some coworkers, had to be extracted from a bowl of potato salad.  Dressed only in a diaper.  (((Boy))) once came home from school, placed his books on the shelf, his jacket on the counter and his shoes in the sink.  He also, once, told (((Wife))) that he had a haddock.  (((Wife))) explained that it was a headache, as in “I have a headache.”  (((Boy))) then answered, “Oh.  So do I.”  (((Wife))) once changed his diaper on I-95 in New York City.  Without pulling over.  In stop-and-go traffic.  In a car with a manual transmission.

My point is, kids are, well, kids.  They are human beings, but they are still incomplete.  Their brains continue to change well into their 20s.  Their corps of knowledge grows faster than they do, and as the knowledge base grows, they make more an more connections.  But even a 19-year-old is, compared to a 30-year-old, incomplete.  That’s what makes them kids, right?

So what happens if, because of religious beliefs, the parents expect a toddler, or an infant, to respond in an adult manner? 

Deja Vu All Over Again

This story has gotten old.  An asshat who has declared that gays enjoying the same rights as other humans will destroy the sanctity of marriage.  An asshat who has played the morality card multiple times.  An asshat who wants to turn down most of the stimulus money heading for his state to make political points in the hopes of being the GOP candidate in 2012.  An asshat who then gets caught with his pants down. 

(((Girl)))’s New Earrings

One of my loves is palaeontology.  Not just dinosaurs, but just about any terrestrial vertebrates.  Sauropods, protosuchi, gomphotheres,  rhynchosaurs, titanotheres, anything.  Apparently, (((Girl))) has at least some of my genes (though she claims to be adopted):

Memorial Day, 2009

Today was a beautiful day.  We got up early ((((Wife))) and I have the day off together (which doesn’t happen that often)) to take (((Girl))) to the school so she could march in a Memorial Day parade up in Wilkes-Barre Township. 

Since we have a mini-van, we transported one set of quads, two bass drums and two snare drums.  Plus the mounting hardware. And all the drumsticks and mallets.  No drummers, though.  Just the drums.  The drummers rode the bus (and as we were carrying the drums, we didn’t have to ride will all the teenagers  (one of the lesser-known perks of a mini-van)).

What Religion is Your Bra?

Sent by (((Wife)))’s mother:

A Day Out With The (((Wife))). With Pictures.

(((Wife))) and I had something unusual on Monday:  shared days off.  So we loaded up the ice chest (home-made bread, some hard salami, aged cheddar, marinated artichoke hearts, roasted and fresh red pepper (just basic stuff)) and headed to a foreign country.  Well, not a foreign country, just New Jersey.  To Sandy Hook, part of Gateway National Recreation Area.

We saw three horseshoe crabs. Dead, but we still saw three:

 

450 Miles in a Minivan

(((Wife))) and I just returned from a 450-mile trip, in the rain, on I-80.  Round trip.  And we came back with my (((Son))), his fish (the snail (named ‘Raoul’ (no, I have no idea why)) did not survive), and all of his clothing (dirty).  I did see a few things which struck me as amusing:

Marriage is a Civil Right

Not a Religious Right

One of my best friends is gay.  Which means, of course, that he is denied one of the very basic human rights:  the right to marriage (unless, of course, he uproots himself, his career, and his partner and moves to Massachusetts).  A few states use ‘civil unions’ to provide weasel room.  They are afraid of the religious right, even though marriage is an act governed by civil law.

Marriage is, legally, a civil act.  If a couple wishes to marry in a church or other religious building or setting, that is their option. But it is the state legislatures, not the pastors, priests, rabbis and imams, which decide who can legally marry, often overruling religious groups — age and number of wives are two examples.  When (((Wife))) and I married, a justice of the peace performed the ceremony.  The key phrase?  “By the authority vested in me by the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, I now pronounce you man and wife.”  No god, no church, no religion involved.

Sneaky Little Bastards!

A few weeks ago, in response to a post I did about the importance of sex in education, Sarge (and happy slightly belated birthday) put this in the comments:

One has watched certain things on farms and in nature.