Happy Halloween

Happy Halloween Everybody. We had the house decorated up real nice last year. We didn't do as much this year.

We don't have many trick-or-treaters around here. Some years we never see a kid. I always buy some candy, just in case, but I pick out stuff we like to eat. Win, win!

I loved Halloween when I was a kid. Sometimes I'd see kids with pillowcases loaded down with candy. Those kids usually went to neighborhoods in towns or subdivisions. We only trick-or-treated in our neighborhood. When people ran out of candy they would turn off their lights and go to bed. That's when some people would soap their windows or TP (toilet paper) their yards.

We've had our magnolia trees TP'ed. I've read you can light the toilet paper and burn the paper out of the trees. I was afraid to try that because magnolia   leaves are very flammable. They make a nice cracking fire. I was afraid the fire might spread from the toilet paper to the treetops and catch them on fire. That would have been a sight!

One year we had a ceramic pumpkin jack-o-lantern and a ceramic skull with a candle in it, too, sitting on our stoop. Someone stole them and placed them on the shoulder of the highway and ran over one and crushed it. The next day we found them beside the road. You could see tire marks on the slope by the ditch. Instead of running over them with their right tire the idiots had aimed the drivers wheel towards the decorations and run over them. The car could have turned over and flipped into our front driveway. I'd of paid a dollar to see that!

I can never think about being toilet papered without thinking about an incident that happened when I was in high school. One day a girl in our class came to school and said that someone had TP'ed her house. Some other girls were smirking and acting catty. She didn't notice her friends giggling behind her back. 

She said "My mother and I were so thankful because we had run out of toilet paper and didn't have any money to go to the store. We tore that toilet paper down and used it." She seemed so happy and good spirited about it that I was impressed with her. 

She was probably kidding but she made sure to let the people who had toilet papered her house know that she didn't let them get to her. That brought her up a peg or two in my book and I learned a lesson from her. She turned a trick around and made it a treat. Way to go! Never let them get you down.

I don't mind little pranks but when somebody becomes mean or malicious they cross the line. Toilet paper all over your front yard might not look attractive but it's lots better than some of the mean tricks we've all been brought up to believe. Everybody knows to search for razor blades in their apples and you never know when someone might slip some ex-lax in their homemade chocolate treats. 

My favorite trick, although we never did it, was the story about putting dog crap in a paper bag and ringing the doorbell and setting the bag on fire. I can just imagine some homeowner panicking and stomping the bag. Yuck!

When we were kids some people put soap in a downtown fountain and it had bubbles in it for days. Someone even put dye in the fountain but that was a mess. I'm not sure it was even Halloween when that happened.

Have a safe and happy Halloween this year and no matter which end you're on, enjoy the experience. It is a magical time for little kids. That's why it's my favorite holiday.

AS ALWAYS

PIO

*****

You still haven't figured it out, have you?

Ramblin

IF YOU ARE a new visitor to Resaca Rose and you are interested in following me you can become a FOLLOWER. I'd appreciate it and you'd be making me look good. (hint, hint...wink, wink)


Did you notice all the crap I have on the sidebar? I really have some neat things. If you are interested in sewing, or if you're just a young mother looking for inspiration, I'd check out 'Craftiness is not Optional'. That girl can sew! She whips them out faster than lightning. She sews for her two precious daughters. They are also her models. Jess is a talented young woman who is adorably shy. You'll like her.


'Back in the U.S.A." is my new favorite blog. This lady takes amazing photographs of wildlife close up. She is dynamite! Speaking of which, for people interested in a perspective on our involvement in the Middle East, check out 'Musings On Iraq'. He is still focused on our entanglement in Iraq, unlike the lack of in depth coverage we are receiving in the news.


For you English lovers, I'd like to suggest 'Random Ramblings'. She has some incredible pictures on her blog, too, and she has the sweetest little bird sounds to listen to and create a mellow mood. I like knowing that all women are connected because of the earth and their love of the flora and fauna around them.


If you are a southerner you have to read '180 True South'. It might inspire you. I know I've learned a thing or two about history and the ongoing struggle to preserve history all across the south.


'Calling People Names' is a brutally honest and amusing blog about a disillusioned southern belle. All these blogs are interesting (to me) in one way or another. Check them all out on BLOGS I'M FOLLOWING.


I have found so many interesting blogs and groups since I got on Facebook and learned to blog. If you want to explore the blogosphere  try clicking on the NEXT BLOG at the top of the page and see what blog pops up next. I have found some interesting blogs that way.


I don't like playing games on the internet. I like surfing the web and learning things. I consider the internet like a monstrous library with all kinds of information in it. All you have to do is research. Research any subject or problem or information you need. We don't have to rely on one person's opinion. We can learn about it for ourselves as long as we can read. That is why educating people is the most important process of enlightenment we can share. It can shine a light on the truth.


For some reason recently I have become popular on the blogosphere. I received three or so friend requests on Facebook, which is strange because I don't normally attract friends. I usually say something inappropriate or sarcastic and repel people so you can imagine my surprise when I suddenly started receiving these overtures. What was equally strange was that it was all friend requests from men. It's not that I don't like men. I do. It's just that I can't figure out where the heck they came from. 


The people who belong to a southern discussion group, I can understand. They've seen me comment on there. But the other guys ... where did they come from? Or, rather, how did they connect with me? I am way old enough to be their mothers (uh,hmm ...grandmother). Well, not all of them but most of them. Maybe they like the cougar in me. Boy, that's funny! Not.


Seriously, though, I have really been enjoying my little activist groups and blogs. I believe that knowledge is power and the internet is unstoppable. Thank God! Oh yeah, and thank you Steve Jobs. He is the man we have to thank for the advances in the internet. It's a shame he died so young. Imagine what he could have accomplished if he had lived. I was oblivious  to his genius until he died. He was amazing.


Last night I got 278 hits on my blog! That really messed up my stats. I am obsessed with my stats. I stare at them so much I have learned to read them. It has to be some web-bots crawling the web. Damn you web-bots, die! I'll never be able to compete with that next month. Yikes!


On a lighter note, I have been spending quality time with my parents this week. It's great to have smart and talented parents. Momma is a character and she can do anything. She covered a beautiful couch for my aunt Patsy recently. She is teaching me to upholster. Daddy tore down the chair and Momma and I ripped the fabric apart for patterns. Now we are putting it back together. It's going to look great.


I fed the animals before I went to Momma's and Daddy's house. We have about two dozen cats. One of the little cats had a mouse in it's mouth about as big as it was. It was growling at the other cats, then it climbed in the feeding bowl with the dead rat in it's mouth. I guess it was trying to hog all the dry food, too.


The other day when I went to feed the cats one of my big black and white cats had pried the lid off the bucket I store dry food in and was eating it. I took the plastic scoop I use and beat the crap out of him until he finally jumped out. The greedy little monsters will eat until they puke. It costs a ton of money to feed all our pets. They should all be hunting rats!


Anybody want a cat? Anybody?


I told you I was ramblin'.

AS ALWAYS

PIO


*****
For those of you who received this in an email click on the title at the top of the page to go directly to my blog and see the sidebar.

Fear Not

Have you ever wondered what the rest of Franklin Delano Roosevelt's speech was about when he said, "... the only thing we have to fear is fear itself" during his first inaugural address to the nation. It is as relevant today as it was in 1933. Without further ado ...

****************

I am certain that my fellow Americans expect that on my induction into the Presidency I will address them with a candor and a decision which the present situation of our people impel. This is preeminently the time to speak the truth, the whole truth, frankly and boldly. Nor need we shrink from honestly facing conditions in our country today. This great Nation will endure as it has endured, will revive and will prosper. So, first of all, let me assert my firm belief that the only thing we have to fear is fear itself—nameless, unreasoning, unjustified terror which paralyzes needed efforts to convert retreat into advance. In every dark hour of our national life a leadership of frankness and vigor has met with that understanding and support of the people themselves which is essential to victory. I am convinced that you will again give that support to leadership in these critical days


In such a spirit on my part and on yours we face our common difficulties. They concern, thank God, only material things. Values have shrunken to fantastic levels; taxes have risen; our ability to pay has fallen; government of all kinds is faced by serious curtailment of income; the means of exchange are frozen in the currents of trade; the withered leaves of industrial enterprise lie on every side; farmers find no markets for their produce; the savings of many years in thousands of families are gone.


More important, a host of unemployed citizens face the grim problem of existence, and an equally great number toil with little return. Only a foolish optimist can deny the dark realities of the moment.


Yet our distress comes from no failure of substance. We are stricken by no plague of locusts. Compared with the perils which our forefathers conquered because they believed and were not afraid, we have still much to be thankful for. Nature still offers her bounty and human efforts have multiplied it. Plenty is at our doorstep, but a generous use of it languishes in the very sight of the supply. Primarily this is because the rulers of the exchange of mankind’s goods have failed, through their own stubbornness and their own incompetence, have admitted their failure, and abdicated. Practices of the unscrupulous money changers stand indicted in the court of public opinion, rejected by the hearts and minds of men.


True they have tried, but their efforts have been cast in the pattern of an outworn tradition. Faced by failure of credit they have proposed only the lending of more money. Stripped of the lure of profit by which to induce our people to follow their false leadership, they have resorted to exhortations, pleading tearfully for restored confidence. They know only the rules of a generation of self-seekers. They have no vision, and when there is no vision the people perish.


The money changers have fled from their high seats in the temple of our civilization. We may now restore that temple to the ancient truths. The measure of the restoration lies in the extent to which we apply social values more noble than mere monetary profit.


Happiness lies not in the mere possession of money; it lies in the joy of achievement, in the thrill of creative effort. The joy and moral stimulation of work no longer must be forgotten in the mad chase of evanescent profits. These dark days will be worth all they cost us if they teach us that our true destiny is not to be ministered unto but to minister to ourselves and to our fellow men.


Recognition of the falsity of material wealth as the standard of success goes hand in hand with the abandonment of the false belief that public office and high political position are to be valued only by the standards of pride of place and personal profit; and there must be an end to a conduct in banking and in business which too often has given to a sacred trust the likeness of callous and selfish wrongdoing. Small wonder that confidence languishes, for it thrives only on honesty, on honor, on the sacredness of obligations, on faithful protection, on unselfish performance; without them it cannot live.


Restoration calls, however, not for changes in ethics alone. This Nation asks for action, and action now.


Our greatest primary task is to put people to work. This is no unsolvable problem if we face it wisely and courageously. It can be accomplished in part by direct recruiting by the Government itself, treating the task as we would treat the emergency of a war, but at the same time, through this employment, accomplishing greatly needed projects to stimulate and reorganize the use of our natural resources.


Hand in hand with this we must frankly recognize the overbalance of population in our industrial centers and, by engaging on a national scale in a redistribution, endeavor to provide a better use of the land for those best fitted for the land. The task can be helped by definite efforts to raise the values of agricultural products and with this the power to purchase the output of our cities. It can be helped by preventing realistically the tragedy of the growing loss through foreclosure of our small homes and our farms. It can be helped by insistence that the Federal, State, and local governments act forthwith on the demand that their cost be drastically reduced. It can be helped by the unifying of relief activities which today are often scattered, uneconomical, and unequal. It can be helped by national planning for and supervision of all forms of transportation and of communications and other utilities which have a definitely public character. There are many ways in which it can be helped, but it can never be helped merely by talking about it. We must act and act quickly.


Finally, in our progress toward a resumption of work we require two safeguards against a return of the evils of the old order; there must be a strict supervision of all banking and credits and investments; there must be an end to speculation with other people’s money, and there must be provision for an adequate but sound currency.


There are the lines of attack. I shall presently urge upon a new Congress in special session detailed measures for their fulfillment, and I shall seek the immediate assistance of the several States.


Through this program of action we address ourselves to putting our own national house in order and making income balance outgo. Our international trade relations, though vastly important, are in point of time and necessity secondary to the establishment of a sound national economy. I favor as a practical policy the putting of first things first. I shall spare no effort to restore world trade by international economic readjustment, but the emergency at home cannot wait on that accomplishment.


The basic thought that guides these specific means of national recovery is not narrowly nationalistic. It is the insistence, as a first consideration, upon the interdependence of the various elements in all parts of the United States—a recognition of the old and permanently important manifestation of the American spirit of the pioneer. It is the way to recovery. It is the immediate way. It is the strongest assurance that the recovery will endure.


In the field of world policy I would dedicate this Nation to the policy of the good neighbor—the neighbor who resolutely respects himself and, because he does so, respects the rights of others—the neighbor who respects his obligations and respects the sanctity of his agreements in and with a world of neighbors.


If I read the temper of our people correctly, we now realize as we have never realized before our interdependence on each other; that we can not merely take but we must give as well; that if we are to go forward, we must move as a trained and loyal army willing to sacrifice for the good of a common discipline, because without such discipline no progress is made, no leadership becomes effective. We are, I know, ready and willing to submit our lives and property to such discipline, because it makes possible a leadership which aims at a larger good. This I propose to offer, pledging that the larger purposes will bind upon us all as a sacred obligation with a unity of duty hitherto evoked only in time of armed strife.


With this pledge taken, I assume unhesitatingly the leadership of this great army of our people dedicated to a disciplined attack upon our common problems.


Action in this image and to this end is feasible under the form of government which we have inherited from our ancestors. Our Constitution is so simple and practical that it is possible always to meet extraordinary needs by changes in emphasis and arrangement without loss of essential form. That is why our constitutional system has proved itself the most superbly enduring political mechanism the modern world has produced. It has met every stress of vast expansion of territory, of foreign wars, of bitter internal strife, of world relations.


It is to be hoped that the normal balance of executive and legislative authority may be wholly adequate to meet the unprecedented task before us. But it may be that an unprecedented demand and need for undelayed action may call for temporary departure from that normal balance of public procedure.


I am prepared under my constitutional duty to recommend the measures that a stricken nation in the midst of a stricken world may require. These measures, or such other measures as the Congress may build out of its experience and wisdom, I shall seek, within my constitutional authority, to bring to speedy adoption.


But in the event that the Congress shall fail to take one of these two courses, and in the event that the national emergency is still critical, I shall not evade the clear course of duty that will then confront me. I shall ask the Congress for the one remaining instrument to meet the crisis—broad Executive power to wage a war against the emergency, as great as the power that would be given to me if we were in fact invaded by a foreign foe.


For the trust reposed in me I will return the courage and the devotion that befit the time. I can do no less.


We face the arduous days that lie before us in the warm courage of the national unity; with the clear consciousness of seeking old and precious moral values; with the clean satisfaction that comes from the stern performance of duty by old and young alike. We aim at the assurance of a rounded and permanent national life.


We do not distrust the future of essential democracy. The people of the United States have not failed. In their need they have registered a mandate that they want direct, vigorous action. They have asked for discipline and direction under leadership. They have made me the present instrument of their wishes. In the spirit of the gift I take it.


In this dedication of a Nation we humbly ask the blessing of God. May He protect each and every one of us. May He guide me in the days to come.


VIA History Matters Source: Franklin D. Roosevelt, Inaugural Address, March 4, 1933, as published in Samuel Rosenman, ed., The Public Papers of Franklin D. Roosevelt, Volume Two: The Year of Crisis, 1933 (New York: Random House, 1938), 11–16. 

AS ALWAYS

PIO

Layla's Party

Layla is turning five years old. Kim gave her a birthday party Saturday at her house. Scout put up the Halloween decorations. Kim decorated for the party. Together they did a great job. It was a beautiful day for an outdoor party.

The front yard was decorated.

Layla entertained us on the drums.

The Reeves and Burchfields were there.

Layla and her cousin sang for us.

Layla is enamored with Taylor Swift, hense the sequined dress and blonde wig. She got to go to a Taylor Swift concert a couple of weeks ago.  She got a pink drum set for her birthday, too. She's a lucky little girl.


This was the first time we all went to Layla's party. I think our favorite part was watching the kids bob for apples. Layla's grandmother JuJu dunked the kids heads. 


Happy Birthday Little Layla. We love you.

AS ALWAYS

PIO

Bats and Bees

The other night I was watching a PBS program about the American bat. An alarming number of bats are dying because of White Nose Syndrome (WNS). White fungus has been found growing on their muzzles and other parts of their bodies. They normally hibernate deep within the caves in winter to maintain a warm temperature but the bats infected with the white fungus hang closer to the entrance of the cave. They have low body weight and exhibit strange behavior. They are known to fly in the daytime during cold winter days when there aren't any insects to feed on or water to drink. Bats are nocturnal mammals that hibernate.

The fungus was first reportedly growing on bats in New York. The disease has since spread all the way south to Tennessee, and beyond. The fungus is killing huge populations of bats. 

You may not realize how important bats are to our ecosystem but they really are. Without bats to eat millions of insects during warm weather we would be more susceptible to diseases like malaria and typhoid. Bats eat mosquitoes, and moths, and other flying insects. For information on bats and how to build a bat house you can check out Benefits of Bats here.

This mysterious fungus is spreading across the United States. 

For years, we have heard about bee colony collapse disorder (CCD) spreading across the United States. Millions of bees just disappeared. It has been attributed to a loss or confusion of direction, or disease, or insecticides or herbicides. Bees are also being attacked by mites which weaken and kill off the hives. This new episode of lost colonies is just one more assault on nature's wonderful little pollinators and honey makers.

You probably think I am being overly melodramatic about bats and bees but every living creature in the ecosystem has a purpose. Without bees we wouldn't be able to pollinate enough of our crops and that would cause a food shortage. Without bats we would be eaten up by mosquitoes and it would become unbearable to work or play outdoors in warm weather.

I worry about the world in which we live and the destruction of this fragile cycle of life we depend on. 

DDT,  dichlorodiphenyltrichloroethane, was an efficient pesticide used to control malaria and typhus in World War II but was banned in 1972 after an environmentalist movement. It was devastating on the environment, particularly birds. Bald eagles were nearly extinct until the ban. Their eggs were so brittle that they couldn't survive because of the DDT. DDT was linked to cancer and diabetes in humans.

Nature seems to be turning on itself and destroying the very things we depend on to help and protect us.

Pine trees are infected with pine bark beetles across the south. We used to have plenty of pine trees on the hill behind our house and the ground was covered with pine needles. I loved the pine carpeting of the woods underneath the trees. The trees are infected with beetles. Now, Magnolia trees, hickory bushes (aka Chinese privet) and brambles are springing up underneath the pine trees that were there when we first came here. The pine trees are dying out and there aren't enough pine needles to cover the ground any more so other vegetation is taking over the undergrowth.

I don't know how to help the bees and bats and prevent the pine bore beetle but I hope we can figure something out or else we will all be in trouble. Instead of using chemicals we need to utilize nature's help.

Other diseases are infecting plants across America. One is attacking azaleas and other woody plants and trees in our environment. It is called Sudden Oak Disease (SOD). It can kill oak trees, rhododendrons, and many more indigenous plants. I'm beginning to believe Mother Nature is out of whack.

I've also noticed there aren't near as many lightning bugs as there were when I was a kid. They're disappearing too. When the plant life, and the insects, and mammals start disappearing you know we're in danger.

We depend on this planet to sustain us and provide for us. We are nature's gardeners. We need to take better care of earth. She's all we've got.

An article was posted on the Rome News Tribune on March 12, 2013. Deadly to Bats Confirmed in Northwest Georgia

I found this in Salon on May 1, 2013.  How Neglecting Bees Could Endanger Humans

White Nose Syndrome Cure*
http://news.discovery.com/animals/common-bacterium-cures-bats-white-nose-syndrome-150515.htm


orig. 10/13/11 
*edited 5/16/15

AS ALWAYS

PIO

Fall is Here

Loofah plant

Birdhhouse goards

(Double Bubble) goard *

Loofah plants

Drying peppers

Elaeagnus aka 'Silverleaf' or 'Ugly Agnes'

Tiny white flowers

It has a sweet aroma

Turnip green garden for fall

I'm glad that Donny planted some turnip greens for a fall garden. We love eating greens so our little garden will be a pleasant addition to our food supply.


I have been drying peppers in my dehydrator. After they dry I put them in a bag until I get enough to crush in my food processor. We use the red peppers on our spaghetti and in chili and soups. This year I am drying red bell peppers and going to mix it with the cayanne and banana peppers. 


I wanted to show off our Elaeagnus bush. When you flip the leaves over it is silver underneath. Tiny flowers are all over the bush. The smell is heavenly.


* I made that up

AS ALWAYS

PIO

SEX

WARNING: THIS POST IS NOT FOR EVERYONE

Recently I have become aware of a couple of things that I had never thought about or considered before. If you are squeamish and want to avoid anything disgusting or shocking, stop reading now.

FIRST

I stumbled across a group on Facebook that opposes circumcision. I started reading some of the testimonials about men who had been circumcised and the problems they suffered because of it. The first testimonial was about a man who couldn't experience sexual pleasure because of his circumcision. Other stories told of men who felt betrayed by their parents and the doctors who circumcised them. Even some Jews are speaking out against circumcision. 

What really caught my interest and sparked my indignation was when I read that circumcision was performed to remove the foreskin of the penis to deter the desire to masturbate. Circumcision removes the most sensitive part of the penis with millions of little nerves that enhance pleasure. This practice was mainly common in Jewish and Muslim cultures. Only about 30% of the male population in the world are circumcised. Most European men are not circumcised. In America it is considered acceptable and even recommended by most doctors.

I didn't realize that women are also circumcised in other cultures around the world until a famous model, Iman, the wife of David Bowie, spoke out against it. Circumcising of the female is far more drastic than male circumcision. It is considered Female Genital Mutilation (FGM) because they remove some or all of the exposed female genitalia. The clitoris is removed to reduce the libido of the female. Sometimes the vaginal opening is sewed shut. This procedure is usually done by a circumciser on babies from a few days old to older little girls. It is usually done without anaesthesia or sterile conditions. This drastically reduces the woman's desire to have sex.

I was shocked to see a video of a woman in America who had been circumcised when she was a little girl. She told about masturbating when she was a child to relive tension. Her mother, a very religious woman, took her to the doctor and had her circumcised. The woman was clearly uncomfortable talking about being mutilated but wanted to spread the word that this kind of unnecessary assault happens everywhere, even in America.

I read that some circumcisions on men are so severe when they have an erection that it causes pain, and some even bleed around the scar on the penis. The foreskin of the penis is removed because it has been believed to prevent diseases when the penis isn't cleaned properly. Men are being circumcised in countries like Africa where HIV is rampant because they believe it will help prevent the disease. What they don't say, though, is that it is no more preventative and cost efficient than condoms are.

Improperly performed circumcisions can cause the penis to lean to the left or the right.

The more I read and researched this information on the internet, the more I realized that this practice is archaic and a brutal unnecessary ritual.

The foreskin on the penis is a natural lubricant that protects the glans of the penis and gives the woman more pleasure. There shouldn't be a need for lubricants during intercourse. The foreskin protects both partners from chaffing. If that is not reason enough to reconsider circumcision, ask yourself why you are doing it. If you are doing it because everybody else is doing it that is a stupid and uneducated reason. If you aren't doing it for religious reasons (Jewish, Muslim), why are you having your baby circumcised? Some people said "so the baby will look like his daddy". Really people, are they going to compare equipment with each other? Seriously. 

Like mamma used to say, "Just because everybody else is jumping off a bridge doesn't mean you should do it, too?" 

How about cutting everybody's little finger off when they are little? That makes just as much sense as cutting anything else off of a healthy normal baby, especially their genitalia.

It is unthinkable to think that any intelligent woman in America believes it is right to circumcise (FGM) little girls. Both practices should be abandoned unless there is a serious medical condition requiring it. I can't think of one.

For more information go to The WHOLE Network or on Facebook or find information on Wikipedia.

SECOND

I was watching TV late one night and saw a show about "the dancing boys of Afghanistan". http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2009/sep/12/dancing-boys-afghanistan

This story was equally disturbing.

The ancient practice of 'bacha bazi' (boys for play) is practiced in Afghanistan. It had been in practice until the Taliban banned it. That is one thing I have to agree with the Taliban about but now the practice is reviving.

Bacha bazi is the practice of men buying young boys from their families and taking them in to learn to make music and dance as a woman for the men in the community. Women are not allowed to perform for men because of their backwards and primitive culture so they have devised a way around it. Owners of the dancing boys take them to entertain during ceremonies like weddings or birthdays. Their culture prohibits women from attending these parties. Young boys dance seductively and dress in feminine clothing to entice the men. The owner of the young boys uses them as concubines to relieve the men's inhibitions. The boys are kept until they are 19 or 20 or so and no longer desirable.

After the boys are no longer servants they are free to live as a man in society. They can even get married and have a family if they want to but there is still a stigma attached to them.

One young boy said that he was 15 and when he turned 19 he would probably no longer dance but have a harem of bacha bazi boys. Another man said he would like to have sex with the bacha bazi boy if he could. One man said he would like to have his own bacha bazi boy if his wife didn't mind. And yet another old man said his wife didn't have any say in the matter. If he wanted a boy to live with him, he would.

These are the type of men that you wouldn't trust with your sheep. I naively thought that God had wiped out the sodomites when he destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah. I can not imagine a community of men who rape and have sex with young boys.

Homosexuality is one thing. I don't think you can help how you are born, but a whole culture that practices sodomy just because they don't respect women is bizarre. They would rather sleep with a boy than go to a prostitute. And I don't condone going to prostitutes but that seems more natural. 

I've decided men are more like dogs than I thought. They will hump anything. Maybe that's what men are doing when they are 'on the down-low' in America. They're just sex addicts. Maybe they're not really closet queers.

It appalls me that this obscene custom isn't reviled and squashed. What kind of people are the people of Afghanistan who would do such a perverted thing? I cannot understand such twisted logic. I wonder how the women of the culture feel about the practice. I wonder how the families of the young boys feel about prostituting their children out for a pittance to destroy their innocence. The whole culture condones sexual slavery. That is abhorrent. 

The bacha bazi boys should not be mistaken for homosexuals. They are slaves, owned by a master who can whore him out to anybody or anything. The young boys interviewed all knew of bacha bazi dancers who had been killed. They admitted it was a dangerous life unless they totally complied.

This ancient practice has been perpetuated for centuries. They all need to come into the light and come into the twenty first century. Their culture is primitive and deeply disturbing. 

Epilogue

Both of these subjects are very disturbing. I know this wasn't an easy article to read. If you have read this far, I commend you. I believe that knowledge is power and knowledge should be shared. Until we bring the truth into the light we will be stumbling around in the dark. I don't know how you feel now but I bet you will look at sex in a whole new light from now on.

AS ALWAYS

PIO 

OCTOBER

It seems like summer barely got started and now it's over. The weather has changed and everything is taking on an autumnal feel. That's good if you don't like 90° temperatures, although I do. The cooler temperatures and breezes are a nice change though. I like having the windows open and hearing the crickets and frogs at night.


Donny planted collard greens in the garden where our squash garden had been. We haven't had a fall garden in years. I look forward to having fresh greens this year.


I pulled the loofah plants off the vine and picked some red peppers to dry. I'm going to crush them and put them in baggies so I can sprinkle them in foods when I cook. 


It's almost Halloween. You can tell because Scout has already been digging around in the barn looking for Halloween decorations. He likes to decorate for the holidays. I told him that he could take anything he wanted but he would have to bring it back packed back up if he wants to store it here. You wouldn't believe how many messes he likes to make. We still have a box of Christmas lights sitting on the carport from last year.


Speaking of Scout and his messy ways, I think Kim is starting to understand why I was always griping at him and staying on his butt about doing things. They are living together now and she gets to see first hand how much he makes messes.


I went into the bathroom after he took a bath here one day and there were hairs all over my faucet and in the sink. I got on to him and told him that he was developing bad habits since he wasn't living here anymore. He didn't leave hairs all over the faucet when he lived at home. And, why the heck was he taking a bath and shaving here? He said the lighting was bad at his house and he could see to shave here. I told him he better clean up after himself if he wanted privileges around here. Egads! He's devolved. That's not good. 


I was chewing his ear off one day when I told him he was a lot like his father. He doesn't pay attention to me, either. Scout admitted that Kim accuses him of the same thing. I don't understand men, but I do know them. I've lived with three men for long enough to know it doesn't matter how many times you tell them something, unless they want to hear you, they're not going to listen. Some things you can not change. Believe me; I have tried.


I hate going behind everybody and cleaning up after them so I gave up. I felt defeated until I found FlyLady and learned to change my stinking thinking around. I realized I couldn't change anybody but I could change myself. I've clung to my shiny sink and my kitchen routine. That is one think I can control.


Donny and I are usually empty nesters until Colt comes home for the weekend. I've gotten used to feeding the pets and cooking dinner for two again. It's usually quiet around here but on the weekends I have my baby home. He and I watch TV into the wee hours of the night.


The boys are going to fix my speedometer and brakes on the Buick this weekend. With any luck we might even get a few more things done around here. I love having my family around. Maybe we'll get to see Kim and the baby, too. 


Last week Jason brought Tristan to visit. Jason is 'another son'. He and Allen grew up with Scout and Colt. I loved watching little Tristan running around in the backyard chasing cats everywhere. They don't visit very often.


We used to have little boys running around in the backyard all the time. God, I miss the good old days.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY

Joann, Shannon, Alesha, Lon, Layla, Matt, Devan, Michelle, Kelly, Debbie, Chase, Barry, Diane, Summer

HAPPY ANNIVERSARY

Kelly and Troy

AS ALWAYS

PIO