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09/15/2005
The days roll on
A steely-gray rainy day today. It wasn't really supposed to rain - only a 20% chance according to the weathermen. Guess they earned their pay. Huh?
The languid drops measured time for us: a sprinkle; a spatter; a brief downpour; a mist. Hours passed as the vital fluids refreshed the parched soil. A harbinger of leaf-dropping chill haunts the damp air. The Wonderful Wife lights candles in the fireplace and sets a mood: warm and homey lights release a hint of vanilla scent. Warm and safe and dry, we share the comfort of home.
Eldest is in fourth grade now. She's growing into quite the young woman. Fourth graders are allowed to take music, and Eldest is taking viola. Last week, we dragged the Venerable Dirk to the high school for the orientation and instrument rescue. I am, shall we say, ignorant of the finer points of making music. The Wonderful Wife comes from a talented family, a heritage of which I am envious and for which I am grateful. The Venerable Dirk was a music teacher for years, so I felt a little better knowing I had professional backup.
We now have a viola in our home. It's a Glaesel VA27 I think. I had never heard of the brand (no surprise), but it was on the list the music teacher handed out as being acceptable. Googling the name revealed precious little. It looks like the company might have gone out of business, but there seems to be some sort of symbiotic relationship between an old German tradition and modern school orchestra instruments.
Several weeks ago, Wonderful Wife and I carted the kids downtown one Friday night to the Ringling Brothers Circus. We took cheap seats and boy were they cheap! Our perch had us looking down on the performers. All of them, even the sway-pole people artists.
This via Instapundit: a new series called "Voices From the Front" comes courtesy of the Tampa Tribune. This story is from the perspective of Maj. Bill Cowling. Ma. Cowling, in civilian life a high-school principal from Blue Springs, MO (where Eldest was born) is on a one-year tour to Mosul, where he is coordinating the hundreds of construction projects.
Major Cowling speaks:
ON THE IRAQIS:
"The Iraqi people are very motivated to improve things for themselves — at least the ones I'm around. There's Iraqi police, Iraqi army soldiers, firefighters, security forces — to me, they are the true heroes. They go out every day ... they're targets, they go to work every day. They're amazing people.
"I look back to where we were a couple of hundred years ago, writing the Constitution. Maybe it's a little bit like that. ... So for me to be able to be here and be part of the process in my own very, very small way ... I'm proud to do so.
Maj. Cowling, we're proud of you.
ON FEELING APPRECIATED:
"I was with one of the [Iraqi] government officials, and it was our second meeting and he asked me about my family and I asked about his. And, of course, I told him I missed them greatly, and he put his hand on the American flag that's on the right shoulder of my uniform and said, "Thank you for being here.' And you know, I'll always remember that. [It was like saying] "Thank you for putting your life aside, leaving home and helping me.' "
I think that says a lot, don't you? Read the whole thing.
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