Focus

While having lunch with three others at a very expensive restaurant in Boyne City, MI, I found that looking straight ahead gave me a clear view of a couple at a near table. He was about 30 years old and she was about 25. She was a magnificent female specimen, elegantly clothed, beautiful makeup and would catch any eye that make a visual sweep of the restaurant. I would look her way from time to time because she was so stunning. My view was a slight side view of them both but I could see almost all of her face. Yet, as I glanced that way, I came to realize that there was something strange going on. She gazed at her table mate's face all the time. He appeared to do all the talking. She did not take her eyes off of him, did not scan around the restaurant, did not notice that I glanced at her. She was eating, but not much, and was able to retain eye contact with him with every bite. As our meal arrived and we started to eat I stopped glancing at her (remember she was directly in my line of sight) and temporarily forgot about her. A waiter approached that table with the bill, he checked it and immediately gave a card. When the tray was returned by the waiter she looked down at her plate as he signed. When he stood up, she stood up. He put his coat on (they had been thrown over the back of the chairs) and then helped her with her coat. Again, while putting her coat on she did not scan the restaurant or look at any other table. She took his arm and they left the restaurant. I had never seen anything like that before and have never seen anything like it since. This has been a puzzle to me for 15 years.

Oil

Why don't we have enough of our own oil when we need it? Why are we five years away from a significant increase in our own supply of oil? There are two persons in the Republican party that are directly responsible. They are mediocre men who held positions that were much bigger than they were. Cowards that wanted to get along with everybody, who desired to work with Democrats rather than defeat them, who blanched at pushing for what was right and decided to push the battle to years in the future. They are Denis Hastert, past Republican Speaker Of The House and Bill Frist, past Senate Majority Leader. This Country is going to go through some very hard times because of them.

Mischelle (ma belle)

It is noticeable that Mischelle Obama has handlers that are trying to make her image closer to Oprah Winfrey's and getting rid of all the "whitey" stuff. She is now coming across as an attractive Halie Berry. Her performance on the View was very good. If only we had not experienced the other side of her before the change.

Longboat Key

For many years Monica and her family have been going to Longboat Key for their vacations. This year a few in her family were not able to go due to employment situations, still, the majority were able to make it there. They all have timeshares on the same week, meet at the swimming pool every day, some go fishing in the surf and some just lay in the sun. Pat and I were invited to spend the week with Monica and Rita. It was mostly relaxing, laying in the sun, dunking in the pool to cool off, eating and of course sleeping. The sleeping was done in the sun, on the beach, on chairs in the room and even in bed at night. It amounted to twice as much sleep per day as I usually get. One evening we all met in the activities room and played Nickle-Dice. There were about ten of us playing. I won twice and John won twice. At one point John was interrupted by his five year old grandchild who requested a ruling on an incident at the pool table. It involved a scratch and the boy was being told something different than what his "Poppy" had told him. He knew his Poppy was always right he wanted John to straighten out the world for him. The tears in his eyes revealed his sincerity that Poppy would rule in his favor. (I don't know how it came out because John left us and went out to settle it.) Shortly after that Kim took the boy to bed. As a vacation site Longboat Key is ideal. Many condos, timeshares, unique houses, exotic tropical scenery, breathtaking sunsets, beautiful beach, pools, salt water fishing, boating and tennis courts. It sometimes rains in the afternoon but after the rain it always clears up in time for the sunset. It is only a short drive to St Armonds Key where there are many restaurants and shops. This is the place that John Ringling chose to exhibit all his statues and they are distributed through the large traffic circle in the center of the Key. A great spot to visit. Pat and I went there, on the day we were going home, to see their Art Show and get some breakfast. We went to an upstairs restaurant that had a view overlooking the center of the Circle. We split an omelet. It was a very nice morning.

D Day

June 6 is D Day which happened in 1944. I was 14 years old at the time and remember when it was announced that the invasion, that was anticipated by all, had started. Stalin had been pressuring the Allies to open their Western Front which would take pressure off his armies. President Roosevelt had offered a prayer that day when he announced the invasion. I do not recall hearing that prayer at the time, but I heard it today on the Neil Boortz radio program. It was a moving prayer for me and it choked me up to hear it. Recalling that most families had a relative or two in the service at the time of that broadcast gave me the understanding of how it was received by American citizens. We did not know whether we would prevail and Roosevelt said as much. He implored God to oversee this Nations endeavor. No one ever complained about prayer at that time. If you do not know about D Day there are two movies that depicted it. One in black and white, "The Longest Day" and the other in color, "Saving Private Ryan." Both are worth seeing.