Depending on who you believe, Barack Obama is either the best thing to happen to American politics since John F. Kennedy, an alleged racist, Muslim sympathizer, an attention-hungry candidate who doesn't give a rip about our troops and - at the broadest extreme - the Antichrist.
Somewhere between these extremes presented to us about Obama lies the truth.
I hope in a few days to begin my own comparisons of factual information about the major presidential candidates - Obama and Republican John McCain. Therefore, I am not advocating or lobbying for either candidate.
What I do advocate is that our voting public make wise, informed decisions at the polls, not selections based strictly on fear and gross misinformation or outright falsehood.
I've taken a few minutes to look up a few Web sites which address all these assumptions about Obama.
The first is this answer about him being the next JFK. Doesn't sound exactly like our 35th president, does he?
The second is about an e-mail I received at home about Obama being an alleged black racist whose true allegiances lie with Muslims. The statements this e-mail is based upon are - at minimum - taken wildly out of context. Here is an analysis from snopes.com. Please take the time to read through it.
The next one is about an e-mail I got at work purportedly from a captain in Afghanistan who says Obama blew off troops lined up to meet him to get to a photo-op. Snopes.com has detailed information - even photos - to show the contrary and says that the original sender has asked people to delete his original e-mail because it contained what he now knows to be false information.
Now, for the last one - another snopes.com post about Obama and whether he could be the Antichrist. There is no information available to suggest this is even remotely true.
When we go to the polls in November, let's let truth and (as much as possible) geninue conviction guide us - not fear. And let's all check to make sure e-mails we forward to people are - as much as possible - truthful and accurate.
Saturday, July 26, 2008
Monday, July 14, 2008
The Maximum Vacation, Part IX
Day 8 – evening
Here, Jadyn sports a set of sunglasses Mommy got her during our whirlwind shopping trip in the humongous
Day 9
We got up, packed up and directed our car toward our first stop of the trip – our friends’ house – to drop off a borrowed item and wave one last time goodbye.
We checked out a few of the places of importance to Amanda and her side of the family in the area she grew up in, then pulled out the directions for the car rental office at the Philadelphia airport.
We turned in our car, got inside the airport and did all the necessary check-in stuff. We got aboard the plane with the plan of getting to
This plan didn’t materialize.
Our plane started to taxi out, but the air crew realized that a panel was open on the aircraft. So, we went back to the gate to have it shut. Then, several passengers wanted to get off the aircraft because they knew they would miss their connections in
While we waited on them to decide what they wanted to do, we burned fuel, so we had to get more gas.
What started out as a planned two-hour flight to
We didn’t make it home the night of Day 9 like we’d hoped we would. Instead we stayed in a hotel – paid for, of course, by the airline responsible for the delay.
Day 10
We made it back to the
Our delay gave us an opportunity to interact with people we wouldn’t have gotten to know better otherwise, including a person we initially met in
We got home with about 90 minutes to spare before Amanda went to a previously scheduled event and have been pretty much on the go since.
Epilogue
Our journey into the
Other times, they come into being by reconnection, taking extended amounts of time simply to sit and chat in a day and age when time seems impossible to find.
Spending quality time with friends and family is no waste of time.
Neither is extending a hand of friendship and support to a stranger you wind up stuck with on a layover at a hotel.
All of these things come by making a choice – and we’re glad we chose to take the Maximum Vacation of 2008.
The Maximum Vacation, Part VIII
Day 8 – morning
With all of us working on varying amounts of limited sleep, we got up to go to Dutch Wonderland, a theme park in walking distance from our hotel.
This was Jadyn’s first amusement park experience, and overall, she had a blast.
The smile says it all.
The good ol' carousel worked fine. However ...
Jadyn wanted to see someone who passed by while we were on the ride, and once we were off, she literally ran down Duke the dragon to meet him.
Right after lunch, I went back to the hotel for a nap, while Amanda and Jadyn hung out with a college friend of Amanda’s and her daughter and stayed until about mid-afternoon.
I’ll save the roundup for the evening on the next – and final – blog about the Maximum Vacation.
Sunday, July 13, 2008
The Maximum Vacation, Part VII
Day 7 - afternoon and evening
After lunch, we made our way east on the Pennsylvania Turnpike to Route (U.S. Highway) 522, where our trip took a mostly northern heading toward the first day of the 30th annual Creation Music Festival just south of Mt. Union, Pa.
Though we hadn’t placed this stop on our original itinerary, we thought it would be a good addition, both to spend time with our first-stop hosts and experience something we wouldn’t often get a chance to do. Plus, Amanda has fond memories of previous visits to the festival and got a chance to make some new ones.
We made our way through the entrance and to the parking area, then met up with our hosts.
We heard a speaker, ate some great festival food and saw several musical acts, including the David Crowder Band.
Jadyn figured out not long into our stop how to relax.
She also accurately determined the conditions we faced were quite warm, so she drank water.
This is mostly likely the biggest crowd Jadyn’s ever been in before, but she took to it very well.
She danced and had a good time ...
and so did we. We’re very grateful our hosts graciously allowed us to join them.
We continued on our original path toward the
We got into
Saturday, July 12, 2008
The Maximum Vacation, Part VI
Day 7 - morning and early afternoon
We rolled out reasonably early from our hotel in
We essentially took the path we followed in to Parkersburg on Day 3 in reverse until we got to the Route (U.S. Highway) 219 North exit off Interstate 68 in Maryland, then made our way back into the Keystone State.
Here is a farmhouse along the way.
This is a sight we don’t see much of in the South – power-generating windmills.
We eventually found our way to the memorial, which is loaded with items left behind by visitors. Here are two photos illustrating the variety of things people decide to leave.
Amanda listened to the National Parks Service person as she told the basic story about Flight 93 – one of four aircraft hijacked on
On this flight, people found out about the 
Officials believe the hijackers intended to fly the aircraft directly into either the White House or the nation’s Capitol. In other words, the steps the counter-attackers took prevented an already tragic day from getting much, much worse. To call them “heroes” is the right thing to do and so is honoring their sacrifices.
Amanda and I decided without speaking to each other that we needed to leave something behind.
Amanda wrote a message on the hat.
Then, Jadyn and I placed my favorite baseball cap on a little spot on the fence which makes up part of the temporary memorial.
May we long remember what the passengers and crew of Flight 93 did for our nation and its people.
After about a 45-50 minute stay at the memorial, we loaded back up, ate lunch in nearby
Friday, July 11, 2008
The Maximum Vacation, Part V
Day 6
We'd already planned this day as a low-key one, with a stop with Jadyn specifically in mind.
In the morning, we went back into Marietta, this time to visit the city's Aquatic Center, which is basically a miniature water theme park. It's an excellent, affordable facility and a perfect thing for a child like Jadyn, who loves to play in the water.
After toweling off a bit, we went back to the hotel for another afternoon nap. Then we went to dinner with a cousin and later, took one last trip through Grand Central Mall, buying a few interesting items and letting Jadyn burn off a little steam.
As we began to pack and prepare to leave the Marietta-Parkersburg area, we wondered whether we could manage what we'd planned for Day 7. So, we gave ourselves several options and decided we would see which one could play out the next morning.
I anticipate two posts out of Day 7, if that tells you anything! I expect they'll be along within the next few days.
We'd already planned this day as a low-key one, with a stop with Jadyn specifically in mind.
In the morning, we went back into Marietta, this time to visit the city's Aquatic Center, which is basically a miniature water theme park. It's an excellent, affordable facility and a perfect thing for a child like Jadyn, who loves to play in the water.
After toweling off a bit, we went back to the hotel for another afternoon nap. Then we went to dinner with a cousin and later, took one last trip through Grand Central Mall, buying a few interesting items and letting Jadyn burn off a little steam.
As we began to pack and prepare to leave the Marietta-Parkersburg area, we wondered whether we could manage what we'd planned for Day 7. So, we gave ourselves several options and decided we would see which one could play out the next morning.I anticipate two posts out of Day 7, if that tells you anything! I expect they'll be along within the next few days.
The Maximum Vacation, Part IV
Day 5
I'd been to Marietta, Ohio three times in my life previously - sometime between 1977 and '79, December 1984 and May 1990. This was Amanda and Jadyn's first trip.
It is one of the ancestral points of origin on my mother's side of the family.
As we headed north out of Parkersburg on Interstate 77 into Ohio, a moderately thick blanket of fog obscured our view of the mighty Ohio River.
We made our way to Old Town Bakery, a relatively new addition to downtown Marietta. One of my cousins owns and operates it and it was our designated rendezvous point with my other cousin. (The photo in the link is from a person by the name of Bob Church who posted the link at this site.)
We met up with my cousin, got some very good breakfast, then took a driving tour of Marietta with my cousin at the wheel.
She took us up to an overlook, where the fog began to peel back and let the daylight shine.
Here are a couple of other pictures taken at the overlook.
My cousin drove us back down off the bluff and then on to other parts of the area, including segments of the heart of Marietta.
The image I take away from this most recent visit to Marietta is that it's a city that's proud of and rooted in its history yet it keeps its mind on the present and future. I see it as a progressive community with a bike and walking trail tied into downtown and recreation areas on the north side of town and a former covered - and later railroad - bridge reverted to pedestrian traffic about 46 years ago.
We strolled across this bridge to explore another side of town and take a look out on the point where the Muskingum and Ohio rivers merge.
Community members adorned the bridge with hanging baskets of flowers, adding a very nice touch to an already scenic path.
We discovered a cluster of various shops on the west side of the river, including this antique store with a clever name:
We went back to the hotel in Parkersburg - about a 20-minute drive - to give Jadyn a chance to nap before a gathering back at my cousin's house on the outskirts of Marietta later in the afternoon.
We enjoyed a great meal and some warm and genuine interaction with our relatives - I just don't think it could have gone better. Jadyn mostly just played in the dirt and hung out with cousins closer to her age.
By this day, neither Amanda nor I contracted pinkeye, and we truly enjoyed our time reconnecting with this segment of our broader network of kin.
By the end of Day 5, our senses of uncertainty on Day 3 gave way to a mixture of feelings belonging, connection and satisfaction. In other words, we had a great time!
We have five more days to recap, so please hang on as I get the blogs together!
I'd been to Marietta, Ohio three times in my life previously - sometime between 1977 and '79, December 1984 and May 1990. This was Amanda and Jadyn's first trip.
It is one of the ancestral points of origin on my mother's side of the family.
As we headed north out of Parkersburg on Interstate 77 into Ohio, a moderately thick blanket of fog obscured our view of the mighty Ohio River.
We made our way to Old Town Bakery, a relatively new addition to downtown Marietta. One of my cousins owns and operates it and it was our designated rendezvous point with my other cousin. (The photo in the link is from a person by the name of Bob Church who posted the link at this site.)
We met up with my cousin, got some very good breakfast, then took a driving tour of Marietta with my cousin at the wheel.
She took us up to an overlook, where the fog began to peel back and let the daylight shine.
Here are a couple of other pictures taken at the overlook.
My cousin drove us back down off the bluff and then on to other parts of the area, including segments of the heart of Marietta.
The image I take away from this most recent visit to Marietta is that it's a city that's proud of and rooted in its history yet it keeps its mind on the present and future. I see it as a progressive community with a bike and walking trail tied into downtown and recreation areas on the north side of town and a former covered - and later railroad - bridge reverted to pedestrian traffic about 46 years ago.
We strolled across this bridge to explore another side of town and take a look out on the point where the Muskingum and Ohio rivers merge.
Community members adorned the bridge with hanging baskets of flowers, adding a very nice touch to an already scenic path.
We discovered a cluster of various shops on the west side of the river, including this antique store with a clever name:
We went back to the hotel in Parkersburg - about a 20-minute drive - to give Jadyn a chance to nap before a gathering back at my cousin's house on the outskirts of Marietta later in the afternoon.
We enjoyed a great meal and some warm and genuine interaction with our relatives - I just don't think it could have gone better. Jadyn mostly just played in the dirt and hung out with cousins closer to her age.
By this day, neither Amanda nor I contracted pinkeye, and we truly enjoyed our time reconnecting with this segment of our broader network of kin.
By the end of Day 5, our senses of uncertainty on Day 3 gave way to a mixture of feelings belonging, connection and satisfaction. In other words, we had a great time!
We have five more days to recap, so please hang on as I get the blogs together!
Thursday, July 10, 2008
The Maximum Vacation, Part III
Day 4
The night before, we already thought we needed some recovery time and postponed a meeting with a cousin of mine. That was before we stayed up late trying to do research on what could be a serious situation.
The next morning, we called Jadyn's physician's office back in Mississippi and spoke to a staff member, who arranged for us to get some medicine called into a local pharmacy to treat the condition.
We were told the best way to prevent the spread of pinkeye was to keep our hands washed.
After a while, we decided to venture out and find dining and play around Parkersburg, and we found enough of all of it to suit us.
We took these pictures at City Park in Parkersburg.
Amanda snapped the cool one with Jadyn's feet in the air.
A little while later, we went back to the hotel and and took a nap.
We eventually decided to try to meet with my cousin the next morning.
We headed out again later and let Jadyn play at Grand Central Mall in nearby Vienna, W. Va.
As the hours passed and with treatment of Jadyn's eye, we began to realize that her condition might not have been as severe as we first thought.
We eventually went to bed for the night, ready to try again the next morning in meeting with my cousin.
Hang on - we hope have some more installments of the Maximum Vacation posted soon!
The night before, we already thought we needed some recovery time and postponed a meeting with a cousin of mine. That was before we stayed up late trying to do research on what could be a serious situation.
The next morning, we called Jadyn's physician's office back in Mississippi and spoke to a staff member, who arranged for us to get some medicine called into a local pharmacy to treat the condition.
We were told the best way to prevent the spread of pinkeye was to keep our hands washed.
After a while, we decided to venture out and find dining and play around Parkersburg, and we found enough of all of it to suit us.
We took these pictures at City Park in Parkersburg.
Amanda snapped the cool one with Jadyn's feet in the air.A little while later, we went back to the hotel and and took a nap.
We eventually decided to try to meet with my cousin the next morning.
We headed out again later and let Jadyn play at Grand Central Mall in nearby Vienna, W. Va.
As the hours passed and with treatment of Jadyn's eye, we began to realize that her condition might not have been as severe as we first thought.
We eventually went to bed for the night, ready to try again the next morning in meeting with my cousin.
Hang on - we hope have some more installments of the Maximum Vacation posted soon!
The Maximum Vacation, Part II
Day 3
We went to the church Amanda attended growing up and I really felt like we were being prepared to enter a difficult period in our trip. We'd really had almost a mountaintop experience in the first two days of the trip and didn't want it to end. (Along the way, we made arrangements to spend more time with our first-stop hosts later in the week.)
The road ahead would be filled with new experiences. Sometimes, facing this leaves one feeling a sense of excitement.
Sometimes, we encounter senses of uncertainty.
This includes being unsure of how an interaction with family will turn out - some I'd never met before, others I hadn't seen in 18 years and we'd seen only a couple of them at our wedding almost 10 years ago. None of them had met Jadyn.
With this sense of heading into a valley of the unknown, we ventured out west from our friends' house along the Pennsylvania Turnpike (a familiar path for Amanda and me), then down Route (U.S. Highway) 220 and a previously uncharted path for all of us.
The first valley in the stretch of ground we encountered from Bedford, Pa. south to the Maryland line was quite picturesque. (Sorry, we didn't take any photos along this particular path.)
We got on Interstate 68 and continued a westward journey, stopping to eat supper outside Cumberland, Md.
Then, we continued on our way.
Our official welcome to West Virginia:
A few minutes later, we pulled in to the welcome center. After we stopped, we realized something was wrong with Jadyn's right eye.
Still, Jadyn struck a pose or two.
And the scenery was just plain gorgeous.
We suspected Jadyn's eye problem might have been pinkeye, but we checked the friend we stayed with and found she and her family had no signs of the dreaded, contagious condition.
We arrived at our hotel in Parkersburg, W. Va. some time around midnight. After several unsuccessful attempts to get our computer connected to the Internet, I went to the front desk for some help in getting the information we needed to diagnose what the problem might be.
After finding out what we could, we suspected pinkeye of some form, but decided we needed to rest for the night.
Please be patient - the next installment of the Maximum Vacation will be on its way soon.
We went to the church Amanda attended growing up and I really felt like we were being prepared to enter a difficult period in our trip. We'd really had almost a mountaintop experience in the first two days of the trip and didn't want it to end. (Along the way, we made arrangements to spend more time with our first-stop hosts later in the week.)
The road ahead would be filled with new experiences. Sometimes, facing this leaves one feeling a sense of excitement.
Sometimes, we encounter senses of uncertainty.
This includes being unsure of how an interaction with family will turn out - some I'd never met before, others I hadn't seen in 18 years and we'd seen only a couple of them at our wedding almost 10 years ago. None of them had met Jadyn.
With this sense of heading into a valley of the unknown, we ventured out west from our friends' house along the Pennsylvania Turnpike (a familiar path for Amanda and me), then down Route (U.S. Highway) 220 and a previously uncharted path for all of us.
The first valley in the stretch of ground we encountered from Bedford, Pa. south to the Maryland line was quite picturesque. (Sorry, we didn't take any photos along this particular path.)
We got on Interstate 68 and continued a westward journey, stopping to eat supper outside Cumberland, Md.
Then, we continued on our way.
Our official welcome to West Virginia:
A few minutes later, we pulled in to the welcome center. After we stopped, we realized something was wrong with Jadyn's right eye.
Still, Jadyn struck a pose or two.
And the scenery was just plain gorgeous.
We suspected Jadyn's eye problem might have been pinkeye, but we checked the friend we stayed with and found she and her family had no signs of the dreaded, contagious condition.
We arrived at our hotel in Parkersburg, W. Va. some time around midnight. After several unsuccessful attempts to get our computer connected to the Internet, I went to the front desk for some help in getting the information we needed to diagnose what the problem might be.
After finding out what we could, we suspected pinkeye of some form, but decided we needed to rest for the night.
Please be patient - the next installment of the Maximum Vacation will be on its way soon.
Tuesday, July 08, 2008
The Maximum Vacation, Part I
Though we'd been thinking about it as long as about a year ago, Amanda and I solidified plans earlier this year to visit Pennsylvania - the state where she grew up - for a summer vacation.
As we developed the itinerary, we decided to stay a total of about four and a half days in Pennsylvania and the remainder visiting relatives of mine in and around Marietta, Ohio.
We packed in absolutely as much as we could possibly stand and were pretty tired afterward but we had a blast!
If you are friends or relatives of ours who live in the areas we visited but we didn't get to see you, we apologize. We tried to see as many people as we could and simply couldn't get to everyone.
Day 1
On June 20, we drove from our home in Mississippi to the Birmingham (Ala.) International Airport. Here, we encouraged Jadyn to flap her wings just before we got on the first of three planes.
Our day of flying included stops in Memphis, Tenn. and Detroit, Mich. before we got to Philadelphia. The Memphis-Detroit connection was tight - we had less than 40 minutes to make it - but we did and got to the City of Brotherly Love in good shape. We obtained our reserved rental car and headed for a friend's house about an hour outside of Philly.
Day 2
We hung out with our friends, did a little shopping and got ready to go to a reunion of people from Amanda's youth group not terribly far from where we were staying. The men in our little cluster of friends took the kids back to play at the house.
Then we loaded everybody back up and headed back to Reunion Central, where a fireworks display was scheduled.
The display got underway without warning and at the first shot, Jadyn ran like we were in the middle of a gunfight. We took her inside where she could see the fireworks but only hear them in muffled form, and she declared them cool, or something along those lines.
Please stay tuned for another installment soon from the Maximum Vacation!
As we developed the itinerary, we decided to stay a total of about four and a half days in Pennsylvania and the remainder visiting relatives of mine in and around Marietta, Ohio.
We packed in absolutely as much as we could possibly stand and were pretty tired afterward but we had a blast!
If you are friends or relatives of ours who live in the areas we visited but we didn't get to see you, we apologize. We tried to see as many people as we could and simply couldn't get to everyone.
Day 1
On June 20, we drove from our home in Mississippi to the Birmingham (Ala.) International Airport. Here, we encouraged Jadyn to flap her wings just before we got on the first of three planes.
Our day of flying included stops in Memphis, Tenn. and Detroit, Mich. before we got to Philadelphia. The Memphis-Detroit connection was tight - we had less than 40 minutes to make it - but we did and got to the City of Brotherly Love in good shape. We obtained our reserved rental car and headed for a friend's house about an hour outside of Philly.Day 2
We hung out with our friends, did a little shopping and got ready to go to a reunion of people from Amanda's youth group not terribly far from where we were staying. The men in our little cluster of friends took the kids back to play at the house.
Then we loaded everybody back up and headed back to Reunion Central, where a fireworks display was scheduled.The display got underway without warning and at the first shot, Jadyn ran like we were in the middle of a gunfight. We took her inside where she could see the fireworks but only hear them in muffled form, and she declared them cool, or something along those lines.
Please stay tuned for another installment soon from the Maximum Vacation!
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