sean hannity freedom concert

i am a member of the "religious" right. i am also part of the moral majority, the christian right, born again, right wing zealot and a host of other things. i believe in god who is the creator of all. i also believe that you have the freedom to worship as you choose. after all, we are given the right of "freedom of religion". i support our military and our president. i think you get the idea.
a few days ago i was chosen to take a local radio station "staff" to atlanta for the evening. when i arrived to pick them up and it turns out i was taking them to a sean hannity freedom concert. needless to say, i was in right wing heaven!!! traffic across atlanta took us nearly 3 hours so when we arrived, we had already missed about 30 minutes of it. i missed lee greenwood and heard i missed fred thompson, my choice to run for president. i did get to see charlie daniels (he has definitely gotten better with age), newt gingrich, larry the cable guy, ron white, col. oliver north (awesome) montgomery gentry and if i left anybody out i apologize. it was 3 hours of incredible experiences.
i have written in previous posts about how i appreciate all our militaries have done and continue to do for us every second of every day. i guess that is why i jump at the chance to go to washington (Arlington Cemetery, Vietnam Memorial, Iwo Jima, etc.). this concert series is an incredible experience and anyone who is a red, white and blue fan needs to go. it is uplifting and emotional. the work that sean hannity, oliver north and countless others are doing deserves recognition. i proudly offer this link and urge you to go to it now. www.hannity.com. copy and paste in your browser address bar and happy surfing. also try www.freedomalliance.org. the only comment further to make is "GOD BLESS AMERICA" and all those who sacrifice to keep us free!!!
until next time...

July 4th, the security dude, and the family who got it right

i had spoken to him on several occasions at the game. "jeff" was a security dude. he was tall, had short blond hair and was leanly built. we joked about several things. as the game went on, i noticed him interacting with various people in the crowd. most of them were wearing their red, white and blue. he and i started talking on the concourse and some of his parents friends came up. we all were talking when the woman asked how one of their friends was doing better. turns out they were referring to one of his buddies who did a year in iraq with him. he had been affected emotionally and was having a hard time dealing with all he had witnessed. we will never know all these brave men and women in our militaries do for their country. he told about raids and some of the people he interacted with. one day they would be outside the base selling cd's and the next day they would have body bombs strapped on trying to kill you and everybody they could. he got back in december '06 and said he would gladly go back if called. my first reaction was "why" but deep inside i knew why. after a while, i offered my hand, shook his and thanked him for all he did for us. in a soft, low key way he said "you're welcome".
at this game there were several bus loads of soldiers. after the game, they all lined up outside the gates to get on their buses. sergeants would bark orders and they would trot single file to their bus and get on. after they loaded all the buses, they started to drive off. as they drove off, i noticed on family of 5-6 who were standing there clapping as they went by. they were the only ones out of over 10,000 people to honor these men and women this way. it is something we should do every time we see on of them. i was moved to witness this 30 second event. i thanked God i live in America. despite all of our differences and challenges that face us, this is still the best place on earth to live and breathe free air. thank God!!!
until next time...

huntsville hard

this morning we left for huntsville for a 4 game series. i had not thought that much about the connection. my brother lived in huntsville for several years before finally moving to houston to work at the johnson space center. i was sitting in the stands and a wave of emotion came over me. i almost lost it. as i watched the traffic on memorial parkway (fitting isn't it), i wondered how many times he had driven it. had he ever been to a baseball game here? how far from here did he he live? if you are reading this i am referring my only brother who died of cancer 7 years ago. i have written about this in earlier posts.
as i sat there it occured to me that i never really grieved his death. at the time, my ex-wife and i were starting to divorce and that in itself was tough. then his death was something i "dealt with". my parents were so hurt at that time and i knew i had to be strong for them. my sister-in-law was a psychotic bitch (sorry 'bout that one) and the whole after death was horrible. i believe his death was one of the factors in my fathers passing 2 years later. still, i see i need to grieve. i am here for 3 more days so i will be able to process some emotions and carry them home with me. i am hurting and i do not know what to do in order to grieve. all i know is, i am hurting and was blindsided by all of this.
i know that some people resort to sex. some it is drugs and alcohol. for others it is over eating. i don't know how i will move thru this, i just know i will.
until next time...

lightning in raleigh

i have a deep respect for the fury of "mother nature". i have been known to stand and watch lightning storms and not just admire but appreciate one of natures wonders. never have i been close enough to be harmed by a tornado. i have been on the gulf coast and been in a tropical depression and a storm. i love being around things such as violent storms. i have driven by bus in ohio with wind strong enough to rip whole corn stalks out of the ground and have them pummel the side of the coach and blow other vehicles off the road. my 8 year old (9 in a week) is terrified of a rain storm.
wednesday night a lightning storm came while i was sitting in the dugout. it came up fast and there was almost no rain. after about 10 minutes i could tell the storm was right on top of us. i also realized i am sitting in a concrete like bunker with tons of steel over me. about that time i heard the loudest crack i have ever heard and felt the hair on my arms stand. i yelled at one of the groundskeepers if we had taken a direct hit. he replied "yep" and never really batted an eye. it got my attention. turns out it struck a lightpole about 100 feet away. thinking it was soon to pass, i sat there "appreciating" nature. then i heard another loud crack that seemed to last about 15 seconds. i yelled "another one?" and he said "yep". i asked where and he indicated another lightpole. this one was about 50 feet away. i decided it was time to go to the clubhouse not thinking about it's metal roof.
it took me back to several years ago, sometime in the mid 1980's. i had a neighbor who was playing golf with his uncle and 2 other family members. the got caught in a thunderstorm and not only was he struck and killed by lightning, his uncle and another were too. the 4th one suffers permanent damage. i remember the day after his funeral his wife got notification he had passed his cpa exam. so much of his life was ahead of him. but isn't that true with most tradegies?
as i thought about mike it occured to me that as i am know older and others depend on me that maybe it is time to stop being such a risk taker and settle down and be more cautious. i still have small children who depend on me. the people i drive for depend on me. and i depend on me too because i still am trying to find god's purpose for me on a daily basis. i also remember helen keller's words "life is either a daring adventure or nothing at all". well, i guess the decision is obvious. i still want to god's will but who says i can't enjoy the ride. who knows, the next ride may be the best yet!!!
until next time...