It's Sun and Fun, It's Summertime...

Across the nation milestones are celebrated. Set against the backdrop of warm sun kissed days, cooled by the occassional spring shower, America is breaking forth. Mimicking the pattern of the residents of our local greenhouse, we are awakening after a long winter's nap. It's a peculiar time of the year. Everyone it seems has a an extra hop in their step or song in their heart.
For some it's the completion of their freshman year of high school, that first step in the rite of passage to adulthood. For others it's graduation, a celebration of 4 glorious years of football games, academic examinations, proms, and homecoming queens. Lil Timmy is just excited that school is out and that he now has 3 extra hours of daylight to play before dark. The breaking of the spring marks the completion of another year's triumphs and trials. It is the threshold beyond which sits newlywed couples, summertime family reunions, lake trips, church mission trips, and family vacations. A time to rest, relax, and recouperate before autumn beckons us to the harvest fields.
If your celebrating a milestone or the completion of a degree, job well done and my congratulations to you. If your just basking in a break amidst the demands of your prescribed course of study, enjoy the respite from your work. Seize the days you have and make much of your opportunity. In all you do seek the guiding and directing hand of our Almighty Creator. Kick back, buy that lemonade from the young lad's stand of the street, and make these the best days of your life.

Back from Iraq....On the Beating Path

It's been nearly a year since I have had the opportunity to write. That year has been a plethora of new and exciting adventures. From months in the war torn sands of Iraq and back to home sweet home in the USA, I have had the privilege to scribble a few drops of blood and sweat on the pages of history that my poserity will read about year from now. I'm not a hero, nor do I claim to be. I'm just another American who does my job, it just so happens that my title is Marine, and my job is warfighting. Freedom is worth it my friends. I missed family and friends dearly, but I would gladly do it again to preserve the blessings of liberty for the people and the nation I love. It is good to be home.
I've always loved to write. While in Iraq, I started writing some poetry and I'm going to start including it in this blog along with the full gamit of other topics. Below is a little poem that is a little insight into what it looks like from a Marine's point of view. Semper Fidelis and God Bless.

A United States Marine

In a crowd you're bound to spot him,
He's standing so very tall
Not too much impresses him;
He's seen and done it all.
His hair is short, his eyes are sharp,
But his smile's a little blue.
It's the only indication
Of the hell that he's gone through.
He belongs to a sacred brotherhood,
Always Faithful 'til the end.
He has walked right into battle
And walked back out again.
Many people think him foolish
For having no regrets
About having lived through many times
Others would forget.
He's the first to go and last to know,
But never questions why,
Or whether it is right or wrong,
But only do or die.
He walks a path most won't take
And has lost much along the way,
But he thinks a lot of freedom,
It's a small price to pay.
Yes, he has chosen to live a life
Off the beaten track,
Knowing well each time he's called,
He might not make it back.
So, next time you see a Devil Dog
Standing proud and true,
Be grateful for all he's given;
He's given it for you.
Don't go up and ask him
What's it's like to be in war;
Just thank God that it's your country
He's always fighting for.
And thank him too for all the hell He's seen in that shade of green,
Thank him for having the guts
To be a United States Marine