Hello Everyone!
Today is a nice one, a little humid, but cooler than it has been. We went from 90 degree weather down to the 60's a couple of days ago.
I am doing quite well, and thanks be to God, I am pain free. Still wearing the brace, and anxiously awaiting for next Tuesday. I really want to get back on the road.

Heard from the travelers via a postcard from Amsterdam, where they flew into last week. They had stood two hours to go through the Ann Frank house, and sent me a card from there. They have now been to Scotland, the Faroe Islands, and are in or gone from Iceland by now.

I ventured out yesterday and went food shopping. I was able to push the grocery cart without any problems, and just put my walker in it. Carried my recyclable bags up the stairs and into the house. Not all at once, mind you, but I did it, using my walker.

The 1862 letters have been revised, and I am about to start 1863 letters. I will definitely be returning to Des Moines to go back to the Iowa Historical Society Reference Library and look at the originals. It is interesting how close I am getting to an ancestor that I never knew until about ten years ago. Little things he writes to his family, give me an even closer look into his life. In one letter he mentions to his sister-in-law about his cat, Puss, who he misses. He asked her if her son, Freddy, was still teasing Puss, and opined that he would love to bring one of her kittens down to be with him, but he didn't think the kitten would like the food - hard tack and salt pork!

My thoughts of late have been on all the controversy of building a Muslim recreation center/mosque near 9/11. Phil sent to me a couple of days ago a chilling op-ed article. The author wrote about the planned burning of Quarans by members of the Dove World Outreach Center in Gainesville, Florida on 9/11. Is this freedom of speech or racial hatred? What it reminded me of was Hitler's burning of books in Germany in the 1930's. We really need to pay attention to what is REALLY GOING ON HERE! These folks claim to be Christian. Well, Jesus Christ would never do anything like this, his message was one of love, acceptance and not judging others. So, in my humble opinion, anyone who says they are Christians, must act like Christ. And these folks, and many many more just like them, are definitely not acting like Christ. Those who hold hate in their hearts, whether they call themselves, Christians, Muslims, Jews, or any of the other religions int this world, are truly not part of their particular religion. The terrorist groups around the world claiming to be a member of a particular religion, are not practicing what their leaders have taught - love each other, and do unto others what you would have them do unto you. These terrorists are really murderers and gangsters, be they Muslim, Jewish, Christian, etc. They clearly do not represent the main body of these religions. Think about history - Romans killed Christians; Egyptians enslaved Jews; Crusaders went into the Near East in the name of Christ, and killed Muslims and Jews; the Inquisition slaughtered the Crusaders, as well as anyone opposing THEIR particular form of worship; the English leaving England because of lack of freedom of religion, then burned "witches" in Salem, Massachusetts;
Hitler slaughtered millions of Jews; Polpot killed those who were professionals; the Klu Klux Klan targeted blacks in the name of Christ; the Israelis target the Palestians and kill them and the Palestinians do the same. The Taliban says they are Muslim. I don't think so. What is this called? It is called hate, fear, ignorance. There is no religion here, these people are just plain murderers and should be treated as just that. We need to teach ourselves and our children and our friends about people all around the world. We need to learn their history and culture. We need to learn acceptance of everyone, and like Christ, open our minds and arms to everyone.

This is not easy, but it can be done if each of us looks within ourselves and sees what we can do to change our thinking and doing. We can never forget what has been done to millions of people all over the world, and why these things happened. I know there are plenty of more examples of such hatred towards others. I can think of many more. Take the word hate out of your vocabulary, and learn tolerance and love.

Okay, I have unburdened my heart, and maybe I can sleep better tonight.

I love you all!
Adios, adieu, and mahalo,
Sally