Got this from Michael. No longer that far fetched, is it…

In 1810, English poet William Wordsworth described a “sort of national property in which every man has a right and interest who has an eye to perceive and a heart to enjoy”. Painter George Catlin, in his travels though the American West, wrote in 1832 that the Native Americans in the United States might be preserved “by some great protecting policy of government … in a magnificent park … A nation’s park, containing man and beast, in all the wild and freshness of their nature’s beauty!”

Years later, in 1864, the first steps toward creating what would later become our national park system were set in motion by Congress and President Abraham Lincoln. Yosemite Valley, seen as an important national treasure, was set aside by the federal government and ceded to the state of California. In doing so, it was agreed that the state would preserve these lands for public use, resort and recreation, and that no corporate development would be allowed in the protected lands. Eight years later, Yosemite Valley, along with Yellowstone, became the world’s first National Parks.

Dawn and I are fortunate to live close enough to Yosemite for regular treks. With each visit, we marvel at its splendor, its magnificence, its massive beauty. Its sheer enormity provides a cornucopia of hiking and photographic opportunities, far more than we could hope to experience in a single lifetime.

It’s been said that one cannot visit Yosemite and not feel closer to his creator. For us, it’s true.

This is a Patriot’s Journey post. Remember to check out the other Patriotic Journeyers: Drumwaster, The Bastage, the folks at The Line Is Here and Shortbus from The Edge of Reason…

Friends Noah and Jamie will be hiking Yosemite’s famous Half Dome in a few days and I want to wish them a successful trip. Jamie’s posted a good deal of information about their planned 17-mile trek on her blog and it looks as though they’re well prepared for a memorable adventure!

I’ve been teasing Jamie to watch out for Yosemite bears, so this ‘toon won’t be lost on her. Good luck, guys! We can’t wait to hear all about your trip! And Noah: Maybe a few pics I can post?

Senator Barack Obama has claimed the Democratic presidential nomination having secured enough delegates and pledged super-delegates to claim victory. Of course, technically, this assumes that the supers all vote as they say they will, and they are free to change their minds. So, no doubt we’ll continue to hear debate on this subject until either the convention or Hillary steps down.

Meanwhile, I’m assuming it’s pretty much a done deal. I’ve said before that I could never vote for Hillary. And I can’t vote for Obama because I see him as a racist, a Marxist and an empty suit. So despite some serious misgivings about McCain, I guess he’s my choice. Here’s my bumper sticker…

I know we sometimes take for granted our right to free and open elections in this country. But stop and think about it. We grumble openly about the candidates but hold their feet to the fire in order to make an informed decision about who will guide our country. It’s an infinitely important process and an invaluable right. I’m grateful that I live in a country where we are all free to help chart our own destiny.

This is a Patriot’s Journey post. Remember to check out the other Patriotic Journeyers: Drumwaster, The Bastage, the folks at The Line Is Here and Shortbus from The Edge of Reason…

Armstrong and Getty were talking about this news story during their morning drive radio broadcast this morning and I had to shake my head. It’s wrong on so many levels, it’s hard to know what needs fixing first.

According to Alisha Dean’s MySpace page, she’s a 19-year-old divorced woman who describes herself as “S-E-X-Y”. Her posted photos, some showing her in various states of undress, present an enticing picture. And she apparently gets a good deal of attention from the page, proving the old adage: advertising pays.

Enter Morris Williams, 22, a young man who was attracted to Dean by her MySpace page. After a few telephone conversations, the two met (she picked him up on the street) and eventually they had sex. Dean confided that she wasn’t really 19, that she had actually just turned 18. Doesn’t sound like an uncommon scenario in today’s world, does it?

But Williams later discovered that Dean had lied, that she was actually a very mature looking 13-year-old! Horrified, he went to her father whom he believed would want to know about his daughter’s “shenanigans”. But instead of dealing with his daughter, who clearly needs some control and guidance in her life, Dean’s father reported Williams to police. He was arrested and sentenced to one year in jail, five years subsequent probation (during which he’ll wear an ankle bracelet) and required registration as a sexual predator.

But here’s the kicker. Dean had done the same thing before! Ask 24-year-old Darwin Mills who was sentenced to five years in prison after being enticed by Dean’s MySpace page!

So where do I start? Dean is clearly a sexual predator despite her young age,  guilty of fraud if nothing else. But…

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Anybody?

Debbi forwarded this moving rendition of a classic hymn. It’s purportedly a performance by four combined High School choirs and a group of grade school children, with the recording and presentation made by the father of one of the students. The song, of course, is Battle Hymn of the Republic. I grew up singing this hymn and hearing it always makes me proud to be an American.

The hymn was born during the American Civil War when Julia Ward Howe visited a Union Army camp on the Potomac River near Washington, D. C. She heard the soldiers singing the song “John Brown’s Body” and was taken with the strong marching beat. She wrote the words the next day:

“I awoke in the grey of the morning, and as I lay waiting for dawn, the long lines of the desired poem began to entwine themselves in my mind, and I said to myself, ‘I must get up and write these verses, lest I fall asleep and forget them!’ So I sprang out of bed and in the dimness found an old stump of a pen, which I remembered using the day before. I scrawled the verses almost without looking at the paper.”

First appearing in the Atlantic Monthly in 1862, the hymn was sung at the funerals of British statesman Winston Churchill, American senator Robert Kennedy, and American presidents Ronald Reagan and Richard Nixon. (Requires Flash Player)

This is a Patriot’s Journey post. Remember to check out the other Patriotic Journeyers: Drumwaster, The Bastage, the folks at The Line Is Here and Shortbus from The Edge of Reason…

Our foray into vegetarianism — or more accurately, “pescevegetarianism” — is progressing better than I had expected when we began the trek almost three months ago. Dawn and I have successfully eliminated meat, egg, dairy and animal byproducts from our diets and replaced them with increased amounts of fresh vegetables, fruits, whole grains, nuts and soy. We’re still enjoying the experience, feeling good and, yes, still talking to each other.

I’ll remind everyone that we’re also eating some fish and shrimp, hence the “pesce” prefix to our form of vegetarianism. But as I’ve explained before, we didn’t begin the journey to conform to any particular definition, make a social or environmental statement or join a club. We simply decided to adopt a healthier diet and our research pointed in this direction.

How’s it been? Well, in a word, enlightening. And fun. We’ve made a few exceptions during our transition but have remained pretty steadily on course. As I’ve mentioned in earlier posts, we’ve tried unusual recipes, experienced new foods, met some interesting people and, for the most part, we’re enjoying the ride! But it was a personal decision and neither of us is pushing anyone else to “switch”.

That said, some of you have asked us to share a recipe or two and Dawn has agreed to do so when she gets a little free time. Look for one in the next week or two… (No pressure, Dawn!)

Bill Clinton blames “slanted press coverage” for Obama’s delegate lead. Is that possible? I mean, could the Clinton’s really be complaining about their press coverage after so many years of the msm refusing to rain on their parade? Apparently, according to CBS News’ Ryan Corsaro who says the strategy is working in some areas. …Article

Personally, I don’t like the Clintons. But I don’t care much for Obama either, and McCain, well, don’t get me started…

As locals know, Caltrans has been gearing up to repair the “Boat Section” of Interstate 5 that runs through downtown Sacramento. The project begins today and will last about seven weeks. The aggressive schedule, aimed at completing the project months sooner than would normally be the case, involves closing lanes so that repairs can be performed around the clock, seven days a week. That means traffic snarls for commuters as they struggle to get to and from downtown Sacramento during construction.

The California Trucking Association created a helpful construction calendar to help motorists plan their movements through this essential corridor and my good friend, Michael, was kind enough to offer it to IM readers that may be impacted. (Download a pdf copy.) For more information about construction, lane closures and commute alternatives visit fixI-5.com. Visitors can register for email alerts, view live camera images, link to commute alternatives and monitor the up-to-date project schedule.

This is a Patriot’s Journey post. Remember to check out the other Patriotic Journeyers: Drumwaster, The Bastage and the folks at The Line Is Here…

Throughout history, patriotism and the fulfillment of duty have been considered among the highest virtues. Perhaps the highest virtues.

In the Iliad, Achilles was angry at Agamemnon and thought that the war wasn’t worth his effort. However, in the end, he completed his duty, rising to the call and going into battle for Greece.

The central theme of the Aeneid was Aeneas’s sacrifice for duty. He abandoned all of his personal desires to fulfill his duty to his country, to establish a new empire.

The civilizations to which we owe our modern thought, to which we owe our own civilization, all praised patriotism and fulfillment of duty. Yet today, some say that dissent is patriotic, that duty should not be required, that when duty interferes with personal interests or beliefs, it should be ignored.

I’ll agree that dissent is required in some cases, but too often it walks a fine line with treason. I’m instead aligned with the seers of old, with Homer and Virgil, with the civilizations that generated our modern society. I’m a patriot and try to be a responsible citizen.

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Thanks Margaret!

My wife, Dawn, sometimes clips or forwards things of interest for me to peruse at my leisure. Here’s one example taken from The Joy of Working by consultants Dennis Waitley and Reni Witt, reminding us that not even the most successful people succeed every time:

• The greatest quarterbacks complete only six out of ten passes.

• The best basketball players make only half their shots.

• Major league baseball players reach first base only about forty percent of the time—and that includes walks.

• Top oil companies, even with the consultation of expert geologists, find oil in only one in ten wells.

• A successful TV actor is turned down twenty-nine out of thirty times after auditioning for roles.

• Winners in the stock market make money on only two out of five investments.

So the next time you’re passed over for that big promotion or your great idea falls on deaf ears, remember that even Babe Ruth struck out far more often than he hit home runs. Keep swinging!

Today is Memorial Day, first observed on May 30, 1868, declared a national holiday by Congress and, since 1971, celebrated on the last Monday in May. It also marks the unofficial beginning of summer when families enjoy a long weekend of outdoor activities. In the process, I hope you’ll all remember what it commemorates by remembering and honoring those who gave their lives defending our freedoms in the service of country.

While preparing this post, I thought about the 272 words so eloquently delivered by President Abraham Lincoln at Gettysburg when he paid tribute to the honored dead who had made the ultimate sacrifice for their country. In that memorable address, he summarized what we today celebrate as Memorial Day.

I thought, too, about my family’s long history in this country. Our ancestors arrived in the Massachusetts colony around 1630. That an ancestor of ours has fought in nearly every conflict in which this country has engaged is highly probable. It is documented that one ancestor fell at Gettysburg, so Lincoln’s words hold special meaning for our family.

I thought of my father who, though still with us, served proudly as a B-29 pilot during WWII. It was my pride in him and his service to country that made me want to follow in his footsteps. I thought of my brother, Ken, and my daughter, Shannon, who served in the U.S. Navy, and how proud I am of them both. I thought of all my ancestors, known and unknown, who have served in the fight for freedom…

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Kelvin sent this photo taken September 17 at a political event in Indianola, Iowa, during [according to the photo caption in Time] the National Anthem. Governor Bill Richardson, Senator Hillary Clinton and Ruth Harkin have their hands on their hearts. But not Obama. Does he perhaps believe that, like wearing the flag lapel pin, the hand on the heart isn’t “true patriotism”?

Covering one’s heart during our National Anthem is a sign of respect for flag and country. Conversely, deliberately not doing so conveys, I believe, an utter lack of respect. I think the message from Obama is abundantly clear.