RAIN, RAIN, RAIN

RAIN, RAIN, RAIN!

May was the wettest month on record for this area and as of the first of June we are 11 inches above the normal! The wheat prod8cton appears to be hurt, first with a late freeze and then there have been some fields which have been drowned.

We are doing well. Mary saw the oncologist and he said that sometimes the best thing to do is to just stand still. So, we are standing still and will get a CAT scan in 3 months. The important thing is that we are still doing well—both of us. We are hoping to have some company this summer; visits from Rich, John and Gail and later Bill. Phil and Jane have been a great help. Lynn keeps in touch with the telephone.

The theaters last production of the season is this month, ANYTHING GOES with Cole Porter’s music. It should be fun. The symphony season has been really great this year.

As usual we enjoy the library. Currently I am getting a history lesson. The book is POWER, FAITH AND FANTASY; America in the Middle East from 1776 to the present. This is a 700 page book but is well written and enlightening. It is of interest that one of the major reasons for the founding fathers to call the constitution convention and establish a federal government is that the Barbary Muslim Pirates were capturing our ships, imprisoning and selling our people a slaves etc and demanding ransom etc. At one time 20% of the gross national product was paid to the powers of N. Africa. It was necessary to have a central government and to develop a Navy to protect the ships and commerce.

I thought that this was worth passing on.

Here SHE is, the USS New York

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USS New York

It was built with 24 tons of scrap steel from the World Trade Center.

It is the fifth in a new class of warship - designed for missions that include special operations against terrorists. It will carry a crew of 360 sailors and 700 combat-ready Marines to be delivered ashore by helicopers and assault craft.

Steel from the World Trade Center was melted down in a foundry and Amite, LA , to cast the ship's bow section. When it was poured in the molds on Sept. 9, 2003, "those big rough steelworkers treated it with total reverence," recalled Navy Capt. Kevin Wensing, who was there. "It was a spiritual moment for everybody there."

Junior Chavers, foundry operations manager, said that when the trade center steel first arrived, he touched it with his hand and the "hair on my neck stood up." It had a big meaning to it for all of us," he said. "They knocked us down. They can't keep us down. We're going to be back."

The ship's motto? "Never Forget"

Also, this URL which was sent to me as an attachment was worth sharing.

http://www.terrorismawareness.org/know-about-jihad/

I hope that this finds all of you in good health and happy.

HAF AKA HAPPY DOC