Saturday morning walk

 

Within a mile from our house is this ranch that has public walking trails.

 The modern ranch house sits at a distance. 

When we walk, we play this game,  

"what if this was our ranch."

We talk of riding horses and going out in the morning to check the property line, with Laydee tagging behind. 

Checking on all the animals - the mules, and goats we loan out to Cal Fire and other Fire Agencies. This ranch does the same thing. Right now, most of the animals are working around town, and in the mountains, eating up dry bushes and helping pack in some supplies for our firefighters.

This ranch is also home to many geese, coots, and ducks. 

They live here year round. 

A few good-sized ponds - I love to watch the fish actually jump up out of the water at certain times of the day, trying to catch a fly. There is no fishing here. 

Cat Tails look like corndogs. 

This row of Manzanita - 

 reminds me of the starting point for a Van Gogh painting. 

Agh, a town that is south of us, will be lighting off their annual firework display. We can hear them at our home - and so can Laydee. We're doping her on the maximum amount of tranks - poor baby. 

Tomorrow night our city will be having their lighting display. We definitely can hear that - then after that is done, the neighbors will start lighting off. We actually went a few years when no one did this in our subdivision - it is illegal. But since when has the word, "Illegal" stopped anybody.  I believe in the last few years, new people move in and they are younger and they don't care. 

It will be a very BUSY night for our police and firefighters. 

Not only do the animals suffer, but we have a friend, a Vietnam Vet who has severe PTSD - the older he gets, the worse it has become. 

He's written a book on his experiences as a marine. 

"NOT TODAY," was part of a battle cry of John C. Lafferty's Marine unit in Vietnam. He could not forget the meaning of this battle cry nor of his comrades left behind. Twelve years after the war he confides in his sister and tells her his story. Then, she realizes the change in him was not because of the horrors of war, but of the courage, sacrifices, and bonding that takes place between comrades in arms. This wasn't anything she could have guessed nor would she even have been able to understand had he not told her his story. This is when she realizes she wouldn't want to change him back, even if she could.

"NOT TODAY," is based on true events from a Vietnam War Vet. The story is narrated by a woman who saw a change in her brother after the war and her diary of conversations with him. The bulk of the story takes place in Vietnam and it covers the politics and the attitudes of people, both during the war and after. It is about the real cost of war and the attitudes of one Marine's heart. All the people and names in the story are fictional, but the characters are as real as the events.

Independence Day has me thinking of all those who sacrificed the ultimate sacrifice for what we all have today.  Besides watching John Adams, we also watched the Ken Burns Documentary on Benjamin Franklin.