Janet's Blog

It has become apparent, over the past year or so, that our nation has developed a deep, deep rift, split right down the middle between liberals and conservatives, city dwellers and rural citizens, "haves" versus "have-nots," Christians against non-Christians. This week's presidential inauguration, with its surrounding events, both official and non-official, and the inevitable biased media coverage, both conservative and liberal, have only magnified the unrest that is so prevalent in our country right now. Unfortunately, there seem to be a significant number of people who are doing their best to widen the existing chasm that is separating our beloved America into a mess of fractured camps. On so many levels, it is "us against them," and if you don't believe exactly as we do, you can't possibly be one of us. But, when it comes right down to it, the multitudes of factions are more alike than different. Most groups include law abiding citizens ...

We had a major leak in our main indoor water line on Saturday night, which meant that we had to turn off the water overnight and for most of the day on Sunday, until Bill had time to tackle his least favorite pastime--plumbing. He had fixed that particular pipe once before, so it didn't take him long to repair the leak on Sunday afternoon, after he rounded up the supplies he needed. Before we shut off the water, we had filled some pitchers with water, and we turned the water on again, just long enough to take some quick showers, but I realized, in a hurry, just how fortunate we are to have mostly reliable, hot and cold running water. After making do with pitchers of cold water for a few hours, I would definitely rank indoor plumbing as one of the greatest inventions of all time. That incident started me thinking about the basic amenities, as well as the luxuries, we all take for granted here in the US.  The question is, how far back do we go to find the best inventions ever...

Christmas is over. Snow covers the ground. The weather has been bitter cold. All we have to look forward to is more of the same, for weeks on end. Even worse, many of us are apprehensive about the upcoming presidential inauguration and the changes in our country that are sure to follow. It's hard to have a positive outlook when we're not sure that we can trust our new president to do what's right. It's no wonder that so many people around me seem to have lost their hope and joy. I would like to suggest that we all need to reconsider the trust we place in our government and in our elected officials. Oh, I don't mean that they shouldn't be trustworthy, and that we shouldn't expect them to govern with integrity. In a perfect world, the people in charge of our nation would be fearless and faultless. But, I don't think I need to remind you that we live in a sinful world, filled with sinful people. History shows us that even the best presidents made mistak...