Today, as I write this, the sun is out, the wind is down, and the temp is in the low thirties with tomorrow's high to be in the high 50's. As they say, in this country, "whether you like the weather or you don't--just wait 15 minutes and it'll change!"  This weather is the time to wear moisturizer creams or Vaseline (at night) on arms and legs and DON'T forget the eyebrows as they can look positively flaky and dry, along with elbows and heels. (I'm sure the MEN who read this won't pay attention but if I mentioned something to help their golf  or touch football game or how to get better results from a barbeque grill, they'd cut it out!)

So, what did you all think of Hillary getting a little emotional  at the luncheon?  Since, at the moment, there are no results in from the New Hampton primary, I can't tell whether she made a positive or negative impact, although I was amused at one man who said, "Maybe she should have tried this a little earlier!".  As all the candidate's behavior is shown on TV and we're all aware of the goal each has in mind and they are carefully "trimming their sails" before each group of potential voters to achieve that goal, one can't help wondering "Are any of them for real or are they just mouthing what the voters want to hear?"  

Fiction or Fact? Well, this column is Fact in that we will be dealing with Non-FIction books (there! now, THAT was a good segue into this column, "if I do say so myself, as shouldn't" as Foof used to say--those Brits could hit it on the head every time, where what they said fit the occasion perfectly.)  One more fact--albeit an amusing one--have you ever noticed that when you leave Appleby's,  after a lovely meal, that your car, coming out of the parking lot, faces tombstones and grave markers?  I quickly assure God that I will walk an extra mile that very day! 

The idea of  environment and the greening of the Earth is a popular theme with almost all politicians, pundits, and "the common people" everywhere you turn--and the theme is used for getting grants, rewards, and bonuses for companies and hotels and schools if they can prove they are trying to make the environment friendlier and less toxic. Al Gore won the Pulitzer Prize for his impassioned plea to respect  the Earth and make necessary changes now--so far, you're with me, right?  Well, Newt Gingrich and a co-author wrote a book, "A Contract with the Earth", that proposes "a new era of environmental stewardship with principles that they believe most Americans will share." 

Obviously, and forever, LIberals and Conservatives don't see eye to eye on a lot of things, but they feel that stewardship goes above and beyond partisan politics and their approach is based on 3 main premises;"environmental leadership" is essential to our role in continuing to be a power in the world, there should be enough savvy people that should step up and be part of the solutions, and that incentives, as well as cooperation needs to be increased to achieve WORKABLE solutions--not just rhetoric or "tell 'em anything and make it believable and then don't worry about it."

This nation,  which is all of us, must understand the basic fact that we live, breathe, eat, and raise our families in a common atmosphere--everyone of us has to become more aware of re-cycling and knowing what we're throwing in trash and how fast it will disintegrate i.e. foam cups, plastic sacks, metal food cans, paper products, etc 'cause according to the geniuses some "stuff" could take 200 years!  Now, THAT statistic floored me--I had read somewhere that the worst offenders are the foam hot/cold drink cups! 

As the authors say, "Our connection to Nature runs deep; it's in our religions, our genes, our brain, and is the soul of humanity--our powerful bond with the natural world is the engine that drives our interest, commitment, and action ON BEHALF OF THE EARTH."  One of the MOST powerful bonds we have with Nature is in and with animals; cars, teams, behavior, wines--all have animal names and imagery that its name conjures up with people i.e. Marlins, Cardinals, Coyote or Wolf or Beaver Creek, Toad Hollow winery, in an orchestra there's a BASS player--okay, okay, so it's pronounced differently than the fish--gimme a buck for tryin'.  This book is a reflective read and one we ALL should read as it lays out both the problems and solutions very well.

This next selection is ay Jan DeHartog, quite a famous author, writing about his quiet, reflective mother who was married to "a giant of a man, a famous Protestant theologian and pastor, simple, bighearted and big-muscled, who moved through life with gusto and the commotion of a wagon train and who, but for God, might have become a general or a pirate."  "A View of the Ocean" is the title. His sons saw their father as a despot, a tyrant and a bully and he didn't want them or ANYONE around his wife to claim time and attention that he felt should belong only to him!

She ended up in a Japanese internment camp in the Dutch East Indies where, incredibly, she managed to arrange a cease-fire between the Dutch Army and the Indonesian guerillas!  She came back home and continued to carry on God's work by meeting with people who had problems and questions that assaulted their souls and then learned, one day, that she had a form of stomach cancer that was too far gone for treatment and Jan and his brother took up the responsibility for helping/watching over her, facing her death. 

The details are not spared, the personalities of the nurses and Jan's main source of medical help (an outspoken but brilliant doctor he'd known for years), the descriptions of the disease's killing her body, the attitude of her doctor right up to he and his brother's reactions.  In the aftermath of her death, he sound  great solace in a quote from George Fox, founder of the Quakers; "I saw  that there was an ocean of darkness and death, but an infinite ocean of light and love flowed over the ocean of darkness."  Quite a slim little book but holding much human emotion and  several  wonderful  thoughts and  life lessons. 

I tell you what--let's lighten up a little bit, okay? One of my candidates, just from the title alone would be, "The Book of VIce; Very Naughty Things (and How to Do Them!) " , by Peter Sagal, who is a writer, an award-winning playwright and at one time write articles for a motor cycle magazine. From all of that--title and author info--you just know you're going to love it!  One of the "haunts" for vice he covers is the oldest casino in Vegas and asks the dealer how to beat the house and how the casino/house gets any profits if it's always in the business of paying the winners?

And why do we like to gamble?  Well, boredom. challenge, the urge to compete, it's a macho thing--and who has the greatest chance of success? One of the great gamblers of Begas says, "The guys who are trying to come up with some complicated formula--go up so many units if you win, go down so many if you lose--they're dead in the water. What I--and the casinos--are afraid of is the guy with just a little money and he's not afraid of letting it ride. Just one guy who is absolutely fearless and if one of those winning streaks happens--he'll cripple you."According to the old English morality plays, there was a comic sidekick of the Devil's called "Vice"--read this funny, on-the-spot book and  be prepared to laugh, once the real facts are revealed! 

"Fair Game; My Life as a Spy, My Betrayal by the White House", by Valerie Plame Wilson, is most interesting. We had an ambassador to the Far East in Joseph Wilson and he wrote a piece entitled, "What I Didn't Find in Africa" for the August New York Times and a week later, columnist Robert Novak revealed in his column that Wilson's wife, Valerie, was a spy for the CIA. It hit the fan!  "The public disclosure of that SECRET information spurred a federal investigation and led to the trial and conviction of Vice-President Dick Cheney's chief of staff, Scooter Libby, and the Wilsons' civil suit against top officials of the Bush administration."

But Valerie, herself, has been silent on the subject--until now. Predictably, some of what was written was accurate and some has been false--"distorted characterizations of Valerie and her husband and their shared integrity."   And are we all aware that the "offering up" and conviction of Scooter LIbby has probably "let off" other high government officials whose names Washington knows? In any case, Ms Plame is articulate and intelligent in her accounting and I leave you with former Senator Robert Kerrey's quote (formerly on the Senate's Intelligence committee)--"This story shows how strong the desire to serve can be and how treacherous are the minefields of Washington.  Valerie WIlson volunteered at the height of the cold war. She expected to be betrayed by our enemies, not us." Despite her treatment, we are all indebted to those like her, who were true patriots and deserve better--what's the old saying, "I'll take care of my enemies--deliver me from my friends." Salud, Sister,and may you have good years ahead!  

Hey, guys!  It's time to put this column"to bed", as newspapers say, so  stay warm, exercise, be sure your dog has exercise and fresh water --both daily-- and let's watch KU play Basketball--oh, yes, and any others, too!  Excellent movies to look forward to--"Bucket List", "Sweeney Todd', and "There Will Be Blood" and let's hope the Writer's strike won't stop the Academy Awards from being seen on TV-- if I feel there's a chance of that, I'll personally intervene--that's my show!  Take care of yourselves and see you next column Bye!