Please excuse Pie for being absent for so long. She wishes she had a good excuse. Like being painfully overworked. Or even better being kidnapped and held for ransom( which her family gladly paid after cashing in all their pop cans, it was a low ransom). Or perhaps being on an extended vacation on some exotic island. Or how about she was abducted by aliens? Or she ran off with the pool man and finally came to her senses realizing she doesn't have a pool. Or the dog ate her computer?

But she has no excuse other than needing to spend some time with her husband and family and do a little recharging of the batteries. But she sure did miss her friends here. She hopes everyone is well and happy. Now she has to go do lots and lots of blog reading. Hugs.

Have you read anything about this proposed bill? The Border Protection, Anti-terrorism, and Illegal Immigration Control Act. It is frightening to me. It will do nothing to protect against terrorists.

Here is just a sampling of the concerns all of us should have about the proposed act.

Under current law being in the U.S. without valid status is a civil violation, not A CRIMINAL ACT. hr 4437 WOULD MAKE THIS A FEDERAL CRIME. And would define immigration violations so broadly as to include every violation no matter how minor, technical or unintentional. It would also permanently bar the entire undocumented population including 1.6 million children. It will lead to separation of family members who would never be able to to secure lawful immigration status in the U.S.

It greatly expands the definition of "alien smuggling" to anyone trying to assist an immigrant in remaining in or attempting to remain in the U.S. when the "offender" knows the person is in the U.S. unlawfully. This includes social services organizations, refugee agencies, churches, lawyers, concerned citizens. You would be treated and charged the same as smuggling rings. Even family members and charitable workers could face Federal Prison time for assisting undocumented immigrants.

HR 4437 would require the Department of Homeland Security to detain all non-citizens caught along the boarder until they are removed from the U.S. Yes, detention centers! And if those detention centers become to crowded ,which of course they will as they try to remove all undocumented immigrants, then HR 4437 will authorize a contract with state and local jails to detain them. Furthermore criminalizing immigrants and also filling our already over crowded jails!

And get this, Aggravated Felonies are supposed to reserved for the worst and most violent crimes like rape and murder, they carry the most serious immigration consequences. But under HR 4437 even the most minor crimes, usually a misdemeanor, such as drunk driving, assisting an undocumented worker to reside in the U.S., even being in the U.S. without documentation will then be treated as a felony. But see the thing is most of the charges can be retroactive meaning that someone who committed a minor offense 20 years ago that was not a deportable offense then could now be charged with an aggravated felony. And the offense no matter how minor then will trigger the same immigration consequences of a major crime. Mandatory deportation, mandatory detention, disqualification of almost all immigration benefits, permanent banishment from the U.S. with no hope of lawful return. At risk include permanent residents who have lived here lawfully for decades. And because the non-citizen population is so large many American families include both immigrants and citizens this will break up U.S. citizen families with no hope of ever being reunited!

There are many many more unbelievable propositions in this bill.

I urge you to check this bill out for yourselves and if you feel as I do about this proposed act, contact your congressmen and urge them to vote no. I believe we do need to overhaul our immigration laws but not with HR 4437. I think the proposed Kennedy/McCain bill is the right way to go.

I wrote this last October and because I'm at a loss for words tonight I am doing a re-post. Hugs.

The Trail Home, from Oct.25, 2005

He sat ramrod straight in his saddle despite being weary to the bone.He had on jeans worn thin on his knees and seat.His boots showed the scuff marks and gouges of years of ranch work. His shirt was clean but faded to a nondescript color.
His bedroll was tied to the saddle behind him, and everything he owned was rolled up in it or tied to it. Not much to show for his 69 years on this old earth.
His face leather tough from years of living under the sky was lined with age.His eyes a faded blue were squinted against the setting sun.
Buck his horse was covered in a fine powder of trail dust.He'd give him a good brushing tonight.Damn it would feel good to climb down out of this saddle and stretch his knotted muscles.
He thought back over the last 2 weeks as he rode. When the ranch boss Jim Walker had come to him and told him he thought it was time Wes thought seriously about retirement he'd been shocked.Christ he was only 69 years old.He had a lot of years left in him. He'd told Jim that he wasn't ready to hang it up just yet but Jim had told him it wasn't really his choice.So this is what they call mandatory retirement he'd thought. Well to hell with that.He'd just move on down the line. There were plenty of ranches out there that needed an experienced hand like him.
Except there wasn't really.He'd been riding up and down the valley these past two weeks and had heard "sorry oldtimer I got nothin' for ya"more times than he cared to count. He knew he had been slowing down some the last few years. But dammit he could still out work a lot of guys years younger than himself couldn't he? He was starting to doubt himself. Shit he was tired.Dog tired.
Jim had told him not to leave,he could stay at the Double C Ranch and help out around there as long as he wanted,forever if he chose to.Clean the bunkhouse he'd said, maybe do some gardening raise some chickens take it easy "Hell "he'd said"you deserve a rest Wes".Clean,garden, farm? What the hell? He was a cowboy dammit not some old fart that needed to sponge off the charity of others.He'd been workin' ever since he was a boy he didnt know nothin else but work.
The sun was getting low on the horizon. It's orange glow lighting up the mountains like they were on fire. Time to make camp. Buck knickered in agreement." Buck your a treasure" he said to the horse.As long as he had Buck he didn't need human company. He listened better than most people and never interupted Wes' ramblings. He couldn't remember ever being so tired. Not even when he was younger putting in 16 hour days.
He spotted a good campsite just up the trail. A little clearing in a grove of trees.That should shelter them from the wind tonight. When he got up to it he noticed how beautiful it really was.The grass was so green and soft looking and the pines made a nice semi circle around the clearing. "What do you think Buck? Is this one of the prettiest place on Gods green earth"? Yup I think so too.
He unsaddled Buck,took his bridle off and let him roam freely around the little clearing. He took his bedroll off the saddle found the coffee pot and lit a fire out of some branches he found around the edge of the tree line. He went down to the creek and filled the pot with water and set it on his fire grate to boil." Come here Buck"he said to the horse as he got the curry comb out of the roll. He brushed Buck until once again his coat was a shiny black,his mane hung long and silky along his neck."Your a handsome old cuss"Wes told him. By this time the sun was setting and the coffee was hot. He was just to dammed tired to eat tonight.He poured himself a cup of the strong black coffee and sat back against a fallen log.
Before long he was dreaming.The forgotten coffee cup slipped from his hand.He dreamed of his youth.Years of riding,roping,branding and he'd loved every minute of it. A small smile slid across his face as Maria's face swam into his dreams.God he'd loved her.She'd died over forty years ago but there'd never been a day go by that he didn't think of her.When she'd died he'd sworn he'd never love like that again.He hadn't either.His loss he supposed.He dreamed of cattle,campsites and card games.The hundreds of nights camped out under the stars and the gallons of beer that he'd drank.And then once again there was Maria.She was reaching out to him.Oh thank you God He could touch her once again.He reached back to her and took her hand.She smiled up at him and said"Come on Wes let's go home".Oh sweet Lord he was ready to go with her.Oh God yes.
Buck stood and watched as Wes slid from this world to the next.

Blackbird

Blackbird singing in the dead of night
Take these broken wings and learn to fly
All your life
You were only waiting for this moment to arise

Blackbird singing in the dead of night
Take these sunken eyes and learn to see
All your life
You were only waiting for this moment to be free

Blackbird fly, blackbird fly
Into the light of the dark black night
Blackbird fly, blackbird fly
Into the light of the dark black night

Blackbird singing in the dead of night
Take these broken wings and learn to fly
All your life
You were only waiting for this moment to arise
You were only waiting for this moment to arise
You were only waiting for this moment to arise


By the Beatles

Do you have a favorite memory that makes you laugh each time you think of it? It may not be funny to anyone else but it cracks you up every time? I do. And it is one of how Rog got his nickname. It makes me giggle every time it pops into my head. It came to me again last night at work and got me laughing all over again.

Several years ago, probably 15 or better now. I was making up a grocery list to take to the store with me. Rog and I were going through the fridge and the cupboards to see what we were low on, what I needed to pick up. I asked him to check and see if we needed cereal or not. He pulled the box of Cheerios out of the cupboard shook it and then raised it over his head to look into it ( I don't know why ) The Cheerios came pouring out onto the top of his head and shoulders. He look at me with such astonishment. You know the " how the hell did that happen?" look. He had Cheerios balancing on his shoulders and on the top of his head.
And a look of true disbelief on his face and just I lost it! I was rolling on the floor. Every time I tried to stop laughing I'd think of the look on his face and the little Cheerios on top of his head and would crack up all over again. And he just kept saying "it's not that funny Pie" over and over. But it was! It still makes me laugh today. And every few years it will hit me and I'll start laughing out of the blue. Rog just looks at me now and says "Cheerios?" All I can do is nod my head.........