give me liberty, not more taxes

Some people might think life in a small midwest town is inexpensive. In some ways it is: housing prices are cheaper than in the big cities and free-range chicken eggs purchased from a local farmer can be less expensive than buying corporate-farm eggs from the grocery store. But the sales tax isn't necessarily less than in bigger cities. Our current sales tax rate here in The Small Town is 8.55%. City officials want to increase it to 9.3%. We go to the polls next week to pass or fail the measure.
Politics can also be dirty in a small town. City officials are threatening to increase our property taxes if we the people do not increase the sales tax.
Here's a novel idea: eliminate or decrease funding for non-essential items in the city budget and use that money for needed items.
There is much local opposition to any tax increase.

9/11 in Our Small Town

For the past four years, Our Small Town has commemorated 9/11 by having a Patriot Day Jamboree. It consists of a local celebrity (this year it was the singer from a local blues band) singing our national anthem, the Pledge of Allegiance, updating of a memorial plaque for local veterans who have served in Operation Enduring Freedom and Operation Iraqi Freedom, and an auction. The auction proceeds are given to a veteran for some need. This year it was for a local veteran who suffers from Lou Gehrig's disease.

This photo is of the local newspaper photographer's shot.

anouncing Easter in a small town

My Darling Husband and I spent the Easter weekend with my family in The Big City. When we came home, I glanced at Sunday's edition of our local newspaper.My eyes immediately fell to the top of the front page and I was pleasantly surprised. You know you're in a small town when the local newspaper editor is unafraid to declare that He Is Risen!
I have an educated guess that the editor of The Big City's newspaper would never allow this.

CutieDog very truly likes going to his "grandparents" (my parents) house. He gets to play with his "Uncle Dog" (my parent's Jack Russell Terror)...

and he gets to be a spoiled "grandog". See, he's not allowed to put his paws on our furniture here at home. He soaks up the extra allowances there. The first time we visited my parents with CutieDog, he tried to get onto our furniture upon returning home. This second time, he surprised us by minding his manners when we got home.

Smart and cute. Good choice, My Darling Husband.

our home is free because of the brave

Not our house (stimulus my foot) ...our home. "Oh say does that star-spangled banner yet wave, o'er the land of the free, and the home of the brave."
Veteran's Day in small-town Kansas. The photo is of the picture in our local newspaper today. We are free, so far, because of these brave fellow Americans. From our founding to Ft. Hood, freedom is not free. Thank you to those who served, and died, and are currently serving, to protect our freedom! Thank you to my granddads, their brothers, my dad and my Big Little Brother.
And by the way, there are 14 dead victims at Ft. Hood, not 13. One of the victims was pregnant.

there's room in this inn

Have you seen this? A Jewish family was denied a hotel room because of the owner's racism. Amazing how it's happening again in Austria, the birthplace of that horrible man Adolph Hitler.

If you're ever in The Big City, a stay here would be nice (or this one is nice, but I've not stayed at this one. I went to this one to listen to jazz). The staff is welcoming and the location is superb...right in the heart of a scenic area. The original buildings in the neighborhood date from the 1920s.

a little songbird sang to me

Well...actually it was a choir of high school songbirds. Last night My Darling Husband and I were in for a treat when we attended the Christmas concert at the local public high school.

Ahhh, their voices! Especially the locally prestigious senior class choir could compete with a professional choir. And, they sang a cappella. I'd love to have them serenade me to sleep each night. Sweet dreams gare-on-teeed.

Another highlight of the concert is that the song selections included old Christmas hymns. Hymns, not just carols. Hymns that spoke the names Jesus, God the Father, Christ.... How refreshing that in this age of reality-denying political correctness that the high school choir director in this small town is not quivering in his boots at the thought of offending a single someone with accurate historical tradition. Take that, bully ACLU. Christ is in Christmas.

Lo, How a Rose E'er Blooming was one of the songs.

it is Veteran's Day

The United States flag in this photograph shows fewer than 50 stars because it is one of the flags flown at Ft. McHenry. The National Park Service flies the flag that shows the number of states in the union at the time the U.S. defeated the British at Ft. McHenry during the American Revolution. Fort McHenry is also the birthplace of our national anthem.

I thank all the U.S. military service members, alive and deceased, for their part in creating and protecting this nation that God blessed us with. It is because of Him, and our military, that we have existed.

Take a moment to show your appreciation to the service members you know.