Snake in the grass

This morning, as I've been plodding through a few conference calls on one of our projects that is under construction, my mind has been wandering quite a bit with lots of different emotions. This post is an attempt to quickly vent so I can get back to work.

I think it's a collection of things that has set my mind free:

Shinzo Abe announced he is stepping down, which was widely expected. He seemed like such a good successor to Koizumi, but kept making mistakes. Unfortunately for him, the economy pulled back and he lost control. Can you think of an industrialized country more tortured by economic cycles than Japan?

What was unexpected, however, was that Putin dissolved his government today so he could hand pick all of his successors and stack the deck before he steps down. He didn't even name Ivanov as his PM. Why don't people talk more about the blatant disregard for freedom and democracy in Putin's Russia? Or the fact that they recently resumed the Cold War practice of having Bears and Blackjacks constantly flying around, assumedly with nukes on board? Or how they just punish, exile, and/or kill any successful free-market businessman, ex-KGB agents who don't still toe the party line, or reporters who ask questions? Did you happen to see that they tested a gigantic bomb yesterday and then said that it wasn't meant as a provocation? The only people who beat Putin in the saber rattling department are Ahmadinejad and Kim Jong-Il, and they're both clearly insane.

These things remind me of grad school in DC when I spent most of my time near Dupont Circle thinking about economics, geopolitics and globalization. It was a fun time and great place to be. And there's just nothing like seeing the leaves change in the Northeast.

Thinking of DC and Philly and their leaves remind me that fall is quickly approaching, which is far and away my favorite season of the year--beautiful colors, the smell of the earth after the harvest, the anticipation of the holidays, football, good food, family. Of course, everyone loves Christmas, including me. But I'd have to say my favorite holiday is Thanksgiving.

Thanksgiving makes me think about all of the good things in my life, which are too numerous to count. Yesterday's anniversary of the 9/11 attacks also allowed me to reflect on how much I love my country and what a blessing it is to live here--even when I share my freedom with those who would rather have us lose the fight against those who hate us for our freedom than defend it. Then today, we got an update on the ongoing story of Youssif, the 5-year-old boy from Baghdad who was horribly burned and disfigured. If you haven't followed the story, I encourage you to catch up on the background here, here and here. Yesterday (on 9/11) Youssif and his family arrived in the US for his treatment--only made possible through the care, efforts and donations of ordinary Americans. Here is the story. Pay attention to the comments of the family and think about how they must feel. Is there anywhere on the earth this story would sound the same? As I've said before, one of the reasons this story hits home to me is that I have my own 5-year-old. In contrast to Youssif and his family, Charles' main concern these days is how to not pass out from boredom in Kindergarten while the class reviews the alphabet. I don't mean to trivialize either situation, just to draw a contrast. I know bad things happen to people everywhere. But sectarian death squads run amok in Baghdad while I have conversations with Charles that go like this:

Me: "How was school today?"
Charles: "It was good. I didn't have to move my pawprint." (a disciplinary penalty)
Me: "That's good. Did you have fun in class today?"
Charles: "Yes, I did. I had PE today and we played with a parachute."
Me: "Cool. Charles, do you have any friends in your class?"
Charles: "Yes Daddy, I have lots of friends."
Me: "Really? Are all the kids nice in your class, or are some mean?"
Charles: "No. They're all nice."
Me: "Who are some of your friends in your class?"
Charles: "Well, Cassie is my 'cute' friend in my class, and Tori is my 'beautiful' friend."
Me: "Really? Why is one of them cute and one of them beautiful?"
Charles: "I don't know."
Me: "What makes them cute and/or beautiful?"
Charles: "Umm, well, one has a cute face so she's cute and one has a beautiful face so she's beautiful." (like, DUH, Dad)

Also, I'm grateful that Joey is doing well his Frankenstein staples. You can't even tell by the way he acts, except that he is very careful getting dressed/undressed. When I cleaned him up the other night, he sat there wincing, but didn't complain. What a great kid he is, and what a relief that it wasn't much worse. He should get his staples out on Monday.

I'm grateful that Liz and I could do five straight hours of hard work in our yard on Saturday. It's great exercise and reminds me of my Dad. Also, the yard looks amazing. We ripped out the third of five big hedges that we are removing. This one was covered in thorns and not pleasant at all. It was made better by finding at least a half dozen Green Anoles, which can change from bright green to dark brown in the blink of an eye and are all over our yard. Then, we caught a Texas Blind Snake, which is much more elusive. Between those two species and the geckos that sing to us at night, the boys have fun with the critters here in TX. And they haven't even seen an armadillo or a horned toad yet.

Here are some pictures of the blind snake.