MOMENTS IN TIME: CAPE TOWN, SOUTH AFRICA

Is there an apt description for Cape Town,  this gem of a place?   Despite lacking in full perspective about this city of contrasts, I think most will agree if I describe it in a superlative, one-word adjective: AMAZING! Its allure, often spoken of by those who have visited this South African city and extolled by those who came from its shores did not sound convincing to me initially. Honestly, Cape Town was not on my wide-ranging bucket list of places to visit. But a great company called GSPARTNERS has a way of drawing, even the skeptics, from a state of ennui to guarded enthusiasm. So I was pleasantly surprised when my preconceived notion of the place was proven wrong! The fact is, beauty is best appreciated when beheld personally and not merely described, since words and pictures do not fully substitute for what sight can behold. 

 The "Mother City", an iconic name for an iconic place, is a beguiling metropolis that gained its nickname for being the first European settlement in South Africa. But I will not pretend to be a connoisseur of its history and culture and would rather confine my description to some of the most thrilling experiences of our visit, particularly the African Safari. 

 The safari is an experience of a lifetime, but I will not sugar-coat it. The thick dust that can partially obliterate the sight for a moment is brutal; the unrelenting wind, that seems to be the mainstay on a safari exploit, is unforgiving; the rough terrain that will not dispense mercy to aching and brittle bones can be a challenge to some. But is the "ordeal" worth it? Absolutely! 

 A mesmerizing tableau of mountains and hills dotted with wild flowers in an array of arresting colors - yellow, white, pink, purple - lend softness and delicate contrast to the unyielding sandstones that seem to hold the stalwart mountains. Wildlife thrive and roam freely in the confines of their natural habitat: the semi-aquatic rhino wallowing in a small brown pond, a pack of zebras nuzzling some blades of grass searching for food, male and female lions turning their heads away from their "trespassers" in a resentful gesture, a baboon here and there, a family of giraffes extending their long necks in seeming act of superiority to the tall trees others find out of reach.

 But the allure of Cape Town does not stop where wildlife roam. It is not confined to the grandeur of its mountains, nor on the raw, untouched enchantment of its far-flung forests. One of the most striking beauties of this city is its seeming interminable ocean. The sparkling shores where the immaculate waves excitedly cavort with age-old rocks scattered on white sand is a sight to behold. In a rhythmic sway as ancient as the sea itself, they rise like a crescendo, then smash in wild abandon to the ever-faithful waiting shore. The sun, spell-bound by such display, watches from its perch above, moves behind the hills, then hides for a spell where the sea meets the sky.  Again, it will repeat in unbroken sequence day in and day out until the end of time. 

 We came face to face with a world God showered generously with natural richness and untamed beauty. It reminds me of the poem penned by the American essayist and poet, Ralph Waldo Emerson, about a wild flower called the "Rhodora", which says: 

 "Rhodora! If the sages asked thee why 

 This charm is wasted on the tree and sky 

 Tell them, dear, that, if eyes were made for seeing 

 Then beauty has its own excuse for being." 

 Cape Town, with its forests, ocean and hills, was blessed with a natural wild charm that was there to be appreciated and experienced by those who had been given the opportunity of a lifetime. GSPARTNERS made that experience a living reality and I would be remiss if I fail to acknowledge that. Although money cannot buy happiness, having it at one's disposal makes life satisfying and fuller in many ways. So, thank you, GSPartners! I am grateful beyond measure as well to the true GSP power couple whose help, encouragement, and unwavering support give me and others the courage to "strive, to seek, to find, and not to yield" to the toxic blatters of the skeptics. You rock, Zeny and Mars! But most of all, my utmost gratitude and thanksgiving go to the power above us all, he who, with his infinite love and mercy made everything possible.  So, now and always, to GOD be the glory!

                                HAPPY THANKSGIVING TO ALL!!!

STANDING for AMERICA

(Written and posted on FB on 10/8/2016, one month before the Presidential Election)

STANDING FOR AMERICA!!

I know, I know.  Every liberal is heading to Celebrationland armed with a machete to hack Trump's reputation to smithereens after the leaked video of his disgusting comment about a woman.  It's bad, no question about it.  There is that part of the mother and grandmother in me that would not attempt to excuse such a "piggish" (that's what they said) behavior and would probably smack him silly should I hear him say it to the females in my family.  BUT, my support for Trump is not, and never depended on shared values, never on the conduct of Donald Trump, the man.  I have always said that he is not perfect, that he is flawed, like any human being.  In that respect, however, as bigmouthed as he is, I don't think he ever attempted to portray himself as better or "holier than thou".

SO,  did this latest and dirtiest scandal just unleashed by the feral Clinton Camp to undermine his ever-growing lead in the polls shake my resolve to support Donald Trump? Call me a fool, but the earthquake did not bother me!   My values are mine and his are his.  I am not supporting a man who thinks like me, who worships like me, whose attitude  and values mirror my own.  No, because this election is not about the little me.  It is about the country that I love; it is about the future of a people that my children and grandchildren will be a part of and it is incumbent upon me to ensure that they have the America I came to call my own 38 years ago.  I am an American by choice.  I pledged allegiance to this country and my first duty is, with the little I could do, to ensure it survives.  This coming election, I will come to the polling booth with one name to fight for, AMERICA!  That battle can only be won with an army of patriots whose love for their country supersedes their dislike of their man-of-clay general:  DONALD TRUMP!

There are two opposing forces that matter this election and to be fair to the liberals, I will not give it the "good vs. evil" characterization because, obviously, "good" will have to be stretched to shreds to fit either of them,  give or take a few personal differences.    But there is one compelling yardstick  by which I will  measure who will be best to lead this country in the next four years of struggle it definitely faces:  LOVE FOR AMERICA!  That is one benchmark that will not fail and establishes a startling contrast between Trump and Clinton.  I think that is the prototype that will spell a paradigm shift in people's way of thinking because Trump will always land on top of the scorecard if we can all open our minds and be honest with ourselves.  Donald Trump, with all his billions, can live a life of untold luxury many lifetimes over, yet, he exposed himself to the ignominy of derision, lies, name-calling, mud-slinging, and downright hatred of those who dislike him because he is worried about where this country is going.  The socialist ideologues of this country (like Hillary Clinton),  with the help of the world's plutocrats are trying to drag the country into a world of their own making where oligarchy and the New World Order hold the baton of power; where the American Constitution is a despised and forgotten archaic document penned by forgotten, idealistic men of a bygone era; where freedoms fought for by valiant men who gave their all, are trampled upon the halls of power of lies and corruption.   That is, in a simple, abbreviated nutshell,  Hillary's America!

We have a crucial choice to make this coming election,  my fellow Americans:  Listen to the exaggerated tales of imperfections, misrepresented or otherwise, of those who love to paint Trump with all the varied colors of hate- misogynist, sexist, racist, xenophobic, etc.  Ignore the writings on the wall and give your loved ones a future of open borders, of illegal immigrants who will take all you have worked for away from your family that deserves the fruit of your labors.  Anticipate a country without freedoms cemented by Clinton's appointment of ultra-liberal Supreme Court justices who will decimate all the values this country has stood for and for which untold lives have been sacrificed to preserve.  Make abortion of the helpless unborn be the norm and get used to the horrors of terrorist attacks as Hillary intensifies the unvetted entry of Muslim refugees who are changing Europe's social, cultural,  and economic landscape right now.  Get used to daily news of rapes, criminalities, Sharia law, and trampling of your rights as citizens of this country because Muslim domination has marched unchecked  into our shores.  Adapt to the lies and forget your long-held sublime belief that all are equal under the law, for the person you have chosen will always hold herself above the rest of us and in her corrupt, grossly dishonest, and inept rule, sprinkled with a good dose of lies at every turn, will sell this country and all our rights, piece by piece to the highest bidder.  Case in point:  the sale of 20% of America's uranium deposit to Russia, one of her numerous influence peddling activities as Secretary of State.  If you think as Americans we could hold her accountable once she is in office, think again!  If she is above the law now, if the media is under her thumb now, if she has control of the different heads of departments of the U.S. government who shamelessly cover up all her infringement of established laws now, do you honestly believe anything would improve once she is safely entrenched in that coveted seat in the Oval Office?  If your answer is "yes", dream on!

The other choice:  TRUMP!  Yes, the brash, the loud- mouthed braggart, the
offensive, insulting misogynist or whatever irritating, annoying, description you want to label him.  His one redeeming quality and for which no one can take away from him is his unapologetic LOVE for AMERICA and for which his policies are carefully crafted:  Border walls to stem the tide of illegal immigration that brings criminal elements and illegal drugs to this country; effective vetting process before Muslim refugees that could bring in terrorist elements are allowed to come;  the preservation of Freedom and rights of Americans with the appointment of conservative Supreme Court Justices;  reversing the questionable Executive Orders signed by Obama, including the repeal of Obamacare; strengthening our military and assuring that our Veterans receive the financial and medical care they desperately need; providing an effective, common sense leadership that will restore American standing in the halls of world power; bringing jobs back to America and creating a solid economic platform that will ensure our unemployed citizens are provided jobs to support their families;  putting AMERICA FIRST by ensuring our safety, economic security, and our basic FREEDOMS, including the 2nd amendment,  are upheld and maintained in every aspect of American life.

Oh, I know what you'll say:  Tall order!  Not at all!  Besides, what have you got to lose?  Hillary has spent decades in different government positions with no laudable accomplishment, positions she used to advance her agenda of ruthless power and acquisition of wealth and personal gain for self-aggrandizement.  That is her track record sprinkled with a healthy dose of massive lies,  and if you think she will change as she achieves her loftiest goal, then I will bet my bottom dollar against you if I were a betting man (woman).  Hillary is nothing but the face of greed that she slyly covered with honeyed words of deceit to accomplish her goal of ultimate power.  Trump?  HE WILL DELIVER because he is a man of action and he hates to lose!  But more than that,  it is because of this one incontrovertible truth, the truth that makes him tick:  HE IS A PATRIOT;  HE LOVES AMERICA!  If everything is equal between him and Hillary and this is the main deciding point this coming election, with no second thought, in a nano heartbeat and with no regrets, I will cast my priceless vote for that flawed, imperfect man:  TRUMP, all the way to the White House!!!  #IAMSTILL DEPLORABLEANDMAKENOAPOLOGIES!

STAND UP!!!

Freedom of speech has always been the comfortable cover by which those on the left of the political spectrum tried to shield their twisted rhetoric when cornered.  Funny though, that when the same argument is used by those they disagree with, they vehemently denounce it and attribute such use of the same freedom as racist, homophobic, misogynistic, or any of those insulting labels that cut the thread of sound  and logical debate.  That is how they operate because a lot of times, they have no leg to stand on.

Case in point?  This melodrama of the NFA "taking a knee" that consumes the airwaves and every news outlet from coast-to-coast, from sea to shining sea!  Once again, the blame for the disrespectful actions against the flag and the National Anthem that these ungrateful, pompous "little men" who call themselves "athletes" have displayed before the recent NFL games, was conveniently shoved at the doorstep of President Trump.  True, he denounced their despicable action and called out the owners for their failure to keep their employees - yes, they are employees - toeing the line.  And yes, he did not mince words and called them a name that sparked another flame of controversy in this already volatile issue.  But for all intents and purposes, isn't that also an exercise of his First Amendment right?  Did he lose that right when he became president of the United States?  Is he less deserving of exercising free speech?  Did he forfeit this right, this freedom, because it is an issue he should refrain from commenting?  It is ludicrous to even consider an affirmative answer to these questions; yet, those who support some NFL members' contemptible action have forgotten that freedom is an expansive, equalizing medium, that no one, in this great country has a monopoly to it, that they cannot demand it while refusing to grant its use to those they do not agree with.  Prince  or vagabond, billionaire or ghetto dweller, learned or dumb, should possess the same capacity and right to the exercise of men's basic freedoms.

And so they take a knee!  But while I uphold their right to display to the world that inherent right, I feel they fail to understand that there is a time and place, as well as a right platform, to indulge in the exercise of such.    In their incessant desire to make a point against every word and action of a president they hate, they sacrificed their own honor and dignity as Americans and as role models to the young.  As they spitefully took a knee to a cause they thought they fully understand, of righting some law enforcement wrongs, perceived or otherwise, they cut to the core of the American soul.  For our flag, our anthem, is the soul, the spirit, and the heart by which America survives!  By taking a knee while the "Star-Spangled Banner" is being played,  by hiding in the shadows of their bunkers, they displayed a suffocating air of arrogance and ingratitude that trampled the graves of men and women of courage who gave the ultimate sacrifice to bequeath to them an enviable country where men are free.

Those athletes who took a knee and the owners who tolerate their disrespectful stance have been blinded by their millions.  They have forgotten where they came from and who brought them where they are.  They have traded disrespect and dishonor to the virtues only men of integrity uphold.  They have forgotten that the American flag, and the anthem that bespeaks of courage, hope, sacrifice, love of country,  and heroic deeds, is an echo from the hallowed  chambers of stalwart and greater men, present or long gone.

The men of the NFL have chosen to forget that those men whose noble sacrifice make up every thread and fiber of the American flag, once played another game, eerie as it was, where the applause did not come from an adoring crowd but from the deadly sound of bombs and the barrel of a thousand guns!  I imagine that those heroes, those men of uncommon valor, also  took a knee as they fall on a blood-drenched ground, not to protest the symbols of the country they love but for the honor of fighting for the freedoms of today's lesser men.

Men of the NFL, respect the flag and those who died for it!  For the country who gave you what you have, be the best men you could be!  STAND UP!!!

CHIMERA

I stirred from my fitful sleep and saw the towering Cliffs of Moher beckoning before me,  the raging waters below mesmerizing my fog-hazy brain as it moved in a dance-like trance.  All at once, I was transported to the entrance of a magnificent castle that had seen centuries of power and prestige, wars and conflicts,  the pomp and circumstance of royal life,  and the passing of sovereignty from one potentate to another.  In a split second, I was in front of the Stone of Eloquence, the Blarney Stone at the Blarney Castle.  Should I kiss it or should I not?  Then coming from afar,  a voice,  indistinct at first, then gathered clarity and definition as it slowly bridged the distance.  It was charming, lyrical, the voice of a master poet.  Through the years, it echoed the once - and still is - artful play of words:
                    "When you are old and grey and full of sleep,
                      And nodding by the fire, take down this book,
                      And slowly read, and dream of the soft look
                      Your eyes had once, and of their shadow deep;"

Ah, the immortal W.B. Yeats!  Yeats, pride of the Irish, lulling me with the beauty of your verses, how well you know my heart!  Will you honor  me with your surreal presence?  Will you step out of a time-capsule fantasy and spellbind my today with your poetic skills that once enthralled the world's literary throng?

But as speedy as it came, the cadence of the verses halted, the crystal-blue waters of the "Emerald Isles" receded, and the illusory castle imploded as the foggy veil of sleep lifted.  As reality dawned,  I saw myself in a familiar, darkened room, the quiet, sonorous hum of the air-conditioner that makes the blistering, triple-digit Vegas temperature comfortable fills the boredom of the quiet night, and my "vagabond" shoes - those "vagabond" pair that always longed to stray far and out into the world - are still anchored undisturbed at the foot of my bed!

Reality!  I felt the ache of disappointment that started two days ago returned as that unapologetic voice of an American Airlines employee callously declared after more than two hours of flight delay:  "Flight 108 to Heathrow (layover before Dublin) CANCELLED"!  The next flight would be the day after which would not suit our tour schedule.  Then home-bound.  An ugly chimera, no less!  Some say there is a reason for everything, so I won't question the stroke, however unexpected, of unerring Providence.  But it's such a downer, no question about it.

Yeats, keep singing your immortal verses.  Let them continue wafting through the soft velvet of the cottony clouds cast forth from your Irish shores.  You are still there.  I know, for greatness does not fade, nor it ceases to be.  I want to feel the indomitable Irish spirit that exudes from those enchanting emerald-green isles of beauty that beacon to the senses to enjoy, to admire, to explore.  Clinging to my illusions, I am sure they will not disappoint.  So, "start spreading the news.  I'm leaving today" (lyrics from New York, New York).  Well, not quite, but soon, soon!

Hank Locklin 'Galway Bay'

MEMORIAL DAY Thoughts

MEMORIAL DAY thoughts:

"Old Glory",  there it waves in the waning sun!  Tomorrow, it will be poised to greet the day, a day of remembrance, to honor those who left but never returned.  Stripes of red and white with fifty stars in a backdrop of blue, "Old Glory" symbolizes many things to this great nation and to the world.  Well or ill, however it is perceived in a microcosm of downgraded values and depreciated standards, it will continue to stand as a beacon of hope to those it has served and saved.  This cherished emblem of purity, hardiness and valor, vigilance, perseverance and justice, of which its tricolors stand, is the inspiration that fueled men and women of uncommon courage to defy the grave in the defense of humanity's  most valued birthright - freedom!

Tomorrow, in the dawn of day, we will pay respect to the fallen and and lay memorial wreaths to their quiet and lonely graves.  We will recall with solemnity and gratitude the gift they so unselfishly bestowed to a country - even to a world -that many times fails to appreciate the magnitude of their hallowed sacrifice.  Tomorrow, we will pay tribute to these heroes'  shortened lives;  we will express regret for the future they never knew, to the joys and bliss they never claimed.  Tomorrow, the plaintive notes of bugles and drums will play some voiceless refrain as a posthumous  homage to those whose red-hot blood of courage watered the ground we stand upon.  Tomorrow, if we listened in quiet reverence in the hush of day, we may still hear the soundless call of those who breathe their last in the dark of night because they believe we deserve a gift only love can redeem.  For is it not said:  "Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends"? - John 15:3

"For our fathers gone before us,
That they have not toiled in vain;
For the mother hearts that bore us
And shall not waste their pain;
        For the childhood games and laughter
        And the sorrows that turned their tears
        To a song in the heart hereafter
        Unto the end of years -
For these, and what else unspoken
Live when a soldier dies,
You are the body broken -
You are the Sacrifice."
- Brian Hooker, Commemorative Poem for Yale Men who died in the war)

WHAT'S IN A NAME?

Today, I will stake my claim to truth and common sense.  I will ignore the groundswell of discordant voices clamoring for a departure from reason in the guise of tolerance and diversity.  Today, I will wade in the dangerous waters of political incorrectness and declare what I believe and know is true.  This Christmas, or anytime thereafter, I will not perjure myself and call this icon of the season a name it does not truly represent.  This is a Christmas Tree, not a common Holiday tree!

Does it matter?  A famous Shakespearean quote declared:  "What's in a name?  That which we call a rose by any other name would smell as sweet".  But ours does not resemble,  in any empirical juxtaposition,  the romantic world of Romeo and Juliet.  We are living in a real, but changed world, a world in the cusp of collapsing values and eroded sense of the divine, where political ideologies have been allowed to bleed into the sacrosanct realm of freedom and personal beliefs.  In its contorted, mindless search for appeasement and pursuit of the liberal dogma, it is a world that condemns any allusion to beliefs and practices that it deems prejudicial.  But while that attitude may contend to advance oneness and tolerance, it is a mindset that hinges in hypocrisy for it distances itself from Christian values while embracing the loud dissenting voices of the opposition.  Sadly, we live in a society that, by and large, continues in its headlong march to spiritual destruction... because it has forgotten God!

 The Christmas tree may seem an expendable trapping of the season, but it nevertheless represents something of spiritual import.  No, it is not a tree of an unnamed holiday.  It is a CHRISTMAS TREE!  For centuries, it has been associated with the celebration of the birth of the Savior of the world.  It exalts the coming of the Messiah, the Son of the living God, with decorations symbolic of love, unity, brotherhood, spiritual redemption.  The tree itself, standing straight in a heavenward thrust, represents humanity's desire for the divine and the infinite. Usually a stately evergreen of the conifer variety, the Christmas tree, with its green color signifies man's hope for eternal life.  The star, prominently displayed at its top, represents the promised Savior to the world and the light that heralded his coming that fateful, holy night in a lowly manger in Bethlehem.  The Savior's advent into a world of sin is his condescension to mortality and the single, most important event, then and ever will be, in the history of mankind.  He is the Promised Messiah from a loving Father.  "For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him may not perish, but have everlasting life"- John 3:16.

The Christmas tree's call for spiritual recollection does not end with the symbolic star.  We hang on it ornaments and other adornments to remember Christ, the perfect gift.  We decorate the tree in red, the first color of Christmas,  which proclaims in man's callous heart the blood that redeemed him in Jesus' atoning sacrifice.  The bell ornament represents a call to the lost sheep to follow Christ, the true Shepherd,  while the candy cane  reflects the Shepherd's crook which he uses to gather the lambs that strayed from the fold.   The bow reminds us of the bond of perfection, which is love, while the wreath, which is a circle without beginning nor end, signifies eternity and the enduring nature of Christ's love.

Christmas tree or Holiday tree:  Does it matter?  What is really in a name?  Is the nondescript allusion to the season not enough?  Should we not just bow out from this ongoing,  contentious discourse and let the politically correct mentality prevail?  "For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places" -Ephesians  6:12.

But while conformity is a virtue in many respects and is an antithesis to discord, the term we use to identify an object connected to things we believe in has broader and deeper significance than meets the eye.  When we abandon our principles and beliefs to bow and acquiesce to societal demands to conform, we lose a part of who we are.  It destroys self-respect; it chafes the soul; it corrodes the spirit, because it is wrong! Yes, it's just a Christmas tree, but yet, calling it any other name will be tantamount to stripping the importance of that sacred gift of long ago heralded by a heavenly messenger who earnestly announced:  "Fear not: for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people. For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, which is Christ The Lord"-Luke 2:10-11.

So more than preserving the word, "Christmas Tree", this season and in all the seasons following, I will declare without reservation a greeting from the heart.   At the risk of being called politically incorrect by those who do not subscribe to my way of thinking, I will shout it from the rooftops of my Christian soul and proclaim it from the hallowed pinnacle of my faith.  I hope you do the same.   MERRY CHRISTMAS; MERRY, MERRY CHRISTMAS,  my friends!

What's in a name?  My faith, my truth, my testimony!