Dragons

A veteran sent me a quote with his response to the quote.

Challenge is a dragon with a gift in his mouth.
Tame the dragon and the gift is yours.
-Noela Evans-

"We all at some point in our lives have been challenged by some sort of dragon. When the battle is over and the dust settles only the strong will survive. That is how life goes for many of us. For our veterans, however, that is how it goes all the time, day after day, fighting one dragon after another, and often times alone."
-John- A Vietnam Veteran

As John writes, we have all experienced our own demons during our lifetime. Sharing fears lessens the pain. Feeling alone only increases the power of the dragon. Share your time over a cup of coffee or an ambling walk. Lend a book or lend an ear. In any way you can reach out to a veteran so he/she does not feel so alone.
                                                                           Above all, listen!

A Moment of Time

It was a cold, blustery day in our Black Hills. It was not a good day for "man or beast", but unfortunately we can not choose the weather when medical appointments beckon.

Bob and I drove up to Rapid City, about an hour of drive time. The doctor's offices are in a large, sterile cement building located at the top of a windy hill overlooking Rapid City. After the visit we left the clinic to do other chores that are not do-able in small-town Hot Springs.

What a shock! Our car would not start. Dead battery time. This was an experience neither of us ever had during our lengthy lifetimes, and one definitely not on our bucket lists.

Bob braved the chilling winds to check under the hood. "It's the battery all right."

He dug in the glove box and came up with the insurance information. This company guaranteed to service your car no matter the place or time. We went back into the clinic to use their phone.

"What do you need?" asked the receptionist.

"Dead battery", said Bob. "We would like to use your phone to call our insurance company."

"What good will that be?" was the instant response from the young woman behind the desk. "I'll call maintenance. Have a seat over there."

Within minutes a pleasant looking older gentleman arrived, bearing gifts of jumper cables. We all trudged out into the searing winds and within another minute the car was running. The maintenance man disappeared as swiftly as he had arrived, back into the "who knows where" of the antiseptic corridors of the medical building.

That was that! No insurance, no waiting, no inconvenience, no cost! Back in the day this type of courtesy was not uncommon. But today? What a treat! What an affirmation that kindness is not dead. There was a dead battery, but there was also a considerate receptionist at a busy desk and an on-the-spot maintenance man with handy jumper cables. Both took the time to help two strangers on a gray, gusty day. Somehow the day no longer seemed so cold or bleak.

Kindness and courtesy are not dead in the largest city in the Black Hills of South Dakota.

The Expectant Time

Temperatures are in the 70's, the winds are still, and there is a hush, a silence of waiting, waiting for the burst of new life. Of course there have been some early March arrivals.....a few sleepy wasps and bees who preceded the usual food supply, tiny buds on the lilac bushes, some ants and flies and the early greens reaching up from the snow in advance of their flowers still in their winter sleep.

This silence is punctured by the buzz of the bush trimmers, the laughter of children, the chatter of neighbors and the crowing of an unexpected rooster in the flock of the neighbor's hens.

These sounds come and go, giving way to the longer stretches of the pregnant silence. Spring will soon be here with buds bursting, flowers emerging, grass growing and swarms of the seasonal birds joining the regulars at the bird feeders.

Is it early this year? The stretch of time between the vanishing snow and the welcoming spring? It seems to be and may also be a forewarning of one of those excruciating hot, hot summers. We have been fortunate to have had pleasant summers for the past several years, so perhaps it is time for us to be surrounded by stifling heat.

But for now, enough of the negative thoughts. It is the time of no snow shoveling or lawn mowing. It is time to enjoy the lull and welcome warmth of this mild, mellow March in the southern Black Hills of South Dakota.

It won't be long now.

Thank You, Jim!

Yes, yes indeed, the battle still goes on over the future of our Hot Springs VA! The National American Legion fought hard for us. The citizens of our community are busy writing letters to the EIS, refuting their report that supports that of the Veterans Administration in Washington.

This VA is rated as one of the top VA facilities for treatment of veterans suffering from PTSD and other emotional issues. The ones on the large cities have extreme wait times, and veterans suffering trauma would rather not receive help in the confusion, noise and crime of the large cities.

Our VA offers shorter wait times and low crime rates in the peace and serenity of the surrounding Black Hills enclosing the sleepy small town of Hot Springs. And, in spite of all the opposition, we are still open after 4 years of battling the un-informed, anti-veteran health care attitudes of those in Washington who, for the most part, have never served their country, except for fussing over legislation, spewing "patriotic rhetoric" to the masses who have put them in office, demanding that we send our young men and women to fight the wars to protect "our" interests (according to their beliefs and pocket books), but are grossly negligent when it comes to financing the healing of these same veterans who signed up to protect their special interests.

Oh, we hear from Washington, "boots on the ground", etc., but back here in our back yard? Well, that appears to be another story. If our representatives (no matter which party affiliation) over the past 20 years really had our veterans at heart, they would have pushed legislation that the VA could not close any of our rural VA hospitals for at least ten years....until the long wait times are no more in the VA health system. That would have stopped this struggle in its tracks.

A local columnist hit the nail on the head in his last column in the Rapid City Journal for 3/3/2016. You can google it for the full story or find it on www.theveteranstown.com. Jim Kent slices through all the political protests, debating and dust storms brought on by those who profess to love our veterans, but then turn their backs on these same veterans when it comes to fighting for legislation to keep and improve a health care system which honors their service.

I could not sum up it better than his words:  Not to worry, however. Our Republican congressional team is fighting for "the boys" (and girls). Nowhere near as vehemently as they are against a replacement for Justice Scalia but, hey, what's more important -- keeping your right-wing puppet masters happy or battling for the veteran who fought for you?

Johnny? Mikey? Kristi? Any of you serve?

I thought not.

Angry words? I think so, but many of us are furious over the whole mess. Those who serve in Washington are receiving great benefits for life, while those who serve our country in the military are being disenfranchised. A legal right? Well, veterans believe a promise was broken. Veteran benefits are being taken away, bit by bit, under three different administrations, and not just here in Hot Springs. Check it out!

It isn't enough to say "thank you for your service." Proper, timely and respectful health service is the sincerest thanks from a grateful country.

Well, representatives in Washington, will you listen to the voices of our veterans? Will you represent those who served? The ball is in your court. It's your call.

Small Town Neighborhood Watch

So I am here in my office at the computer. In comes Bob. Cradled in his arms is a very serene red chicken.

"What are you doing with Nancy in the house?" My thoughts flit to poop on the carpet, a nervous pecking chicken, etc.

"Don't you recognize your own chicken?" asked Bob with a sly grin on his face.

I took a second careful look. "Oh, no, it is not Nancy. This chicken is BIG! It looked like a Rhode Island Red.

Bob had been out in the back yard trimming bushes when the new neighbor drove past and called to him, "I think I have your chicken. She is sitting on the hood of my car."

Now I would like you to know that the car this chicken was perched on is a gorgeous, mint condition antique Kaiser that is for sale. That chicken certainly knew how to pick a car to perch on.

Well, this new neighbor that we had not yet met and welcomed to the neighborhood, even though she lived directly across from us, was cautious about picking up a strange chicken so my husband took the mellow chicken and introduced her to our chickens. Of course our head chicken took to the fight, but in a few seconds my husband knew that the foreign larger chicken had the advantage. He locked up the stranger and came to the house for our cat carrier. I knew where a neighbor across the street had chickens since I can hear them boast when they lay an egg.

The neighbor was home, and it was his chicken. It turns out that they had a new puppy that had knocked a hole in their 6 foot fence and several of his chickens had wandered into the strange and dangerous world of cars and dogs.

We met two new neighbors this afternoon. It took a wandering chicken to bring this all about. Goes to show you that we should never be too busy to meet our neighbors. Life gets in the way at times of meeting and greeting  those who live within easy calling distance. When we do meet them face to face these former strangers have a way of becoming real and familiar.

So tomorrow I will bring some nice fresh, organic eggs to our new neighbor with the beautiful antique car. She also has a motorcycle squeezed between her regular car and the Kaiser. Seems like it is time to properly introduce ourselves. She moved in over a month ago but.......as I wrote, life gets in the way. That is sad, I must say. Today I remembered that some of the most important things in life are those nearby who enter our lives and become a part of our sometimes "too busy" lives.

As for the neighbor with the roaming chicken, well, a gift of eggs is definitely not in order, and after all, we did return his wandering chicken, and he was very grateful and friendly!

Let's hear it for chickens! They lay organic eggs, fertilize the garden, calm the daily tensions and today they brought three neighbors together.