Back Porch Written Reflections

Americans are different from the rest of the world because we live in a Democratic Society with a Democratic Republic form of governments that values FREEDOMS above all else except for maybe GREED and MONEY.

Many people on the LEFT SIDE of our freedom fence are saying that ALL WHITES are bad, evil, and OPPRESS all other races and ethnic groups, especially BLACKS and that this practice MUST STOP,

Many people on the RIGHT SIDE of our freedom fence are saying that we value of freedom, especially our freedom of speech that allows the LEFT to say whatever it is that they want to say.

These two views are so different that we are tearing ourselves apart because of our DIVISION; and, while that concerns me a little, what concerns me more is that our global enemies will take advantage of that divide.

While there are BAD PLAYERS in America on both sides of our Freedom Fence, we should be more concerned about the following:

1. Our quality of education or the lack thereof
2. The care we give our disabled veterans
3. A growing economy with less than 3% inflation
4. An economy that has close to FULL EMPLOYMENT
5. A strong global military presence
6. An open immigration program
7. Equalizing the salary/wage scales
8. Keeping all taxes as low as possible
9. Reducing to the point of eliminating debt
10. Ending our dependence on illegal drugs
11. Becoming and maintaining energy independence
12. Having politicians everyone can trust again
13. Having leaders everyone can trust again 
14. Having managers everyone can trust again
15. Having supervisors everyone can trust again

The Weekend

TO A RETIRED INDIVIDUAL OR COUPLE...  the weekends are just two more days of the week, no more special or different than the other five days of the week other than specialty doctors are typically not available even though there is always a doctor ON CALL as they say.

The other issue about weekends is that the movie theaters have more people attending them as do the restaurants, and the malls or any other public place which makes it especially worrisome with our COVID pandemic lurking about in the shadows.

For my wife and I, weekends are a break from doctor's appointments and the need to get CLEANED UP and drive for 30-40 minutes into Knoxville and have to deal with the city traffic...  even though the traffic in Knoxville is not as great as the traffic in Nashville or Atlanta as we recall from our previous visits.

There are different shows on cable during the weekend as opposed to during the week and while that is somewhat appealing, cable programming leaves much to be desired outside of the news and a few cooking shows...  in fact, my wife and I spend most of our time watching ROKU and long for the day when all we have with cable is simply a WIFI hookup.

My wife and I can sleep in just as easily on the weekdays as we can on the weekends and do so often when we do not have an early doctor's appointment...  and, most of my appointments take place at the University Medical Center so I make them early in the hopes that I can get a parking place just outside the building rather than having to park in the garage and walk in the heat or cold.