Since my stroke things have definitely slowed down. Actually I try to look at it as just a sabbatical, away from the daily hustle and bustle to reflect more on me and the world around me. I do notice things I have always never took the time to see. For example, the sex of a squirrel or the sounds they make, how they make nests in trees and their mating habits. Also, how the seasons change, and watching the grass grow.

I have finish several projects I never could find time for. I have organized all my many photos from all the places I had been while in the Air Force. I have them all broken down in my computer. I have also learned so much about my computer by just trail and error ( heavy on the error part). I have just finished my Google Earth tour of everywhere I have lived. :Clap-Hands: That took a long time to finish, but it was well worth it when I finally got to play it back and watch Google Earth fly from place to place, especially the places I had been overseas.

Also, I have been able to spend much more time with Teddy. Mainly just learning his habits and learning how to listen to what he is saying.

Lately, I have been watching "The War" on PBS. Even though I was -9 when the war ended it did affect me, mainly from my father and uncles. My uncle at Ponte du Hoc who was later seriously wounded and many years later died from complications from those wounds. He never talked about his experiences, I really can understand why. Many years later I found an old metal swastika he had given my grandfather. He threw it into one of his nuts and bolts bin in his work shed. I found it all tarnished, I kept it and put the shine back into it I have it somewhere as a terrible reminder of the evil that thing represents (just like I now have copies of old Soviet propaganda posters). My oldest Uncle was a Sea bee, and he drove a bulldozer in the Pacific clearing jungle for runways. He was terrified of snakes, and told me once a Boa fell from a tree and squeezed a nearby bulldozer driver to death. He also told me about my Great Great Uncle who lost his arm in the Civil War. He lost his arm at Shiloh. He was trying to cover himself behind a tree when he was shot.

Finally, there was a Marine from my hometown in Texas, Harland Block, he helped raise the flag on Iwo Jima (he was the one where all you can really see is his butt). He was killed in battle the next day. His nephew was a friend of mine when I was in grade school.

Soon my sabbatical may be coming to an end, hopefully when I get a new kafo. Then driving, maybe back to work. However, my sabbatical will always be with me and I am sure I will never see things like I did before.