Some thoughts, ramblings if you will. These are not a smooth flowing brook. They are instead a meandering river of ideas. I find myself scanning the skies more than before But not necessarily in fear I watched the sunset last night As beautiful a sight as I've seen in years Since last Tuesday, we have become a closer nation, more tolerant of our differences & more thankful for the little things. It could have been me. I consider myself extremely lucky that I wasn't in one of those hijacked planes. I'm fortunate that my place of work is not in the Pentagon or World Trade Center. I saw a proud man, dressed in black leather & riding a Harley this weekend. On the back of his bike, tied to his "sissy bar," flew a huge American flag. We followed him in our car, clapped as we passed & yelled out our support of "Ol' Glory." An upturned thumb was his response. We are a united populace! Some of our local Viet Nam vets are ready to reenlist. It would be nice if they could be part of the military retaliation, part of a war where there would be massive public approval & support. We sure owe them that. The swagger has returned to our walk. Flags are flying everywhere. I found the Rev. Billy Graham very inspirational on Friday, as did many other Americans. Does this mean that the Pledge of Allegiance & prayer could be returning to our schools? We are still, as recent vigils indicate, "one nation under God." I'm sure the atheists will have something to say about that. And we as a country wouldn't have it any other way. For here, we allow freedom of speech & support friendly debate. I'd like to use this forum to thank my cousins & research partners for their continued support & for their friendly letters. Thanks also to the list administrators who have allowed the flexibility of my postings, which sometimes wander away from genealogy's mainstream. For that I apologize. But I believe that history & how it affected our ancestors or how it is affecting our descendants is an important part of genealogy. As always, I look forward to reading your comments. Sincerely, Mike Peters [email protected]