Thanksgiving 2008

Thirty years going ... but this year was, without question, the best.

Oh!Bama

I find the experience of the Obama campaign nearly impossible to capture in words.  As was often said during the election, this was (is) a movement.  One that I am glad I was part of and witnessed.  And ... it is just beginning.  

Life seems ... good again.  Many people I know have felt similarly, that a nine-year, low-lying depression over our country's actions has vanished.  And in its place, hope.  Real, solid hope.  

The pictures here are from an Obama rally that took place on October 5 on Philadelphia's Benjamin Franklin Parkway.  It was a gorgeous, sunny day, 70 degrees, with Bruce Springsteen playing acoustic.  My dear friend, Bill Vitka, and I went together ... and thanks to Bill's press credentials, we got up close and personal.  It was a fantastic day, one I'll never forget.  

The group picture in my house is Election Night, when my neighbors and I gathered to watch the returns ... it was good to be among others who were as anxious about the outcome as I.  As nerves and tension gradually, oh so sweetly, gave way to joy, we were stunned into silence.  It was a silence of exultation.

God bless Barack Obama.

Long Beach Island 2008

In September, my family from Denver came to spend a week on Long Beach Island.  Who knew that a one-year-old would steal the show ... that his father would win Yahtzee every time ... that the mother would discover she was pregnant ... that Wife #1 would be the best person on the planet ... that my 87-yr-old mother would outsmart us all in Balderdash ... that the house would melt us all?  A beautiful week!

shorin' up for the shore

Denver meets Philadelphia in September for the inaugural trek to Long Beach Island.  Taryn, Brian, one-year-old Owen, Ann, and Susan will be taking over 6401 Ocean Boulevard in Beach Haven September 13-20.  This will be Owen's introduction to the Atlantic!  I'm hoping Taryn will have taught him the crawl and backstroke by the time they get here, but a simple float will pass my inspection.  We know Owen has those famous Jensen amphibious genes in him, so we plan on pointing Owen eastward and watch him take his first stroke.  Oh, yeah, we might be down there with him for the first entry, but after that, he's on his own while we dig for the Coronas on the porch.

Next posting:  things the Denver crew needs to bring (not much)!