TO BE A MAN

"To be a man--is to possess the strength to love another, not the need to dominate over others. To be a man--is to experience the courage to accept another, not the compulsion to be an aggressor. To be a man--is to keep faith with human values in relationships, not to value oneself by position or possessions. To be a man--is to be free to give love & to be free to accept love in return." David Augsburger, Men's Devotional Bible

NEW YEAR'S RESOLUTIONS REVIEW

* Average 1 road trip per month:  A.  Thanks to trips to Europe in June, CA in July, MN in July, & a family reunion in Omaha last weekend, we've made 8 RT's so far, which meets our goal to date.

* Lose at least 5 lbs:  A+. I've lost 19 lbs so far this yr, despite frequent road trips & mostly because of my enforced diet after my accident.

* Add to our NP list:  A. We visited Biscayne NP in FL last FEB.

* Avoid desserts:  D.

* Do my PT exercises and/or walking at least 4X per week: C.

* Publish my "Buzzwords" devotion book: C.

* Write another devotion book. B-.

* GPA:  B

CLIMATE CHANGE?

A thunderstorm rolled through this morning. We've received more rainfall during the last 30 days than in the rest of the year combined.

WHAT I'M WATCHING

I'm currently watching "Quarterback," a Netflix docuseries that follows 3 NFL quarterbacks during the 2022 season:  Patrick Mahomes, Kirk Cousins, Marcus Mariota. What I've found out so far:  Lots of insights into the time & effort that are required of a pro quarterback. PM is everything I expected, albeit with quite a potty mouth. KC is a man of character. I didn't know anything about him; things aren't going well for him.

WHAT I'M READING

> "Red Platoon:  A True Story of American Valor," by Clinton Romesha. A true story about a devastating battle in the Afghan war. I'd give it 4 out of 5 stars.

> I'm currently reading "Gentleman Bandit:  The True Story of Black Bart, The Old West's Most Infamous Stagecoach Robber," by John Beessenecker." An easy read.

> I started reading "Artemis," by Andy Weir, author of "The Martian," which I read & enjoyed. My brother-in-law John loaned it to me when we were in CA last month. I temporarily laid it aside when I started reading, "Gentleman Bandit." So far, so good.

OUR FEARLESS LEADER

Obvious signs Biden is innocent of any wrongdoing, compliments of the Babylon Bee

"He's a good family man who talks to 6 grandchildren every day."

"He raised an honest, law-abiding American citizen in Hunter Biden."

"He finds obeying the law just as easy as riding a bike."

"If he was actually guilty, there would be hard evidence."

"Children love him:  Just look at how they run away screaming when he shows up."