It snowed in Baghdad the other day, for the first time in 100 years. My brother-in-law, who's serving there with his Louisiana National Guard unit, reports that the snowflakes were "massive." I'm about to go put on a t-shirt and mow the lawn.
On January 13.
I hate this weather.
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Yesterday while taking down an old barn up in southern Oklahoma I told my wife that I'm glad we don't have very many days like that most winters.
We'd be covered with people.
For you in the other parts of the world not covered by north Texas it was a spectacular day. We were in short sleeves pulling boards put in place probably in the thirties or earlier.
"I would support a larger gas tax to encourage economy, so that we can become less dependent on foreign oil. Let's double the Texas state gas tax and kill all of the toll roads."
There's no way they are going to get rid of the 121 toll road anytime soon. NTTA is in debt billions of dollars for it and it will take years, to repay the debt. (And that's assuming they don't default.) No matter WHAT tax is passed, that road is staying toll for the next 20+ years.
And with construction costs rising as they are, I wouldn't be surprised if we soon have an increased gas tax IN ADDITION to tolls. It's not cheap to finance the growth we have here in Texas.
Getting back to the topic of this post...
I've hesitated to post this, but what the heck. When I saw the reports on snow in Baghdad, I started crying. Literally. In my own screwy, soft-hearted way, I saw it as a sign of hope and renewal for this country which has gone through so much. I couldn't help thinking that maybe God was giving them some kind of sign that better things are to come.
I know, crazy, crazy, but it's how I felt and still feel.
A T-Shirt!!
Thanks for rubbing it in Rod - as I sit here 'hunkered down and snowed in' with my 4 boys! At least we still have power and there's always snowmen and sledding and hot chocolates when the worst of it is done.
T-shirts were last week. :)
We had ourselves a little snowball fight on the front "lawn" (really it's dirt and pavement and gravel, but ya know.) We posed and took pictures for our mothers. It snowed off and on all day up here in Kirkuk. There was still snow on a our miniature mountain range to the north as of this morning.
DeeAnn, you ARE being kind of sappy. But now really is a moment of hope in Iraq. The Concerned Local Citizens are turning against Al Qaeda. And optimist would call this victory.
A cynic would point out that they are only doing it for the paycheck, and that when the money stops, they will go back to their old ways.
A pragmatist, such as myself, would point out that violence is down, and this offers a brief window of opportunity before an inevitable drawdown in US forces for Iraq to settle some political differences and create a sustainable government - be it terribly democratic or not.
The chance to iron out a workable solution is as brief-lived as a snow fall in Mesapotamia. May it be that this all works out for the good, in spite of all of our selfish bids for power, American, Shiite, Sunni, and Kurdish alike.
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