Roof fix accomplished, and reply to comment

First I would like to thank Alice for her thought-provoking comment to my last blog entry. I didn't know about the MLK Foundation or its award to a Chinese sculptor. I don't think it's a matter of racism on my part to prefer the statue to have been carved here in the United States rather than in China, but is purely a matter of economics. I spent the weekend listening to many speeches from many who were part of Dr. King's circle, as well as a very beautiful and moving talk from his youngest son. In each case the person was asked what he thought Dr. King's focus would be today, and the unanimous answer was "economics". Dr. King would have seen that economic policies that began far earlier than our present Administration, have led to the deterioration in the standard of living of most Americans, and that these policies have resulted in more people of all races living below the poverty level. I don't believe he would have failed to notice that a major cause of this has been the outsourcing of our manufacturing base to China. When we don't manufacture or create anything, there aren't many decent jobs left to fill. I believe that Dr. King would have addressed this problem and searched for a way that, first of all, would help lift the burden of poverty here at home. I also believe he would have wanted to address the problem world wide, but his first focus would have been in the United States.

As far as whether or not he would have been happy that a Chinese worker sculpted his memorial, we will never know for sure. I would respectfully disagree with you on that point, although I'm not saying you are wrong.

I believe it is the workers of the world who will always get the shaft sooner or later, and it will eventually happen to the Chinese workforce. But please don't accuse me of racism because I would like to see men and women in the U.S. find jobs by which they can support their families, educate their children, afford decent medical care, and so on.

Donald was on the roof today and I took a look when he was finished. He did a beautiful job, and the next 4 days promise some much needed rain, so I will be checking for leaks. Meanwhile, the two girls were in the house with me and we had a great day together. They can sure go through a lot of grapes and tangerines, and then they remembered that I keep a supply of snacks (healthy ones) on hand, so they hit me up for a few of those. They colored and drew, I read stories until I thought I would never talk again, and we watched cartoons for a while. They took turns holding the leash when Lady needed her afternoon walk, and waved to Daddy on the roof when we could see my house from the walking trail. Now I'm sitting with a cold one, exhausted.

Tomorrow I'm going to try to find a shoe store in midtown that has a sale on Birkenstocks. I rarely wear shoes that tie anymore, and I'm ready for another pair of Birkies.