Pond Hopper

I have always had a soft spot for soldiers - well ever since I fell for a man who joined the army anyway. He wrote me letters nearly every day for 2 years telling me every little thing about his training and experiences. I was so proud of him and all that he's been through and achieved. I've had friends that joined as well. One constant was that they always came back different than they were before they left. Whether those changes were good, bad or indifferent, I admired them for having been through it (even the ones that didn't get to finish their term). In these times of war, when I think of the soldiers that are injured or killed, I go back to the soldiers I have known and loved and it breaks my heart to think of men or boys like them having to die for their country & again, I am proud. Today, I heard of the raid that took down Bin Laden and I am without words. I am more than impressed with what those guys did. It was an extraordinary feat. It's an amaz...

I just had an interesting conversation with a taxi driver.  He asked me where I was from and I gave him my default answer:  New Jersey, which is right outside New York.  Mind you, with the bad rep Jersey has, I'm always tempted to just say NY. Other days when I'm not in the mood for the whole American thing, I'm also tempted to say Canada, but I'm an American Jersey girl through and through and never deny either.  I digress... The taxi driver told me he was in NYC a month after 9/11.  His trip was planned for months before and they would have lost their money if they can celled.  Since NYC was probably the safest place in the world at that time, they decided to go.  He told me he went to ground zero.  I told him I've never been and that the 2 weeks I spent in front of the TV was always enough for me.  I still have never been.  I said it must have been a surreal place to be 4 weeks later, but it was also a go...