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Choke Canyon State Park

 What a place to be.   Deer in the meadow.  Henry got within 5 feet of an armadillo. Trails to hike.  Alligators.  Birds to watch.  Wild Turkeys.  Green Jays.  Great Kiskadees and Scissortail Flycatchers.  No Javelinas this time though. It’s a nice place to be.  It was a good extended visit with Janis.  We left this morning.  Tonight we’re back at Sandpipers. Progress on the deck: We sat on it tonight!  
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I’ve been thinking

 About tennis. And women. When we were kids, women got special treatment (and lots of limits).  There was a lot they couldn’t do.  Women got to participate in sports, but their own sports; all the ones they were suited for.  Women weren’t allowed to run marathons because it was too physically demanding.  I remember Billie Jean King making the point that professional women athletes should get the same respect, and money, that professional men athletes got.  Radical. That was the old days.  The opportunities and rewards seem pretty even now.  I like that.  Equal opportunity.  There is one thing left I can’t figure out though.  Grand Slam tennis events.  Men play best of 5.  Women play best of 3.  Why is that?  Men have marathon matches.  Women are done in an hour or two.  Two sets can go pretty fast.  Whichever woman wins the first set is one more service break, or one tiebreaker away from the match.  Women play hard, but men play harder.  If I was a woman, I’d be offended.  Women get equal prize money at the U.S. Open and Wimbledon.  Why don’t they have an equal challenge?  Are they not strong enough?  Is tennis too difficult for them?  
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While at the doctor’s office this year

 We got to fill out a new form.  It asks what race we are.  It’s a multiple choice question.  Some of the possible answers are obvious.  White, black.  Okay.  White.  Some are a little trickier.  Caucasian.  What?  I already said okay to White.  Now I have to choose between White and Caucasian?  I expressed my concern to the nurse taking the survey.  She said “what about me?  I looked at her and declared she was really really white, so I must be caucasian.  She said “No.  What do I put for my child?  I’m white and her father is black.” I was thrilled.  Finally, here is a person who can answer my question.  I asked it.  “Why is President Obama Black?”  He has a black father, a white mother.  Why is 50% black black?  Why isn’t 50% white white? I was disappointed.  She didn’t know the answer.  She says she thinks her daughter is a nice mixture.  Her daughter’s father thinks she’s black. What box is she going to check for her daughter?  All of them.  Why is President Obama black?  I don’t know.  
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Friday

 We’re at Choke Canyon State Park: http://maps.google.com/maps/ms?msid=205131835882428706345.0004ad6b997d6db870388&msa=0&ll=37.926868,-99.140625&spn=46.745172,113.818359 Having a visit with Janis and Brian.  It’s a good place to be. It feels different being in the coach.  Familiar and good, but different.  We’ve been in it for 7 years.  We didn’t need to get out of it, but being in the house, out of the coach, has added a new edge to the experience.  It’s all good.  Meanwhile, back at Sandpipers, the rest of the awning is in place: Remember, we’ve left the back part open for a bit of yard still exposed to the sky.  Saw a bobcat on the trail today.  A nice long look.  And Sandhill Cranes.  
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Poor Becky

 Tony is 13. Becky offered him something because she thought it would be nice for him to have.  He politely declined but asked for something else instead.  She said no to that and told him why.  He asked for something else then, instead of the first two things.  She told him no and explained why.  He took the reason for the first “no”, combined it with the reason for the second “no”, justified his request for the third thing, and declared victory by the rules of logic, adding that her most recent reason “because I’m the Mom” was not a valid argument. Becky is left wishing they had not encouraged Tony to join the Debate Team.