A Grump's Diary

 I've achieved a status in life.  Not a title or achievement, but a place in time that is my mindset.  My attitude. It is obvious to me, which is a good thing I think in that I can actually still assess my own thinking, that I grow (more) irritable easily.  There are certain buzzwords, catch phrases or even longer thoughts placed in articles or books that make me furrow my brow, curl my lips downward in a small frown, and utter the "harumph" well known to a grump like myself. Take, for example, a recent radio broadcast from John Tesch, who hosts a daily broadcast on an Oldies' station.  His broadcast is interesting in that he gives little factoids and items that are not necessarily news, but rather tidbits of trivia. During the cast, he noted the percent of the American population that is vegetarian or vegan (which in itself makes me grumpy because these people are not just practicing a lifestyle, but they proselytize as well). Apparently, the population overall...

I was privileged to take classes in History at Texas Lutheran (then College), and one of my professors in the History Department was a gentleman named Paul Carlson.  Dr. Carlson taught an excellent course titled "Frontier West," and he based his class on a writing done by a man named Frederick Jackson Turner.  The " Turner Thesis ," as it is known, attributes the classic American mindset to the frontier.  America was a frontier that became inhabited by people seeking opportunity or escaping a past.  So, Americans have had, as the thesis teaches, a safety valve to escape and move on, away from whatever conditions a man found himself in.  The opportunity to move to the outpost in West Texas came to our family in 2000, so after a visit or two, we decided it was the place to live (our wagon driver took us from Ft. Sedgwick to our own outpost several miles away - "Dances with Wolves.") Interestingly enough, Dr. Carlson had also moved out here from Seguin to tea...