The month began wonderfully with Aaron, Ara, and Evie visiting here for a long weekend.  Among other adventures, Evie tried horseback riding.

Leaving Orange County proved a challenge, with the kids having to stand in line for nearly an hour due to heightened security at the airport.
As it turned out, however, they were just in front of Harlem Globetrotter, Fred "Curly" Neal, who proved to be a delightful human being.  Here he is with our own pick for the NBA or WNBA in about twenty years.

Unfortunately, the month took a downturn on the 7th, when Bush2 caved in to the hawks and began bombing Afghanistan and threatening to bomb Iraq, Libya, and anyone else who fails to pledge support for anything we do (details to be announced later).  I had put a flag on my car as a symbol of unity in the wake of September 11th.  I took it off October 8th.  Having evaded service in Vietnam, Bush2 has now created something even more dangerous for the US and for the world.  On September 12th, the world was virtually united in its disapproval of the terrorist attack.  It takes world class stupidity to blow a lead like that, but we are well on our way to outdoing Osama and the Taliban.

The weekend after the kids' visit, I flew to Buffalo to give the keynote address to the New York State Sociological Association.  On the way back, I sat beside Keech Rainwater of LoneStar, the award-winning country and western group.  We compared Macintoshes.  He's been using his to create a music video, while I've been using mine to chronicle Evie's life--oh, and to write books and stuff.

During times of madness, I think you especially appreciate family and simply nice people like Curly and Keech.  I am grateful for my own good fortune and grieve for those innocents who suffer more with each passing bomb.