Not as warm today, and windy, but still 90 degrees is a bit more that we can handle any more for a very long period of time.

We had three bucks come into our garden this morning, nice racks which are still in velvet.  So far we have also identified two doe traveling together and a couple of bucks with spikes.

I told the does yesterday to move along, they were finding the roses a delectable menu.  They looked back at me and then went farther in the garden and looked back at me – I told them they were to go all the way out, and they turned looked around the garden for a moment and then headed down the driveway.  They mind better than some people’s kids.

The bucks, this morning, fed a bit on the alfalfa and then headed into the neighbor’s yard.

Had a few more tomatoes.  Cherries are doing well this year, one of Teresa’s friends at work has a small orchard and let her and Carla go down and pick all they wanted.  We had plenty of fresh fruit and canned four canners of quarts.

One of Carla’s coworkers has a tree and she gave Carla a few gallons, so we are doing well.

Proverbs 3:30  Strive not with a man without cause, if he have done thee no harm.

There is a professional football player who is out of control.  He has an addiction – not sure what of but he is absolutely self-destructing.

He put himself in rehab, came out, said all the right things but he went back to his outrageous behavior and eventually lost his job.  He has little chance of playing in the NFL again.  To do so would require a visible turning around and live his life in such away that he can be trusted.

From the accounts I have read and listened to in the past couple of years he was one of those golden boys in high school and college that could get away with anything.

He learned how to look humble, apologize and then shortly after went back to his old form.

He is a gifted player, but he doesn’t want to work at his craft he wants to rely on his natural abilities.  From his actions he seems to think that he should be held to a different standard than anyone else, and unfortunately, from the sounds of it, he has been held to any standards until his professional football coach benched him and told him to straighten up.

He was given several chances but continued in his spiral down into the depths of addiction and apparently has hit bottom yet.

Yesterday his father, afraid for his son and what is happening in his life, blamed the ‘system’ for failing his son.  He accused the doctors of not doing their job, when he went into rehab but only lasted a few days and then left, they should have held him there.  It is THEIR fault he continues to destroy himself.

The father, is like a lot of parents these days.  They enable their children to do things that everyone agrees is detrimental.

If the child commits a crime, or doesn’t do well in school or any number of things where he is creating havoc in his own life and the lives of others the parent doesn’t accept any responsibility for the actions and blames it on others, they don’t even hold their child responsible.

The officers are picking on him, the teachers don’t like him and therefore they are taking actions against him that are unwarranted and unfair.

It is not my fault, it is someone else’s.  In effect blaming others falsely, many have tried but haven’t had the support of the parents and the child is unwilling to accept his role as being in trouble, so it is all the fault of the professional that must deal with the aftermath of poor parenting.

Not always is the parent to blame when a child does things that are illegal or against society, the one thing that can change even the best child from a caring home and family is the use of drugs.  Once they are addicted they will do all manner of things that they would never have done before they started using.

But a big part of the mess we are dealing with in this world is parents that refuse to be parents.  None of us is perfect; none of us have made every decision, in raising our children, correctly.  But we must try and do our best and not allow society to raise them and then when they go wrong cover for them and blame society for the failure.

I can remember growing up and knowing that if I got into trouble my folks would hear about it – often before I got home – and discipline me – mom had a special frying pan she used as a paddle – making me aware what I did was unacceptable and it would do no good to blame a friend for leading me astray.

We tried to raise our children the same way – and they are doing the same with their children – no not beating them with a frying pan, a good way to have children’s services at your door – but holding them accountable for their actions and reminding them it is unacceptable by administering some form of punishment to drive home the point.

Unfortunately, more and more we see just the opposite happening in our society.  The parents are not teaching their children to be respectful of others, to stand up for themselves, but to also accept the consequences of what they have done.

While, to some degree, it has always been that way, it has become an epidemic of ruthlessness and not taking responsibility for their own actions.  And our nation is going under because of it, among many other reasons, of course, but this is one of the major blockages to a child becoming a responsible adult.

Later, Art :-)