My new tent

Isn't it just beautiful! Plus, it's much taller than I am, so no more hokey-pokey while trying to change. I smell camping in the air. Only two more weeks. . .

Letter to a president

Dear President George Washington,

I know it is long since you have gone to your rest after such a stalwart defense of your country, but, Mr. President, this nation stands in more need of your help than ever.

We are engaged in a perilous war that is unlikely to succeed, and that at the high cost of American lives. Were this a just war, as you and your compatriots fought, we would be equably justified. Alas, it it was with deceit that this war was started, and continued error that it is prolonged.

This, therefore, is the reason I write. We need your strength, your courage and fortitude, but most of all we need your diligent observance of all that is just and good.

I read the words that you wrote these many years ago, about freedom, about patriotism, about bravery. It in not only your words that strikes me, however, but your manner of living as you believed to be true.

You were not perfect; no man who has walked this land can lay claim to that. Yet you showed such valor and leadership to your people—our predecessors and ancestors—that they willingly followed.

This, in effect, is what we need now. We need a leader. We need strength in your White House. We need a man of uncommon strength, bravery, virtue, and patriotism. You were one of the first to bear the name patriot in this our American cause. You are not the last, either, but these many patriots now have need of your guidance and especially your experience in leading this nation through troubled times.

You were victorious in your impossible quest for independence. I pray we are as victorious in our efforts to preserve freedom.

I know it impossible to ask you to return to the presidency. You declined it a third time long ago, and for good reason. I would ask you, though, to send some part of your wisdom and judgment to the men who now lead the country. They need your goodness and experience now perhaps more than ever before in our long and glorious—though at times troubled—history.

Be with us now as we seek to right the wrongs of our past and move with righteous fervor toward the future.

Indebtedly yours,

Cordia Amant

Look how my garden grows

I'm so excited that our little garden is thriving! This isn't all of it, either. There's still more squash, cucumbers, zucchini, pumpkins, and cilantro. And look—my baby basil that I grew from seeds—they're growing up now. Aw, I feel so happy.

Letter to my heart

Dearest heart,

You know I appreciate you. Every day you do so much for me. In addition to the all-important task of pumping blood through my veins and keeping me alive, you help me to feel, help me to really live.

There is something I must speak with you about. I know you're sensitive—that is part of your purpose, you know—but I really must take you to task. When I ask you to help me feel something for a man, you do very well at it. Sometimes too well, especially when you take your time about it. It's alright to move slowly, I suppose, but I've come to realize that the longer you take in getting me to feel something, the more powerful it is.

Herein lies the problem. Since you take so long in getting me to love someone, it then takes you much too long to get me back to where I don't feel anything for him.

I understand this is hard for you, too—it is called heartbreak for a reason. So why do you put us both through this? There are so many things I could care deeply about: friends, family, pets. Why must you reserve the strongest emotions for men who—in the end—don't appreciate either of us?

I'm not upset with you. Really I'm not. I just don't like to see you hurt, and caring for a man inevitably leads to pain, in one form or another. Call me jaded, well, perhaps I am, but we've never really had anyone return these wonderful emotions you make me feel for them. It doesn't seem fair.

I'd like to reach a compromise on this. I don't like to chastise you, but I will if I must. The next time I ask you to let me feel something special for a man, please make sure that he is worth it. Not just worth the pain. No, I mean, make sure he will return our affection so you don't break ever again. Could you do that for me—for us? I'd really appreciate it.

There's no point in us getting hurt again, now is there? I hope you will come to see things as I do. It's all for your benefit, really. The less I hurt, the less you hurt. And don't try to talk about risk again. I won't listen if you go on about the necessity of venturing out to find love, even at the risk of pain. I won't hear it. I want risk-free love or none at all. You'll come to understand in time. It's for the best.

Thanks again for all you do. I wouldn't be anything without you.

With all of you, my dear heart,

Cordia