The Bohemian Review

I’ve spent the last month of summer reveling in the Florida sunshine, visiting family and friends and welcoming my newest grandchild into our world. Now as Labor Day approaches and summer begins to wind down, I look around at all of the things I have to be thankful for and once again I count my blessings and am grateful… grateful for love and grateful for life, especially grateful for the opportunity to truly live and savor it all.

“You only live once, but if you do it right, once is enough.”
~  Mae West

“Life is what happens to you while you’re busy making other plans.”
~  John Lennon

“To live is the rarest thing in the world. Most people exist, that is all.”

~ Oscar Wilde

This Labor Day marks the third anniversary of the Bohemian Review. As I once again dream of heading to San Francisco along the Pacific Coast Highway, I hear Jimmy Buffet in my mind because I always, always know that… Come Monday, You’ll Be Holding Me Tight.

 The roadtrip through Big Sur to San Francisco is one I’ve dreamed of and imagined for as long as I can remember. I’ve waited so long that now nothing will do but to make the trip on the back of a motorcycle; riding along withith the feel of the wind and the smell of the ocean and the sights that have been written about, drawn, painted  and filmed by many an artist, I can’t imagine a more splendid trip. Ahhh… the beauty and the majesty.

It’s on the Bucket List and hopefully by next Labor Day I really will be heading to San Francisco for the Labor Day weekend show!

I love you Kurt and know that because we are together in this world I have learned a new way to live life.

When I look at a rainbow I am reminded of promises. I am reminded of childhood dreams and fantasies about how life could be and should be. I am reminded of searches, some for material gains but more importantly spiritual growths. I am reminded that life is a gift to be treasured. It can’t be undone or redone, we get one chance to live it to the fullest and all of the decisions and choices we make along the way dictate our end result.

I am a firm believer in living each moment as if it is your last, I believe in never going to bed angry, always kissing your kids good night and in telling the ones you love how much they mean to you. I am one who wants it all, I want the love and trust that comes from honesty and respect and I want my life to be lived on my terms. As I gaze at a rainbow I know that no matter how far down and confused I may be there is always up.

I am always searching for rainbows and am drawn to the things that remind me of them. I wear opals because of their brilliance and as a reminder, a reminder that life can be all that you choose it to be. Besides being my birthstone, to me opals are the most gorgeous of the stones, they can express every color in the visible spectrum and like rainbows, no two opals are alike. As I gaze at the one on my finger, I see a rainbow and all that that implies. For me it is a promise for the future and it serves as a reminder to me that promises really can come true. As we spend our lives searching, the rainbow gives us assurance that there is always hope and always another day to set things right.

Opals and Rainbows ~ promises of all that is in store.

My Face Book Experience Is Coming To An End.

My mornings of waking up, excitedly checking on my friends’ newest posts and admiring all of their latest pictures and adventures, is drawing to a close.

My life and my time and my quirks will once again be shared only with me and those I have the privilege of knowing on a personal level. Though I will miss my three year “addiction” ~ For me, personal freedom, free from government spying and collecting of data is much more important.

For me, it is time to “go off the grid.”

I’ve decided that the reasoning of “If you have nothing to hide why should you mind” is just a way of trying to convince oneself that whatever is being done, that does not  involve us directly, should be viewed as “something that can happen to others and not to ourselves”.

It Can Happen To Us and It Is Happening To Us…

In actuality, we are throwing our freedoms away right and left. We are giving up our liberties and our privacy without even realizing it or caring.

Why and how have we become so gullible?

The only sure bulwark of continuing liberty is a government strong enough to protect the interests of the people and a people strong enough and well enough informed to maintain its sovereign control over the government. ~ Franklin D. Roosevelt

Why should we care that innocent people are being raked over the coals, their reputations shattered, their liberties violated, all in the name of national security? Why should we care that our way of life may be coming to an end if we do not wake up and take a stand for what we believe in? Why should we care that our country is being turned into a pre-war Germany with rights being violated on every front and most people turning a blind eye?

It is sad but we are becoming a nation of self absorbed, careless followers. We are being led with the allure of social reform and equality when in fact our binds are being tightened and our freedoms, not taken away with force, are being handed passively to those in control.

 In being led to the slaughter, we are smiling and joking and not even caring that life, as we have known it in the past, has not been the same since 9-11. All of the security measures enacted to protect us have only made us more monitored and controlled.

We have given up freedom for security and as Ben Franklin would say… in doing so deserve neither.

 Those who would give up essential liberty to purchase a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety.                    ~ Ben Franklin

If you want total security, go to prison. There you are fed, clothed, given medical care and so on. The only thing lacking is freedom. ~ Dwight D. Eisenhower

Under the guise of, flushing out the terrorists, we are becoming a police state with fewer and fewer rights. Our rights are being compromised because we foolishly believe that we need the government to protect us from those that would harm us by protecting us from ourselves. We are being brainwashed into believing that totalitarianism is the answer.

The funniest part is that we don’t even know it.

Or

Maybe the saddest part is that we do and could care less.

Knowing might interfere with our day to day existence and our quest for pleasure and our self absorbed need to be the most important.

Knowing might make us want to make a difference in the world and cause us to stand up for what we believe in.

Or maybe, just maybe, knowing might make us look deep into our hearts and our souls and see if there is anything we truly do believe in.

Hummmm… Imagine that!!

Story by Kitty Werthmann: Nazi Germany Survivor

What I am about to tell you is something you’ve probably never heard or will ever read in history books.

I believe that I am an eyewitness to history. I cannot tell you that Hitler took Austria by tanks and guns; it would distort history. We elected him by a landslide – 98% of the vote. I’ve never read that in any American publications. Everyone thinks that Hitler just rolled in with his tanks and took Austria by force.  In 1938, Austria was in deep Depression. Nearly one-third of our workforce was unemployed. We had 25% inflation and 25% bank loan interest rates.

Farmers and business people were declaring bankruptcy daily. Young people were going from house to house begging for food. Not that they didn’t want to work; there simply weren’t any jobs. My mother was a Christian woman and believed in helping people in need. Every day we cooked a big kettle of soup and baked bread to feed those poor, hungry people – about 30 daily.

The Communist Party and the National Socialist Party were fighting each other. Blocks and blocks of cities like Vienna, Linz, and Graz were destroyed. The people became desperate and petitioned the government to let them decide what kind of government they wanted.

We looked to our neighbor on the north, Germany, where Hitler had been in power since 1933. We had been told that they didn’t have unemployment or crime, and they had a high standard of living. Nothing was ever said about persecution of any group — Jewish or otherwise. We were led to believe that everyone was happy. We wanted the same way of life in Austria. We were promised that a vote for Hitler would mean the end of unemployment and help for the family. Hitler also said that businesses would be assisted, and farmers would get their farms back. Ninety-eight percent of the population voted to annex Austria to Germany and have Hitler for our ruler.

We were overjoyed, and for three days we danced in the streets and had candlelight parades. The new government opened up big field kitchens and everyone was fed.

After the election, German officials were appointed, and like a miracle, we suddenly had law and order. Three or four weeks later, everyone was employed. The government made sure that a lot of work was created through the Public Work Service.

Hitler decided we should have equal rights for women. Before this, it was a custom that married Austrian women did not work outside the home. An able-bodied husband would be looked down on if he couldn’t support his family. Many women in the teaching profession were elated that they could retain the jobs they previously had been required to give up for marriage.

Hitler Targets Education – Eliminates Religious Instruction for Children: 

Our education was nationalized. I attended a very good public school. The population was predominantly Catholic, so we had religion in our schools. The day we elected Hitler (March 13, 1938), I walked into my schoolroom to find the crucifix replaced by Hitler’s picture hanging next to a Nazi flag. Our teacher, a very devout woman, stood up and told the class we wouldn’t pray or have religion anymore. Instead, we sang “Deutschland, Deutschland, Uber Alles,” and had physical education.

Sunday became National Youth Day with compulsory attendance. Parents were not pleased about the sudden change in curriculum. They were told that if they did not send us, they would receive a stiff letter of warning the first time. The second time they would be fined the equivalent of $300, and the third time they would be subject to jail. The first two hours consisted of political indoctrination. The rest of the day we had sports. As time went along, we loved it. Oh, we had so much fun and got our sports equipment free. We would go home and gleefully tell our parents about the wonderful time we had.

My mother was very unhappy. When the next term started, she took me out of public school and put me in a convent. I told her she couldn’t do that and she told me that someday when I grew up, I would be grateful. There was a very good curriculum, but hardly any fun – no sports, and no political indoctrination. I hated it at first but felt I could tolerate it. Every once in a while, on holidays, I went home. I would go back to my old friends and ask what was going on and what they were doing. Their loose lifestyle was very alarming to me. They lived without religion. By that time unwed mothers were glorified for having a baby for Hitler. It seemed strange to me that our society changed so suddenly. As time went along, I realized what a great deed my mother did so that I wasn’t exposed to that kind of humanistic philosophy.

Equal Rights Hits Home: 

In 1939, the war started and a food bank was established. All food was rationed and could only be purchased using food stamps. At the same time, a full-employment law was passed which meant if you didn’t work, you didn’t get a ration card, and if you didn’t have a card, you starved to death. Women who stayed home to raise their families didn’t have any marketable skills and often had to take jobs more suited for men.

Soon after this, the draft was implemented. It was compulsory for young people, male and female, to give one year to the labor corps. During the day, the girls worked on the farms, and at night they returned to their barracks for military training just like the boys. They were trained to be anti-aircraft gunners and participated in the signal corps. After the labor corps, they were not discharged but were used in the front lines. When I go back to Austria to visit my family and friends, most of these women are emotional cripples because they just were not equipped to handle the horrors of combat. Three months before I turned 18, I was severely injured in an air raid attack. I nearly had a leg amputated, so I was spared having to go into the labor corps and into military service.

Hitler Restructured the Family Through Daycare: 

When the mothers had to go out into the work force, the government immediately established child care centers. You could take your children ages 4 weeks to school age and leave them there around-the-clock, 7 days a week, under the total care of the government. The state raised a whole generation of children. There were no motherly women to take care of the children, just people highly trained in child psychology. By this time, no one talked about equal rights. We knew we had been had.
Health Care and Small Business Suffer Under Government Controls:

Before Hitler, we had very good medical care. Many American doctors trained at the University of Vienna. After Hitler, health care was socialized, free for everyone. Doctors were salaried by the government. The problem was, since it was free, the people were going to the doctors for everything. When the good doctor arrived at his office at 8 a.m., 40 people were already waiting and, at the same time, the hospitals were full. If you needed elective surgery, you had to wait a year or two for your turn. There was no money for research as it was poured into socialized medicine. Research at the medical schools literally stopped, so the best doctors left Austria and emigrated to other countries.

As for healthcare, our tax rates went up to 80% of our income. Newlyweds immediately received a $1,000 loan from the government to establish a household. We had big programs for families. All day care and education were free. High schools were taken over by the government and college tuition was subsidized. Everyone was entitled to free handouts, such as food stamps, clothing, and housing.
We had another agency designed to monitor business. My brother-in-law owned a restaurant that had square tables. Government officials told him he had to replace them with round tables because people might bump themselves on the corners. Then they said he had to have additional bathroom facilities. It was just a small dairy business with a snack bar. He couldn’t meet all the demands. Soon, he went out of business. If the government owned the large businesses and not many small ones existed, it could be in control.

We had consumer protection. We were told how to shop and what to buy. Free enterprise was essentially abolished. We had a planning agency specially designed for farmers. The agents would go to the farms, count the live-stock, then tell the farmers what to produce, and how to produce it.

“Mercy Killing” Redefined: 

In 1944, I was a student teacher in a small village in the Alps . The villagers were surrounded by mountain passes which, in the winter, were closed off with snow, causing people to be isolated. So people intermarried and offspring were sometimes retarded. When I arrived, I was told there were 15 mentally retarded adults, but they were all useful and did good manual work. I knew one, named Vincent, very well. He was a janitor of the school. One day I looked out the window and saw Vincent and others getting into a van. I asked my superior where they were going. She said to an institution where the State Health Department would teach them a trade, and to read and write. The families were required to sign papers with a little clause that they could not visit for 6 months. They were told visits would interfere with the program and might cause homesickness.

As time passed, letters started to dribble back saying these people died a natural, merciful death. The villagers were not fooled. We suspected what was happening. Those people left in excellent physical health and all died within 6 months. We called this euthanasia.

The Final Steps – Gun Laws: 

Next came gun registration. People were getting injured by guns. Hitler said that the real way to catch criminals (we still had a few) was by matching serial numbers on guns. Most citizens were law abiding and dutifully marched to the police station to register their firearms. Not long after-wards, the police said that it was best for everyone to turn in their guns. The authorities already knew who had them, so it was futile not to comply voluntarily.

No more freedom of speech. Anyone who said something against the government was taken away. We knew many people who were arrested, not only Jews, but also priests and ministers who spoke up.

Totalitarianism didn’t come quickly; it took 5 years from 1938 until 1943, to realize full dictatorship in Austria. Had it happened overnight, my countrymen would have fought to the last breath. Instead, we had creeping gradualism. Now, our only weapons were broom handles. The whole idea sounds almost unbelievable that the state, little by little eroded our freedom.

After World War II, Russian troops occupied Austria. Women were raped, preteen to elderly. The press never wrote about this either. When the Soviets left in 1955, they took everything that they could, dismantling whole factories in the process. They sawed down whole orchards of fruit, and what they couldn’t destroy, they burned. We called it The Burned Earth. Most of the population barricaded themselves in their houses. Women hid in their cellars for 6 weeks as the troops mobilized. Those who couldn’t paid the price. There is a monument in Vienna today, dedicated to those women who were massacred by the Russians. This is an eye witness account.

It’s true….those of us who sailed past the Statue of Liberty came to a country of unbelievable freedom and opportunity.  America Truly is the Greatest Country in the World.  Don’t Let Freedom Slip Away.

After America, There is No Place to Run.

 Summertime arrives and speeds by so fast that it’s like riding in a whirlwind without holding on. The days are spent  chasing from one adventure to another and having to decide between play and responsibilies.

For me it is the warm air that causes a stirring deep in my soul. I feel the need to travel and explore and to spend time outdoors  making things beautiful and magical.

I love the look and feel of a star lit sky, candles hanging in the trees, lanterns glowing softly in my whimsical,  magical,  fairytell world.

 It is a time for dreaming and imagining, a time for exploring and breathing in the wonder of the moment.

It is a time for remembering the thoughts and ideas I had when I was young.

It is a special time for walking beside the ocean, enjoying bonfires at night, dancing barefoot in the sand and believing that anything I can imagine is possible.

Life is before me and the smell of jasmine and honeysuckle is aromatic and ambrosial drifting through the air.

It is a time for music and laughter, cookouts and concerts.

With the warm air comes the memories of summers past, lying in the sun by the lake, frolicking with friends and loving life.

With the warm air comes the promises of what is before us, what is in store and the knowledge that whatever we can dream we can accomplish.

With the summertime comes the belief that each day is full of promise and friendships renewing and growing.

With the longer days comes the assurance that life is truly wonderful and we are blessed to be a part of such a magnificent existance.

Summertime is in the air and happiness is in my heart.

I’ve been fascinated with the Western skies and the Western deserts for as long as I can remember. The thought of them summon up romantic notions and nostalgic memories in my mind. The sense of God’s hand painting a canvas over the horizon at sunset with the colors of red and orange engulfing the mind gives me a feeling of serenity and hope and peace.

This year on a trip through the Mojave Desert I witnessed, what is being called, a once in a lifetime phenomenon. Looking out the car window as we rode across the desert I began to notice that the Joshua Trees were all in full bloom. Not just one or two as I had seen in the past but most all of them were covered in white clusters of flowers.

We were driving on I-15 North, near  Joshua Tree National Park, on a trip from California to Wyoming.

  The Joshua trees are native to the Mojave Desert and grow exclusively in the Southwestern United States. The name Joshua tree was given by a party of Mormon settlers who crossed the Mojave desert on their way West in the mid 19^th century. It is said that these trees reminded them of a biblical story about Joshua reaching his arms to the sky in prayer and they thus considered this as a spiritual sign of welcome to this land.

To many the Joshua tree has become a symbol of the pioneering spirit and strength of the people of the American West.

To me, seeing the Joshua trees in bloom reminded me of the many blessings in my life. It reminded me to always remember to say  THANK YOU for all that I am fortunate enough to have received.

~  Life is indeed Good ~

Gun violence in our society has reached monumental proportions over the last decade. It seems that we are constantly hearing of some act of unfathomable violence that seems to grow in intensity with each occurrence. We begin to wonder how it is possible to protect the ones we love from this epidemic of mass murder.

In today’s world, people need to make sense of the unthinkable. They need to find a way to make the unthinkable and unjustifiable processable in their minds and livable in their daily world. They need to find a way to feel they are making a difference against the evil that they see on the news, in the newspapers and in the world.

They ask themselves “How can we get rid of the guns that are causing this problem?”

They may feel that if they can help regulate and pass laws, they will have taken part in stopping the evil that exists in our world.

We, as God fearing people, wonder how it is possible for people to kill or even attempt to harm the weakest and most innocent? What can we, as a people, do to stop this violence? We wonder what evil possesses a person’s soul to allow them to harm the most innocent and most cherished. How is it even possible for so much evil to exist?

It may seem to some as if there is no way to prevent this violence without taking a few of our personal liberties away. How is it possible for us to do our part to curtail and to help to do away with this evil; this evil that threatens even the most sacred of places in this chaotic world we now live in?

Maybe it makes perfect sense that if the means of this mass violence is done away with, even for law abiding citizens; this world will be a safer and more peaceful place.

Humm….

Maybe the question that should be asked is: Are we reacting emotionally to this gun violence problem and not seeing the accurate, logical, true solutions that could be enacted instead of a “seem to fix but actually does nothing of value law” that our elected officials seem determined to jam down our throats?

Maybe instead there are a few things, after the fact, which we as a society can do to reduce this violence. Maybe, just maybe, the answer to this gun violence problem is in regard to “the persons committing the acts” instead of “the means of the act”.

Maybe we can quit glorifying the monsters who are committing these crimes of violence, for attention, used to shock and mortify society by not giving them the one thing they all seem to crave – notoriety and infamy. These people, in their own warped and insane minds, want to be remembered and discussed for the evil they are and the evil they commit.

Just a thought, but what about never mentioning their name in the press or showing their face but instead referring to them as John Doe? Why not take from them their most treasured thing (infamy), as they have taken from us (our children)?

Maybe, just maybe, we should allow law abiding citizens the right to bear arms in schools. Think how quickly these acts of terror could have been averted or avoided if every teacher was armed with a gun themselves. Ex: A gunman walks in and begins shooting. He is immediately shot himself. End of story – no accolades for the gunman, no dead children, no notoriety. Case closed.

If this seems too extreme to some, think how extreme is it to take guns away from law abiding citizens and thinking that criminals will not find a way to break the law and obtain guns themselves. Never has this case scenario been proven.

What has been proven, however, is that communities which allow or require citizens to have guns actually deter criminal actions and violence. I, for one, would rather have my child or grandchild in a school with armed guards, in a community that requires its citizens to be armed; than in a school where my child or grandchild is a sitting duck for any raving lunatic, craving attention… but that is just me.

Our Second Amendment, part of our Bill of Rights, guarantees a number of personal freedoms. It limits the government’s power in judicial and other proceedings, reserves some powers for the states and the public and guarantees us, as citizens, the right to bear arms. It guarantees us, as Americans, the right to protect ourselves by force from individuals who may try to harm us. Mainly our Second Amendment guarantees us protection from our own government.

The Second Amendment is the very essence of what makes us unique and free.

Those who would give up essential liberty to purchase a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety.  -Ben Franklin

 The strongest reason for the people to retain the right to keep and bear arms is, as a last resort, to protect themselves against tyranny in government.  - Thomas Jefferson

The great object is that every man be armed. - Patrick Henry

A free people ought not only to be armed and disciplined, but they should have sufficient arms and ammunition to maintain a status of independence from any who might attempt to abuse them, which would include their own government.  – George Washington

 Our Constitution and Bill of Rights was written by men of vision who knew and understood that if we lose our freedoms and liberties we lose our chance to protect ourselves and our way of life. It is our right and responsibility as Americans to distinguish the difference between rhetoric to inflame and arouse our emotions and actual fact. It is up to us individually to search for the truth and to make rational, logical decisions on gun control. It is our right to embrace the freedoms we possess because if we aren’t able to protect our freedoms, we aren’t actually free.

  Gun control is just that….CONTROL.

Who are you letting control your life?

As Winter passes by and Spring begins to arrive,  I smile.

I smile with anticipation and excitement looking forward to a season of new beginnings.

I smile as each new day is a chance to experience and re-experince all the pleasures of life.

I smile because I am blessed…

With Springtime comes the exhileration of warm breezes, the scents of jasmine and orange blossoms drifting in through open windows and all of my scenses are awakened in anticipation for what is in store.

I am  dazzled by the beautiful colors of each new bloom,  bursting forth with life and beauty.

I become engrossed in this beautiful place we call home and realize that life is indeed a gift to be treasured and revered.

As April glides by, with May on the cusp,  I am once again amazed at how time seems to fly. Winter is coming to an end and life is renewing itself once more. What an amazing opportunity we have to simply give thanks and enjoy this miracle that is before us.

With the miracle of new birth and new beginnings comes an expectancy for love and laughter and happiness. With this comes a desire to experince and appreciate all that life has in store and I for one am happy to be a part of such a beautiful moment.

 Spring is here and with it comes hope.

Hope is a good thing…maybe even the best thing. ~ Shawshank Redemption

 Springtime is a time to rejoice in the moment and a time to dream of the future.

With Springtime comes a new appreciation for the wonder of life itself.

With Springtime comes the smell of a new adventure on the horizon.

With Springtime comes the freedom of the open road.

With Springtime comes a chance to start again and to realize what freedom truly means.

It is Springtime and I smile.

Life itself is the most wonderful fairy tale of all.
~ Hans Christian Andersen

If you want your children to be intelligent, read them fairy tales. If you want them to be more intelligent, read them more fairy tales.       ~ Albert Einstein 

I grew up believing in fairytales. I grew up believing in happily ever after and the kind of romance that all of these stories contained. I believed that our lives could be all that we could imagine and more. I believed life was a treasure and a gift and this lifetime was meant for exploring and experincing and enjoying.

As I grew older and began to take notice, I realized that few people I knew seemed to have this kind of zest for life and heartfelt love for each other. I began a search, even at a young age, to discover why…

Why is it that over time the loves that seem so sure, so complete, allow themselves to fall by the wayside and become just an existence without the magic?

Is it just human nature that drives us to push away the ones we love the most? Is it as a kind of protectant for our souls or a way to change the one we are with into who we wish they would become?

I’ve come to realize that for most people their lives become their work and their obligations. They have  “learned the art of compromise” for their values, their way of life and their soul. They give up who they are to fullfill what others believe them to be in order to conform to what the world sees as “normal or sane” behavior.

To thine own self be true. ~ Shakespeare

Insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results.     ~ Albert Einstein

I wonder how we can be true to ourselves without hurting the ones we love;  how can we break away from the conformity of the world without it being in a brash and caotic way and without it ending up hurting ourselves and others along the way?

I ask myself if it is possible to live the fairytale, to take each day and form it into the stories we want remembered long after we are gone. Is it possible to be brave enough to trust and believe that it all will work out and there will be not only a happy ending but a happy here and now and always?

Maybe each person’s life becomes what they choose to believe it will become.

Maybe each of us has the chance to live out our own fairytale if we choose to believe.

Maybe just maybe;

For those of us who believe in the fairytale, the story continues…

Each man should frame life so that at some future hour fact and his dreaming meet. ~ Victor Hugo