Monday Musings...
It's amazing how having "neighbors" (using the word in the loosest term possible) that insist on depriving you of sleep until long after 1AM on a Monday morning (with their incessant car stereo bass thumping) will also awaken the muse, when it comes to finding something to blog about at the start of the week.
And since I'm never at a loss for neighborly morons in my neighborhood, I'll never find myself in some creative deficit.
Here are some things to dispel the nasty rumors that we're still not a great nation, and I hope you find it as satisfying
I have two stories that bear telling, if not repeating, because it's things like THIS that define us AS Americans (and not those that rouse the dead for a living).
** (From the Indy Star)
Wounded police officer is decorated with Medal of Honor and Purple Heart before Colts game
By Tania E. Lopez
Posted: September 22, 2008
Thousands of Colts fans cheered for Indianapolis police officer Jason Fishburn before the game Sunday, when he was awarded department medals for his bravery.
Fishburn, 29, walked across the field aided by a cane on one side and by his wife, Tonya, on the other. They stood at the 50-yard line at Lucas Oil Stadium, looking up at the crowd as more than 65,000 people stood and applauded.
Mayor Greg Ballard presented Fishburn, who was shot in the head July 10 while pursuing a homicide suspect, with the Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department's Medal of Honor and the Purple Heart and placed them around his neck. That is only the FOURTH TIME this medal has been bestowed upon an officer since it's inception in the mid-late 1800s.
"It's a miracle every day to see him," Ballard said. "When you see him, it's stunning."
After the presentation, Fishburn, wearing a Colts cap, sat quietly in a wheelchair next to his wife as the couple watched the game from the mayor's suite at the stadium.
Fishburn occasionally would whisper to those close to him, but his words were inaudible.
"I'm so proud of him," said Tonya, 30. "And I'm so grateful for all the support and prayers that we've had."
Fishburn is not ready for interviews because it frustrates him when his point doesn't come across the way he wants it to, said his father, Dennis, a sergeant with IMPD.
He's home and going to outpatient therapy two to three times a week, and his cognitive skills are improving, the elder Fishburn said.
"If he doesn't have to say anything, he's OK," said Dennis, 54. "He's grateful for every day."
Marion County prosecutors have charged Brian Reese, 36, with attempted murder in the shooting.
Family and friends described Fishburn as a tough cookie. They are not surprised he survived the potentially fatal gunshots.
"Doctors aren't able to explain it, but for us just to know Jason -- that's his normal natural fight within him," said Sgt. Rick Snyder, Fishburn's IMPD supervisor.
For Fishburn's wife, the news she received the night he was shot was her greatest fear realized. "It's your worst nightmare," she said. "But then, so many great things have come out of it. It showed us what a great community and what loving community this is."
You may recall the post I made regarding this brave officer, and that I stated I would keep you apprised of his recovery. It's going to take some time, but it truly is...a miracle.

**Last night's game between the New York Yankees and the Baltimore Orioles was be the final one played at the original Yankee Stadium, a baseball field which is rife with nostalgic sentiment and fond memories of one of America's favorite sports.
The Yankees have had a pretty foul season and stand no chance of advancing, but they DID go out with some style as they beat the Baltimore Orioles 7-3.
Wrecking balls and sledgehammers, not baseballs and bats, will soon be the equipment of choice as the stadium is demolished in coming months, although there may yet be a "closing ceremony" featuring big name rock stars before the wrecking crews move in.
Next season, the Yankees will take their bats, balls and fabled pinstriped uniforms to a brand new Yankee Stadium nearing completion across the street from the current one.
Americans have always been wistful about their National Pastime. Many cherish memories of playing catch with their fathers and of their first childhood visits to ballparks.

Here's the link for the history of the stadium.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yankee_Stadium
And some lowdown on the history of the team itself:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_York_Yankees
Mantle...Maris...Stengel...Ruth...Gehrig...DiMaggio...Jackson...Mattingly...Riviera ...Torre...Clemens...Berra.
You've seen them, heard of them...many still have baseball cards of them.
The list of notable players reads like the penultimate ALL-STAR roster.
And it was Yogi Berra, the Yankee catcher who once stated that "It ain't over 'till it's over" that managed to sum it as only HE could yesterday...
"It looks like it's over".
Then there is this quote:
"This field, this game.
It's a part of our past.
It reminds us of all that once was good, and it could be again," James Earl Jones's character said in the film "Field of Dreams."
I couldn't agree more.
And another great ballpark will soon belong to the ages.