James White: Accountable Politician - You Are Going To Like This Man!

This election marked the first time my Hubby ever put an election sign on the lawn. We heard a lot about James White and one of our friends was working on his campaign.

Well . . . guess what? James White was elected!

Yes, James is now a first-term Republican Representative for Texas State House District 12. He invites people to visit him at the Capital office - E2.720 in the Capitol Extension. You can phone him at his Capital Office (512-463-0490) or e-mail him at james.white@house.state.tx.us.

Soon, James' Lufkin Office will be open as well.

The first week he was in Austin, I got to meet James at a Chamber of Commerce First Friday Luncheon.

What really sets James White apart from other politicians I have known is how accessible he makes himself!

James is a school teacher in East Texas and also has a farm (well, okay, a ranch). He cares about people and naturally he cares about education.

At the Chamber meeting, James had a presentation showing a flow chart of the Education hierarchy here. Now, first he told us that he had trouble fitting it on the one page. Then he told us that when he clicked on some of the squares, there was another grid that come up on his computer. So, what James was telling us is that there are too many people and too much money being wasted. You just knew from listening to how sincerely and quietly James spoke, that down-sizing waste was going to be a priority for him in Austin (the Texas capital).

James is on Facebook and also writes a column each Sunday in our local newspaper outlining what is happening.

When I think about James, I recall one of the first politicians I knew back when I was about 20 in Toronto. His name was Len Reilly, a locksmith and every time I saw him he would say hello and quote my street address.

Well, that was then and this is now but I think that James will remember each of us every time he sees us (although he might not quote an address).

You gotta love a person so sincere and pleasant when he speaks. This man is not a "politician", but more my neighbour who has gone to the Capital to see if he can make my life a little easier.

God Bless James White!

Thank You, Peter Jennings: How I Became The Yonge Street Texan

When I first came to Texas from Toronto, I marveled at how many entertainers and broadcasters were also immigrants from Canada. (I arrived here in December, 1996.)

On 9-11, Hubby and I were headed to his college reunion in Terre Haute, Indiana. Bags packed, we saw the same thing you saw on our television screen. That was more than a wake-up call for me and was a focal point in my defining the differences between Canadians and Americans. The first thing I went for was my passport and retrieved it from the filing cabinet. That - back then - was a Canadian passport. (I know have American and Canadian passports. Dual Citizenship is available in U.S.A. to persons immigrating from 130 countries.)

When I was a kid, it was the atomic bomb people worried about and I remember my Dad always saying we would get into our car and drive north (from Toronto) . Well, that was my first thought that morning. Well, we were driving north all right, but we would have to drive about 1,600 miles just to get to the Canadian border and then the drive to isolated country - or "safe" country - would be about 200 miles or more. Two Hundred miles drive north of Toronto would put you approximately in Algonquin Park which is a National Park with lots of wildlife, lakes and is probably not a hot spot for terrorists to target.

So, now I was really afraid! This was another challenge for my thinking. Back in 2001, I definitely thought from a Canadian perspective and I probably still do today.

My mother used to talk about Peter's father, Charlie Jennings who wrote for a Toronto newspaper going to North Toronto Collegiate with her and how she would see him at parties. If you listen to the interview above, you will hear Peter talk about his father and mother loving to socialize and inviting all kinds of people from the arts into their home. Charlie Jennings loved to socialize!

In this interview, Peter also talks about smoking (after having quit many years before) during his coverage of 9-11. I remember him taking calls from his children who called to say they were safe and I recall he was still on air when we got to - I think it was Hope, Arkansas (yes, Bill Clinton's birthplace) toward the end of the day to stop for the night.

I remember my friend, a broadcaster, calling on my cell phone to ask about gasoline lines. Yes, there were lines at some stations and none at others where they had run out. That meant we did a lot of stopping just to make sure we were going to get there.

That is a little digression there to tell you how omnipresent Peter Jennings was in our lives.

When he announced in 2005 that he had lung cancer, ABC welcomed messages for Peter to encourage him. I tried to think of something that would indicate to him that I was also originally from Toronto. (There is a camaraderie when talking to someone who is from the same place you are.)

Toronto is very much a north-south, east-west city. It sits on the north shore of Lake Ontario so if you drive too far south, you will be in the Lake! As opposed to when Peter and I were young and there was a population of 500,000, there are now 5.5 million people in the GTA (Greater Toronto Area). The center of the city is a street called Yonge (pronounced "young") which goes all the way from Lake Ontario, north to the Metropolitan limits and beyond, up to cottage country as Highway 11.

So, you could pick a Nom de plume to use at the ABC website and rather explaining I was Canadian, I figured right away, Peter Jennings would have to know a Yonge Street Texan was from Toronto! When I started this blog, which would reflect how a Canadian living in Texas feels about things, it was a natural name!

A few months before I became an American Citizen in 1994, Peter Jennings also became a Citizen in a ceremony in New York City. My swearing in was in Houston with just Hubby and the official present. My party may well have been as flashy as Mr. Jennings' as 150 well-wishers came and went.

On Sunday, August 7, 2005, Peter Jennings lost his battle with lung cancer at his New York home. He is lovingly remembered by millions for the 22 years be came into our homes each evening as well as covering special events and interviewing heads of state worldwide.

I like to think he enjoyed knowing a fellow North Toronto neighbor enjoyed his frequent slips to Canadian pronunciations of words like "schedule" which Canadians say "shhhedule" and of course the letter "Z" which we say "zed".

So, now you know why I am the Yonge Street Texan!

More About Westminister Kennel Club's Winner

Breast Cancer Awareness Ribbon, originally uploaded by Cheryl's Art Box.

Photos both uploaded from Flickr.

Sally Sweatt, the owner of Hickory, the Scottish Deerhound who won Westminister Kennel Club's Best In Show this week, is back home in Minneapolis. Hickory and Sally have had a whirlwind time in New York City and of course, this is the first time a Scottish Deerhound has won Best in Show.

The judge who awarded Hickory with Best in Sporting Group on Tuesday night was James Reynolds of Ottawa, Ontario, Canada.

Hickory then went on to win Best in Show under Italian Judge, Mr. Paola Dondina. Mr. Dondina had some mighty nice things to say about Hickory and how he conforms to everything Mr. Dondina has learned and read about Scottish Deerhounds. That means that for Mr. Dondina, this was the ultimate Scottish Deerhound. It means this dog came closer to its breed standard than any of the other six dogs presented to him in the Best In Show ring.

For Sally Sweatt, Hickory represents a little more. Hickory, like your dog sitting beside you right now, means the world to Sally. In fact, Hickory has contributed to her life itself.

When she was diagnosed with breast cancer last spring, Sally knew she could not quit . . . she knew she had a fine dog and an excellent handler.

"You have to go forward in thought. You cannot go back because life goes forward", Sweatt said. She is cancer-free now.

Our dogs mean everything to us - I know mine does. Ms. Sweatt said she focused on her passion instead of her struggle.

Havanese

2009 Havanese National Specialty, originally uploaded by Hav n Knit Lover.

This breed is in the Toy Group and you might mistake him for a Shih Tzu. He is newly recognized and is gaining in popularity.

Indigenous Canadian Breeds -Labrador Retriever

Regyn rules (2), originally uploaded by piotr m.

This photo of a 4-1/2 month-old-puppy pretty much explains why I often recommend this breed for families. Is this dog listening to us? Is He interested in us? You betcha! You are sure to see this breed at Westminister - perhaps not this color - in the Sporting Group.

Newfoundland Dog - The Obvious Indiginous Canadian Breed

Newfoundland Dog, originally uploaded by Kassondrabarryphotography.

This one just happens to be posing at Signal Hill, overlooking St.John's Newfoundland, Canada. You will probably see a Newfoundland in Group Three - Working Dogs.

Indigenous Canadian Breeds - Nova Scotia Duck Tolling Retriever

Holly and the Cottonwood roots, originally uploaded by pocuddm2.

Yes, you will likely see this breed at Westminister in the Sporting Group.

How I Became Published . . . About Dogs, Dog Shows and Dog Owners

This beautiful Bernese Mountain Dog has a cross of white on his chest which was mentioned in the original standard approved by the Canadian Kennel Club. What a beautiful puppy!

At a dog show one day, oh, probably 25 years ago, I wrote a piece about a St.Bernard and Bernese Mountain Dog breeder who had been killed in a car accident. His name was Ray Fernandez. He had his own Bernese loose in the back of the car and a small dog in a crate that he was going to show at the Sault St. Marie Kennel Club Show. (For your knowledge, the caged dog was shown the next day and the Bernese had a leg injury: Crates save lives!)

I showed what I had written to a Borzoi breeder who also was Canadian Kennel Club President for many years and he suggested I submit it with a photo to a man named Nigel Aubrey Jones who was publishing a magazine called Canadian Dog Fancier. Mr. Jones loved to judge, write and breed wonderful Pekingese.

That was the real beginning for me writing and being published.

That man was Richard Meen who is now a Dog Show Judge and a pretty good writer and speaker himself.

If you love dogs, it sometimes comes naturally that you will write about them and speak about them.

I also used to do promotion for shows and that was a real learning experience. Controlling three dogs in front of a TV camera is an accomplishment! (I always found it amusing that many breeders would bring their dogs but did not want to appear, leaving me the interview job.)

I did not even have a dog when I was young! (Yup - deprived childhood!) Mother had had a Collie on the farm when she was young and Dad never had a dog. You have read about my first dog, a Boxer named Red, and you also have seen lots of Buddy the Lhasa Apso who holds court at our home now.

Another thing I was able to do was have the experience of one of my dogs doing a television commerical. I maintain today that Dogs Sell Products. Dogs are naturals and almost everybody enjoys seeing dogs. If you are trying to sell yourself, your product or your service, I think your potential client relates well to you if he sees you with your dog.

If you are wanting to write and you have a dog, try writing about that dog. I believe it is important that we all write about what we know. (Also for me, the Romance genre was always out because I wanted to be proud of what I wrote and recommend it to everyone. And yes, the Romance category probably sells better than a book about a dog.)

At http://fido-and-fifi.blogspot.com I will be helping you understand a dog show a little better so you can enjoy the Westminster Kennel Club Show next week. Some of us look forward to that show every year!

Oh, yes . . . and "Hello" to that fellow sitting next to you there . . . YOU are the world to him and please don't forget that. We should all honor our relationships with our dogs!

There is No Patriot Like An Immigrant - So, Let's Talk About How People Sing The National Anthems and Patriotic Music!

At the beginning of 2004, I officially became an American citizen. I memorized facts, answered questions and passed all the requirements to be an American citizen. In United States, something like 130 countries' immigrants to the U.S. may have dual citizenship and that is what I have. Hence, of course, I became a Yonge Street Texan (see above for explanation).

Now, people new to anything, often know it better and have more respect for it.

The above photo is me at my Citizenship Party where 150 people came and went and we had the Lufkin Community Band in attendance. My friend, Bonnie, brought me the hat from California. It sits on a shelf of honor in our home where I have many other American symbols.

The photo just below is Buddy the Lhasa Apso in his American flag cap that my friend, Kathleen, gave him.

And of course, below that is a picture of an exact American flag, exactly as it is supposed to look.

What got me started on this particular blog today?

Well, like many hubbies across North America, mine has the Super Bowl on TV.

I am in a room about fifty feet from that TV and the misery of the National Anthem being sung still broke my heart. And the other patriotic song, America, was just as bad!

There is an old saying about if it ain't broke, don't fix it.

The National Anthems of each country worldwide are sacred.

What if we were watching the Olympics and heard butchered versions of these anthems?

The glory is in doing something well. The mastery is doing something the best you can.

I am not saying I have never heard wonderful and true renditions of the American National Anthem and various patriotic songs. But today's were not that at all.

Why would anyone even attempt to improve on a patriotic songs that have been sung for all these years?

(In case you were wondering, Francis Scott Key composed it ("In Defense of Fort McHenry) in 1814 and Congress proclaimed the Star Spangled Banner the U.S. Anthem in 1931.)

Buddy the Lhasa in His Flag Cap

The American Flag Newport R I Ship, originally uploaded by Peter Camyre.