Two Faced?

Remember during the primaries when people wanted to be snarky about Hillary? They posed the "does she or doesn't she" question about Botox. She probably did and in so doing sure set a trend!

According to USA Today Cosmetic procedures pick up prior to Obama inauguration. Dermatologists in cities across the country have seen an upswing in requests for no down time quick fixes in anticipation of inaugural parties, be they in D.C. or their own home towns! Even men. What! They look great with crows feet and gray at the temples!

This stimulus package of Obama's certainly is far reaching. He's encouraged those who can do so safely to go out and spend. Who'd have thought that in so doing the government will not have to dole out bailout money to cosmetic surgeons?

I'd have thought the increase might be due to all our local TV anchors paring years off their appearance with the onset of hi def television. Now there are numbers that would save an industry. Add to that journalists, politicians, lobbyists and lawyers who have inundated one cosmetic dermatologist, she ought to be in fat city for years to come! The key here, of course, is the fact the treatment wears off. Brilliant!

Ah, you who doubt Obama can pull off this economic recovery really need to "face" the facts!

New Beginnings

It was a picture perfect winter morning as Bacchus and I started out on our walk. The sun was just coming out, highlighting the edges of the fog hovering over Hayden Lake. The breeze was just enough to stir the neighbor's flag and we knew the sky was going to be a brilliant winter blue.

It got me to thinking about how much we humans and Mother Nature reflect one another. We are both capable of creating breathtaking beauty. We are both capable of wrecking horrendous, ugly havoc. Today is on the side of beauty. As is the upcoming week.

A President will be leaving office, resolute in his beliefs that he did his best. He will begin a new life outside the microscopic scrutiny of the media and the public. I wish him well. What else can you wish a person most of us believe is delusional at best.

A new President is taking office. My nature would be to belly ache about some of his appointments and the cost to taxpayers of all the inauguration hoopla including yesterday's train ride. But not today. Not this week.

It's a time that should belong to the Obama's. And the country. Not the Democrats; the country. Putting aside his race, Barack Obama is an extraordinary young man. He has achieved the American dream and then some yet he is still a very human man. A husband. A father. This photo, to me, says it all.

It's a new beginning for the country. We have matured to where we've elected a man for his qualities without qualification. How wonderful is that? At times I wonder if we elected him more for the man he would seem to be than for his policies. Quite probably.

Next week the hype will begin to subside. The pundits will ratchet back up and start picking apart everything Obama. The realities happening around the world will again make the headlines. For now, though, it's a time for the celebration of new beginnings.

No matter what may lie ahead, I'm going to take the week and rejoice in the fact that this infant of a nation, which has been crawling for years, has taken a huge first step.