Let us not wallow in the valley of despair.

I say to you today, my friends, so even though we face the difficulties of today and tomorrow, I still have a dream. It is a dream deeply rooted in the American dream.

I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed: "We hold these truths to be self-evident: that all men are created equal."

I have a dream that one day on the red hills of Georgia the sons of former slaves and the sons of former slave owners will be able to sit down together at the table of brotherhood.

I have a dream that one day even the state of Mississippi, a state sweltering with the heat of injustice, sweltering with the heat of oppression, will be transformed into an oasis of freedom and justice.

I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character.

I have a dream today.

I have a dream that one day, down in Alabama, with its vicious racists, with its governor having his lips dripping with the words of interposition and nullification; one day right there in Alabama, little black boys and black girls will be able to join hands with little white boys and white girls as sisters and brothers.

I have a dream today.

I have a dream that one day every valley shall be exalted, every hill and mountain shall be made low, the rough places will be made plain, and the crooked places will be made straight, and the glory of the Lord shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together.

This is our hope. This is the faith that I go back to the South with. With this faith we will be able to hew out of the mountain of despair a stone of hope. With this faith we will be able to transform the jangling discords of our nation into a beautiful symphony of brotherhood. With this faith we will be able to work together, to pray together, to struggle together, to go to jail together, to stand up for freedom together, knowing that we will be free one day.

This will be the day when all of God's children will be able to sing with a new meaning, "My country, 'tis of thee, sweet land of liberty, of thee I sing. Land where my fathers died, land of the pilgrim's pride, from every mountainside, let freedom ring."

And if America is to be a great nation this must become true. So let freedom ring from the prodigious hilltops of New Hampshire. Let freedom ring from the mighty mountains of New York. Let freedom ring from the heightening Alleghenies of Pennsylvania!

Let freedom ring from the snowcapped Rockies of Colorado!

Let freedom ring from the curvaceous slopes of California!

But not only that; let freedom ring from Stone Mountain of Georgia!

Let freedom ring from Lookout Mountain of Tennessee!

Let freedom ring from every hill and molehill of Mississippi. From every mountainside, let freedom ring.

And when this happens, when we allow freedom to ring, when we let it ring from every village and every hamlet, from every state and every city, we will be able to speed up that day when all of God's children, black men and white men, Jews and Gentiles, Protestants and Catholics, will be able to join hands and sing in the words of the old Negro spiritual, "Free at last! free at last! thank God Almighty, we are free at last!"

So we are mobile again! We have a nice new (well, new to us :) Forester, a 2001 this time, and I have finally managed to go see my mare. She was happy to see me, which was nice, but she was less happy to go back to work. Luckily we had a riding lesson Monday so we're a little more back on track now :)

The biggest annoyance of not having a car is not being able to go see my pony. I mean, yeah, it's annoying in other ways, but it's only been a week and we had gone for groceries not long before the accident, so we're not starving or anything, but I miss my pony.

Going on a Very Small Adventure.
For someone who- once upon a time- would hack anywhere a horse could take me (which includes some places I would have been hard-pressed to manage on foot) and usually as fast as possible and over the highest jumps I was allowed, it is somewhat saddening to find that leftover issues from Cam mean I must relearn how much fun it is to be outside, one little trip down the driveway at a time.
We'll get there.

Isn't my little girl pretty?  Photo courtesy of a friend of mine.

Of course, she has her own opinions.  I noticed on the activity calendar that one of the other horses had just been hand walked and longed this week, so I asked the barn owner how he was doing.  She said, “He’s coming back into work this week after your mare kicked him and gave him six stitches.”

Oops. Well, I guess he must have suggested something improper that she took offense to. 

It's the first perfect Fall day; it's cool with rain and low clouds and wind and it's the perfect day for being inside, drinking hot tea and listening to Hawksley Workman. It was a very hot summer, and we're looking forwards to a nice cool Fall.

So, since there might very well be a major Half-Life announcement tomorrow, the Doc wanted to get his two cents' in ^_^