Then just in the past few days, Representative Weiner’s on line and phone sexual indiscretions have consumed the media.  It has also just been announced that his wife of one year is pregnant, and we assume, with his child.  An interesting note is that Weiner’s wife is a close aide of Hillary Clinton, who can certainly provide some sage advice, having suffered through some of the same immoral behavior of her husband, then President Bill Clinton.

Then there is John Edwards, who has just been indicted for his thought to be illegal behavior of using campaign funds to hide and support his liason with his mistress, and the birth of their child.

There are others that could also be mentioned, Republicans as well as Democrats.

What are we to make of all of this?  It is certainly not a new problem. Many people love to report on the shenanigans of President John F. Kennedy, who was able to hide some of his behavior since it was before Facebook, Twitter, and Blogs.

I am amazed at the number of people, especially men, who seem to think they can get by with these immoral (different than Weiner’s comment of his “inappropriate”) behaviors.  What are they thinking?  Or are they?

More important than what they are thinking is: what are we thinking? And even more than that, what are we doing?  What are average Americans doing to counteract the moral decline in this country?  Have our definitions of morality changed that much?  Maybe so.

It is too easy to focus on Edwards, Weiner, etc., and fail to see what we are doing as a society about these same issues.  How much are we willing to tolerate before we say, Enough?

It all relates to values.  Have our values of morality really changed all that much, or are we too lazy to do the heard work to live our values?  How are we showing leadership to our children?

Let’s worry less about the escapades of the famous, and focus on our behaviors.  How are we doing in this area of morality?

Women, let’s start by hiding the cleavage.  No, I am not saying that showing cleavage leads to indiscretions such as the ones mentioned, or that it is immoral.  But it is inappropriate, and sometimes the line betwewen inappropriate and immoral is pretty close.

Women can clean up their act in some ways such as this, and put their energies into what they and their families can do to live apropriate and moral lives.

And yes, refuse to elect people who do not model the best of behaviors, before election, and when elected.  When such problems as the current ones mentioned occur, we should act quickly and decisively, sending a strong message to our children that we as a society hold our elected officials to the highest standards, even when doing so may not be popular.

Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday, and the one that just passed is no exception.  Our family cooked and ate for several days.  A new generation of younger children and grandchildren found their “bed” to be the floor, and there were no complaints.  We were all together, and healthy.  We have so much for which to be thankful, and I am, especially these past couple of days. Elizabeth Edwards has had her last Thanksgiving with her family. The rest of us do not know if the same is true for us. 

I was not always an Elizabeth Edwards fan, but I have been the past couple of years, and more so since reading all of the eulogies written for and about her since her death a couple of days ago. She leaves her children a powerful legacy.

I am also ashamed about something that happened with me years ago related to Elizabeth Edwards.  I landed in Raleigh NC on the same plane as John Edwards, and was shocked to see the very overweight woman who met him, who I then realized was his wife Elizabeth.  I remember thinking how handsome he was and how unattractive she was, and wondered why she didn’t/couldn’t take better care of her physical appearance.  That was probably when she weighed the most. But regardless, shame on me; I knew better, even then.  I have thought of this so many times these past couple of years, and felt so guilty for my shallow impression of this obviously strong, dynamic, resilient, kind (no, not always, apparently, but neither are you or I!) woman who suffered so much, and publically, and still maintained her grace.  The intervening years have taught me the difference in a teflon handsome man and a beautiful to the core (no, not perfect, but are you or I?!), yet not as physically attractive woman.

Elizabeth Edwards, may you rest in peace.  Your beauty remains in the lives of your children. Thank you for being the vehicle for one of my most important life lessons. I will never forget it; or you.

Mike and I talked about this Hurricane experience, and our lessons learned. One of my lessons was that while I thought we were unprepared since we had not gone to the grocery store for supplies, what we had in the refrigerator was more than enough.  Mike was not surprised by that at all.  Our dinner last night of leftover pasta, cheese and crackers, and our breakfast of bagels and cream cheese this morning was ample fare.  I was reminded that we often have more than enough, if we only use what we have.  My urge for bread and milk was nothing more than the getting caught up in the hype of those who rush to the grocery store in a spirit of scarcity, buying things they do not even usually eat, just because others are doing so.  There is probably a larger lesson in that as well.

This strange life of ours has us leaving St. Maarten on Saturday, assuming that we can get back with the weather conditions that could affect our travel, just in time to meet Hurricane Earl in North Carolina!

Hurricane Earl is at this very minute making its way across St. Maarten, where my husband, Mike, and I are on vacation.  After putting family on the plane yesterday, we looked forward to a week alone with nothing to do but relax, eat good food, and catch up on some computer work.  This has been our ritual for the past ten years.  Our annual two weeks in the Caribbean fall within Hurricane season, and we understand the risk.  Or thought we did. Twice before we have had hurricanes while here, but none like this.  The other two were minor inconveniences; Hurricane Earl is becoming a major inconvenience, and we hope, nothing more.  While it is too early to tell the extent of this major inconvenience, it has already far surpassed the other experiences.

Hurricanes give plenty of warning.  Our resort was battening down for hours yesterday, preparing for the worst.  We did not prepare as well.  While we talked about it, we did not go to the grocery store, which is right across the street from our resort, for supplies.  I am not sure why, since we knew that there wasn’t much in the refrigerator.  Instead we went out for an early dinner at a restaurant within walking distance from our resort, and soon after returning, went to bed.   Nothing much weather wise was occurring at that point.

I was woken at 4am by the howling winds, and since I could not sleep, finally got up soon thereafter.  It is now after 6pm, and while we have power, thankfully, the satellite connection is out, so we are left with determining the hurricane path by listening to the wind and rain outside our windows.  By the noise it seems that we are still in the thick of it.  We have hurricane shutters on the windows, but one has blown off, allowing us to see the fierceness with which the wind and rain are attacking everything around. 

When I am unsettled I read or write.  For the first part of the day I read.  Then I began to write.  I have felt pretty calm some of the day.  At other times I could have panicked if I had let myself, or if Mike had not been with me. 

Many things went through my mind today. One thought is how unusual this year has been.  In January Mike was in Haiti during the earthquake.  Then in July major water damage from pipes under our house resulted in us moving out for four months while all of the floors (and who knows what else) are replaced.  And now we are in a hurricane.

While I do not want to think that the worse can happen, I know that it can.  I sent an email through my Blackberry earlier, wanting our adult children to know that we were fine.  I had emails back from both of them, and those connections gave me comfort.  I am also comforted that we have not lost power.  Also, as bad as it sounds and looks outside, our building must be safe, for in the midst of what are now over 120 mile an hour winds, (which we just found out when the computer worked for a minute) our building does not seem to have moved at all.  I am also comforted by the fact that this is totally outside of our control, so we do not need to worry. 

While just yesterday it was beautiful outside yet so hot that I thought I could not bear it, now it is so ugly outside and cool inside that I yearn for the sun and heat again.  Hopefully, this too will pass, and Mother Nature, no not Mother Nature at all, but God, will have shown us once again who is really in control.  We aren’t, and the weather isn’t.  But thankfully, He is.