A Great Goal

I am behind on my posting, it has been a very busy week. I want to go back and post about last weekend. I was at the lake and my neighbor, Nat, wanted me to help him put up his flag pole. Nat is 79 years old. He is very quick witted and mentally sharp and in very good health for his age. He is very active and works in his yard or around the house constantly.



Barb and I love to watch Nat fishing. Whether he is using a spinning rod or his trusty fly rod he is very graceful in his motion. Watching him fish late in the evening is almost a surreal scene. It is very relaxing for us as just to watch him at his task.

A month ago we arrived at the lake to find that we had a new flag flying on our flagpole. We fly our flag all the time so it has gotten tattered. Nat told me that the flag needed to fly "proud" so he replaced it.

All this brings me to the reason for my raving today. I have know Nat for 3 years now, and he practices the adage if you can't say something nice about someone, don't say anything. In that vain he is quick to look for the good and praise.

I have noticed over time that Nat's highest praise for someone is that they were a "good citizen". If they were really outstanding in his eyes, he might add that they were "a solid member of the community".

It has given me pause to think about what greater aspiration any of us could have than to be a good citizen and a solid member of the community. What better goals could we have for raising our children?