We don't know our left from our right.

I got my first real lesson on what being out of step means when I in was in Basic Military Training at Lackland Air Force Base, in San Antonio Texas. It was so obvious, a cave catfish could see it. I had many lessons prior to this, but marching drove home the point and further on, I'll explain.

When I am warming up a spin class I like to say. "Right arm out!' and then demonstrate it. I hold out my left arm and pull it across my chest and take my right hand and place it behind my elbow and stretch my arm. After ten seconds, I say, "Now your other right arm!" and perform the opposite exercise. The reason I do the opposite is I am facing them and I am a mirror image of what I want. The reason I say "the other right arm" is because no matter which arm you tell people, some of them will do the wrong arm.

One of my brothers would always take a turn to the opposite direction when we were driving someplace as a group. Because of this, we learned to point where he should turn, rather than speak "take a right at the next street." The reason for this is he is ambidextrous and right and left made less sense to him than most other people. When we played sandlot baseball, he was always the one that got the right-hand mitt if there was a spare glove and he throws and catches just as well with either hand.

Have you ever stopped and asked for directions and this well-intentioned person is the last individual on earth you should have queried?  "Yea, go down yonder and take three rights, a left after the curve, then two lefts, and blah, blah blah?"  Marco Polo would have become lost after listening to that fellow.

In BMT - Basic Military Training, we marched and marched and then we marched. When everyone was in step, magic took place. We moved as a unit and with each sharp step you heard the heel of one giant combat boot strike the ground with a precision you learned to love. It is music and the view is harmonious, as each head in front of you sways to the left and right until... What in tha?

Your head is going the opposite way of everyone else's? Is this a good thing under these circumstances? I would think not and I understand the various arguments about being your own person and sticking to what you believe is right, but sometimes, walking in agreement is the simple and best answer.

As a country, we have lost sight of this philosophy. Remember the old adage, united we stand, divided we fall? How about a biblical reference of, "... if a house be divided against itself, that house cannot stand"? We have went so far to the right or left that people are sticking their fingers in their ears and yelling, "La la la la!" rather than trying to find common ground. Geeze, folks, isn't common ground life, liberty, and the right to choose which App you load to your smartphone?

Is there anything we can agree on anymore without fighting, shooting the finger, and yelling the F word? People have become so passionate that they've forgotten that true happiness and peace comes from the simple things like a soft conversation with the one you love, or a sunset, or sitting around a campfire and adding a new log.

As a nation representing freedom, we have become a concern to our neighboring countries who fear we are ripping ourselves apart and I am with them on this. When a person is afraid to publicly admit who they voted for because they think someone will become violent, we have lost something as a nation. Sure, fisticuffs have went on for decades, but then again, you didn't get ran over by a car after they followed you for four miles either.

Lee College's professor Susan Cummings and I have debated social issues and politics for about 15 years and rarely have we agreed on anything, but you know what?  I like the lady and on many other issues we have chatted like old buddies.  Years ago, she made the statement that we have agreed to disagree and it is the truth. I would rush across the street to help her out of a bind if she needed me and this is how things are supposed to work in this country. We as a nation have lost more than we have gained by bickering and trash-talking each other and it is reaching a very destructive point where we will have to decide if we can actually walk in step or divide.

Debating has turned an ugly course where a brick in hand is needed as punctuation. In my mind, Ted Kaczynski was right in so many ways, but his methods were criminal.  Raise the red flag if you feel like something is wrong and pray for change, but don't become violent and destructive as a means to accomplish your goals. "Then join in hand, brave Americans all— By uniting we stand, by dividing we fall!" John Dickinson's "Liberty Song" published 18 July 1768, in the Boston Gazette.

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It’s an outrage I say!

We have come to a time in space where people are cocked, locked, and ready to angrily fire at an instant. We are modern day Minutemen/women ready to be outraged and by sweet fancy Moses, we are armed to the teeth with righteous indignation. It’s ultimately righteous because it is coming from us. Those other fools are uneducated morons.

Someone said, you do well to win an argument with a learned person, but no one wins an argument with an idiot. This is true and if you happen to like to lock horns over something passionate, you will encounter this torch-carrying passionate activist who moments before was entirely rational. Now understand I have my tongue firmly planted in my cheek as I write this.

The reason I say this, is other than one of the deep philosophical discussions (read jujitsu wrestling matches) I get into with Jared Eikhoff, I can stand clear of passion and emotion and pretty much be open-minded. It’s not so with Jared because he’s like one of my kids and he’s well-educated, albeit still defining what to believe. I wrestle his brain trying to get some of the stuff he learned from Professor Cummings out of there and into the open so he can decide if the liberal stuff she teaches is fact or fiction.

I like and appreciate Professor Susan Cummings, the liberal phenom of Lee College and like to believe my 5 years in high school badgering the teacher have qualified me to take her on in civil debate. Years ago we agreed to disagree and I would sit down with the scholar and enjoy talking about most anything and even pick up the tab. Both she and I can separate passion from being civil in debate and that is very important if you want to verbally sword fight over ideals and remain friendly.

It’s simply not so when dealing with an unbridled passionate activist. Suddenly Dr. Jekyll turns into Mr. Hyde before your very eyes and vitriolic babblings overtake all sense of logic and opportunity to offer a comeback.  Why, because they can no longer hear anything except their heartfelt passion towards everything from animal rights to “God” being removed from everything.

Passion is good when it comes to causes.  Sure, if someone abuses a child or leaves a pet locked in a hot car this is cause for alarm and I’m not talking common sense items here.  What I am referring to is extremism and with the politically correct movement firmly established, this lends to a self-appointed righteous air to the subject.

For instance, take the recent interest in a 13 year old lion being killed in Africa.  One fellow declared the dentist should be fined a million dollars. A million dollars?  Seriously? Another angrily wrote he should have his head cut off.  I find this so absurd, it’s laughable. Lions in the wild live 10-14 years. This was a very old animal, so a million bucks seems extreme. How about $5000?

Some passion is earned by blood and a smart person knows not to provoke a cobra snake. When I encounter a Marine I also say “Semper Fi” which translates as “Always faithful” and call them Devil Dogs. I’m not stupid and insultingly say jarheads. They’ve earned the moniker on both ends, but Devil Dog is a compliment. Marines are passionate about being Marines all their life and I understand that.

Other rabid subjects include the Confederate flag, the right to bear arms, eating meat, the environment (on 17 levels) and my most recent discovery is… where Vidalia onions were developed!  Yup, boy did I open up a can of whoop bunns on that subject.

I have many dear friends from my Georgia days and I recently enlightened – read baited Allyce Lankford on the less known fact that the present day cherished Georgia Vidalia onion is actually a Texas onion. Holy smokeski’s, talk about an instant eruption of passion! I of course acted as innocent as a nun and shocked that she would take offense.

Being me, I had to poke her with a fact stick on Facebook and this simply fanned the flames. You see, the Vidalia onion can only be grown in a certain area of Georgia due to the soil and is a state treasure. “Them’s fightin’ words, suh!” Now having lived in Georgia, them Georgians take their onions very seriously and I am guilty of igniting this passion, I admit.

The ultimate smack down was when I claimed the 1015 (also a Texas A&M invention) was sweeter and I only buy Vidalia’s when the 1015’s are out of season. The truth is other than the size difference, I really can’t tell all that much difference. 

Not to let facts get in the way of a good argument, onions are so good for your heart that you should eat them with every meal. The harsher the onion is on your eyes, the better it is for your heart and both of these onions are very mild. I love them both and eat onions every day, and I am guilty of provoking this good woman to see her reaction and give me fodder for this column.

Folks, if you feel very strong emotions about a certain subject, do your best to keep it in check around your friends who do not share the same views or you may find them becoming strangely mute when you go off on your righteous tangent. Also beware of passion baiters like myself. We can be real irrational.

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The 22 Top Attractions in Baytown!

Pirate's Bay in Baytown, Texas

Hello Baytown Bert, here are the top 22 attractions that I see as important for anyone visiting or living in Baytown. I added one restaurant and one beer company as a 21st and 22nd attraction because we all love to eat and socialize! Instead of providing a list of 22 in order of importance, I decided to divide the attractions and venues into four broad categories. They are not ordered according to importance because different people are interested in different things. Let me know if you need anything else. Thanks!

Birding, Fishing and Outdoors

1.     Eddie V. Gray Wetlands Education Center

2.     Baytown Nature Center

3.     Thompson’s Bait Camp (Facebook link)

4.     Bayland Marina and waterfront park (3 Historical markers, boat ramp, fishing pier, etc.)

5.     WL Jenkins Park (disc golf, Bark Park, trails, etc.)

6.     Bicentennial Park (Fireman’s Memorial and the Veteran’s Memorial)

Entertainment and Recreation

1.     Royal Purple Raceway

2.     Pirate’s Bay Waterpark

3.     Cork Grinders (has great entertainment, food)

4.     Evergreen Point Golf Club

5.     Yepez Vineyard

Arts, Culture and Heritage

1.     Portrait of a Warrior Memorial Art Gallery

2.     Republic of Texas Plaza

3.     Lee College Performing Arts Center (can see Baytown Symphony Orchestra and/or Baytown  Little Theater perform on this stage in addition to all of the other shows they bring in)

4.     Baytown Little Theater

5.     Lynchburg Ferry (be sure to read the historical markers)

6.     Baytown Historical Museum

7.     Trophy Barbershop

8.     Fred Hartman Bridge

9.     Art League of Baytown

Restaurants and Nightlife

1.     Pipeline Grill

2.     Dirty Bay Beer Company

 Anna Enderli  Tourism Coordinator  City of Baytown

http://www.baytown.org/about/tourism
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The looming Baytown metropolis

Get ready for Baytown to surge to 200,000 people over the next five years folks. What started out as a laid-back Tri-city community of Pelly, Baytown and Goose Creek is rapidly becoming a bustling metropolis, and oil fracking is to blame, if blame is levied. I see what is happening as a positive. Cars, trucks and motorcycles are on our streets at all hours of the day and night, and based on what one of our police lieutenants told me recently, we are not ready for the expansion. How could we be?

With the Exxon and Chevron Phillips expansions in progress, they will draw tens of thousands of workers to our city, and due to the length of the work commitment, most will bring their families. We have three new elementary schools popping up (expect new school zones of SH-146 out Pinehurst way and another on North Main street, which will impede traffic flow), and there is a new steel mill coming to the Beach City area, most likely at the U.S. Steel location. Kiwi Golf is opening a production facility here. There is the Buc-ee’s and the new super Wal-mart at Highway 146 and Interstate 10 to bring jobs and more people and cars/trucks to our streets. I predict the traffic jam will be so bad here that the state will build an overpass over I-10 that will run for a number of miles dumping traffic out past Maranatha Temple.

 The good side is we have jobs, lots of jobs, and I welcome this with a big toothy grin – well with what teeth I still have anyway. After 36 years in the petrochemical field, I never thought I would see such a boom in this arena. I suspected it, however, and a couple years ago foretold the need for skilled workers when Goose Creek Memorial was being built. I wrote here in The Baytown Sun in my old column – yes, I am back – that we should seriously consider converting Robert E. Lee High School into a top notch vo-tech school to prepare our graduates to enter the work force and unfortunately, this is the bad side of the expansion. We don’t have the local manpower to staff these great jobs. We are at a minimum two years behind, and many of these great jobs won’t go to our young graduates but to people flocking here from the Virgin Islands, Detroit or Timbuktu, and they will most likely not leave.

When I pushed for a vo-tech (instead of 3 high schools teaching the same thing) , all everyone wanted to talk about was the school colors and the football team. So, we continued to pump out graduates, or not – with cookie-cutter diplomas which basically prepared them to think alike and exit high school with the skills to get a job working the counter at a fast food restaurant, or a few went off to college and became what their parents dreamed of, right? For most, the answer was no. They languished and years later are still without money-making skills. Well, now we need those high school grads with those hands-on skills and they are nowhere to be found because we didn’t properly prepare them for the real working world. Sure, Lee College and San Jac offer a two-year program to qualify people to become process technicians, I understand that. But what about electricians, pipe-fitters, welders, insulators, rod-busters, riggers, plumbers, instrument technicians, carpenters, heavy equipment operators, etc, who could have graduated from one of our high schools with the needed skills? It’s not too late to amp up our vo-tech high school programs, folks. It just takes forward paradigm-breaking thinking. It will take people on our school board to break free of the current malaise and get a curriculum that will teach our young generation to work …

Oops, isn’t work a four-letter word these days? It appears to be to many of us gray heads who began working at 13 and 14 years of age and never looked to anyone for assistance. Oh my, this is so controversial, I almost can’t write it without feeling there will be a terrible backlash. But it’s true just the same, and I will bring it out in the open. After all, I bought my first car at the ripe age of 15 after working for two years. I also bought my first radio, and stereo and television … We have a terrific future here in Baytown, both in our city’s development and the sustainable job market. We, as Baytonians, need to take advantage of it and prepare our kids to get a piece of the pie. I am close to retirement and I have no plans to move away, but I do care that our city “moves forward” with the surging expansion. On another note, I am very excited about our city park expansions and have asked the mayor and city manager to plant as many trees and native shrubs as possible to off-set the wholesale defoliation of our city caused by the expansion.

The Baker Road extension alone destroyed many acres of wildlife habitat, and my councilman, Bob Hoskins, has promised a new greenbelt, with him personally planting the first tree. I am very excited about this and the great job Scott Johnson is doing with our parks department. Baytown is indeed on the move, but it is everyone’s responsibility to make sure our city moves in the right direction. I want to do my part, how about you?