No, not the wonderful poem with the line “Tyger, Tyger Burning Bright” (if I remember correctly the poem was by Blake–someone please correct me if I am wrong as I am too lazy and tired to look it up), but our own Tiger who has gotten out of his cage. I don’t think that it would matter quite so much if he had not projected the picture of morality and respectful son and husband for so long. He was a hero and an example to kids especially minority kids who could dream of playing golf and being accepted in a game long dominated by whites in country club settings where African Americans were not always welcome. Tiger broke down barriers and was helping to make golf accessible to all. I thought he had real character, but I was so wrong.  I believe that more than many other athletes and celebrities and their bad boy antics, he had the responsibility to lead by example just as our President, also breaking the race barrier, seems to be doing.  Maybe I held Tiger in too much esteem as I began to watch golf on television because of him; I followed his career, watched him play, and admired him for the work he was doing for our youth by founding centers to help teach those not successful in school.  I am very, very disappointed that he has now joined the ranks of our “bad boy” athletes and celebrities who do not pay attention to whom they hurt when they cross the line of behaving correctly; his behavior may not stop his career or change the attitude of those who wish to ignore his morality and separate it totally from his sports career, but there are many of us who are very saddened by the fact that one more respected athlete or celebrity has joined the ranks of  those who feel that they are entitled to do whatever the hell they want without any regard for the chances they had to be sterling examples of public figures, who despite all the temptations of fame and money, choose to live their lives above reproach. I really do not wish to judge; but his apparent lack of character speaks for itself. I do not know who wrote the following; I just wish it had been me:

 Twas the night of Thanksgiving and out of the house
    Tiger Woods came a flyin’, chased by his spouse..
    She wielded a nine iron and wasn’t too merry,
    Cause a bimbo’s phone number was in his Blackberry.
    He’d been cheatin’ on Elin, and the story progressed.
    Woman after woman stepped up and confessed.
    He’d been cheatin’ with Holly, and Jaimee, and Cori,
    With Joselyn, and Kalika. The world had the story.
    From the top of the Tour to the basement of blues,

Tiger’s sad sordid tale was all over the news.
    With hostesses, waitresses, he had lots of sex,
    When not in their pants, he was sendin’ them texts.
    And I heard her exclaim from her white Escalade,
    “If you’re gettin’ laid then I’m gettin’ paid.”
    Despite all his cryin’ and beggin’ and pleadin’,
    Tiger’s wife went investin’ — a new home in Sweden.   
    She’s not pouting, in fact, she is of jolly good cheer,
    Her pre nup made Christmas come early this year.

 

A Different Christmas Poem

The embers glowed softly, and in their dim light,
I gazed round the room and I cherished the sight.
My wife was asleep, her head on my chest,
My daughter beside me, angelic in rest.
Outside the snow fell, a blanket of white,
Transforming the yard to a winter delight.

The sparkling lights in the tree I believe,
Completed the magic that was Christmas Eve.
My eyelids were heavy, my breathing was deep,
Secure and surrounded by love I would sleep.
In perfect contentment, or so it would seem,
So I slumbered, perhaps I started to dream.

The sound wasn’t loud, and it wasn’t too near,
But I opened my eyes when it tickled my ear..
Perhaps just a cough, I didn’t quite know, Then the
sure sound of footsteps outside in the snow.
My soul gave a tremble, I struggled to hear,
And I crept to the door just to see who was near.

Standing out in the cold and the dark of the night,
A! lone figure stood, his face weary and tight.
A soldier, I puzzled, some twenty years old,
Perhaps a Marine, huddled here in the cold.
Alone in the dark, he looked up and smiled,
Standing watch over me, and my wife and my child.

“What are you doing?” I asked without fear,
“Come in this moment, it’s freezing out here!
Put down your pack, brush the snow from your sleeve,
You should be at home on a cold Christmas Eve!”
For barely a moment I saw his eyes shift,
Away from the cold and the snow blown in drifts..

To the window that danced with a warm fire’s light
Then he sighed and he said “Its really all right,
I’m out here by choice. I’m here every night.”
“It’s my duty to stand at the front of the line,
That separates you from the darkest of times.

No one had to ask or beg or implore me,
I’m proud to stand here like my fathers before me.
My Gramps died at ‘ Pearl on a day in December,”
Then he sighed, “! That’s a Christmas ‘Gram always remembers.”
My dad stood his watch in the jungles of ‘ Nam ‘,
And now it is my turn and so, here I am.

I’ve not seen my own son in more than a while,
But my wife sends me pictures, he’s sure got her smile.
Then he bent and he carefully pulled from his bag,
The red, white, and blue… an American flag.
I can live through the cold and the being alone,
Away from my family, my house and my home.

I can stand at my post through the rain and the sleet,
I can sleep in a foxhole with little to eat.
I can carry the weight of killing another,
Or lay down my life with my sister and brother..
Who stand at the front against any and all,
To ensure for all time that this flag will not fall..”

” So go back inside,” he said, “harbor no fright,
Your family is waiting and I’ll be all right.”
“But isn’t there something I can do, at the least,
“Give you money,” I asked, “or prepare you a feast?
It seems all too little for all that you’ve done,
For being away from your wife and your son.”

Then his eye welled a tear that held no regret,
“Just tell us you love us, and never forget.
To fight for our rights back at home while we’re gone,
To stand your own watch, no matter how long.
For when we come home, either standing or dead,
To know you remember we fought and we bled.
Is payment enough, and with that we will trust,
That we mattered to you as you mattered to us.”

PLEASE, would you do me the kind favor of sending this to as many
people as you can? Christmas will be coming soon and some credit is
due to our U.S service men and women for our being able to celebrate these festivities. Let’s try in this small way to pay a tiny bit of what we owe. Make people stop and think of our heroes, living and dead, who sacrificed themselves for us.

LCDR Jeff Giles, SC, USN
30th Naval Construction Regiment
OIC, Logistics Cell One
Al Taqqadum, Iraq

GOD BLESS OUR TROOPS

In God We Trust

 

News Flash:

A passenger plane from Dallas to Columbus, Ohio, was delayed one and one half hours getting in (whether landing or unloading is not clear) because a whole bunch of those lovable, frolicking, quick moving otters (usually found in water not cargo holds) evidently got loose in the cargo hold of the plane.  Now how does one catch scampering, hide ‘n’ go seeking otters among suitcases, boxes, and other cargo. Why were they on the plane and where were they headed, up north for the winter perhaps?  Stay tuned until this mystery unravels hopefully on the morning news!