The folder 08-04-08 is filled with images of Teresa and I’s trip home from Kentucky.

On the way back we stopped in Springfield, Illinois. Springfield is noted for being home of the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library. It also home of the Springfield Old Capitol Building where both Abraham Lincoln and Barack Obama made their announcements that they were running for President.

Abraham Lincoln, the man who said:

“How many legs does a dog have if you call his tail a leg? Four. Saying that a tail is a leg doesn’t make it a leg.”

and

“Do I not destroy my enemies when I make them my friends?”

and

“Give me six hours to chop down a tree and I will spend the first four sharpening the axe.”

and

“When I do good, I feel good. When I do bad, I feel bad. That’s my religion.”

and

“Stand with anybody that stands right, stand with him while he is right and part with him when he goes wrong.”

and

“My concern is not whether God is on our side; my greatest concern is to be on God’s side, for God is always right.”

Barack Obama, the man who said:

“The cynics may be the loudest voices – but I promise you, they will accomplish the least.”

and

“Where we are met with cynicism and doubts and those who tell us that we can’t, we will respond with that timeless creed that sums up the spirit of a people: Yes We Can.”

and

“We, the People, recognize that we have responsibilities as well as rights; that our destinies are bound together; that a freedom which only asks what’s in it for me, a freedom without a commitment to others, a freedom without love or charity or duty or patriotism, is unworthy of our founding ideals, and those who died in their defense.”

and

“We, the People, recognize that we have responsibilities as well as rights; that our destinies are bound together; that a freedom which only asks what’s in it for me, a freedom without a commitment to others, a freedom without love or charity or duty or patriotism, is unworthy of our founding ideals, and those who died in their defense.”

It is startling how far the level of political discourse has fallen in just a couple of years. Hopefully in 2020, we will elect somebody to the White House that’s command of the English language is above that of a 4th grader. (Not hyperbole – Studies show that speeches given by the current President hover between a 3rd grade to 7th grade reading level.)

It would also be nice if that person wasn’t a homophobic, a misogynistic, sexist, racist, jingoistic, Islamophobic, anti-Semitic, xenophobe. But I don’t want to get too greedy here. But if I were getting greedy, I would want a President that wasn’t bought and sold by corporate interests. A president that stood up to despotic leaders like Putin, Jong-un, and Bin Salman, instead of carrying water for them. If I was getting super greedy, I would want a President that wasn’t accused of sexually assaulting 22 different women. I know. That is totally a case of he said, she said (Jessica Leeds), she said (Ivana Trump), she said (Kristin Anderson), she said (Jill Harth), she said (Lisa Boyne), she said (Mariah Billado), she said (Victoria Hughes), she said (Temple Taggart), she said (Cathy Heller), she said (Karena Virginia), she said (Tasha Dixon), she said (Bridget Sullivan), she said (Melinda McGillivray), she said (Natasha Stoynoff), she said (Jennifer Murphy), she said (Juliet Huddy), she said (Rachel Crooks), she said (Samantha Holvey), she said (Ninni Laaksonen), she said (Jessica Drake), she said (Summer Zervos), she said (Cassandra Searles).

Here are some pictures from the trip home:

We also visited Lincoln’s Tomb. If you are ever in the Springfield area, I definitely recommend visiting both. I wish we would have had more time to visit more Lincoln exhibits in the area!

By adding these pictures to the Photography 139 Gallery, I was able to restore the following historic “An Artist’s Notebook” entry to its original glory:

Next Saturday’s walk down memory lane will probably involve Little White Lye Soap. All of you have been stocking up on Little White Lye Soap, haven’t you?