[Billie]

Good morning, Good FRiends!

Please come and say hello to today's Finest FReeper. Your pets are invited to come with you.

[ladtx]

Another good day in the Republic of South Vietnam! In all the years of that war no helicopter pilots were lost on this day. Some of us had a little battle damage but at least we were able to get the skids down, grab a quick shower and head for the club.

Just a small hole.

IN THE SHADOW OF THE BLADE

SCOUTS OUT!

[Aeronaut]

Good morning Billie. Coffee...? Please....!

[LadyX]

Good morning, Empress..:)))

As you wished, here is the crown for our Dutchess to wear for her Day in the Spotlight.

We know you will wear it with grace, Dutchess,
deserving of all our accolades - - and more.

[Pippin]

Good Morning everybody!

I'm slooooowly getting back into the "groove" here.

Thanks for your well wishes and responses. anyone got chicken soup?

BTW, I did go to the dinner on Saturday night but didn't stay long.

We all had a good time, especially Mom. Dansangel, the food at the Olive Garden was great!

Well, hope to be spending more time here or at the Hobbit Hole thread.

[Mixer]

Good Morning all. Just enjoying my Hot Chocalate and reading the thread. Have a great day.

[jwfiv]

Good morning to our hostesses.

May Blessings and Light fall gently upon you all on this fine day of grief and joy, worry and hope. Thanks again for a good cup of coffee.

Hello to the Dutchess, glad to meet you and Mr. D and your little ones. Thanks for all your inspiring good works in the real world, and your inspiring good words here in the cyber world.

[Diver Dave]

Ladies and Gentlemen. Your attention, please. Stepping into the center ring...

Another GREAT FReeper stands in the center ring of FR's Finest...

Congratulations, Dutchess. It has always been a pleasure to read your posts, and now your bio this morning. Keep up the good work.

Atta Girl, dutchess

[ST.LOUIE1]

Good morning, BillieBluezy! : )

Fantastic choice!

Fantastic presentation!

[The Thin Man]

Your pets are invited to come with you.

I tried to bring Asta, but he wouldn't come. He thinks your mean. Asta has always been a good judge of character. :-)

[Mudboy Slim]

"I would share that I am a carbon copy of most of the FReepers who discovered FR in 1998. It was through a Drudge link...it was the Whitewater files"

To this day, I refuse to surf the DrudgeReport due to his unwillingness to link FReeRepublic.com to his website...does anybody know Matt's FReeper Screen Name?!

FReegards...MUD

[Mama_Bear]

Good morning! Beautiful job you have done profiling our cute FRiend, Billie. :-)

daisy, I do believe that I actually did beat you here this morning. Neener, neener!

dansangel, hope everything is rosie in your world.

What a treasure you are, dutchess! Thank you for all of the serious work you do for our four legged friends, for our conservative cause, and last but not least, for bringing your funny self to our Finest thread each day. Your stories always make me smile. You are a special part of our Finest family.

[JustAmy]

Congratulations Dutchess on being honored as one of FR's Finest!

[dutchess]

This was emailed to me today. Wanted to share it with you all...

A RED MARBLE

author unknown During the waning years of the depression in a small southeastern Idaho community, I used to stop by Mr. Miller's roadside stand for farm-fresh produce as the season made it available. Food and money were still extremely scarce and bartering was used, extensively.

One particular day Mr. Miller was bagging some early potatoes for me. I noticed a small boy, delicate of bone and feature, ragged but clean, hungrily appraising a basket of freshly picked green peas. I paid for my potatoes but was also drawn to the display of fresh green peas. I am a pushover for creamed peas and new potatoes. Pondering the peas, I couldn't help overhearing the conversation between Mr. Miller and the ragged boy next to me.

"Hello Barry, how are you today?"

"H'lo, Mr. Miller. Fine, thank ya. Jus' admirin' them peas ... sure look good."

"They are good, Barry. How's your Ma?"

"Fine. Gittin' stronger alla' time."

"Good. Anything I can help you with?"

"No, Sir. Jus' admirin' them peas."

"Would you like to take some home?"

"No, Sir. Got nuthin' to pay for 'em with."

"Well, what have you to trade me for some of those peas?"

"All I got's my prize marble here."

"Is that right? Let me see it."

"Here 'tis. She's a dandy."

"I can see that. Hmmmm, only thing is this one is blue and I sort of go for red. Do you have a red one like this at home?"

"Not 'zackley .....but, almost."

"Tell you what. Take this sack of peas home with you and next trip this way let me look at that red marble."

"Sure will. Thanks, Mr. Miller."

Mrs. Miller, who had been standing nearby, came over to help me. With a smile she said: "There are two other boys like him in our community, all three are in very poor circumstances. Jim just loves to bargain with them for peas, apples, tomatoes or whatever. When they come back with their red marbles, and they always do, he decides he doesn't like red after all and he sends them home with a bag of produce for a green marble or an orange one, perhaps."

I left the stand, smiling to myself, impressed with this man. A short time later I moved to Colorado but I never forgot the story of this man, the boys and their bartering. Several years went by each more rapid than the previous one. Just recently I had occasion to visit some old friends in that Idaho community and while I was there learned that Mr. Miller had died. They were having his viewing that evening and knowing my friends wanted to go, I agreed to accompany them.

Upon our arrival at the mortuary we fell into line to meet the relatives of the deceased and to offer whatever words of comfort we could. Ahead of us in line were three young men. One was in an army uniform and the other two wore nice haircuts, dark suits and white shirts ... very professional looking. They approached Mrs. Miller, standing smiling and composed, by her husband's casket. Each of the young men hugged her, kissed her on the cheek, spoke briefly with her and moved on to the casket. Her misty light blue eyes followed them as, one by one, each young man stopped briefly and placed his own warm hand over the cold pale hand in the casket. Each left the mortuary, awkwardly, wiping his eyes.

Our turn came to meet Mrs. Miller. I told her who I was and mentioned the story she had told me about the marbles. Eyes glistening she took my hand and led me to the casket. "Those three young men, who just left, were the boys I told you about. They just told me how they appreciated the things Jim "traded" them. Now, at last when Jim could not change his mind about color or size... they came to pay their debt. "We've never had a great deal of the wealth of this world," she confided, "but, right now, Jim would consider himself the richest man in Idaho."

With loving gentleness she lifted the lifeless fingers of her deceased husband. Resting underneath were three, exquisitely shined, red marbles.

Moral: We will not be remembered by our words, but by our kind deeds. Life is not measured by the breaths we take, but by the moments that take our breath.

[dansangel]

Good afternoon, everyone! I'm here to have a quick "hit and run" before running off to a meeting.

dutchess: Loved your bio! I can certainly relate with being the only conservative in a very liberal family. My folks, who also live in FL, refer to me to their friends as "the Republican one." The Lord has "paid me back" LOL. I have an only child, a daughter, who is a hopeless "tree-hugger!" LOL!! I still love her to death, of course.

Loved reading about your political as well as your humane exploits. I, too am an animal lover, mom to two cats and grandmom to three (we would have dogs, but live in an apartment). All of the cats I've ever had have been lovingly adopted from shelters. They are housecats...not allowed to roam outside because I become sick every time I see a small, furry dead body on the road.

And, I am a "conservative" vegetarian! Quite a paradox. I recently sent back a solicitation from PETA with the message, "Remove me from your terrorist organization's mailing list!! I am a vegetarian, but you people are crazy!!" LOL!

So, I can really identify with you on a lot of issues. So glad to "meet" you!

OK, got to "scoot" to that meeting. I love you all...hope to come by later to visit longer.

PS...Billie-blue....my favorite bird is definitely the one holding the flower....don't you just want to pinch his cheeks?? LOL!!

pps...ladtx....praise God there are no names to report today. That photo you put up with the "minor damage" sent chills up and down my spine. God bless you and your efforts to defend our country. I salute you!

{{{{{{{{{{{{hugs}}}}}}}}}}}}}

[dittomom]

Congratulations, Dutchess! March for Justice...what a great time that was! Since you frequently encounter silly libs, thought you might like this little story from those days.

I see you were wearing your peach-colored impeachment ribbon in that pic with Jim Robinson. I started wearing mine several days before I left for D.C. At one point, I was visiting the offices of one of my husband's business colleagues. One of the women came up to me and said, "Oh how nice, you're wearing a ribbon in suppport of breast cancer survivors." When I told her that no, it was peach for IMPEACHMENT, the look of disappointment on her face was priceless. She was a big Clinton supporter and just couldn't seem to find anything else to say to me!

Enjoy your day!

[blackie]

Morning Finest...Bump !!

Let's Roll !!

The RATS are in disarray...eradicate the rodents !!

Fire Democrats, Hire Republicans !!

GWB Is The Man !!

Snuff Saddam, NOW !!

Death To all Tyrant's !!

The Second Amendment...
America's Original Homeland Security !!

Freedom Is Worth Fighting For !!

Molon Labe !!

[FreeTheHostages]

The stock market is rising!! It's because Dutchess is today's Freeper's Finest!!