"An Ode to America"

My father emailed this to me yesterday. It was good to read while I was reporting for jury duty and sitting in the jury pool. Anyway, I liked it, and thought I would share. Everything in quotations was written by my dad.

"We rarely get a chance to see another country's editorial about the USA.
This article was written on September 24, 2001. (I verified this on Snopes 8/6/2008) Once again, it takes someone from the outside of America to remind us about our inherent greatness as a nation in spite of our imperfections.

(To Michelle Obama: We are not a mean spirited people.)

Read this excerpt from a Romanian Newspaper. The article was written by Mr. Cornel Nistorescu and published under the title 'C'ntarea Americii, (meaning 'Ode To America ') in the Romanian newspaper Evenimentulzilei 'The Daily Event' or 'News of the Day'"

~An Ode to America~

Why are Americans so united? They would not resemble one another even if you painted them all one color! They speak all the languages of the world and form an astonishing mixture of civilizations and religious beliefs.

On 9/ll, the American tragedy turned three hundred million people into a hand put on the heart. Nobody rushed to accuse the White House, the Army, or the Secret Service that they are only a bunch of losers. Nobody rushed to empty their bank accounts. Nobody rushed out onto the streets nearby to gape about. Instead the Americans volunteered to donate blood and to give a helping hand.

After the first moments of panic, they raised their flag over the smoking ruins, putting on T-shirts, caps and ties in the colors of the national flag. They placed flags on buildings and cars as if in every place and on every car a government official or the president was passing. On every occasion, they started singing: 'God Bless America!'

I watched the live broadcast and rerun after rerun for hours listening to the story of the guy who went down one hundred floors with a woman in a wheelchair without knowing who she was, or of the Californian hockey player, who gave his life fighting with the terrorists and prevented the plane from hitting a target that could have killed other hundreds or thousands of people.

How on earth were they able to respond united as one human being? Imperceptibly, with every word and musical note, the memory of some turned into a modern myth of tragic heroes. And with every phone call, millions and millions of dollars were put into collection aimed at rewarding not a man or a family, but a spirit, which no money can buy.

What on earth can unite the Americans in such way? Their land? Their history? Their economic Power? Money? I tried for hours to find an answer, humming songs and murmuring phrases with the risk of sounding commonplace, I thought things over, I reached but only one conclusion... Only freedom can work such miracles.

-Cornel Nistorescu

"It took a person on the outside - looking in - to see what we take for granted!"

Training Log

Tuesday 8/5/08

200 pushups

50, 30, 20, 20, 20, 20, 20, 20

(later on)

4 mins "long cycle"(clean&jerk) double kb's (53#)

25 reps(cannot put kb's down for the 4 mins)

rest

6 mins single kb clean&jerk (53#)

46 reps(Left for 2 mins (switch), Right for 2mins (switch), L for 1 min, R for 1 min)

70 ring dips

18, 9, 8, 5, 5, 5, 7, 6, 7

rest

25 handstand pushups

6, 6, 5, 4, 4

Wednesday 8/6/08

Power Snatch

1x3x 135#

1x3x 145#

1x2x 155# (failed 2nd rep)

1x2x 155# (failed 2nd rep)

1x2x 155# (both good)

1x1x 165#

1x1x 175# (failed)

1x1x 175# (failed)

5x3 front squat

255#

on the last rep of my last set I badly injured my left hip flexor. when driving up out of the hole(bottom of squat) my knees adducted(drove inward), so naturally I forced them out, but clearly too late in my squat as I felt a very noticeable grind go through my left hip. drive those knees out all the way down in your squat and keep them driving out as you begin driving up, and all the way up(my advice to you). in my assessment my injury is not muscular, but much deeper in the socket of the hip joint, hopefully no serious ligament damage. you will see me walking gingerly, feel free to bust my balls(especially when you see me getting in and out of my car). funny thing is I can still do air squats, as long as my knees constantly abduct(drive outward) and my hips reach back as they should, and I am in my heels as always. so basically, if I do a very good squat I have no pain, if my knee adducts at any point during hip flexion, the pain can literally put me on the floor(joy!). all in all, I will not be doing anything, but pushups with my left leg resting on my right, dead hang pullups, ring dips, and presses for, I'm assuming, a good bit of time.

It's all good though :) Blessings will be found in every crisis. And let me say that this week has not been one of the best in recent memory, but that's why it's important to be present in the moment and not follow one emotion, or the other(pleasure, pain/elation, depression). It's all love when you grant yourself the wisdom to see the balance and have gratitude for all occurrences, good and bad(what lessons can be learned?, how can we grow from this?).

(I know everyone loves when I get to philosophizin' ;)