18 - 21 - 50

(picture) final results from my protege, shown yesterday at the senior project presentations

With 18 you can get a license to kill (join the army) - but you can't purchase a beer to soothe your nerves.
With 21 you finally can have a beer, but you are growing tired of killing.
With 50 you lost the taste for beer and you're too old to join the army (though they recruited 45's for the manslaughter in Iraq as of late. An unconventional move, saturated with an aura of desperation).
Those are some given parameters of US stepping stones in civic life. But this is not what we are celebrating today. My daughter, son, and myself don't gel to this concept.
My daughter is about to launch into studies of healing humans, becoming a nurse. My son , after a three year apprenticeship with a fine stone mason, ventures towards sustainable agriculture, healing the earth. Me, I try to leave the cynic behind and enjoy life the way it seems to evolve in the present (before all the ice-caps have melted). My goal is to make a difference locally and disregard global schemes of capitalistic and political games aimed towards enslaving the general populous.
So we are celebrating 21 and 50 today. The May birthdays. In September will be the 18 year benchmark celebration.
The year 2007 is a pivotal point within the narrow borders of the life within my family. My birthday hopes and wishes to the broader world, is that change can also happen on a grand scale, namely to take care of this precious jewel we call Earth.
Let the party begin - pictures will follow later.