Kind of on the suggestion of fellow members of a group interested in constitutional governance and patriotism to which I beliong, I recently attended an event for homesteaders, or preppers, as some may call them. Do you consider yourself a prepper or homesteader who wants to make yourself and your household more self-sufficient, especially in times of emergency?

The event in question was on a sunny day, so I wore a cap to protect my bald noggin from the ultraviolet rays that could burn the skin on my head. Actually, I'd probably have worn a hat of some type regardless the weather, as it's what I do most of the time I'm outdoors nowadays anyway. Do you usually wear a hat, cap, hood, etc. on your head when you're outdoors?

The headwear I chose for the event in question was an acquisition I obtained eariler this year from a picnic table in front of my town's food pantry. As can be discerned from this survey's title, the cap I wore to the homesteaders' to-do bears the logo of one of the U.S. armed forces: the Marines. Do you own, whether you wear them or not, any pieces of apparel branded wtih the insignias of any nation's military branches?

At least a couple of people helming booths at the preppers' event were wearing caps touting the military branches in which they served, at least one wth the medals they eaned while serving their nation pinned to the cap. In this environment, it didn't occur to me that my wearing a Marines cap could give others the impression that I served in the elite fighting force whose name was on my forehead. But I so impressed some there, with a couple of folks even shaking my hand and thanking me for my service. I informed those grateful people that I perforned no such service and that, in fact, my cerebral palsy would have disqualified me from joining the Marines (one man who shook my hand offered that he thought I could've sustained an injury in battle that could've left me in the neuorlogical/physical condition I am). Have you ever been mistaken for being or having been in a profession that you've not practiced?

Wearing the cap I did to a gatherig of people so appreciative of those who serve the U.S in her armed forces gave me a renewed respect for the patriotic men and women who currently serve in them and want to uphold the values and precepts upon which the nation I call home was founded....and that stealing the valor due those who served and are currently serving is despicable behavior. Whether you call the USA or Canada home, do you agree?