The sky is not falling...

It was one of those weeks that kind of slogged along. We all logically know that time moves along at the same pace, but our minds perceive time differently from second to second.

The week started off with a gorgeous Veterans Day which was filled with scores of parades and events including some memorable speeches by the U.S. vice president and defense secretary. Locally, there were a number of events honoring those who served this nation. Across the pond in London, there was a gorgeous poppy field event honoring World War I vets. Their Moment of Silence followed by bugles was simply beautiful. The laying of wreaths here in the U.S. and France was beyond moving and emotional.

Veterans Day was capped off with the star-studded HBO television event, The Concert for Valor. Of course if one holds such an event with rapper Eminem, that event will be met with controversy. Eminem delivered that promise during his performance with a series of “F-bombs.” Then there’s a debate that will go on for a long time about Bruce Springsteen’s choice to play “Fortunate Son.” Critics charged that Mr. Springsteen exercised poor judgment by playing the Credence Clearwater Revival anti-war song at an event honoring veterans. To top it all off, comedian George Lopez dropped a number of F-bombs. As of this writing, it’s questionable if Eminem, Bruce Springsteen and George Lopez ruined the entire event.

Surprisingly Rihanna was not met with controversy with song choice or outfit, a rarity at The Concert for Valor. I’ll give a shout-out to The Black Keys, who are a talented outfit from Akron, Ohio. I grew up not far from that town. Carrie Underwood and Metallica put on great performances as well as Jennifer Hudson and The Zac Brown Band. Certainly folks will agree to disagree about certain artists’ performances, but “ruining the event?” That’s a tad dramatic, right? Is the sky really falling?

Speaking of the sky falling, one would think it is about to fall in the metro Atlanta area. Freezing temps have been expected in these parts by Friday morning. Here we go again, right? I’ll take freezing temperatures over precipitation any time. C’mon, we should all know the drill by now, even “newbies” to the metro area. Bring in the plants and pets. Turn off those outside faucets. Wrap those pipes. Do not place space heaters near anything. Be careful with those kerosene heaters. Make sure the chimney is cleaned out when using that fireplace. This winter, we should all certainly hope that plumbers and fire fighters do not have any of this work on their hands stopping floods and fire. Other than our furnaces working overtime and cracking out the parkas, the sky is not falling as of this moment.

Many good things happened over this week including the space rover that landed on a comet 310 million miles from Earth. How cool is that? I haven’t seen folks this elated about an event in a long time. The European Space Agency’s Rosetta mission is something that should make us all feel that there is hope for our future.

There’s a lot to look forward to on a local level. In our neck of the woods, there’s a city awards gathering as well as holiday parade. I’m looking forward to Thanksgiving week when most of us can take a break and be with friends and family. Thinking of “breaks,” we all get one on the lower gas prices which is perfect for Thanksgiving travel. There is another plus to Thanksgiving week: lighter traffic in the metro.