October 31: Bleeding Hearts, Living Dead, Halloween

"Americans have finally heard about Dresden," said Rumfoord, twenty-three years after the raid.  "A lot of them know now how much worse it was than Hiroshima.  So I've got to put something about it in my book.  From the official Air Force standpoint, it'll all be new."

"Why would they keep it a secret so long?" said Lily.

"For fear that a lot of bleeding hearts," said Rumfoord, "might not think it was such a wonderful thing to do."

It was now that Billy Pilgrim spoke up intelligently.  "I was there," he said.

Billy has risen from the dead in his hospital bed.  He feels it necessary to respond to Rumfoord's lecture on the bombing of Dresden.  He is the living dead times two.  He survived Dresden, and he just survived an airplane crash.

Tonight is Halloween.  My kids have their costumes on, and, in an hour, we are heading out into the snowy streets of the Upper Peninsula to join the living dead, vampires, Harry Potters, and Batmans on the prowl for chocolate.

That is my wisdom for this evening.  At the moment, I feel like the living dead, myself.

Saint Marty is thankful for kids and pumpkins and candy.