foggy to start the day a wee bit chilly with a gentle breeze from the south by south-east, after 22 minutes on the road it became a 3-3 1/2 club wind and by the end of the day I was leaning into about a 5 5 1/2 club wind!!!...not that I applied for the job of resident martyr (it is genetic maternally AND paternally!!!) I am sure that Jonathan, Ross, Cec, Fred, Barbara, Richard, Jerry, John, Bert, Gerrard, Carla and a host of others have gone or are going through much, MUCH more than a gentle 5 1/2 club wind!!!, QYB and get walking!!!...so walk I did...20.2 miles with 38,475 steps...findings for the day: 1 tie clip with a US flag on it and a mauve plastic spider with blue spots...all self respecting animal species were hunkered down in a warm burrow or in some tall grass NOT wandering around the prairie with the exception of a few turkeys...we went from mile post 135 on SD route 44 east to the junction of said road and US route 73...we went through the small Lakota community of Wanblee...just outside of town a car stopped to see what I was up to, when I explained the driver indicated that he had been to Iraq, Operation Iraqi Freedom he said and then proceeded to tell me what he thought of George W. Bush, since this blog is mostly G rated I'll not repeat his comments but it did stimulate some rumination on "Iraqi Freedom"...no matter how it gets dressed up the American public was lied to about weapons of mass destruction, Iraq will NEVER be free until the Iraqi people choose freedom over tyranny and oppression, NOTHING anyone can do from the outside will EVER change that, we (the US of A) of all countries should appreciate that but it seems that we know better what Iraq wants than do the Iraqi people...freedom cannot be forced!!! otherwise it is just another form of tyranny, similar features, longer hair!!!...perhaps our arrogant politicians should pick up a rifle and go out on the battlefield, if that happened perhaps we would be a tad more inclined to take care of our own house before we attempt to live someone else's life for them!!!...enough politics, DO NOT GET ME STARTED!!!...another gentleman stopped me in Wanblee and asked what I was doing...Orville "Asanpi" Milk is a Viet Nam veteran, he thanked me for what I was doing and I thanked him for his service, he then made a gift to me, Thank You, Orville!!!, I am sure if I lived in Wanblee we would be friends, thank you for the gift of money and ALSO the gift of stopping to chat...see ya'll down the road...cheers!!!