It is a sad day for number two son and his family…My daughter-in-law lost her Mother today and while she had been hospitalized and having some problems, she was at home today seemly improved so her death was totally unexpected.  It is a sad day here on earth, but in Heaven, we know there is rejoicing as she joins her friends and family. She had been on dialysis for some time and she mentioned to us a while back that she was ready to go…..Even so, we will miss her….And my children, you know Mom and I are praying for you tonight and for your extended family.

I have not been using the term plethora, but my sweetie, its an everyday word with her. It all started a few weeks ago when she had a “plethora of aches” she was telling me about.  So, me being so smart, I called her down about it being a word or if it was a word, was she using it correctly. She said, of course its a word, I’ve always used it, our children all use it, it’s a word. Well, I admitted it was new to me and I would check it out as soon as I learned how to spell it. I saw it in the paper a few days later but failed to look it up in “old Webster’s”, but in today’s paper a defensive end from California used it regarding the upcoming draft. He stated, “There’s a plethora of talent in any draft, but there is focus on the defensive line in this draft.” So now, I really feel badly with that coming from a football player…..I guess I need to brush up on my dictionary reading, huh? Do you guys use this word….There will probably be a plethora of you answering, “Yes, stupid, we knew what it meant….where you been?” Well, somehow I missed school that day…

Wonder what George Washington or Thomas Jefferson or AbrahamLincoln or John Kennedy would say if they could come back and view the state of our union today?  Could anyone of them have imagined the depth of our problems or debt? Reading our newspaper every day another group is saying “hey you are shorting my group on cash….. defense department, welfare, social security, other  government agencies, school districts, city and county governments and on and on goes the list. And we don’t let up, do we? Its well, pay me and the others can work it out.  And we keep adding to the woes daily…Number one, we have those folks who have entered our country illegally and seems they expect to get the same benefits as the American citizen. It would certainly be nice of us to do that and we have been doing that far to often. Some of our own are suffering on a daily basis and they need care..Counts vary as to how many are here, but they are estimated to be in the millions…People discuss  immigration reform as needed and quite possibly it is needed and it should be looked into, but none of that means giving amnesty to those in our country illegally. Do it the right way and get a green card and you will be ok. That would be a big savings…. Number two, we are a nation hated all over the world and our young men still give their lives for freedom for those who hate us, have no interest in democracy and will return to their old way of life when we leave. As soon as our interest in an international affair has played out, let us leave. We spend billions of dollars every day protecting those people who’s main weapon is a human  bomb…They have no respect for a human life, their own, their children or their women folk. Let them have it. Do any of them grieve when a young man from say, New Mexico or Texas or Alabama or Wisconsin or Arizona, dies on their soil fighting for them a better way of life. Just another day. I’m sorry, but we have done enough….Let’um have it….Bring our boys home…There is going to be wars and rumors of war until the end of time, so if it don’t involve us, let us keep our young men home….Can I get an amen on that….There are many other things bringing down our country, ways we could be saving, things we could do and you can add your list of things to mine…I would like to see no more foreign oil, if we are going to have to pay 5.00 per gallon for gas, let it be from American crude only. We can put Americans to work searching for new oil and  finding more efficient means of powering our vehicles, and by all means our use of the public transportation systems.

Today’s paper stated that the Tsunami debris should be hitting the Hawaiian beaches early next year. Cars, houses, boats, all kind of stuff will be washing up on shore. Not only that but the North Pacific Garbage Patch will be a catch basin for some of it. The paper also stated that the boats and fishing vessels may wash up on the California coast at some point in time.The paper went on to state that the tsunami debris is but a drop in the bucket compared to the massive amounts of trashed dumped into the ocean on a daily basis which ends up in the Garbage Patch also…….That’s sad, huh?….Wonder if any of those boats still have living people or animals on board. I certainly hope that someone is investigating that possibility….Taken from “Earthweek”: A Diary of the Planet by Steve Newman and published in the Albuquerque Journal, April 19, 2011……in the same article he speaks of the La Nina Chill stated that the waning La Nina ocean cooling in the Pacific was the driving force behind March 2011 being the coolest March worldwide since 1999  making March 2011 the 15th coldest on record. Come June I may be crying but right now…..I’ll take a little global warming…. In that same article you can also read about the king crab invasion of Antarctica, Buffalo roaming out west again and the dad-gum Outback Invasion of rats…..yuck….I hate “meesees to pieces”…Anyway, Steve Newman,  if you read me, I certainly enjoy your writings every week and look forward to what all new is taking place around our globe. You do good work, my man, thank you…..Pete Hester

You don’t really think about the implications of the www until you have a web site and you are literally having visitors from all over the globe. Guys, why don’t you leave me a short note. I’m sitting here at my desk in Albuquerque, New Mexico dreaming about the places that you guys are and what you do. Listen to me…..I WANT TO HEAR FROM YOU….PLEASE….here you are in the order of most visits. Russian Federation, Germany, Brazil, Great Britain, China, South Korea, Canada, Indonesia, Taiwan, European Country, Iran, Italy, Czech Republic, Poland, Spain, Cyprus, Colombia, Japan and on and on, numerous nations and so much to write about. You could tell me and all our readers so much about yourself and what you do with your spare time, like visit hesterbooks.com when you don’t have anything important to do. Do you ever wonder about this old dry, high, desert country I live in.  My elevation here at home is about 5650 feet, but looking east I have a good view of the Sandia Mountains and the top of Sandia Peak is 10,683 feet. We have a long tram, what, 2.5 miles long that transports people up to the peak to visit or to ski and it is also nice to ride in the summer. We have the Rio Grande River running though out town (only about 39% of normal capacity according to todays paper) and it provides the bosque down the river valley. Old Town is the center of our city and its origin dates back to the 1790’s or so, with one of the oldest churchs in the old  town square. Indians set up their wares under the porches of the local business there and it is quite unique. I hope you will visit us. Now, please tell me about your town or country or street….I really want to hear about you since I cannot visit you. Otherwise, I just gonna sit here and day dream about all your countries and never really know the truth…..

I think I have the final chapter of my new novel started….should be finished in another, er, month maybe…I am pretty sure this will be my last one. Seems like the words are a little harder to come by anymore….I have not had an illness or anything, seems as though I have just been struck dumb…I can probably get a lot of amens to that, especially from you friends of mine….But, no kidding, seems like before the words just flowed, good or bad I know not, but at least they kept coming. Nowadays, seems like from the brains to the fingers is 15 – 20 seconds per word, and from the need for a sentence to the completion thereof is eons. That may be a slight exaggeration, but everything has slowed down. As an example, you have heard the little ball in a spray paint can when you shake it up, well, my brain is kinda like that, turn my head quickly and hear a rattle, one side of the head to the other….I do that and get a big sneeze…That sneeze part could be from all the juniper and cedar out here on the west mesa,  but how do you explain the rattle. It’s larger than a pea, so don’t call me a pea brain…..Maybe the size of a pinto bean, so I guess you can call me bean brain or pinto pete….well, enough self degradation tonight….maybe I will feel more like a writer tomorrow night, after all, I did have beans for supper, maybe that will improve my thought process…Reckon?….Yeah, I doubt it also…

Man, did you read about the two year old dog being found at sea three weeks after the tsunami took him for a ride in the ocean, on top of a roof no less. Paper stated that the pup was reunited with its owner. Ban was the dog’s name and I am sure it was happy to see some friendly faces after that ride in the ocean.

Gas price stuff: Gasoline FOB gulf coast was 3.20 per gallon as shown in today’s paper. Typically one can add about 45 to 50 cents a gallon to that out here in our part of the world to calculate the price at the pump. That would be 3.70 and I think that is about where it is, I didn’t look today but yesterday at the c-store nearby it was 3.65 per gallon. I wanted to drive to Alabama this year for another reunion but it will probably be cheaper in the long run to fly. Gad, I hate to fly any more. I used to fly every week and it was fun…..not anymore….”take off my shoes…What thehellareyoutalkingabout?”…..Take off your shoes, gosh….

Coal powered electric plants stuff:    Now coal is back in favor over nuclear…And I think they are right…The nuclear plants do scare me, but what do I know…Coal scares a lot of other folks..We Americans do love our comfort, don’t we….So, coal, wind, waves, solar, whatever, we will use it, including nuclear..

Cocoa stuff….Cost of your cocoa is going up due to all the problems in the Ivory Coast after forces local to the elected president Outtara arrested the former president Laurent Gbaggo….As you recall, Gbaggo would not leave the office….I doubt the price goes down once the government settles down…Its always something….

Price stuff: My sweetie came in this morning complaining about every thing going up at the grocery store… Orange juice, milk, matter of fact, everything she took out of the grocery bag she compared to the last time she bought…She warned me to watch the prices if I went shopping….Now, that is really scary…I am a terrible shopper at low prices…at runaway prices we could really be in trouble…well, maybe she won’t send me to the store…

Folks, you will want to read this story of a four year old going to heaven while on the operating table, especially if you have doubts about Heaven and doubts of our Heavenly Father. Young Colton Burpo is around eleven years old now and this happened when he was four. From the time it occurred until 2010, bits and pieces of the story came out of the child. Finally his dad and others said this story must be told….. How real, how touching and how reassuring to an old rascal like me whose only chance of making Heaven is through the  grace of our loving Savior. According to Colton, the marks of the nails are still in his hands and his feet, but every thing else is new….Well, you read it….I don’t want to recount the story here, but I do want to ask you to read it… for a real blessing…..Pete Hester

There was a nice article in todays Albuquerque Journal, 4/7/11,  (Trail by Fire Refines Farrell by Rick Wright) on a young player from Baton Rouge, La, Dillon Farrell,  a first team all state Louisanna football player. He was his class president. It spoke of his coming to New Mexico for a visit and how he loved Albuquerque and how everything here is amazing and how he had felt blessed to be out here….His coaches say he has a wonderful attitude. A sophomore center trained under Eric Cook last year, who is now a player for the Washington Redskins, taught him the ends and outs of playing center last year. His coach also says, “his understanding of the offense has been everything. He’s every bit as much a coach as I am, he really is.” Well, now to my point…..I know that the Lobo football team has many players with a wonderful attitude and a desire to win, on the field and in life and it is a shame that their football team has not won but two football games in the last two years. Farrell is but one of many good players on this years Lobos  . Folks, there are many winners on the Lobo football team, boys that played their hearts out last year and some the year before and some more good ones coming in. They practiced hard, played hard, gave their coaches all they had each and every practice and game. You know when you are losing that it becomes more and more difficult to go out the next week and start over again, but they did…and they have all learned a valuable lesson, one that will carry over to this year and we can tell every one of their opponents this coming year, you gonna have to beat them again….They feel, “You have beat the crap out of us two years running and we are pissed”…I truly believe that this team will come into this season with a chip on its shoulder, and by damn, they double dog dare you to knock it off again and it the other team wins again, they will have earned it…They have been down too long and that is gonna change… I can feel it…….GO LOBOS

Subject: Kindergarten Guitar Players