EDITOR’S DESK: Also a season for honor

       The wars in Iraq and Afghanistan are far, far away from the Westside, thank God, but not for some people who live here. Those who serve in the military deal with a different reality than the rest of us. Some have been over there; some may be going soon. We consider driving I-25 dangerous. An Iraqi veteran probably wouldn't - not after experiencing roads on which bombs are sometimes planted.
       Yet, though they obviously take greater risks, these are people very much like us civilians. They have homes and families, hopes and dreams. People attending the Honor Tree Lighting Ceremony Dec. 10 in Old Colorado City got a brief insight into the military reality. Six-year-old Dylan Gordon, whose father, Scott, an Air Force staff sergeant, just returned from a tour in Iraq, had rehearsed what he was going to do and say as part of the event. He was supposed to come to the stage, take the microphone, talk about his dad and invite him to come up and help with the Pledge of Allegiance. Instead, he took the microphone (and walked straight over to his dad, where he told him he was glad he was home and that he loved him.
       I don't know how most of you feel about the War On Terror, and this little Westside newspaper is not where it's going to be debated. But it does seem like a fine thing the Old Colorado City merchants have done the past two years, putting red, white and blue lights in the tall spruce at Old Town Plaza during Christmas and looking for ways to honor those who defend us.

- K.J.