"On the Brink of the Storm" photographed at Rocky Mountain National Park, Colorado by Lorrie McAllister

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Sen. John McCain just gave his acceptance speech in St. Paul, focusing his address on change -- taking back Washington and telling his fellow Republicans that the party had "lost the trust of the American people."

One of his more powerful quotes:
“Let me offer an advance warning to the old, big-spending, do-nothing, me-first-country-second Washington crowd: Change is coming.”

The theme of McCain's speech, as was the theme of the entire convention, was that of dedication and selfless work for the country and he punctuated that sentiment by telling the story of his capture and time spent imprisoned in Vietnam.

As to Western issues, the Arizona Senator touched on energy, calling for immediate off-shore drilling, but also saying, "... we'll build more nuclear power plants. We'll develop clean-coal technology. We'll increase the use of wind, tide, solar, and natural gas. We'll encourage the development and use of flex-fuel, hybrid and electric automobiles.We must use all resources and develop all technologies necessary to rescue our economy from the damage caused by rising oil prices and restore the health of our planet."

Rusty, my strapping young lad of 11, has entered middle school. He has new responsibilities, his own locker, and a bustling social life. Puberty is just around the corner, and it’s time to remove the teddy bear wallpaper from his bedroom.

Barb and I like to encourage free expression in our children, so we decided to let Rusty choose the color we would paint his room. He immediately announced that he would cover all four walls with graffiti, inspired by the dozens of wildly painted boxcars we saw on our cross-country trip this summer. I envisioned our crew, I mean family, crowded into his 10 x 12 bedroom, light-headed and brain-damaged from Krylon fumes while hip-hop thumped from a boom box. In my mind’s eye, I saw bold dimensional lettering on Rusty’s walls exhorting people to suck this or eat me, or bragging how Rusty is the king of the rail yard and slept with your mother.

“How ‘bout we let you do that to just one wall?” suggested Barb, apparently sharing my vision. Rusty groaned in disappointment, but then asked if he could choose the color for the remaining walls.