As governor when I visited our troops in Kuwait and Iraq I served them Thanksgiving dinner. It was a small gesture compared to their sacrifice.

Ceremonies are important. But our gratitude has to be more than visits to the troops and once-a-year Memorial Day ceremonies. We honor the dead best by treating the living well.

Santa Claus has the right idea - visit people only once a year.

Golf is good it means I get some fresh air and exercise take my mind off work and see some of the landscape of the place I'm visiting.

They are few in the midst of an overwhelming mass of brute force and their submission is wisdom but for a nation like England to submit to be robbed by any invader who chooses to visit her shores seemed to me to be nonsense.

As I visited the various neighborhoods in the campaign I learned fast that it's a mistake to think that all of the wisdom and possible solutions to our problems are available only in this building.

As a pastor you get invited into the most poignant moments of people's lives. Whether it's a wedding or a funeral or a hospital visit you get invited into the center of the event whether or not you know the people.

When it comes to locations I'm one of those crazy authors who has to see it touch it taste it before I trust myself to recreate it for my readers. Having said that visiting a locked-down pediatric psych ward was the most intimidating research I've ever done - and I've visited maximum security prisons shooting galleries bone collections etc.

You travel across the country you visit departments you give talks you talk about the work at your laboratory - what's going on what the opportunities are there - you talk about your own research.

I really wish we could stay longer in the countries we visit but I've been lucky to have visited most of them before because I've done a tremendous amount of travel.