1. I told people a couple of weeks ago about the news article on a cross that had been burned into the lawn at the house of a black man in the northern suburbs. Yes, into, not on - rather than a wooden cross planted on the lawn and set on fire, this was the shape of a cross burned into the grass. Ok, I thought that was a little odd at the time, but I hadn't kept up on cross-burning techniques - maybe this was the new way? A couple days later, the article in the paper said the man was now accused of doing it himself. Allegedly, he told some inmate friends of his that he planned on doing something like that to gain sympathy and maybe money. And one of them ratted him out. If you can't trust your prison friends, who can you trust?
2. A very sad incident occurred across the border in Wisconsin last weekend. A 20-year-old sheriff's deputy shot several people to death, apparently when he went to a party looking for his ex-girlfriend and she was no longer interested in him. The youngest victim was 14, most were 18-20. There were articles about how 20 is too young to be in law enforcement. While I do agree that seems a little young, I think the bigger problem, which didn't seem to get quite as much press, was the fact that he had not been required to undergo a psychological evaluation before hiring. Yeah, why check on the mental stability of a person who is going to carry a gun and be a figure of authority? Isn't it a waste of time and money? (Minnesota does require a psychological evaluation, though.)
3. The headline a few days ago said that Minnesota had turned down Federal money earmarked for bridge repair. Oh my god! A state whose bridges are in such sad shape that THEY FALL DOWN did not accept free money to repair them??? Well, not exactly. If you actually read the article, it sounds like there were a couple of mutually exclusive pots of money that the state could have accepted. Instead of the bridge repair funds (which had restrictions such as they couldn't be used to replace a bridge, only repair it), the state accepted other money that did not have such restrictions. They may not have made the wisest use of the money they did accept, but I still think the headline was irresponsible.
4. On a lighter note, my co-worker and her husband were on Fox news the other night. They had the local gas company come to winterize their furnace, and the news asked if they could tape it for a spot on preparing for winter. The funny thing was, while the repairman was filmed working on their furnace, he talked about the odd things he had pulled out of furnaces - pounds of walnuts, chipmunks, easter eggs. But the way they cut it, sounded like he was getting all this from my co-worker's furnace!
5. Agility was great this week! There was a very complicated course, and I was sure it would be hard to keep Bravo on the right path as he had to change directions quickly, ignoring obstacles right in front of him to go for the ones I asked him to take. But he did really well, seldom taking the wrong path. I was so proud!!!
6. It is still dark when I walk in the morning, though I have moved back the time so it does get light before I'm done. This morning as I passed the end of Bush Lake Beach, I heard a sound like a wave breaking. When I looked around, I realized we had flushed a flock of geese (or maybe ducks - it was too dark to tell) and they had all slipped into the water at the same time. A little further on, I heard another flock landing on the water with a similar wave-like sound. And then a flock of ducks (it was lighter this time) that had more of the many-wings-flapping sound. I don't know, it just caught my attention and I liked hearing it.
Have a great weekend!
Fortune cookie of the day:Your problems just become your stepping stone. Catch the moment.
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