Consideration

I'm thinking of moving my blog, closing this one down or at least marking it as 'done'...something.

What brought this on? I received news today that V.--our most elderly staff member up until a few months ago when she retired (at 96) due to ill health--is doing something similar to what my mom did last month. She has stopped taking her meds, refuses more medical testing, and just wants to be done.

With this news, and the events surrounding my mom's death, along with ill-health of good friends and other family, changes in Beast's job, Sparky's Adventures in Adolescence and other assorted worries, I am in a bit of a tailspin. All I want to do is sleep, do crosswords, play games online, and watch TV. Reading is a challenge--first time for that--and writing is both mentally and physically difficult. It comes as a bit of a surprise to me that my brain can cramp with the weight of stress.

I think I've reached saturation. I need an extended break from...well, everything. And since I can't actually take a break of that sort in my day-to-day life, I've gotta let something go, and hold out for something new and fun around the corner when I no longer feel like I'm on the verge of falling into the abyss pell-mell. It's even possible that any new blog I start might be a little more transparent. Then again, it may not. We'll see.

More screaming at God

That would be me. Screaming W.T.F.??. Because really, if being a Christian means that I have to condone this in any way whatsoever, God, I'm out. Just out, done, finished. Done. Over.

But I don't think it does. But people who twist around the "good news" this way make me so very angry. Good thing He can take it, from me and from others who are just as angry.

Swine Pooh

OMGROFL.

Best commentary on the current hysteria.

Inaugural

Cat. is watchin’ the inauguration in [Facebook]. So 21st century, yo 8:44 am
Cat. thinks the new limo looks like a hearse. How very unfortunate. C’mon Caddy, you can do better! 8:52 am
Cat. is pretty sure I wouldn’t be enjoying myself in Washington. Brrr…[and] crowds. Ugh 8:54 am
Cat. did not realize how TALL Michelle is! 8:56 am
Cat. uh oh the internet is freaking out here! 8:58 am
Cat. THAT IS A LOT OF PEOPLE! Yikes. 9:01 am
Cat. wants a second monitor. 9:05 am
Cat. is pleased that she doesn’t have to work in public [during the inauguration]. 9:09 am
Cat. reminds you that the Big TV is on at the library. Come watch with us! 9:17 am
Cat. Now the fun starts: identify the famous person…. 9:23 am
Cat. loves the Marine Band. Really. It’s the only reason I’d consider joining the military. 9:27 am
Cat. Oh yawn…. 9:28 am
Cat. …famous people I CARE about…not politicians. Yes, I know, I suck. 9:33 am
Cat. 2000 [Facebook] updates per minute? Wow. That’s amazingly…amazing. You know. Whatever. 9:37 am
Cat. wonders when the internet is going to implode from all the users today…. 9:42 am
Cat. oh too bad--Cheney's hurt.... 9:46am
Cat. loves Colin Powell. A lot. 9:49am
Cat. oh boy, there goes our 'net feed...slowing WAY down.... 9:52am
Cat. wow awesome shots of the streets and the Mall. 9:53am
Cat. COOOOOOOOLLLLLLL motorcade. 9:55am
Cat. This has to be weird and sad for Hillary. 10:16am
Cat. Ros[lyn Carter] looks frail. :-(. 10:19am
Cat. Bears colors on the kids! hee hee.
Cat. Say goodnight Graci...er, Laura. 10:28am
Cat. OMG--that's awesome to hear--O-ba-ma. - 10:30am
Cat. is going to TV to share with people. 10:37am

M. commented at 10:37am
me too

L. commented at 10:52am
look at you changing your status like a play by play. haha...love it! so exciting.....

Cat. great speech. 11:32am
Cat. "to turn to each other and not on each other" Amen. 11:36 am
Cat. I want this guy [Lowery] to be nearby so I can go to his church! 11:38am
Cat. Piccolo solo. [Stars & Stripes Forever] 11:42am
Cat. No, I think I'll go back to "Great Speech." 11:43am
Cat. ... are they going to walk the parade route? Hmmmm. 11:49am
Cat. W has left the building! 11:57am
Cat. Statutory Hall??? How about Statuary Hall, d.a.? 12:05pm
Cat. is done with lunch so, k, the parade can start ANY time. So...go already! 1:13pm
Cat. wonders: is it in-AWG-er'l, or in-AWG-yuh-ruhl? 1:22pm

Cat. commented at 1:33pm
Random House says the proper pronunciation is in-aw-gyer-uhl, but in-aw-ger-uhl is the secondary choice.So I say it right, and the chick on CNN is wrong. heh

Cat. is glad they just replayed Aretha [I missed it the first time]--NICE job!!! 1:47pm
Cat. ...bummer, I think they're riding in the limo for the parade. 2:24pm
Cat. that's a lot of cops leading the parade. 2:42pm
Cat. OMG--they're outta the car! YAY and W00t!! 3:06pm
Cat. ...and why did they suddenly get yanked back to the limo...? 3:11pm
Cat. still likes military bands the best. 3:14pm
Cat. agrees that this is reminiscent of Beatlemania (not that I remember that) 3:16pm
Cat. can't believe the CNN guy things Michelle Obama is amazing because she can handle cold weather. Puhleeze! 3:33pm

And then I had to leave work and go grocery shopping and do boring stuff like that for two-plus hours, so I missed the rest of the parade. Boo.

Small Town

Headline in today's paper:

Boy smuggled friend's urine

So much for any developing appetite I had for dinner.

[and, may I suggest to anyone who is considering using this dumb idea to pass a drug test, that doing this in a COURTHOUSE should mean a quadrupled sentence due to excessive dumbitude]

In the News

This has been a strange week in the local newspapers. There are the usual car wrecks, announcements about Burn Season (ok, it's a rural area), senior fairs, cute kids, arrests for general stupidity...

...and these three stories:

1. A local elementary school principal was arrested out of state over the weekend for having sex with a high school girl. The details, as they are released in the paper, are beyond wacky. It's hard to keep a straight face, unfortunately, because a couple of the details just crack me up, including the comment from one girl involved that she thought they were watching Alv!n & the Ch!pmunks not the porn movie that was actually on the TV at the time.
   
   I know the story isn't funny. It's a fucking tragedy. And once again, it's hitting just a little too close to home in some freaky-deaky ways.



2. A local doctor is going to jail because he was selling drugs and also videotaping patients having sex with him. Or something. It's confusing. It's more confusing that his specialty is feet.



3. But this one is the one that just cracks me up and reminds me that People Are WEIRD! The fire department was called to a house fire. They had to cut through a chain that was attached to a support post in the basement to rescue someone. The other end of the chain was attached around his throat. Uh? He wasn't injured and said he was in that situation by his choice. I would pay serious money to have been in the firehouse after this call was over!!

Spring fever? Full moon? Water on the brain?

More email

I got this from my brother-in-law Reg this week. Read carefully:

July 8th, 1947, and its significance in our time

Many will recall that on July 8, 1947, witnesses claimed that an unidentified object with five aliens aboard crashed onto a sheep and cattle ranch just outside Roswell, New Mexico. This is a well-known incident that many say has long been covered up by the US. Air Force and the federal government.

However, you may NOT know that in the month of March 1948, exactly nine months after that historic day, George W. Bush, Dick Cheney, Donald Rumsfeld, Bill O'Reilly, and Rush Limbaugh were all born.

See what happens when aliens breed with sheep? This piece of information may clear up a lot of things.

This goes along with my Wyoming relatives' saying about that great state: "Wyoming: where men are men, and sheep are nervous."

We have a whole sheep-joke repertoire in my family.

Baa.

In which I bullet point

• I work today. I don't like working Fridays. I never seem to accomplish anything and nearly always go home cranky.



• Twice this week (so far) someone has destroyed our neighbor's mailbox. This neighbor. One day (Saturday night?) it was just the mailbox pounded to a pulp. Then yesterday morning I noticed the post was completely knocked off its anchor. This is the only mailbox on the road being assaulted. An example of small town vendetta, perhaps? Huh, who am I kidding? His name and address was in the paper. I'm wondering if the other guy is also having mailbox problems. [yes, he is] appended 9:15 a.m. 9/20



• And if I catch the person/people doing this, I will totally call the cops, because to me it speaks of a shocking lack of...something. I was going to say maturity, but that's not really it. It's just petty, stupid, and could easily spread to the rest of the neighborhood. I don't like idiots.



• AC/DC has been replaced in my son's room by Weird Al. Again. He just found out he's going to see Al in concert soon. I'm not sure of this is a good trade: AC/DC for Weird Al in never-ending rotation. Currently on the RHCP parody: 'yabba dubba do now'--aaargh.



• Taking too much Advil can make one's stomach very cranky.



• Sparky and I finally finished CSI: Miami seaon 3. Wow. What a wicked ending. It's not exactly a cliffhanger, but damn......lots of stuff is up in the air: Is Calleigh coming back, ever? Is Yelina coming back, ever? How hard is Eric going to punch Ryan, how soon, and where? (My answers are, respectively, "Very", "Not too long now" and "His mouth.") Is H ever going to fall for someone he can actually stay with? And just whose job is it to clean ceilings in the crime lab?! I will say this: I wish they'd spent more time letting us get to know Ray, and I'm so sorry about John. I liked him.



• A plea to the users of public libraries: PLEASE don't think that because you spent a lot of money on something that didn't work, the library will be happy when you donate the pieces and parts of it to add to the collection. We really can't use the personal, home edition of Rosetta Stone. Especially if you haven't managed to save everything, only most of it.



• My town is in the news again, following the "Deliverance"-based nickname it has earned. Yesterday morning before the chickens were awake, one of our not-so-close-thank-God neighbors was arrested for having, among other things, grenades and mines in his home. OK, the latter was in his gun safe. He also had more than 25 guns of various types. And a tiny amount of cocaine, which somehow just seems really beside the point.



• Did you know there's a law against "criminally" fortifying one's home? At least in this state there is. I'm not trying to be reactive, but I've never seen that listed as a charge before. Having done a little research, however, it appears that this only refers to booby-trapping your home. So, buy the fancy windows and doors, and install an alarm system, but don't get cute with "extras."



• Our vacation photos arrived yesterday from Snapfish. Allowing for the weight of the box (not envelope) in which they arrived, I can proudly say that we took 2 pounds' worth of 3 x 5" pictures!



• Beast is home from Texas. He's funny: having spent his high school years in Texas marked him for life. Whenever he travels south, his speech tempo slows down and his words lengthen out to match the locals. So talking to him on the phone this week involved a little 'drawl-translation' along with some shouting. When one travels when one has a cold, one's ears take revenge in their own ways....



• Sparky just told me not to forget that I work today. I think that means he thinks I probably should not wear pajamas all day. So perhaps I should go see what clothes are waiting to be worn today. And I could brush my hair too. Maybe wash my face.

See y'all on the flip.

Newspapers

There is (yet another) local kid story in the news all week. This time it's not our own community but a nearby, larger city. It also happens to be the city in which the local daily paper is published, and that means it's getting lots of play in the news.

Here's the short version of what has been pieced together and told to the media. Earlier this week a mom who has been in a custody battle for some period of time with the dad of her school-age daughter (...do you see where this is going...?) apparently suffocated her child and then killed herself. The suicide method is a particularly chickenshit method (IMNSHO) that essentially involves getting someone else to do the actual killing for her. When the police went to the mom's house to let her family know of her death--which was quite public--her father had just arrived home from work. When he and the police went to check on his granddaughter, she was in bed, ostensibly asleep.

I just found in this morning's RSS feed that she frequented a restaurant in which I'm sure I've seen her: mother and child were there nearly every day for an extended period of time. I don't go there that often--their bread is VERY good, but pricey--but the last couple of times I've noticed a cute blonde girl coloring or reading while her mom looked at the papers.

This is why I don't read the newspapers. What's worse about the online articles is that people are free to comment on stories. Most of the comments are a) stupid, b) ridiculously 20/20 hindsight-y, and/or c) downright mean-spirited.

And in the back of my mind, I'm wondering if this little girl had been black or Hispanic, would her death have been getting front page coverage all week....

Oh, so cynical. And so sad.

Comment response

OK, I started this as a comment on my "water" post from a couple of days ago. It's gotten a little too long for comments, so I'm writing more on pred@tors, and on accountability. sigh

There are a couple of factors that those of you who've read my blog for a long time may (or may not) be aware of:

1. Alcoholism runs in my family, both via direct bloodlines and by marriage. I also have several close friends who either are recovering alcoholics or know a great deal about the subject because their loved ones have walked that road.

2. I have, according to DSM-IV, a mental disorder. I treat it. I (mostly) keep it under control. When it starts taking getting the upper hand, when I start acting out, my loved ones remind me to ramp back up on treatment. It is not getting any easier to deal with over time. Life sucks. Move on.

3. Someone very close to us--age 13--bears several hallmarks of sociopathology. He has been treated and institutionalized; he's In The System, but he hasn't actually succeeded in killing anyone. Yet. Ted Bundy made it to adulthood before he did anything, too.

4. I have dealt rather closely with people with an assortment of diagnosed mental disorders. For example, I joke about PsychoBoss, but it was not a joke at the time.

5. Forgiveness is part of my life as a Christian. Being stupid is not part of forgiveness. I don't believe that Jesus wants us to be irresponsible or victimized.

I have to say that the guy in our neighborhood who was arrested for m0l#st@ti0n has not been tried in a court of law as yet, so of course I'm trying to keep to the "innocent until proven guilty" concept while still explaining my feelings about people who do these sorts of things in neighborhoods like mine.

Once a P#rv's been caught, however, the harm has already been done to the victims, in this case boys, whose lives have changed course in what could be very dramatic ways. I have no patience for anyone who can't distinguish right and wrong in this situation. If these allegations are true, he invited the boys into his home, while his family was absent, he chose to do the things he is accused of doing...and no one had a gun to his head. No one forced him to live in this area, where virtually every house has children in it. The whole scenario requires planning and forethought--or incredibly lack of self-knowledge (self-awareness?) on his part--and I absolutely don't care if people like this are sick or 'bad' (or, may I add, treated or untreated, cognizant of his "addiction" or not): they needs to be kept PERMANENTLY far away from children. Jail, mental hospital, putting them out to die on an ice floe...I don't really care. Recidivism is a fact, the temptation is too much for them...so keep them the HELL away from our kids!

It's possible that I'm a little biased as my son is right in his target group. However, I would like to think that I'd feel the same way about p#rvs that like 5-year-old girls, or any other target. No, actually, I do feel the same way. See this post from one of my favorite blogs for how I know this; I promise that if you follow the links you will feel sick. If you don't, please just go away now.

Since it was raised as a comparison point, I will take on alcoholism here. Alcoholics are absolutely 100% responsible for the choices they make, drunk or sober (though I would concede that picking up the drink in the first place is the main Bad Choice here). I don't know too many recovering alcoholics who would dispute that, either. In fact, it is from recovering alcoholics I learned how to be relatively intolerant of codependent behavior! They are among the people who have, essentially, reinforced for me that what people (not just Americans) need to do is to take a LOT more responsibility for our actions, and the outcomes thereof, both on a personal and worldwide scale.

Life is neither easy nor fair--thanks, Dad!--but we all have to get along with whatever we're handed, and be honest with ourselves, something else that is far from easy. I understand that it isn't easy to do something that seems "against our nature" regardless of whether that is not eating everything in sight, or not m0lest!ng children, or not driving our car into someone else on the freeway who is asking for it. If we were "just animals" we probably would do those things without a thought to consequences. But we are not "just animals" and we must face the consequences for our actions. That means going to jail if we kill someone while driving drunk, it means being fired for stealing stuff from work, and it means developing type 2 diabetes if you keep eating crap even though you have a family history of a tendency toward this.

No one enjoys having to face some of the realities of life like illness or accidents. It's all about our reaction to them and the way we deal with the cards we are dealt as we head into the future. Sure, maybe we would have enjoyed having 3 or 4 kids--not in the cards. Yeah, maybe it would have been nice to be the oldest, rather than the youngest, sibling in my family; who knows. Gosh, it would be awesome not to worry about my godson killing people for a living when he grows up! Those ain't the cards I got. So I look at what's in my hand, and I look at what's on the table, and I play the best damn game of Texas Hold'em I can, because my other choice is to face God (and myself) at the end and make excuses for my poor behavior.

Yeah, I actually feel for guys like this p#rv. But you know what? I reserve a LOT more feeling for his family and the victims of his "natural" drives!

/rant

Don't drink the water!!

So last Thursday I reported on the http://lrtshouse.blogspot.com/2007/08/rss-bad-news.html in our neigborhood. That same night, on his way home from work, Beast noticed a neighbor couple pulled over on the side of the road, one with each of their cars. They were having a discussion with the local cops while a wrecker loaded the Caddy for towing.

Much speculation ensued that night about these neighbors, then we turned to the creepyp#rv. There was a brief story in the paper Friday about a guy arrested the day before for DUI and public indecency at our little "around the corner, only if you're desperate" grocery store. I saved it in Bloglines, not sure why, probably just to see if any more news turned up on it. Stuff to be apprised of, maybe I shouldn't shop there...etc. etc.

Beast ran into our "backyard neighbor" tonight--a normal neighbors, probably our closest friends here. She informed him that Mr. No-Zipper/HandCheck (playing with himself in public, see above re Friday's paper) is the dude across the street from both of us, the one who owns the Caddy that was towed last Thursday. Apparently, Beast showed up right in the midst of Mr. NZ/HC being arrested! Meanwhile, Mrs. NZ/HC had driven to meet her husband (mind you, this was all happening three blocks...maybe...from their house). She arrived, and was arrested for DUI as well. Both cars were impounded. They bonded out of jail, but Friday morning there was a cab in the driveway. Now we know why.

Footnote: for more on these neighbors, see this post.

We are wondering if we should stop drinking the local water. We're sort of afraid that something in it makes people p#rvy. There will be yet another not-fun talk with Sparky in the a.m.

People are weird. And really freakin' stupid. But you-all knew that, right?

RSS bad news

I have the local daily paper RSS'd into Bloglines, because I refuse to pay for the pleasure of having its ink all over my hands (I used to deliver it, over 10 years ago...long story there). It's pretty unusual to find anything in the feeds that applies to me, and I've missed virtually nothing of value (near as I can tell) in the year or so I've been doing this.

Tonight, a late-breaking feed came in just before I left work:

Police have arrested a 62-year-old ... man [from the town where I live] who ... may have molested up to six boys from his [MY!] neighborhood over [several years].

[name], [address], was arrested Wednesday ... for aggravated criminal sexual abuse.

[The] police began investigating [the suspect] after a victim came forward ... this week.

Although [the suspect] has only been charged with molesting one boy ... police said they expect more charges ....

Police said they have talked to three victims [aged] 9 to 12 years old. [The suspect] molested the boys numerous times, police said.

"He was befriending them and then having them come over," [police] said. "It is ... isolated" to [the suspect]’s subdivision .... [which, ohbytheway, is MY ^#@$% SUBDIVISION!!!!!]

...

If convicted, [the suspect] ... could be sentenced to up to seven years in prison.
....

So, yeah. Google map says his house is exactly one mile from mine, by road. I pass within 100 yards of it at least twice a day. Sparky rides his bike in that area. In the block where I live, there are approximately 12 boys ranging from age 3 to 11 (and Sparky, who is 14).

This comes just a week or so after my neighbor and I were talking about one of her son's soccer coaches. Here's the "brief" on him from last month:

A ... man is expected in ... [c]ourt ... on felony charges of attempted ... criminal sexual abuse and ... solicitation of a child.

[name], of [address, which has a horribly ironic word in it] was ... indicted on charges ... [and if] convicted, ... could be sentenced to up to five years in prison.

According to the indictment, [the suspect] knowingly solicited a child [under] 17 for an act of sexual penetration....

[Suburb] police arrested [the suspect] ... after he allegedly [had] an Internet [chat] with an undercover police officer posing as a minor. [The suspect] allegedly traveled to [the suburb where he was arrested--which is also where my niece and nephew live] [planning to meet] the presumed child, and was arrested at the [designated] meeting place.

...

The case still is ongoing, [the spokesperson] said. [The suspect] remained at the ... [j]ail ... in lieu of [four TIMES the above suspect's] bond.

...

Pulling his address up in Google tells me that his house is, oh let's see, approximately 400 yards from mine as the crow flies (or the kid walks), though it would take almost 10 minutes to drive there because of the psycho roads around here. So, yeah, he was coaching boys' U-10 soccer--his own son was on the team--and while his wife and family were out of state on vacation he decided to have his own private vacation. Except he ended up in jail. According to my neighbor, the wife never came home; she just stayed on vacation (her family lives in that area). Presumably, she won't be coming back.

There will be a LOT of phone calls to neighbors tomorrow about the first guy. There will be some hard questions asked of Sparky as well. I'm pretty sure he was not approached by the dude in our subdivision, and rumor has it the second guy was looking for girls. Still, I'll ask.

Ick. That deserted island I've been pining for all week is REALLY starting to look like a realistic possibility!

{edited substantially 8/17/07 by siteowner}

Words on War

Turn my mike up louder I got to say something
Light weights step to the side when we come in

Feel it in your chest the syllables get pumping
People on the street they panic and start running

Words on loose leaf sheet complete coming
I jump in my mind and summon the rhyme, I'm dumping

Healing the blind I promise to let the sun in
Sick of the dark ways we march to the drum and

Jump when they tell us that they wanna see jumping
Fuck that I wanna see some fists pumping

Risk something, take back what's yours
Say something that you know they might attack you for

Cause I'm sick of being treated like I have before
Like it's stupid standing for what I'm standing for

Like this war's really just a different brand of war
Like it doesn't cater the rich and abandon poor

Like they understand you in the back of the jet
When you can't put gas in your tank

These fuckers are laughing their way to the bank and cashing the check
Asking you to have compassion and have some respect

For a leader so nervous in an obvious way
Stuttering and mumbling for nightly news to replay

And the rest of the world watching at the end of the day
In their living room laughing like "what did he say?"

Amen
Amen
Amen
Amen
Amen

In my living room watching but I am not laughing
Cause when it gets tense I know what might happen

World is cold the bold men take action
Have to react or get blown into fractions

Ten years old it's something to see
Another kid my age drug under a jeep

Taken and bound and found later under a tree
I wonder if he had thought the next one could be me

Do you see the soldiers they're out today
They brush the dust from bullet proof vests away

It's ironic at times like this you pray
But a bomb blew the mosque up yesterday

There's bombs in the buses, bikes, roads
Inside your market, your shops, your clothes

My dad he's got a lot of fear I know
But enough pride inside not to let that show

My brother had a book he would hold with pride
A little red cover with a broken spine

On the back, he hand-wrote a quote inside
When the rich wage war it's the poor who die

Meanwhile, the leader just talks away
Stuttering and mumbling for nightly news to replay

And the rest of the world watching at the end of the day
both scared and angry like "what did he say?"


Amen
Amen
Amen
Amen
Amen

With hands held high into a sky so blue
As the ocean opens up to swallow you...

"Hands Held High"--thanks to Chester Bennington, Rob Bourdon, Brad Delson, David "Phoenix" Farrell, Joe Hahn, Mike Shinoda for saying it

This week in the local news:

On the front page: back in the day, the creator of a Famous Comic Strip Character lived in the area. We have a museum. Now we may be getting a statue. An 8-foot statue. Of a comic book character. I hope they go ahead and paint it bright yellow, too. sheesh

Inside front page:

• The local K-9 has armor now


• There are people who stay involved in Girl Scouts into their 60s?


• Don't get me started on the fact that the high school band percussion section has to spend five days in the summer on marching cadences because the school board decided marching band was too...complicated? expensive? whatever...and they don't march except at Homecoming and Memorial Day parades. Just, don't.


• Local crackpot has a new cause, a good cause, actually, but that makes him no less a crackpot.


• [photo] We had delegates in town last week from our sister city in another country.


• [ad] The butcher/meat locker is having a sale on stuff to grill.

Other tidbits inside:

• [photo] Harry Potter party at the bookstore was a success.


• The rained out city band concert is rescheduled for tonight.


• The newspaper is sponsoring a party outside their office this Friday evening.


• Guess what? Using alcohol in the parks is illegal.


• We have perverts here. Actually, this one is from out of state, and he "forgot" to register when he moved here, so when he was arrested for drug possession he got another special date in court.


• Four obits--no one I know.


• 7/8 of a page devoted to police activity: first item is a high school kid from our church ticketed for letting someone drive who is too young to drive. Of the 17 names listed in town, 10 are Latinos; things are little more even in the sheriff's report (I don't know if the city cops target Latinos, or the paper only happened to choose these names...or what...but the average age of EVERYone listed in the city report is 27. Rough to be a kid in a small town!)


• The county fair used to elect a 4-H King and Queen. Wow. Wonder if that makes it to the resume?


• The appliance store is closing. Bummer.


• 29 pieces of real estate exchanged hands here the first full week of July.


• [ads] SWEET CORN is in (i.e. for sale) at several of the local farms and farmstands!!! Hurrah--we loves us some corn (even if I can't be around it until it's totally shucked).

Life in a small town continues.... No one was murdered this week and we weren't mentioned on Fox News. Small favors, eh?

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