Heroes

My son, Sam, glimpsing the final colors of Autumn out our dining room window (and watching the construction of a new house one street over--cranes and cement trucks are more appealing than leaves to a toddler)...

Quote of My Day...

"Who is a hero? He who turns his enemy into a friend." ~The Talmud



My Happiness Today...

I got an email from a childhood friend. It was a nice surprise and I enjoyed learning about his new life, family and job. Catching up with people you haven't thought of in years is wonderful. In a way it is life affirming. It reminds you that you are not alone and that parts of your childhood are still out there, waiting to send you an email.

On My Mind...

Okay, a couple posts back I posted about some of the news of the weird we get daily in our local paper. The catch phrase for the local paper is "Life Delivered Daily." It should read, "Weird Life Delivered Daily." Here's an example of why this change should be made in the paper's catch phrase...

This week an article appeared in our paper that I wrote about earlier, the snake swinging lady who attacked the police and husband with cooperheads and rattlesnakes--and a big knife. Well, this story continues to be breaking news one month later...

"With three rattlesnakes in one hand and two copperheads in the other, Terry Jackson held police at bay early Wednesday morning in the basement of her Market Street home. As officers approached her, the snakes thrashed, biting Mrs. Jackson's face and arms. She continued to hold them at bay with a knife before being subdued by a Taser."

And more...

"The star of one of the wackier news events of the year was in court yesterday and she apologized, then helpfully smiled for the news cameras trained on her. Which was nice. And not exactly the way you'd expect a woman accused of trying to commit suicide by handling venomous snakes to behave."

It gets worse...

"Terry L. Jackson said she regrets using five venomous snakes in an Oct. 25 standoff with police, not because she was bitten three times and fell into a coma, but due to bad publicity the reptiles are getting as a result.....While attending a recent Children and Youth hearing in Northumberland County Court, she was approached by well-wishers who shook her hand and requested autographs, she said. She obliged them, signing the notes "Snake Lady."

So, this is our local hero folks, the "Snake Lady." The woman who belongs in rehab for mental illness and alcohol addiciton is on the loose swinging venomous snakes at the police and her beloved and is now being claimed a hero in these parts of Pennsylvania. Children are asking for her autograph. What a bleak picture this creates of our society and of the values our children seek in their personal heroes. All I know is, if either of my sons find a hero in a woman like this---a snake-swinging, rehab deprived alcholic, I'm moving. And my sons will never own a snake.

Funny Video of the Day...

Sorry folks, no snake-swinging ladies found on You Tube...