It's a quiet Monday morning at our new rental house. If we don't have our boxes eliminated, we at least have tamed them back. Our kitchen is set up enough that we can at least begin to cook at home. The Internet and cable are operational. We even had our first dinner guests last night!
Our dogs have no fenced-in back yard, so we have to walk them frequently, which really, is good for all of us. And it is a nice neighborhood. We are right next to the city park, a great place to walk the dogs, and it has a playground, a shelter for picnics and parties, a tennis court, and a World War II memorial that is definitely from another time and era. It lists all those from the area who served in World War II, but it separates them out into white men who served, and "colored men" who served.
The weather has been fairly nice, which makes it easier to walk the dogs, The temps have been low enough that you are not bothered by gnats and flying insects, but not so cold as to feel shivery. It would be nice if it could be these temperatures year round.
Right now, everything is filtered through the horror of the Connecticut school shooting tragedy. The senseless brutality of it is shocking, and hopefully will lead many Americans to a deep reflection as to what we can do to reduce and eliminate such incidents in the future. There is no one simple answer, which makes it very difficult to grasp, but I do pray that we are a caring enough people to at least put all potential solutions on the table. For me, that has to include sensible gun control, including a renewal of the assault weapons ban. We also need improved public support for mental health care. We need to stop kvetching about Obamacare and start concentrating on how we can better take care of each other.
Increasing the number of guns in public places is not a good solution - it will just dramatically increase the already staggeringly high number of accidental gun deaths. Forcing teacher led school prayer accomplishes nothing except to diminish our democracy and freedom. Let's try to talk about things that will actually help.
I have not yet seen The Hobbit! I hope to get out this weekend, but we shall see. I very much look forward to it. I just need to work out the time with family and friends who want to go with me. Yes, despite all the changes with TVs and DVDs and computers bringing so much entertainment right to your home, I still love going to the movies, even if nowadays you almost feel like you've got to go the small loan department first just to pay for admission.
Until next time,
T. M. Strait
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