Weather or Whether

2/22/2018

Mother Nature is fickle, I've decided.  For two days, I brought out my "shorty" pants (i.e., pants that don't need shortening!  Ah, but the honeymoon appears to be over.  Yesterday, we had windows open, and today we're closing them.

Rain is predicted for the next couple of days, which means more muddy paws and wet fur.  That much rain, will once again, render the backyard to once again return to "Bassett Lake".  On some level, I'd actually prefer snow.  Why?  It, keeps dog paws clean, but wet.  "clean wet", is easy to deal with.  Muddy wet, not so much.

I don't know if I should read or watch the news these days.  Let's put it this way - the news is very depressing.  Arming teachers with guns?  Um, I can imagine a lot of things that could go wrong if this becomes our new reality.

Whether

Jeff and I were teenagers in the 60's.  There was Woodstock, and hippies in San Francisco.  I'm sure there were other stand out moments during that time, but I'm drawing a blank.

Here's what I do know.  We walked to school.  Only the kids, who lived on farms, rode on a bus.  There wasn't any fear of being harmed, at least in the small town I lived in.  I know that Jeff, who I think, walked to school also, wasn't looking over his shoulder to see if there was a "bad guy" walking behind him.

In those long ago days, I don't remember people owning guns, other than rifles for shooting birds, etc.  I don't know whether everyone should keep a gun in their house.  There is a lot of talk about whether these men who gun down children, or anyone else for that matter, are mental.  I, for one, am "mental", and I've never even thought for a minute of physically hurting someone else.  It seems, and it may be true, that these gunmen, suffer from some kind of mental disorder.  I do believe, that in the moment, these people cross over the line between sane and mental (because I hate the word insane).  I also believe that stricter gun laws should be put in place (please don't send me hate mail, this is just my opinion). 

As some people say, guns don't kill people.  People kill people.  And, how does one get their hands on these assault weapons?  Jeff and I don't want to keep a gun in the house, and that's our choice. When Benjamin come to visit, said gun would have to be locked up somewhere, where he couldn't find it.  So, if a burglar comes into your home, you will have to unlock the safe (or equivalent), get the gun out, put bullets in, and so and search for the burglar.  Each person has to decide whether or not, to have guns in the house.  Frankly, I think if you could get close to the burglar, a hit on the head with my very heavy flashlight, might get him to rethink whether or not, our house is worthy of pillaging! I'm thinking not, because when anyone visits the house or walks out in the street, Bella becomes very, very vocal.  Whether or not Bella would actually bight someone, is unlikely.

I feel sorry for today's children, and their parents, because we now live in a scary world.  When the boys were going to school each day, the thought that they might not come home, never crossed my mind.  But, if they were in school today, I would worry for their safety.  Whether to own guns, or not, is at the end, comes down to a personal decision.

P