Monday Newt

First order of business:
The scout trip was fun. We had a great time. The dogs have been the mascot for the group since it’s inception. So they fit right in. The kids love the dogs and were glad we brought them along. Also since the scouts are all teenagers they were a big help in taking care of them and being responsible enough to watch them and ensure they were safe. Max suffers from selective hearing (and poor training) so were he to get loose he would be somewhere in eastern Pennsylvania before he realized we were not tagging behind. And given that the only things out there besides us were deer and squirrels he would have taken off like a shot after some poor little woodland creature. The camp is in some of the most beautiful country I have seen here in the mid-west. It is located in a heavily wooded cliff top overlooking the St. Croix river.

I drove separate from the hubster since he had to stay with the troop and help with the food concessions at the boat show. I grabbed the soundtrack for Garden State and listened to that on the drive over. There is nothing more relaxing than good music and a quiet drive in the country. It was such a peaceful moment.

On my way to camp Saturday night I realized about half way there that I didn’t have a book with me. And that just can’t happen. So I stopped at Borders on the way over. The karma cow was smiling. On the new in paperback rack at the front door was the latest book from my revered author James lee Burke. Hot diggity damn! Cracking open a new Burke book is practically a religious experience for me. A couple of the scouts are book worms like myself so we all curled up on one end of the picnic bench and read the night away. I couldn’t have been happier.

Then when I got home the next morning I put on the C.D. I always listen to when I read my JLB books. Blasted that on the stereo, curled up with a cup of coffee, and read to my hearts content. Pure heaven.

Lastly on my agenda for today:

At one time in my career I worked as a student investigator for the DA’s office in San Jose. One of the investigators had a child’s shoe on his desk. I asked him why it was there. He said he had found it in the middle of the road. He had kept it with him because he had always wondered why the shoe was there. How does a baby shoe end up in the middle of the road? Maybe the owner of the shoe simply lost it out of the stroller when they were on a walk. But maybe something more violent happened to that child. And the shoe was a reminder to the investigator that his job was to be a voice for that child, to be it’s guardian. It was a reminder to him that it was his job to ensure other shoes don’t end up in the middle of the road. If he caught the bad guys and put them away maybe there would be a few less shoes in the road.

Ever since then I have always thought about him and that conversation. That there is a story, a chain of events, to every shoe in the middle of the road. That as human beings we should do what we can to help people. Even simple acts of kindness, charity, or even simple awareness can help to make the world a better place. Just asking questions can sometimes lead to helping someone in a difficult situation. I’m not sure where I am going with this. But I wanted to share it with you. I saw a couple shoes on the freeway this weekend. And it got me thinking……………….