A "Stray" Bullet

I watched a story on the news today about Nicolas Tijerina, a young man who walked across the stage with the assistance of a walker at his high school graduation.  He had been injured when he was at middle school basketball tryouts in Tx in 2011 when he was hit by a "stray bullet". What is a "stray bullet"?  That statement puts the blame on the bullet and takes away any blame from whoever shot it.  The bullet didn't just wander off and speed into this boy's spine.  Someone shot it.  That someone was Dustin Wesley Cook, a "competitive marksman" who ultimately wound up with 3 years probation after paralyzing one boy and causing another boy to have a kidney removed. Cook is a free man today although Nicolas and Edson, the other boy who was also hit by a "stray bullet", will never be the same.  I say There is No Such Thing as a "Stray Bullet".  They don't go shooting off all by themselves.  That terminology should not even exist.  People need to be held responsible for their actions.  Gun owners need to be held responsible for anything that happens with their guns. A gun is for shooting and is a weapon that is made for killing.  If you chose to own one, there are no accidents.  You chose to own a weapon that is meant to kill.   No, guns don't kill people.  Bullets don't go stray on their own and kill people either.  People kill other people using guns.  An "accidental death" from a gunshot is different than many other accidental deaths because the cause of death is from a weapon that was created to kill.  People drown in water, but water wasn't created to kill.  People die in car crashes, but cars weren't created to kill.  Guns are weapons whose purpose is to kill.  If you don't want to kill, you don't need a gun.  In order to get a driver's license, people have to watch videos about car wrecks and things that can go wrong.  Before being allowed to purchase a gun, in addition to rigorous training and background checks, people should have to watch videos about "accidental" gun deaths.  They need to be fully aware of the fact that they are purchasing an item that is intended for killing.

Thoughts on Gun Control

Thoughts on gun control.  A few weeks ago there was a big police stand off in my sister's very nice neighborhood. One of her neighbors, a licensed gun owner had been shooting his gun. Apparently, he had been taking Ambien and he doesn't remember the incident. 

My daddy owned 33 guns, was a proud Democrat and a proud member of the NRA. Years ago, my father, a licensed gun owner who kept his guns in gun safes, shot a hole in the ceiling because he thought he heard something outside. He had been taking a narcotic sleeping medication.  We found out that he was only supposed to take it for two weeks and he had been taking it for two months.  Years earlier, although my father kept his guns in gun safes, one day his wife got hold of one of the guns and shot a hole in a window. 

A couple of years ago, my friend's 18 year old brother got into his father's locked gun safe and went out and shot and killed someone. His father wasn't aware that his son could get into the gun safe. He is in prison for a long time. He says the voices in his head told him to do it. He and his father were licensed gun owners. 

A few years ago, a classmate of my son's committed suicide - with a gun. A couple of years ago, one of my daughter's classmates got hold of his father's gun. His father was a police officer. The boy is dead. They said it was accidental. 

Many years ago when I was teaching middle school, two of my students skipped school and got hold of one of their parent's guns. One girl shot the other. She shot most of her guts out. She survived but would have to have a colostomy bag the rest of her life. 

 A very long time ago, my grandfather ran a pawn shop. He was robbed by a man who tied up his hands and put him in the bathroom, took the money and merchandise and left. So, my grandfather got a gun. He hid it in the bathroom and drilled a hole in the door to shoot through. The same man returned and robbed him again and put him in the bathroom. He was so drunk, that he didn't do a good job tying my grandfather's hands and he quickly got free and retrieved the hidden gun and shot the man through the hole in the door. He killed him. The police were glad because the man had been robbing many shops. My grandfather was horrified because he had not intended to kill the man, just to stop him. He quit that job and could no longer work there because he was traumatized by what he had done.

Guns are for killing.  They shouldn't be considered toys or collector's items.  

We need much stricter gun control laws and we for need the laws that are in place to be followed and carried out. 

I thought that not knowing
was the worst thing,
because I thought that when we knew what it was,
they could fix it.
Then I found out that knowing,
knowing that it is unfixable,
having an expiration date,
is worse.
Seeing your loved one in pain
and not being able to fix it,
knowing that nothing that you do can really help them feel better,
and nothing will make them be better
because it is uncurable
fatal
perhaps sooner
perhaps later.
It sucks.
Seeing that so many other people are also stuggling,
suffering,
with the same or similar things,
makes the world a sadder place.

So, if a person could see , and then became blind as an adult,  do they still see in their dreams?

Greed and hatred
fear and war
will there soon
be nothing more?
Those in fear
have elected
the greedy ones
they think are their salvation.
They are not.

Wall

The Donald wants to build a wall
The Donald says we need to
To be protection for us all
From those who aren't like him
The Donald says we need a wall
I think he may be right
We need a wall around The Donald

Protecting us all from him.

An Ode To "The Red Wheelbarrow" and my cat

The white cat
Staring out the window
Contemplates
The red birds

So, she found this and decided I was secretly an FBI agent

Yesterday after school, my 13 year old daughter came home from school with two friends and started talking to them about the fact that when she went looking through my closet - which I had asked her to the other day when I was not home to find something - that she found things that made her realize I must be an FBI agent in disguise.  She was sure that explained a lot of things about me. Her friends agreed.  So I asked her what she found.  She found a box of minted coin sets - actually gifts from her grandparents to her and her siblings - not sure why on earth that screamed secret FBI agent.  And, she found a "locked" black box that she could not open.  That would be my grandma's portable Singer sewing machine.  So, I had to let her and her friends down and explain that I am totally NOT the mom from Spy Kids even though for some reason they had amassed evidence and ascertained that I was indeed a secret FBI agent.

Look Down

Inspired by seeing people with their cell phones and the song from Les Mis

Look down, look down
Your cell phone's in your hand
Look down, look down
Yet don't see where you stand

Look down, look down, 
Don't realize you're a slave
Don't see the world
This is the price you pay

Family Memories

Family memories
that no one now remembers,
Family treasures
that are no longer treasured,
Stuffed in boxes
that once were in the attic
and now are in the closet
in the hall.
Family photos
don't know who -
they weren't labeled
Ancestors in black and white
and shades of grey.
Family memories
bits of paper, leather, rust
family treasures
slowly turning into dust.

short winter poem

This wintry day is cold and wet,
Gloomy, dull and grey.
I wish that I could stay in bed,
And sleep the day away.

Ways that our cat is like Jesus

So, when I told my husband that our cat wanted him to go pick the kids up from school, he replied that the cat had no thought about getting the kids from school and that I was projecting concepts onto the cat that he has never had, like people have projected concepts onto Jesus that He probably never would have imagined.
So, I thought it might be good to just name the cat Jesus.
Then we could yell "Jesus, get off of the kitchen table!"
And there are other ways that the cat is like Jesus.
He has more than one life.
He thinks he is God.
He is celibate.
No one really understands him.
The dogs sometimes want to eat him.  (Matt. 26:26)
He does not care what people think about what he does.
He is not a follower.

would you stop and listen?

would you stop and listen ?
or take a look around?
would you even notice
the beauty of the sound?
or are you in a hurry
in so much of a rush
that you don't even notice
lost amidst the crush
of going here and going there
with just so much to do
that life's simple beauty
has no way to get through?

one phone call

Kids just crack me up.
But there are times we should not laugh.
I subbed in ISS (In School Suspension) for one class period today in a middle school.
The assistant principal brought in a very unhappy, defiant boy.
A short time after the AP left, the boy raised his hand and told me
"I believe that legally, in the state of Texas, I am entitled to one phone call."
It was hard not to laugh or respond with what I wanted to say.
I merely told him that he would have to ask the AP when he came back.
The boy replied that the AP does not listen well.
I told him he would have to wait because I was not able to grant him a phone call.
That kid made my day.
He was hilarious.
It was so difficult not to laugh at him.
He sounded like a little lawyer wanna be.

So beautiful.
So sad.
So bored.
So bad?

A waste of time.
A waste of space.
Why did you wind up
In this place?

So many better
things to do
than sit around here
and just stew.

Time may seem endless
but it is not
It's ephemeral
it's all we've got

So use it wisely
Before it's gone
and only memories
carry on.

An Ode to My Toe

To my poor, pitiful, purpleish, painful, pounded, possibly broken toe:

I'm sorry my poor little toe
I promise that I did not know
When I kicked to close the cabinet door
That my foot would slip a little more
And somehow in a painful blow
Would pound my poor appendage so
Such lack of care
and lack of shoes
Has given now
my toe
the blues

What is Murgling?

That is a good question. 
I have no idea.
But, my 9 year old daughter made up and used that word tonight.
And, since it is difficult to come up w/ original blog names, I figured that no one had most likely used the word "murgle" in their title yet unless it really is a word.

Nope - just checked and the word "murgle" is not in the dictionary.

I imagine that B. and I will define it as time goes on.
We were discussing indoor and outdoor cats and B. said that we would still have an outdoor cat if our old cat Cassie had not murgled away.
We have not seen Cassie in months.
Murgling is probably rather permanant.