Escaping Reality

The Reality is I fly out of here on Saturday, headed for parts North.

I need to finish a couple of painting jobs and then pack, but I got my "druthers":

I "druther" draw pictures. Fantasy:



The Leprechaun and the Wolves

 Caroline and I watched a movie called "Skellig The Owl Man," a fantasy based on a children's book. That's what I was doing when I drew the leprechaun.

Don't remember what was going on when this came out:



Old Man of the Mountain Grows a Tree, or
Now I Know Why My Nose Has Been Hurting


And then things started making sense again:

Waiting In Line At The Carousel

All of the above will be available on FineArtAmerica, of course.

And now I better get back to my chores.....!

On Getting Away With Murder

So, a young lady about 20 years old has a baby; no father is mentioned.

Her parents "help" her with the baby. Don't know anything about the grandma; the grandpa is a former police officer.

Casey, Baby's Momma, also has a brother, who seems to be a very emotional kinda guy with a victim mentality.

Casey accuses her dad, the cop, of molesting her; also, her brother.

Casey's in and out of the house, travels a lot with the baby, leaves baby with sitters not known by the grandparents. The child is away from her grandparents for an unusually long time.

The grandparents - and this is the part that shocked me - accept Casey's lame excuses for a month before they start really wondering what happened to their grandchild. What is that about?

My Social Worker instincts tell me that this is a very sick family and a family in denial - about a lot of things, most likely.

My Social Worker instincts also wondered why the lawyer for the defense didn't try to plead mental illness; she clearly is a young woman with - shall we say - issues?

I realize now the lawyer saw how weak the case was and banked on getting Casey off Scot-free.

Which is exactly what happened.

Sad to say, if I had been on that jury I would have voted "not guilty" also - because the proof wasn't there.

My gut says she's crazy and probably killed her baby.

My gut also says she needs a lot of help and close supervision.

And she shouldn't have any more babies.

But I think, probably, she won't get the help/supervision, and she probably will produce more children.

I think the down side of our American freedoms and our excellent justice system is that sometimes this stuff happens. Because people can't be convicted on gut feelings; evidence is required.

In which case I, personally, believe in God, Karma, natural consequences, etc. She'll get hers.

As for me? Yesterday I renewed my drivers license and in the process donated an extra $5 to the fund to help prevent child abuse. It's not much, but if everyone who feels bad about this case puts a little toward a good cause - well, maybe it'll do some good....


“More children 0–4 years of age in the United States now die from homicide than from infectious diseases or cancer.” - David Finkelhor and Richard Ormrod in “Homicides of Children and Youth,” Juvenile Justice Bulletin, October 2001

Froggie News - Disaster Hits Fort Lauderdale

Breaking News From Frangipani Pond in Fort Lauderdale:  Disaster struck today in Frangipani Pond (named after Brad and Angelina Frangipani, prolific propagators of froggie progeny). At about 9:00 this morning, Frangipani Pond was infiltrated by poisonous chemicals, leading to the disastrous demise of thousands of tadpoles and young frogs.

The details - as reported by four young frogs who miraculously survived - are sketchy, but this is what we can report:

The poison spread immediately to every corner of the pond, and froggies and tadpoles jumped and crawled to dry land as best they could. Some faced a second threat, THE NET, but THE NET could not move fast enough to catch most of our folks.

Froggies who survived did so by clinging to the blue and white cliffs on the edge of the pond, and a few clung to a floating yellow island, but many of our brothers and sisters succumbed to the fumes and the strong current which took them down stream and trapped them in a small pool which some know of as THE BUCKET.

Survivors, now homeless, are thanking the Great Frog God for their deliverance, and ask sympathetic readers to send donations to: Frangipani Frog Relief, c/o Faith Shoemaker, Fort Lauderdale, FL. Faith, we are told, is a CAT, but can nonetheless be trusted with the money.



For more news of froggie doings in Fort Lauderdale, we refer you to this story: Daredevil Froggie Kisses Ugly Princess - Disastrous Result.

(Ed note:  We neglected our back yard swimming pool to the point that it became populated with tadpoles. Caroline tried to fish them out with the net, but they swam and jumped away from it. When she finally gave up and put in the chemicals we had a "mini holocaust." It was very sad - and messy. We have resolved to take better care of the pool in the future.)

And how was your day?