Horses, fences and 5 random thoughts…

Linking to Friday's Fences.

1)  The events happening in Boston right now are simply surreal.  I am having a hard time wrapping my head around all this and am wondering how long it can possibly go on.  I have no idea whether or not it is the best way to handle this hunt for the Marathon bomber, but I do know that the news coverage is over the top.  For one thing, I think it is appalling that there is no mention on the national news of the tragedy in West, Texas.  There has been so much time wasted on pure speculation about what is going on in Boston, where this person is, who he may or may not be affiliated with.  Sure, it is important that we stay informed, but there is other stuff going on in the world that is important, too.  I want them to take some time away from trying to guess what may happen to tell us some concrete facts about what is happening.  Rant over.

2)  At times like this, I sure am glad we live in the country.  We are an hour west of Boston and if we didn’t have a television and didn’t check facebook, we would have no idea what is going on there.  But I feel for the people who live there and have been on pins and needles all day.

3)  In order to stay sane, we are going to a rock and roll music trivia night tonight.  We bid on it and won it in a silent auction last year.  This should be fun.  The contest is four against one.  The one happens to be a friend of ours who is a musician who, according to those who have played him before, can’t be beat.  The chance is good that his streak won’t be broken tonight, but we’ll have fun trying.

4)  You know, I love my Toyota Prius, but one of my keys needs a new battery.  In order not to forget that, I put a note on my calendar that shows up every Monday and says “Think about Prius Key.”  It has been there for about a month and a half and, by golly, I haven’t thought about it once when I could do anything about it.  I guess that method doesn’t work.

5)  I don’t understand Google+.  Help!

Linking to A Rural Journal:

{Random 5 Friday}

Look for the helpers…

Yesterday was a beautiful day here in Massachusetts.  I got up as usual and got to enjoy my second cup of coffee watching baseball as the Red Sox traditionally start at 11:00 a.m. on Patriots Day.   It was a good game and the Sox won.  After the game to celebrate the beautiful day, we decided to take the dog out to lunch to one of our favorite outdoor eating places.  And afterwards, we took the long way home.

Once home, I went to my office to begin to wade through e-mails.  That’s when Greg called up to me and asked if I had heard the news.  A bomb went off at the Boston Marathon.

 

For the rest of the afternoon, we sat, like so many did, watching the coverage as events unfolded.

  Seeing the same videos over and over.

  Despair creeping in.

  Who would do such a thing?

Then at one point, I checked my Facebook page and saw that my daughter, Carrie, had shared a quote from Fred Rogers:  “When I was a boy and would see scary things in the news, my mother would say to me, ‘Look for the helpers.  You will always find people who are helping.’”  It made me take a breath and begin to look at the news coverage with new eyes.

My heart goes out to the victims of this heinous act and their families.  And my thanks and profound admiration goes out to the many people who, without thought of their own vulnerability, rushed toward the victims to do what they could to help, to the weary runners who continued on to the hospitals to donate blood, to the citizens of Boston who opened their doors to strangers in need.

  Because of people like you, I will never lose hope for a better world.