Good morning, Netizens...

Thank Gawd it's Friday! After nearly being blown into Idaho by yesterday's wind storms, this morning is quiet by comparison, the sunrise almost visible peering at me from behind the mountains to our East and my cup of meaner-than-me coffee is sitting pretty damned well, all things being equal.

Despite a week-long bout with a bad cold, I am almost back to what, for me, is a norm for being 64 years of age and holding on for dear life.

What a week this has been! From the sickening father of a two month-old daughter who is in jail this morning while his daughter barely clings to life at Scared Heart with broken ribs, cranial contusions and various other dire injuries, daddy may be eventually charged with homicide child abuse and none too soon. Then there is the mother whose offspring stole her Jeep early this morning, crashing the Jeep into a power pole on the Glenrose Prairie and then lamely lying to her and police about it. It's too bad they have outlawed using a horsewhip on errant children, because hers certainly need a good thrashing.

Perhaps the most-sad story of the entire week comes from going underground for a living. Years ago I regularly used to haul ore from a Molybdenum mine in Colorado, and over the years became acquainted with many of the men and women who, each day, rode the train deep into the earth to dig up ore and from them, learned bits and pieces about deep rock coal mining. I never forgot the tales I was told about relatives and friends who had died, or even worse, were waiting for death with black lung disease.

I cannot help but grieve for the families, loved ones and friends of all those who died in the West Virginia mine. My prayers and thoughts reach out to those three or four miners who may or may not still be alive, eking out hellish existences deep underground in a “safe room” awaiting rescue. I am mindful, of course, that with each passing day the odds against them being found alive steeply increase.

It is sad beyond words. I can only hope and pray the government shuts that damned mine down until they can improve their safety record.

The sun is up now, and although the wind still feels like February, it appears to be a nice day.

Dave

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