The Week in Review
















Lately I find myself thinking a lot of the old Bible story, where God was so disgusted with mankind that He instructed Noah to build an ark, load it with his family and a male and female of every animal species, then decimated the earth with flooding. It's starting to feel as if He is about to do it again, between the deadly earthquakes, tsumanis, and tornadoes that have been striking all over the planet. Hurricane season starts next week. Heaven help us.

The worlds of poetry and music lost an icon this week. Gil Scott-Heron, master of the spoken word and self-described "bluesologist," passed away after becoming ill upon returning from Europe at the young age of 62. He was a talented and deep-thinking brother who, like so many artists, struggled with addictions throughout his life. RIP.

In politics, Sarah Palin announced a motor trip through the East Coast, fueling speculation of her intent to run for President. Personally, I think she's just looking to shine the spotlight on herself, as Mitt Romney becomes the latest Republican to announce that he's going to announce his candidacy (a redundancy reminiscent of those old "pre-engagements") next week, and Michele Bachmann's people say that she will announce, either yay or nay, sometime in June when she visits her hometown in Iowa. I expect it to be a yay. As for Palin and her oxygen-sucking tactics, she's just a female version of Donald Trump, with better hair but no intent of running.

Some folks criticized the President for traveling to Europe, including a trip to a hamlet in Ireland (population), where a maternal ancestor lived before emigrating to the States. Imagine the flak if he'd dared to venture to Kenya to view his paternal roots!

This is Memorial Day weekend, honoring those who lost their lives while in service to our country, God rest them.

This weekend is the traditional kick-off of summer. On this holiday weekend three years ago we moved into our current home. I was stunned to see that we had to run the heat at night/early morning, and yes, the heat kicked in last night as well. It gets cold in Wisconsin. But at least it's supposed to be about 70 on Monday, plenty warm enough to barbecue.

A bit of personal news: Our family has new baby twins, a boy and girl (pictured above), just home from the hospital. This is especially meaningful for me, because this is the centennial of my father's birth. He would be so tickled by his great-grandchildren, none of whom he ever saw in person...the ones who just entered the world; the oldest one, who, incredibly, graduated high school this week (pictured above on his prom night), and all the ones in between.

So how was your week?