According to a news story Mindy McCready, whose boyfriend almost killed her last year, is seeing him again and is now pregnant by him. In the story she describes the terrifying feeling of not being able to breathe when the boyfriend, William McKnight, was beating her and choking her earlier this year. He also has not shown any remorse for the attack. McCready says, “He doesn’t think that he’s done very much wrong.” It is incredibly sad that a beautiful and talented woman such as McCready thinks so little of herself that she would allow an abuser to remain a part of her life. It’s time to kick the scum to the curb.

There was a news story today about some children and adults who were attacked by three pit bulls on a rampage in Cary, Illinois. I am waiting for the follow-up news story tomorrow or the next day in which the owner will almost certainly describe how wonderful the pit bulls were and how they had always been so gentle up until the attack. Then he will declare that he is simply shocked by their behavior.

It reminds me of Aesop’s fable of the Scorpion and the Ladybug: A Scorpion befriended a Ladybug who became a loyal companion to him. A time came when she struggled to cross a challenging and dangerous river, and so the Scorpion offered to take her to the other side on his back. He had come to care for her and promised he would never harm her. But, safely across the river, he allowed his tail to dip upon her with its venomous sting. As she lay in greatest pain, she said, “… but, you promised… why?” He shrugged and said, sadly, “Because it is my Nature.”
Regardless of our wishes, or even our intent, it is to our Nature alone that we will be faithful.
There is no good reason for owning a pit bull. Despite training and love and tender care, their nature is to be aggressive to the point of being vicious. All too often there is a news account of yet another child maimed or killed by one. The owners usually act like they’re surprised because their pet had been gentle and nonaggressive up to that point. People who own them are lying to themselves about the danger.

Here’s a quote to brighten up your Sunday:

“Love doesn’t make the world go ’round. Love is what makes the ride worthwhile.” ~Franklin P. Jones

 

This was the sunset Saturday night. Beautiful, huh? 

 

 

 

This is me enjoying my morning cup of coffee Sunday morning. 

 

Notice the really cool blue percolator on the fire grate.

 

 

That’s my lovely tent in the photo. 

 

 

 

PawPaw took this picture Sunday afternoon as we were leaving. It’s the Ocoee River. 

 

They had just opened the dam - supposedly for the last time until after winter - and there were hundreds of kayakers in the water. 

 

 

 

This is PawPaw this morning — sucking in his gut (his words, not mine) for the photo. 

 

The scenery was incredible. 

 

PawPaw and I drove northeast of Chattanooga yesterday and camped on top of a mountain above the Ocoee River. Most of the camping areas were closed for the winter, but the overflow camping area was open — and there was only one other family camping there. It was dark by the time we got there, and we were concerned that we might have waited too late to get our camp set up. We didn’t have time to scope out the area before it was too dark to see. It was remote - and we had to shine the car headlights at the campsite to get things settled. However, we were quite a team in getting everything set up. PawPaw started the fire and helped me set up the tent. By the time the fire was burning well, we were ready to cook our dinner. It turned out to be a wonderful camping trip! During the night there was some ferocious wind — so much so that PawPaw already had in mind where we would go if it got any worse (a ditch a short distance from our tent). Although the wind blew strongly off and on throughout the night, there was only a little while that it seemed so intense. It rained for about five minutes, and then we woke to a beautiful sunrise. The only significant problem was that the tent held in the heat so well that it was too warm inside. We’ve decided that the next pretty weekend with COLD weather, we’ll make another camping trip. 

 

We saw the most spectacular fall foliage I can remember seeing in years. It was simply breathtaking. I took some photos of the scenery and of our campsite. The photos are above. 

 

This morning we went on a bike ride along the Ocoee River. Not a long bike ride — just about 2 1/2 miles. It was beautiful.