The Median Sib

“Listen!” I hushed the talking as soon as I heard the sound.  It was gone so quickly I wasn’t sure I had even heard it - a fleeting, almost-mewing sound.  Holding my finger to my lips, I motioned the others to listen.  Despite the bustle of people in the corridor, we shamelessly pressed our ears to the door.  There it was again!  We looked at each other.  Was it what we thought it was?  Suddenly it came again.  This time sustained and strong.  There was no doubt - it was a baby’s cry.  We looked at each other, tears filled our eyes, and grins spread across our faces.  A new life had just entered the world on the other side of the door.  My first grandchild was born.

Note:  I’m attending a 4-day writing workshop (how to teach writing), and this was one of the things I wrote on the first day.  We had to try different leads.  This was my “dialogue” lead.

PawPaw and I went deep-sea fishing last week.  We were in Florida at a convention of one of PawPaw’s biggest clients.  Those folks know how to convene!  Our deep-sea fishing trip was on the owner’s private yacht with four other guests - three bedrooms, air-conditioned kitchen and sitting area, bathroom with shower.  There was a captain who used sonar to find the fish and a first mate who baited our hooks and took the fish off - and later they cleaned the fish and packaged them for us to take home. 

Just about every time we dropped our hook in the water, we caught a fish - lots of red snapper.  We had to wear those belts with the fishing rod holder in front.  I caught a HUGE king mackerel (huge for me anyway - about 30-35 inches long) - and a large bonita (bait fish).  It was so difficult to reel them in that I had to stop and rest several times during the process.  It was so much fun.  And when I tired of fishing, I napped in the air-conditioned sitting area and snacked on items from the fully stocked refrigerator.  Ahhhhhhh the good life….

I admire Israel.  When they’re hit by terrorists, they fight back.  Better yet, they fight back like they mean it.  They aren’t so afraid of public opinion that they’d imprison their own soldiers based on flimsy charges or have news reporters and politicians criticizing their every move - or newspapers reporting classified information.  I wish the USA was more like that.