Where's my Good Paper?

Thank God for Lawrence Fury. If his allowed monthly allotment of entertaining and, oh-so-true thoughts about life in Sandpoint had not shown up in this morning's Blat, I'd have been really FURYous. My Good Paper, the Spokesman-Review did not arrive this morning, so I was restricted to reading the Daily Blat. Having no Good Paper did not make for a Good Start to the day.

Usually, I down just two sips of coffee in the mug and then set the Blat on the couch beside me because I've read all there is. It's already time to read the Spokesman. It used to take a little longer reading the Blat because I could count on knowing some of the stars in the "Records Column," but having been away from the student mill for four years, I don't recognize a lot of those names any more. And, because so many new people have moved to Sandpoint, the local obituaries often are dominated by perfect strangers whose residency might date back to 2003.

I must, however, take an aside at this moment from my usual facetious nonsense to comment that the obituaries of late, like this morning, for example, do include the far too many names young people. What is happening?

My heart goes out to the Guthrie family of Dover whose daughter Jenny died suddenly last week at just 34 years old. I taught some of Jenny's sisters and always admired the Guthries as down-to-earth, hard-working, good folks. I did not know the 50-something salesman at Taylor-Parker who died over the weekend, but again, I'm sure a family and a host of colleagues are feeling the pain of his sudden passing as are the loved ones of the 60-something motorcyclist from Naples who was killed in an accident last week.

We've heard it time and again, but these people's passings always remind us of the tentative nature of life and that we need to work really hard at making our time on this earth a positive experience for ourselves and for those around us.

So, I guess when I gripe about not receiving the Spokesman this morning, I ought to just shut up. The time spent reading the Good Paper to learn about all the Bad Stuff going on in the world could be spent doing something productive. Who knows---at any given moment I could end up as a morning newspaper blurb. So, I'd better quit my whining and get out there and make it a good day.

After all, life is short.