Tuesday, February 22, 2011

Tuesday Twitterdeedumsnow


Winter has returned.  Snow is falling---I heard on this morning's resort report there's an inch an hour coming down up there on the mountain at Schweitzer.  It's coming down at a pretty good clip here too.

The last few snowfalls around here have been left untouched to dissipate on their own.  This looks like a plowing day, especially since snow is forecast for the next three days, followed by the frigid zone---single digits and maybe even a dip below zero.

Gotta stay ahead of the game. 

~~~~~

Debbie just dropped off the dogs.  She gets to escape the snow in favor of rain.  She's headed to Portland for a week-long conference.  I hope she has a safe trip to the airport. 

~~~~~~

This morning the inordinate amount of bad news seems to continue.

To add to last night's full dose of upheaval around the world, I've read this morning that pirates have killed the two couples they recently kidnapped----one couple is from Seattle.

I also watched in horror last night as a You-Tube video showed the earthquake devastation in what's being called New Zealand's 9-11.  

Naturally, when anything bad happens in New Zealand, our family is particularly upset because of our experiences and ties with the country.

The unrest and violence in the Libyan revolution feels extremely upsetting.  If only the resolution could go as well as what we witnessed in Egypt.  

This morning's USA Today features another unsettling story.  My brother was interviewed (not named) in this story.  

It's about one of his 1966 West Point classmates and former Pentagon official who was murdered in late December. His body thrown in a Delaware garbage dumpster.

Mike provided personal reflections to the reporter about his friend, Jack Wheeler.  

John "Jack" Wheeler III was one of a group of cadets featured in Rick Atkinson's phenomenal book The Long Gray Line.  Atkinson followed the cadets through their West Point experience and subsequently for about 25 years after they left the academy. 

Over the years, my brother has kept in touch with Jack Wheeler, along with his many other classmates.  Before his murder Wheeler had distinguished himself in many facets of government and civic activities, most notably his push behind the Vietnam Wall in Washington, D.C.

The story "Who Killed Jack Wheeler"  http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/2011-02-22-1Awheeler22_CV_N.htm focuses on  the continued mystery and lack of information behind his brutal murder.

The author chronicles Wheeler's activities leading up to the murder and discovery of his body. My brother plans to attend his memorial service at Arlington in late April. 
There seems to be no end to the demonstrations in Wisconsin.  This is definitely a power struggle, which is being watched closely by teachers and public employees across the country.

Finally, I must point to www.spokesman.com/blogs/hbo/ this morning.  After scrolling down a ways, viewers can see a photo of a gathering in Coeur d'Alene yesterday afternoon where North Idaho educators marched and voiced their opposition to the Idaho Superintendent Tom Luna's plan to overhaul public education in our state.

The speaker in the photo is one of my former students, Brian Smith. He's representing the local education association. Brian is a tremendous young man, teacher, father and citizen. 

The photo was taken by another fine young man---one of my former students, also one of Brian's 1995 SHS classmates.  The photographer is  my son, William Love.

As a mother and an empathizing, retired public school teacher, I am extremely proud of both of these young men and their colleagues who are fighting the good fight for their beliefs and for some common sense in plotting the future for education in Idaho. 

Lots of unsettling and tragic stuff happening around our world.  I hope we can see some positive outcomes for at least some of them.  In some cases, there may be unanswered questions forever.

I do have one tidbit of good news.  I've just looked out the window, and the snow has stopped falling----for a while anyway.

P.S.  Thank you, Connie, for answering correctly.  The top picture in yesterday's posting was upside down.  You can get away with that, to a certain extent, when reflections are so defined.  Of course, the mountains are on the wrong side of the picture, so therein lies the clue.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

But, but...if you flip the picture bottom to top, the mountains are still on the wrong side. What kinda clue is that?

Florine

MLove said...

Did you go standing on your head, Florine?