December 15, 2012

Desert Sky

I have been trying to wrap my head around the senseless school shooting that occurred in Newtown Connecticut on Friday, December 14.  News reports state that all the victims were killed up close by multiple rifle shots.  I just don’t understand how a human being can inflict so much pain and suffering to other human beings especially children.   So many people are asking why this person (I refuse to use his name) did this horrible thing.  We may never know and I really don’t think knowing would bring any kind of solace or closure to the people who lost loved ones.  It is a shame that these people with messed up minds just don’t kill themselves and not involve innocent people. 

When something like this massacre happens my initial reaction is what kind of a world do we live in?  But then as time goes by I begin to see the beauty in the world again.  If we didn’t have that coping and healing ability we would not want to go on living.  As for me, I’m going to give my granddaughters a little tighter hug the next time I see them.

Weather-wise it was a miserable day, rainy and cold.  We went to my daughter’s house in the late afternoon after having stopped at the mall near where she lives.  I have been looking to buy a pair of light-weight pants for hiking but have not been able to find the type I was looking for in any of the sporting goods stores we have been to.   I had noticed last time I was at that mall there was a Sports Chalet but we were in a hurry and didn’t have time to check it out.  This time round we made a point of allowing extra time and I found just the pants I was looking for with a zippered section that allows them to be turned into shorts.  As an added bonus, the price was very reasonable. 

I brought all the ingredients needed to make spinach pies, a family favorite and something that Renee, my daughter, had specifically requested I make.  The recipe comes from a long-time friend, Erma.  It is very time consuming but well worth the effort.  Although we call them “pies” the spinach and feta filling is placed in the phyllo dough and are rolled to the size of a short fat cigar.  As soon as we had enough rolled for a tray we popped them in the oven and by the time they had baked and cooled we had made enough for four more trays.  When going through the trouble to make them we always make extras.  They freeze well uncooked.

After stuffing ourselves we watched a Walking Dead marathon.  The show is one of our favorites.  We hadn’t been able to see any of season three because the show airs on AMC and we don’t have cable in our rig.  I mentioned it to Renee when we first arrived in Arizona.   She had never seen the show so she watched the first two seasons over the course of the last two weeks in preparation for our marathon. The twins are with their dad this weekend so it was the perfect time to watch the shows.  It is NOT for children.   The story is based on a comic book of the same name.  It takes place in Georgia and centers around a deputy who awakens from a coma in a hospital to find the world dominated by flesh-eating “walkers”.  He sets out to find his family and encounters many other survivors along the way.  The plot is focused primarily on the dilemmas they face as they struggle to balance their humanity with their survival and how they cope with some members being killed.  It also shows how they deal with other human survivors they encounter who are dangerous and predatory. 

We finished up with the mid-season finale cliffhanger at midnight.  We left tired, horrified and totally grossed out.  It had been a good evening.