Looking Ahead.....

This weekend is approaching with the excitement mounting inside me. I am so excited that I am going on a trail ride with some girls from the horse lovers message board. So, while our last few weekends have been busy with doing things for others and with others - I am getting some "me" time and getting to spend it with my horse Hannah. The only thing that would be any better is if Jessie were at a point that she could go.....she'll get there again one day and Shelby will too! This week our elections have made headlines and provided abundant fodder for the analysts, journalists and other interested parties. It's not that I'm not interested but I'm just not very politically motivated. This campaign season tried to pull me in whether I wanted to or not. Our democratic candidate for State Supreme Court was running an ad which contained a song running in the background. The song was the oh-so-well-known children's church song "This Little Light of Mine". Her ad's focused on her experience as a judge as well as her personal life as a church pianist. My daughter's would hear the ad and immediately begin singing...it was kinda cute but then snap back to reality that it was a campaign ad that had them lulled into singing their church song. Kind of an oxymoron - dontcha think? Anyway, this same ad had a blurb in it about her house being firebombed at one point in her career as a judge. My oldest daughter has a heart of gold and was truly concerned about the fate of the judge's family and her home after this "fire bombing". She asked me numerous times if I could "find out what happened"....I did a quick search of the internet and came up pretty empty. So, I went to the candidate's website. (You might be asking why I keep saying "her" and "candidate"??? It's just that if anyone is searching for this person on the web, I don't want my blog to be a hit for them in the search.....not interested in any political ties or torture as a result of this post) The website was a dead end as well...so I e-mailed the campaign office and did not hear anything back. Some time passed and my Mom and I happened to be discussing the candidate's and this whole series of events came up. My Mom was a little miffed that I had not heard anything back from the campaign office.....and just as luck would have it, she had a little free time on her hands that day. She began making some calls and was running into dead ends and even "butt ends" as she relayed that someone in the campaign office was less than cordial when she inquired. Next thing I knew she was asking me to look up the library number to the candidate's hometown. Apparently there was an article in the candidate's hometown paper and the library there should be able to provide it. She relayed to me later the librarian was a little hesitant to discuss the life and times of the towns seemingly favorite daughter. It's a small town, they are family friends, they go to church together and I know that in small towns you live and die by the garden club, your church and the beauty shop! So, Lord bless the librarian for her loyalty to her friend and town but also for her dutifulness as she sent us the article which she had to retype into an e-mail to be able to send to us. The article explained no one was home at the time and the damage was minimal. They felt the suspect was probably someone who had been in her court however I don't believe anyone was ever charged. I will say I'm not sure that this firebombing was as sensational of a headline once the details were unearthed but it sure sounded good in the ad and got your attention (at least my daughter's and in turn ours). At any rate, I am glad my Mom didn't have to have the interview with the B'ham reporter who was chomping at the bit to interview her and find out why no one would divulge the details of this firebombing...I'm glad Jessie got her answer....I'm glad the good librarian helped us all.....I'm glad the candidate only donated $300 to John Kerry instead of several thousands and Dear Lord I'm glad the ads are over. May "This Little Light of Mine" never be exploited again! PS - she won the election....may her values and hometown roots guide her in her decisions and in the relationships she is about to cultivate.