I Was a Teenage Raccoon

Last night, Gordon, Stewart, and Andy made an appearance on the deck. Ken popped a couple of them with the BB gun--it doesn't hurt them, and the goal is merely to keep them off of the deck and out of the bird feeders--but late last night, they were back. As soon as I flipped on the light and opened the door, two of them scattered, leaving this poor little guy high and dry. I wasn't going to hurt him, of course, but I was able to shoot him...with my little Flip video recorder! Seriously...aren't they adorable?

Another quiet day, lots of reading, a quick trip to our library branch (which didn't have either of the two book clubs books I wanted to pick up...grrr...one is being transferred from another branch now) and then to the store, a nice conversation with my Mom. Rain looks likely, and that's okay--we need a little.

By the way, according to my Mom, it's looking increasingly unlikely that FM and CH will get back together. I guess he asked her the other day if she missed him. She said, "No. Did you miss me?" (I suspect she was wondering if he missed her both since he's been out of the house and when he was cheating on her. That certainly would have been my intent!) He said, "No." That pretty much says everything, doesn't it?

I guess what really slays me about not just this, but recent other prominent affairs like South Carolina Governor Mark Sanford, is that so many of these types pretend to be pious, religious, and devoted to God's laws. That was certainly the case with FM and CH, and apparently why he felt the need to bring up my two-decades old divorce. Oooo, that Heathen Beth, she's a horrible divorced person! Don't associate with her! Don't welcome her into your home! Give me a freakin' break. Your diversionary tactics were as transparent as a sheet of Saran Wrap, one that didn't get all wadded up when it came out of the box so that it was a big opaque glob, no...the clear flat sheet that results when you get a clean pull on the Saran Wrap and tear it tidily from the roll.

What was I saying? Oh yeah. People who pretend to be pious but are really nasty people. I'm not going to generalize here, because I've known plenty of good people who are devoutly religious, and my parents are two of them. They live their beliefs. I've also known plenty who will be happy to quote scripture to you and tell you how much they love God, but are some of the vilest, nastiest, most UNChristian people I've ever met. I've said it before and it bears repeating: Going to church doesn't make you a Christian any more than standing in your garage makes you a car. I have no use for those who judge others because of their religious beliefs or lack thereof, and if these people spent half as much time doing good in the world as they spent explaining how anyone who doesn't believe the way they do is on a one-way trip to hell, they just might make a difference instead of being nothing more than a royal pain in the ass.

[pant pant pant]

Let me clarify something, in case I've offended any dear readers. With maybe one rare exception, no one here has ever been in any way judgmental. I'm speaking of people that I have encountered in real life, most recently CH, or people in the public eye such as Sanford. I've encountered enough hypocrisy to last me a lifetime, but I know that not everyone is like that (thanks to my folks). My feeling is that if you're a nasty person and do nasty things in your life, but say that you're a Christian and you go to church...it doesn't mean that you get a Get Out of Hell Free card. I am deeply offended by those that profess to be "godly," but their behavior is anything but. I am offended on behalf of people like my parents who are devout and manage to not just talk the talk, but walk the walk. I don't agree with everything they say or believe, but there is no question that they practice what they preach. Ugly and bitter doesn't vanish in a poof of smoke just because you profess to believe in God.

Jeez, how did I get on that topic? Let me get back to my library visit.

After I walked in and started browsing, I felt a bit idiotic because I realized I had a little grin on my face. Talk about heaven on earth...I love being in libraries. Even though they didn't have the books I wanted (this was our local branch, not the main library), it was still fun to walk around and browse the titles and think about future readings. I almost checked out Crime and Punishment because Lori recommends highly that I read it, and I trust Lori's judgement when it comes to books (it's on my list, Lori, I promise!), but I've still got plenty in our bookshelves at home. I've chosen 20th Century Ghosts, a collection of short stories by Joe Hill, who is Stephen King's son, at least until my book comes in.

In what I think is a very nice segue, our book club is meeting tomorrow night, and although I'm several books behind and won't be joining in on the discussion of the current book, I'm looking forward to seeing a bunch of work pals and getting caught up with them! Ken has appointments and a business meeting tomorrow evening at which they'll be eating dinner, so this worked out perfectly. We're meeting at an Italian restaurant. Yum!