She Brought her Little Friend

By Thursday, Casey and I are both fried by the events of the past few weeks. A job and a half for me. Two college courses for Casey. Mostly, we are disheartened by the uneasy news about the people we love most. Two broken bones. Radiation treatment. Precancerous growths. Colon surgery. I dream of a plane hitting our cul-de-sac in the full light of day, and wake up to see Casey safely slumbering beneath a mountain of New Zealand down. The Wonder Dog groans at me for disrupting her REM sleep.

We need some levity, so it seems apropros that tonight is the first class of the Citizen Sheriff’s Academy. We arrive late and find seats in the back of the room. A video set to upbeat rock music depicts local deputies in various stages of on-the-job action. Next to us sits a young woman; pencil in hand, she scratches notes onto a her lined pad in giant, loopy cursive, flashing us a quick smile. She tells us she’s the cop reporter for the local paper, and asks us a few questions.The next morning we search sleepily for the article and discover just the levity we need. Check it out here. I'm so glad I brought my little friend.