Ignorance of the Law….

 ,,,apparently can earn you a suspended sentence and probation now. Adil Rashid, 18, reportedly raped a 13 year old girl and received  such a light sentence because he was educated in a Muslim school that taught him that women were no better than animals and it is all right to subject them to such treatment.  I haven’t followed this story, but are my UK friends as shocked by this as I am?  
It’s been a looong week here.  Work was busy, and hot this week.  For those of you who don’t know, I am a correctional officer (re: prison guard) at a women’s facility here.  This week was rife with fighting, attempted suicide, heat related illnesses, seizures and other fun stuff.  As a "key officer" I get to move all over, acting as a problem solver in a lot instances.  It’s good in that they have that kind of faith in me, but from 5:30 am til noon yesterday, my pedometer showed that I walked 6.8 miles.  I work until six pm, and didn’t check past that time, so I’m not sure how many miles I logged yesterday.  Just know that out of twelve and a half hours, I didn’t get to sit down at all, and my 30 minute break was interrupted before it  began when a young lady with tourrett’e’s syndrom decided to have a grand mal seizure in front of me.  So, I stood by until medical staff arrived, and then it was time to move on to the next crisis. And since our prisons are not air conditioned and it’s already in the 80’s here, it was hot and humid all week. Busy is not unusual, but this week was a bit crazy.
To add to my feeling that the world is going nuts, one of the boys’ friends, Dylan, was arrested for robbery three days ago.  Drugs.  I know that we are responsible for our decisions, and Dylan is a legal adult, but he was introduced to drugs at a young age and it’s affected his decision making capabilities since.  Not taking blame off of him, he knew what he was doing, but I wish I could just burn down every drug house around.  It’s a factor, no matter where else we lay blame.  Thank you, Lord, that Brad seems to have finally realized where that stuff leads you.
Home-wise, things are going really well except for monetarily.  However, and I’ve said this before, if lack of money is my only problem, I have no problems.  Fighting with my homeowners insurance over the amount needed to fix the storm damage of a few weeks ago.  We’ll see.
It’s 6:44 am here, and the day is beginning with me on the front porch, listening to birdsong, sipping a cup of coffee and OpenDiary.  I’m looking at Cheryl’s rose bush in full bloom, remembering when we planted it all those years ago.  I’m enlarging the one rosebush into a small rose garden, with her roses as the "centerpeice".   It will have a small sitting area for me.  I love being able to sit in the garden in the morning;  having a cup of coffee while planning my day, or just to relax and remember our years together.  For a few minutes a week it’s a peaceful haven from a hectic world, where I can escape down memory lane, like us old folks do, lol.  Roses are my memory flower.  Judy, my first wife,  used to sing a little song to our son Austin, "If you love me, if you love, love, love me; plant a rose for me.  And if you think you’ll love me for a long, long time, plant an apple tree".   And so, in my yard I have roses in memory of those I love who have gone before; Cheryl, Mom, Dad, the grandmothers, and Austin.  I had an apple tree, but it didn’t make it.  Another one is in the gardening plans for next year, hopefully it will do better.  Helpful hint: go to a reputable nusery for your gardening needs, not Wal Mart.
Ah, it’s time to move now and let life intrude on this very tranquil start to the day.  I hope you all have a wonderful weekend.  Be healthy, happy and safe – John