Happy Halloween!

civic duties part II

I did report today, and spent all morning in the courtroom, but I didn't get selected or even questioned for the case, in which the charges were theft and aggravated assault. One of the defense attorneys I thought I recognized, and then when he was introduced, I realized that he has a daughter my age that danced with me at ballet for years! I remember now that her dad was a lawyer, but I hadn't realized at the time that he was a public defender.

I'm very thankful that I didn't have to go on Monday--the case that was scheduled for then was a murder case. It was postponed because one of the witnesses (who resides a few states away) was ignoring his subpoena, so they were having to send the police to round him up.

I found it interesting that the judge talked about all of the crime dramas and court t.v. shows that are on now, and how we would have to put aside all our notions of how things are supposed to go, because this was real life, not a t.v. show.

I have to go tomorrow as well, because the case from today would only take one day, so a new one will start tomorrow. When you get selected for jury duty, they actually have you for the whole week. So, we'll see how tomorrow goes!

civic duties

Tomorrow morning, I have been summoned to court. To be a potential juror, that is. It should be an interesting time, I believe. I've never had jury duty before. Some people go their whole lives without ever being called. I got called 4 months after moving into town. Crazy!

What's even more crazy, is that my boss is summoned too. Isn't that wild? No doubt, we both won't be chosen (at least not for the same case). I don't think they'd put someone on the same jury as their employer :o)

I'm a little nervous just because I don't know what its going to be like. But its a pretty neat thing, our judicial system. I just pray I won't have to serve on a jury for some kind of violent crime. I'm not sure I'd be very good at handling that.

Who knows, they may not even want me...

my stay-at-home-wife

I have been blessed with every working woman's dream...my very own stay-at-home-wife :o)

Who else will be at home to meet the repairman/serviceman between the hours of 8:00 and 5:00? Who else will run to the store, pick up milk, and deposit it in my fridge--the milk magically appearing between the time I leave for work and when I return home? Who has even vacuumed for me while I've been gone? Who else has volunteered to paint rooms of my house while I'm out earning a living?

I must say, I'm blessed indeed. Thanks, stay-at-home-wife!

She's also been known to go by the name of Garden Fairy at times...

mixed emotions

Architecture is a disturbing art; it destroys places. Building sites always have the scent of sacrifice, barely masked by the hopeful and exciting smell of a new construction. It is our job to assuage the sacrifice and make building an act of understanding and adoration of the place. So in our work we concentrate on trying to achieve this difficult objective, in the hope that our buildings will seem part of the place, rather than just being sited on it, and will gain strength and meaning from the alliance.

W. G. Clark, Clark and Menefee Architects

I came home from church this afternoon to find the scent of sacrifice; two of the trees next to my house had been cut down. While I am glad that one in particular is gone (its roots were too close to my foundation & starting to crack it) I am struck by a certain sadness at the loss. Gone is the tree that used to shade my patio, the home of the birds that I listened to as they sang in the morning. The emotions I felt reminded me immediately of the author (and architect) quoted above, one I very much admire, for his theory and for his practice.

I don't know exactly what the plans are for that land, but I know it will involve some re-grading to fix some drainage problems my neighbor was having. I hope that what replaces it will somehow atone for the loss of the trees.