I have been following the news about the massacre of 12 people in the french satirical newspaper “Charlie Hebdo” in Paris two days ago. We are now being told that the terrorists who committed this horror have been killed after being holed up in some small town north of Paris. Allegedly, they were offended by the graphic cartoons depicting Mohammed and followers in unflattering  ways. We know this because the Charlie Hebdo office has endured many threats and was fire-bombed in 2011. Unflattering might be an understatement. I have not seen the cartoons, only heard descriptions by journalists who debate the ethics of publishing offensive and possibly xenophobic material.

If the cartoons satirize religion and not an ethnic group, then I say satirize away. I imagine that god, in my version of god, would strongly encourage that all religions need a good shake-up on a regular basis. That goes for politics, which is very much like religion. You can never have enough freedom of expression, analysis, debate and and especially satire when it comes to these denizens of power.

I was in Paris a few months ago with my daughter. Viva la France. Viva liberte.

The plow truck safely parked in the barn. We had an episode this morning. Craig set out to plow the driveway after last night’s storm. We got 11 inches of snow. I saw him walking up the road which is not a good sign. The truck was stuck. Tommy wrote the book “My Dad Got Stuck”. And he tried, and he tried and he tried and then he got unstuck. It’s a good story. We drove back down the driveway in the blue truck. Tried pulling it out using the truck’s power. The plow truck tires just dug in deeper. Craig says that the road has not properly hardened so he was not able to get good traction. We went back up the driveway to retrieve the winch. Hank road shotgun. He provides a lot of emotional support. This time Craig was successful and the plow truck emerged from it’s snow cave as if nothing had happened.

I love the snow. You would think that by this time and after the many trials and tribulations through the years of stuck vehicles, storms, loss of electricity and just the elaborate maneuvering it takes to get out of the house I would prefer a sunnier climate. Last night I was driving home from work and the snow was so soft and light that it made me feel blissful. I walked into my warm and welcoming home and thanked everyone (you know god, goddesses, earth mother) for winter.

It’s a little out of focus, but there are two crocodiles relaxing on a log in a Louisiana swamp.  Visiting New Orleans with friends a few weeks ago. Sometimes, we saw crocodiles resting their heads on turtle shells. Peaceful co-existence. Could use some of that in our country right now.