The cast of Friday Night Lights (FNL)Preview: This show makes me wet.
Friday Night Lights on NBC, Tuesdays at
Oh God, I want him...
Oh, look, he's all concerned for a fallen player...
relies on his star quarterback
Just your typical all American boy...
I’m drooling already. I mean look at these guys. Can you say hot? Of course the coach is married and always canoodling with his wife to the point to which his comely teenage daughter is grossed out. Oh yeah, but it is good for me! Of course the quarterback has a girl friend, who is predictably a cheerleader. Okay, I gotta stop typing and wipe the drool off my keyboard. Here is a photo of them kissing.
The inexperienced second string quarterback is Matt Saracen, played by Zach Gilford. Yum.
Ohhh. He's brooding. Is he worried that he'll lose? I could comfort him...
Gaius Charles plays running back “Smash” Williams (yummier),
Nice guns Gaius!
And former Abercrombie model Taylor Kitsch plays alcoholic, bad boy running back Tim Riggins, who is also Jason’s best friend (yummiest).
So Friday night rolls around and it is the big game. Everyone is charged up for the game. The exit door is painted, “Clear Eyes, Full Hearts, Can’t Loose!!!” which the whole team chants before hitting the field. The game stays close and in the 4th quarter when Dillon gets the ball back the coach puts his star quarterback in and oh! He takes a bad hit! That’s got to hurt, people. He’s down on the field. There he goes, off in an ambulance.
Coach Taylor looking concerned over his fallen QB.
So, Coach Taylor puts Saracen in. But, little Mattie goes blank. He can’t remember how to play ball. The coach takes him aside and says, “Matt, son, I know you can do this. I want you to call this play…” By hook and by crook, and with help from the Panthers Saracen wins the game. The whole team piles into the locker room victorious and it is announced that Jason is paralyzed.
I never would have thought that the energy of that opening show could have been continued, but it has. New issues now face the team and the novice Coach Taylor. Jason’s story is still followed as he learns to accept his new disability and almost loses his girlfriend to his best friend Tim (hot).
This was a particularly hot scene where he wanted to talk, but she said that they could talk about how he was cheating with his paralyzed best friend's girl friend. 
Tim gets reamed by the Coach, and not in a good way.
Another gratuitous wet football player shot. Coach makes them all workout in the rain.
A new star quarterback now homeless due to Katrina comes to town to play for Dillon and that brings eligibility and loyalty problems as well as challenges for Matt. Matt begins to fall for the Coach’s daughter (never a good thing). Of course everybody has girlfriends (this is the football team) and some get swapped around. I guess if you had a teenager at home this show would give you a heart attack. The next episode is about homecoming. I can’t wait.
I think I will write to NBC and suggest that they introduce a gay character or two. That would certainly be timely and dramatic. Don’t you think?
Anyone for a fourgy?
So, this is how it goes at my house after that show airs:
Sue: Um Sean? Honey? Could you come here for a minute?
Sean: What?
Sue: Sweetheart, I need you.
Sean: Is it that damned show again? I’ll be right up.
And I know he will.
Fortunately, that was the roughest delivery I had. We had been taught in sales school that we would have to enter the house, ripping the box of books open and dumping the books on the floor while saying, “Hey, Mrs. Jones, kids! Here are the books you ordered!” and making a big scene by unwrapping each book to intimidate them into paying the remainder of the tab. I hardly ever had to resort to this tactic. My sales were all very solid. Folks were happy to see me and the books they had bought. They had the cash ready and in hand to pay me. When I left, they were all smiles.
The end of the day was welcome after making deliveries. It was going really well; the woman with the shot gun was the only dissatisfied customer. Jeff turned down my street and as we approached the house he said in a somewhat incredulous tone, “Is that your boyfriend?”
I saw Evan on his motorcycle in the driveway, waiting for me. He really looked cool on that bike.
“Yup. That’s Evan.” I answered. “Why?”
“Did you know that he is the main pot dealer in the county? I mean, I sell to my high school, and he supplies me.”
“What? You’ve got to be joking. Evan?” I didn’t know what to think.
“Yeah, he’s the guy. You ought to be careful around him. I mean, not that he’s dangerous or anything. I guess I’m just surprised you’re hooked up with him.” With that last comment we pulled up to the house. I thanked Jeff and got out of the car. Jeff waved to Evan, and Evan seemed to make a connection as he waved back. Jeff drove off quickly.
“What are you doing with that guy?” Evan asked pointing in the direction Jeff left in.
“Oh, I hired Jeff to help deliver my books since I don’t have a car.” I answered as calmly as possible. I thought better of asking Evan if or how he knew Jeff, even though they had waved to each other. I wasn’t exactly sure whether or not to believe Jeff’s accusation about Evan, and I didn’t really have too much time to think about it. I certainly didn’t want to let it slip to Evan that I had any suspicions about him.
Evan said, “I dropped by to see if you wanted to go out tonight. A joint North of town is having a band; we could both go on my bike.”
“Sure, let me get a jacket and drop off my sales case.”
Moments later we rode off on Evan’s bike. When we got to the small bar it was packed with people. The air was smoky, which usually I detest, but I was thrilled to be there with Evan. Jeff’s accusations must have been at least overstated. Evan bought us some beers and we listened to the music. It was very loud, hard rocking, rock and roll. It was too crowded to dance, and no space had been cleared between the tables. Evan kept one hand on my waist and pulled me closely in front of him as we listened. He pressed my ass to his groin and we swayed to the music. I was really getting turned on as he breathed into my ear. I leaned my head back against his chest and closed my eyes. My god, I was falling for him.
Land Trust Builds Bluebird Box Trail
Our town’s Land Trust is putting together an Eastern Bluebird box trail. The state has donated the wood for construction of nesting boxes. Twenty boxes have been built by our local Girl Scout Troop and more are planned. Land Trust members are assembling the posts and predator guards with materials they have donated, and installing them at proper locations around town. The one pictured is in our local cemetery.
Eleven have been installed so far. The next step is to begin a project where towns’ people, including children can adopt a box to monitor and clean throughout the year. That way we will know how many bluebirds we have nesting in our area.
Bluebirds are here in our town, we have all seen them. They visit the blackberry bushes in my yard and must live somewhere close by. We may even put a nesting box near our koi pond and see what happens. We also have other birds that may use the boxes such as tree swallows and wrens. Our neighbors have a box up and a pair of bluebirds nests in it.
Walgreens Pharmacy Update
Today, the First Selectman will break ground on the new Walgreens Pharmacy project with a shovel painted gold. 
Reportedly the contractor presented the citizens' group's reworked plan to the Planning & Zoning Commission and that is what will be built. I will post photographs of the finished building.
Cumberland Farms Gas Station Update
An impressive list of expert witnesses have been gathered by the citizen's group's lawyer. So much so that the depositions have been postponed by Cumberland Farms. The hearing date to challenge the appellants is in January.
The next day was cool, sunny and beautiful and I felt terrific. We gathered all of our dive and snorkel gear into the trunk of the caddy and drove to the Silent World part of the dock at
With all passengers aboard we launched and headed out of the marina. As we were heading out the dive plans were explained by our dive master. We were going to see Christ of the Abyss, the most famous dive site in all of the Keys. The statue was an exact replica of one that stands in the
As we were motoring out, everyone was donning their wetsuits and so did
I entered the water and immediately I was cold. But, I knew I had to swim to stay warm and get to the statue. So I focused on where I was and what there was to see. I was surrounded by beautiful brain corals and I had to be careful not to get swept up onto them by the waves as I swam ahead. I swam between them, in the valleys, if you will. What fish I saw! Sean drew my attention to a passing turtle and we followed it for a while.
We saw a large French angel fish (ohhhh pretty!) and pretty much all of the same common fish we saw on
Again, I was mesmerized. I could spend my whole life snorkeling. The water softly rippling causing soft shawdos and the fish swimming slowly or darting quickly, but always with grace and all of the beautiful colors: I just love being underwater.
Finally we reached the statue. It was a bit deeper than I was willing to dive with my recent sinusitis, but awesome nonetheless.
On my way back to the boat I started to get cold again. I could feel the water coming into my wetsuit through the collar which tended to gape open a bit as I moved forward. By the time I got back onto the boat my teeth were chattering. I put my towel on my shoulders and there was some hot coffee and that helped warm me up a bit. Our next dive site was the elbow and a visit to the wreck of the City of
It was not far from where we were, and before we knew it we were there and catching our mooring. The divers were setting up to go in again. I was ready. So, I got in and all I could see of the wreck were the ribs of the boat. Pretty boring if you ask me.
Sean and I met up and decided to follow a lone barracuda to a nearby light tower to see if there would be more fish there. Off we swam together, enjoying each others’ company in our little adventure together. Hey look over there! It’s another barracuda! And another! I thought to myself. Suddenly we were in the middle of a huge school of them. They were circling the tower. I came to a dead stop and do did Sean. We were hugely out numbered and every fish was a monster bigger than me! There must have been thousands of them. I felt very small and prey like, just like an intruder in their world.
Sean and I surfaced and I said, “Let’s get the fuck out of here!” He nodded and off we swam. I grabbed onto him just so that our mass would seem bigger to any barracuda even thinking of coming in for a taste. (I know that barracuda are not known for attacking humans, but I was really scared and you would have been too.) We swam as quickly as possible for the dive boat which was pretty quick. I got out of the water; thank god it was for the last time today.
I squirmed out of my wetsuit and dried off, put on my dry clothes and fleece jacket. Oh to be warm again; what a great feeling. I was a bit distracted by the blond dive master stripping off his wetsuit. Thoughts of ‘take it all off’ came to mind. He had these really neat little reddish blond body hairs on his tanned chest, legs and arms. Yummy! I wanted to see much more. Okay, focus Sue, focus.
Why does it always seem like it takes so much longer to get back to the dock than it did to go out? Well eventually we got back, rinsed our gear in the fresh water troughs provided at the dock, and put it back in the trunk of the caddy. We were only out for two morning dives, but I felt as if I had been out for a whole day already I was so tired from being sick. Back we drove to the Hungry Pelican so I could report my successful dive to the owner. It’s nice to make someone proud and he was.
Next time – we go out in rough weather!
Mary, Chris and I had cardboard boxes of all of the books we sold delivered to the Sanders’ house before delivery week. We stored them in the central hallway adjacent to the stairs. Mary still had more books coming. It was such a huge pile of books! It as like a wall of cardboard and the Sanders remarked that they were astounded that we had sold so many. We tried to separate them into which ones belonged to whom.
When Jeff arrived, we loaded up his Impala’s trunk with the boxes of books for our first delivery run.
Early during delivery week, I returned the bike I had borrowed. I had had to replace the tires and had it all tuned up at a local bike shop. It was, however, still stuck in third gear. The man who owned the bike was shocked to see me return it.
“I thought that when you rode off on it, that would be the last I ever saw of it or you.” he said. “You have restored my faith in humanity, little girl.” He was amazed at the work I had done on the bike and how far I had ridden it during the summer. “I’m sure it came to better use than sitting in my breezeway.” he noted.
As we drove off, I said to Jeff, “Well, we might as well deliver to the one house I sold to in the projects today. It is on our way.”
“You sold books in the projects? Wait, you mean to tell me you went into the projects, alone?”
“Yeah. The sale was easy, but the woman had no money for a deposit and gave me one of her old shoes.” I opened my sales case and pulled out the shoe to show Jeff. He glanced over from driving and shook his head.
“Well, leastways I will return her shoe.”
“It’s not worth anything, so why bother?”
“We made a bargain, and I will keep my half and return this shoe. We’re going into the projects; it is only one house any how.”
“Okay, but I suggest that you deposit what you’ve collected so far today in the bank before we go in the projects.”
“Do you really think we need to do that?”
“Yup. It would be foolish to go in there with any cash on us, or without a weapon.”
“Weapon?” I asked.
“Yeah, see that baseball bat in the back. I always carry it. You never know when you’ll need it, and I’ll feel better knowing that its there when we go into the projects.”
I looked over the back of my seat, and sure enough there was a heavy wooden baseball bat on the floor of the car. It looked brand new.
Jeff and I drove to the Citizens’ and Southern Bank to deposit all of the money in my blue-black zippered vinyl money collection envelope before we went to deliver to the one house I sold to in the projects. We had collected about a thousand dollars so far. It felt good to put it safely in the bank, and the bank cashier was so happy to see me when I walked in with so much cash. Jeff suggested that we take a Family Bible Library set out of the trunk here, in the bank’s parking lot, rather than when we got to the projects. He looked pretty serious about it, and I figured I’d just trust his judgment.
We got the set out of the trunk, put it on the floor of the front seat and hopped back into the old green Impala. Off we drove to the projects. The house I had sold to was only a handful of blocks from the bank. We pulled up in front of the house. Even though it was mid afternoon, no one was about. Jeff put the car in park and looked over at me nervously.
“Make it quick.” he suggested.
“Don’t worry, it will be fine.” I picked up the FBL set and the shoe and walked up to the door of the house. I knocked. The door did not open, but I heard noises inside.
“Shhh, honey, get away from the door and be quiet.” It was a whispered voice of the woman I had sold to from inside of the house.
“Hi there Mrs. Jones.”, I said. “It’s Sue Fairview. Remember you ordered some books from me and I’m here to deliver them?” I tried to speak loudly enough that she could hear me, without yelling.
“Do you have my shoe? Did you bring my shoe with you?” Her voice seemed fearful and aggressive.
“Yes, Ma’am. I have it right here.” I held out the shoe in front of me as if she could see it through the still closed door.
“Now you listen to me! I have a shotgun pointed at you right through this door. You leave that shoe on the stoop right there, and get out of here, so no one gets hurt. You leave that shoe, or I’ll shoot!”
‘Yes ma’am. I’m leaving it right here, ma’am.” I said as quickly as I could. I put the shoe on the concrete stoop theatrically, in case some on was watching, and backed off immediately. I walked briskly back to the car. I did not run. I felt that running would escalate the situation. Jeff leaned over to my side and pushed the door open before I got there. I slid in, slammed the door and said, “Let’s get out of here!” He did not hesitate to follow this instruction, and even seemed to have his drive out of there planned. I took one more look as we drove away. I saw the door open slightly. A black woman’s hand darted out and grabbed the shoe, pulling it back into the house. The door closed as quickly as it had opened.
“What happened back there?” Jeff asked me as we reached safer neighborhoods.
“She told me she had a shotgun pointed at me through the door and to leave the shoe on the stoop.”
“Thank God nothing happened! I told you it was a mistake to go back there. You risked your life to return that stupid old shoe. That bitch would have shot you for that damn shoe.”
“You were right.” I said dejectedly. But still I felt that returning the shoe to its owner was very right. I never should have been there to take it. It was as if the world order that had been disturbed the day that I took the shoe, was now restored. The shame I felt in taking it was lifted, especially since I had risked my life to restore the order.
At first I had been afraid when the woman claimed to have a gun. But that fear passed when I left the shoe on the stoop.
small.jpg)
Courage, strength, fortitude. Power not arrested in the act of judgement, but passing on to further action, sometimes obstinacy.
This is a card of courage and energy. It represents both the Lion's hot, roaring energy, and the Maiden's steadfast will. The innocent Maiden is unafraid, undaunted, and indomitable. In some cards she opens the lion's mouth, in others she shuts it. Either way, she proves that inner strength is more powerful than raw physical strength. That forces can be controlled and used to score a victory is very close to the message of the Chariot, which might be why, in some decks, it is Justice that is card 8 instead of Strength. With strength you can control not only the situation, but yourself. It is a card about anger and impulse management, about creative answers, leadership and maintaining one's personal honor. It can also stand for a steadfast friend.
