Good evening, Netizens...

At least I am speaking of those of you who haven't already fled Spokane for your favorite vacation spots, as the Labor Day weekend begins to unravel this evening. Some of my favorite neighbors have already fled the pop stand, heading for their precious “cabin on the lake” while the rest of us are still here, wondering what, if anything, we should do to celebrate a holiday that seems more synonymous with the last big fling of the summer before fall truly begins to arrive than anything of moral significance.

We could always go to Pig Out in the Park and gorge ourselves on all kinds of culinary magic, although being a Type-II Diabetic, in recent years I have come to avoid this event, simply because of my lack of self-control, rather than anything associated with that wonderful event.

Most of the kids already have gone back to school. I can hear a collective sigh that comes from their parents who, until next summer (or unless the kids get into serious trouble) have got their daytime hours back after this weekend, and daycare will now provided by the school systems. I couldn't help but notice a few parents walking their pre-school/kindergarten children to the first day in class yesterday morning, which warmed the cockles of my wicked old heart, since for some parents, that may be the last time they actually commune with their pre-pubescent offspring other than cries of outrage and confusion.

I just did a quick poll outside the Virtual Ballroom and discovered half of the neighborhood have already fled while the rest are hiding behind their porch lights, taking solace in technological mediocrity by watching television or DVD's in their living rooms. In the distance, despite what the talking heads of weather have suggested, a lonesome rain squall meanders its way across the West Plains, rain falling as virga, water that never hits the soil.

I think tomorrow I am going to write some fiction for Community Comment if for no other reason than to see if I can still do that with any effectiveness. Given some of the fiction being bandied about by our elected officials, perhaps I'll simply be keeping up with a regional trend. Of course, your results may differ.

Dave

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