Sportin' a Woody

Good day at work today until a particular thorn in my side called to ask if we were going to have THIS in the paper (yes) and if we were going to have THAT in the paper (yes), and then to make some reference to two reporters we used to have. By the end of the phone call, my teeth were on edge.

(What does that mean, exactly? "My teeth were on edge." Sounds really stoopid. Glad I used that phrase, just to add to my annoyance.)

: )

Anyhoo, then I came home and saw a woodpecker doing his (her?) thing on the edge of my roof.

That, however, did NOT set my teeth on edge.

I tried to take a shot from my car with the Olympus, so as not to disturb old Woody whilst he was peck-peck-pecking away, but ... dead battery. So I snuck around the house to get the Kodak, but of course, by the time I slipped back into the backyard, he was gone.

He came back, though.

I dunno, having a bird pecking at my roof or eve or whatever it is (there is supposed to be a gutter there, actually) seems somewhat destructive, but I thought it was pretty cool. Especially when I magnified the photos and realized how the little guy (gal?) was hanging on and contorting in order to be able to peck.

: )

Feeling sad/let down. Found out a former student of mine, probably the best writer I have ever had in class, was indicted in federal court on methamphetamine charges. Not too long after her father was sentenced to umpteen years in prison on similar charges.

This girl is bright and funny and cute and smart and talented, and I really like her.

I do not want her to have done this.

I want her to have made better choices than this.