The vioce from beyond the walls and razorwire

Those who know me, know that one of my best friend's lives on death row. My very first post was about a New Years visit I had with him last year entitled New Years in prison and the food was real good... Anyone who is interested, I have one other blog post about him called: Jailhouse Blog

I thought it was a great idea to start him his own blog, and as far as I knew there were no rules against it. (Finally-- an advantage to the slow wheels of bureaucracy!) I wanted people to see him as I did. To raise awareness of what we are doing in our "justice system". We began his blog earlier this year, it's called Life in Xanadu, http://lifeinxanadu.blogspot.com/. On his blog, he calls himself BD. for security reasons he is not able to communicate with complete abandon about who he his, his life and how he got where he is. Some things will have to remain mysterious.

BD is one of the most incredible people I have ever met. EVER. He has had the most insane and intense life imaginable. Still, he is kind patient, and loving and strives every day to learn and make a difference in any way he can. He has more self control than anyone I've ever met. His instincts are keen and he can discern instantly what is ok and what is not and adjust his behavior accordingly. A skill I've been working on most of my life with little success. (I am over emotional and therefore reactionary) BD is strong inside and out. He is in great physical and spiritual shape. He has unbelievable insight into the universal soul. He is my best friend, my counselor and my chosen brother. I pray that he gets released... someday. Nobody deserves it more.

I can go on and on like this, but I won't. What I really came here to say today is that he is going to send me a new post for his blog next week. I was hoping his blog would show more of HIM as his letters and writing do.... I would like the world to relate to him, to see him as HUMAN. To understand that these are not monsters we are housing and mistreating, they are actual people. He has chosen to focus more on Capital Punishment issues, and that makes perfect sense. I support that in every way I can. As time goes on, I hope his readers will get more glimpses into his true core. His beautiful mind and spirit. He shows me everyday, just by being who he is how sacred life is, and I find myself more human and grateful because of it. You will too.
Keep your eye on: http://lifeinxanadu.blogspot.com/

I've been crying all day... that must be why we have so many watermelons

I swear to you, I said those actual words... out loud... today..

But here's the thing, I was saying it literally, not a joke. A sentence that tickles my funny bone in just the right way it's almost cosmic- sounding more like a mad lib than the truth, but there it is. The truth really is stranger than fiction.

I was having one of those really bad days, where your eyeballs just sweat continually from the moment that you wake up. I had myself a nice little anxiety attack last night and didn't get to sleep till about 4 am. So, basically, I was just one big mess today.

Since the birth of my son, I have cut ties with all of my unhealthy relationships/friendships and I've found, sadly, that there were very few REAL friends left. I feel more than lucky to have made at least a few good solid choices in the friendship arena. And despite my new found social psychosis, I've made a couple of new friends too.

I've made 3 new friends, two men and one woman. The woman and one of the men are a couple and are the proprietors of the little store on the corner of my street. They are magickal wonderful neighbors and have always shown my Harley such tenderness, joy and patience it makes my heart full and my eyes water...(again) They are the Lawrence's, Janie and Israel. The Lawrence's have closed up shop since sometime last year. In fact I think it's coming up on a year the store has been closed. However, Mr. Lawrence comes up to check on the store, pick up the litter, trim the grass and etc. He will usually stop over, but he is kind of shy about coming to the door. If I don't see him pull up, he will go and try another time. He never comes empty handed either. He always leaves a melon or some oranges or Cheetos for Harley. (Cheetos are his favorite!) I believe the Lawrence's miss ole Harley. We saw them every day for over 2 years walking to and from the post office. And although they are not too much older than I am, their presence in my life has always been a comfort, like family elders. I miss them a lot. I miss them being a part of our everyday routine.

The other man, is Bethel Ransom. He is a kind kind man, and funny too. He usually makes me laugh about something or other. He is a local farmer. He works in the fields alongside others and transports his wares (fruits and veggies) to various locations, which thankfully include our house... an unscheduled stop! He sometimes does a little roadside selling out of his truck, but he hasn't been doing that too much this summer. If I don't see him by the roadside in a while, I know he'll be stopping by soon. Sometimes just to say hi. He always has a "little something" for us. Sometimes he visits when we aren't home. And we know this because.... he leaves his calling card. A melon, some greens (and I mean fresh greens with dirt still on them!) or some other tasty seasonal treat.

This will tie together, I promise. Ok so, I'm on the phone, bawling to my mother about my woes, when up drives Mr. Ransom. I was outside on the porch at the time, talking and smoking or I probably would not have known he was there. So, I get off the phone tp greet him. --I think my eyes stayed dry for about 2 seconds. I just could not hold back the torrent. I normally hate seeing people in that condition, even friends, but I couldn't very well ignore him either. So I smiled and tried to wing it. I ended up bawling on his shoulder. And in return, he gave me some good insights, a hug, a map to the local au pair's place, and of course, a melon... on the house. How great is he? Pretty great.

Ok so, my hub and Harley come home a few hours later and announce that there are two more melons sitting on my Jeep! I'm sure this must have been Israel. How crazy is that? Do they have the friend having a bad day radar turned up or does bad news travel fast in our fare town? Either way, we are blessed and it made us giggle. Harley and the hub saw the two melons on their way in from adventures and Harley came in screaming "MOM!! MOM!! MR. RANSOM'S BEEN HERE!! THE MELONS ARE ON YOUR CAR!!!!" (This is more exciting than the tooth fairy.)

I am now thinking silly thoughts like "Oh, cry me a river... of watermelons.... Watermelons a go-go... again?..... Damn Harley could eat his weight in watermelons, and then some!... We each get a watermelon all to ourselves! None of it makes no sense at all, but now a smile is on my face, a warm fuzzy in my cockles and I do feel better.

And I swear, its all true, can you beat that?!