I don’t think anyone would argue that lately our country — our WORLD — seems like it’s turned into the Hell Express. Hatred, intolerance, general ugliness that fuels hate fire and all too often results in death and destruction. I’m not much of a news-watcher these days, generally keeping up on events with a quick scan of local or national news websites. Or, (and I feel superbly ashamed to admit this) many news “tips” come from scrolling Facebook, seeing someone repost or comment on something. Despite my inaction, I do, in fact, aspire to be a well-informed citizen and decided to make an effort to watch the news this morning.

First topic was Trump’s acceptance speech at the RNC last night, which I completely expected. Next story was (another!) shooting — this time an African-American healthcare worker, who had been trying to assist a distressed, autistic client. I’d heard of this the other day, but as this man’s attorney and supervisor (I think… I missed his introduction) recounted and reacted to the incident, my blood began to boil. What had he done wrong? And, I have obviously missed something in the story, but why were police called to this situation to begin with? I’m guessing because the client was sitting in the middle of the street, refusing to move and causing a public disturbance. The man clearly stated who he was and what was happening, yet for some reason, an officer pulled the trigger. Now, don’t start lumping me into any specific ” — Lives Matter” category, because I’ll say right here and right now that I feel ALL lives matter. Every life. I believe people shouldn’t be assumed to be dangerous based on other incidents. I also believe that a person armed with a weapon should be able to defend himself/herself if there is a threat to his/her well-being, or those around them. Sure, there are always going to be questions — to what degree should they defend themselves? At what point? Define “threat to their well-being.” I know these are horribly tense, complicated situations that often have to be dealt with in seconds. Split-seconds. I know I couldn’t do it, and I have the utmost respect for the people who are trained and able to quickly assess dangerous situations, making those split-second decisions that have the best possible outcome for all involved. But this isn’t my point today. My point is that hearing about this latest situation gone awry pushed me over the edge. I’m on violence overload, people, and I need to take a mental break. Sensational media thrives on being just that: sensational. And I’m not talking fabulous-sensational, I’m talking about shocking-sensational — bringing viewers as much shocking, appalling, graphic information as possible. With this media hellstorm literally at our fingertips, we often have no buffer between the ugliest news of the day and our hearts. And some days, my heart hurts too much.  I need a chance to step away for a few minutes, shake off the awfulness and re-focus on the GOOD and the LOVE that surrounds us.

So, first, here’s this:

Sleepy puppy — giving me the evil eye because I dared sneak up on her to take a photo. Whatever. She’s sleeping off the two miles we logged this morning out and around the neighborhood. You’re welcome, Stella.

And, because puppies and kittens are ambassadors of cuteness,… may I present our cat-niece Luna:

Speaking of nieces, our human niece Chloe celebrated her 15th birthday yesterday. Her mother — my amazing SIL Jenny — honored the occasion with a Facebook pictorial that was all kinds of awesome. While there’s one other photo that claims all-time favorite status, this one stopped me in my tracks and literally turned my day around:

That’s a hellalotta fabulousness to pack into three years of life!

Next, an unedited photo of sunset at the lake, July 02, 2016:

Gorgeous, yes?

Finally, I’ll close with a meme that jumped off the screen at me the first time I read it. Credit goes to Rachel Macy Stafford at http://www.handsfreemama.com:

We aren’t here to judge.

“Why, then, do you judge your brother? Or why do you belittle your brother? For we will all stand before God’s judgment seat.”   Romans 14:10

We’re here to love one another.

“This is My commandment, that you love one other as I have loved you.”  John 15:12

There’s so much badness out there, but there’s also goodness.

There are puppies and kittens.

And birthdays.

And sunsets.

And love. Choose love. Choose love next. And over, and over, and over again until it’s all you do.