We subscribe to two daily print newspapers that get delivered to our door each morning. While breakfast feeds our bodies the newspapers feeds our minds. One is a local newspaper, the other a national one. And as a bonus a free community newspaper is also delivered along with these, weekly. Yesterday when Irving brought in the newspaper, he noticed a tabloid-sized paper stuffed into our mailbox, not on the hanger meant for newspapers, and he brought it into the house along with the others.

A quick glance at the name didn't ring any bells, but it did tickle one's fancy: 'Druthers'. Obviously a paper whose content is meant to satisfy the reader's often-frustrated irritation at the all-too-obvious ideological bias of the printed news by columnists who make no secret of their political orientation. Our first impression was that this might turn out to be an alternative voice we might want to subscribe to.

An impression that quickly dissipated even with a cursory glance through the sections addressing issues as disparate, yet linked, as government ineptitude, pharmaceutical companies' collaboration with big-business-loving government, the criminality of the vaccine mandates and pandemic shut-downs, how they affect our vulnerable children, and others all of like ilk. Somehow, the writers manage to slip in, here and there, references to Israel as a global predator against the poor suffering Palestinians whose time has surely come...?!

Just what any psychiatrist concerned over the mental/intellectual well-being of a population among whom an astonishing percentage of citizenry believe in conspiracy theories. As in one cannot escape the talons of Bill Gates, slavering to control our pathetic lives. Blood pressure tends to gauge the extent of outrageous statements-of-fact, to the point where the tabloid is put down with disgust. This is a publication dependent on 'volunteers' who think alike, to lend a hand in distributing the sheet to households. So then the logical train of thought turns to who among one's neighbours relies on this trash for truth and takes it upon themselves to spread its incomprehensible falsehoods....?

Spirit=cleansing remedies are always available, however. As in seeking serenity in walking through the garden, on the way out to the ravine this morning. A choice made between an early morning hike through forest trails before the extreme heat of the day sets in, or proceeding as usual, and waiting for afternoon when so many other things have been done, before setting out.

We chose a morning hike, and didn't regret it, even for a late breakfast, fully compensated by a fresh-air atmosphere, not yet over-heated and making for a pleasant several hours of wandering through the trails. A young man of considerable girth we've seen on occasion year after year with his choice of dog breed happened to be out this morning. He told us he's now the proud father of  little boy. But his interest in and affection for bull mastiffs has never waned. 

We've had some experience with these dogs in the past. They're quite gentle creatures, like to be noticed like all dogs, and appreciate being acknowledged. But they're also monstrously strong reflecting their size and musculature. In the summer their sense of curiosity and tendency to get too close, not noticing that their sheer bulk can move mountains, it's fine. In the winter when the trails are icy and slippery, it's another thing. He had a new puppy with him this time and a much larger dog that was likely a puppy when we saw him last, years ago. Dogs of this size are not very long-lived.

We encountered a number of other people long known to us, making for occasions when everyone stands in a little circle, discussing 'old times' in the ravine and people who used to come out regularly but no longer have been seen in ages. In many instances it's because people lose their dogs to illness or old age and simply don't, thereafter, feel the same urge to get out into the forest; the ghosts of their missing pets roam about on their own now.