Jury Duty - Not a $$$ Maker

I got a letter in the mail from the Jury Commission. I have to be available for jury duty in December. I guess it's a good thing we weren't planning any trips! I've never had jury duty and really wouldn't mind if I were called to sit on a jury. Everyone here at the office tells me I probably won't get called because most scheduled trials end up getting settled before they actually happen. I guess we'll see.

The thing that I find highly entertaining/irritating about jury duty is this. If I get called to sit on a jury, I will miss work, where I get paid a very competitive wage, especially here in Sandpoint. I don't have any personal or vacation days left to take, so I would just have to go short money-wise that month. BUT, according to the letter I got, I will be compensated for my mileage at $.58/mile. I live a round trip of exactly 5 miles from the courthouse (I clocked it yesterday, because that's how I am), so I will earn a whopping $2.90/day. WOW! Is it just me, or is there something wrong with this system? How much money would be spent to prosecute some criminal who should just say, "hey, I'm guilty as sin, lock me away."

But why should I worry? If I get called, I'll walk away with enough money each day to buy a partial loaf of bread or a partial gallon of milk! :)

Sick Tree

I found out today that the tree I was writing about yesterday was diseased. I was happy to hear that there was a good reason for taking it down. Now I can just enjoy the trees that I can see now because the sick one is gone. :)

Fall

I've been kind of sad yesterday and today. I love Fall. I love the changing colors of the leaves. I love the crispness in the air. I love smelling the wood burning stoves starting up. I love watching the trees shed their leaves, preparing to be dressed by the first frost and then the snow.

Yesterday I wasn't so happy at work because the landlord of our building was cutting down this huge tree. I'm not sure what kind it was, maybe an oak. As I sat there at my desk, my eyes kept going to my window as peices of this tree were slowly hacked off and dropped to the ground. First I just thought they were trimming it up, but as more limbs dropped to the ground, it became very apparent that this trees 100+ year life was coming to an end. I'm sure there was a reason they had to bring this tree down, but it just seemed liked such a loss! Now when I look out my window at work, I still see plenty of trees and Gold Mountain, but I don't get to see that tree close up.

I work in the old high school/ninth grade center and I've pictured, how over the many, many years, groups of students probably used that tree to shade them during lunch or protected them from the spring and fall rains. Now that spot will just be a parking lot.

I'm usually not that sentimental about things like this! I'm not against logging. I'm not against taking down trees on property to build a house or other structures. I'm not against progress taking place in our town. Maybe this just bothers me so much because I don't know why the tree had to come down.

Or maybe it bothers me so much because we are nursing our little trees in our own yard to one day be big trees like those on the other side of town that were planted so long ago by the first inhabitants of Sandpoint.

There are some huge Ponderosa pines and a group of Tamarcks outside my window too, and I really hope when I get to work tomorrow that they are still there.

I still love Fall, but I really hope I don't see anymore trees falling.