SUNDAYS WITH JASON!

Row row row your boat. This weather has awakened my senses and rekindled my angst and ever-so-dark sense of humor. Why? So I was just minding my own business (like I always do), taking a walk down my street, when a bolt of lightning struck a tree right over my head. Sparks and hellfire and brimstone sprayed on the street, then the sound of cracking and snapping made it quite obvious that all I could do is yell, "timberrrrrrr"!

I watched the fiery, blaze as nature's once tall and proud soldier fell toward the ground; my life flashed before my eyes. All I could think of was "this would be a great reason to start writing for TMC again." And if you believe that......then you'll believe anything! Haha. So how have you been? I believe the term "gone fishin" is appropriate. So I went fishing, ice fishing, fell through and was instantly preserved! It took the torrential downpours from this "spring" to float me back over to LoCo (Lorain county) and thaw me out.

So what's new? If I try to play catch up, I'll never be able to focus on the week at hand. Let's talk shop, just for a moment. You in?

So God works in mysterious ways – which was quite evident in the fire that came upon the "Libra Capri". I used to work down the street from this building on Adelbert. It changed names several times and always had interesting spelling violations on its ever-changing sign. Wet t-shirt contests, ladieez nite, ugh. Though the marquee changed, one thing was constant. The building was ugly as sin and I wouldn't walk in it if I was on fire and they had the only working faucet in the town. Stop, drop and roll....I know. So I believe that God was probably doing a survey of creation, checking off the good and looking at the bad, and maybe stumbled across that eye sore. So maybe he found it fit to point his awesome finger down to the land and fire the smite missile! If you look at those photos, it's an obvious case of combustion. Only God could do that. Or a well executed arson attempt. You decide. No one was hurt, that is good. Now the question remains, will it remain a pile of ash or will we get something useful there (no not another bar) perhaps a taco bell! Haha, I can't even think of a good entrepreneurial venture for that space. If I say good riddance, is that mean? Well Good Riddance.

The shots fired on High street makes me wonder one thing – ELYRIA, WHAT IS HAPPENING TO YOU? Where are these people coming from? Shooting, breaking and entering, children being caught up in all of it. I don't pull any punches on Lorain, as an Elyria native, but we're starting to lose our grip here. I am not a fan of the trash walk known as downtown Elyria after midnight. Bar after bar after bar after bar, it's a big yucky hotbed of nastiness and a breeding ground for domestic disturbances. But that used to be all my beef was. Now, you're rebuilding schools and offices and hip hip hooray! So let's get a little bit of pride in our steps, lift up our double chins and take the initiative to clean up these streets. "But Jason, how?" How now, brown cow? Wait, did you just call me fat? Anyway, my idea may be a bit off the deep end, maybe a tad avant garde. But this will work. If you have one of "those" neighbors, you know the kind, the rabble rousers, the riff-raff, the trouble makers; you need to lure them out of their house first. Set their belongings outside on the tree lawn and set fire to their house! Okay, okay. Don't do that. I think the whole city would be eradicated, because you're probably that "riff-raff"' to someone else on the block. The point is, we can't let these kind of instances define what our city or town is. I know that's cliche, but it's also real. There are good things happening, and when we see bad news or even not-so-happy news, we have to remember that good news is happening everywhere, all day. If we all focus on making good news in our lives, how would bad news ever happen? Think on that!

Hey everyone, remember to keep up with TMC on all of the great causes you can be a part of with the Kerstetter memorial events. This is what brings communities together and what wards the evils of this world off!

I know I was tame and missed a couple beats, but I'm the tin man; heartless and yet tender, and totally rusty from being left outside too long. So allow me to get limber again, then I'll be here, ax in hand and not taking any prisoners. But you know I'll get you to the wizard, one way or another!! God bless you all this week!

There's no place like home-

Jason