The "Huh?" factor

This week in Portland news reports trumpeted the "shooting" of six sea lions who'd been caged on the Colmbia River to keep them from gorging on salmon around Bonneville Dam. Then, in an astonishing aboutface, those investigating announced that "no, the sea lions weren't shot they died from some other cause". I was astonished that the story took off with so little critical review. Yet another reason I don't have much confidence in the news. Last night in Portland, the Timbers took to the field and couldn't find their form against a winless Rochester. Why? One of my observations was that the boys seemed to do a miserable job of passing---the percentage of passes to teammates was not where it should be. Andrew Gregor seemed to be particularly hapless and on a couple of occasions, hopped in frustration, a recognizable move of his. With Lara in the midfield for the first time, we lacked the crisp varied attack that made us more dangerous. Frustration may also have been part of the reason Suzuki was dropping back into his own end to help bring the ball out. Regardless, Saturday and the Sounders loom, and there's no time for fiddling. Happier news notes included the announcement that the 24Hr Church of Elvis is being reestablished. It has been a long 'unchurched' time since the wondrous and kookie church was out there affirming that this is truly Portland. And in a final note, this morning, I see that a train in Canada has been quarantined with hundreds of passengers aboard, some of who are experiencing symptoms of a 'mystery illness'. What is this? The world as Stephen King novel?

I rarely write such a muddled mix of observations, but today feels muddled. Oh yeah, my kids finally convinced me to sign on to Facebook. Once there, I discovered that a score of nephews and nieces and cousins have created a family group there. I guess that's a good thing; it reflects the motivation of their hearts to be connected with each other. How family is achieved is less important to me than that it is.