From the Editor's Desk: It is interesting
By Pat Caldwell
Wednesday, June 18, 2008 11:45 AM PDT
It’s strange all over. Out in the Midwest, rising flood waters are turning once lush agriculture areas into giant mud bowls.
In Vancouver, British Columbia, a human foot washed up along the shore recently, the fifth one in less than a year to make it to land.
The four previous feet were all wearing socks and shoes, and two of them were size 12.
Police, it is said, are trying to find out if the feet are linked.
In Bridgeport, Conn., a man was arrested after he ordered his pet snake — a 9-foot-long white python — to attack police.
The man, Victor Rodriguez, was charged with threatening officers and disorderly contact. No one was hurt. The snake apparently did not attack the officers.
Both Rodriguez and the big snake were taken away.
Yes, it’s a creepy world, full of weird people and bizarre incidents, but all of it is interesting, all intersecting into a freakish conjunction that draws attention like moths to a flame.
Yet those incidents occur on the periphery of the news world, even though it may not seem so.
Closer to home, the past few weeks showcased a truly positive event for many — graduation.
As an event it may not hold the same kind of sway to the casual observer as a white python (let’s fact it, people just can’t get enough of big reptiles, and I can appreciate that), but graduation marks a real milestone, a rite of passage that is significant as more time goes on.
My family was touched by this rite of passage as well when my niece Megan and my cousin Royce Wilbur both received diplomas from Eastern Oregon University.
When one of the younger members of my family walks across a stage and takes hold of a degree, I’m reminded of my grandfather Jack Joyce. He came to this country with absolutely nothing and reached Malheur County with not much more.
He was like millions of Irish immigrants in the 19th century who came to America and somehow managed to create a life and prosper. My older relatives tell me my grandfather always said he could have went a lot further in life if he had gained an education. Jack Joyce was uneducated, but he could read and, I’m told, devoured newspapers including the Argus Observer.
And he was pretty successful overall, building a ranch outside of Juntura and reaching a certain point of success many of us would probably envy.
I’m not sure what he would have thought about his great-grandchildren gaining college degrees. He would probably be proud and grateful for the opportunities America offers.
That same kind of sentiment is probably true with hundreds of families across the region who watched their children, grandchildren graduate.
Which gets back to my main theme. Snakes that attack policemen and feet washing up on shore are interesting, but the stories that really stick are the ones about ordinary people finding a way to gain an education and stepping forward with a college degree.
Pat Caldwell is the editor of the Argus Observer. He can be reached at PatC@argusobserver.com
