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H. Neal Glanville

H. Neal Glanville's column appears in the Craig Daily Press on Mondays.

Each time I watch kids playing ball, fishing or "nukin" bugs with a magnifying glass, I begin to see a flicker of hope.

Granted it's small and doesn't give off much light, but with sound encouragement and direction, this flicker could become our future leadership.

Once in a while, we catch a glimpse of this flame in our local government. Then, as it seems to occur across the country, in runs a council do-gooder with a bucket of water yelling about fearful wrong doings and the need to pull out all the stops to correct it.

The other do-gooders are in agreement, and the water is flung toward the flame.

The wrong-doer raises his hands, offering to correct his share of the problem, but the do-gooders laugh, mad with power.

"We'll show you," they shout in unison.

As the wrong-doer starts to dust himself off, preparing for whatever punishment his beloved "system" has in store for him, single do-gooder steps forward confessing he has committed the same crime, but on a smaller scale. Now what do the do-gooders do?

Dare they admit the system in place needs to be corrected, or do they march as one to their sandbox and hide their heads?

As the council do-gooders amass for decision making, evil squirms his way to the side of the "wrong doer."

"Don't worry my friend" he whispers in his ear, "I can make all of this go away, let me handle those do-gooders that were so mean to you."

Evil coils for another breath. "If you let me do this, I'll do it for free and I'll, excuse me, you'll be famous and maybe be on television."

Wrong-doer pauses, thinking of the cost to his city and county.

"Can't I just pay a fine for my mistake?" he asks.

"No, no," evil says. "Let me bring the do-gooders down - they've got all the money, make them pay all my expenses."

"I just wanted to be on the council of do-gooders," wrong-doer sighs.

"I know, I know," evil hisses on his way to the courthouse.

If this reads like a made-for-TV movie, you're right.

The problem lies with the author of the council of do-gooders script. This is one of the few times I've ever wished for a commercial break.

Now for something completely different

One of my grandchildren was hired to watch her cousin for the summer.

When I heard this, I remembered my youngest daughter, Melissa, being asked to watch her brother and cousin for an afternoon. Now, both my son, Kris, and his cousin, Jeff, were dinosaur addicts and had more energy than any boys should be allowed.

When she realized they were not going to listen to anything, she said it was time for plan "B."

She told them that their mom and aunt had brought home several dinosaur eggs from Vernal and they needed help hatching them.

Would they like to help? Of course they would. She led them to the backyard, pointed out two "egg" shaped rocks and told the boys to have a seat and wait. When their moms came home and they asked about them, Melissa smiled and said

"They're in the back hatching eggs."

Until next time :

Yup, there I was surrounded on three sides by cruddy weather when I said to myself "Self," I said, 'cuz that's what I call myself when I'm talking to myself. "Fishing will get better and better and even better"

Thank you for your time.