Today the unthinkable happened in my city.

While folks were in church this morning, a gunman lured police officers to a convenience store right around the corner and then ambushed them. At least three officers have been killed responding to the call of duty, a phony call orchestrated to trap them. One of them apparently died trying to rescue a fellow officer who had been shot by this villain.

A villain who isn’t even from Baton Rouge; he just came here to kill cops.

He thought he had the right because of an incident that happened here a couple of weeks ago and has rightfully inflamed those who want racial equality and justice in our city. But none of those people set up a trap to take these men away from their families. In an alleged response to racial injustice, one of the officers this maniac killed is an African-American man. The hero who lost his life trying to save his brother officer. A brother officer who was not African-American.

I lived in this city as a boy, as a college student and now as a middle-aged man. I know this city has problems. I also know that this city has people in it who can solve those problems and are willing to work to do so.

Except a murderer came from outside this city and tried to make things worse.

God willing, I don’t think it’s going to work. Lord, please have mercy on Baton Rouge and send Your peace to our city. I pray that the incidents of July 5 and July 17, 2016 will never be the events that define Baton Rouge.

Amen.

I have never been to Canada before. Once I went from Detroit over into Windsor, Ontario, but that doesn’t really count. I fully realize Canada is larger than the United States and seeing one part of Canada is not seeing Canada, but what a beautiful place!

We flew into Calgary today and then rode from Calgary to Lake Louise in the rain. The mountains were beautiful, but we just came from Colorado so we were already in the Rockies. Then the car pulled up to the hotel at Lake Louise.

We walked to the front desk to check in, got our keys quickly and headed to our room. The first event of this business trip was taking place in a couple of hours so we wanted to get settled in as quickly as possible. When we got to the room the cleaning crew had left the curtains open. Good call…

It looks like a postcard but that picture was taken from our room. We stepped out on the balcony and took this one for good measure.

I have never seen water that color. Anywhere. And I have seen some water.

We have to get ready to go to dinner. Then we will come back to our room and wait until daylight so we can look at this again. Then we’ll go exploring. But for now, wow.

I have written before that Peggy and I go to Colorado every summer. We usually go right around our anniversary, but sometimes the calendar conspires to make us go a little earlier or a little later. Today, a memory popped up from a trip we made five years ago. That year we had to go early in July because of work obligations and because it was a very busy summer.

We have asked my brother and his wife to join us in Colorado at least twenty times over the years. One of the reasons this particular memory is meaningful is that is the year they finally took us up on the offer. And I am guessing they were pretty excited about it because they actually beat us to the condo on the day we arrived. Peggy and I walked around the corner and found them sitting outside in the sunshine and cool afternoon enjoying a beer. It was a great start to the trip.

We took them all the places we love to go when we are in Colorado. They aren’t particularly comfortable on bicycles, so Peggy and I did the downhill bike ride on the day they played golf. Since we were there earlier than usual there was a little more rain than we typically encounter, but the day they played golf was beautiful.

The two pictures we have to take every time we go to Colorado are at Sapphire Point and at the Continental Divide (we usually hit it on Loveland Pass, though sometimes the photo is at Hoosier Pass). That year we took one of my all-time favorite pictures. It is a favorite for a couple of different reasons. Here is the picture:

I laughed this morning when this memory came up, and I laugh every time I see this picture. Why? Because it looks like I was photoshopped into the photograph. It is a great picture of everyone, but it looks like I wasn’t really there. And Peggy and I have what she calls our witness protection look going since we forgot to take off our sunglasses.

The other reason I love this picture so much is the amount of snow still on the peaks. We rarely see this much snow when we make the trip, so this was a particular treat.

And on that same day Peggy and I got our obligatory Sapphire Point picture. We even had someone with us to take it — frequently you have to ask another visitor to take it for you.

It was a great trip, and seeing the pictures this morning was a great memory.

Coincidentally, we are currently in Colorado Springs and will be heading over to Keystone for a couple of days later this week, so we may get to see some snow on the peaks again. 

And I will make sure it looks like I am actually in any pictures we take…

Let’s just say we have seen it before.

Perhaps six times before.

Peggy and I travel to New Orleans to see the touring plays at the Saenger Theater. It is one of our favorite things to do. And “Wicked” is unquestionably one of our favorite plays.

The trip also usually includes a meal at the Palace Café. It is right down the street from the theater and is simply spectacular. It is also close to the hotel we stay at when we want to make a weekend of the trip, but this time we just drove in for the evening.

Dinner was tremendous (as always), and the show was fantastic. If you have not seen it, you need to. If you have seen it, you know that the quality of the show mostly depends on the quality of the actor playing Elphaba. She was amazing, so the show was amazing.

This show also has the added bonus of making you think about who your best friends are and how they became your best friends. Like the characters, most of us become friends with people we meet at school, whether that is college, high school or preschool. We never know what it is about that person that “clicks” but we are forever grateful that it did.

I am lucky enough to have a group of guys with whom I have been friends since I was eleven years old. We still get together at least every other year as a group, and the older I get the luckier I realize we all are. Coincidentally, the last time we all got together we had dinner at this same restaurant. Or maybe it’s not a coincidence…

Anyway, if you get the chance to see the play, I highly recommend it. Just be prepared to be emotional and to think about some people you may not think of often enough. Then pick up the phone and call them.

More plays, less therapy. Your public service announcement for the day…

I know I am technically a week late, but our week celebrating Mother’s Day at the Island is ending today and it is time to head back to Baton Rouge. Have I mentioned I love this place?

We made the decision to celebrate Mother’s Day all week, and I spent it with the woman I love at a place we both love. This was her first Mother’s Day without her mother, and my fifteenth without mine. Another good reason to travel, do something fun and make a memory for Mother’s Day.

We talked in the car today about our lives without our mothers. Since Peggy and I started dating so young, she was very close to my mother, too. In fact, during those early years when I was not really a happy addition with Peggy’s family, we necessarily spent a great deal of time with mine. I think the loss of my mother impacted Peggy almost as much as it impacted me, and now she is dealing with that kind of pain again.

If you still have your mother, love her well. You literally never know when you will no longer have the chance to do so.

Happy Mother’s Day to all of you! I hope you got to celebrate all week, too!