In the Line of Duty

flag-draped coffin of slain police officer
Kent Mundell

Pierce County Sheriff's Deputy Kent Mundell became the sixth police officer in Western Washington to be murdered in the line of duty since Halloween 2009. He is the fifth officer to be killed in my county. Four were ambushed while having their pre-shift coffee one quiet Sunday morning at a popular local coffee shop. Deputy Mundell was attacked and shot on a domestic violence call to a rural home south of us, just a few days ago. He managed to return fire before collapsing, killing the shooter, David Crable. Deputy Mundell's partner, Sgt. Nick Hausner was also injured, but he has survived.

Today is Deputy Mundell's memorial service. For more information, check out these links to KIRO TV and KOMO TV .

Officers from around the United States and Canada are in attendance as are members of the community. Last month when the four Lakewood officers were honored, there was limited space at the memorial service for citizens. This time the doors are open for all. I have to admit that I always lose it when then the pipers start things off and then the two national anthems are sung and the flags are presented. It's totally and eerily silent. You can only hear the captain of the honor guard barking out orders and the drummer beating time. The heartbeats and the silent tears are mercifully not transmitted, though they are there. You can see it in every face. Our skies opened up with a steady misty drizzle today, expressing how so many ordinary citizens feel at the passing of one of our officers. God rest you Deputy Mundell.

As a member of the community Deputy Mundell served, I am outraged. I feel helpless to express my anger at the thuggish behavior that has become so common. We can shed our tears, burn a candle in memory and pray for the family and donate to the welfare of the officer's children but will that stop it from happening again?

Happy New Year!

Fireworks from Seattle

Happy New Year! Wishing you a healthy, happy, and very prosperous 2010! If you enjoy this photo of Seattle's Space Needle, click here for a jumbo copy. My niece snapped this during the festivities last night and sent me a copy of it via her phone. Ah, the wonders of technology! LOL

I hope you had a lot of fun last night and have been enjoying a wonderful start to the New Year. Have you made many resolutions? I have to admit, I usually make the same ones every year, but this year I've added a few more -- and I try to keep them, really, I do. If you have had luck with your resolutions or you have freed yourself from such foolishness, feel free to share.

My first resolution is to return to blogging. I began blogging last year and kept up pretty well until the Sunflower Ranch store got the best of me, along with my service to the Pierce County Courts and several other time bandits. That's all over now. The store will be going on hiatus January 31 for at least 6 months, so I shouldn't have any problem keeping the promise to myself to blog more.

My other resolution was to buy a better car, suitable for long distance travel with good mileage and some zip to it as a replacement for my very old and rather tired red convertible. We jumped the gun on 2010 and on December 30th bought a Kia Forte Koup SX loaded with everything -- from a sunroof to Bluetooth connectivity, satellite radio, and power everything along with a generous 30+ miles per gallon. It's a hot little number and we'll be getting our 10% sales tax refunded on our federal income tax, so that's an added bonus. This is probably our last new gas automobile purchase, as we expect the electric powered cars to improve vastly in the next five years. Here's a picture my sister snapped at the dealer. [I was too excited about buying a new car, and actually in a daze most of that afternoon... LOL]



Thanks for stopping by and sharing your thoughts about the bright, shiny new year we've just been given. Do you think we'll get it right this time? Hard to say -- but I'm an optimist and I'm willing to keep trying to make our world a better place. [It all begins with that familiar face in the mirror... LOL] Now let's raise our glasses and toast in the New Year!

Here's to a fabulous 2010!