From one broken heart, to many.

I’ve known this little guy since he was 7. Little by stature, not by age. Little in size, not in presence. He was part of our family, although not by blood -- by choice. We’ve camped, carpooled, trick-or-treated. He’s played at our house. Come to our birthday and Christmas parties. Sat at my table. Had after-school snacks. We’ve gone to the library, gone to the pool, gone to the mall.  Read books. Watched movies. Shared life. Shared hearts.

Oh, don’t get me wrong. He could be a naughty little elf. That hidden sneakiness that most didn’t see. That sly way of undermining parental will. That sweet nature, and those big hugs, belying the mischief he has most certainly just taken part in. Those big brown eyes and wide grin making you question your perspective, your sanity, every disapproving though you may have held.

But his heart, which once beat for someone else, was broken and has grown more and more tired. His mind must have been tormented, knowing what was inevitable, but not fully understanding what that meant. His final months were trying on his spirit, his body, and his family. His heart couldn’t fight anymore and, today, ours are broken.

Rest peacefully, Dragonfly. We love you always.

Johnathen Thomas

 June 17, 1995 ~ October 22, 2015

Oh deer.

I’m really mad at my city right now and need to vent.  So, if you don’t want to read it, I won’t be offended if you move on. 

Tonight they will ‘approve’ a Deer Mitigation program.  Apparently, they’ve decided that the deer that have live in Herriman since way before it was even called that, are a nuisance, and are getting hit by cars too often.  

So they’re going to let hunters shoot them.  

Within city limits.  

Any time of the day.  

In the freaking city.  

Ok, so they are using ‘skilled archers,’ but, seriously?  What's that going to do to our kids?  

Kid:  'Oh, mommy!  Look at that cute deer and her little spotted fawn right there in my front yard!'

schwoosh . . . thunk . . . thud [orphaned baby runs off]

Kid:  AHHHHHH!

Hunter (a.k.a. skilled archer): 'Oh, sorry kid.  Somebody might have hit it with their car, so I had to kill it.'

There has been over a year of debate among the citizens, 2 or 3 meetings held by the city for public comment, news stories and social media posts galore, overwhelmingly against any form of mitigation.  The arguments were varied: Everything from “If we have to do anything, can’t we relocate them?” to “They’ve been here longer than we have and we’ve taken their entire habitat, so of course they’re eating our plants. Duh.”  

Come on.  That’s your solution? “We’re killing them too often, so let’s kill them.” 

What’s next?  There are too many starlings – let’s ruin their nests and crack the eggs so they’ll go somewhere else . . . oh wait, no, they already did that.  Yup.

What’s next?  These trees are too think on these mountains – let’s chop them all down and build houses and apartment buildings instead . . . oh wait, no, they already did that.  Yup.

What’s next?  We don’t need places for the citizens to eat, shop, and play – they can do that in our neighboring city and give them all the tax dollars.  Let’s line our main street with multi-story apartment buildings with no parking so that people have to take their lives into their own hands to jackrabbit into traffic and go to work . . . oh wait, no, they already did that.  Yup.

What’s next?  There are too many loose dogs running around without licenses – off with their heads!  Still waiting for our idiotic council to try that one.

Come on November.  Let’s get these jackwads out of office and elect a city council for the people by the people.  Let’s elect a city council that will actually listen to what the citizens say, not bulldoze a path toward their own agenda.  Let’s elect anyone but who is there now.

I probably need to move.

#HerrimanCityCouncilSucks

Postscript - 11-24-15
The deer are gone. We see a random lost stray on occassion, but the large herds seen basking in the sun, grazing on unharvested alfalfa or leftover pumpkins have been 'mitigated'. Reportedly, the butcher who was contracted with to process the meat and give it to the homeless shelter (a fact that earned a few if-then sympathy votes from residents) couldn't process it all and had to turn the hunters away. Too much too fast? Too much period? So much for humanity. RIP native Herrimanites. I'm sorry we suck.