Enjoy every moment, while you can...

The dark, vine-wrapped live-oak tree trunk, about three-feet thick, missed the roof - and master-bedroom - by THAT much.

A tornadic storm line which swept through Florida yesterday caused physical and financial damage, but none to my frame and tin-roof 1900AD house nor, miraculously, to anyone inside. No injuries or loss of life for "Breaking News" crews to shed crocodile tears over.

The ancient tree, probably with its roots loosened by recent downpours, keeled over under assault from a powerful squall-line, which produced flooding rains, hail and tornado warnings over several states. The tree's upper trunk plummeted between a clump of spindly palm trees,leaving them unscathed. It tore down the main power-line, ripping it from the stand-pipe and meter-box to leave it live in the soaked grass.

Sprawling branches managed to miss making a mark discovered - yet.

The tenants, their three boys and three dogs were unaware of the tumble down for several hours, assuming from the lack of lights, television and other appliances, there'd been a power outage due to the storm. My phone began ringing moments after their discovery!

So much for writing, editing, marketing, researching, filing, interviewing, transcribing, today. A chance (do you believe in chance?)meeting on the way to the house with an obliging FP&L (Florida Power & Light) meter-reader and a short-cut toll-free call through the labyrinth of button-pushing exercises, conducted by a robotic electronic voice, and a real person who responded with empathy.

The guys who showed up shortly after were amiable and efficient and had the job completed within an hour of arrival. Never thought I'd give kudos to FP&L, with its escalating energy costs and bigger bills, but they were primo!

It was a day of unexpected pluses -- compared to what might have been!

Notes from America - A Pebble in the Pool

I don't know if it was the result of a prank, or payback, but the suicide death leap from New Jersey's George Washington Bridge by a gay Rutgers student has shaken residents of shock-proof New Brunswick and sent reactionary ripples around the world.

The campus is one of the state's notable colleges. Its student body is a mosaic of the hustling polyglot population, reflected in the background of its prime participants.

The dead victim, an 18-year-old White boy, an Asian roommate and his Oriental girlfriend.

According to national and local news reports and online buzz, the fiddle-playing youth had sexual liaisons with another male friend. Unknown to him, his roommate, using a hidden webcam hooked-up with his girlfriend's computer, recorded and streamed the resulting action online.

A few days after revealing their actions, the fiddle-player left a cryptic note on his Facebook page: “Going to jump of Washington Bridge – sorry”.

Police found his body several days later. The roomie and girlfriend faced privacy invasion and broadcast of lewd acts, then were released on bond.

However, the campus is a seething mass of protests by both gay and straight students. The governor of the state (a replacement for a married predecessor who publicly confessed to his homosexual affair)is “shocked, saddened and dismayed”. The victim's parents are devastated, and his accusers parents lives will never be the same.

This is Week One of a saga which, based on previous media performances, promises to become a three-ring circus. The ripples will keep expanding – until the next pebble is thrown into the pool.

One final footnote in a bizarre succession of events. The oldest building on the historic campus, dating back to the 1776 beginnings of the American Revolution, is nicknamed after the original seat of learning – Queen's College.

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