Every week I put this column together after scouring my life and/or the Port Ludlow area for mostly positive tidbits to share with those wonderful folks who subscribe to or purchase the Port Townsend & Jefferson County Leader.

As always, there is plenty of pleasant material, with visiting grandsons, neighbors and visitors providing the fodder. Just last week there was a concert on the lawn at The Beach Club with ’50s and ’60s music by local trio The TimbreTones, and a big ice cream social at the same place on Sunday. We also had some old friends from Kansas City come and visit. Unfortunately, there are also plenty of opportunities for concern.

Many of us sit out here on the Olympic Peninsula feeling somewhat isolated and insulated from the atmosphere of hate and mistrust described on the evening news. But then I note that some dude in Bremerton feels compelled to recruit members to his hate group by placing information cards on unsuspecting residents’ windshields. I hope the Hood Canal Bridge is closed when that guy tries to come out here again. (I naively postulate that those folks are not here already.)

DOG ATTACK

Three years ago, my wife, BJ, was attacked and severely injured by a neighbor’s dog. Two weeks ago, the same dog attacked another neighbor woman and severely injured her. In both cases, the dog was on a leash and overpowered the teenagers holding the leash. These events generate an infinite number of questions of why the dog has remained in the area for the past three years and why is it still around. The Jefferson County Sheriff Office’s animal control officer broke his leg a few weeks back, and the other deputies are trying to take up the slack. And then there are those who take their dogs out without a leash. They wonder why the rest of us question why they can’t obey the local rules requiring the dogs to be on a leash.

In a rare and dangerous digression into politics, I offer the glaring contrast between the two Washingtons. In D.C., there appears to be a man in the White House embarrassing us around the world. (Not that either I or many others were big fans of Hillary’s.) Conversely, here in Jefferson County, we seem to have high-quality people stepping up to be candidates in several leadership roles. The Chimacum School Board has good candidates with great experience competing for the open board position. The race for Jefferson County hospital commissioner also has two qualified candidates running.

Finally, the Port Ludlow Village Council looks like it has a full slate of volunteers willing to take up the position of chair to help the community. Could it be that the chaos in the other Washington has prompted many to take up the challenge to get involved and help out? Maybe we could get some folks to run for dogcatcher?

No matter, it may be wise to consider a quote from H.L. Mencken: “The theory behind representative government is that superior men – or at least men not inferior to the average in ability and integrity – are chosen to manage the public business, and that they carry on this work with reasonable intelligence and honest. There is little support for that theory in known facts.” Yeah, I know, the solution lies with women.

Question: How does the moon get a haircut? Answer: Eclipse it.

Love a curmudgeon and have a great week.

(Ned Luce writes this column weekly. Contact him at nedluce@sbcglobal.net.)