Life As I Know It
By Nicole Daughhetee

It is difficult to come up with something brilliant to write week after week. Both hyper critical and competitive (I mostly compete against my own personal best, which one might think makes the game a win-win every time. Alas. That is not the case.), I agonize over word choices, sentence variation, tone and cohesiveness.

Often times I desire to deliver a sagacious message — food for thought for my readers — that will inspire just one person to make the world a better place. Other times I think of writers like Dave Barry (I can remember reading him in the Miami Herald and thinking how cool it would be to write for the newspaper) and I want to be funny — to throw out some zinger that people talk about at the proverbial office water cooler.

This happens to be one of those weeks where the thoughts that will eventually translate into words on this page feel stifled — despite the fact that there is certainly a lot of fodder for conversational writing both nationally and in our community.

I don’t have much to say about the recent election.

Truth be told, I am one of the few in the Upstate who voted for Obama. That said, I also voted for many Republican candidates in Pickens County. As if I had a choice! (My editor has made me so paranoid about offending our readership that I have to add — People, that is supposed to be funny.)

While it is possible for me to maintain objectivity and a balance of voices when I write, I can’t help but shake my head and laugh about the recent dog debacle in Easley.

Seriously!?!?

I cannot wrap my brain around how surreally this entire ordeal continues to unfold right before my very eyes. I still don’t understand why, between law enforcement, magistrates, council members and the mayor, something cannot — has not — been done to return the dog to the family who unequivocally owns her, especially when that ownership has been publicly conceded by the people who refuse to return her.

Of course, I could also comment on the factions at war over the old, abandoned Doodle Line. Pickens and Easley would like to combine their efforts and turn the old rail line into a safe, aesthetically pleasing and pedestrian-friendly path where families can ride bicycles, run or walk and not only enjoy the out-of-doors but also reap some of the health benefits associated with physical activity.

As there is any time a current of change surges through the county, certain groups are appalled by the notion that taxpayer dollars would be used to groom Pickens and Easley into anything remotely resembling Greenville. Put in a pedestrian-friendly trail and what’s next?

Yep. This has definitely been one of those weeks when my thought well has been depleted and dehydrated. Here’s hoping something interesting happens so I have something to write about for next week!