Sunday, February 12, 2012

More Prayer Flags and Jury Duty

Two more prayer flags.  Wonder features the chevron stitch.  I had two main thoughts about the meaning of wonder while working on this flag:

 1) to be in awe of something, to marvel.  The world is full of things that cause one to be amazed and full of admiration--nature, art, music, the talent of individuals in so many fields of endeavor.  So much to fill one with wonder and appreciation.

2) to be curious, inquisitive, to reflect--"I wonder about what would happen if?" or "I wonder how he did that?"

Wonder
 uses a practice patch for the chevron stitch on a linen flag.

And for Valentine's Day, a quote from Shakespeare.  I didn't have enough room to add the name, so used his initials.

Below--some of the prayer flags hanging in the studio; they aren't all up there, and there is no more room.  Soon I'll string them between two crepe myrtles in the back yard.  Or begin doing some guerrilla art and just finding places to hang them...

Fee has been out of town since last Monday, but came in last night.  He's at the office now, catching up on paper work.  Poor man.

Tomorrow, I must report for jury duty.  I'm not pleased about it, especially as there is an 80% chance of rain tomorrow.  I've only served on one jury,  a Grand Jury at the Federal Court House in Shreveport over ten years ago.  While I'm all for of a trial by your peers, I didn't like being responsible for the decision.

The jury I sat on rendered a unanimous guilty verdict, and I did think the man was guilty, but was uncomfortable about sentencing a man to jail.  Right after the trial, the judge called the jury into his chambers and told us that he realized it was a difficult decision, but that he thought we'd given the right verdict and had performed our duty well.  That helped.  The evidence presented by the FBI was pretty overwhelming, still--a verdict that sentenced a man to Federal Prison was not an easy thing to do.

This will be in Petit Court at the parish courthouse, and I'm really hoping to be dismissed.
----------
On a more pleasant note, I ran into an old friend Friday at Sunshine Health Foods and had a great time catching up!  We taught together at Byrd, but she and her family moved to Austin.  Now, they have returned, and Lisa has a cookie company.  I have bought her cookies before without realizing that Middlebrook Bakery was hers!  Delicious cookies, all natural ingredients,  and very, very good.

7 comments:

  1. Sweet little Valentine!

    I've never sat on a jury but I did get into the practice of watching trials while I was in paralegal school. It was a real eye opener.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Your flags are really neat. I just love watching you finish them!

    I have been called for jury duty once and was dismissed from every potential case. I actually wanted to serve to observe the process. But, alas....I never seem appropriate. My dad says he thinks they don't want college professors on juries. Haha.

    ReplyDelete
  3. As always, gorgeous work!! I really love seeing how you put all those techniques into your flags, and hope that one day, I might be able to stitch half as beautifully as you do!!

    ReplyDelete
  4. I really love your new flag Jenclair! I have never been called to do jury duty and while I know I probably will some day I'm not in any hurry to get picked!

    ReplyDelete
  5. Debra - It is interesting to see the difference in the jury selection process--for the grand jury, there were fewer than 50 people called in and selection was done right then. For this petit jury there were 118 present and only 5 were excused. Partly because there are 52 (!) cases pending, the judge told us that few would be excused because of the backlog and the didn't have enough prospective jurors.

    Stephie - I'm still hoping I won't be selected, but at least I was not called back for the selection of the first jury today! Numbers 1-25 had to return after lunch!

    Loralei - Oh, you are sweet, but I'm not particular good at stitching, I just enjoy it. :)

    Sherri -- The grand jury trial I served on was extremely interesting, and in one way, I was glad of the experience. The individual was one of those instant millionaires that spent tons of money on houses and cars and motorcycles, had a wife and child and a mistress and was still very young. He went bankrupt after the dot.com bust and tried to hide his assets. The FBI were involved because he was hiding assets in another state. I would have enjoyed it if I'd just been an observer and not had to be involved in the verdict.

    ReplyDelete
  6. Love the prayer flag! Great stitching.

    I was on a jury one time, a personal injury auto claim. The claimant wanted more money than the insurance company was willing to pay. The defendant was a young man, a teenager who ran a stop sign and broadsided the woman. It lasted two days, was quite interesting. We decided she deserved a little more $$, but not the total amount she was looking for. We didn't make anyone completey happy. ;-)

    ReplyDelete
  7. Thanks, Debra!

    The trial process is interesting, isn't it? To see up close how the legal system works is an educational experience. Your experience is a good one, and I hope, if I'm selected, I'll get something similar. Without jail sentences.

    ReplyDelete

Good to hear from you!