On A Darker Note...

my postcard- 
About 12 miles up the hill from here is the small, and I do mean small town of Wilseyville. This is where the infamous Charles Ng and Leonard Lake committed their mass murders, and buried their victims. This happened long before I moved here, in fact I was unaware of the close proximity until a friend remarked upon it.
Normally crime is pretty tame in this region. An example of our local police report from the online version of our local paper goes as follows:

12:54 a.m., Wilseyville - Reporting party can hear some kind of screaming between her house and West Point. Possibly a mountain lion. All is quiet on deputy's arrival.

6:54 a.m., West Point - Unpleasant odor in area all night. Call transferred to CDF.

8:17 a.m., Valley Springs - 911 caller reports that wife and kids are gone. Deputy refers him to a divorce lawyer.

The first report amuses me. Mountain lions are a protected species. This matter should have been reported to The Department of Fish and Game, and they have very specific rules as to when and why they would track down a lion. I do understand the callers fears. During a bout with insomnia early one morning, I heard what sounded like a woman screaming her heart out. By the time I grabbed the gun, I could hear that this woman had traveled quite a distance, still screaming, through thick underbrush. Any human being who could do that wasn't someone I'd particularly need to save! I later learned I was hearing a mountain lion.
As to the second item... the Sheriff was called due to a skunk? Looking back at this- that mountain lion was heading toward West Point. There could have been a carcass in the area, although I'd imagine it would take a while for that smell to ensue.
Item three is just too damn funny.