I was driving in my car thinking about a conversation I had with a friend tonight about how sometimes when I drive down the highway (I think its 89) to the coast and take Highway 1 and 1A around the 4th of July, I find myself humming the tune to America the Beautiful. As each beautiful thing I pass, I think about that song, and try and find what I have yet to see.

The route is so amazing, that I am captivated at every turn, but I digress, what I really wanted to write about was that as I was driving in my car thinking of how quirky and weird my strange misplaced patriotism is and I heard a strange story on the radio. I thought I should share it with you.

In Germany, it would appear that they found recently a man in his appartment who was apparently murdered. The call came into the police station from neighbours who reported smelling a strange odor coming from the flat. When the police arrived, they found a man in his bed, who had had severe head trauma, and therefore they concluded he had been murdered. Well, I suppose this would not be so strange, we have all heard of horrible stories like this. But what made this story different, and notworthy for my diary, was that when they did the autopsy, they were able to confirmthe suspicions of the officers who found the poor man. The man had been dead for close to 3 years!

he police officers opened a case to find the murder and quickly tracked down the nursemaid who had been caring for the man up until his death due to the fact that he was confined to his home in a wheel chair. They charged the nurse maid with the murder.

As if that isn't bad enough, it would seem that apparently it is not unusual for cases such as this in Germany where people are often found dead only *years* after their passing, regularly.

They mentioned that situations like this do not occur with such high incidence anywhere else in the world. Sociologists commented on the case stating that this was not unusual in Germany, due to the "breakdown of the family". The reporter also added that the fact that the efficiency of the German banking system is so finely tuned that it is possible for accounts and bills to operate and get paid for years before anyone may notice a problem.

What is that?

So, you may be reading and wondering where the comic relief is. In other police news, the follow up story : In Germany the police arrested a man after being tracked down for his responsibility in a hit and run accident on the autobahn. When asked about the incident the man explained that he had picked up a prostitute and had asked her to have sex with him while he was driving. As she straddled him while he drove at over 100mph on the autobahn, he hit the other car. He took off.

When asked for the name of the prostitute,the man explained that when he stopped she had run out of the car, leaving him behind, only leaving her clothes.

The police charged the man with hit and run, but did not charge him for anything else. In Germany it is simply not illegal to have sex while driving at 100mph (or over) on the autobahn. Yet, in other news a wheelchair user has been arrested in Germany for driving his electric-powered device while more than six times over the legal limit. (on the sidewalk).The man refused to stop but they walked after him and switched off the wheelchair.He faces a heavy fine

I could say so much here, but really, I think I will just share the story and leave it to you.

O beautiful for spacious skies,
For amber waves of grain,
For purple mountain majesties
Above the fruited plain!
America! America!
God shed his grace on thee
And crown thy good with brotherhood
From sea to shining sea!

{so count this as my ode to America, in advance of the upcoming 4th of July}

~v.