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2 • THURSDAY, DECEMBER 15, 2011
CONTENTS/OPINION
ur Over the Mountain Students have again gotten into the holiday spirit and shared their artistic talents with their holiday cards. View their works on the cover and starting on page 22. Thanks to the many students and teachers who submitted their artwork.
MURPHY’S LAW
Hmph-Hmph-Hump (Or a Mouth Full of Chipmunk)
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From the cover: First row from left: Mari Alana Jeter, Third Grade, Advent Episcopal; Hayden Gamis, Fourth Grade, Cahaba Heights Elementary; Shaveen Gachau, Fourth Grade, Gwin Elementary School; Eden Morris, Third Grade, Oak Mountain Elementary. Second row: Carter Sobera, Fourth Grade, Crestline Elementary School; Ella Cloud, Fourth Grade, Hall Kent Elementary; Elizabeth Conner, Fourth Grade, Mountain Brook Elementary; Gretchen Kellen, Fourth Grade, Edgewood Elementary; Caroline Crimi, Second Grade, Shades Cahaba Elementary. Third row: Nathan Simmons, Kindergarten, Liberty Park Elementary; Baylor Black, Third Grade, Rocky Ridge Elementary; Elizabeth Okunbor, First Grade, St. Francis Xavier; Colin Wilkins, Second Grade, Oak Mountain Elementary; Corey Christenson, Fifth Grade, Spring Valley School. Fourth row: Gracen Vinyard, Fourth Grade, Highlands School. Fifth row: Ivy Cobbs, Second Grade, Mountain Brook Elementary; Batsipa Joel, Fourth Grade, Green Valley Elementary School; Nicholas Hughes, Kindergarten, Edgewood Elementary; Amelia Park, Fifth Grade, Oak Mountain Intermediate.
Happy holidays from the Over the Mountain Journal. After our annual break, we’ll return with our first issue of the new year on Jan. 12.
F E AT U R E S ABOUT TOWN LIFE SENIORS PEOPLE
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SOCIAL WEDDINGS SCHOOLS SPORTS
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JOU RNAL
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December 15, 2011
Publisher: Maury Wald Editor: Laura McAlister Features Writer: Donna Cornelius Office Manager: Christy Wald Editorial Assistant: Stacie Galbraith Sports: Lee Davis Contributors: Susan Murphy, Bones Long, Cary Estes, June Mathews, Emil Wald, Marvin Gentry Advertising Sales: Suzanne Wald, Julie Trammell Edwards, Tommy Wald Editorial Intern: Jennifer Taylor Vol. 20, No. 24
Over The Mountain Journal is a suburban bi-weekly newspaper delivered to Mountain Brook, Homewood, Vestavia Hills, Hoover and North Shelby County areas. Hot Property is a paid advertisement. Subscriptions for The Journal are available for $24 yearly. Mail to: Over the Mountain Journal, P.O. Box 660502, Vestavia Hills, AL 35216. Phone: (205) 823-9646. E-mail the editorial department at editorial@otmj.com. E-mail our advertising department at ads@otmj. com. Find us on the Web at otmj.com. Copyright 2011 Over The Mountain Journal, Inc. All rights reserved. The Journal is not responsible for return of photos, copy and other unsolicited materials submitted. To have materials returned, please specify when submitting and provide a stamped, self-addressed envelope. All materials submitted are subject to editorial review and may be edited or declined without notification.
ne day last sumhave to be much. They missed a thank you note, former, my mom’s got to return a borrowed book, didn’t pay back the cat sauntered onto $20 you loaned them for lunch last November. the patio with a chipmunk Of course, sometimes the slights are bigger, megadangling from his teeth. hurts that truly strain the relationship. You have The chipmunk wasn’t every right to be mad. No one would blame you if dead, just plenty scared, you gnawed on the incident forever. You’ve earned its little heart pounding in your anger, your private retribution, and thought of its chest. releasing it feels like being victimized all over again. My mom, a noted aniThis holiday season, however, I’m asking you to mal rescuer, rushed out drop it. Really, let the chipmunk go. It’s a gift to the through the sliding glass chipmunk, yes, but mostly a gift to yourself. You Susan Murphy door, took Barney firmly may be the injured party, but the party of the other by the shoulders and said, part has most likely forgotten about the whole thing “Drop it.” Barney pretended not by now, and you’re the one left to hear her (cats do that), but my there with a mouthful of Drop the chipmunk this sitting mom persisted. gummed-up chipmunk. “Drop it,” she repeated, and You can’t smile with a mouthseason. Let your holifinally, reluctantly, Barney let ful of chipmunk. You cannot eat day heart be light. Enjoy snickerdoodles. You cannot sing. the chipmunk go. The chipmunk fled to the boxwood hedge, and Your “ho-ho-ho” becomes “hmphyour Fancy Feast with Barney twitched his tail and went and your holiday friends and family, even if hmph-hmph,” off to sulk in the garage. celebration falls flat. Nothing is as An act of mercy. It was betthey’re the chipmunks in happy as it could be. ter for the chipmunk, of course, Drop it. Let the chipmunk go. but it was better for Barney, too. question. Maybe the chipmunk doesn’t Barney didn’t need the chipmunk. deserve it, but then, who does? I don’t know how chipmunk That’s the point of the Christmas tastes, but it can’t be as good as season, isn’t it? Forgiveness. For-gift-ness. We’ve the Roast Turkey and Gravy Fancy Feast that was all dug dark tunnels into someone else’s psyche at piled up in his food dish. one time or another, we’ve uprooted their peace of A serving of chipmunk would be rank with fur mind, and we need to drop that, too. All that matted (matted now) and tiny little bones that could lodge up sorrow, those tiny little bones of regret. Selfin his throat. Who knows? It could even be full of loathing is the worst kind of chipmunk. cholesterol. Drop the chipmunk this season. Let your holiStill, Barney wanted the chipmunk. Cats are not day heart be light. Enjoy your Fancy Feast with wired for catch-and-release. He caught the chipfriends and family, even if they’re the chipmunks in munk, he was proud of his conquest and he had no question. They might not even know they’ve been intention of letting it go. released, but you will, and that will make all the difSometimes we’re like that. (I bet you were wonference. dering where I was going with this cheery chipmunk And when your sister-in-law makes some new scenario.) We get hold of something that we feel entitled to, a grudge, a slight, and we clamp it tightly crack about the dust on your coffee table, let that go, too. Smile mercifully at her gummed-up little chipbetween our teeth. Someone said something hurtmunk face and say, “How about a snickerdoodle?” ful, did something unkind. Or maybe they didn’t say Happy holidays! ❖ something, fell down on the civilized job. It doesn’t
OVER THE MOUNTAIN VIEWS
Where are your favorite holiday decorations?
“Mountain Brook Village.”
“Once Upon a Time in Homewood.”
“Pensacola has some of the best Christmas lights.”
“Rockefeller Center in New York City.”
Rebecca Patterson Mountain Brook
Linda Flaherty Mountain Brook
Sarah Elizabeth Parker Mountain Brook
Julie Rosenfeld Mountain Brook