I hope Elmer doesn't watch CNN

A couple of weeks ago, my family faced a quandry that threatened to tear us apart. Life as we know it was threatened by an OUTSIDER, my brother-in-law. See, my sister has a GIFT for finding cool old stuff (aka antiques) and coming up with, um, creative uses for them.

I remember once, years ago, when she was visiting me in Oregon. We were cruising along a rural highway at 60mph and she yelled "Stop!!!". She made us turn around and retrieve, from the side of the road where some obviously uncreative soul had discarded it: a pitiful, broken-down cane-backed chair. It once had a wicker seat, but time and the elements had eaten away at it. We were all "What in the hell are you going to do with that?" She ignored us, threw it in their truck and hauled it back to Idaho and to this day it sits in her yard holding a large flower-pot. And it looks fantastic.

She also has a set of vintage leather suitcases (that once belonged to Katherine Albertson, the wife of the founder of the Albertson's grocery-store chain) that she uses as a creative TV stand in the corner of their bedroom. Every time I go to her house, I love to walk around and see what she's done with her latest "treasures."

Anyway, several years ago she found this AWESOME vintage brown couch in mint condition. They didn't need it in the house, and yet it was WAY too cool to pass up. So, Jodi being Jodi, she found a great use for it: she put it on their porch. Now, you should know that she and her husband live in Hidden Springs, and idyllic little community where the most of the houses are built with porches with the intention of fostering relationships between neighbors. In fact, I think homeowners are required by law to spend a certain amount of time per week sitting on their porches, sipping fresh-squeezed lemonade and waving to each and every passer-by. So the brown couch was PERFECT and completely fit in with Jodi's creative landscaping.

But one day her husband, who we lovingly refer to as Elmer (as in Fudd), decided the couch had to go. He thinks is was too "hillbilly" (as if there even IS such a thing.) So there was MUCH discussion and even voting amongst family members far and wide; if Jodi wasn't allowed to have a couch on her porch, HOW CAN WE CALL THIS THE LAND OF THE FREE? Elmer lost by a land-slide and the couch stayed.

And then, this morning, I saw THIS. What is this world coming to?