After Tampa Bay, Fla., musician Colt Clark had all of his gigs canceled last year for months on end, the entire family felt trapped at home as most of the world was on quarantine lockdown. His wife, Aubree, had an idea that would let Colt make music and involve the whole family in making music videos to share with their friends and family on Facebook. Aubree is a photographer and homeschooling mom to a daughter and two sons, who range in age from 6 to 11. After their friends started asking to share the videos, they made the performances public — and a few of them are now on YouTube, where they go by the name of Colt Clark and the Quarantine Kids. The younger son, Becket, is on drums. The older boy, Cash, plays keyboards, strings and guitars. Dad supplies lead vocals and plays guitar, while 6-year-old Bellamy mostly dances but sometimes does backup vocals. There’s even a dog who makes an occasional appearance. The Clark family has just raised the bar for what I need to create with my future children. And best of all, they seem to be having a great time together. I hope they make you as happy as they make me.
Insanity is part of being human – and we’re all potentially unstable
Robert Aaron Long murdered eight people in Atlanta Tuesday. That’s what police tell us.
Why did he do it? Some people say it was a hate crime since most of the victims were Asian. Others say this introverted 21-year old is just crazy. And there are other wildly different explanations.
Those who knew him in high school in Woodstock, Ga., just a few years ago are shocked. They say the boy they knew was caring and kind. He was an active member of the Fellowship of Christian Athletes and he talked about wanting to share God’s love with others.
“From what I can remember he was a really smart kid,” a former student told Fox News. “He was really quiet and kept to himself the majority of the time.”
I’m not inside Long’s mind, so I can’t say exactly why a caring teen became a cold-blooded murderer just a few years later. But I’d like to suggest that you or I could have done something similar. The civilization we see all around us — with our outward calm and polite behavior — is a thin veneer over something far more savage.
At least a touch of hidden insanity is born into each one of us. The interesting question isn’t why Long suddenly murdered eight people — but rather why more people don’t act more like him.
Loss of majestic tree in my yard feels like death of an old friend
It’s just a tree, but for six years, it’s been my favorite tree. Tonight, half of it has been cut down — and the rest will be gone tomorrow.
When I moved into this house six years ago, this majestic old tree quickly became my favorite part of living here. Each time I’ve stepped out of my front door, this tree has been there to greet me. That tree came to symbolize the beauty of nature’s changing seasons for me.
Each spring, I had the joy of watching new buds spring out of these giant branches. By summer, it would form a massive canopy over my front yard. In the autumn, its leaves would fill my yard with delightful gold and brown leaves that crunched underneath my feet. And in winter, it always stood in silent majesty — as a silent promise that life would soon be reborn.
And now, the beautiful tree which I had come to love so much is gone — and I find myself mourning its loss just as I’ve mourned the deaths of two human neighbors lately.

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Goodbye, Thomas (1994-2012)
AUDIO: We lose the love we need by letting imperfections scare us
FRIDAY FUNNIES
Maturity asked me to learn that I’d never win certain arguments
I have a history of ignoring signs that warn me it’s time for change