When were you last in a car with three convicted killers? for me, it was this afternoon, taking the two inmates who work on day release at the Rural Studio back to the prison cattle ranch where they 'live', driving with the ex-con who now works full time with us. A strange thought, given I would trust any of the three with my life. Two of them I can't imagine hurting anyone. (One I can, sort of, but know he would never do anything like it again. A lesson learnt. Plus he's fiercely loyal to those he likes, like me, luckily.)

One of our inmates came up for parole and was passed. He's going to be leaving in a couple of weeks and we're trying to get him a job with the mother ship back in Auburn. It'll be sad to see him go, but hearing their funny-but-sad jokes in the truck on the way back to the ranch about life inside, I know that such feelings are ultimately selfish. Like they said, the ranch looks like a country club from the outside, but you should never judge on appearances.