1. It’s Friday, May 15, 2015. It’s another nice day in the New York area. It’s been nice for awhile. Or maybe my standards were lowered by the crappy winter. Anyway, being able to walk around in the outdoors in comfort and relative warmth is a good feeling.

2. A federal court jury decided that Dzhokhar Tsarnaev should die for his part in the Boston Marathon bombing that killed three people.

In doing so, the jury ignored the request of the family of the youngest person killed – that putting Tsarnaev away for life would finally make this nightmare more past tense than the years of appeals will. If someone in my family was a victim, the appeal process would seem as though I was suffering the wrath of God for wanting to be part of a celebration. And I think executing Tsarnaev gives him the martyrdom he and his idiot brother craved with their cruelty.

But I wasn’t on the jury, and those folks had the unenviable task of trying to decide all this. I understand that they weighed this matter with the gravity it deserved and wrestled with their consciences to do the right thing. I admire their courage and their perseverance, and I thank them for doing their best.

2. Normally, the fact that the week is ending brings warm thoughts of weekend activities and celebrations. But this week’s Amtrak tragedy in Philadelphia is making this weekend seem sad.

For the families and acquaintances of the eight people killed and the 200 or so injured, the concept of the weekend is most likely lost in grief and anxiety, in tears shed and the wondering why God or the fates or whatever you believe in has dealt you this misery.

I plan to enjoy the weekend. But I also plan to keep those families in my thoughts.