Adrift in the Sound--A Cautionary Tale!

I have always had a healthy respect for the power of the ocean and rivers. This respect came through education and experience. My husband who is has been around boats and fishing most of his life, has told me that the scariest moments in the water he ever had were on rivers. Rivers don’t necessary look that threatening, but once you’re in one, you get how powerful they are.

Rick is pretty cautious in our local bay. I always sort of dismissed Commencement Bay and surrounding Puget Sound. I grew up near and on this bay; it didn’t seem the same as the ocean or a river to me, even despite my fresh boating knowledge and my husband’s tales of mighty rivers.

So, when I found myself on a recent vacation, drifting rapidly in the bay towards the Nisqually in an inflatable boat that was taking on water, with two kids and pathetically ineffectively scrawny rowing arms, well, I found my respect and fast.

My family and I spent some vacation time on Anderson Island at the August Inn. We had our power boat with us and used an inflatable raft to get to and from the buoy to the inn’s shore. I thought it would be fun to take the kids on the Sound paddling in the small inflatable boat along the shoreline. Never mind that my last experience with oars was most likely at sixth grade camp at Camp Seymour. How hard could it be, right?

As soon as we got in and got moving, I couldn’t coordinate the oars at all. At first, I laughed thinking how funny I must look. The kids were laughing with (and at) me. I then realized that there was a current, and when I did attempt to row, I was having a tough time. I finally looked up and saw my husband running down the beach with a rope and strange look on his face. We had drifted far and very fast. Then my daughter asked me why her bottom was wet. It was then I realized the bottom of my shorts were damp. We were taking on water.

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This Flix Made My Day---HOT FUZZ

NICK AND DANNY ARE HEADING FOR THE CORRAL

Critic Liza Schwarzbaumt in Entertainment Weekly writes that HOT FUZZ is "a very funny cop comedy." Eleanor Ringel Gillespie in the Atlanta Journal-Constitution writes that the picture "spins meerily along-loose, confident, and quite happy to be more slapdash than sly."
Tough London cop, Nicholas Angel (Simon Pegg)

teams up with hard drinking, small town partner, Danny Butterman (Nick Frost), to clean up the sleepy and seemingly crime-free village of Sandford.
Will Simon Skinner (Tim Dalton)prove to be foe or friend in this laugh filled shoot 'em up?!!

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A Coyote Story

My beloved friend Grey Wolf carried the Storyteller's Stone and told many wonderful stories around the campfire. I thought, on this cool and rainy Sunday I would share a story with you, perhaps the shortest one he ever told. He called it a Coyote Story....


This is not a fairy tale. It did not happen long, long ago in a little country far across the sea.

It happened a little while ago, right here in your town! and it revolves around a man and his family who live just over there a little way. The last name is Body. The people of the town call the man Busy, because he always seems to know all about everything in town. His four sons are called:

Every
Any
Some
No

Now, it happened that Busy became aware of something that needed to be done for the good of the town.. and so he told Every all about it.

Every realized that it was important, that something should be done.. but as it was not too involved he felt sure that Any could do it, and that Some would.

Time passed beyond when something could be done.

Every became very angry at Some for not doing it. Some felt that Every should have pitched in to help. They both agreed that Any could have done it...

...and felt very ashamed when they realized that No had.

What I Believe

I believe in the shining city on the hill. I’m a Reagan Republican.

I believe in not asking what my country can do for me, but what can I do for my country. I’m a JFK Democrat.

I believe in the power of the individual. I believe that it is individuals that make a society great, not society that makes great individuals.

I believe that victim-hood robs a person and people of greatness. I believe that a person or a people who rise up from and conquer victim-hood are truly great.

I believe in the goodness of the American people. It’s the same goodness that brought billions in Tsunami aid to the people in Asia and Indonesia and who brought help and aid to the victims of disasters in our own backyard.

I believe in America’s greatness and I believe that without a great and strong America, the world will be a much more dangerous place.

I believe that the family is the basic unit of society and if society is to survive, society should work to strengthen the family but not to the point where the family is dependent upon Society.

I believe in God and more to the point, I believe in the Christian God. I believe, in America, you should be able to believe or not believe according to your conscience.

I believe that the responsibility of government should be limited. Its primary function is to preserve societal order and protect the citizenry from attack. That might mean we attack first before the other guy gets the chance.

I believe in an orderly society, but it's not government's job to tell me what to eat, where to live or what kind of car I must drive.

I believe in freedom and I believe that such freedom must come with a certain amount of responsibility and humility. You have the freedom to speak, you do not have the freedom to incite or cause harm.

In the end, we remember the builders -- those who got things done -- not the naysayers and those full of doom and gloom.

VW

Free Speech In The Neighborhood

I don't have a driveway in front and I don't like to go around to the alley to park in my back yard so I park my car out front at the curb.

I have a little Kia Rio I drive back and forth to work and around town because it gets pretty good gas mileage. On the back window, I have some Bush bumper stickers from the '04 election. I've thought about removing them a time or two, but there always seems to be something more important to do. By now I figured it's close enough to the next election that I would replace them when the next candidate came along.

Well, it seems that someone decided they didn't like them on my car. They took a can of black spray paint to my back window and spray painted them out. Since I'm here in Canada for another month and a half, the chore of cleaning up the mess goes to my wife.

Now I don't know if it was just kids or someone who is so imbued with hatred, they think by vandalizing my property they've given me what I deserve for daring to support President Bush in the last election. I suspect the latter. There is precedence. I'm sure there are jerks out there from my side of the fence who've done similar. Shame on them as well!

Now I know, when I respond or even when I write a blog entry, I can be rather matter of fact, but I'm not out to be a meanie. Politcs is a blood sport to be sure, but name-calling and insults should not be part of the discussion - especially on bandwidth you don't own. Not all Repbulicans are evil and corrupt and not all Democrats are evil and corrupt either. Both parties have more than their fair share of both. I don't pretend to see it any other way.

To steal yard signs, or to damage or destroy another's property simply because you don't like another's view point does not speak well of you and unfortunately, it tends to make those on your side look bad. I say this to anyone of any political persuasion. It's a crime to vandalize people's property.

I guess I just don't understand the thought process of anyone who does things like that. Damaging my car did not teach me any kind of political lesson. It will not sway me to change my ideology. It sure doesn't make the perp look very mature.

This is America - Land of the free and home of the brave. Political intimidation does not belong here. I should be able to have a bumper sticker on my car for any candidate I choose. If you don't like my choice, that's fine, justleave it alone!

The weather is beautiful out here in Eastern Ontario! Hope you all are doing well back home.

VW

Clear Channel Brings Billboard Clutter into Focus

When we returned from out of state on our first trip across the bridge to Tacoma we were greeted by a plethora of blue billboards booming “Constitutions Matter.” My mother asked me what it meant and I had no clue. What surprised me was the amount of signs that litter the Tacoma skyline. Usually they fade into the background for me, but now they came sharply into focus. Having spent three weeks in Prescott, AZ where billboards are not allowed and even regular business signs need to follow strict guidelines, the marching blue billboards felt like an assault.

My husband enlightened me regarding what is going on. The City of Tacoma wants to minimize the visual pollution of billboards and the Clear Channel, owners of the billboards, are trying to appeal to citizens with the precious right of freedom of speech at a time when the government is attempting to chip away at all our constitutional rights. Megan Stevenson’s letter-to-the-editor in today’s TNT nails the Clear Channel on this issue and addresses exactly what my reaction was when my husband told me about the conflict. Does freedom of speech cover freedom to advertize? Other American cities have banned billboards. http://www.thenewstribune.com/opinion/letters/story/132451.html

Just yesterday my husband and I were discussing how those of us raised in King County during the ‘50s and ‘60s viewed Tacoma and Pierce County. Tacoma was the stinky, dirty, step-sister to Seattle that had one television channel that we could sometimes see on our televisions like broadcasts from the moon. Of course Tacoma is far different from our perception and certainly from the reality of that era, but regulating the visual clutter of the city will only enhance. My youngest son has an uncle who lives in Seattle. Once when he came down to visit with us his comment was, “Tacoma is almost like a real city.” I bristled. Unfortunately that is probably the opinion of many in King County. Tacoma is the ugly step-sister of the Emerald Queen.

Clear Channel obviously has their sight set not on the skyline of Tacoma, but on their own bottom line. They may have shot themselves in the foot with their visual tantrum. If we were in doubt as to how many billboards they have in Tacoma, there can be no doubt now. Let them go peddle their peanuts (or other merchandise) elsewhere.

For more information about billboard clutter visit this website: http://www.scenic.org/top/21

Audacity of Hope discussion group -- Barack Obama

Tonight we talked about the U.S.-Mexico fence, a VERY hot topic in
current debate! We also discussed Precinct Committee Officer (PCO)
ethics, and how that might affect a strong Obama supporter who
happens to be a PCO. Richard May, a prominent grassroots organizer,
has written a compelling essay on this topic at my request, and I'm
willing to share it with anyone who would like a copy.

Whether our meetings are small or large, they DO attract attention!
The colorful flyers I put up never fail to stop a few passersby in
their tracks, and I'm sure people in adjacent booths can overhear our
conversations.

I wonder if there's a better venue around town for this type of
event? Any ideas, I'm open! Meanwhile, we'll be changing our meetings
to Tuesdays until further notice.

Cheers,

~~Cheryl

Be a Super Hero

This morning, as my husband and I were getting ready to leave so my husband could donate blood, our Superman-clad grandson asked why GrandDave had to give blood. “To help save people’s lives,” I told three-year-old Gabriel. “GrandDave is a Super Hero.” The image of my husband dressed in white tights and a red cape (of course) with a red BG for Blood Guy emblazoned on his chest flashed through my mind. When you give blood you give the gift of life. That sounds trite, but it is true. Had I not contracted hepatitis when I was living in a foreign country (CA) a number of years ago, I’d be a donor, too.

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Audacity of Hope discussion group -- Barack Obama

Last-minute update (sorry, I had some blog password issues)! Our weekly discussion group was changed this week to take place TONIGHT (Tuesday) rather than Monday, due to some schedule conflicts affecting our members. This change may be permanent. We hope more people will be able to join us!

Go to the link for complete event details, and to sign up. And have a beautiful day!

Cheers,

~~Cheryl

Yeah Michael McSweeny!

With the downfall of yet another of the derelicts in the Bush Administration, Carl Rove’s exit is welcome news indeed. If you’ve not seen Michael McSweeney’s letter-to-the-editor in today’s TNT, take a look. He hits Rove squarely on the head.

http://www.thenewstribune.com/opinion/letters/story/132450.html

During the 1970s and the Vietnam War, the conduct of American government, specifically the Nixon Administration, reached what I believed was an all time low. The Bush Administration, with its “Trust in me” mantra reminiscent of Kaa’s, the snake, in Rudyard Kipling’s Jungle Book, all the while engaging in lies, mud-slinging, and making us number one on the most hated nation list, has reached a new low. Has any administration had so many resign in disgrace?

The Moral Majority? What definition of “moral” does the current Republican Party operate by? They wrap themselves in the flag, call all opposition unpatriotic, and all the while they engage in every vile action they claim to hate about Left.

I believe that we Americans posses the virtues and the true morality that made us a great nation not that long ago. We need to stop electing our worst, regardless of party affiliation, into office. It is very difficult to take the moral high ground when you’re standing on a pile of garbage.

Frankly, I'm not dithering over any of the presidential candidates. Are you?