The Weeks That Were

This vacation was as near perfect as we could hope for. From witnessing an early morning Tai Chi class in the plaza in Taos to our close encounter with Yellowstone Bison ~ not once, but twice! Hub always marvels at how little it takes to excite me. I guess it's the inner child I cling to when politics become overwhelming. Who else could be thrilled with a gift of cottonwood root for my carving?

We stumbled on another haunted old hotel in Cimmeron that we hadn't heard about. We love to stay, or at least dine, at these wonderful preservation's of times past. That was a highlight and goes into the plans for the next trip.

We trekked to Taos by way of Angel Fire then on to Santa Fe. The town was crowded but the galleries relatively empty so browsing was great. From there we headed to Indian country and visited our favorite trading posts then headed back to civilization as we know it.

This is one of the first times we've allowed ourselves the time to just poke. That took us into Winslow, AZ just to see the stature of of the young man 'standing on the corner in Winslow Arizona,' from the 1970s era hit 'Take It Easy' by the Eagles. That's about the only thing to draw you to Winslow other than another of those grand old hotels, La Posada!

On to Scottsdale for a show at the Museum of Northern Arizona. Another day done.

Sedona was next. The high point was visiting with a young Navajo basket maker who was demonstrating at Garlands. She was an absolute delight and her work some of the most imaginative we've seen. Of course we ended up buying the one she had on display and I'm still marvelling at how thrilled she seemed. Of course the Indians don't live as we do and the reservation has little to offer. It's sparse and barren to say the least. A sale is exciting!

Phoenix ~ more gallery hopping. We found out we no longer have the tolerance for 100+ degree heat we once did. Even if it is dry!

The only down side to the trip happened just outside of Wickenburg as we headed for Vegas. A police car whipped by us sirens blaring. A few short minutes later we saw the flashing lights and turmoil of a major accident. Three life flights and an hour and a half later we were able to proceed. The wreckage was horrendous and gave every driver for miles pause.

It seemed fitting the only evening we had in Vegas was a wet one. We were glad to head on to the Parks. We got to Jackson early enough to do Teton before heading for the galleries. That's where I saw my wolf! Scurrying through the scrub, I grabbed the binoculars while Hub reached for the big lens camera. I won. I watched him for a good five minutes as he appeared and studied us then disappeared only to reappear again. All hub managed to spot was a furry behind as he finally went on his way. He never got the shot. That was the second high point for me! I never tire of the Parks nor the wild life no matter how many times we've been there.

Jackson under our belt it was time to head on to Yellowstone. Not too many critters were out and about except for the Bison. They seemed to have taken over the roads that were still open. We got caught up in them not once, but twice. Again, I was like a little kid. One old boy came up to the car and spent minutes just licking the grill. Those squashed bugs sure must have been tasty. I loved it!

We decided this would be the trip where we took pictures of everything, something we seldom do. Now I've got video and photos coming out my ears. I've got to organize them, label them and get a link up for anyone who would like to see them. Meanwhile I've put together just a sampler from Yellowstone. Especially for you Margie. So went the trip!

All the videos
All the photos

Vacation Beckons!

Sometime in the next few days we're actually going to get some vacation time! Where are we going? Who knows. When will we back? Oh, it might be a week, it might be two. Who knows.

For the first time in years we're foot loose and fancy free to do just what we please. We'll do some shun piking and real piking to get from place to place. We'll wine and dine well some nights and cafe it others. Our days will be filled. We'll visit a museum one day or hit our favorite galleries or scour the Indian trading posts. I'm going to bring back some cottonwood root for my carving.

Fall. Crisp air. Warm days and chilly nights. Everything from heels to cowboy boots. Vacation. No television. No phones. No Facebook and no blogging. I'm going to have a crack at being a real person interacting with real people again. The thought intrigues me.

I'll let you know how I do. It might be a week ~ or two...

Another Apology?

Yep, we've done it again. This time to Pakistan, a questionable ally, for inadvertently killing two paramilitary troops in an air strike. So what do the Pakistanis do? Close the border on the only route to get supplies to our troops in Afghanistan which made the convoys vulnerable to strikes in return.

This is of course by design . We know both al Qaeda and Taliban are hiding out in Pakistan. Guess who shelled the stalled convoy? Apology accepted. Mission accomplished.

Meanwhile, on the other side of Caveland, Karzai continues to hold meetings with war lords feigning they are peace talks. Peace bought with American dollars or until the other side offers a better deal. The people are wondering why things continue to get worse since we've been there for ten years and billions of dollars of aid money has supposedly come their way. Has no one told them of the corruption within their supposed government? Maybe not. Communication in Afghanistan lacks computers, iPods and such. It's hard to get it out to the hinterlands where our troops are trying to hang on for dear life.

To make matters worse, those mid-level Taliban leaders who might be willing to deal for their betterment, not necessarily their people's, are being encouraged by the Pakistani intelligence agency to resist. Some ally. Actually they're just another rotten egg.

It seems reasonable to assume the bad guys are doing just enough to appease us while awaiting our departure. This is my scenario. While Israel waits for the opportune time to take out Iran's nuclear ability, so India will await opportunity to take out Pakistan's nuclear stockpile to prevent it from falling into the hands of al Qaeda and or the Taliban.

Rosy, isn't it?

Social Media Is Not The "News"!

Have you noticed lately how little news you really get on TV these days? We usually flip between channels when the weather comes on to get a broad spectrum of forecasts. Three stations in Spokane and you'd swear more often than not they reside on different planets. The weather, however, is the most complete example of reporting you get.

The evening broadcasts have been deteriorating for some time now. I often wonder how people get their news if they aren't armed to the teeth with computers and all the variations thereof. I don't have any of those fancy gadgets, just my computer and I do have to rely on it for a lot of what I need to write a post. That's because the papers, all two of them, are lacking.

Everything from headline news, breaking stories to sports tells you to go to the station's web site to read more. That's what's coming. The anchors are pretty much interchangeable except for the attractiveness scale. Most of the women have voices that make me think of nails on a chalk board. Irritating. So why not just have a robot? Certainly we have the technology to program one with headlines and the referral to the website. The voice could be programmed to be soothing or edgy or whatever the headline may require. Think of the money the channels would save on high priced anchors. There's the morning crew, the noon crew, the dinner time crews. Sometimes they differ from five to six. And the late night crew! Even if the people double up on some of the shifts, a robot would still save money! You'd only need one! If you like the male/female mix ~ program the voice to switch with each story!

Besides, the anchors are getting lazy. The current fad is reading a headline then going to Facebook to read the comments from their page. Hello out there! Reading comments from Facebook IS NOT NEWS! I'd wager even a robot could figure that out!

Who's Wearing Sheep's Clothing?

More and more often we who live here find publications discovering this pretty little town by the lake. It makes the people swell with community pride, never mind the local controversies I no longer write about.

We have our local celebrity element. Dennis Franz from NYPD Blue, Patty Duke, Ellen Travolta and husband Jack Bannon. They seem to keep pretty much to themselves other than making the local theater scene vibrant.

We have a hamburger joint that keeps getting accolades and Guy Fieri of Diners, Drive Ins and Dives has discovered the area.

That's the good part.

We had another good guy in town last night for a speaking engagement. The infamous sheriff from Phoenix, Joe Arpaio. Though extremely controversial, I admire his no nonsense approach to law and order ~ and illegal immigration. Why here? Idaho is a long way from the Mexican border but some of our southern cities are part of the drug pipeline coming out of Mexico and there are a lot of migrant workers in the agricultural area who may or may not have their green cards. So what happens in Arizona has an effect on what happens here. This man I welcome.

On the other hand, another group is going to pay us a visit. Pastor Fred Phelps of the Westboro Baptist Church. I have trouble writing pastor and church when speaking about this man and his following of hate mongers.

Most noted for disrupting military funerals, he's here on another mission. To go after gays.

The local community college is staging The Laramie Project which depicts how the brutal beating and consequent death of student Matthew Shepard has affected the community of Laramie, Wyoming. They intend to protest at one of the performances.

What's even worse is they intend to pay a visit to some local high schools which happen to have organizations that support gay students. How foul can you get? Kids. Kids of high school age have enough trouble searching for their identities. Those who are gay have another set of issues piled on top. The last thing they need to sort out is why these "men of God" are calling them the most hateful things imaginable! Free speech don't you know!

The community will be ready from the teachers to the peace keepers. Hopefully the students will be too. The media should ignore them, no air time at all. No air time, no impact. But I doubt that will happen. The powers that be will consider it news.

Such hate from supposed God fearing people. You know, if there is a God , they well should fear Him!

There is no community pride in having been discovered by these people. They are as predatory as wolves. No. I should give the wolves a break. These people are worse. They prey on children.