A FLIRT AND TAILGATERS AND

A FLIRT AND TAILGATERS AND MORE

A couple more thoughts regarding things that happened at the coast, and in this case, also on the way there and on the way back, plus miscellaneous thoughts after these:

Monday morning I filled up with gas at the Safeway (a grocery store) pumps next to the motel, and then I headed for Fred Meyer (a superstore) in nearby Warrenton. As I was going in to Fred's, this nice-looking grey-haired man was walking in near me as well and he said something like "What are the people at Fred Meyer going to think if they know you were just at Safeway?" I didn't quite know what to answer, as I had all sorts of thoughts going through my mind. I wondered if he had also been at Safeway's gas pumps and saw me there? Or was he just making a general joke and didn't actually know I had just been at Safeway? In particular, I didn't know if he was flirting and, if so, I was so out of practice at that (it's been years, folks) that all I could do was chuckle briefly, and we went our separate ways when I got into the store. Later I saw him in the store when he didn't notice me and he looked angry, so maybe it's just as well that I didn't flirt back. I learned a long time ago that just because someone is good looking doesn't mean that they are going to treat a woman well. I am quite wary. But it was still fun to have had a man flirt with me. :-)

Later on that day, I had a different incident in that I went into a store in Seaside and there was another older gentleman in there, but this time not a flirt. He noticed the brace on my wrist and wondered about it. He said his wife had had surgery on both of her wrists for carpal tunnel and it really helped. So we talked just generally about aches and pains. He told me I wasn't old enough to have those yet and I said I was going to be 60 next week. He said he was going to be 80. I'm afraid I have to give him the most points when it comes to looking younger than his age. I would have put him at about 70.

*****

My gripe about the drives coming and going to Astoria as well as the one down to Tillamook and back has to do with people tailgating. On the way, I drove Highway 30, along the Columbia River, and it has a few passing lanes, which was good because I was going 60 in a 55 and still had people on my tail. That was pretty much the pattern taking Highway 101 south from Astoria to Tillamook and back on Tuesday. I took Highway 26 home Wednesday morning, and it runs inland from south of Seaside. Once again, I had people riding my bumper despite my going about 60 MPH again. They acted like I was a slow moving vehicle and should pull over to let them go by. I saw one woman in my rearview mirror raise her arms in disgust. Fortunately, a passing lane came up shortly after that and she was soon long gone. I just had to wonder where a policeman was when I would have been gratified to see him. LOL!

It was a relief to get back on the freeways as I approached Portland and be able to drive in the slow-moving lane and let those who wanted to go faster drive in the other two, speedier lanes.

*****

I have been concerned about Stevie, as she has her moments where she seems to find it a bit difficult to walk. Granted, she is old -- almost 13 -- and she is overweight. When I got home, I was worried because I couldn't find her for a couple of hours. Finally, I checked under the office bed and felt her fur and she mewed slightly. She came out not long after that.

Right now she is outside the office door "talking" to me. She is meowing and I am talking back to her, so she meows some more. She is a very sweet kitty.

*****

I came home to find some nice gifts waiting for me, and another one came yesterday. Here is a shot of some of them: a purple and gold cat-themed purse from my friend Jackie and a couple of packages and a card from my sister Kathy, which I will open on Monday, which is my birthday.



I heard from daughter-in-law Kris, asking me for a wish list, and I gave her some ideas but I'm concerned that they might have been too extravagant. I will certainly be happy with anything she and the other kids (if they go in with her) come up with. It is so nice to be remembered by my sweet family members.

*****

Socks discovered my bed yesterday, after all this time here. She has slept mostly on hard surfaces up until now, where the other cats pick the cushy spots. I took a couple of pictures of her on the bed. The first is of her showing her contentedness and the second is of her dealing with the camera flash. ;-)





*****

I am covering a lot of topics today as for once, Blogger seems to be behaving itself.

I received an e-mail from my Aunt Joan yesterday and she had received my post card from the coast. She told me that she had gone to the Deseret Industries (the Mormon version of Goodwill) and found some items that had been Grandma's and Mom's. She was able to buy several of them. Among these was a pair of embroidered rose plaques that I'm sure were the ones I had done for Grandma. I'm so glad Joanie got them! I am going to write to her today and let her know how glad I am about that.

*****

I can't end today's post without commenting on the situation with the FLDS people in Texas. It all just seems like such a circus to me. I was unable to keep from watching some of the CNN coverage at the coast. One FLDS mother by the name of Kathleen who was interviewed just seemed so robotic -- to me, she was a prime example of what a cult member acts like. I feel for the mothers missing their children, though, and I tend to agree that if there are women under 16 who have had babies or are pregnant (and there are 5 of those, the CNN coverage said last night), that their situation should be dealt with separately from those who haven't experienced underage marriage. It certainly is a strange way of life, in my mind, as the children call all of the wives in a family "Mother," according to what was reported last night. It is good to have the common sense input of sect escapee Carolyn Jessup in response to the interviews with the FLDS ladies, as well.

I have hinted before that I have polygamist ancestors. My great-grandfather George married my great-grandmother Josephine and later on her sister Susan, and a number of years after that a woman named Etta. All had large families. My grandmother Josie was a product of the first marriage. When I was a Mormon, I once met a man at a church function who said he was from the second marriage. I'm not clear on which ancestor that was; it may have been a different one than this one because he had my maiden name, which he wouldn't have had if he had been a product of the union I describe here. I did have other polygamous ancestors. I was quite embarrassed by the subject and I definitely didn't react with warm, fuzzy feelings. In a way, it's good that the state didn't try to take my great-grandmother's children from her, although the family did move to Mexico at the time when the Federal government was jailing many of the polygamist husbands. I am probably here because my ancestors managed to avoid prosecution for this crime. I can't imagine that way of life and I certainly wouldn't have wanted to live it.

One polygamous man from British Columbia said yesterday that polygamy was better than adultery. I'm not so sure about that. I think that polygamy puts women in an on-going victim setting. Adultery is harmful, hurtful, and painful, but it doesn't have to be a permanent condition and there are many who learn hard lessons that the forbidden fruit isn't more tasty and resolve afterwards never to repeat the experience.

I'm proud of Carolyn Jessup and her escape from the FLDS with her 8 children. Sometimes I think Larry King has a hard time interviewing such women because of his loyalty to his Mormon wife, but I am glad that he has allowed other opinions and his main response of disagreement that I have noticed is to wrinkle his forehead and frown.

It could be anyone's guess as to what the outcome of the Texas hearings is going to be. One thing is for sure: These people are not being led by a Prophet of God. Varying types of abuse are taking place and I pray that the children will somehow be able to learn not to repeat what they have learned by living with the sect thus far.

ON THE MIGHTY COLUMBIA

ON THE MIGHTY COLUMBIA

Yesterday I posted just kind of a teaser entry about my trip to Astoria and my several days there on vacation. I know that travelogues can be boring so I will try to keep from making this too long.

The weather out there was iffy -- partly sunny, sometimes rainy; amazingly, the weather people got it right. As I have been to the coast so very many times (it was almost my late husband Steve's and my second home during the last three years of his life), I mostly go out there for the atmosphere and the pleasure of being by the Columbia River and -- if the weather permits -- the beach in Seaside or Cannon Beach.

One of the first things that I noticed was the little trolley that I posted a close-up picture of yesterday. It went by on the tracks behind the motel quite often on Sunday, and here is a better picture of it. (To see it larger, just click on the picture and it will take you to my Flickr site, where it will come through with a lot better detail.)



I kept taking pictures of it because I kept thinking that the ones I had already taken weren't good enough! It says "Astoria Waterfront Trolley" on it and there is a little station across the tracks, but there is fencing between the motel and the stop, so it took me a while to figure out how I would get to the station to ride on the trolley if I wanted to. (I noticed after a couple of days that the fence ended a ways beyond the back of the motel, and so I could have easily accessed the station; by that time, it was raining a lot, though -- I will have to ride on it the next time I go out if the weather is good enough.)

I love the big ships that anchor on the river as well. Most of the time, there were two anchored out there, but I got this shot of three at anchor -- the most that I saw. One of them left not long after I got this picture.



I think I love the ships so much because I have a memory of my grandfather taking me to see some when I was young and visiting in Stockton, California with my family. I need to do some research on this because Stockton is quite far inland and so this may be a faulty memory. However, I did see big ships with my grandfather somewhere and at some point in my childhood. I thought they were fascinating.

On Monday, I went up to Long Beach, Washington, and shopped despite the rain. I found that the shop configuration there had changed since I was there a year ago, but I still was able to buy a number of "By Taylor" outfits -- my favorite. I got some white for summer! Then I went to Seaside, to the Factory Stores and downtown Seaside, where I bought some goodies for Jeff, Steph, Noah and Emily as thanks for watching out for my cats and bringing in my mail and newspaper while I was gone.

Each day, back at the motel, I read Dreams From My Father by Barack Obama. I actually finished it out there, and it's a pretty big book. I loved it! Senator Obama is THE MAN I want to be our next President.

Tuesday I drove south, and as I mentioned, I stopped at Mo's in Cannon Beach and I was disappointed to find them closed. (I will just have to eat some of my Campbell's Chunky clam chowder, which comes somewhat close to Mo's but to be truthful, I've never found clam chowder to rival theirs.) I did some more shopping in the Tillamook Cheese Factory gift shop after I had eaten my lunch there.

Other than at the Cheese Factory, my meals were deli sandwiches from Fred Meyer. That may have made up for the snacking I did on the pretzels and potato chips.

I keep getting prompts telling me that Blogger autosaving is failing, and when I click on the "save now" butten, what I have written is saved, but I don't want to press my luck. I will call this good enough for today.

I enjoyed my trip -- it was truly one of rest and relaxation. I would love to go out there again before long.

HOME AGAINI am back from

HOME AGAIN

I am back from my vacation but too sleepy to write much about it at the moment. I tried to nap this afternoon, and that was a hopeless attempt. This afternoon, I did rest in my recliner with Silver on my lap a couple of times, which has helped me somewhat.

Being out there helped my blood sugar, which was lower this morning than it had been for some time. I think it was helpful and healthful to relax, as I did eat food yesterday that I probably would have been better off not to. I had intended to go to Mo's in Cannon Beach for a clam chowder lunch but the restaurant was closed, so I got a Gobbler sandwich (turkey and Tillamook cheddar cheese grilled between sourdough bread slices) at the Tillamook Cheese Factory. I thought as I ate it that I could almost feel my arteries hardening. But it was delicious and I enjoyed every bite. I bought Scottish shortbread cookies there as well, and ate one when I got back to the motel with milk. Other than that, I snacked on small pretzels and potato chips.

As for things that I saw on my trip, here is a teaser:



I need to go work now, so I will be posting more about my vacation tomorrow.

LET ME DIE IN IRELAND . . .

LET ME DIE IN IRELAND . . .

. . . The True Story of Patrick -- such an interesting book! I was clued into it by my niece's son Anthony, and I was pleased to be able to order it from Amazon. The author is David W. Bercot.

I read books about St. Patrick (as I am in the habit of calling him) many years ago, when I had a wish to write a children's story about him. However, that manuscript has long ago been discarded as well as the rejection slips I got from publishers due to submitting it. ;-) I don't remember what I learned about him during my studies but Bercot's book used Patrick's own writings, which I didn't have access to, so -- although fictionalized to a degree of necessity -- his book is much more factual than mine would ever have been.

The hardships that Patrick went through as a young man and then later on, particularly during his times in Ireland, were very difficult, but his response to them was to turn to God. He was extremely devout and in tune with God's will for his life.

I was a bit disappointed in the end by the author's preaching to the reader about the lessons of Patrick's life and what Christians could only accomplish if they did the same, but I didn't let that spoil my enjoyment of the rest of the book.

It was very interesting to get an idea of what the early church was like and especially to realize, as the author states, that Patrick wasn't a Roman Catholic and that the myths attributed to him, such as driving snakes from Ireland, weren't true.

If you enjoy reading religious material, I would highly recommend this book to you.

*****

I will be leaving probably in 1/2 hour for my trip to Astoria. I will most likely take the Columbia River route, as it is so pretty and is the way my late husband Steve and I mostly took when we went out to the sailboat we had out there quite a few years ago.

I could take my grief journal and book but I have decided to let that wait until I get back. I imagine it could be pretty heavy-duty stuff to work with.

I will possibly have access to a computer for short periods of time at the motel, but I will likely not take the time to do more than peruse my incoming mail, if so, and let my kids know I got there okay. I will likely be back to posting and answering e-mail on Wednesday or Thursday. Thank you to all who have wished me a good trip!

OF MICE AND QUEENSBlogger will not let me post the Ziggies

OF MICE AND QUEENS


Blogger will not let me post the Ziggies just yet today but I have enough pictures to post that likely the cartoons won't be missed for one day. (I hope it's a temporary glitch, anyway.)

Yesterday saw a fair amount of excitement around my house, just as I was settling in for a nap in my recliner, as Silver came into the living room/dining room area and I saw that he had a mouse. This was a surprise to me as I couldn't think of where he would have gotten it from -- he doesn't go outside. My first thought, however, as an avid photographer, was to pick up my camera and start taking pictures. Here is a sequence of photos, although I'm not really sure if they're in the correct order or not. Since Silver was playing "catch and release" for a while, it doesn't really matter.









In that last picture, Socks was trying to horn in on the action but she never did succeed in doing so. Silver was continually growling and hissing to protect his ownership of the prey, and with good reason as I definitely had it in mind to take the mouse away from him and throw it outside. Finally, I just gave up and came upstairs as I didn't want to see the final results of the situation. When I went back down, an hour or two later, there was no sign of the mouse. I even checked my suitcase, where Silver was reclining, and no little mouse remains were there, either -- thankfully! My guess is that the mouse wound up in Silver's tummy.

I went to bed with some trepidation last night as I was envisioning Silver finding another mouse during the night and bringing it onto my bed to play catch and release. LOL! Fortunately, that did not happen.

I can do without this kind of excitement but I will admit that the mouse picked the wrong house to come into. ;-)

*****

I watched "Elizabeth: the Golden Age" yesterday, with Cate Blanchett once again starring as Queen Elizabeth I and Clive Owen as Sir Walter Raleigh. I enjoyed Cate's acting as the Queen and Owen was a handsome and nicely-played Raleigh.

There was a bit more gore than I generally like to see in the movie -- it was on the borderline of what I can tolerate. However, it wasn't gratuitous as it was factual, if not in actual circumstances shown but in the general atmosphere present at the time regarding religion and how it affected the people of that age.

The movie presented history that I had learned about in school but had forgotten. It was quite exciting to realize what had actually happened back then -- there were truly elements of a kind of David vs. Goliath situation.

Also, as Cate portrayed the Queen, it was amazing to me to see how she made sacrifices in her life for the good of her people -- if that aspect of the movie was based on actual history.

I liked the movie and I would recommend it for older teens and adults, as it is rated PG13. I believe some of the violence might disturb younger teenagers. However, that would depend on the child and, as the rating says, parental guidance would need to be given.

*****

I am leaving for my 3-day coastal vacation tomorrow late morning or about noon. I have let my neighbor across the street, Bobi, know via e-mail. Also, Jeff, Steph and family will be watching out for my house: feeding the cats, bringing in the mail and newspaper, and so forth.

I have done quite a bit of inner debating regarding which route I want to take to Astoria, where I will be staying. I am leaning right now towards the Highway 30 one, which goes along the Columbia River. It is very scenic and will take me right to my motel. The other route, Highway 26, is inland more and would take me south of Astoria and my motel. It is somewhat faster as far as reaching the coast but I will have to travel a ways north to get to my destination.

The headline in the Portland Oregonian newspaper this morning was that there have been swarms of earthquakes off the Oregon coast, and geologists aren't sure why. If they are a precursor to "the big one," and it occurs while I'm out there, I can't think of a place where I would rather die. Actually, though, I will be surprised if anything of that nature happens.

I may have computer access from my motel but not of a nature to be able to post here. I generally try not to be on the guest-accessed computer for too very long at one time, anyway.

The forecast is for balmy, sunny weather tomorrow and then some sun and some rain on Monday and Tuesday. I am always happy to take what I can get out there, as I love the Oregon and southwestern Washington coasts no matter what the weather.

YOU'RE GOING WHERE?Since Blogger doesn't want to upload my

YOU'RE GOING WHERE?

Since Blogger doesn't want to upload my Ziggies right now, I will instead post a picture of Silver that I took yesterday after I got my suitcase out and put it on the dining room table in preparation to pack it.



Even though he was just doing his catly duty and investigating something new, or in this case, perhaps forgotten, I thought the picture made him look like he was telling me he thought I should stay home! LOL!

*****

I have continued to follow the FLDS drama on CNN and I was quite dismayed last night to hear a report that quoted a Texas ranger as saying that they found a bed in the temple and that it was used for nefarious purposes. I am concerned that people who don't know much about the mainstream LDS church will assume that similar things go on in their temples. (My mother-in-law Lola told my late husband Steve and I many years ago that she thought that there were sexual ceremonies in Mormon temples.) That certainly was never my experience in attending any of the several Mormon temples that I went through. The ceremonies were somewhat strange and bizarre, IMO, but never anything like what was reported last night about the FLDS temple.

(If any Mormons are reading this who have followed previous comments I've made about the LDS Church, don't faint; yes, I actually am defending your -- and my former -- church here.)

*****

I heard from my sister Kathy yesterday about her new job, with more detail as to what she will be doing. She will be working at a medical center/hospital in Post Op. It seems that such a position could be a good one for a nurse who is getting started. I am looking forward to hearing how it goes for her. I would imagine it will be a lot easier than the time she spent as a nurse trainee in a Psych ward, which she told me about during one part of our drive from Logan, Utah, back to Twin Falls, after Mom's interment.

*****

I was having a lot of discomfort yesterday in my left collar bone area, which I have mentioned before, telling about how I broke it when I was 5. I tried to keep from using it too very much but I sent out prayer requests on the lists I'm on that are dedicated to that kind of thing, containing people who love to pray for those needing prayer. I went to work after that, unsure if what I was doing in putting papers in the filing cabinets would irritate it more, but I actually began to feel better. I slept well overnight without discomfort and I have felt fine this morning. I had been concerned about how I was going to make the drive out to the coast and take care of my luggage on Sunday but today I am feeling more optimistic about that. I am going to rest my arms by not typing as much as usual and maybe reading this afternoon. (The chime on the dryer may not allow me to get my usual nap, but I'm not feeling sleepy at the moment, anyway.) At any rate, I feel that the prayers of my online friends have been answered -- I am quite amazed by the lack of achiness in my left shoulder today. The difference is like night and day.