On Turning 60

How did it happen?

I really don’t feel that old

But the day arrived

I woke with the sun

With my normal aches and pains

Stumbled out of bed

Looked in the mirror

Peered at myself carefully

Do I look sixty?

It’s hard to deny

That I am now a senior

With all the good and bad

I’ll go out Tuesdays

To claim my senior discounts

And admit my age

The bad comes as well

Our nation prefers its youth

Not valuing us

To be unemployed

At age sixty is quite hard:

Discrimination

Wisdom comes with age

I have learned much through my years

Life is our teacher

Adventures still wait

For those open to new things

Seniors included

So I’ll take the hand

Of my age seventy husband

And see what life brings

No More

I feel an overwhelming sense of sadness and there is a knot in my stomach.  Not again.  Twenty little children shot to death in their classrooms along with teachers and their principal.  And this is the second shooting in a week—people were also killed in a shopping mall while doing their Christmas shopping.  My heart goes out to the community of Newtown, Connecticut; they are in my prayers.  I cannot imagine their pain.

This time, however, I have another overwhelming feeling.  It is anger.  All day I have watched as the news about this horrible tragedy unfolded.  I have read blogs and seen people’s comments on Facebook.  I saw that old worn-out statement “guns don’t kill people, people kill people.”  One person even suggested that the same thing would have happened if the gunman had a knife or even a piece of glass instead.  Seriously?  The guy had semi-automatic handguns.  Others posted that there was just nothing we can do about these things—there are crazy people in this world.  However, the overwhelming number of comments I read expressed what I am feeling—sadness and even outrage.

It is past time for us to sit down and talk about this.  How dare anybody say that there is nothing we can do to protect our children!  Do these pro-gun citizens feel that their guns are more important than the lives of our children?  This is a moral issue.  How can we stand by and do nothing?  We must look at gun control.  I’m not advocating taking away everybody’s guns.  But what individual needs an automatic weapon?  That’s just crazy.  We need to keep weapons out of the hands of the mentally ill.  And we absolutely must take a good look at how we care for our mentally ill citizens.  Many of them are not getting the medical care they need and their relatives’ hands are tied.  Politics needs to be set aside while our leaders work together for solutions, with input from all of us.  We need to do this now.  No more of this!

We Say Goodbye, Trusting Love

Today we said goodbye to you too soon

We were not ready to let you go

You came to us less than a year ago

And touched our hearts forever

We will miss your wisdom, your playful humor, your kindness

There was such intelligence behind those deep brown eyes

You lived a life of spiritual adventures

While becoming a medical miracle more than once

You met your life’s love and trusted love always

Then modeled it for all your world to see

You reached out in compassion and gave yourself freely

Although your body was often in such pain

Your passion drove our little team along

And now your absence leaves a giant hole

Today I heard you’d said one simply must be willing

So I’ll take your advice and try to carry on

Although you cannot ever be replaced

We’ll gather together and reach out in love

The holes in our hearts will gradually heal

But you will never be forgotten, my friend

I Am Thankful

As our Thanksgiving holiday weekend draws to an end, I have been reflecting on what I am thankful for in my life.

After a wonderful Thanksgiving dinner with friends, where I filled myself with more food than I needed, I am thankful that I have never been hungry.  There were times as a young adult when I had difficulty making enough to live on, but I always had family to help me out.  I realize that being grateful for this is not enough.  As a person with enough to eat, and as a Christian, I need to work for anti-hunger programs to ensure that others can eat, too, both here in this country and around the world.  There is enough food on this earth to feed everyone—the problem is distribution and politics.

I am thankful for relatively good health and I am thankful for health insurance.  I am so much more aware of my health after undergoing gall bladder surgery this past summer.  Suddenly my life became overwhelmed with medical tests and uncertainty.  The one thing I didn't have to worry about was paying medical bills since my insurance covered the vast majority of them.  What would I have done without insurance?  I am unemployed and my husband is retired.  I really don’t know—I think I might have postponed surgery and struggled along for a while.  Everybody deserves basic health care.  As citizens we must all work to improve access to health care and bring the costs down.

I am thankful for my church family which has become even more important since our biological family is far away.  We come together once a week or more to study, discuss, worship, and pray.  We share each other’s highs and lows, celebrating or lending support.  The love that moves among us brings me great joy.  Together we work to carry that love out into the world.

There are so many more things I could add to this list.  I was born in the U.S.A.—that makes me privileged.  I live a comfortable life and I am loved.  I have choices and opportunities that others in this world don’t have.  If I am truly thankful for my good life, I believe I should work for mercy and justice for the people in this world who are not so fortunate.

As the Color Fades

What a gloomy week this has been.  The sun decided to make an appearance on just one day.  While the temperatures have been mild, the weather has been damp.  The beautiful fall colors have turned to brown.  Most of the fallen leaves have been raked or mowed then spread on our garden.  Lonely, bare branches stretch to the sky as if searching for a ray of sunshine.  I am not quite ready for winter and the retreat to the indoors, but my stiff body demands warmth.  I look forward to one small pleasure before climbing in bed each night—sliding into the warm, soothing waters of our hot tub.  From there I can watch the rain fall and the branches sway in the cool breeze. . . and I smile from my place of comfort.

Time to Move On

Like most Americans, I am relieved that the election is finally over.  I was so tired of the political ads—so tired of the lies—so tired of the bickering.  Now it is time to move on.  Is that possible?  Can our Congress and our president work together to solve our country’s problems?  Can there be compromise?  If there isn’t, I’m afraid that the fiscal cliff won’t be the only cliff that we could fall off.

This country has become so divided.  Why?  I have heard a number of theories.  My answer, of course, is biased.  The Republican Party has moved further and further to the right.  It has been taken over by the religious right and the Tea Party.  For the Tea Party, it’s “my way or the highway”—no compromise.  Who knows what they really stand for; there are many different agendas.  The religious right seems to be all about judgment, forcing their views on others, and often hate.

While I have considered myself an independent for some time, I am more aligned with the Democratic Party.  The most extreme of this party can be just as intolerant and immoveable as the Republicans.  I don’t feel like the Democrats have moved further to the left—I do remember the 1960s after all.  Obama is considered more of a centrist, at least in some areas.  However, I have not seen an analysis of this.

Some Democrats are disdainful of religion.  However, there are many people who take a more progressive stand on issues because of their Christian beliefs.  I count myself among these Christians.  Jesus was a radical in his time—he would also be seen as a radical today if he were in human form.  Jesus condemned the self-righteous.  He emphasized that we should take care of the poor.  Jesus accepted the outcasts of his society.  My Christian beliefs lead me to work for social justice issues, like GLBT rights.  I don’t believe our national budget should be balanced on the backs of the poor.  I have worked for anti-hunger programs and I will continue to do so.  I strongly believe we need to work with people of other faiths to make a better country and a better world.  My political views are opposite those of fundamentalists; they don’t even consider me Christian.

I hope that we can all discover what we have in common.  There has been so much anger.  Conservatives are disappointed with the election results—this is understandable.  To move our country forward and solve our problems, we must ALL be willing to compromise.  That is what is required in a democracy.  Let’s hope we can save ours.

One Year of Unemployment

It has been one year since I lost my job—one whole year of unemployment.  I wonder if I shall ever be employed again.  It’s not that I’m bored—I can always find plenty to do.  Of course, money is an issue.  There is never enough of it.  Unemployment insurance ran out long ago.  We don’t live extravagantly and paying bills can be tough.  Our debt is higher than we ever imagined.

There is another aspect to being unemployed.  In this country you are what you do.  A person’s identity revolves around the job.  This has always been an issue for me, but being unemployed is the worst, I think.  It’s hard on the ego.  After a year of applying for jobs, it seems that nobody wants me.  What don’t they like?  I know my age is working against me—employers want younger people.  I think some employers are put off by my church experience; they have misconceptions about what it’s like to work for a church.  When I do get an interview, I do okay.  However, I am not a bubbly person but more quiet.  This is a negative for many employers.  The longer I am unemployed, the harder it is to get a job.  Employers prefer employed people.

I haven’t given up—I am still job hunting.  However, I am beginning to ignore jobs from employers who haven’t given me an interview in the past, even though I’m well qualified.  I am actually getting pickier.  Do I REALLY want this job?  I know I am a smart, competent woman.  I am a dedicated, hard worker.  I have received glowing reviews and compliments from former employers, coworkers, and others.  If only somebody would give me a chance. . .

A Day in Fall

The sun is out today.  Golden leaves still hang from the trees while others float to the ground.  Brown and gold leaves pile up on my deck, waiting for me.  Plump brown squirrels play chase through the leaves on the grass.  Magpies mingle, having their own conversations.  Summer is forgotten, fall is here, and the coming of winter hangs in the air.  I’m not sure I’m ready to give up the colors.

We Walk Because They Walk

Such colorful feet

Running from altar to doors

Taped to the carpet

Each foot had a name

Of a walker for hunger

With sponsors who care

Church people gathered

On a beautiful fall day

At a local park

There were red balloons

Plus CROP Walk signs and stickers

And the band played songs

Walkers registered

Photos snapped, announcements made

Prayer started us off

We filled the greenbelt

As we walked because they walk

Our purpose in mind

A 6-mile CROP Walk

Compared to walking for food,

Clean water and fuel

We had it easy

Walking on greenbelt and streets

We walk for the poor

Jesus taught us love

So we walk to end hunger

One step at a time

Escape to Sun Valley

These past few days Sun Valley has lived up to its name—the sun has been shining and the skies are blue.  The smoke which enveloped the valley a few weeks ago is gone.  The days have been warm and the nights cool.  Today marks a change in the weather.  Much cooler weather is moving in, but we are leaving soon, so I guess we planned it well.

I am sitting in a comfortable chair in our friends’ condo gazing out at the green golf course and blue sky.  Bob’s 70^th birthday was two days ago and he chose to spend it here, just the two of us.

We arrived Sunday evening as it was getting dark and a large, beautiful harvest moon was rising.  On Monday morning, Bob’s birthday, we decided to begin the day with breakfast at the Kneadery in Ketchum.  Bob had French toast and I chose an omelet which was far more food than we usually eat.  We returned to the condo to prepare for a bike ride.  Beginning in Ketchum, we pedaled north on a paved path (Big Wood River trails) to Hulen Meadows where it ended, then turned around and headed south to the Cold Springs bridge.  This bridge, built in the 1880s and moved to its present location in 1917, was once used by the railroad but is now part of the trail system and used by bikes and pedestrians.  We decided that this was a good place to turn around and head back to our car.  Bob’s odometer indicated that we had biked 13 miles total.  This was a thoroughly enjoyable ride on a good path with great scenery and perfect weather.

After a rather late lunch at the condo, we were up for another adventure.  Bob’s choice was to drive up Trail Creek Road past where the pavement ends.  We continued beyond the summit a couple of miles, taking in the views and enjoying some fall colors.  The road became quite rocky before we turned around.  On the way down we turned off on a side road which led to a trail head where we parked.  When we hopped out we noticed that we had a flat tire.  Luckily, Bob is quite experienced at changing flats but this was not how he wanted to spend his birthday.  To complicate matters, he discovered that the jack did not lift up the car enough.  He was able to find a rock the right size to put under the jack—it worked perfectly.  Before long we were on our way and back at the condo.  We ended our day with a delicious dinner at a restaurant in Ketchum called Cavacava.

Tuesday was an equally lovely day and we began it with a trip to the tire store in Hailey to get our flat fixed.  It turned out that the rock that had damaged our tire made it unfixable so they gave us another one.  While we were waiting for the work to be done, we walked through town to the department of motor vehicles because Bob realized that his driver’s license had expired on his birthday (whoops)—at least the renewal process is fast in a small town.  After lunch at the condo we ventured out for a hike.  We ended up parking at the Sawtooth National Recreation Area (SNRA) Headquarters and walking on the Harriman Trail.  This wide gravel path meanders between Highway 75 and the Big Wood River.  Part of the reason I wanted to walk here was for the fall colors.  It has been a dry summer so some of the vegetation has gone straight to brown.  However, there were plenty of yellow leaves of various shades.  I think the aspens are the most beautiful—when the sun is low in the sky and shines through the leaves, the trees simply glow.  Mixed in here and there were leaves of orange and red.  We lingered in the areas where the trail met the river—sometimes benches were provided.  The trail wandered through a couple of campgrounds, now mostly unused.  On the other side of the highway, steep mountain peaks loomed; in the winter they are favored by skiers who don’t mind the hike up.  We chose to turn around at Murphy Bridge, 5 kilometers from where we began.  This made our walk 10 kilometers, a good practice for the CROP Hunger Walk which is coming up in less than 2 weeks.  Since this trail has a few ups and downs and is covered with gravel, I think it is a bit harder than the paved CROP route.  At least I hope so since my back was complaining a bit before we returned to our car.  The sun was getting lower and the air cooler by the time we returned to the condo.  A glass of wine was the perfect accompaniment to our dinner.

The sheets and towels are washed, dried, and returned to their places.  The condo has been cleaned and we are waiting for the dishwasher to finish.  Soon we will be on the road toward home.  Sun Valley has provided us with a delightful little escape.

 Written on 10/3/2012

A Women’s Retreat

The salsa was made

Chips and chocolate were bagged

My duffle was packed

My ride soon arrived

We threw my stuff in the back

The car was quite full

Four of us chatted

For a whole hour and a half

As we headed north

We left smoke at home

Only to find the same here

Can’t escape the fires

Others soon arrived

Beds were chosen, gear was stored

The house filled with noise

The soup was quite good

And soon began our program

On “The Masks We Wear”

We shared of ourselves

Some of us had come for years

While others were new

I’m always amazed

At the depth of our sharing

There’s laughter and tears

Bagels, yogurt, fruit

Started us off the next day

Plus coffee of course

The morning program

Concluded with mask-making

Paint, fabric, feathers

Sandwiches for lunch

At free time the group split up

For hike, drives, shopping

The smoke was so bad

That we limited hiking

To reservoir road

We walked and we talked

It was good to stretch our legs

And look at the lake

While on the way back

Ice cream cones were calling us

A delicious break

Good dinner was served

And our day’s program resumed

Each one shared her mask

Morning came too soon

We had breakfast and coffee

Then time to pack up

We cleaned and picked up

In worship we prayed and sang

Car by car we left

Such a great weekend

Fifteen women in retreat

I will come next year

 

Connection Brings Understanding

In the past week I have been a part of two events which warm my heart and give me hope.  The first one occurred on September 11—an interfaith gathering for prayer and reflection on the subject of healing.  We began with a young Muslim family reading from the Quran in Arabic and then in English.  The father shared how difficult it was to explain to his young daughter that the people responsible for the attack on 9/11 were Muslim like them.  Their actions were contrary to what the Quran says.  How does a father explain this to his child?

This was followed by a Catholic priest and then a Baha’i couple.  The Baha’i woman sang a song about lifting our hands to the light—several presenters related to this and made a reference to it.  Next, the Society of Friends and Pagan/Nature Spirituality representatives shared.  Probably the most amazing part of the evening was when a young Mormon man, Leroy, got up and said he felt like he had been called to reach out to LGBT people.  He invited anyone from that community to come up and join him.  He apologized for how they had been mistreated by the LDS church and asked them to make a statement.  Leroy then invited everyone to join him in prayer—he kneeled and prayed.

This moving part of our evening was followed by a Bosnian Islamic Imam, and a Jewish rabbi.  Our evening concluded with a father and son who shared Native American song and dance, ending with beautiful flute music.  Afterwards, we were able to visit while munching on cookies.  I finally found my way to Leroy, the young Mormon man who was eager to meet me so his group, Mormons Building Bridges, could connect with our church.  I can see interesting possibilities here.  This was certainly a memorable evening.

Yesterday, our reconciling team showed the movie “For the Bible Tells Me So” at our church.  This is a movie that shows how five normal, American, Christian families dealt with the reality of having a gay child.  We had a decent turnout considering there were competing events happening, including a BSU football game.  After the movie, one of our lesbian members shared some of her history, experiences, and how she came to our church.  We broke for ice cream sundaes, and ended up talking in little groups for a bit.  I turned around and found people pushing tables and chairs together for a discussion.  People had found us in different ways—one woman came because Leroy, the young Mormon, told her about it.

We collected names and contact information from people who want to stay connected to us and perhaps participate in a study on the Bible and homosexuality.  From there we hope to start a support group for LGBT people.

All of these connections are wonderful.  I don’t quite know where they will take my church or me.  I do know that there is too much divisiveness and hate in our world.  I know that the more we share and listen to each other, the better our world will be.  If we can learn to respect others who are different from us—whether it is religion, sexual orientation, race, politics, gender, or economic—we will be one step closer to peace.

Slavery

Today the subject of slavery came up—not once but twice.  This is not something I tend to think about.  The first time was during my pastor’s sermon about Paul.  She was talking about what Paul said concerning slavery in the books attributed to him.  My pastor noted that slavery was a normal, accepted part of society in those days.  While Paul may have talked about how to treat slaves, he wasn’t necessarily advocating the abolition of slavery—he did not feel that this was his job.  During later discussions, the subject of our own country’s history with slavery arose.  In biblical times, people often became slaves as a result of war while in the United States, the slaves were of one racial group, deemed to be inferior.  The issue of slavery was not the main focus of our morning, but it got me thinking.

Late this afternoon, I picked up a book I recently borrowed, Half the Sky by Nicholas D. Kristof and Sheryl WuDunn.  This book starts off talking about the sexual slavery of young girls.  The stories I read were about girls in Cambodia, Thailand, and Pakistan.  These are horrific stories—their purpose in writing the book is to open people’s hearts so they will join in and work for change.  A documentary will be shown on PBS in a couple of weeks. 

All of this makes me ask why.  Why do human beings treat each other this way?  Is it something in our DNA?  To be able to enslave other people, it seems that we have to first dehumanize them or in some way make them less worthy as human beings.  We can find many examples in the Bible—God favored the winners of a battle making the losers unworthy.  Hence they were killed or made slaves.  White Americans did not consider black slaves equal or even people, therefore they could justify enslaving them.  The same thinking comes through in the stories about young girls kidnapped and sold as sex slaves across borders.  Authorities look the other way because they are just poor, uneducated girls who satisfy their young men, thereby keeping their educated, middle class girls safe.  These poor young girls simply don’t matter.

Throughout time there have been brave people willing to stand up against slavery of any kind.  However, nothing happens until enough people in a society become enraged and are willing to say “no more!”  In our time, are we willing to educate ourselves about the slavery that still exists in this world and do something about it?  How can we say no?

Vacation, Part 3

Day 6

We were not in a big hurry to get up on Saturday morning—everything outside our tent was still wet.  Luckily, we had put up our dining canopy before the storm so our table was dry.  There were still clouds, but the air was much clearer—the winds had blown away the smoke.  I pulled out the eggs and bread to make French toast for breakfast.  We were planning to hike and needed some fuel.

We managed to leave our campsite around 10:00 a.m. and drove up Signal Mountain to the top.  Since the haze was gone, we figured it would be a good day for this.  We enjoyed a great view of Jackson Lake and Mount Moran.  Clouds still hung over the peaks, remnants of the previous day’s storm.

Next we drove to south Jenny Lake, found a parking spot, and walked over to the shuttle boat.  For $7 each we got a quick ride across the lake to the trailhead for Hidden Falls.  This has got to be the most popular trial in the park.  The shuttles go back and forth continuously.  There are traffic jams walking up the trail plus there are all ages, from infants in baby packs to elderly with canes.  The hike was about a half-mile up with lovely views of Cascade Creek along the trail.  Of course, everybody had their photo taken in front of the waterfall.  To be honest, we were a bit disappointed.  Hidden Falls is pretty, but nothing special—we have seen many falls like it in the past.  From the falls we hiked up about .4 miles to Inspiration Point.  This part of the trail was much steeper and rocky; I was glad to be wearing my boots.  I was amazed that there were teenagers trying to walk up the trail in flip flops!  At Inspiration Point we had a great view of Jenny Lake—and of course everybody was taking pictures of each other.

Although the lake was lovely, we were not able to see the peaks from where we were.  We had heard that Cascade Canyon is beautiful and fairly level so we decided to hike a bit further.  We probably hiked about a mile more.  There were certainly a lot less people at this point in the trail.  Finally we reached the place where the canyon opens up and we could see Teewinot Mountain and other nearby peaks—absolutely beautiful.  We determined that this was the place to turn around since we still needed to not only walk back down the trail, but also walk around the lake to the parking lot because we had decided not to take the shuttle back.  Now I had assumed that this would all be downhill or level.  Much to my dismay, the trail around the lake had its share of ups and downs.  At this point my not-yet-recovered body was saying “No!  No more ups!”  However, I trudged on.  It was way past lunch time and my body could tell.  I made it back to the Visitor Center and store totally exhausted.  I sat while Bob went in and bought us ice cream bars.  This gave me enough energy to make it back to the car.  We ate a late lunch at the String Lake picnic area, and then it was back to camp for some rest and a dutch oven dinner.

Day 7

We awoke on our last real day of vacation to clear, blue skies.  I knew it wouldn’t last so I took some photos.  We walked down to the Signal Mountain Marina later in the morning and rented a 2-person kayak for 1 hour—that 1 hour was plenty since we were supposed to stay in sight of the marina.  After some struggle to keep our craft going straight ahead, we realized that it tended to turn left which made us wonder if it was warped—it certainly made paddling challenging.  We had a great view of Mount Moran and the water was fairly still.  This was a fun little outing.

In the afternoon we drove over to Colter Bay.  We walked the little 1-mile loop from the Visitor Center.  The sky was getting quite smoky again so our view of the Tetons was obscured.  We hopped back into the car, and then stopped at the gift shop so I could purchase a souvenir T-shirt.  And we just had to buy ice cream cones.  After all, we were on vacation!  Next, we stopped at Cattlemen’s Crossing, a marshy area on the Snake River with an interesting history.  On our last night we enjoyed a campfire, s’mores, grazing deer, and a ranger program at the amphitheater.

Day 8

The sky was hazy and we could smell smoke when we arose.  This was the worst that we had seen so we were glad to be headed home.  After breakfast we packed up our gear and loaded it into the car.  Why is it that things never fit back into the car as well as they did when leaving home?  Instead of going back through Jackson, we went to Teton Village, over Teton Pass, and then into Idaho.  To our dismay, the smoke continued.  Rest stops provided breaks plus a lunch spot.  The smoke stayed with us the entire time.  We arrived home shortly after 7:00 p.m. to very happy dogs.  Our Grand Teton vacation was truly a great escape from everyday life for a while.

Vacation Adventure

As I write this, my husband and I are holed up in our tent listening to the wind, rain, and thunder.  Wet clothes hang from various loops in the tent.  Once the storm passes we’ll drive up to Colter Bay for hot showers and groceries.

The wet clothes are the result of a short biking adventure this afternoon.  We parked at north Jenny Lake, and rode our bikes to the bike lane on the one-way (for cars) loop along the lake.  There are several turnouts with beautiful close-up views of the Tetons and the lake.  Of course, on bikes we could stop anywhere.  There seemed to be less smoke today but clouds were moving in.  We ended up at south Jenny Lake, only 3 miles away.  Once we parked and locked our bikes, we walked down to the lake.  We watched the shuttle boat take people back and forth across the lake.  People were paddling brightly colored canoes and kayaks.  Children played happily on the beach.  We ventured across a bridge and onto a point for a better view of the lake and peaks.  We inquired about boat rentals, and then, seeing the approaching storm, hurried to our bikes.  The light rain became heavier as we pedaled and I could hear thunder in the distance.  As we pushed up one steep hill, I could not keep up with Bob—my 4-week post-surgery body held me back and I was panting.  Bob pushed ahead.  The rain got heavier and turned to hail, stinging my arms.  I took a wrong turn into a parking lot, delaying my return to the car.  Bob grabbed my bike when I arrived and I jumped into our dry car.  I was soaked.

This has been an interesting day, one that began early.  We were up at 6:00 a.m. and walked down to the Signal Mountain Lodge just before 7:30 a.m. for our 10-mile raft trip down the Snake River.  We hopped into the van for the 20-minute ride to our launch site.  We were given safety instructions by our guide, Zack, the boat was launched, and 13 of us climbed in.  The group consisted of two family groups and us.  One was a young family with four kids, and the other was an extended family of older adults.  Interestingly, there were three geologists on this trip: our guide, my husband, and the young father.  We all had the opportunity to introduce ourselves during the float.

This was not a white water trip, but a rather leisurely float down the river.  The water was fairly shallow, and we even scraped bottom a few times, but the water was fast moving.  Zack was a talker and kept up a running commentary about the geology and wildlife of the area.  We had a fantastic view of the Tetons, although it was still smoky and the sky was cloudy.  The cooler weather today made for a more pleasant trip and perhaps brought out more wildlife.

Zack himself was amazed at what we were able to see today.  The first wildlife we spotted was a young bald eagle sitting on a snag.  In fact, we saw about seven more bald eagles on our float, a record for Zach this summer.  We also saw mergansers, both in the water and in the air.  And of course, there were Canada geese, but nobody was too excited about them since they are so common.  On one bank among thick vegetation we spotted a female moose eating.  I managed to snap a picture as she was leaving—she was a bit shy.  Next we saw two small deer grazing on the bank.  A bit further down the river we were amazed to watch an osprey dive into the water and come up with a fish.  And then, as if to show off his prize, the osprey flew almost directly above our boat.  Our guide pointed out the old Menors Ferry as we floated by and we had a chance to watch it cross the river—it has just started operating again.  All too soon we were at our take-out point.  I think all of us would have loved to go further.

 

Well, the rain has picked up again and Bob is napping, so I think I might be stuck in the tent a bit longer.  If the rain continues, we may be eating dinner at one of the restaurants down at the lodge.  Now that and a glass of wine might be the perfect ending to our day.

8/10/12

Escape

Day 1

It was 4 weeks post-surgery and I was itching to get out of town.  After all the medical testing, surgery, and recovery, I felt like I had missed half of summer.  We couldn’t afford anything fancy, so we knew this would be a camping trip.  But that was okay; we love to camp.  We decided to head for one of the most beautiful places in the west—Grand Teton National Park.

On Monday, we watered the garden, loaded up our clothes, food, bikes, and camping gear, and then we said goodbye to the dogs and were on our way.  And it wasn’t even noon yet!  For us to be on the road that early is nothing short of a miracle.  Lunch was at the Wendy’s in Mountain Home, about an hour from our house.

Driving along I-84 in southern Idaho is not the most exciting of trips.  Mile after mile it’s almost nothing but sagebrush.  The mountains in the distance were partially obscured by smoke, mostly from the Halstead Fire in central Idaho, plus some more local fires.  Periodically we stopped at a rest stop to stretch our legs.  We pulled into our motel in Jackson, Wyoming, around 8:00 p.m.  After checking in we drove to the center of town and began walking to find a place to eat.  The town was full of tourists, many with cameras, and it appeared that it was essential to have one’s picture taken in front of one of the four elkhorn arches at the square.  We didn’t.  We finally settled on a Tex-mex restaurant called The Merry Piglets—I really enjoyed my fish tacos.

Day 2

We were up fairly early the next morning.  Breakfast was muffins and coffee, and then we hit the road and arrived at Grand Teton National Park around 9 a.m.  Our goal was to find a campsite at Jenny Lake but we were already too late—the campground was full.  So we headed to the Signal Mountain area and drove through the campground.  We were assured there would be campsites available so we drove around again.  And again.  And again and again.  Finally, we found a large campsite at the highest point in the campground.  Unlike most of the other sites, ours had a view of the Tetons plus a bit of a view of Jackson Lake.  How lucky is that?  We proceeded to unpack and set up camp.  Although we had planned to go do something, we ended up staying in the campground.  We relaxed and read.  We located the bathrooms, water, and amphitheater.  The bathrooms, with flush toilets, were down a steep hill via a little trail—this ended up being a major source of exercise for us.  We took a short walk down to the convenience store and bought ice cream bars.  Bob put up the hammocks and we took naps.  Dinner was leftover salads out of our icebox.  After a small campfire and s’mores, we walked over to the amphitheater for a ranger-led program about earthquakes and the geology of the park.  It was a good day.

Day 3

Wednesday was the day for bike riding.  I was excited to do this because I bought a new comfort bike 2 days before we left home.  We parked at South Jenny Lake (along with hundreds of other people).  After talking with a helpful ranger in the Visitor Center there, we located the multi-use path and headed out.  The path is paved, smooth, and mostly level.  Although the air was rather smoky due to wildfires, the path runs between the main road and the Tetons, providing great vistas.  My spirits soared as I pedaled along this magnificent mountain range which rises 10,000 feet straight up from the valley floor.  We stopped a few times to read the tourist information signs and to take photos.  We biked approximately 7.3 miles to the Visitor Center at Moose.  After locking up our bikes, we spent some time viewing the exhibits inside the center.

Rested, we mounted our bikes for the return trip.  We could have gone on to Jackson via the trail but we had no desire to leave the park.  The first part of this return included a very steep section which allowed me to test the lowest gears on my bike.  When we reached the top we were rewarded with a beautiful view of the Tetons.  In fact, I think the ride back afforded us a better view of the mountains.  Our bike outing was the best part of our day.

Day 4

Thursday was a good day to stretch our legs a bit.  We put on shorts and laced up our hiking boots, and drove to Two Ocean Lake.  The lake is not far from our campsite, but the trip did require driving on dirt roads—most of the main roads are paved.  We decided to take a short walk on the trail that runs along the west side of the lake.  The vegetation was lush with some lovely wildflowers and berries; obviously there were many more flowers earlier in the summer.  As we walked, we periodically clapped our hands so any bears in the area would hear us coming and not be surprised.  This is bear country.  You don’t want to surprise a bear, especially one with a cub.  The view of the lake was limited through the trees so after a while we turned around and headed back to the parking area.  We pulled out our food and sat down at a picnic table for a late lunch.  While we ate, a group from Rhodes Scholars—grandparents, parents, and kids—returned from a canoe outing on the lake.  We chatted with a few of the grandmas for a bit.

After lunch we hiked up another trail towards Emma Matilda Lake. This trail was much more open, with vast expanses of grass and green-gray sagebrush interspersed with a variety of evergreens.  Once we reached the crest of the hill we could see the lake in the distance, but the trail actually bypasses the lake.  The Tetons rose in the distance, but sadly, due to the smoke they were barely visible.  When the trail began to turn downhill and away from the lake, we decided to turn around and hike back to the car.  Next we returned to our campsite for a little reading and relaxation—it was another satisfying day.

8/9/12

32 Years

As I gaze at our photo, I am struck by how young we were.  Thirty-two years ago we were newlyweds looking forward to our life together, but not really knowing what to expect.  Life was an adventure.  Three years later, Bob was transferred to Idaho, a place we had visited but didn’t know much about.  We had no family or friends in Idaho.  I had to leave my family behind in California.  Bob already knew a few coworkers but that was it; I got to know some of their spouses.  We found a church and that became our family.  I took classes, I volunteered, and I applied for jobs.  Approximately 11 months after moving to Idaho, I became a VISTA volunteer for what would become the Idaho Foodbank.  Shortly after that I found out that I was pregnant with our first child.

Parenthood changes a marriage like nothing else.  I believe it brought us closer together, although we’ve certainly had our share of disagreements.  We raised two daughters, now adults, and faced many joys and challenges along the way.  Together we sacrificed to give our daughters opportunities.  First there was dance lessons beginning at age 3—the dancing continued all the way through high school dance team.  There were countless hours spent sitting in auditoriums or on bleachers, doing fundraisers, building props, driving them to classes and rehearsals.  Then there was the money for costumes, lessons and competitions.  Through the years we experienced illnesses, surgeries, and psychiatrists.  We took every opportunity to take them to shows in town and go camping in the mountains—what great memories we have!  Our vacations to various locations were adventures to see and learn new things.

Our lives changed when our girls left for college.  Our house was suddenly quieter and we had a lot less money.  This is still the case.  We have returned to having no family here so our family is still our church family.  Our lives are simpler now and we have time to pursue our own interests.  I have come to appreciate how much my husband and I have in common—we enjoy many of the same things.  And life is still an adventure.

Where is Sanity?

I wonder if our country has gone mad.  Another tragic shooting, murder actually—12 lives lost—and what are our leaders doing about it?  I give credit to Mayor Michael Bloomberg of New York City for speaking out in support of gun control and blasting Obama and Romney for not addressing the issue.  It is past time for us to deal with the rising gun violence in this country.  How many more people have to die?  My heart breaks for the families of the young victims in Aurora, Colorado.  Where is our outrage?

Today I found statistics on Facebook about gun violence.  I cannot attest to its accuracy but I have seen similar statistics elsewhere.  In 1 year guns murdered 17 in Finland, 35 in Australia, 38 in England and Wales, 60 in Spain, 194 in Germany, 200 in Canada, and 9,484 in the United States.  Yes, over 9,000!  Clearly, even once we adjust for population numbers, the U.S. has a huge problem with guns compared to the rest of the world.  This loss of life is simply unacceptable.

We must work together on gun control.  Now, I’m not advocating taking away all guns.  My husband and I choose not to have guns in our home, but I am not opposed to others doing so.  My father grew up in a rural area in a family of hunters and he keeps a gun.  The family guns were kept locked up and handled responsibly.

I am tired of hearing about Second Amendment rights.  This amendment refers to militias and was written at a time when men carried muskets.  How long does it take to load a musket?  The writers of this amendment could not even fathom our situation today with automatic and semi-automatic guns.  These weapons are designed to do one thing and one thing only—to kill many people very quickly.  Law-abiding citizens do not need these weapons and I will argue that they do not have the right to own these weapons.

I am appalled at the people who state that it’s too bad that nobody else was armed in that Aurora movie theatre.  Seriously?  The guy was heavily armed, and was wearing body armor and a gas mask.  Tear gas blurred people’s vision.  If others had started shooting, the odds would be that there would have been more dead people, not less.

There is nothing more dangerous than a bunch of overconfident, macho guys strutting around with guns, thinking they can handle anything.  Recently, I saw a photo of a sign on a business establishment welcoming carriers of concealed weapons.  Are you kidding?  If I saw that I would turn around and walk back out—I just wouldn’t feel safe.  Who wants to share a room with a bunch of gun-toting guys who think they’re living in the wild west or perhaps in a movie or video game, especially when they’re drinking?

Where can we go and feel safe these days?  I saw a comment that said, “great, now we can’t go to movie theatres anymore.”  Exactly.  The NRA, its followers, and the politicians in their pockets have us living in a climate of fear.  And I don’t want to hear “guns don’t kill people, people kill people.”  No, it is the guns—a crazy person couldn’t do such damage with a knife.  Why do we allow the NRA to rule?  I have often wondered if this group is run by organized crime.  It seems to be the only explanation for some of their stances.

We must enact serious gun control in this country, especially regarding automatic and semi-automatic weapons.  We need to elect representatives who will represent us, not the NRA, and pass reasonable gun control legislation.  These murders will continue to happen until we do something about it.  We cannot wait any longer.  Life is too precious.

A Hot Summer Day

Cool night air

I sit on my deck

Relief after the heat

Hot air late afternoon

Keeps us inside

AC going full blast

Furry, panting dog

Lies over the vent

Blocking our air

Finding her relief

Dinner time comes

Too hot to eat

Frozen yogurt sounds good

But barbeque is best

Along with iced tea

Heat rolls off the patio

We eat inside tonight

And long for cooler days

When we can enjoy the outdoors

Without dripping and dragging

And risking heat stroke

We’ll check the forecast

Then look towards tomorrow

And I sit on my deck

In the cool night air

Sunday Afternoon

My view from the deck

On a Sunday afternoon—

A green canopy

A small hummingbird

Flits from tree to tree above

Gathering nectar

Bird songs fill the air

Louder than distant traffic

Trills and chirps abound

A book on my lap

Reading is sweet luxury

Today I indulge

Husband rakes the lawn

Of the windstorm’s destruction

I watch from my chair

Subdue a strong urge

To rise and be productive

Just sit and let be

One Day at a Time

Recuperation from surgery

Certainly takes patience

Two days post-surgery

Pushed myself to an interview

Found a not-too-tight dress

Bare feet in brown pumps

Husband as chauffeur

Walked in, shook hands, smiled

No pain meds that day

So I think I was coherent

Plus a few points for effort?

Perhaps a second interview?

Went home, laid down

With adrenalin still pumping

Attended Bible study

Impressing all with my toughness

But not so tough the next day

So tired, so tired, sleep

Read a little then slept

This following day the same

So tired, so tired, sleep

Can’t seem to do much else

Two job rejections via e-mail

Waiting to hear—second interview?

No energy for the job hunt

Just waiting and resting

Patience is running thin

One day at a time. . .