It's Not About Me

Sweet Lyrics #5

"I have come to listen for the sound 
Of the trucks as they move down 
Out on 95,
And pretend that it's the ocean, 
Coming down to wash me clean, to wash me clean, 
Baby do you know what I mean? 

I would rock my soul in the bosom of Abraham. 
I would hold my life in his saving grace. 
I would walk all the way from Boulder to Birmingham 
If I thought I could see, I could see your face." 

                                  - Emmylou Harris, "Boulder To Birmingham"

d-Con

"Embracing bitterness is like eating rat poison, then waiting for the rat to die."  - Doug Wilson

Rocky Mountain Slide

What an incredible time in human history to be alive! First, I get to sit in a chair and zoom 100 miles away to the land of snow. On the journey I can pick from 10,000 songs hiding in a slab the size of a box of candy. Then, I sit in another chair that whisks me to the top of a mountain so that I can fly down over and over. Next, I get to show it to my friends all over the world - that evening! If that weren't enough, I have ibuprofen for the day after. Eat your heart out Andrew Carnegie, Ghengis Khan, Cleopatra, Louis XIV and all y'all, rich, famous and dead.

A Dreaded Gospel

 

Howlin'

This from the home town newspaper, The Wallowa County Chieftain, where the news is all wolves, all the time.

For those not up to speed on what's happening in the rural NW, the gray wolf was reintroduced to Yellowstone Park in 1994. With plenty of food for the taking the project was succesful and packs spread in every direction as the population quickly expanded. Last month, one GPS-collared male was even tracked into northern California where the last wolf siting was in 1924. Canis lupus has settled into NE Oregon making the greens happy, the elk hunters grimace and the ranchers, whose stock provide lunch, as mad as hell. (Me? I get all three positions.)

Anyway, the Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Reservation have declared their position regarding wolf introduction on their own little piece of Oregon - if the wolf comes so be it, but no thanks to purposeful reintroduction. Why? Carl Scheeler, wildlife manager for the tribes stated:

"One is an act of man, the other is an act of wolf."

Sweet Lyrics #4

"If you're lying on the beach 
With the transistor going,
Kick off the sandflies,
Honey, the love's still flowin'. 
If your head says forget it,
But your heart's still smoking, 
Call me at the station 
The lines are open."
                                                  - Joni Mitchell, "You Turn Me On, I'm A Radio"    

Actually...

When we lived in NE Oregon I would occasionally take my 4-year old daughter to do weekend rounds with me at the hospital. Some of the older folks would enjoy seeing her young face, some not. If I was seeing a patient who would be less than happy with a busy girl in their room, I would park her at the nurses' station with a coloring book. One morning she sat there and was scribbling away, chattering at the poor night nurse who was trying to finish her charting and go home to bed. The chattering didn't stop when I came back to work on my chart so I listened in with one ear while I wrote. Both of us just had to stop and belly laugh after Lauren had paused in her harangue, looked over at the tired woman and matter-of-factly whispered, "Actually, I'm not a nurse."

Spring Cleaning

Not spring yet, but no snow to play in here, so I freshened up the book and music lists. Look left!

2011 Foto Favs

Clay Pigeons, Wallowa County, Oregon

 

Old City Wall, Tallinn, Estonia

 

Storebælt Bridge, Denmark

 

Aft Deck, Eurodam

 

Interstate 84, Idaho

 

After Rockwell

2011 Foto Favs

Wallowa County Panorama

 

 

Kalmar Castle, Sweden

 

Mangia!

 

Hallway, Hermitage Museum, St. Petersburg

 

Gas Pump, Green River, Wyoming