Small Worlds

I was sitting at the Cook's Corner light late yesterday afternoon on my way to the bank, when I received a phone call. "Where are you coming from?" the voice said. It was Jim, and he was right behind me in traffic! He was heading home and followed me until our paths diverged at the New Meadows exit. We were still chatting a minute later when he began laughing. He was almost home and was now driving behind his old truck that he sold a couple months ago. I wonder how often we pass acquaintances without ever knowing?

Last night Mom and Dad came over to the house to play a game with us. We've recently discovered the "world" of Cattan. Risk was once the strategy game of choice in the family but Settler's of Cattan has taken it's place. The main upside is that unlike Risk, all players stay in the game until the end. Kids included, we are all officially addicted.

Journey Complete

Jim left the trail this morning with two of the young hikers that were struggling. A couple members of the crew had arranged to leave the trail at this point and had a car available, so it was decided that Jim would go with the hurting hikers to Blue Rocks Campground, the ending point of the hike. They ended up killing some time at Cabela's in Hamburg, PA, where Jim sent me an exhibit photo, trying to pass it off as something they had seen on the trail......Nolan and I were not fooled for a moment. As a matter of fact I figured out through deductive reasoning and internet skills, what the picture was and where it came from. Jim says I should be a detective. Jubal and the rest of the group arrived about 6 hours later at the campground. They leave in the morning to head back home.

Showers

The constant rain all day made for difficult hiking on the Appalachian Trail yesterday. It did not affect morale however. Though their clothing was soggy and damp, their spirits were not. They spent the night in a shelter along the trail, much better than trying to set up rain-soaked tents. Jim said that Jubal has surprised him with his endurance. (Photos: Jubal on left, Greg and Emily Hodgdon on right)

On the homefront, something completely unrelated:
A couple Sundays ago I went to a baby shower for my cousin Josh's wife, Meghan. I spent a few minutes trying to explain to Tell (3) where I was going. I'm pretty sure he didn't understand because when I mentioned in passing to the kids yesterday that I was going to have a shower, Tell piped up with, "A baby sower?"

Hitting the Trail

It's nearly dark as I'm writing this. Jim and Jubal stopped to set up camp about an hour and a half ago. They are on a portion of the Appalachian Trail just NW of Allentown, PA so Jim has still has use of iPhone technology.....(yes, the mistress made the trip and I didn't.) He sent me a pinpoint of their campsite location when they stopped. It was a short hike today....about 2.5 miles. They spent most of the day traveling down. (One photo is during the prep to begin the trek. Jubal is in shorts leaning next to the van with his friends, Matt Brown and Nate Fisher. The other photo is during the trail ascent.) Apparently they put Jim in the lead to start. "Aren't you a rookie?" I texted. "Remember I grew up in the bush." he wrote back.

How could I forget? There are quite a few stories, and I've heard them all.

4 am

So this is how the other half lives......

I'm a night owl and don't often see these early morning hours but I'm up with good reason. Jim, Jubal and a number of others left about a half hour ago to travel to Pennsylvania. They will be hiking a portion of the Appalachian Trail for the next 5 days. In the photo are my friends, Peg McConnell and Greg Hodgdon as the gang arrived at our house. Peg was her chipper self even in these wee morning hours but I noticed that Greg's wit and sarcasm lacked it's usual quickness. It must kick into gear after sufficient amounts of caffeine.

Well, I'm back to the sack for a few hours. Good morning!

A Good Read

I just finished reading the memoir of Clarence Thomas, entitled My Grandfather's Son.
I recall watching some of the Supreme Court confirmation hearings with my friend Russ at his aunt and uncle's home during my Senior year. I was impressed back then by the composure with which he conducted himself during great stress and scrutiny. After reading the book, my admiration for Judge Thomas has only increased. It's a very quick, but illuminating read. I recommend picking it up.
The following is a short passage about Thomas' grandfather, who raised him. He was an honest, hard-working, rigid disciplinarian who expected much from Clarence and was the most important influence on his character.
p. 28 "He could make me cry just by looking at me", Pigeon* often said. But as I grew older, made my own way in the world, and raised a son, I came to appreciate what I had not understood as a child: I had been raised by the greatest man I have ever known.

*Judge Thomas' mother

Rantings of a Right-Wing Radical Extremist

A government big enough to give you everything you need is big enough to take it all away - Thomas Jefferson

As some of you know, yesterday over 800 "tea parties" were held in all 50 states, providing a forum for average hard-working, tax-paying American families to express our anger at the abusive nature of the fiscal irresponsibility of our government, as well as the increasing intrusion into the private sector and the everyday lives of individuals. We are tired of over spending and over taxing by both parties. On its own, the government produces nothing, absolutely nothing! It's very easy to be generous with money that is not your own. When the government provides for its citizens through social programs it must first take it from someone else. I heard a very humorous illustration of this at the Greenville, S.C. tea party. Apparently they were selling "Obama Burgers". You stand in line and pay for your food. Upon doing so, your burger is promptly cut in half and given, for free, to the person behind you in line. How perfect a picture is that of how our government works?

I was disappointed that the Augusta party was held at a time that did not allow me to attend. In the spirit of the day, I ran all my errands with a group of tea bags hanging from my rearview mirror. For those of you that remember my "really big earring" years, you'll be interested to know that I also went to Pioneer Clubs last night with tea bags hanging from my ears in political protest. It's hard to get a firm number of the attendance of the parties as the conservative blogs may inflate the numbers and the main stream media greatly deflates them, (when they talk about them at all). I've heard that law enforcement estimates thus far are about 189,000. Considering these events took place in the middle of the day during hours when most tax-payers are actually WORKING, I think the turnout was tremendous. I wonder how many of us desired to attend but were unable.

Oddly enough, (I say this with great sarcasm), you would not even know that these rallies happened if you relied on the main stream media. The New York Times did have a front page report of the protests..........in Afghanistan. I flipped through the cable news outlets during the late afternoon hours yesterday for comparison. It was not particularly enlightning. I already knew what I was going to see. Fox News understood the size of the story and it's potential impact on future politics in our nation, choosing to cover it almost to the exclusion of all other news. "People in 50 states gathering for 'Tea Party' protests" was the running banner at the bottom of their reporting. CNN, on the other hand chose to portray us this way: "Protesters serve 'Tea' with anger". Glad that the annoying idiot Keith Olbermann was not on at this hour, I checked to see what MSNBC was reporting as pertinent news. I'm glad I did. Otherwise I would have missed the compelling, nationally relevent story of two Dominoe's employees that were sticking cheese up their noses and salami on their rears before applying it to the food they were preparing.

The one thing that inspired me the most was Glenn Beck's opening monologue at the tea party held at the Alamo. I'm not ashamed to say I was cheering at the TV, right along with the crowd. In the words of my friend, Annah Brunk, "I just love that man. He says all the things I'm thinking but can't articulate!"