Crater Lake

We recently returned from a trip to Crater Lake, Oregon. We have lived in the Pacific Northwest for eight years now and this was my first trip to Crater Lake. Hopefully, it will not be my last. When we decided to make this trip and I told people we were going everybody told me how much I would enjoy it and how beautiful it is. Yeah, yeah...okay, whatever.

We left on Monday morning and drove to Prospect, Oregon where we would be staying at the Prospect House Bed and Breakfast. Not only was this my first trip to Crater Lake, but it was the first time to stay in a B&B. The room was small, what would you expect in a B&B, but comfortable. The first night we had reservations in the Dinner House at the B&B since we didn't know where else there would be to eat in Prospect. I had stuffed pork tenderloin with whiskey sauce and D had the prime rib. From the salad to the dessert it was oh so YUMMY. Three mornings meant three breakfasts. Although they were all delicious my favorite was the first morning's banana pancakes with walnut topping. Needless to say counting calories started out with a bang each day.

Tuesday after breakfast we headed up to Crater Lake. The plan was to drive around the lake and stop at different trails here and there. D took the direction that would have us going down trails and not seeing the lake right away. Then when we finally stopped at an observation point from which the lake was visible I was blown away. I have never seen a more beautiful blue. So amazing! After the first look I decided the boat trip was a must do, something we had written off earlier. We lucked out the next day and got on the 4 PM boat trip. They were down a boat, so we really didn't expect to be able to make the trip, but were thrilled when we found out we would. To get to the boat dock we had to hike down the trail which is the equivalent of a 75 story building. It was unbelievable to take a boat trip on a lake inside of a volcano. Of course, after the two hour tour we then had to hike up the trail back to the rim. Yes, it was still the equivalent of a 75 story building. But, we did it!

Of all the places I have seen in this beautiful country of ours Crater Lake has moved to first place of the most beautiful and my favorites. If you haven't been to Crater Lake you might want to consider putting it on your bucket list.

Thank you – a dying art?

Are thank you notes, for graduations and weddings, obsolete? I didn’t think sending a thank you for gifts received would become something out of date or old fashion.

When I graduated, thank you notes were ordered at the same time as the invitations and announcements. Now it has been more years then I would care to admit to since I graduated, but when my daughter graduated it was the same. I tried to make sure she wrote her thank you notes as she received gifts so the task would not become overwhelming. I, also, recall ordering thank you notes at the same time my wedding invitations were ordered years ago.

Is it expecting too much to receive some sort of acknowledgment that a gift was received, even if the recipient doesn’t appreciate or like the gift? I love to give gifts. I enjoy shopping for something special for the individual I am getting it for. Whether it is a graduation, wedding or even a birthday I put a lot of thought into it. I try to get something for the recipient they will enjoy and hope they will think about me when they use or see the gift. I understand what I may consider a good gift the recipient may not feel the same. We all get a gift sometime or another we have no use for or wonder what the gift giver was thinking; I’ve gotten a few myself. But, I still thank them because they did put time and effort into the gift. I live across country from most of my family and friends and without a thank you note or even a phone call I have no idea if they received the gift or not.

In doing some research, all information I find shows it is still proper etiquette to send thank you notes for graduation and wedding gifts. Notes for the graduation gifts should be sent by two weeks after graduation. Wedding gift thank you notes should be sent no later than three months after the wedding. I’ve been waiting a year and even longer in some cases, so looks like I’m not receiving a thank you. Perhaps the gift didn’t arrive, or wasn’t liked or I just don’t rate a thank you. I will be more careful from now on for whom I spend time and money for gifts.

It is my hope in writing this down and getting it off my chest, the hurt will begin to lessen.

Who do laws apply to?

When laws are made is there a blurb in them somewhere I am unaware of that says ‘except for you’ or ‘unless you don’t agree’? Or, am I correct in my thinking laws apply to everyone the same?

When you come to a traffic signal and the red light is lit that means stop. When there is a sign by the traffic signal that says ‘No turn on red’, that means even if you stop, look and things are clear you still are not supposed to turn. It certainly doesn’t mean just ignore the red light and sign altogether and keep going. Right?!? Well, beware in Oregon , there is a driver of a silver Lexus that this doesn’t apply to apparently. Because not only did he not stop for the red light, he didn’t even slow down. Of course, if I did something like this, intentionally or not, there would be a cop right there waiting to nail me.

We have a fire hydrant at the edge of the street in our front yard. Now I know and I thought it was common knowledge you do not park in front of a fire hydrant. In the state where I live you are suppose to leave a distance of 15 feet, but city ordinance says 3 feet. Should my house or any other house on my block catch fire it would be really nice if the fireman can get to the hydrant, right? Another thing that common sense dictates to me, yet there is law backing my way of thinking up. We have found out there are many others that don’t share our way of thinking and don’t know the law or think it applies to them. We have asked our neighbors not to block the fire hydrant, when our request was ignored it was pointed out to them it is against the law. The response was the curb is not painted red so it doesn’t matter. WHAT!?! I wonder if it would matter if their property caught on fire and the fireman were delayed in hooking the hose up because of a vehicle blocking their access to the hydrant. There have been many incidents where people have parked in front of the hydrant, so it must not be common knowledge it is against the law. It doesn’t matter if it is for a few minutes or days…it is against the law. But, that must be one of those laws that does not apply to everyone.

In our city, as I am sure in most, there are restrictions for parking. In our city a vehicle can not be parked over 24 hours in the same place. Of course, that is 24 hours from the time you report the problem to the city. There is only one way to get to our house, we are at the end of a street with three dead ends. There is a house we have to pass to get to our end of the street that has a minimum of 6 (usually more) trucks and cars parked in front, to the side and across the street. Most of the vehicles are junk which really makes the neighborhood look classy. These vehicles sit there for days, weeks and months. The house in on a corner which makes it difficult to see oncoming traffic from the opposite direction you are driving. Because they park on both sides of the street it, also, makes it impossible for more then one vehicle to get through at a time. So, keep your fingers crossed if there is a vehicle coming from the other direction they aren’t driving like a bat out of he**. We have contacted the city about this house and so have many other neighbors. Somebody comes out talks to them, they move each vehicle from one spot to another and it stays the same. The people that lived across the street from this house have gotten so tired of it, they moved. They have the house up for sale and good luck on selling it with two broken down trucks parked right in front of it. In this instance, not only is it a case of law breaking neighbors but it is a case of officials not enforcing the law. Budget cuts or not, laws should be enforced. IMHO if you ticket this people when they break the law that is bringing in needed revenue. So, enforce the law and may be people will learn to obey it.

I could probably go on with my bitchfest about breaking the law, but I will call it quits for now. Although, this subject will more than like come up again and again.

God bless Mimi

Okay, obviously I haven’t done a good job of blogging. I started this blog mainly to vent and get things off my chest. It isn’t like I haven’t had plenty of occasions to need to vent in the past three months. When I have the need to do so though, I’m not on the computer and then when I do finally have the opportunity to possibly blog the need has passed and therefore I don’t write anything down. Tonight I am taking a few moments to write some feelings down.

Today’s blog is about loss, the loss of a loved one. My lifetime best friend, Joann, lost her kitty today. Mimi was 19 years old, quite amazing as she was mainly an outdoor cat. I spoke with Jo this afternoon to see how see was doing. Surprising to me, Jo was doing good. She said she had gotten strength from all the prayers her friends had sent her way.

Most of us have lost a pet at some point. We all know how painful it is. Our pets are members of our family as much as our spouses and kid. It is extremely hard when they leave this world. If you are reading this, I ask you to send positive thoughts and prayers to Joann, Bob and family as they grieve for their precious Mimi.

I will try to do better with this blogging thing. I promise my next blog will have nothing to do with death, like my first and only two blogs have.

Sunday, April 11, 2010

I have been thinking of starting a blog for a while and it looks like today is the day. The purpose of this blog will be to vent, question, wonder and share. Short on time today to get much into the writing, but being a GRITS I thought this would be a good day to start. The reason I wanted to write a little something today is to say farewell to another GRITS, Dixie Carter. I have seen many of her works, but I loved her character Julia Sugarbaker in the sitcom Designing Women. She was a true Southern lady that never bowed down to anyone. I loved it when she would get on her soapbox. So, what better way to start my own soapbox (blog) then to say rest in peace Dixie Carter. You made me smile, laugh and even cry at times. Tonight you are with the angels singing your rendition of How Great Thou Art.