Oregon Coast

Just one more view of a part of our magnificent country!
It's one of my favorite places.

How can we afford to elect people who only want to use
this country for their own benefit, people who don't care
about protecting it, preserving it for all those who will come
after us? Is their kind of legacy what we want to leave for
our children and grandchildren? Look at the beautiful
places in your own part of the country, then look at where we
are headed with more of the same in Washington. I keep
pushing this because I am passionate about our country
and its future. I hope you see what I see, hope for what I
hope for and believe we can make a difference, together.

Pink Flowers and Late Night Thoughts

It's been a lovely weekend -- well, as long as I stayed away from the TV, which just got easier as we cancelled our service. I can keep abreast of all that I need to know on my computer without having to listen to the media talk and talk and say very little. My trip to the Black Diamond Coal Museum was really fascinating, great lunch at the local bakery.

Now that summer is definitely on it's way out, I've enjoyed again all the photos from the dahlia festival and thought that I'd share a couple more. There is such a variety of dahlias that I never knew about and that discovery has made the pictures all the more special. I guess during times like these it is so important to be able to focus on the small and beautiful and rewarding things in our lives rather than the nightmare of politics and finances. I don't mean we shouldn't face the problems and deal with them in the most effective way that we can, but it's important for our own sense of serenity and peace that we be able to find, to see, to touch the precious things in our lives and not just focus on bad things -- many of which are beyond our reach as far as being able to solve them -- at least for the whole country. But it is so important for our own peace of mind to be able to move our focus from those things, back to the beauty that is always there for us if we can take the time to look for it. And those are the things that can nourish us during the bad times. Hopefully, we will see a new day begin to dawn in our country and soon. And that new day is what I am focusing on tonight.