joie

This is in the worst taste

Last summer when we were at Ft. Clatsop, one of the demonstrations they put on was how to light a fire using a flint and a stone. It is an incredibly difficult and tedious process that had many steps and even in the peak of the dry summer season is elusive. We stood and watched for about 15 minutes while the yummy college student dressed in a Davy Crockett outfit tried unsuccessfully to get the moss to catch a spark. Today, when I told Dan that Ft. Clatsop burned down, the first thing he said was, "maybe that guy finally got a fire going."

Burnt to the ground

I heard some sad news today. Ft Clatsop is no longer standing. I'm glad we had a chance to see it before the fire.

Find the rest of the pictures here. This is pretty sad news for the Lewis and Clark bicentennial celebration.

I am in NO way condoning solving the problem the way the French peasants did

Okay,now I have a full tummy thanks to my unfailingly patient and supportive husband. Thank you, Dan for being so understanding that I am seasonally obsessed with work right now. And, I just have one more thing to say. I don't generally talk about politics here. I don't feel qualified or informed enough to say anything intelligent on the subject. But, I HAVE to comment on what I heard this on the radio morning, eating my oatmeal, when Barbara Bush said this:

"Everyone is so overwhelmed by the hospitality. And so many of the people in the arena here, you know, were underprivileged anyway, so this, this is working very well for them."

How out of touch can you be?! One step away from Marie Antoinette telling the peasants of France who were begging for bread to just eat cake. Actually, in this article on Louis XVI, it is amazing how many parallels there are with our president:

• He is described as "unintelligent and ineffectual"
• "At the heart of the crisis was the financial and administrative mismanagement of taxes"
• "the French [American] support of the American Revolution [Attack upon Iraq] had put France [the U.S.] deeply in debt" Not to make any comparisons to the American Revolution and our invasion of Iraq. Thank you, France for your help! Without your assistance, there would be no United States of America and thus I would never have known the benefit of American Dentistry.
• "Not only did the peasants have to pay higher prices for the basics of life (the peasants lived in a subsistence economy only), but landlords began raising fees on the peasantry when they saw their purchasing power decrease."
• "In that same year, unemployment in many parts of France was over 50%" I acknowledge that our unemployment rate is not THAT high.

Yes, I know there are also MANY differences, and like I said, I really should not open my mouth about politics because I don't know what I'm talking about, but I thought this was kind of interesting....

Get Your Glue Guns Out of Storage, She's Back!

Leave it to Martha to make a prison sentence sound like a spa retreat:

During her time at the federal women's camp in Alderson, Stewart foraged for dandelions and other wild greens, concocted recipes in a microwave and even ate from a vending machine. She also participated in nightly yoga classes, spent time on crafts and writing and lost weight.
(From USATODAY.com)

I've never been a big Martha Stewart fan, but I have to say I think she handled this whole situation with class and grace. I admire that. I'm also a little jealous. I could use a spa sentence for a few months.