(P.S. I have no idea why some type appears as black on a white background and so far I can't find the fix. Oh well. You don't read this because it's classy.)
This morning after breakfast and a stop at the coffee shop we headed 90 minutes north to Newport, one of the larger towns on the central OR coast. We stopped along the way for pictures and had lunch at Mo's, something of an institution in these parts. Their clam chowder isn't on any diet in the world except that one where you eat real good stuff that has five pounds of calories in every bite.
One of the things we like about vacationing on the OR coast is that it's completely different from anything we see the rest of the year. Green, ocean, cliffs, tall trees, harbors.... We have eight days to fill up our brains with the sights, smells and sounds before heading back to triple-digit temps in the FLAT, brown desert.
Hwy 101 from Florence to Newport is a twisty road with a 55 mph speed limit except every 15 miles or so when it goes through a small town. On the way up we spent most of the time doing 35 mph because we got behind a large motorhome pulling a car, and he had no desire to use one of the pullouts for slower vehicles. But I think I know why. When he accelerated his engine made the most awful noise you ever heard coming from a motor home, likely a valve about ready to let go. When he braked it made an equally horrible noise that was clearly the sound of metal on metal. I think he figured if he stopped he might never get started again, and stopping would be an iffy proposition at best.
The weather is sunny, but true to coastal form it's very windy. If it were calm the temp might be something around 70, but the windchill factor has it feeling like half that.
Oh, and we saw whales from one of the lookouts. The display board said they're gray whales but it's not like we could tell. All we could see was their spout, and occasionally their back or fluke. Still, we saw whales.We're on our way back to the campground for dinner - anything but chili. Then another campfire. You've heard it said, "Where there's smoke, there's fire."
Not if I'm in charge there isn't. My fire building skills are a joke. But I'm great at the smoke part.
The Episcopal Church did what was expected over the weekend and approved marriage ceremonies for same sex couples. This latest move, which was preceded a year or two ago with the ordination of openly gay clergy, will result in another round of defections by Episcopal congregations in more conservative areas of the country. When a church leaves its denomination who owns the building? So far, in almost every case, the courts have sided with the Episcopal denomination and congregations have been forced to abandon the building they constructed and maintained for decades.
I don't have anything against rich people. I suspect they are nice or jerks in about the same proportion as the rest of the population. I'm sure some of them are lazy slugs who inherited their money, but just as many, probably more, worked their tails off to gain their wealth. That may have been done through plain ol' hard work, or through cleverness, coming up with a better mouse trap. But it's their money, and the fact they have a lot more than me doesn't make them my enemy. They shouldn't be treated differently for having a ton of money, either with special favors or penalties. Fair's fair.
If I get a tax break, why shouldn't they? If I'm already getting one, and if Congress should act to extend it, why shouldn't the rich get the same extension? Vilifying the rich seems particularly unAmerican. It also seems like a cheap and easy way to get a lot of people on your side by playing to their baser instincts. Create an enemy and blame our troubles on them.
It's a lot easier than taking responsibility yourself.
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