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Seems like we were just in Mississippi and Louisiana.  Those folks have already been struggling to rebuild from the last few disasters... and here they go again.


Sign Here to Restore the Gulf

clunk pffft clunk

I will explain that title later.

Happy (late) 4th of July!

When my country, into which I had just set my foot, was set on fire about my ears, it was time to stir. 

It was time for every man to stir.
~Thomas Paine

All tyranny needs to gain a foothold is for people of good conscience to remain silent.
~Thomas Jefferson

It's good to hear a little revolutionary talk once in awhile... and those two fellas could sure dish it up.

Here is Delta on the 4th... she sits there and watches for David. It is pretty pitiful.  See him there in the upper right side of the photo?  Leaning out of his work cart a little?  She spots him and sits in that front window and stares.  

Geez.

Anyway...

The record setting rains finally stopped and we have been crazy busy.  It’s a wonderful thing!  People streaming out onto the course all day.  People who have been golfing here for decades, people who have not golfed here since they were kids, new people golfing, people who have driven by for ages but finally decided to stop in... we have them all coming again.  We start at 5 and fall into bed at 9 pm. That’s why its been so long since my last posting.

A few weeks ago now Amber and Donovan dropped in for a nice surprise visit!  Our first guests!  She wanted to come see a friend’s graduation in Portland so she thought her and baby would surprise us.... they sure did!  It was so nice riding around with her and Donovan out on the course!  He was impressed the first time... the second time he fell asleep on his Mama.

Then not long after that Mom and Dad came for a visit.  They were actually here during my birthday.  Its kinda funny... two years earlier they had come to visit us in the U.P. and that was when we were building the house... and when David broke his leg.   Thank goodness there was no mishaps this time!  This was a much easier visit as it only takes a day to drive up as opposed to hours and hours in airports and airplanes.  They brought our remaining belongings to us in our little cargo trailer.  It was like Christmas opening the boxes and finding long missed... and yet totally unnecessary possessions. 

Of course, we don’t have anywhere to put our stuff yet so the boxes still sit mostly full, and the pictures lean against the walls.  We have very little furniture right now and it is not exactly comfy... yet.

We left most of our furniture behind in Michigan for the next owners of the little house on Lake 13. I have been trying to remedy that though by hitting the local Goodwill stores on my days off looking for chairs, bookcases, basically stuff that can be cleaned up and maybe painted.  I actually am having fun with it but my projects take a long time to get completed because I have to run out to the woodshop between golfers for a quick sanding or spray painting.

While Mom and Dad were here... David mowed the golf course (poor guy) and I took them around a little bit when I could.

I joined them for a train trip into Portland on the Max train to go to the Japanese Garden and to the waterfront.

We went to a very nice dinner for my birthday but mostly they explored the area a lot on their own.

 We had one heck of a view from the Japanese Garden... that my friends is Mount Hood.

The rest of the days Mom cooked dinner for us all (what a nice treat!) and Dad pitched in and helped every chance he got out on the course.   I think he really liked doing 'the rounds' in the morning and being able to take his camera for early morning photos.

Now for the title explanation.

So... I found a mall.  Well its not like it was hidden or anything and it actually is a big one.  Been by it, near it, parked in the lot, but never really looked inside.  Tons of stores! Yayyy we are finally back to civilization!  There was an Apple store, an Orange Julius, and even a Frederick’s of Hollywood!  A girl has got to have her feather boas.

(kidding)

My excitement the day of my visit to the mall was tempered however because apparently men with gas felt the need to seek me out and share.  To start my visit, I was at the front sign of the mall.. you know one of those things with the red “you are here” spots trying to figure out which way to begin my exploration.  Coming near me I see an older gentleman... scratch that.... coming towards me I hear an old man.  His shoes making a clunk clunk sound as he walked....  his bottom was making another noise all together between each and every step.

clunk pffft clunk pffft clunk pffft clunk

What the hell.

And of course he is not just walking by me... Oh no.  That would not be nearly weird enough.  Instead he decides that he needs to walk right up next to me at the sign.  Well, I was not going to wait around for that show to continue so I moved around the other side of the sign and entered mall land.  That is a heck of a way to start my shopping tour but I quickly put it out of my mind.  I was dazzled by the lights and the sounds of a mall again.  Heck, I even got one of those fancy $10 haircuts available in the stop and cut place.  Of course I could not understand the woman... it was a bad combination of my hearing and her rather thick Korean accent.  I think it was Korean.  She was having difficulty dealing with the cowlicks in my bangs and I was having difficulty explaining them.  It did not matter though... she did not hack up my hair too bad and I just kept be-bopping around people watching after I was done.

You may have noticed that I used the plural "men" at the beginning of the story.  How I ended my afternoon at the mall was oddly similar to how I started it.  I was in the Barnes & Noble store drinking my fancy pants blended coffee drink and looking at magazines.  Ya know.. doing the cheapskate thing... not buying just looking.  Then what do I hear?   

clunk pffft clunk pffft.  

Oh  My   God!   

It is just like Poe’s ‘Tell-Tale Heart’!!!

Well... almost except it's not a heart.

Then around the corner of the magazine rack comes a much younger man apparently also seeking me out to give me his form of greeting.  He must have been a son or nephew of the man out front.  

clunk pffft clunk pffft 

I turned and walked the other direction out of the mall out to our truck and drove straight home.