Happy Valentine's Day

Did you know that male honeybees explode after mating?

It was in the paper this morning. Talk about a climax!

I was over visiting my friend Susan's place, and found myself almost wishing I was back in Texas, for just a little while. Seems there's gonna be a knock down drag out debate in Austin! I'm happy for her and all my friends (I didn't say OLD FRIENDS this time). If there's any way to get tickets, I know Susan will find some. Susan, we'll expect all the juicy details! Don't leave out a single thing!

Meanwhile, back at the ranch, we've had a busy week in paradise. First order of business was attending a Gorge Commission hearing on Tuesday morning. This is an emotional issue around here, so we need to get ourselves educated, so we can have an opinion. We like to have opinions. Especially informed opinions. See, there's an old lumber mill/eyesore along State Hwy 14 west of White Salmon that the owners want to turn into a 'destination resort' (translation, condos) called Broughton Landing. The land is in the protected scenic area, next to a state park, fish hatchery, and HUGELY popular windsurfing mecca (The Hatch). Now, they could build a resort with some cabins and RV slots, and be approved. But they want to build condos instead, so need an amendment from the Commission to the zoning rules that everyone else has been following for over 20 years. People don't like that too much. And they all showed up to testify. So many that the hearing was extended to next month's Commission meeting. Stay tuned for more. This one's been brewing for a long time, apparently, and will be on the burner a while longer. Thing is, SOMETHING has to be done with the eyesore.

We escaped halfway through the testifying and headed up to Pineside for an afternoon ski around Big Tree Loop, about 5.2 miles. The snow is old, the trail was rutted, but it was delightful to be out getting some exercise. We planned to christen the hot tub that night, but the wind was so bad, we were afraid the cover would be blown off to Oz. So we waited until LAST night, opened a bottle of Wind River Cellars Port, and had ourselves a nice soak under a clear starry sky. Heaven.


Oh, you thought you were gonna get a picture from last night? It was too darn cold to be setting up cameras !