Cruel and Unusual Punishment

I really hate getting angry first thing in the morning. I hadn't even finished cup one of coffee when I read this. Talk about our country going in the wrong direction. I'm appalled at the incompetence of the issuer of this order, and his head should roll. I'm contacting my congress people today. You should, too.

Our forces in Iraq depend heavily on Iraqi interpreters, obviously, since we Americans aren't exactly fluent in this foreign land. These interpreters work under tremendous threat to their lives, not only from hazards of war but from death threats for working with the US. Some 300 have been killed since 2003, many targeted for execution because of their traitorous cooperation with American troops. So they have taken to wearing masks to keep their identities secret and improve their chances of staying alive.

Some bureaucratic genius has decided it is no longer acceptable for the interpreters to wear masks. In an email to the Washington Post, Army Spokesman Lt. Col. Steve Stover gave this rationale, if you can call it that:

We are a professional Army and professional units don't conceal their identity by wearing masks.

He went on to suggest that if interpreters don't like it, they can "seek alternative employment".

News flash to Lt. Col. Stover: Until your professional Army and professional units become fluent speakers of the language in the country you are fighting, you need interpreters from the outside.

Can your troops protect themselves? Yes. They wear armor and carry weapons.

Aren't we supposed to be protecting civilians and winning them over to our goodness as part of the counterinsurgency strategy?

Clue: these interpreters you are putting at risk are saving your butts every day.
They work alongside our soldiers, they are kidnapped, killed, threatened until they quit or die, move away from their families so they are not put at risk, keep irregular schedules to reduce the chances of being picked off on the way to work.

My Dad used to tell us, "Use you head for something besides a hat rack." Let the 'terps wear their damn masks.

Yes, heads should roll. Start with LC Smart Mouth and work your way up.

Way to Go, Dusty!

Congrats to Dustin Pedroia, who just added the AL-MVP award to his Golden Glove and Silver Slugger. Youk came in third in the voting. These guys are awesome ball players both offensively and defensively, and are a joy to watch. The Red Sox Nation is very proud.

Good bye and good luck to Coco Crisp, who was traded to Kansas City for reliever Ramon Ramirez. It won't be Fenway, but he'll play every day. That's good news for KC fans. And you've gotta love that name.

Survivor Cactus

Cacti are my kind of plant. Hard to kill. Yep, they're my kind of plant.

I left my best plant, that I nurtured since Louisiana days and got to bloom every year, with my most plant friendly friend, Jill, when we moved. I was afraid that a week in a hot car driving from Texas to Washington would kill my favorite plant. So I had to put it up for adoption. I kept a little Kroger clearance plant that I had no serious attachment to. If it made the trek, fine. If it didn't, fine.
I knew my best plant would live on at Jill's.

I did keep a few cuttings of the best plant, and hoped they'd 'take' in the new location. When I got here, I bought it a nice pot, and transplanted it after the trauma of moving, along with the cuttings.

This is my Christmas Cactus today. It bloomed last Christmas, and again in the spring. Now it's going at it again, only this time, the little sprigs of my Sugar Land plant that I stuck in the dirt are blooming, too! Now I have red blooms mixed with the salmon blooms. I'm so proud.

UPDATE: Jill just sent a picture of "Orphan Franny". She's doing well, and is more one schedule for holiday blooming. Must be that Central Time Zone thing. And lower latitude.

Tilly Jane Guard Station

A couple of weeks ago, we went up to Tilly Jane with the Nordic Club folks for a work day. Our club is responsible for maintaining the cabin for the Forest Service, and collecting rental fees for use by other groups. The Cloud Cap/Tilly Jane area is designated a historic district, and escaped total destruction by this summer/fall's Gnarl Ridge Fire. The Oregonian did an excellent piece on the fire today which reminded me to download my pictures and WRITE!

The Cloud Cap Inn was built in 1889 for summer use, but it immediately became a destination for hardy winter adventurers. It's on the National Register as the oldest alpine lodge and for its architecture. Thanks to fire retardant drops during the Gnarl Ridge fire, it's still standing. The fire surrounded the area, but left the buildings unharmed except for maybe a few ember burns in the siding. The Tilly Jane Guard Station was built in 1934 for back country access and fire protection.

The road was officially closed on our work day, but the forest service gave us special day permits to go up. The fire devastation was startling. A greater power was looking out for the Tilly Jane, as that area was 'in the green' after driving through acres of burned timber.

Also part of the historic area are the amphitheater and Cook Shed, built in the 1920's and used by American Legion climbing groups, and the Tilly Jane Ski Cabin, or A-frame, built by the CCC in 1939. They are the oldest structures on Mt. Hood. These pictures show us hiking over to the Aframe with logs in hand, and hiking by the amphitheater on the way back to the Guard House.

We had something like 8 or 9 cords of wood delivered and it had to be stacked and stored. The club stays a year ahead with their wood needs. The groups that maintain the Aframe and the Cook Shed were also there storing their portion of the wood. They needed carts to haul the wood to their buildings, but we were able to form 'fire brigade' style lines to pass the wood along to its storage area.

First we filled the available space in the Guard Station back room/latrine. An avalanche of wood trapped stackers Lloyd and Randy for a while, but by passing wood back out to me and Jude through a window, they were able to reopen the door and restack the wood safely. They would have had a long winter in that latrine if the 'woodslide' had happened during the ski season!

After a wonderful lunch of Tilly Chili by Jan, we restocked the storage shed with the rest of the wood, then helped the poor folks who had to cart their wood some distance. We had about three times the number of volunteers, so our work was done more quickly. They paid us in brownies. Yum.

Brindle had a blast running with a few other club dogs, despite her 'Queen Brinnie' collar and her healing leg (from a benign tumor removal).

A little historical trivia: Tilly Jane was the name of the wife of William Ladd of Portland. He and CES Wood bought the Mt. Hood Trail and Wagon Company in 1889, renamed it the Mt. Hood Stage Company, and began improving what would become Wagon Rd, the thrilling stagecoach route to Cloud Cap. This is the road we drove up, and one of two main ski trails to Tilly Jane in winter.

Besides the Wagon Rd, there is a Tilly Jane Trail that winter back country skiers use to get to the cabins. The high door on the side of the Guard Station, at the top of the ladder, is where the winter access is! Yep, the snow is that deep. We haven't been there in winter before. Maybe this year, when we have the proper equipment. Check out the ONC website link above to see some pictures of these adventures.

So many things to do here in heaven, so little time!

Update on Gladys

Remember the July post Ghana Calling? Well, I got an email last night from Gladys. She's in Washington DC participating in a State Dept's International Visitor Leadership Program! They will be in DC until Tuesday, then her group will travel to California while the other groups go to Seattle and Salt Lake City. Everyone meets up again in Louisiana, then they spend time in Pittsburg and Atlanta. I'll be calling her this weekend to find out details, and see where in California she will be. I just might need another road trip!

Update on the update: She'll be SFO next week for 3 days. I'm checking out the Amtrak schedule....

Happy Veterans Day

To my favorite veteran!

More Home Depot Please

In case there was any question, I'm still alive. I had a great trip to Beantown and got my fix of Boston, fall foliage, and most importantly, my girls and family. But all good things come to an end, and it's back to remodelsville.

Now that the new windows and walls are all in, it's up to us to get the painting done before cabinets arrive and wood trim goes on. Because of layoffs at the cabinet factory, delivery is delayed until Dec 8. We're making good progress on the painting, and Lloyd got the subflooring in. The vinyl tile we ordered should be here in a week or so. By the time the cabinets arrive, we'll have the floor done, too. I am looking forward to getting my laundry back.

I finished the kitchen and hall painting over the weekend. Today I put the first coat on the laundry/powder room...a nice Butter Yellow. There are no windows in this room, so I wanted yellow. The master bath is the same as the bedroom, Relaxing Green. I got the first coat on that today as well. Lloyd meanwhile did all the priming, ceilings and living room walls. I love the names of paint. The living room is Swiss Coffee. The office will be Swiss Coffee, too. I'll add some photos tomorrow. It's too dark to get good pictures now.

The White Clay painted kitchen is, well, kind of purple. It didn't look anything near purple in the store on the chip. The good news is, it really looks great behind Lloyd's mother's beautiful vineyard cross stitch that I have on the wall. And with the Kona Beige Silestone countertop. So we'll live with it. I'll just accent with blues and purples. Works for me. My compost jar is blue, in honor of the retired formica. And we have tons of lavendar plants to harvest next summer for the powder room. I think there is some African Art that will work in the hall. So there.

Flooring is the big dilemma. Carpet? Wood? Vinyl? Laminate? One thing is for sure, the light colored Berber that has serviced two previous owners and three renters, all with pets and kids, has GOT to GO! I am afraid we'll need HazMat gear to pull up the carpet and pad. We go back and forth on what to do. Stay tuned. Also, if anyone has any suggestions, feel free to post comments. The kitchen/dining area currently has Pergo in dire need of replacement.

So, my wrists and hands are dead tired right now. Thanks to the rarely used Crock Pot, there is a nice split pea with ham soup for supper. More later.

Close to the Pahk

Sorry I've been out of touch for a few days. I'm visiting the fam in Beantown. It's interesting to go to a place with something other than Smith-Merkley ads. It's all sorts of crazy here, with Kerry running for relection, the Sununu-Shaheen race in NH, and of course the headliners. But I am checking my email and received a few gems this week that I must share.

From Jill:
And from Garrison Keillor, a delightful piece shared by my buddy over at KMBBB, where you'll find a treasure trove of goodies in these last frenzied days of Indecision 2008.

Last night I went to the Democracy Center in Harvard Square with #1 daughter to see her housemates' sketch comedy routine. It was great fun watching these clever college grads put their spin on the election. Especially Ben as Sarah Palin, red jacket, black skirt, hairpiece and Keara's red stiletto heels. Ben was told that if he borrowed them, they'd better make their way back to her closet, under penalty of death. When we saw him at the show, he asked "How do you walk in these things?" He did great. I wish I had taken a picture of him, though, so I could have made him 'almost famous' on my blog. Who knew he had such great gams?

I brought my vote vest, complete with all my buttons, to wear home on the plane. I wear it every election day. So if you see a woman in a red vest, with white vote's written all over it, in Logan Airport, or Salt Lake City, during my layover, or at PDX, come up and say HI. And make sure you VOTE!

I'm Opie, and I Approve this Message

See more Ron Howard videos at Funny or Die

Eine Kleine Nachtmusik

Last night we took a break from our torn up house and headed down to the White Salmon Library for an hour of Woody Guthrie music presented by The Wanderers. What a treat! The room was packed, SRO. We got the last seats.

Carl Allen and Bill Murlin specialize in the Columbia River songs written by Guthrie when he was in Portland in May 1941. Their program includes quotes, anecdotes, and little known songs. Allen does a first person presentation of Guthrie, including a Q and A session at the end. Very entertaining.

Wednesday night we went to a geology talk and slide show on the Ice Age Floods. Lloyd picked up Bruce Bjornstad's new book On the Trail of the Ice Age Floods: A Geological Field Guide to teh Mid Columbia Basin at the book signing. Now we can do an Ice Age Floods road trip.

Plenty to do in this little town. Lovin' it.