Pink Houses

This week my parents and I traveled to the Washington peninsula and saw the beautiful, lush, green side of Washington. We went to Port Townsend, Fort Worden, Squim, Hurricane Ridge, Port Angeles, several waterfalls, Lake Crescent, Rialto Beach, Forks, [for Stephanie Meyer fans, that tiny town is where 'Twilight' is set (I kind of hate myself for knowing that)], Hoh Rain Forrest, and Ruby Beach. We traveled mostly on hwy. 101 (and through small towns galore) and just at the junction of 101 and 20 we stopped at Fat Smitty's, a "famous" hole-in-the-wall burger joint that was delicious and had awesome statues of a burger and a pepsi bottle out front.

John Cougar wrote about some of these towns in both "Small Town" and in my post title "Pink Houses." He romanticises particularly about one man as "he's got an interstate runnin' through his front yard, you know he thinks that he's got it so good." Now these people don't have an interstate running through their front yard, but they do have a state highway running through the front yard and that's close enough (besides state highway doesn't fit the iambic pentameter of John Cougar's song).

We had a great time and got to see both a rain forrest [but it wasn't raining (sad)] and an ocean beach on the same day [but no tide pools (another sad)]. I wanted to see the glaciers too, you know complete the tri-fecta of Olympic National Park, but it was a 17 mile hike through the rain forrest to get to them (we opted for the 1.25 mile trail that winds through the forrest).

America the Beautiful

Last night I went to the home opener for the Tri-Cities Dust Devils; the minor league single-A team (different and less cool than The A-Team) affiliated with the Colorado Rockies. The baseball wasn't really that great, but it was a fun, festive atmosphere, and there were fireworks after the game. As I gazed into the vast, dark sky at the bright flashes of color, the stadium speakers charmed the spellbound audience with the sweet strains of Ray Charles' rendition of America the Beautiful. You probably remember that version of the famous ballad from the romantic scene in 'The Sandlot,' when the neighborhood friends gather to play a night game with only the light of the fireworks to brighten their diamond; a feat only viable to one still entranced with childlike wonder. I have always thought it would be nearly divine to play midnight baseball in Alaska during the summer solstice. America truly is beautiful.

Dazed and Confused

Imagine my confusion when I came upon this little headline in today's newspaper, 'California Regulators find pot Smoke Causes Cancer.' What is going on? I rescind my supplication for good weed as it apparently causes cancer, not cures it. I wish they would just make up their minds.

On an unrelated note, it's Father's Day tomorrow, and I wish many happy returns to all the Father's out there. You have a tough job, but my dad did a pretty good job raising me, and teaching me and showing me what's really important in life. Love you dad!

Chester the Chubby Elf

For the last couple of months my 2 1/2 year old nephew Grant has been whispering to his parents, "let's talk about Christmas." I remember the old LP we had when I was a kid about the chubby little elf named Chester who saved Christmas. My older brother and I (coincidentally Grant's dad) loved the story and the songs. Even though the title of this post is a Christmas song, we're not going to talk about Christmas.

I am going to talk about the trip I just made from WA, to UT, to ID, and back to WA. My parents and I dropped Kaleb (my little brother) off at the MTC, moved everything out of my house, went to my cousin's wedding, and did some reconnaissance for a family reunion. It was during this last phase of the trip that we drove through the tiny towns of Declo (pop. 338) and Albium, (pop. 262). They of course reminded me of Chester, UT (too small to get pop. from the US census) and the Chester challenge. Chester is a thriving metropolis on highway 6 just north of Ephraim. The challenge is to hold your breath the whole time you are driving though it. I've never met someone who failed the challenge.

Cheatin'

In Doug Hopkins' above ballad he assumes innocence from cheating on his wife/girlfriend because "she reminds me of you." While I think that is a hillarious excuse, I still don't condone cheating except in card games.

On another cheating note Manny Rameriz cheated our national pastime, his employer, and his fans in L.A. by trying to become a woman-I hope he's heard plenty of transgender jokes at his expense. He deserves it for his unpardonable crime of cheating at baseball by taking illegal substances (the woman hormone pills he took block other pills from being detected by drug tests). He was suspended 50 games by MLB (there are 162 games a year so it's not as bad as it sounds). He is now 5th in NL All-Star outfield voting. I call on you to spread the word and vote as many times as possible for your choice of any NL outfiedler below him in fan voting (my choice is Justin Upton). We must keep the cheater out of the All-Star game as it is a game for those with talent and those who actually play the game. It's not for cheating losers who sit on the bench because they got caught. Go to mlb.com and click on the banner that says: vote now. Vote early and vote often, voting ends July 2nd.

Blood on the Tracks

If you or someone you know wants to know how I'm doing just follow the advice of Robbert Zimmerman, from the above album, "say for me that I'm all right." Really I am doing pretty good considering. I'm often fatigued (but not really sleepy-figure that one out), I don't have much of an appetite, I can't really hear out of my left ear (stereo isn't really that much better than mono anyway), my balance and stair climbing prowess isn't what it used to be, and my head always feels like it's stuffed and swollen.

Otherwise I'm fine. I don't get out and do too much due to some physical restraints and the fatigue, but my mom is taking good care of me and is helping me to do something everyday. So really you can be assured that I'm okay and you can tell those who don't want to be taught life lessons by the poets of rock (those who don't read my blog) that I'm okay.