Judge Not Least ye be Judged...

CAUTION!!! RANT AHEAD!

Religious piety has hit our blog world. At least in my small bit of it. With the firing of D. And the demand that they take their blogs down, two of our own have been censored. All in the name of religion. True, I do not know the whole story, and I probably never will, but for the three years that I have been blogging, K. Has been up beat, above board, and honest! She was a Pastors' wife who was managing to hold on to her own family while having to deal with the problems and frustrations of D's Church families. She did it with class.

D. And K. Brought humanness to the perception of a Man of God. And in fact that is what he is supposed to be. HUMAN! He has a life and failings of his own. The only one who is above human level is GOD! Not a sanctuary full of hypocrites who feel that they are the only type of Christian there should be. BALDERDASH!!

I was a very devote Christian during my growing up years. A member in good standing of the United Methodist Church. Things happened and I fell away from that church and formed my own relationship with God. That does not make me less of a Christian, or less of a person, it just means that things happened that forced me to find another way.

I was becoming cynical at all of the Jesus freaks trying to tell me that His way was the ONLY way. It isn't. I was trying to form a way of reconciling with Christ, when Sept 11, 2001 happened. I was flumoxed! I could not believe that a being could allow that to happen in HIS NAME!! Christian, Jew, or Muslim, we all worship the SAME GOD!! Then other things started happening, and I was becoming less and less enchanted with a belief that would hurt so many innocent people. History goes back and shows you that Christians did the same thing in God's name. THere were the Crusades against the Muslims, There was the Inquisition, (shudder) THere was Hitler, James (WHAT"S HIS NAME and his purple koolaid.) Jones. All in GOD's name!!

Now we have a man of God, trying his darndest to bring people to his congregation, in a way that was different. Not stogy, not all-knowing, but down to earth. Like Man really is. Suddenly he is held to a higher standard because a person calling themselves a good Christian found his blog and was offended at one thing he/she saw on it. Now instead of calling him on the carpet or moving on, it was decided to read ALL of their links and comments. K. has NEVER done anything that I would consider obscene or off color. I Know that D. was having some very difficult times with his depression but I dont think that should be a reason to remove him from his pulpit.

If in fact these GOOD CHRISTIAN people are reading links, and comments, then they are probably reading my blog too, as I commented frequently on K's. To me this is censorship. If you are offended by what you read, then do us all a favor and go elsewhere!

Christian censorship is getting out of hand. TV stations refusing to show a program because it showed a Diety in a bad light. COME ON!! Did any of you watch it? It was GREAT! It showed that a minister and a Bishop have failings too. That should not have been a reason to not show it.

This is now affecting ME and what I want to read, and what I want to watch on TV. And I don't like it one little bit. SO all of you out there that may have come here to see what kind of pornography I may be spewing. check out the archives!! I think I said the word Fuck about 4 times in three years. Maybe a little more. I think I showed my Boobs once. (even though they were covered by a sweater) I talk about my wild life. OOPS that should have been WILDLIFE, and I talk about seeing Lola's backside to see that it really was SAL on the squirrel feeder! and He was eating his nuts! (peanuts)

We in this small community listed on the right hand side bars, are your above average Human beings. We have lives that we talk about, we have hobbies that we show, we talk about our feelings, and hurt when others in our community hurt. We have weight problems and marital problems and kid problems and drinking problems, and some of us even have political problems, but what we dont have is the power to want to censor one tiny little word we read. That is our given right under the US COnstitution. We do have the power to delete, and to not go back to a site that we feel is truely offensive. (Ok, so we do go back to see just how bad DICK can get, but we know he is all bluster!)

You who did have the power to remove a very caring man from his pulpit will get your just due. I hope you sleep well tonight, knowing that you have destroyed a man who really cared about his congregation. You have a woman who is losing faith in her community.

You have done a good job of making sure that I may NEVER go back to organized religion again. I left it because of people like you and I will probably just stay away because of hypocrites like you. I will instead sit on a bluff or the top of a mountain and talk to my God. He doesn't demand a THING from me, not Money, not nice clothes, nothing, and He does not care that I may say something wrong.

He and ONLY He will be my Judge! I sure hope he judges you as harshly as you judged D.

Ok Rant over!!

Time out!

By Golly! I think it is almost SPRING! It has been roller Coastering here weather wise, Rain, sunshine, cold, rain, cold, SNOW, Cold and now Sunshine again. The Daffodils are popping up all over the fields. My crocus never came up so I guess the squirrels got them.

I have been off the computer most of the time, watching the olympics. SO I need to do some catch up after all the festivities are over. I have not forgotten you, just taking a much needed break from the PC and indulging in the TV and the recliner for a bit! :)

WHY wasn't it ME!!

Can you imagine winning 350 million dollars? Even split 8 ways...Can you? Man I can!! I know that I would make a LOT of people very secure in their lives!! I would first donate 10% to the Neo-natal division of Children's Hospital. Then I would find a nice big farm to move to so I could adopt even MORE critters!

A blog party would be right up there too! I would finally get to meet those that have been loyal readers for the three years that I have been blogging. It would have to be somewhere we could all get to easily...Canada? South Africa? New Zealand? How about RUSSIA? Or Greenland? Where should we all meet?

Then I would take a cruise around the world, so I could see all those places where YOU live. I think I would then hire me a personal trainer/life support person, and a chef.

There is a lot more that I would do of course, but those are the first things that popped into my head when I heard there was a winner.

My kids would be set. They would still have to work or go back to school and earn a degree, but that would be their choice. No free rides. Sorry. Tim would blow it all, SO I would have to make sure that his was in a trust fund and doled out yearly, As long as he worked to improve his life. I know he would, He just needs a big break. I think. Donna would probably quit her job, and move someplace where she could buy a house and go back to school to get her Doctorate. She would Change her Major I think, and instead of Chemistry, and molecular biology she would concentrate on Organics and Community planning. I don't worry about her,at all, she is tough, she will do fine.

My family could all retire. Phyllis would. She is ready. But then she would be worn out trying to squeeze all her friends into all her spare time!! (shaking head)
Mike would be able to retire and not worry about having to work with a bad back. Sherry could quit the job she has, and find one she LIKES close to home. Galen would be able to go to school and get his medical degree, He has always wanted to be a surgeon. He would not get a lump sum either. He is 28 and single and LOVES toys! He works hard, but he has a lot of toys!

Bob would not want anything. He does not like material things. I think for him, I would take him on a cruise with me, then while he was gone, I would have someone clean his place up, finish it, and then put in a well built, ready to plant garden, complete with raised beds, and a 6' chain link fence with a locking gate. Keeps both the 2 footed and 4 footed Deer/dears away. He lives on a very visible piece of land just before the entrance to a very busy State park. Lots of curious eyes.

I think then I would set up a grant program that would help women get back on their feet after finding themselves jobless or homeless. Not a free ride, there would be conditions, but it would be a boot strap. I know I sure could have used one once! I didn't have one, I made it, but It sure would've helped!

AHHHHHH TO dream. How about you? What would you do with your winnings if you won the POWER BALL? I know you have all thought about it...

Still COLD here...

I woke up at least 3 times last night having Power Surges!! Id kick the covers off, then wake up freezing and put them back on, then wake up later sweating again. I did this drill about 3 times, until I realized that it was REALLY cold out side, and all four cats were on MY side of the blanket or on top of me. I evidently turned off their half in my sleep, and cranked mine way up in a chilly moment. They did NOT appreciate that fact. SO they all piled on me, to keep warm, and since I was not comfortable, I cranked their side up and my side down! I also cracked ipen the window and hunkered under the covers with just my nose sticking out. I shone the flash light out the window to see if there was any snow, but there was none. THe owls were taking advantage of the crisp clear night, and hooting back and forth with each other. At one of my conscious moments, they owls were hooting back and forth and then they started their screeching talk. At the same time the COyotes and a dog got in to it and there was yips and barks and howls and hoots and screeching all going on out back. THe cats were growling and Sadie wanted out to take them all on. I just love living in the boonies!

I have a fire built in the wood stove again tonight, and all of the cats and Sadie are lined up in front of it snoring away...oops I lied!! Sadie just moved out on to the bare floor, musta got too warm for her. She'll be back in the middle of the cats before long.

Donna came home today, and we had a nice visit. She polished off the left over birthday cake and almost the rest of the spaghetti. Grabbed her mail, grabbed her new afghan, and headed back home. I get to see her about twice a month. I asked where her husband was, and he had gone to see HIS Mom today. so it must be Mother Sunday! Bill as I have said before is My age, so his Mom is REALLY old.

I am finishing putting together some old Knitted squares, that Mom had made when she was bored. She used old ugly yarn, and each one was a different pattern, and they are all different sizes, but my SIL wanted me to make an afghan out of them so I crocheted a border around each square and then a border of multi-colored yarn around that to hook them all together. It is Butt Ugly, but Sherry wanted it, so I am almost through with that. Then the next project is to try and finish a scrapbook for her, 1 for me and 1 for each of the kids.

I start a new show tomorrow with Auditions for THE CAINE MUTINY COURT MARTIAL. Then all my show projects are done for this year. I have no idea what the schedule will be like for next year. I may not get picked for one, so I may be just kicking back and relaxing some. (ha!)

I can feel the cold coming right through my double paned windows, so you know it is chilly out there again tonight. It is predicted to warm up tomorrow though as the clouds move in. THen the rain will start again.

The birds are starting to come back more and more now. I have red finches, pine siskins, and the red winged blackbirds that have not been around very long. THe Juncos have been around all year, as have the woodpeckers and the chickadees and doves. I have not heard the QUail yet this year. I hope all the coyotes and Owls have not chased them all off.

I will try and get around to everyone's blog before the olympics start tomorrow, I am LOVING the coverage!!! I wait every time for them to come on. Next Winter ones are in Vancouver, BC, and that is right over there, so Maybe I can go see some. That would be so cool!

BRRRRRRR.......

The sun is out bright and warm, but it is very misleading. It is COLD out there. It got down to 20 F last night about 2AM. Miss Coyote and Mr. Owl woke Sadie up with their hooting and howling, so of course she had to go out and see what all the ruckus was about, and sniff all over the yard chasing ghost bunnies. I stepped out on the deck in my barefeet, saw the shimmer of ice and grabbed on tight to keep from falling. No Leslie, I did not!! :)

There is a very deep Jet stream coming down from the Arctic, bringing with it COLD CLEAR air. By tomorrow morning, we should be colder than we have been in many years, according to Jeff Renner our crack meteorologist on KING 5 News. Down into the teens and lower at night and windchills below zero. Along with all of this we are predicted to get strong winds down the Strait! Swell. Wind, Cold, and maybe SNOW! I LOVE the winter weather, and I really get into the COLD CLEAR SUNNY days, and I love the crisp cclear nights. But I am really needing SPRING.

I want to take my coffee out onto the deck and lap up the morning sun. Too cold right now. But SOON.

######################Stuff#######################

THe Moon was absotively GORGEOUS last night and the night before, which brings up a question. DOes the Moon look the same down there as it does up here? I know it is the same full, but do you get to see the same man in the moon, or do you see a slightly different side of the moon? Michelle? EDT? anyone down under?

Does anyone know how much it costs to have a blog template designed? I cant find a price on ones I have looked at. Do you have any people you go through that might be able to help? no commitments yet, but I am looking.

Which one of you has the traveling DVD of BLITHE SPIRIT? Last I heard it was leaving Alaska heading for Canada...but which canadian? And what happened to Mr. NUT?

Happy Valentines Day

Happy Valentines from me and all the critters....


I have been watching all I can of the Olympics and I tell you if I was a youngster today, I would be all over snow boarding the half pipe!!! That looks like sooo much fun!! If I did it now though I would break every bone in my body!! But I am living watching it and actually all of the contests!! The Nordic racing, the Ice racing, the Ice skating, the skiing, everything.

Seattle's Apollo Ohno has started out on the wrong foot, and missed his best race the 1500. He slipped and lost to the Korean. There is still 3 more races for him to medal in though. The Chinese are really up and coming in the ice skating arts!! THey have three pairs in the finals, and 2 of them could medal.

Our weather is getting really weird, It has turned really cold but still clear, and the moon tonight was spectacular. The mainland is getting thundershowers hail and snow right now, we are getting wind and cold. Tomorrow the high is only going to be in the low 30's!! BRRRRRR Snow is even predicted!! Wow!!

Hope you all are all right with the blizzards that have been happening in the East, and the COLD in the South. Sure will be glad when Spring gets here!!!

Class Act!!!

mk

9 United States Championships, 5 World Championships, a Silver Medal and a Bronze Medal, and absolutely the best overall Ice skater we have ever seen. Yes there have been others that have won the Gold! They have come in, jumped ahead, won the gold, and rightly so, and then dissappeared! Michelle Kwan has had a fantastic career, a steady,consistant ice skater, that has raised the bar so high, that she will be a hard act to follow. THere will be other gold medal winners, and there will be other ice skaters, but none as classy as Michelle has been.

She has retained such a positive attitude through it all, with absolutely no bad press, no temper tantrums, no whining, just great consistant skating. Yesterday she pulled out of the Olympics, ending her dream, but doing it in such a way that another girl's dreams could be realized. Michelle could have stayed in the games, and skated a less than perfect program, and maybe ended up hurting herself far worse than the dissapointment of pulling out did.

Michelle, You are a true STAR, and you are a gold medal winner in my book. You will be missed. Good Luck!

Playing!

For the past three months, Our weather has looked like this:


from this...

And for the past three days it has looked like THIS!


to this!!

So tell me folks, where would YOU be? Sitting on a sunny bluff or sitting behind a computer?

Guess where I was?

Be back tomorrow!!!

AHHHH......

Man, it has been so damn pretty the past two days. I have just slugged and enjoyed it. Yesterday the SUN was coming through the bedroom window and casting a beam right on me. And also on the four cats that were on top of me in it!!

I got up, opened the curtain wider, kicked the cats off the bed, and just spread out with my face upward and just lay there soaking it up until the sun went over the top of the house. Yeah, I Know. It was NOON!! so who cares, I'm retired, I can do that if I want to. It just felt good, and I considered it therapeudic...soaking up Vitamin D ya know.

I then had to go turn in my taxes, photocopy a bunch of scripts at the playhouse, and order the shirts for the CAINE MUTINY COURT MARTIAL. Auditions are Feb 20-21.
I am also Helping out the kids production of POLLYANNA, The original staff all left, and the new staff is picking up the pieces and trudging onward. I am helping out, and creating the posters. etc.

Today, I slugged again, drank a pot of coffee and have spent the day with the windows and doors open and listened to the birds enjoying the sun. I am assembling Donnas Afghan, and hope to have it done by Sunday.

I filled all the feeders, hung the Hummingbird feeder (I know it's early, but I heard they were back already.) I also filled all the suet feeders and watched as woodpecker after woodpecker came to it. The Chickadees were starting to pair up, the Red wing blackbirds are back, the females flocking to the feeder while the male sits on the fence and gurgles. Sadie stayed out most of the afternoon, so there were no Lola's or grey squirrels.

I think I am going to go to bed early tonight as there is not a damn thing on TV worth watching this week, and I have had a really hard day! ( :) ) THere is something about sunshine that just makes you sleepy! Expecting more big winds in the foothills and through the Strait tonite, so I better keep the lanterns handy.

Hope I have a NICE dream tonight...last night it was about a baby Grizzly Bear that I had in my back yard in Greenland. ?????? and how we had to pick it up by helicopter and take it North because my neighbors were complaining....must be the drugs...

Bad dreams....

Last week I said that I was in a rut...And I am, but I also had a few suggestions on what to write about. Ellen wanted to hear about my recurring dreams and what I thought that meant.

I have several, and as with any dream, you just can not verbalize it to match the movie in your head. It always turns out dis-jointed. But I have one that I have had regularly since childhood. I have not had it in awhile though, because my brain is full of soooo much other "stuff".

In this dream, which takes all night to dream ya know, I am a young girl/woman...Probably an older teenager. I am with a boy/man the same age. We are dressed in old time clothes. Which could be anywhere from 1400 to late 1800's...Hard to tell, as I am wearing a long skirt, and he is wearing buckskins, or something like that.

We are running through the woods, running running running, crashing through the brush that is growing under the tall dark forest. I don't know what kind of trees, but I do not think they are fir trees, or evergreens. We are running out of breath as we had been at this for a long while, and there is a fear associated with the running, as if we are being chased or running FROM something. My heart is beating really fast, and I am scared. I am also very cautious. My companion seems to be either a brother or a friend, not a romantic interest I do not think. He is also full of fear. I can feel it now as I type this, but I never know what I am afraid of.

Suddenly we are seeing the edge of the forest, and we slow down, and then we are on our knees and crawling through the last bit of brush and popping through it on to the top of a knoll. The knoll is not high, but overlooks a big green pasture, with a rugged log fence on the far side. The pasture appears to be really really big, and we are resting on our tummys, and looking over the scene. The pasture had sheep in it. But they are all dead! We are laying there looking at all the dead sheep and we are shocked at the sight.

I do not think they are my sheep, but neither one of us knows why they are dead, or who did it.

I wake up at this point, leaving the dream running through my head for the rest of the day. I have mentioned it to two therapists, and neither could give me any answers. I have even tried to analyze it myself and can come to no conclusions. I do feel that we were either in America, in the colonial days, or in England way back. Maybe both...????

I have mentioned before that I think I have possibly lived a life as a pioneer, but I don't know if this has anything to do with that. It is an upsetting dream, and I wonder about it a lot. Sounds kind of innocuous reading back over it, but when I dream it I am THERE and I am running, and I wake up scared and out of breath, and feeling like there is something wrong.

Ok Ellen... Now interpret it for me. :)

WHOA!!! What a ride!

The winds hit about midnight last night, and roared over the house at Storm force winds until about 630AM then calmed down to gale force winds. It sounded like a huge plane going over. Needless to say I got NO sleep until daybreak! The garage door is not air tight, and it kept rattling, I was afraid it was going to blow in, but it held.

I heard branches break and trees fall all night in the woods, but thank GOD the wind blows INTO the trees, so I did not have to worry about them.

Phyllis is still without power, but mine is back on, and has been since 130 this afternoon, although I was gone and did not know that.


after storm

On my way into Oak Harbor, I drove along the beach, and the water was brown out about 200 feet, then it turned the dark blue. That means that the water really was stirred up during the night. THe tide was high just as the winds were receeding, but it still caused flooding over the roads, as you czan tell by the pictures. The yellow line and the white line are the center line of Highway 20 along Keystone Spit!





wet road

Just watched the weather report, and it appears that the Islands got hit the hardest. Whidbey was without power, and some parts will be for several days. I was laying there at 6AM going through the things I had ready, and remembered that I had no ground coffee!! SO I got up ran into the kitchen and ground up some beans so I could make a pot of coffee on my camp stove. WOrked like a charm, as I did not lose power until 1030 this morning. That is usually what happens, the lights will blink but wont go out unless a tree falls across the lines, but when the power company starts putting people back on line, they knock others off. I do not know why Coupeville is without power, I did not see any trees over the lines, must have blown a transformer!

We are due to get about 5 straight days of SUN!!! I am sooo ready!!!

February 4, 1949...She was born!

UPDATE;

We made it through the storm with no damage to our houses, We are all without power, and I am on battery laptop!! LUV technology!!

THe highest winds were 78 MPH and kept me awake all night. THe cats were nervous, and chitters was jumping from one window to the next. Lint, Loki ans Ethel had a warm spot on the blanket and were not moving. I had power all through the storm, but lost it about 3 hours ago. Got out the Coleman Camp stove and set it up to make coffee this morning. THere are times when the power will stay out for several days especially when the whole area is down. I know Oak Harbor has power, as I called to see if my meeting was still on. YEP! so now I have to see how far up the road I can get before I run into a downed tree. We always get so excited when something like this hapens, especially after having called to make sure everyone is safe. THe only one I could not get ahold of was Tim, but He never calls, so I should not worry. HE is used to living in the woods!! Literally, with no power! I called DOnna, and she growled at me, so she is fine too. No Hello Mom, just a WHAT? grrrr I love mannerly children!!! I will update you more when I get back, gotta run into town and see how the rest fared. THe neighbor just drove in with groceries, so obviously SOMETHING is open.




Phyllis Ann

HAPPY BIRTHDAY PHYLLIS!!!!!!!

Phyllis Ann Came into my life Feb 4, 1949. Up until that time I had been a spoiled only child, living with my AUnt and my Mother, and for a very short while, my Father.

Dad was gone overseas a lot, and during this time we lived where Mom was raised. Phyllis was born in San Diego, and when she was 6 weeks old we left for Honolulu, T.H. (Territory of Hawaii) to meet Dad and live with him for a full 5 years!! She became Dad's favorite, as he had never been around a baby before, and I stayed Mom's Little Girl.

We fought like Sisters for most of our lives, and where I was always a lady, or was expected to be anyway, Phyllis was a rebel. ALWAYS. Still is!! She went out of her way to make my life a living Hell. SHe was after all being a little Sister.

It was not until we were grown and married that we became as close as we are right now. Maybe we were too busy trying to live our own lives, but we mixed like oil and water. Now I would not trade her for the world! She is my best friend.

And today she is 57!! So Everybody bee-bop over to her blog and wish her a happy birthday!!!

And don't worry if neither one of us is not around for a few days, we MIGHT be powerless. A HUGE storm is due to hit tonight with winds sustained up to 50-60 MPH and gusts over 80! THey are warning everyone to tie it all down, and prepare to be without power for a few days.

LOLOLOLOL Seattle FINALLY makes it to the Super Bowl, and the Fates are sending a wind storm to cut off our power so no one can see it!!! LOLOLOLOLOL

Needless to say generators are flying off the shelves!!

ARRRRRGGGHHHH!!!!!!

It's true! The Bastard saw his shadow! He ran back into his den and that means we will have 6 more weeks of this shit!!! I soooooo want Spring!!! Nice warm, spring! Flowers blooming, bees buzzing, trees budding warm spring!!!!

We had 13" of rain in January alone, and normally Coupeville and Whidbey Island, being in the banana belt of the Pacific Northwest, only has 17" a YEAR!!! Mt. Baker had over 20 FEET of snow in the last three weeks!! Un real!!

We are expecting a very strong low pressure system to come ashore either tonight or tomorrow morning bringing more high winds and rain!! Yesterday there were over 40000 people with no power! and the really strong spring winds have not even hit yet!! Gonna be a fun year, I can just feel it! THe tides are really high right now, and with the low pressure system hitting just as the tides are their highest, the lowlands are getting tidal overflow, and washing away beachfront homes! (AWWWWWW!!!!!)

My yard is so wet it squishes when I walk across it!! I sure hope my septic system doesnt go south! That would suck big time!!

Once this next series of storms goes through then we are predicted to have a whole week of scattered sunshine!!! oh I can't wait!!!

In the mean time....GO HAWKS!!!!!