Making the most of the short summer

My office building is surrounded by buttercups. I love the way the bright yellow flowers make everything seem so cheerful, even the old, falling-down wooden house and the rusting fire hydrant. It was so sunny yesterday that my coworker, Darcel, and I had to spend a little time outside and didn't want to go back inside to sit at our desks. Later, Rich and I tried to take another hike, this time out past a waterfall at the end of the valley. Unfortunately, my on-call cell phone ran out of signal and we could not keep going (not to mention the fact that the trail ended at the water and we would have had to choose another path to continue anyway). My favorite photographer Rich captured this bee enjoying the nectar of the Aleutian lupine, cousin to our Texas bluebonnets.

Hiking up the Face of Bunker Hill

What a gorgeous day! I didn't get home till after 6, having responded to a mental health emergency at the clinic. We hated to waste the sunshine and warmth by staying inside...we really don't see too many days like this one. Because I'm on call, I can't venture too far away or out of range of the clinic's cell phone so we decided to take a hike up the front side of Bunker Hill, something we've never done before. As we were driving over to the starting point, we noticed a guy hang-gliding right at the top of the hill so we had to stop and get some photos of this adventurous soul. We have watched him from our house on occasion, though we have no idea who he is. It can be awfully windy here at times and I would think it could be a dangerous activity! We drove to the base of Bunker and started up the trail, which was just blanketed with a multitude of gorgeous wildflowers. I was so excited to see my favorite little ladyslippers coming out. It was a fairly leisurely hike, a bit of a climb, but not too steep; the only real trouble came with some muddy, slippery places and I did hit my butt a couple of times. haha The hang-glider kept swooping past us and floating on the breeze above us--very cool. What an amazing view from the top!

Food and Wine Pairing

The owner of Dunham Cellars Winery from Washington was invited to Dutch Harbor to showcase his wines at a fundraiser at the hotel. Eighty people paid $50 each to sample six excellent wines and the fabulous food that Rich and his staff prepared for the event. Imagine serving up 500 individual gourmet plated items! Whew! Both food and wines were very well received by the participants. Check out Rich's menu (click on the photos to make them bigger). Pictured here are the mini relleno, the spicy scallop sandwich and the crab, avocado and mango salad. Yum, yum!

Can the Rich Afford to Help the Poor?

This is the title of Chapter 15 in Jeffrey Sachs' book The End of Poverty. It was written in 2005 but I finally read it recently! He talks about the goals to cut poverty in half by the year 2015 and to end extreme poverty by 2025. I was shocked to learn that if the "rich world" or developed countries would only contribute .7 percent of their GNP, extreme world poverty could be ended. Now, he is just talking about extreme poverty, not the many variations in living circumstances that we may use to define poverty in general. But STILL! .7%! In fact, most countries have already made this commitment, however, the US has not kept its promise to pitch in its part. How sad is that? I can't condense or summarize this book in a paragraph or two but it is very interesting reading if you want to learn more about his take on the causes of poverty and what can be done to alleviate it. His point is "the Millenium Development goals can be financed within the bounds of the official development assistance that the donor countries have already promised." In other words, it wouldn't take anything over and above that which we have already SAID we would do. Why will we not just DO IT?

At the time the book was written, Sachs states, "the US spends as much in Iraq for two weeks of support for the war (about $2.5 billion) as it does for an ENTIRE YEAR of economic development assistance in Africa."

Here are some websites with more info and ideas about what we can each do as individuals:

www.standagainstpoverty.org
www.one.org
www.worldforworld.org
www.endpoverty2015.org

As a happy, healthy person who is not struggling to put food on my table or to heat my house and clothe my body, I feel that I do have a responsibility to take action to help those who may not even have a house or a table, much less food and heat. We have many blessings that we take for granted every day.

Fourth of July Fireworks

Okay, for some reason the rest of my photos wouldn't upload on the previous posting so I am trying again. Here are some fireworks over the historic Russian Orthodox Church.

PS All photo credits go to Rich. :)

We Celebrate Independence Day

Happy 4th of July, one day late. We woke up to a foggy, drizzly sky, but it cleared up enough by afternoon for our annual July 4th parade to wind its way through downtown. Fire trucks, police cars, kids on decorated bikes, and a variety of colorful floats supported the theme of "Faces of Freedom." After a traditional bbq at the hotel, Rich and I stayed up late to watch the fireworks display. Since it does not get dark here till midnight, we can't have fireworks till then! For a small town, we have quite an amazing fireworks show, as we seem to remind ourselves every year. Here are some photos of the parade and the fireworks.

Photos:
1) funky house on the parade route
2) kids on bikes
3) one of the floats
4) "freedom=independence from oil!"

Many of the floats equated "faces of freedom" with war and weapons, displaying photos of war planes and soldiers as the central focus of their decorations. It made me wonder why people seem to think that freedom only comes through violence and patriotism means blindly supporting our country, no matter what the consequences might be. To me, patriotism means trying to make our country the best it can be, even if that means disagreeing with the government (not a popular point of view these days, I know). I found these quotes that give us some food for thought.

Edward R. Murrow: We must not confuse dissent with disloyalty. When the loyal opposition dies, I think the soul of America dies with it.

Barbara Ehrenreich: No matter that patriotism is too often the refuge of scoundrels. Dissent, rebellion, and all-around hell-raising remain the true duty of patriots.

George Bernard Shaw: Patriotism is your conviction that this country is superior to all others because you were born in it.

Molly Ivins: What you need is sustained outrage...there's far too much unthinking respect given to authority.

George Jean Nathan: Patriotism is a arbitrary veneration of real estate above principles.

H.L. Mencken: The notion that a radical is one who hates his country is naïve and usually idiotic. He is, more likely, one who likes his country more than the rest of us, and is thus more disturbed than the rest of us when he sees it debauched. He is not a bad citizen turning to crime; he is a good citizen driven to despair.

Noam Chomsky: If we do not believe in freedom of speech for those we despise we do not believe in it at all.

Molly Ivins: It is possible to read the history of this country as one long struggle to extend the liberties established in our Constitution to everyone in America.

Henry Steele Commager: Men in authority will always think that criticism of their policies is dangerous. They will always equate their policies with patriotism, and find criticism subversive.

James Baldwin: I love America more than any other country in this world, and, exactly for this reason, I insist on the right to criticize her perpetually.

Pablo Casals: The love of one's country is a splendid thing. But why should love stop at the border?

Dorothy Thompson: It is not the fact of liberty but the way in which liberty is exercised that ultimately determines whether liberty itself survives.

William O. Douglas: Restriction of free thought and free speech is the most dangerous of all subversions. It is the one un-American act that could most easily defeat us.

Eleanor Holmes Norton: The only way to make sure people you agree with can speak is to support the rights of people you don't agree with.

George Orwell: In a time of universal deceit, telling the truth becomes a revolutionary act.

Let's all be true patriots and speak truth to power.

Memory Card: Check!

Another sunny day, another drive, first up above the "valley" of town, and then another attempt to drive the pass--this time, successful on two fronts as we were able to make the drive all the way through AND we had the memory card in the camera. :) The snow has been plowed but it is still pretty thick along both sides of the road. Amazing that it just doesn't melt for the longest time. Here are some photos of the sights.