What my backyard looks like with snow

I took this movie this morning. I have never uploaded a movie onto the internet- not sure how it will work. We have over 5" of snow on Beacon Hill.

Liberal Me- Congratulations OHB!

I am very happy with the results of last nights presidential election. A chance for hope and positive change is now a possibility.

Barrack Obama did a great job of energizing Americans to vote! I hope this trend will continue.

I titled this "Liberal Me" because I am liberal, I am idealist. I believe that we should treat others as we wish to be treated. I believe in diplomacy. I wish for national health care, same sex marriage, substainable living. I support Roe vs Wade. I support our troops- but not the war. I pray everyday that the US will no longer us the military to create war.

Now that the election is over, I do hope that the nation will rally behind Barrack Obama and understand that we might all need to make sacrifices to make the change we want to see in the world. My children might have a brighter future.

Still I Rise

You may write me down in history

With your bitter, twisted lies,

You may trod me in the very dirt

But still, like dust, I'll rise.

Does my sassiness upset you?

Why are you beset with gloom?

'Cause I walk like I've got oil wells

Pumping in my living room.

Just like moons and like suns,

With the certainty of tides,

Just like hopes springing high,

Still I'll rise.

Did you want to see me broken?

Bowed head and lowered eyes?

Shoulders falling down like teardrops.

Weakened by my soulful cries.

Does my haughtiness offend you?

Don't you take it awful hard

'Cause I laugh like I've got gold mines

Diggin' in my own back yard.

You may shoot me with your words,

You may cut me with your eyes,

You may kill me with your hatefulness,

But still, like air, I'll rise.

Does my sexiness upset you?

Does it come as a surprise

That I dance like I've got diamonds

At the meeting of my thighs?

Out of the huts of history's shame

I rise

Up from a past that's rooted in pain

I rise

I'm a black ocean, leaping and wide,

Welling and swelling I bear in the tide.

Leaving behind nights of terror and fear

I rise

Into a daybreak that's wondrously clear

I rise

Bringing the gifts that my ancestors gave,

I am the dream and the hope of the slave.

I rise

I rise

I rise.

Maya Angelou

Pumpkin Patch - Jubilee Farm

Jubilee is a great local, king county, organic farm. 30 minutes from Seattle- it is close enough to make visiting not an ordeal. I have been a subscriber of their newsletter for 2 years, and I know Wendy and Erick have worked very hard on local and national farm bills / zoning, etc. I like them because when I visit- it feels real- not over commercialized.

I am considering ordering their summer CSA- registration is now, October. They have a drop off location in Columbia City, down the hill from where I live- which is easier for me than trying to visit a farmer's market every week.

I support local farming. I am committed to sustainable living. I support the trend to live, eat, shop locally. I could go on and on.

But, I will have to admit that I have been shocked by the prices of local food here in Seattle. Jubilee's prices at the farm were high. I am not sure why I must pay 0.50 cents a pound for a pumpkin or why corn on the cob is 0.75 cents each- when those are the same prices I can find at PCC. If I am driving to the farm, should I not get the produce for less?

Portland keeps kids off field with high lead level

THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

PORTLAND -- Portland Public Schools is limiting access to an elementary school field with artificial turf as a precaution against lead.

Children 11 and younger won't be allowed on the field. So, Rieke Elementary School students won't be able to use the field during the school day. The city parks department will limit some of its programs on the field.

The district had independent tests on its three fields after reports about lead in East Coast turf fields.

The district's results were within safety ranges set by the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission. But they exceeded more general recommendations for lead in soil set by the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

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Information from: The Oregonian, http://www.oregonlive.com

Family Vacation

The cultural scablands of Washington state was the location of our family vacation.
Interesting history.

Dry Falls, Steamboat Mountain, & Grand Coulee Dam