Words Are Dangerous

John McCain is playing with fire and it scares me. I'm evidently not the only one scared. Read the Open Letter to McCain.

Rocky Mountain Collegian

After writing this I just saw on the news that the McCain campaign is reinforcing the Obama "terrorist" idea with automated phone calls and radio adds. I realize that all politics is dirty but that kind of smear campaign could get someone killed. Are you really that desperate to get elected president John???

Politicians Suck!

Even for a skeptic like me it's hard to believe how low our elected representatives have sunk today. By adding 100 billion dollars in tax cuts to the 700 billion dollar bailout it looks like the politicians who voted against the bailout earlier this week can be bribed to vote for it. Now this enormous tax payer bailout is even bigger. The Republicans who claim to be conservative have taken a surplus the Democrats gave them 8 years ago and turned it into the largest deficit in history. Now that their policies have devastated the economy they want to put us further in debt with this gigantic bailout - but for the conservative republicans to vote for it they need more deficit spending - another 100 billion! The Democrats are right in there with them looking for their favorite tax breaks. Politicians suck!

Remembering Angie

Last night my wife, Nancy, and I attended a candlelight vigil honoring the life of Angie Zapata. Angie, a transgender teenager was murdered July 17th in a hate based crime. As one speaker suggested, "she was not murdered because she was a transgendered woman, but because her killer was taught to hate that which is different and/or threatened his masculinity." In his statement to Greeley, Colorado police he referred to Angie as "it". ( He took a fire extinguisher off a shelf and struck Zapata twice in the head, telling investigators he thought he "killed it.")

Unfortunately this terrible tragedy is not an isolated hate crime. Gay, lesbian and transgendered bias crimes happen on a daily basis nationwide, with 19 slayings reported to groups like hers last year. This according to Crystal Middlestadt, director of training and education for the Colorado Anti-Violence Program.

It is a sad fact that Christianity and other major religions are in large part responsible for the culture of bigotry and hate toward the GLBT community. Some churches have courageously affirmed the GLBT community only to be targeted by hate based crimes themselves. On July 27th a gunman in Tennessee targeted a Unitarian church, killing two people. The note he left behind suggests that he targeted the congregation out of hatred for its liberal policies, including its acceptance of gays.

I saw a bumper sticker the other day that I will end with for you to ponder: "Annoy a conservative. Live like Jesus."

Perfect Day for a Hike

Today was the perfect day for a hike. After a quick stop at Starbucks to get Amber her morning coffee fix, we headed up to the Wild Basin Area of Rocky Mountain National Park. The hike we had in mind was to Ouzel Falls, a 2.7 mile (one way) hike that begins at 8500 feet elevation and reaches the falls at an elevation of 9450 feet.

The weather was sunny and the temperature was in the low 70s. Nancy and I have made this hike before but with the abundant snowfall this last winter we had never witnessed so much water in the river. The Copeland Falls and Calypso Cascades that you pass along the way were spectacular. It did cloud up before we made Ouzel Falls and we heard thunder in the distance but the rain Gods were good to us and we didn't have a drop of rain during the hike.

Ouzel Falls tumbles loudly through a narrow chute and drops about 40 feet into the Ouzel river that is spanned by a scenic bridge. We ate our lunch there and climbed up around the falls for better views. I took pictures until the batteries in my camera gave up! I usually carry extras but hadn't today. There was a snow field near the falls that still had not given way to the warmth of summer. Lots of "flat landers" were delighted to find snow in late June and were having snowball fights.

This is a very popular trail as proven by the fact that the trail head parking lot was full - even on a Monday. We came across several groups of small children with their camp counselors making the hike. Because of the high use of this trail we didn't expect to see any wildlife, however when we left after the hike we saw a bear from the highway. We pulled over to watch it and then it crossed the road right in front of us. This was only the second time I had seen a bear in the wild in Colorado and of course, my camera batteries were dead! Pictures

As the Chamber of Commerce says, "Tis a privilege to live in Colorado".

50 YEARS AGO

June 21st 50 years ago was a life changing day for me. On that day in 1958 in Des Moines, Iowa I became a father. Kevin entered this world after 12 hours of hard labor. In those days they didn't let the dad be a part of the 'miracle'. He had to sit in a waiting room with other 'fathers to be' and smoke cigarettes. I was so nervous I lit the wrong end of a filter cigarette that one of the other dads had given me (I didn't usually smoke filtered cigarettes).

So much has changed in the 50 years since that day. Can you imagine smoking in hospitals today? Can you imagine the father not being allowed to witness the birth of his child? If you weren't around then you probably think it's poor memory to claim gasoline was 28 cents a gallon! But then you probably wouldn't believe I married and started a family making less than $50 a week either. With that salary we paid rent, bought food, made a car payment and sometimes could afford the 5 or10 cents for a Dairy Queen ice cream cone. McDonald's was selling hamburgers for 15 cents and on their way to their first 100 million burgers sold.

Were those really the good old days? They were good in many ways I guess. Color TV was a few years away - personal computers were not even imagined - you still needed an operator to call long distance but most people couldn't really afford it anyway. If you lived in town (rather than on the farm) you could dial the phone to talk to a neighbor. Yes you literally "dialed" the phone - no push buttons or touch tone phones. Calculators were mechanical machines though some used electricity to turn those mechanical wheels to add, subtract, multiply and divide.

Automobiles were big and heavy things and actually had bumpers that worked. You could rear-end someone at 10 mph or so and not damage either car. Seat belts were only used in race cars but turn signals were on all the new cars by then. Iowa didn't have a speed limit and my 1952 Buick with it's straight 8 engine would easily exceed 100 mph on the flat. Alaska would become the 49th state thanks to President Eisenhower signing the statehood act on July 7th that year. It officially joined the Union on January 3, 1959.

A lot has changed since that morning when Kevin entered this world. The thing that hasn't changed is how proud I was of my "son" that morning. Of course the love for Kevin and my two daughters, who followed in rather quick succession, has changed. It has grown with every passing year. It's hard to believe 50 years can go by so quickly. HAPPY BIRTHDAY Kevin.

Tidbits and Travels

Another Spring and another graduation. This year it was Matt Gallagher's turn. As valedictorian of his high school class of 17 he gave a speech. He will be off to Notre Dame this coming Fall. The keynote at the graduation was given by the governor of Montana. Pretty impressive for this small Montana school (Gardiner, MT). Also impressive was the list of scholarships to major colleges awarded to the seniors of this small town school. Full rides to Duke, Smith, Williams, etc.

Our trip to Montana started in the rain and it lasted all 500 miles to Billings. We also learned that a tornado hit Windsor, CO that day and passed within 10 miles of Fort Collins on it's way to Wyoming where it damaged the Wal-Mart where granddaughter, Katie, was working. Windsor, which is only about 15 miles from our home, was really hit hard. Our friends that live in Windsor escaped unharmed and with very little damage.

In Billings we enjoyed lunch and dinner with friends from 25 years ago when I lived in Billings for about two and a half years. Then it was on to Gardiner to visit Nancy's brother and attend Matt's graduation. The attraction at the Gallagher house was the three puppies that were only 4 weeks old.

After graduation we headed to Salt Lake City to visit grandson, Jason and his girlfriend, Samantha. Jason works for ARC of Utah and gave us the opportunity to volunteer at a fund raising breakfast while we were there. Then it was off to Vernal for a few days to explore Flaming Gorge and Dinosaur National Monument. A final stop at the KOA in Gould, Colorado gave us the opportunity to photograph Moose. We managed to site 10 in all.


A sampling of pictures from our trip are at http://picasaweb.google.com/JonLMendenhall/2008MayJuneTrip

Till next time ...

Springtime in the Rockies

Spring is a great time of year in Colorado. One day is sunny and in the 70s - the next day it's snowing! I would have to say however, that our roller coaster weather is better than tornadoes, hail and floods that are pounding other parts of our country. I guess it's like the man who complained that he had no shoes, until he met a man with no feet. It could always be worse.

Another gift of Spring is the pollen that triggers my allergies. Itchy eyes, sneezing, stuffed up head and shortness of breath remind me that nature is assuring the survival of all those beautiful flowers, trees, grasses, etc. To the rescue is Colorado's high country. Up here at over 9000 feet elevation it's still winter! Nothing blooming here yet. Yesterday morning I woke up and looked out my motel window at 6 inches of fresh snow! Today the sun is shinning and it's almost 60 degrees (after an overnight low of 22 degrees). So the itchy eyes have returned to almost normal and the congestion has been significantly reduced.

Since I can't stay in the mountains forever (I'm heading home tomorrow), we will see how quickly my symptoms return when I get back to 5000 feet elevation. Regardless, it has been nice to have a reprieve for a few days. The snow covered mountains are beautiful and I've seen more movies on HBO than I care to admit. I'm ready to face spring in all it's glory once again.

Till next time then ... here's sneezing at you kid.