Déjà Vu....

We were sitting here talking a little bit ago and I experienced one of those moments like, woah...I remember this. It was a weird feeling, kinda spooky. SGTex would tell you I have those more than the average person, but every time it happens I'm surprised. And then I get to thinking...

Well, we're in the last days of summer. I've been enjoying blue skies and warm temps. Not too many complaints from this Pacific Northwesterner, really. Of course, I keep the A/C going all the time....last evening he turned it down and put on his shirt, saying it was "cold." I'm like, "it's 99 degrees outside and you're cold?" Well, okay...acclimatization is a work in progress, evidently. Maybe I'll get totally used to the heat at about the same time I get so I can drive across town without getting lost, haha. If we had a nickel for every time I've asked, "Where are we now?" ;+)

The other day I looked up at the horizon and we were in a particular spot where it seemed that Mt. Rainier should be sitting right over there on the skyline. And then I remembered that I'd had the same experience in Astoria, OR, getting out of the car and looking over at the hills and wondering what happened to the mountain?!! I've done the same thing with the Columbia River, though. I guess it'll always be like that for me. It's nice to keep those scenes tucked away in your heart- you can whip them out whenever you like. Right now I'm anticipating seeing the cotton fields in bloom. We've been out to check on them a couple of times when they were flowering. It probably won't be long now.

Our days are filled with the usual desk work, unpacking and arranging (speaking of a work in progress), attempting civilization of the savages/puppies (speaking of another work in progress) and getting ourselves ready for another road trip. We're loving our little house and big yard (tomatoes and peppers coming on, better late than never!), and we've actually found a gent to do our lawns and keep the yard in shape! (Thanks, T!!)

Summer has been very good to us...

Shawn
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"If I had ever been here before I would pro'bly know just what to do
Hey, don't you?
If I had ever been here before on another time around the wheel I would pro'bly know just how to deal
With all of you

And I feel like I've been here before
Feel like I've been here before
And you know it does make me wonder
What's going on under the ground

Do you know?
Don't you wonder?
What's going on
Down under you

Na, na, na...


We have all been here before
We have all been here before
We have all been here before
We have all been here before"

David Crosby

A president who understands constitutional religious liberty....

"Given the increasing diversity of America's population, the dangers of sectarianism have never been greater. Whatever we once were, we are no longer just a Christian Nation; we are also a Jewish nation, a Muslim nation, a Buddhist nation, a Hindu nation, and a nation of nonbelievers." --President Obama

Nicest thing any president has said since Jefferson.

Indeed, this Chief Executive expounds the true patriotism, rises up charged with its mystic fire just like the founders, a statesman. The Obama thing enables, empowers us to believe in America again. When this guy practices his right to deliver some free speech, it sounds like something set down on parchment with a pen calligraphic.

But freedom isn't always pretty. Forgive me if I smile, oh ye wildly indignant who try to shout down the new town meeting. Go ahead and have a big hissy fit, oh ye goaded and orchestrated via Internet or evening radio. Your primal scream therapy ought to be protected speech, helps persuade folks over to the liberal side, and entertains in any case.

Shawn and I have been talking about how a free society tends to get raucous, like the British House of Commons. She authorizes me to quote another eloquent American:

Come gather 'round people
Wherever you roam
And admit that the waters
Around you have grown
And accept it that soon
You'll be drenched to the bone.
If your time to you
Is worth savin'
Then you better start swimmin'
Or you'll sink like a stone
For the times they are a-changin'.

Come writers and critics
Who prophesize with your pen
And keep your eyes wide
The chance won't come again
And don't speak too soon
For the wheel's still in spin
And there's no tellin' who
That it's namin'.
For the loser now
Will be later to win
And the times they are a-changin'.

Come senators, congressmen
Please heed the call
Don't stand in the doorway
Don't block up the hall
For he that gets hurt
Will be he who has stalled
There's a battle outside
And it is ragin'.
It'll soon shake your windows
And rattle your walls
For the times they are a-changin'.

Come mothers and fathers
Throughout the land
And don't criticize
What you can't understand
Your sons and your daughters
Are beyond your command
Your old road is
Rapidly agin'.
Please get out of the new one
If you can't lend your hand
For the times they are a-changin'.

The line it is drawn
The curse it is cast
The slow one now
Will later be fast
As the present now
Will later be past
The order is
Rapidly fadin'.
And the first one now
Will later be last
For the times they are a-changin'.

--Bob Dylan

SGTex
****

Someplace just outside of town....

Today we were sitting here in the office talking and SGTex said something about going "someplace just outside of town." Which got me to day-dreaming, which led me to thinking....

Someday, if we ever *do* get the Chance and the Time and the Money to actually *do* what we're probably *meant* to do (the B&B/Guesthouse bit), we should call it, "Someplace Just Outside Of Town." Granted, it might actually be located right smackdab in the heart of town, but I kinda doubt that.

See, he's this great writer and needs the time to finish his writing projects and be published. And I have this yen for getting to know people from all sorts of places and learning about them and their kids and their pets and their neighbors. We're both kinda artsy-crafty and have a knack for decorating, and we like everything from Victoriana to American Funk. Not to mention the fact that he makes a killer cup of coffee and bakes monkey bread, and one of my most fav things is to set a pretty table with all sorts of delicious things to eat and let company just have at it!

Really, we should see what we must do to make it all happen...

But meanwhile, we're settling into this cute little bungalow, which actually turned out to be a composite of my two most favorite houses in the Pacific Northwest. How it came to be in Texas, (well heavens, how did *I* turn up in Texas?!) I'll never know, but I can tell you, I'm delighted and will be forever grateful.

Meanwhile, until this particular dream comes true, we'll just take the easy route and make like guests in such fine establishments. And we're going to do just that, come September!

Shawn
****