more divisions

 view out our bedroom window of Pusch Ridge and clouds typical of our monsoon season down here.

There are a LOT of things going on in our world today. Some are huge and others less important. We tend to see things so differently, which makes it all tougher when something comes up which some feel reflects not just one time racism but current bigotry.

 

When a music channel bans a song, is that big or little? Well, I don't currently listen to country music; so didn't know Jason Aldean or his music. But it showed up as a link on Facebook; and I listened to the song; saw nothing wrong with it, as to me it was about behavior and what we tolerate. I liked it. 

 

I got another link to it from a YouTuber, who is black and evaluates music. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QYXIzosITCQ  

 

What he said was he saw the clips all about people, of various races, doing things that were not good. They were interspersed while the singer sang. He also analyzed that it's about community standing together.

 

Here's a link to the song if you also have not heard it. Let me know how you see it. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b1_RKu-ESCY 

 

One person criticized the lyrics, as they took it to mean it was a small Southern town and not just a small town anywhere. The YouTuber above said he thought it spoke to communities that know each other and gather together for support and control-- anywhere that happens.  

 

I guess the biggest complaint is because of the courthouse behind the singer was where a lynching happened in1927 of a mob killing a young black man, Henry Choate, accused of sexual assault of a white girl. I looked it up for the details. The stories vary a lot for what happened that night, but it was at or near the courthouse in Columbia, Tennessee where Aldean lives and many videos are shot. 

 

For anyone interested in news stories and research as to what happened, it's all out there-- ugly whichever one you read. Mob actions were wrong period, and it's happened to whites too. Was the music video shot there because of that past horror, did the ones putting together the video know about the heinous event, or to them did it represent a pretty backdrop as well as law and order? Did they know and hope it would excite interest, which it has done?

 

The last part of the Small Town music video spoke of farmers putting aside their own work to help another farmer. One man said we help each other. 

 

 

I should add a personal experience given I've lived in rural America most of my life. We had a barn burn in the middle of the night. The local volunteer fire department quickly arrived but it was too late to save the barn or the animals in it. Tragedy for me that I still feel pain from and try not to remember. Except there was another side to it when the community people offered to help us rebuild the barn. 

 

Of course, this kind of support can happen in big cities but lately we have seen a lot of times where it has not. People stand by out of fear or concern they'll be hurt or killed, which can happen (did to a white man in Portland Oregon, who tried to protect two Muslim girls being threatened and was killed for his kindness). 

 

If we want an orderly community, fear can't stop us. It takes us standing together against wrong actions for anything to be done-- can't just count on the police, who often are also attacked. In Oregon, where our farm is, the police are a long way off-- and with reduced budgets often can't come to all calls. That leaves it to us, of all colors, doesn't it?

tribes

by Rain Trueax

"Tribe-- a social division in a traditional society consisting of families or communities linked by social, economic, religious, or blood ties, with a common culture and dialect, typically having a recognized leader." Dictionary definition

Do you think much about tribes and what they mean? There have been times in history where you belonged to a tribe or you died. Breaking the rules of the tribe could send someone into a solitary life where it was impossible to survive. An example was the Apaches where an unfaithful woman was banished and had her nose cut off in punishment. How do I know about this? -- Research and regressions... Tribes are cultural and not just Native American or African. They also are not just about friendships. It's more about a common purpose, I think.

In today's world, people tend to move around; so communities aren't static tribes; they might think they are with those moving in and out. Tribes might be about careers, but when it is, the tribal connection often ends when the job does. Churches and political parties are the same way-- share the beliefs or you're out the door-- by choice or otherwise. I have not been much of a joiner, but clubs could provide a tribal experience. They require having a common interest, which could last a lifetime like say gardening.

by Diane Widler Wenzel: Civility in disagreeing on immigration

My assemblage, "Immigration," was inspired by my father's values. It includes  father's #8 envelope containing proof of citizenship papers secured with a woven cotton cord tied with the precision of a Boy Scout, sailor's knot. My hand made papers symbolical represent his contribution of values he absorbed from living in several other countries.
He beautifully mended files and cars as opposed to throwing away any worn out thing.

 

         This is the first of paired blog posts with my co-author, Rain, on divisive issues facing our nation.  Acknowledging that differing opinions of our current USA and world wide issues could result in breaking our friendship, Rain and I are going to try airing our different sides on several issues in a civil tone.  Of course I am optimistic that telling my story behind my opinions will build a stronger bridge between us. My hunch is that explaining what I understand to be my background will soften hot buttons.    I invite Rain to add more definitions of terminology and to share her background to her present opinions on immigration. Since I do not want to control this exchange, my blog pardoner deserves the same freedom she gives me.  I want Rain to be free to present her side in her own way.
           The question for me is, knowing my friend, can I understand her perspective without taking offense.  Rain and I have been friends almost continually since 1965 when we and our husbands went from Portland to Tucson, Arizona where our husbands completed masters degrees in chemistry at the University of Arizona.
           We are willing to put our friendship to test by the stress of revealing our opposing feelings and opinions on issues because we might set a good example. We can have an open airing of what we believe. Or fail at finding a way for every citizen to start to change what I believe is the biggest threat to our republic - our polarization leading to demonizing each other followed by the unthinkable. I don't want to loose my best friend next to my husband. Personally a loss of our friendship would be extremely hurtful. The risk is worth the effort for the love our country.
          Thank you, Rain for suggesting we do these dual blogs. Thank you for over the years putting me in my place when I am ignorant of facts. I appreciate our past disscussions and I credit you for helping me mature.
             In respect for Rain I accept Rain's goal as mine too. We will demonstrate that good people are on both sides of  hotly argued issues like immigration. Our intention is not to change the other's mind or even the readers' minds on the issues we cover. Neither is it agreeing to disagree when such an agreement is a contract to avoid a complete hearing and acceptance of each other.




Me with collected pebbles and my parents near Lake Tahoe, 1948 

          I finally see myself as being the latest edition of migrants going back to the earliest homosapiens. I didn't alway see myself as coming from early humanity and related to all humanity.

          During my childhood I believed I came from an American melting pot mixture of peoples like the English, Pennsylvania Dutch, and the French American Indians, combined with my newly immigrated father with roots from the Middle East, Switzerland, Russia and Central Europe.





          My father took a dim view of my mother's pride in her many ethnicities. I grew up hearing from him that the white man should not adopt China as their country like his parents and grandparents tried to do before Mao and Communism took over Shanghai. I heard from father that in the United States your roots do not matter. He denied his father was Jewish because he was not observant. Father had a personal philosophy not believing in organized religion. Here in the United States everyone is equal.  Here we should all try to be like Americans he said.
         His heir, however, wanted to know about their roots. The desire to belong to a tribe is strong for me. I want to belong to some group especially because I didn't have that comfort as a child. Always feeling like l was an outsider leaves a hole in self-esteem. So as an adult in my pursuit and interest in my heritage, I have been a snob. I needed to be openly proud. Snobs are not likeable and I also wanted to be liked.
       I do not know what it is to be persecuted to the point of fearing for my life like my ancestors were. And for another DNA testing is only beginning to impact the general population with the realization that our ancestors are all from the same source with the same need to survive so virtually we all are descendents from migrants.



Our 1953 Yosemite camp with our 1934 Chevy coup's hood supporting canvas tarps held out by the cot that I slept on while my parents slept on the ample bed of the trunk. All of this camping and cooking gear was stowed in the trunk and in two duffle bags on the fenders. We only forgot the can opener.

       My parents did not buy a new car every year during the 50's like our neighbors. Maybe their values set me apart from the other children. I felt different, some thought we were Jewish. I was not popular.

       Although  between 1948 -1958 in Berkeley, California and near by El Cereto, I was surrounded by minorities when I went to school. Racial tensions were high: I both loved and feared some of them. Their voices were musical as they called out to one another under the resonating canopy covering the stairway to and from the out-building classrooms of Portola Junior High School. I loved their street vocalizations but when I entered the restroom I was fearful a group of them would be there and I would be bullied. This was the year before segregation during a time when the South was integrating.
       To me when so many ethnic groups are living together there are tensions that come to violent outbursts, but here in the United States we are making progress in learning to accept one another even if we go through periods of back sliding. I am a Polly Anna and I am OK with that label.
        My family and the community shaped my opinion on immigration. First, before presenting more of my opinion, I want to establish definitions of terms. My theory I am testing here is that language is important in addition to sharing our backgrounds to have a civil sharing of different opinions.


Definitions

Immigration is the action of coming to live permanently in a foreign country.

Migrant is a person who moves from one place to another, especially in order to find work or better living conditions. Animals and people migrate. Some animal migrants are a part of a balanced ecosystems Like the swallows who return to our back yard just as flying insects hatch in the spring. Other animals like wild pigs, Scotch broom, or killer bees are invasive. There are 50 thousand invasive species in the United States. 

Refugee is a person who has been forced to leave their country in order to escape war, persecution, or natural disaster.

Refugee Status is, generally speaking , is a displaced person who has been forced to cross national boundaries and who cannot return home safely. Such a person may be called an asylum seeker until granted refugee status by the contracting state or the UNHCR if they formally make a claim for asylum.

A hot button for me is being labeled a globalist if it is defined as someone who believes that ultimately all borders and nations should be dissolved, resulting in one single world. This Utopian Globalism would be fantastic but is unreachable. I am a globalist if it is defined as a person who advocates the interpretation or planning  of economic and foreign policy in relation to events and developments throughout the world.

In my humble opinion of immigration policies, I will try to be humble because truly I do not comprehend the scope of providing shelter for all of the hurting peoples of the world. I do not know an immediate fix. And I fear someday we will need to migrate to safety.

        Building a  continuous wall on the Mexican border is not a good immigration policy. Claiming the country is "full" is inhumane. Building a continuous wall is counterproductive waste of our precious resources. The wall without border patrol backup is a symbol rather than a functioning protection. Walls require adequate border patrol agents using technology to prevent criminal activities. They are already effective judging that most crime enters by air and sea.  "Build the wall" is a campaign slogan giving false satisfaction to President Trump's base.  Support for a wall ignores the realities on the ground. It divides economic communities in El Paso, Nogales, and San Diego. Our economies are intertwined with a flow of commerce and  services. I want our tax dollars to go to facilitating the flow of commerce. Also we need tax money to go to timely processing refugee's applications for some type of legal status.
         The United States and the world's nations are being challenged by the increasing frequency of epic storms and drought stricken flora and fauna. We need world co-operative efforts. We need to realize that as compassionate beings we will have to be considerate of others beyond our borders. Being considerate means making sacrifices to benefit humanity as a whole.
         I imagine and fear leadership that undermines co-operation between nations.  We do not have to follow the path of building the Great Wall as was done in China. The Mongol Barbarians eventually ruled China. The Barbarians, interestingly, assimilated the Chinese culture. Unfortunately forests were cut down to fuel the kilns to make bricks for the wall. Where the trees were gone the land became a desert and the rivers flooded. Of course we are not ancient China. Yet, we would use significant energy making a steel wall. Steel will be used that will not go into our failing infrastructure.
          Allowing immigration comes with the fear other values and even other countries will govern us. It is a fear with historic examples of colonialism, fascism and communism. Clearly I am optimistically certain that we can keep our national identity and belong to world governance organizations.
           In the United States two blocking sentiments exist around immigration. The desire to celebrate our recent roots can lead to an instinct for nationalist exclusion of other countries and strangers.  The other but related feeling is fearing that outsiders seeking to immigrate are threats.  Looking at history large migrations have wiped out indigenous populations. The migrations that turned violent catch our attention and strike terror in our heart obscuring migrations that fostered mutual enriched life and survival.

May Day 1949, Annie Sanchez my best friend then  and I
were dressed to wind crape paper garlands around the May Pole.

                      

 In conclusion:
Thinking well of those who oppose us is helped by understanding the opposition's story. Knowing where we each come from is a key to civil discussion. Maybe the way we disagree will be an example for citizens to meaningfully bridge and heal the great political polarization threatening our country and bogging down our governments effectiveness.

Rain's views will follow this coming Saturday the 13th. So if you made it through my entire essay, the complete conclusion to our main purpose, I apologize, is not possible until Rain states her views and reacts. Can we see each other as being good people when we fully air our opinion?  Rain has a special perspective on the border and immigration. She researched the history of the Arizona border for some of her novels. She divides her year between living in her Tucson home and a ranch in the Oregon Coast Range. She keeps up with currentevents. I await Rain's opinions with anticipation.

I welcome comments to this blog within the scope of this blog on culture - not political rants. Meaning even if the comment is in agreement with my opinion, it is irrelevant in this blog. What interests me, for example, is a short sentence or two of roughly where you stand with as much  elaboration you need on what is your background that shaped your opinion. I am open to new ideas on how to bridge the cultural habits we have that promote polarization. This post is about how in political discussions our feelings of how good or bad the opposition is painted by how we communicate our political beliefs. Personal stories, in my humble opinion, are most likely to be well received and bridge polarization.





 

 



making a video

One of the things about the internet is how it brings us in touch with so many people, from all around the world, those we'd likely never meet any other way. It seems relatively safe too-- other than insults being easier to throw around. The thing is the anonymity has a price attached-- lack of real connection. 

Oh, we can choose to meet in a real place, those we only knew through typed words and a few shared pictures. I've done that now with maybe 20 or so. Some came off meeting first in chat rooms. Some came later through Facebook connections. But many 'friends' remain typed words and a photograph (which might not even be them). 

For someone like me, who lives in a community where there aren't many like-minded folks nearby, the internet has become a way to connect with others, who are more like-minded. They can feel like friends, but we can't say-- hey, let's visit some antique stores today. Or how about lunch? The internet becomes a place to interact but yet... are we?

One way I tried to get past the feeling of unreality was to set up a blog I called Videos and Discussions. My idea was I'd create short blogs where I talked about my writing-- or whatever topic came to mind. Others would give me their links about their creative work and I'd post them as a place to get a little more real, to hear each other's voices, see how we look when talking, and then share those ideas that we would share over coffee if we lived closer. While I've done quite a few short talks there, it didn't end up having others want to share theirs-- or hasn't yet.

Videos and Discussions

Then, I forgot about making the videos until last week-end when I thought it must have been a while. A while turned out to have been since 2015. On the weekend, I decided to do one regarding my recent work. I'd learned a thing or two about what makes a paranormal and that gave me a theme.

Back when I first began making videos, I knew I wanted them to feel like talking with a friend-- the thing I wasn't getting much of. Still, I wanted them to have some cohesion. With a friend, I could drift off this way or that, as could they. With a video, I have only four minutes (about the longest I expect people to stay with it). 

To get my cohesion, I don't do an outline or write down key points. I turn on the webcam and just start talking. I turn it off, watch it, and try it again-- with no intention of keeping these. Eventually, after a couple dry runs, I have a good idea of where I am going and what will best illustrate my points.

Then is when I look to room lighting. I tape these in a corner of the living room where my desk and webcam set. I turn off some lights and put on others as I like a visual with more light on one side and limited light behind. Since I don't cut and splice, the final video will be one take-- which means phone calls, husband walking through room, all can lead to a-- start over. 

I'll admit it. I want to look as good as possible for a video; so I put on the kind of makeup I only wear when heading to town. I also choose a top that doesn't change the lighting. I notice I have a lot of tan t-shirts, and they show up often in the videos I've done. 

When I sit back down, I start talking with the points in my head, which means if I do it more than once, it will vary. I haven't ever spliced one; but if I did any outside, that would likely have to happen.

If when I watch, it doesn't work, I try again-- although I don't keep doing and doing it as that seems to me it'd get stale. Monday, with two interruptions, the one below was the third try. I'd done the dry runs the day before as I fleshed out my ideas. Outlines might be more effective, but for me, this works best to stay loose.  I have no idea where the 15 came from on the video but it wasn't the takes this time. They all got erased except the final one.

Next step is post it to YouTube on my channel, which also has book trailers and nature videos that we've made. YouTube's computer chooses the thumbprint, with three options-- never good ones when I'm talking. Vimeo, which I have also used, lets the creator choose the thumbprint. Nice Vimeo. But I have to say YouTube is so easy to use that I generally go for it. 

So take a look at the one I made Monday, then come back for why I am posting this topic.

 

What I am hoping is my original idea for the link above could still happen-- not just with other writers, but photographers, painters, sculptors, cooks, quilters, etc. etc. I still think this is a way to make ourselves more real to each other when we don't have an opportunity to meet for real. And if we someday do, then that's still nice to share our creative work with others, those from around the world. 

There is another plus to making these. I think it can help us focus on what we are trying to accomplish when we talk about our work, when we make ourselves become cohesive in what we hope to accomplish. 

If you give it a try, get me the link. I'd love for Videos and Discussions to fulfill the purpose for which I had originally hoped-- a nest of creativity where the work is shared and encouraged. Besides bringing us together, the internet can do that.

It is random

by Rain Trueax

Something has been on my mind. We, in the United States and most of the developed nations, live in a safe period of history. If you look back at history, you see wars that swept across people's homelands, along with plagues and famines. Those could decimate whole populations. 

As mankind has learned more, diseases have been taken on, and in some cases conquered.  When I was a girl, my parents feared having us swim in some rivers because polio was a very real risk. Then came the Salk vaccine, and polio has been all but forgotten for what it once meant-- unless you have a family member who had been touched by it. Iron lungs, what do people today know of that horrid but lifesaving device?

guest today-- Vikkas Bhardwaj

 "I started modelling about 10 years ago and kinda got lucky in Romance Industry. I opened my own stock site to make it easier for authors to buy images. Thanks to Rain for promoting my site as well. I have done 2 Bollywood films, music videos, ads, billboards, soap operas, and now i have done close to 210 Covers."    Vikkas Bhardwaj

You walk through a grocery store and see the books for sale, skim down Amazon's book list, looking for a book for a rainy afternoon. On the covers can be a mix of subjects but many have people representing the characters. The right face on that cover can attract you to pick up the book or shake your head and go on. Have you ever thought beyond that glance to the person who was photographed to be there, the stand-in for the hero or heroine?
 

When I began making my own covers, I remember the odd feeling as I scanned over hundreds of faces, like a kind of beauty contest but about more than beauty-- about the energy that would tell a reader something about the hero or heroine of that book. With time, I got more comfortable rejecting and selecting-- it wasn't personal, after all. 

Then came something unexpected. Through Facebook, I got to know some of those models as people. I worried over their babies, wished them luck when they got engaged, felt sad if their relationship didn't work out. The people behind the image became real to me as friends, admittedly distant friends for now, but they felt real-- of the sort that if we ever met, we'd enjoy sitting down to chat over coffee.

Some of the writers, who go to conventions, actually do meet the models, and they always say how nice these folks are-- behind the pretty or handsome facade.

One of the models, who I have never met in reality but know through his work, is Vikkas Bhwardjah. He has gone from being on general sites with many models, to forming his own site where he brings on models to set scenes with him. His goal is expressed often-- to give writers what they need for an eye-catching cover. 

When I heard he's doing a newsletter as an expansion of what he shares on Facebook, I invited him to do a guest post here. By seeing a few of his images, you get an idea of the work that goes into these shoots. There are settings for any historic period as well as contemporary.

Vikkas has a close relationship with his family and shares that on Facebook. He also shares his love of India (he now lives in California) his goals, health tips, exercise regime, and videos of his photo shoots. He has said he considers those on his Facebook as extended family. I think that says it well with many of these models, who contribute much to making covers attract readers by the right face to depict the heroes and heroines. When they disappear into the characters a writer has written, that's what makes for a great cover.

Links for Vikkas

Sign up for his newsletter

https://t.co/He4WsrYdGL

His stock site 
www.vikkaszone.com

For Youtube type in :

Vikkaszone 
More Modeling images: 
www.modelmayhem.com/bvikkas

on the in or the out?

 photo from August just because it's pretty

Do you have dreams that have you scratching your head and wondering what that was about? This one was from a week ago.

Living in a kind of apartment building (one I don't recognize), I want so much to be accepted by a groups. I don't really know why I am not, but my life, even when in the midst of others, feels lonely and closed off. I reach to them, but they never reach for me.  I am chosen for nothing. I recognize it's like my high school years all over again.

Wanting to be accepted, I show one of the group's popular leader a piece I had written praising their newest project. I had written it to overcome my jealousy. I am looking for attaboys that I am not admitting. I invite her to my apartment to read it before I publish it.

She is nice, reads it, and then looks up with an uneasy expression before she looks around my apartment. She says, 'I sympathize with you-- but you do understand why you are not part of our group?' When I don't answer, she says, 'Look at this apartment with dirt on the floor and the windows haven't been washed ever.'

I try to make an excuse. 'I've washed them. They're not that bad.'

She then looks at me and says, 'How could you fit with us?' She shakes her head. 'You're such a plain little person.'

'Well, I'm not little.' I was fully aware that was because I was fat-- as I try to not cry. I manage a smile that I don't feel. 'I need to take a shower.' 

The woman nods and leaves, heading back to her fans and friends, while I head toward the shower and a sob fest, but instead wake up. 

When I woke at 2am, the dream was strong in my mind, and I wondered what it meant? Not all of my dreams have meaning, but some are trying to tell me something about my own life. A few can be used in a book.

In this one, my muse had chosen a woman I know only from the Internet. I think she represented all the ones who are on the inside, the ones with whom everybody wants to be friends, the ones chosen to lead, those who decide who fits and who does not. Women like that aren't necessarily the mean girls like the movie. They are mostly likable, funny, and admired--including by me. They just don't see me as fitting and not sure I can clean up whatever blocks me. 

When I left high school, I thought I had put behind me the insecurity of cliques. I've found them a few times since, like in our rural church. Mostly in churches, the inside clique is the one supportive of the leadership. Maybe that's true for the Internet too-- except, there it's harder to figure out who the leadership is. 

In my experience with the Internet, through chat rooms to Facebook, I've seen that some are in on the joke, and they have everyone laughing while I am still trying to figure out what the joke was. 

Facebook allows and encourages many groups. To  some, anyone can belong. Others are very exclusive. Are cliques just friends with common goals? They can serve a purpose beyond that and work to gain power, promote causes, or sell something. Cliques can be a problem mostly when they have something someone outside needs. My dream reminded me of aspects of cliques that probably still bother me subconsciously-- high school swings a wide loop. If I was inside one, would I feel guilty or uncomfortable, given the price I might have to pay?

I have believed that dreams can be useful in letting us evaluate what we are doing, our fears, our ambitions. I thought more about this one than many as I tried to see if there was some part of my life that I'm not cleaning up. If so, is it getting in my way to furthering deeper goals. 

do a review!

Have you ever thought how important customer reviews are to other customers? Most of us have been used to the kind of reviews that a business will post where they are all glowing recommendations. The internet has changed that. Now there can be sites  devoted to putting down a product; so when a potential buyer goes looking, they find the pluses and the minuses. 

Reviews recently helped me understand why the last pair of tennis shoes I purchased in a store feel tighter than I expected based on my hurriedly trying them on. Reviews have helped me realize a dress should be purchased a size larger than I normally buy based on it being cut small. Reviews let me decide which food dryer was too expensive for what it was worth.  Reviews of our Tucson vacation home let other renters decide if it's for them-- and I always read reviews before I stay in a hotel or rent a house somewhere. I try to read them all, as one person's negative experience doesn't mean something is wrong for me; but when they go into why it was bad, that helps my decision.

These kind of reviews are ordinary people taking the time to write about something they purchased for the benefit of the next person. I am not talking about people paid to do reviews, but people who take time out of their busy lives. I've both bought products and decided against them based on reading a number of reviews for what other buyers experienced. 

Where it comes to indie writers, reviews of their books are very important. Having a lot of reviews can convince someone else this book is worth buying. This is why writers set up street teams where they give out books before their release in return for reviews. Now, honorable writers do not ask for positive reviews-- in return for a copy-- they just ask for a review. Doing this, is like salting a mine (except not dishonest) as reviews attract reviews.

There are those who buy all their books based on a New York Times or New Yorker book review. Others buy books that are never going to make those elite lists, but the benefit of a quality review from a past reader for a future reader is great.

When Round the Bend came out last Saturday, I had mentioned my trepidation regarding how it would be received. It is an historical romance about the Oregon Trail, but it's a long book (130,000 words puts it in the epic category). It deals with not only the hardships of the Trail, a love story, but also a very difficult family relationship.

The sales came in very well, better than I had expected even. I don't know if they will continue but that depends on how Amazon gets it into its rankings. I was fortunate to have been in a writer/reader group that likes pioneer romances, and I think that helped with early sales. Word of mouth and networking really is critical to getting books seen for any chance of being purchased. Yes, it takes a tribe.

Are writers like ranchers and farmers? It's always a case of-- but what about... And that was what I felt when the sales were good but what about reviews. There weren't any for days. I began to worry that people had bought it but not liked it. Maybe its length turned them off, and on my concerns went.

Then it got a review. Nervously, I looked to see what it said, and I can tell you reading it made my day. Not only did the reviewer like the book, but she got what I had hoped readers would.

"This is my first experience in reading one of Ms. Trueax's books and I wasn't disappointed. The story was exciting and never got boring. Amy and her family were traveling to Oregon along with Matt, his brother Morey, and father. It was a large wagon train so the storyline had many characters. I just loved St. Louis the Wagonmaster. He was the salt of the earth with so much experience in leading and understanding people. St. Louis had healing experience which was invaluable to those who traveled with him. I've never read a book like this with so many avenues that kept me fascinated. Amy and Matt were lifelong friends but he started feeling more than mere friendship. Amy actually began being courted by Adam, the Wagontrain Scout, but found out "the feeling" just wasn't there and soon realized her love for Matt was more than being a friend. Matt's brother, Morey, was disturbing in this book and led to the violence in Matt's life. The father was also part of the lies and deception that led Morey to hate his brother, Matt. I don't want to spoil this story for you so I won't go on. However, if you want an exciting, adventuresome and mysterious book, this historical western genre is for you. There is some violence and sexual content but the author did a great job in making all actions part of the story itself. I loved it!" 

I have had books that literally never got a single review even with sales.  And then this one got a second that made me also feel very good.

 Rain Trueax is at her best from the first sentence. Each phase of the plot and characters are richly developed.
The Oregon Trail experience, physically and mentally grueling, either built character in the hero Matt or caused dangerous psychopathic mental breakdown in Matt's brother Morey. The wagon master St. Louis Jones' experience went beyond previous trips on the Oregon Trail. He had lived with Indians and trappers. He had a depth of understanding of humanity. He was a believable mentor for Matt's amazing growth. Through him Trueax revealed insights to the Indian and emigrants' points of view and their conflicting interests. Obviously Trueax's writing reveals extensive research with exact details of folk and Indian medicine, cooking, weapons, and geography. On fly fishing I thought didn't exist until after the civil war but I was wrong and Trueax was correct to have dry flies and a bamboo rod. I am eager to read more of the series to find out if Loraine finds her true love and the destiny of Scout Adam Stone. Will they eventually get together?

I am not sure what accounts for a reader taking their own precious time to review a book, but I can only say that it means a lot to the writer when they do. Even if the book you read had a New York Times review, taking the time to do one yourself is a gift to other readers-- and yes, the writer. 

They say that reviews are only meant for the reader, but I know from other writers that writers cherish getting them. Even an indie writer, with hundreds of reviews, and I know some who have had that many, each new one is important and valued. Sure, when a review is negative, it's not so much fun, but it can be educational and help a writer to see an aspect they may have missed.

So whatever product you buy, give a thought to adding a review. Amazon lets people review products they did not purchase there. They won't say verified purchase, but the reviewer can tell from where they did make the purchase. A review might not seem like a big deal to you, but the time you take is a big deal to both future purchasers and the person/company behind the product.

When I bought my last pair of tennis shoes from a store, I got almost no info from the sales person. I came home, read Amazon reviews and found out not only what my problem had been (these tennis shoes were cut narrower in the toe than usual) but also that my favorite style of tennis shoe was still out there-- something the store never told me. I ordered them; and when they come, you can bet, if they are as they were last time, I will add my review.

I make a lot more effort now to do reviews, but admit I used to do none. It's not just when we are irked at a product that it's good to take some time but also when we love our experience. It contributes to the pool of knowledge and helps the community. Viva la internet :). 

gun control as a solution?

My suggestion for a first step on stopping the kind of mass carnage we just saw in Colorado was to ban assault rifles-- at the least reinstate the ban Clinton got passed in 1994 which expired in 2004. It was an attempt to limit access to the kind of rapid fire weapons and magazines developed for military use. These are weapons only intended to kill other humans. They are not needed for home defense. You can't use them to hunt.

The right wing claims such ownership is a Constitutional right which if anybody reads the Second Amendment, they can see says no such thing. Do you see the right to have cannons or any specific weapon?

A well regulated militia being necessary to the security of a free state, the right of the people to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed.

Some say militia means our national guard and the second part of the statement doesn't mean our own right to have guns, but to me, that's not a logical interpretation.  Most probably it took into account that at the time often all able bodied men could be called upon by their government to be part of a defense. This was a government without the kinds of arms that it has today.

America has a long history of gun ownership and trying to eliminate all guns not only won't happen, but isn't going to stop mass murderers. Assault rifles though, that's a different story altogether. Seriously you can't stop an intruder threatening your life with a regular gun? If you can't, you shouldn't have it either.

Assault rifles have been used over and over again to shoot so fast that no one can stop the shooter. It enabled 70 to be shot at that theater-- and more would have died had it not jammed. No routine handgun (with a regular magazine) or rifle could do that.

 I've heard the arguments why assault rifles are needed-- what if the citizen has to fight their own government? The NRA is supporting a bill in one state that would allow for the times when a citizen has a right to fire on the police. I didn't read the details of the proposed bill but that's the kind of thinking that convinces yahoos they do need an AK-47.

For Obama or Romney to suggest (what both have said before) that there should be a ban on assault rifles would require the kind of courage that I haven't seen in either these days. Because the NRA is so powerful, they can stop Congress from proposing anything with no chance for more draconian measures. The NRA is supported by a very powerful guns and munitions merchandizing business-- around the world.

National Rifle Association's bizarre Colorado response

Farm Boss was in the NRA when we were a young married couple. He and I were both gun owners when we married, and he was in favor of supporting not only the right to own guns but also be well trained in their use. He quit it for some years, but then joined again when there was talk of taking away all guns probably twenty five years ago or more. Then he got so disgusted by how the NRA promoted the right to own  human killing weapons that he got out again-- that was about twenty years ago. It looks like they have only gotten more mercenary in the years since.

Some are saying we shouldn't even talk about solutions right now as this is a time to mourn. Or get more clear-headed. Or wait until nobody is talking about it, then discuss solutions. The some who are saying that want nothing done as people in this country only operate under drama queen/king times.

So we are bombarded by who this guy was, as we were after Tucson and after Virginia Tech and after _____________. Fill in the blank as it's been all around the world including that horror in Norway. Does the media realize that they only exacerbate the problem when they give these shooters fame? When they go into their family history back to the Mayflower? Media, despite what they say, doesn't care that they may lead to copycat killers because, as much as arms manufacturing is a big business, so is media.

 I don't really care who this guy is. I don't want to know anything about him except one thing-- what can we do to catch someone like him before midnight in a crowded movie theater? At first it sounded as though he was so intelligent, such a successful person, that there were no tell-tall signs; then other information trickled in like--gun club turns down membership request.

As with many of these shooters, it is beginning to sound as though a few people did see something was out of whack with him, but what could they do? What options are in place to look at this kind of person and evaluate what's going on? Our fear of offending someone's rights is running smack into our desire to not see carnage in a mall.

Right now-- pretty much nothing can be done even knowing that schizophrenia does develop at about this age. The thing is most untreated schizophrenia, although hard for the family, difficult to be around, is not deadly. 10% potentially is. Seriously we cannot get a grip on finding these people first for their sake and ours?

Some are suggesting that more people owning guns would be a solution and would have stopped the shooter after only a few deaths. How exactly? Say 20% of the people in that theater were carrying guns, would a shootout have saved lives or cost more? Nobody was going to the theater with an AR-15 at their side.

This man was thoroughly armored. Who would know that when they started shooting at him? The gas canisters he threw out doubtless confused vision (what's with permitting just anybody to buy those?). In a shoot-out, how many more would have been killed by friendly fire which happens even with our trained police and military?

If it's unrealistic to think the government could stop all gun ownership and confiscate what is out there, what about evaluating those who are trying to purchase a gun-- especially the kinds he bought? From what we heard at first, it sounded as though this guy would likely have passed all tests... except now we read this from the shooting club, and it sounds like his problem wasn't so deeply underground as it at first sounded.

Somehow he went into stores, maybe stayed very quiet while doing it and didn't ring any bells. Should it have rung at least one that he purchased so many?

With generally no waiting period to buy a gun in most states, there are no phone call checks which again might've stopped a purchase as it stopped his right to be in that gun club. The NRA, with the support of the right wing, rebel at any waiting period to buy guns, any check on background but they don't over the same kind of thing to get a concealed weapon permit. What's with that?

Another thing that could have helped (besides a ban on assault rifles) would be a computer system that could catch when someone bought so many 'war' weapons within a short period of time as well as all that ammunition online.

Suppose we had the manpower to investigate that kind of mass purchaser (even when he didn't have a Muslim sounding name), maybe do an onsite interview or at least a phone call? Talk to those who know the person? Or have we cut budgets so much that isn't possible?

The thing is a lot of us already worry about 1984 and a police state. Do we want to head further in that direction? Well when it stops the killing of children, I think we should be at least thinking about options. Next time it could be our child or grandchild.

So some potential steps that don't seem draconian to me:

mental health checks on weapon purchasers (phone calls would be good)

no assault rifle purchases to civilians

limits on rifle and gun magazine sizes

Not so much but more people would be alive today if they had been in place. Do we have the courage to stand against the NRA? Our Congress doesn't. But maybe we need to make them more afraid of us than them!

And for god's sake what will it take before we start finding better ways to deal with mental illness? When Gabby Giffords was shot, I said the same thing. What has happened since? Nothing that I know of!

Drought and fires

If you don't think this map regarding drought is about global climate change, if you don't think mankind (in particular our nation) did anything to cause it, don't you at least think we oughta figure out what we can do about it for the people in the zones that are drying up and burning? Or would you rather wait until the people who used to live in those red zones move into the white ones? Is everybody really on their own according to right wing philosophy?

Has it occurred to the climate change deniers that they do need to grow food somewhere?  Manna does not fall from heaven these days. We buy it in stores or at markets. It has to be grown or produced on land last time I checked. The area worst hit by the drought has been considered our bread basket. That word give anybody a clue what is at stake?

Largest natural disaster in US history 

Wildfires and ranchers 

ranchers to sell herds to cut losses 

 Yes, it's bad that homes have burned with year after year of disastrous fires in one state after another, but there is more at stake and it's food production and likely, if the forests burn off, further climate change.

With people in charge of the US Government who don't believe in government, who are cutting programs left and right to get to a point where nobody has the expertise to even figure out what to do, what is their solution? Private enterprise? Those guys don't want to put out a dime right now as they wait to get rid of the president who might get in their way with regulations and while they donate heavily to usher in the one who has no intention of doing any such thing.

Here's the thing, the arguing over why this is happening, that is old news. I remember writing blogs about why it mattered in 2004 and it might've been too late even then. By now, this might be a direction that cannot be turned around even if the right admitted they had been wrong (not holding my breath on that one), but what do we do about it?

Somebody with the money of a Rush Limbaugh or a Mitt Romney, they can move where they want, where the weather is better if things turn dire in the United States. Now exactly where that might be is iffy. Europe might not have the heat but they are the ones predicted to get the mini-ice age (something that earth has done before). When humans had these things before in the world, millions died off from starvation. There are a LOT more of us now.

It seems to me (and has for a long time) that we ought to have a national plan. Even naysayers about carbon dioxide do know about the earth's history (I think). If there is a plan in place, I don't know what it is. From what I have read, we are seeing more government fire fighting ability cut back by the starve the beast mentality of the right.

Possibly this is just going to happen and it won't be pretty. Maybe government can't really help with natural disasters. Maybe it's only good for fighting wars overseas (Cheney thinks Romney is the only one running for president who is capable of dealing with foreign affairs. Cheney was so good at that himself.)

If a large population of people are forced to migrate from one zone where nothing can grow and the heat is such that they can't live, are other regions ready for that kind of migration? What about growing food?

You know plastic can only fix so much...

What is justice?

Sometimes I wake up thinking about something and the above question was on my mind one morning. The thinking probably came out of many individual events strung together with no particular thread connecting them.

One was a delightful morning and afternoon with a dear, old friend, where we hadn't met for years when we ran into each other at a December funeral. My friend and I had drifted apart due to her remarrying (she was a widow), having babies again, and moving from this rural valley. Actually, my own life changed quite a bit about that time also. We always though cared for each other and her coming out to the farm on Monday was a wonderful, deep time of renewing and reconnecting. I always knew strong friendships endure through long separations and this was one of those.

As we sat and talked, had a lunch of soup and half a sandwich, we shared our lives through the intervening years, told our stories, and those of the people we had in common from many years earlier. We talked of how life so often works out, the consequences of actions, and even the luck of how some are born into nurturing families as both she and I had been. She grew up out in this rural community, had been in my home as a guest before I was here and even had been in the original house on the property before it was torn down. Her roots in this country community go deep as her father was born on the land her family still owns. She didn't move that far away; so she's still here and yet not quite the same as it once was.

I talked of my own family roots as we also shared what is going on right now in our lives. We caught up on 15 years in that morning/afternoon. I told her some of how this winter/spring has been on our farm. Frankly it's been a (pardon my language but there's no better word for it) hell of a season where it comes to animal problems. We have lost more new or recently born calves than ever happens even in a year let alone a two-month period. Some were due to first time mothers but most we think were a result of the unusual stormy and cold spring where the weather changed so fast and pneumonia was more common that usual. Heck, we normally have no pneumonia in our calves or lambs.

To add to this, we have also experienced some of the weirdest sheep behaviors (and you’d think after having done this over 30 years, there wouldn’t be much new to us).

Example: Farm Boss and I were sitting down to eat dinner one evening and a neighbor came to the door-- your lamb is on the road. We weren't totally shocked to hear that as the smallest lambs had been maneuvering their way through the wire panels. Farm Boss had hoped he had finally stopped their escapes, but it's easy to miss a place.

We weren’t shocked that is until he said it’s on the highway and we looked out the door to see the lamb on the shoulder of that highway and on the other side of the creek from the farm. Without trying to figure out how it happened, we ran, Farm Boss to get in the car and me to head up the road on foot. When I got to the highway, waving my arms to attempt to slow down rapidly approaching cars didn't work. Maybe they thought I was trying to hitch a ride.

Then I saw on the bridge a small black and white lamb in total panic as our neighbor was closing in on it from behind. Farm Boss had driven on past to find a safe place to park, I assumed. The lamb jumped onto the cement rail of the bridge which panicked me as I visualized it losing its balance and falling to its death or worse into the creek where I am not sure what we could have done to save it as it's bank full or rushing water and more like a river these days.

Instead of falling, it immediately jumped right back onto the highway; then recognized me, ran straight for me, saw the familiar gravel road and ran down it, through the open gate and to its own pasture acting as though nothin' had happened. Yep, absolutely nothing. Farm Boss drove back shortly after with a second lamb in his lap which the neighbor kids had run down over there.

So here is what we surmise they did. First, the two got out, ate some tall grass alongside the gravel road, meandered down that road possibly eating grass and then comes what reason cannot possibly explain. When they got to the highway, they continued on it to cross that cement bridge which is about 100 feet long, with no grass to tempt them as they couldn't see grass on the other side while on it, nor with the solid cement sides could they have seen anything to make them thinking going forward would do anything good for them. They then went down the other side of the road, continuing to move further away from their home but seemingly to them, since the farm is just across the creek, maybe they didn’t think that was the case. They were calling to their mothers on the other side of the creek. Like that was going to do them a lot of good!

Was there any logic to that behavior? None that we can come up with. There is a bit of an echo in our valley and maybe at some point they couldn't tell from where their mothers' maas were coming.

That doesn't explain crossing a cement bridge that should have appeared very foreign and even scary to small lambs. Logic does not apply to the world of raising livestock (often not of people either).

Well, in discussing how I got to thinking about justice, I got distracted, but will get to it in the next blog.