I am ashamed, embarrassed, disgusted, furious, angry, enraged....

I am ashamed, embarrassed, disgusted, disgraced, furious, outraged and so much more with what has been going on in our country these last couple of weeks. I cannot believe that America has sunk so low. Shame on the politicians and shame on my fellow citizens. Shame on all of you - the media, too! Shame, shame, shame!!! (Can you tell that all that's been going on has hit a raw nerve!!??)

I cannot believe that having the President speak to school children to urge them on to do a good job has become such a political brouhaha. Our children need all the encouragement they can get. When I was a kid, it always seemed to be a dream of all of us that we could grow up to be President of the United States. My god, who would want that job now?

While listening to a local radio station this morning, a woman by the name of Catherine called into the show. She said that having kids listen to President Obama's speech was the equivalent of indoctrinating children into Hitler youth. She said that the documents (workbooks, lesson plants, etc.) to compliment the speech that had been prepared by the U.S. Dept. of Education were filled with Nazi-style propaganda. One of the show's hosts asked her if she had seen the materials and she said no, but that she knew what was in them! Excuse me? Excuse me!!?? You've got to be kidding, woman. Shame on you!

Then there was the man interviewed on the radio news this morning. He said that he didn't want his child listening to the speech because the President's urging to do well in school to keep our country strong would be too much pressure on the kid. Hello!!!?? Are you for real, Mister? Your kid's going to have to face a lot of pressure situations in his/her lifetime, so he/she might as well start preparing for the real thing now. Shame on you!

Where did all this ridiculousness come from? I blame the media for a lot of this. There is so much rancor among newsmen/women. Just look at the long running feud between Keith Olbermann and Bill O'Reilly. Such nastiness. No one has any respect for anyone else. Shame on all of you!

What can be done about this? It's all left me feeling pretty helpless, but I'm thinking about things that we can do. I'm not going to give up on my country. Any suggestions???????? Let's get going before it's too late.

Maine-ly a Hidden Gem.....

One of the best things about living in Maine is that there is always some hidden gem that awaits discovery. This time it's something not all that far from our house and is a true example of Maine's beauty. It's the Massabesic Experimental Forest (http://www.fs.fed.us/ne/durham/4155/massabes.htm#INT), owned and operated by the Northern Research Station of the USDA Forest Service. It consists of 3600 acres in the towns of Alfred and Lyman. It is described as an "oak-pine forest interspersed with diverse wetlands associated with three rivers and numerous streams, ponds, and swamps."

I've driven by it many times with my husband on our way to Sanford. It's a regular stop for him on his way home from work for an evening swim in Estes Lake, which is on the edge of the forest. Until last night though, I'd never hiked it. It is just as the website describes it. There are markers along the path identifying the types of trees and things of note, such as a small quarry. It's a very easy hike in to the lake and all the way in you can't help but think of it as a sylvan cathedral.

It was certainly a perfect night for a walk and a swim - not too warm and just perfectly lit as it was just before sunset. I passed on the swim, but enjoyed sitting on the rocks at the water's edge. The lake was a bit busy with jet skis (ugh) but not enough to really distract from the overall beauty of the area. We stayed just long enough for Bobby to have a quick swim. It was a bit dark on the way out of the forest ("lions and tigers and bear, oh my!" dark) but the trail is well-marked and easy to walk.

I think that there is a picnic there in the near future and a lot more in terms of hiking.....Oh, I love being a Maineiac!

You can get there from here....

I went to type something into the computer and hit the wrong key, landing on a Google map of "Lake Mashu." Where in the world, Carmen Sandiego, is Lake Mashu? It looked like Japan, so I thought I'd see just how far away it is. I put my home address in Google Maps and I was told that it takes between 37 days and 5 hours and 37 days and 15 hours to get there from here. How can that be? Wouldn't it just be a day's plane ride?

Well, you start out from my house and go across country by car staying mostly on I-90. When you get to the Washington coast you hop in a KAYAK and go to Hawaii (2756 miles)! After many twists and turns through the Hawaiian islands, you hop back on your KAYAK and head to Japan (3879 miles)! Of course, I'd do fine in finding the place until I had to turn left toward 県道344号線. It does take a bit longer if I go the northern route through Canada.

Wow, I think if I did all that paddling that would certainly have me in great shape and lick my cholesterol problem. Of course, if I didn't want to do all that paddling, I could walk. Google tells me that it would take me 140 days and 15 hours if I walked. However, they do caution me that the route may be missing sidewalks or pedestrian paths.

You've got to admit that the direction makers at Google maps certainly have a good sense of humor!!!