Vacation is a remarkable prescription, stirring up the spirit and getting the blood circulating again.  I feel more alive when I choose to get lost instead of feeling lost. It was great to unplug from the news, which fed on the train wreck of a reality show president.  The pig with lipstick has done so much damage just within the span of my last blog entry. His collusion with the Russians is still making headlines as he instructs Attorney General, Jeff Sessions, to stop the Mueller probe.  One can only hope he gets impeached soon, and that the GOP gets ousted come November elections. Remember to Vote! Voting saves lives!

Vacation saves lives too, it seems.  My family and I took a trip to Portland and Seattle where we saw all kinds of trees.  Sure, there are trees in San Diego, but not quite like these. I saw big trees, little trees, skinny trees, fat trees, all standing in majesty while their leaves sway in grace.  These were happy trees like one straight out of a Bob Ross painting. In Oregon we started with the zoo and later Pittock Mansion. We had huckleberry lemonade at Multnomah Falls and then took in some fresh air near the Bridge of the Gods, an iconic film location for the film, Wild, starring Reese Witherspoon. We rented a car for a Goonies Trip to Astoria, where the old County Jail was turned into the Oregon Film Museum.  We visited the ever so famous Powell’s Books, The Largest Independent Bookstore in the world. We had Tillamook cheddar near Tillamook.  We ate magical Voodoo Doughnuts from pink boxes. We rode in street cars and ate street food from street trucks, and this was only the Portland part of the trip.

In Seattle I saw family I haven’t seen in decades, some I was meeting for the first time. I actually lived in Burlington, Washington when I was a baby, but my memory of it is minuscule.  We didn’t plan for much in Seattle because I wanted to spend time with the fam, but we did get see Pike’s Place, Ballard Locks,  the Seattle Needle, and Bruce & Brandon Lee’s resting place. We also took a road trip to Hoh’s Rainforest known for Moss draped maple trees.  You can check out my vacation photos here.

 I will miss all the happy people and the happy trees.  As we flew back to San Diego I saw trees that were not so happy.  In fact, they were on fire. Wildfire

Season has started again as the world hits a global heatwave.  It’s not just here either.

I heard the heatwave is so bad in Japan, reaching a record breaking 106 degrees Fahrenheit (41.1 degrees Celcisus), sending thousands to the hospital and killing dozens.  The heat came in on the heels of their worst flooding event in decades, killing more than 200 people.   I don’t mean to digress with the degrees.  I guess I will end it with a political poem  I wrote earlier this year, and have recently updated.

Headlines in Waiting

The women march and march again.

A ghostwriter laments the lipstick he slapped on the pig.

An impossible president trumps possibilities of another great war.

Angels of Wall Street rejoice as they strip the nation destitute.

Foreboding storms cloud all hope with gloom.

Immigrants hide from ICE in sanctuary cities.

Vexatious news echo impending war.

Missiles whistle across continents with with eyes on Syria.

Red lines cross and fire.

Russia meddles in American affairs.

Putin pulls the strings.

North Korea bolsters it’s defence.

The NRA lines the pockets of politicians,

Bearing more offerings of thoughts and prayers.

Children protest and walk out of their schools.

Children perform sit-ins for children locked in cages.

Trade wars opens economic calamity.

Bailouts are handed out to Farmers.

The dictator still wants his wall.

Daylight savings break the order of time

While somewhere more blood continues to shed,

And another headline stands waiting.