Long Weekend

I was out of town for a few days. Before I get to the nice parts of my trip, I'll discuss a fellow passenger on my return flight. It's good to get the bad out of the way first, and it connects to the discussion thread in my most recent post in which I described my ambivalence about the upcoming Court appointments.

On the Portland to Oakland leg of my trip home, I sat next to a right wing Catholic. As soon as I sat down, I could tell he was one of those people who want to talk from take-off to landing. Was he lonely, nervous, or just plain evil? You decide.

I think it started out by his telling me about the Jesuit school his nephews attend in Southern California. That topic led to his lecturing me about liberals, Marxism, the bible, Catholicism, and vegetarianism. I was so good at not arguing with him; I deserve a ticket to heaven for my grace.

He told me he was very pleased about the new pope. The liberal Catholics need a "good swift kick in the pants." I asked him what he thought was so liberal about the church. He said he was troubled by interpretations of Vatican II. I asked what he meant and could he give me some examples. For one, alter girls -- God never meant for girls to serve on the alter. Just like the home, where God intends for man to provide and woman to serve, the church also needs for men and women to adhere to gender roles of leaders and followers. Vatican II only advised placing girls at the alter when there were no boys available. Priests everywhere are failing in their duties to recruit boys. He also blames "feminazis" for leading the church astray -- he really used that term.

Rather than disagree, I tried to ask questions that would elicit talk of his lived experiences as I felt pretty bored with the recitations of AM radio. Since he kept quoting so much scripture, I asked if he had ever considered becoming a priest. Turns out he did, but by the time he went to check out seminaries, the priesthood had already been taken over by the "pinkos." The men led such secular lives -- reading whatever they liked including pornography and drinking, he decided he may as well live on the outside.

I could go on and on quoting him and sharing his thoughts. I believe it might even be educational. It's guys like him who got George W. elected to two terms. But I'd end up writing a really long entry, and people would skim and not comment. How boring would that be?

The good stuff...

My brother John and his wife Tonya celebrated 10 years of marriage with a party and gathering at a place on the southwest coast of Washington.



We stayed at the Tradewinds in a place called Tokeland. It's a funky 60s motelish kitchenette kind of place. I'm so bummed to hear the owners are going to sell it to people who plan to bring it upscale.

Here's the view outside all the rooms:



Any Northwest people who have the opportunity, ought to check it out while rooms still go for $80 a night. My aunt says it's best to go during the week because it's really quiet. I say it's best to pack in all your food because there is nothing but an Indian casino (serving really good burgers if you like such things) and a cigarette stand (that used to sell fry bread) within miles of the place. Lucky for me, Johnya hooked us up good for the party -- fresh crab, salmon, and all sorts of beverages I regretted the morning after the big party.

Since we flew in to Portland (normally, I'd fly to Seattle), we had to go through a bunch of old, depressed logging towns. We stopped for a meal in one of them and had such a treat. We ate at The Shire and were totally impressed. I had a nice salmon filet over organic greens, and my stepmom/traveling companion had a delicious tuna steak. Who knew we had options in Chehalis, Washington?

It was great to see my family. Look how much John Jr. has grown!