Our Lives

Well, Pat and I did our first event last weekend, a farmers market here at Trilogy where we live.  We did pretty well, I guess.  Jen pointed out that when you break our sales down, we had a sale every 15 minutes.  When you put it that way, we did do well.  We just have nothing to compare it to being our first. 

I have an art fair I will display my jewelry again this coming Saturday from 10 - 4.  Hope we do well.  Katie is going to help me with this one because Joe and Pat are moving as I write…

This is the most interesting thing  I’ve read in a long time. The sad thing about it, you can see it  coming. I have always heard about this democracy  countdown. It is interesting to see it in print. God help us, not  that we deserve it.
                                               
How Long Do We Have?
                                               
About the time our original thirteen states adopted their new constitution in 1787, Alexander Tyler, a  Scottish history professor at the  University  of Edinburgh, had this to say about  the fall of the  Athenian   Republic  some 2,000 years  earlier:
                                                                                               
‘A democracy is always temporary in nature; it simply cannot exist as a permanent form of government.’
                                               
‘A democracy will continue to exist up until the time that voters discover they can vote themselves  generous gifts from the public treasury.’
                                               
‘From that moment on, the majority always vote for the candidates who promise the most  benefits from the public treasury, with the result that every  democracy will finally collapse due to loose fiscal policy, which is  always followed by a dictatorship.’
                                               
‘The average age of the world’s greatest civilizations from the beginning of history, has been  about 200 years’
                                                                
‘During those 200 years, those nations always progressed through the following sequence (I added out progression):
                                               1. from bondage to spiritual faith;  1770-1850
                                                                                
2. from spiritual faith to great  courage; 1850-1930
                                                        
3. from courage to liberty;  1930-1950
                                               
4. from liberty to abundance;  1950-1985
                                               
5. from abundance to complacency;  1985-1995
                                               
6. from complacency to apathy;  1995-2007
                                               
7 from apathy to dependence;  2008-  ?
      
8. from dependence back into bondage’  ????????
                                               
                                               
Professor Joseph Olson of Hemline University School of Law,  St. Paul ,  Minnesota , points out some interesting facts concerning the 2000  Presidential election:

Number of States won by:   Democrats:      19 Republicans: 29
Square miles of land won by:  Democrats: 580,000      Republicans: 2,427,000
Population of counties won by:   Democrats: 127 million Republicans: 143 million
Murder rate per 100,000 residents in counties won by:   Democrats: 13.2 Republicans: 2.1
                                               
Professor Olson adds: ‘In aggregate,  the map of the territory Republican won was mostly the land  owned by the taxpaying citizens of this great country. Democrat territory mostly encompassed those citizens living in government-owned tenements and living off various forms of government welfare…’ Olson  believes the United  States  is now  somewhere between the ‘complacency and apathy’ phase of Professor Tyler’s definition of democracy, with some forty percent of the nation’s  population already having reached the ‘governmental dependency’  phase.          

Wow!  This is an incredible hike.  A little crowded for the first half, but many people  didn’t go all the way to the end, so it got better. (please pardon any spelling errors, for some reason the spell check isn’t working)

This is the canyon that Zane Grey, the western author fell in love with.  The novel he wrote “The Call of the Canyon” was set in this little portion of Oak Creek Canyon.  The West Fork Trail follows along a creek that flows into the Oak Creek.  The hike is about six and a half miles with only a total slight elevation change of about 300 feet, but the entire trail goes up and down constantly, so you are actually accumulating a much higher incline if you consider the arobic effects.

West Fork is probably one of the most beautiful hikes we have taken yet, except maybe the Devils Bridge trail.  The entire trip you are deep in the red rock canyon that was carved by this little creek and wind over the millinium.

 You will see early into the slide show some ruins.  These ruins were once home to Bear Howard, one of Sedona’s early and legendary settlers.  Years later they were improved to form the Mayhew Lodge which was a getaway for many celebrities and diplomats.

You will also see a rock formation that is light colored and seems very much out of place.  Look at the full series of this formation, as you may see:  a fish, a mummy, or a Native American warrior.  I see all three, depending on which I am looking for.

We travel deep into ponderosa pine forests, some of which feels like it gets very little sun.  The temperature variance was probably about 10 degrees in some areas.  The end of this trail is at an area of the canyon that narrows significanly, to become just about unpassable.

The deeper we went into this canyon, the more fall color we saw.  Keep in mind as you look at the slide show that I did not enhance any of the colors.  There are differences in the vibrance of some of the rock only because much of this was in shadow.  We also crossed over the creek 15 times on rocks and logs that are percariously placed for passing.  We got pretty good at it about half way through as we found our center of gravity to balance!

As you look at these cliffs, keep in mind that most of them soar about 500 to 700 feet.  Some of the formations further out in the pictures are probably 1000 feet at least.  We are right at the cliffs edge, and can reach out and touch them in most spots.  This is incredible.  I can only imagine what the early explorers thought when they first found this place…

We had a GREAT day with Matt, Jen and Gracie at the zoo!  Slide show.  Some of the pix not very clear… crappy camera… But some are great!

‘A government big enough to give you everything you want is big enough to take away everything you have.’ - Thomas Jefferson

Do you know how to catch wild pigs?  You catch wild pigs by finding a suitable place in the woods and putting corn on the ground. The pigs find it and begin to come everyday to eat the free corn. When they are used to coming every day, you put a fence down one side of the place where they are used to coming.

When they get used to the fence, they begin to eat the corn again and you put up another side of the fence. They get used to that and start to eat again. You continue until you have all four sides of the fence up with a gate in the last side. The pigs, who are used to the free corn, start to come through the gate to eat.Then you slam the gate on them and catch the whole herd. 

Suddenly the wild pigs have lost their freedom. They run around and around inside the fence, but they are caught. Soon they go back to eating the free corn. They are so used to it that they have forgotten how to forage in the woods for themselves, so they accept their captivity.

 That is exactly what is happening to America . The government keeps pushing us toward socialism and keeps spreading the free corn out in the form of programs such as supplemental income, tax credit for unearned income, tobacco subsidies, dairy subsidies, payments not to plant crops (CRP), welfare, medicine, drugs, etc.. While we continually lose our freedoms — just a little at a time. 

One should always remember: There is no such thing as a free lunch! Also, a politician will never provide a service for you cheaper than you can do it yourself. So, if you see that all of this wonderful government ‘help’ is a problem confronting the future of democracy in America, you might want to send this on to your friends. If you think the free ride is essential to your way of life - then God help you when the gate slams shut!

In this ‘very important’ election year, listen closely to what the candidates are promising you!! Just maybe you will be able to tell who is about to slam the gate on America.Too old to worry about it? What about your children’s future? Or your grand children’s future?

Pictures of the horton creek hike

This link will take you to my Picasa which is where the slideshow is.  When you get there, in the upper left you will see “slideshow”.  That’s the best way to view as it will put the full size of the picture there.

 ENJOY!