Month: October 2018

It seems lately no one is allowed to have opinions that differ from others. This is rampant on social media, where everyone’s opinion matters more than everyone else’s. It is disheartening indeed that the days of polite discourse are gone with the way of Christmas decorations coming out after Thanksgiving.

It is a sad day indeed when a person states their opinions and are vilified on social media and in the press. Shame on every single person who does this. There are many opinions I don’t agree with, however you will never see me bash the person who said them. Sometimes (ok a lot of times) I wish I could have a robust discussion with people regarding their opinions and why they believe the way they do, or why they see things the way they do. What colored their opinions, what happened to them or what have they seen in their life that has made them see things a certain way.

Unfortunately we do not live in a world that is conduce to that type of discussion and this saddens me. So very much. I was raised in a house where differing opinions were encouraged and educating ones self on the days events were mandatory.

Growing up in my house we used to have robust discussions, my dad insisted that if I wanted to participate I would need to do research and educate myself. I did, even if my opinions were different from his, he never belittled me or tore me down. You see he wanted to make sure I could stand on my own two feet, do my due diligence and make decisions for myself. My children are very good at this as well, I encouraged them to do their research, do not go by what the news tells you. Soundbites do not tell the whole story, find out what someone actually said before forming your opinion. So much of todays culture is centered around soundbites and he said she said.

I don’t want my progeny to grow up in that kind of society, so can we please go back to civilized discourse. Can we go back to a time where we valued differing opinions and respecting each other.

I miss those days, I miss Walter Cronkite and I miss Ronald Reagan. I will say that until the day I die, I miss those days. I am horrified by what I see in todays world, in our country, in the United States of America, guilty until proven innocent and when proven innocent still guilty. Seriously this has to end. Due Diligence. It’s a thing people, google it, you more than likely have a smart phone.

I am of the firm belief that we have way more in common that we have different. We all want a better life for our children and their children than we have had. We want them to grow up healthy, joyous and with a firm belief in right and wrong.

I will tell you this a firm belief in God and Jesus Christ has instilled a great deal of my belief system and how I view the world. My mom, dad, grandpa, grandma and great Aunt Effie rounded that out. What did they all have in common you ask, I am so glad you did, they had strong morals and a great sense of right and wrong. They all had a simple way of doing things, treat people the right way, the way they wanted to be treated and that will come back to you.

I leave you with this thought if you are one of millions who do not read anything or go by soundbites or what social media and the mainstream media tells you, turn off everything. Go out into the world, socialize with people who are not like you, have a conversation. Conversation, not argument, not fight, not with an attitude of you are right and they are wrong. I do believe you might be pleasantly surprised at how much you have in common. As usual any comments, complaints or suggestions can be left here or sent to me at angie@angieworld.com

This is the day we went into Yellowstone Park on foot, I have never felt more at home in my entire life. Being surrounded by the trees and the sky, I felt incredibly close to God at that moment. His work is nothing short of amazing, I felt as if I could reach out and touch the sky, the clouds. I cannot say this enough, if you have the opportunity going to Montana and seeing this magnificence for yourself is a must do.

Before went into the park we actually met a park ranger, a woman ranger, who was originally from, are you sitting down, Texas! Yes she was from the same area in Texas that we are from.

We walked into the park and decided to of course take pictures, then we walked. Surrounded by the trees and the wildlife, no bears, and it was amazing.

Then I hear footsteps, I think this is it, this is the part where the bear sneaks up on me and eats my entrails.

I turn to confront said bear and it was just a park ranger, this time a man, a very short skinny man. Shorter than I am, which is saying a lot. I thought there is no way he is going to be able to protect us from a bear.

Perhaps I should back up, getting ready for our hike, I put on full makeup, Shay says why are you putting on makeup to hike in Yellowstone. I reply, in case a bear attacks, in all the movies I’ve ever seen the bears only eat the entrails and leave the face alone. i want to look good for the park rangers, upon seeing the short skinny park ranger I knew I had wasted my time.

We never saw any bears but we did experience incredible beauty and amazing peace.

I cannot reiterate enough how this was my dream trip and I am so happy my friend Shay said she would go with me and followed through. I would have gone alone, but it was so much better having a friend there.

I told her when she decides to get married I get to give the toast, since I now have a lot to say. Like her giving a wooden Indian a kiss, literally a wooden Indian like you see in the old westerns. Her putting me on blast when I rapped to a wooden bear and the many conversations we had on the way up and back from Montana.

I really do want to go back, I want to explore more of the state and stay for a lot longer, maybe a month. I can see me staying for a month in the winter, I am the opposite of a snow bird, those fly south for the winter. I want to fly north for the winter, I want to be snowed in with my books and my Netflix and Hulu and Amazon Prime. Me the dog and the cat, what a great way to spend some snowed in time, perhaps a little Lois and Clark, the New Adventures of Superman thrown in.

We decided to leave a day early as it was going to drop to freezing temperatures and rain, creating ice and closing down highways. I really wanted to stay for that but Shay was the voice of reason and we left.

We obviously made it home in one piece, safe and sound, no bears attacks and no ice on the road. As usual you can leave a comment here or email me at angie@angieworld.com.

As we left Colorado and headed to Wyoming we realized how flat Wyoming is, seriously, west Texas is more interesting. But we pressed on, I do believe the landscape began to fray on Shay (see what I did there).

We were leaving a gas station and she grabbed my arm and gasps did you see that. I said see what! She said the writing in the trees! I turned and looked at her and said what did they do to you in that gas station?

It was pretty funny, fortunately nothing had been done, I did ask if she had accepted any candy from strangers in the gas station. She had not. She says she is going to phone a life line and gets one of her friends on the line. When she heard what had just transpired she said she was worried about the both of us. The whole office was waiting to hear that we had gotten arrested for some antic or another. With me they figured it would be a Dean Cain incident, with Shay it would be a keeping me from a Dean Cain incident.

We drove onward, to Montana, we hit the edge of Yellowstone Park at dusk. We had to go through Yellowstone to get to the city of West Yellowstone. The longer we drove the darker it became, it was a more than a little daunting.

It was soon pitch black, trees on one side and a sheer drop off on the other. Shay said you need to talk to me to take my mind off of this drive. So I said what is all of the office gossip that I don’t know. Well, let me tell you, that earned me a look and a half.

She then said well did you hear and I said What, no! Because I really don’t pay attention, I stay in my world at work and no one tells me anything. So now I am all caught up, I have to be honest, I didn’t retain any of the gossip. So I still don’t know anything that is happening. Probably for the best, this way if I am tortured I can’t reveal anything.

As we are driving along the car in front of us stops, just stops, I yell, get the knives! Shay does not, but we are very cautious, because, well, the hills have eyes.

The man got out and we very cautiously went around him, I think he may have hit something because he was looking at the front of his car. During this time we had no cell service, at all, thank God the man wasn’t a member of the hills have eyes gang.

We finally come to the edge of the forest, I now know exactly what Hansel and Gretel felt, found our way to our hotel.

The hotel was an older one, it was really nice and lived up to my expectations of what a rustic hotel in Montana should look like.

We climbed the stairs and started walking to our room, it was at the end of the hall. The light started flickering, we looked around for twins, thankfully there were none.

We decided to walk and forage for food, we had been in a vehicle way too long. The town was the epitome of an older town in the North, at least to me, it was everything I have been dreaming of since I was a kid.

We even managed to find gluten free pizza for Shay, total win.

We made an agreement to sleep until we woke, no alarms, no agenda the next day, except for exploring the town.

The next day was spent walking around the town and seeing all of the shops.

Bears were everywhere, not live ones, wooden ones, maybe plastic, I’m not sure. But they were perfect for the environment we were in. I even sang to one of them and danced with one. I rapped to one, yes, I can rap, it is a little know skill I possess.

The next day was hiking in Yellowstone, you will read about that in the next entry.