March 2006

When the schools are beautiful, the community takes care of them. This has been proven here at White Center Heights Elementary.

For over a year and a half now, the community has helped take care of our building. The amount of tagging and graffiti has been extremely minor. We know this is because the community is proud of this school and will work to preserve it.

Now there is a chance to expand that opportunity to other communities.

I have four reasons for voting YES on Highline School District’s bond election on March 14.

Reason 1: Replacement of the kitchen, refurbishment of the historic dining hall, and replacing the aging water tank at Camp Waskowitz cannot be put off any longer.

I’m thoroughly convinced that the good Lord, Mother Nature, Father Earth, creatures or the sea, or whatever element we believe created us, knew what was best for human beings. Why else would aging gracefully bless us with gradually limited sight and hearing?

Consider the facts. Oncoming wrinkles, a less than Greek goddess or god body and somewhat sagging profiles are not flattering assets to romance.

No man’s life, liberty or property are safe while the legislature is in session.

New York Appeals Court

Judge Gideon J. Tucker

1866

We serve ourselves -- and our fellow citizens -- well by heeding this warning whenever the Washington Legislature convenes. Especially this biennium.

The peril to our lives, liberty and property is heightened, after all, since both the Senate and House of Representatives, as well as the governor’s office, are controlled by nanny state Democrats who bow before the altar of big government.

Two things stick in your mind while watching "Memoirs of a Geisha"; the first, just how visually exquisite it is, and the second, how the story sputters under this spectacular veneer.

From the opening scene of a peasant farm house where two young girls are sold into the Geisha trade by their impoverished parents "Memoirs" offers a vision of the last days of classical Japan. Every visual element, whether sets or cinematography, is crafted to postcard perfection.

I can't get too inflamed about the shooting skills of the vice president in my long career of just about everything from skeet shooting on.

I once brought home some unused clay pigeons after telling Elsbeth I was going skeet shooting and she was furious because she had spent the afternoon looking for a recipe on how to cook them.

I have never hit a quail or a chukar.

Sign up for an adventure one time a year to inspire you to stay in shape and on top of your game. Summit Mt. Rainier, do a sprint-distance triathlon, 10k, or half-marathon, surfing lessons in Mexico, or go cycling around Europe. Do something a little different and you will be inspired to stay in shape. You just might add a swing to your step, and I guarantee you will feel sexier. After all is done, though, take it easy for a while. It's okay to take a week or two off to recover from the challenge.

From the moment our children come to us, it seems they begin pulling away. Life is a series of steps away from their parents - more independence, new friends, more responsibilities. And we open our eyes one day to see our children leaving us for good. Some might say kindergarten is the first good-bye.

My daughter Lilly will be starting Kindergarten in a few weeks. I will buy her some new clothes, a new lunchbox, some school supplies. I have gone through this before - my oldest child will be going into third grade this year. Yet it still feels fresh, painful.

Hanging in the balance at the end of the Washington Legislature's session and some rather muddled objections, the approval of a news reporter's shield law is iffy.

Why does a reporter from newspapers, television, radio and a host of other publications including Internet, need such a protection law? The answer is simple. Reporters are not public employees, nor are they police officers or prosecutors.

The Op-Ed by Don C. Brunell in the Feb. 22 issue was good but missed a couple of things.

One. Hydro electric is bad for rivers and is not renewable. Reservoirs fill up with silt and become unusable in as little a 100 years.

Two. Our biggest "energy source" could and should be conservation. Why isn't anybody talking about it? Use less. Buy Less. Drive Less. Combine trips. Carpool. Turn-off the lights. Dress warm, turn down the heat. Etc.

If we all did our part traffic would be better and our existing energy sources would last longer.