OBSERVATIONS FROM THE SECOND FLOOR

LAST DAY

The last day of the conference was the best. All my workshops were good - I especially liked the one by the former president of Multnomah College and Seminary. He talked about the history of the Bible - and actually has an extensive Bible collection. Very informative.

Friday night was the banquet. Margaret Becker who is known as a singer, did the speaking and was extremely easy to listen to (and at times very funny) - but made good points.

Keith and Kristyn Getty provided the music and they have immediately it made it to my favorite list. I already know some of their songs such as In Christ Alone and In the Power of the Cross. I learned a couple others at the conference. Their desire is to do contemporary music with the meaningful message of the old, familiar hymns. Check them out!

One of the things they do at the EPA convention is give out awards for the best Christian writing/magazines of the year. Kind of the academy awards of Christian publishing.

So, all in all, a good conference.

You could see Mount Hood from our hotel.  Roger and I both took pictures of it, but because I didn't walk as far down the path as he did - I only got half the mountain. I am therefore borrowing his picture of Mount Hood - but I fully give him credit. I want you to see it - it's amazing ...

Here's my credit: MY BROTHER TOOK THIS PICTURE!!!!!!!!!!!!

CONFERENCE

We headed back to Portland and the conference site - the Red Lion Hotel at Jantzen Beach. I went to my room, looked at myself in the mirror (a day walking along a misty, windy shore does wonders for hair), quickly did what I could and went down to the registration desk.

Immediately, I was in work mode. Standing around the desk were some representatives from Wycliffe who had been Awana leaders. We got in a good discussion about ministry.

Workshops began the next morning.

I started out, thinking I would be attending a workshop by the Christian writers market guru, but alas, stuff had been switched around.

I found myself in a workshop about developing a creative idea by P. Baloche who wrote "Open the Eyes of My Heart, Lord." This was a good way to start the conference - inspirational.

I continued with a workshop on e-mail marketing, another on writing and one that was so bad, I just want to forget it. Donald Miller, author of Blue Like Jazz spoke at lunch. The evening was free - they gave us each a transit pass and sent us to downtown Portland.

We all wanted to see Powell's bookstore. Powell's claims to be the world's largest independent bookstore with both new and used books. The store is open 365 days a year and has about 1.6 acres of books. They are actually planning on adding about 10,000 more feet of space.

But before we went to Powell's, we wanted to eat. We were in the Pearl District and went around and around without finding anything. Everything was "sushish" or same old, same old like Noodles and Co. We wanted to eat at a place indigenous to Portland, but a place not to expensive - since this meal (unlike our vacation time) was actually a conference expense. We didn't want to misuse the money. Mary Alice gave up and went off to the bookstore.

Roger, Jamie and I kept searching. Jamie went in a shoe store and asked and the clerk told her we should get on the trolley and go down to 23rd Street. The trolley stop was right there, so we waited and then traveled for many stops through a residential area until we did indeed hit 23rd. But we saw no restaurants.

A young man started talking to us about taxes in Oregon (no sales tax and no pumping your own gas) and so I asked him if there were restaurants around the area. He told us to walk about four blocks and we'd find several. He listed the best. We finally found one of the places called Seratto and decided to try it.

Well, our first impression when we walked inside was being underdressed - we had changed from our conference clothes, assuming we would be wandering around downtown Portland. Everyone was dressed for an "evening out" and every table had one twenty-something blonde in a black dress - at that instant, it looked as if they had cloned their customers.

But at this point we were tired and hungry and so we sat. Soon the manager walked over with a plate of free appetizers that they were testing - raw tuna/garlic on homemade potato chips. Actually, they weren't bad.

Jamie ordered pizza. Roger and I order macaroni and cheese. Very good. So if you're ever in Portland - go to Seratto's on Kearney Street. We were glad we stopped. 

We then headed back to the bookstore and wandered around for a little while. Each of us bought something, but not much. You get several books at the conference and we only had so much room in our suitcases. But it was interesting to see Powell's.

Then back to the hotel.

   

ONE LAST STOP

Well, we had jammed in just about everything we could in our day of vacation. The time was coming to an end and we needed to head back to Portland for the conference.

We made one last stop in Netarts Bay. The tide was in. Not much was going on. We got something to drink and meandered down the beach a little. A lone loon floated around, occasionally diving under for some supper.

Roger aimed his scope at some logs on a nearby sandbar - and lo and behold - he discovered a bunch of harbor seals! We all enjoyed looking through the scope and watching them clumsily hopping around the sand. Others lazed in the water.

Another exciting discovery in a day of exciting discoveries.

THE OCTOPUS TREE

On the other side of the parking lot at Cape Meares State Scenic Viewpoint was a trail to the Octopus Tree.

Indian legend identifies it as a burial tree. The tribes in this area used to bury their loved ones in their canoes - in the trees. (Not sure how you do that, but that's what they did.)

So, when the trees were young, they shaped them like canoes in order to do the burial thing.

Hence the Octopus Tree.

So they say.

Interesting,

Still, I enjoyed the ocean a lot more.

HANGING AROUND

So, we hung around for awhile. A man wandered down the path, enjoying the scenery. He was from the area, an HR employee of the lumber company who owned most of the peninsula and he chatted with us about the coast.

Roger was looking at a grebe and suddenly he shouted - "A whale - it just blew - right down there!"

By the time we looked, it had disappeared.

But about a minute later - I saw it (or another one right behind the first one). "There it is!" Once again, it quickly disappeared. 

Mary Alice walked to another part of the path and about five minutes later - she saw the results of another one blowing farther out in the ocean. (Roger and I saw about three seconds of this one.) The man also saw it and said it was very unusual to see a whale this late in the season.

Alas, although I distinctly saw it - this is the best picture any of us got. Somewhere under those choppy parts of my picture is a huge whale.

At least all three of us (plus the man), saw whales within minutes of each other so we have witnesses.

Here's my great (????) whale picture.

CAPE MEARES VIEWPOINT

After our lighthouse tour, we stood and looked at the ocean a little longer (knowing that our day at the shore was soon coming to a close).

Roger set up his scope toward the Three Arch Rocks farther down the coast.

(Cool memory. Ken and I and the kids stayed at a motel in Rockaway once upon a time. We could see the Three Arch Rocks from our room. We basically had the beach to ourselves. We sat in the sand and watched the sunset. We took a picture of the kids on the beach - and their silhouettes make them look like shorebirds. I can't find that picture right off - I know my in-laws had their copy out on display for many years. I pointed out the very motel to Roger and Mary Alice.)

Ala! Roger spotted Steller sea lions on the rocks where the ranger told us we wouldn't find them. We were far away - Roger took a picture with his camera and then one with my camera through his scope - but this was as good as he could get it. But we could see them clearly through the scope. When the state part people caught up with us, we again allowed them to look through the scope.

The state park people left, but we stayed.

Not a place you wanted to leave.

CAPE MEARES

We next headed for Cape Meares, south of Tillamook. The cape is in the formation of a steep bluff overlooking Tillamook Bay. (Just wanted to say that although I've taken the other pictures shared from this trip, I did not take the aerial photo - I found it on the internet and thought it was cool.)

But an aside here - before we got to Cape Meares, the "you're-almost-out-of-gas" beeper beeped. So, we dropped Rog off to do more do more birdwatching. Then Mary Alice and I drove back to town to get gas. To show you how BRIGHT OUR CAR really was, I am now borrowing one of Roger's picture to show you how far away he could identify us.)

Reunited and with a now happy car, we headed down the road for a few miles to the lighthouse. This was the place we were hoping to see sea lions.

We saw a group of people standing in the parking lot with a few rangers - so Mary Alice went over and asked about the sea lion possibility. The ranger told us "no," we'd have to go further south - too far south for our one-day vacation. So we wandered down the path toward the lighthouse. We stopped at an overlook and Roger set up his scope to zero in on some birds enjoying the late afternoon on some ocean rocks. When the other group wandered by, we invited them to look through the scope. We all continued to head toward the lighthouse and discovered they were Oregon State Park people, including the Director of all Oregon State parks.

When the ranger stopped to talk about the lighthouse, the director person invited us to join the tour - which meant we were able to go inside the lighthouse - even though it closed at 4:00 and it was now later than four.

Look at the pictures below. See how the people in the last picture are upside down? That's because of refraction of the light through the lens. It was kind of cool to watch the people walking on their heads.

TILLAMOOK CHEESE FACTORY

Tillamook is famous for it's Cremery - a place where they make ice cream and cheese. We hung around awhile and watched the cheesemaking and Roger bought some curds (squeaky cheese).

ONE OF MY FAVORITE PICTURES

TILLAMOOK LIGHT

TILLAMOOK HEAD

Next we stopped for a not-so-quick-lunch which is a story all in itself. I'm choosing not to post it for several reasons, but if you'd like to know what happened, e-mail me and I'll tell you.

We traveled down the coast to Ecola State Park where Tillamook Head is located.

Tillamook Head is a steep, rock wall 1,200 feet above the ocean. The wall is covered with Sitka Spruce. We were told that the rocks in front of the wall would have sea lions, but we were told wrong.

Still. How could anyone regret simply standing and staring at a place like this?

I'll let the pictures do the talking.

CANNON BEACH AT "SEE LEVEL"

The tide was out. Mary Alice and I wandered around the rocks and tide pools, looking at the fascinating world of that "which is usually under water." Meanwhile, Rog kept finding more birds and setting his scope up so that we, too, could enjoy them. Some of my pictures are blurry - but here's what we saw.

SEA ANEMONE

They look deceivingly pretty, but if their prey happens to touch their hair, they latch on to said prey and inject a paralyzing poison. Not so fun. But very cool to look at close up in their natural habitat.

MUSSELS

And we saw a mussel or two - or two or three thousand or maybe two or three million. Marine mussels stick together and to rocks. (They stick to the rock by their byssus - kind of a long, silky thread God gave them - so they could do what they do best - attach themselves to things.) Sticking together and sticking to the rocks, helps them stay stable against angry waves. The ideal spot for a mussel during low tide is in the middle of the mussel clump - they lose less water than those on the outside.

STARFISH

Maybe the coolest thing we saw were the starfish - not because we saw starfish, but because these starfish were all purple or orange. Truly. I mean, I've touched starfish at zoos and once at a marine lab - but I don't remember ever seeing them this color.

CANNON BEACH

In 1846 a cannon from the Navy schooner, the Shark, washed up on the Pacific shore at the place, now aptly named Cannon Beach - a upscale resort town.

Here near the shoreline is the most photographed spot on the entire Oregon coastland - Haystack Rock and the Needles.

The weather continued to be misty and a coffee-wagon was set up on the beach for chilly visitors. But actually, it wasn't bad and Roger added one shorebird after another to his lifer list. Lots of people wandered around, including several classes of school children on field trips.

I gotta say, there's nothing better than meandering on a beach, listening to the rhythmic crashing of the waves and the coo and squawk of the birds. That's the life!

SAD

The next morning we headed to the conference hotel at the Red Lion Hotel on Hayden Island (Jantzen Beach) in Portland. We picked up Mary Alice, a coworker, and headed for the coast. The highway quickly narrowed to a beautiful, two lane road that curved and dipped through a pine forest.

But then, near a little town called Elsie, we came upon a several firetrucks and firefighters desperately attempting to put out a fire.

Later, in the paper, I read that the fire was at a restaurant called Oney's and all that was saved was the giant Paul Bunyan sign overlooking the pile of ashes.

The paper said seven volunteer departments ( 60 firefighters) had battled the fire for more than five hours. Everyone wanted to save the restaurant described as the "heart of the town." People had been coming to Oney's since 1938 and were quoted as saying it couldn't be replaced.

Sadly, further investigation showed that it was started by arson.

We sure live in a messed-up world, don't we?

TODAY

Well, I digress from my last-week trip to the west and talk about my today-life in the midwest.

This didn't start as the best of days. The time difference and lack of sleep are still lurking in the background, so I didn't exactly jump out of bed this morning.

Then there was the whole thing about tripping the security system and trying to explain myself to the uniformed men who showed up in the driveway.

And that was all before seven.

But my day ended with a cool surprise. A package was waiting for me when I got home from work - inside was an addition to my presidential collection - a White House Easter Egg signed (oh, and I'm sure they're personal signatures :) ) by George and Laura themselves.

Lauri and family visited Washington D.C. last week and got it for me.

Thanks a lot, Lauri!

  I appreciate it!

A VERY LONG DAY WAS OVER

Sunset over the Columbia

WASHINGTON

We decided to go back to our hotel by way of the "other side of the river" which is, in fact, Washington State. So we drove through the town of Hood River and took the Hood River Toll Bridge across the Columbia.

Actually, the other side of the river was truly the beautiful side. Instead of a major four-lane highway, we were on a two-lane-close-to-the-bank road with lots of tunnels. Rog and I made many trips back and forth across the Pennsylvania turnpike when we were kids and we learned to enjoy tunnels early on. If we were sleeping through our trip, Mom would always wake us up when we came to a tunnel because she know how much we liked them.

So these Washington State tunnels that came in all sized hills and rocks were fun. (My one picture didn't turn out well, but you can still get an idea of how this particular tunnel wasn't drilled through a hill, but an oversized rock.)

The view of Mount Hood over the town of Hood River was also breath-taking. We were glad we crossed the river.

To get back to the Oregon side we crossed over on the Bridge of the Gods. Hmmm ...

LOOKING FOR LOST LAKE

Well, the day had started for us at 5:00 in the morning. Now we were halfway across the country and had already hiked a few miles through the Oregon wilderness - but we had so much to see and so little time. We kept going.

Our next destination was Lost Lake. We continued east through the Columbia River Gorge to Hood River and went south to the ghost town of Dee. (A town named after YOU, Dionne.)

The country road zig-zagged through orchards which were wildly in bloom. The trees were unusually pruned and when I first saw them, I said, "Oh, look at that - some sort of trees." As we drew closer, I quickly realized they were apple trees, but the term "some sort of trees" stuck. 

Hundreds, literally thousands of flowering apples. Then we went around a bend and saw still more apple orchards - with Mt. Hood as a backdrop.

Psalms 148 - Praise the LORD from the earth ... and all hills, fruit trees and all cedars ...

The road continued upward toward the lake and even though the sun was peeking through the clouds, we were noticing more and more snow (and a few mule deer). When the snow covered the entire surface of the descending lane with no track marks, we decided we should backtrack. Getting stuck at Lost Lake didn't really appeal to us. With reluctance we headed back down the mountain.

OOOO OR EWWWWW (DOESN'T REALLY MATTER)

Here's a creature we met on the path - a slug - which I've non-professionally identified as a European Red Slug. (I could be wrong, but do you care?)

MORE WAUNA VIEWPOINT PICTURES

WAUNA VIEWPOINT

So, we headed up the road to Wauna Viewpoint (not to be confused with the longer Wauna Point trail). We were looking for a place which was big on scenery and low on people - we found it. Although there were a few cars in the parking lot, there were no people anywhere.

We figured out the honorary fee box (since we are honorable people) and then headed up a short trail to an overview of powerlines and the four-lane highway that runs along the Columbia River.

But no problem. We were more interested in the woods themselves and the birds we could see in the woods. Roger quickly saw several lifers (birds he hasn't seen before).

Being the sweet sister that I am, I promised him I would not post bird pictures, since that's his thing. (Though I might post the list of birds I saw when I get the official list from him.) When he gets his bird pictures up on his blog, I'll direct you to that.

Anyhow, the trail was lush with moss-covered trees, ferns and splashes of wildflowers. Warblers hopped from one tree to another and a hummingbird's soft whirr was in the background wherever we walked.

MULTNOMAH FALLS

  From the moment we hit the ground (literally) and crawled inside the rental Chevy Cobalt (the color of midday sun) to the closing chorus of In Christ Alone, led by Keith Getty, one of the co-writers himself - this was a week of memorable moments on overload.

Roger (my bro) and I landed in Portland, Oregon about 2:00 on Tuesday afternoon after four hours and 20 minutes of flying directly over a plane engine that sounded as if it couldn't get started. Fortunately, the sound was deceiving and the plane not only got started, but kept going.

(Here is a picture I took out of the plane window. What you're seeing are clouds over the snow-capped Rocky Mountains.)

Portland welcomed us with a chilly mist, just as promised by the Weather Channel, but we were prepared, so we didn't care.

Once in our sunshiny car, we took off for points east - along the Columbia River Gorge. We had an agenda to keep.

We were actually in town for the EPA convention - and although we were in "green" Oregon, I am  NOT talking about the Environmental Protection Agency, but rather the Evangelical Press Association. When we heard it was in Oregon this year, we decided to go out a day early and do some major forest and beach trekking.

Our first stop was Multnomah Falls. The brochures say that Multnomah Falls is the second largest year-round waterfall in the U.S.. Only Yosemite is higher, which I find interesting because both times I've visited Yosemite, the falls have been completely dry with not even a drop of water, so I'm not sure how that year-round thing works, but that's what they say. The Multnomah Falls are in two tiers - the upper is 542 feet and the lower is 69 feet. A bridge spans the middle of the two tiers making the scene picture perfect, so I'll post a perfect picture.

Native American legend says the falls have sometime to do with a daughter jumping off the cliff to save her father's life and the water is the father's tears - but, I think I'll simply stick with the idea that it's water running off the mountains. We did see some osprey circling around - obviously there were nests in the vicinity. But we also saw a lot of people circling around and since Roger wanted to do some serious birdwatching since he is a serious birdwatcher, we decided to move on to a more secluded area.

KNOCK! KNOCK!

Who's there?

Butcher arms around me and Jimmy a kiss.

MY MOM AND DAD'S FAVORITE KNOCK KNOCK JOKE

Here is the knock, knock joke my parents always said to us when we were kids.

See if you can figure this one out.

Knock, Knock ...

Who's there?

Butcher Jimmy

Butcher Jimmy who?

???????????????

Answer

You're right, Cheryl!

Because his mother was in the pen and he didn't know how long the sentence would be.

RIDDLE

In honor of Mother's Day - here is the riddle my mom always asked me when I was a kid.

Why did the little inkdrop cry?

A TRUE HOME RUN

Philippians 2:4 — Each of you should look not only to your own interests, but also to the interests of others.

We know that verse, but it's difficult to put it into practice, isn't it? The problem is, we're want what's best for us, not necessarily what's best for the other person. I don't know anything about the softball player who's been in the news this week - but she truly was looking out for the other person.

You've probably heard the story. I think people are having difficulty understanding the kindness of Mallory, a senior at Central Oregon, when she reacted immediately and kindly to someone else's pain. If  you haven't heard the story, check it out.

A good illustration of looking out for the interests of others.

AND YOUR POINT IS?

About a week ago, I did a post about sitting at a table in the air, hanging from a crane. Not sure I would actually WANT to do that, but I understand it. You know. If I were absolutely sure I was safe, I supposed you could talk me into dining in the clouds.

But when Mary Alice read about the sky-dining experience on my blog, she sent me this link. OK. Whatever.

Extreme ironing?

OH, WELL

The day was fun, but the Brewers won.

 

Then we went to a retro place in Forest Park that Ruth and the girls have learned to love - because it as where Mike went as a kid. Good, greasy fast food. :)

MEMORIES

Had kind of an interesting experience after work tonight. I went to my Mom's where she was being interviewed by the new pastor of the church my dad pastored for 18 years.

I enjoyed listening to her relate her memories.

She talked about the building programs and the music and the Tentmakers and the Ladies Bible Class (which Dad taught).

Just fun.

ON TO CHINATOWN

  After touring the museum, we got in our cars and headed to Chinatown where Siri had made reservations for us to eat at Joy Lee Noodle.

We all paraded in the door and zig-zagged through the first floor tables and upstairs to a large room with lots of tables and lawn chairs - kind of like a church basement set up for a pot-luck dinner.

The menus were huge with a couple pages of fruit drinks. I ordered a Strawberry Sprite and that's exactly what I got - a Sprint topped off with a cupful of juicy strawberries. And that's exactly what it tasted like, too - a Sprite with strawberries in it. Not fancy, but good.

Most others ordered freezes which they said were good except for the gloppy blueberry-sized (and colored) pieces of tapioca in the bottom. If you look at my brother 's post, you'll get a good look at them (if looking at pictures of tapioca is something you've always wanted to do - but he also has additional pictures, so check out his blog. )

I ordered a beef dish - which was good - but as you can see the bowl was extremely large. The beef was on top of a bed of noodles and rice and came with an egg roll.

Outside, the weather had turned cooler, but we wandered around the shops, lined with gaudy Buddhas, red silk fans and other stuff "made in China." But "made in China" takes on a whole new meaning when you're IN Chinatown.

The Christian bookstore was closed. Last time when Ken and I were there with M&M Kids Club, we stopped at the bookstore and bought Chinese versions of Where's Waldo? for the kids.

Siri took us to a couple bakeries and we bought butterfly cookies and apple pastries - though Jim was more interested in the grocery stores because he wanted seaweed.

We saw the police tape and the news vans surrounding the place where the semi-truck went out of control last Friday.

Oh, and the funny thing - even though we were now quite a distance from UIC, we saw the SAME MAN who had attached himself to our tour - in one of the stores. We figured he was stalking us or he was wondering exactly how far this guide took her tour!

The night grew later and cooler - and our adventure was over.

A fun day!

MUSEUM MEANDERINGS

On this beautiful, ordinary Saturday, we did something quite extra-ordinary.

The plan actually started several years ago when my brother and his friend, Jim, decided to visit all the Chicago museums. They checked several off their list, but bypassed the Oriental Institute at the University of Chicago. Pottery shards weren't their thing.

Along came Siri, our genius Thai friend, who was actually attending the University of Chicago to get her doctorate in dead languages (well, that's not exactly what it's called, but something like that.)

Siri told Roger and Jim that SHE could make the Oriental Institute exciting.

The challenge was on. You can go watch the Cubs play or challenge someone to a game of Scramble OR you can go to the University of Chicago and see if Siri can make pottery shards entertaining. Several of us were invited to see the face-off. Expectation. Anticipation. And of course, congratulations if Siri could pull this off.

We drove south along Lake Shore Drive. Everything about the day was beautiful: the clear blue of the lake (the color artists paint imaginery lakes), the sunny sky, the trees tinted green with blossoming buds, the ivy-covered walls of the university.

Twenty of us met in the lobby of the institute. Siri was ready (complete with notes) to be our tourguide. (First she showed us her classrooms and the Genius Library. Yes, that's really what it's called - the Elizabeth Morse Genius Library. Coincidentally for this building of doctorate study - Genius was Elizabeth's last name. As soon as you walked in the library, you could tell this was a place where geniuses sit in deep thought and contemplate books with titles such as The Royal Cemeteries of Kush. ) 

We then followed our guide through the quiet hallways, looking at the displays as Siri related what we saw to the Bible

Here are some things I learned:

1. When visiting the genius library, never ask for a dictionary - but rather a lexicon.

2. When visiting the genius library for two dictionaries, never ask for lexicons, but rather lexica.

3. When talking about any character-based language, do not call it writing, but rather logogram.

4. Every ancient religion had a sun god. Yahweh was considered the sun god of Israel. (Interesting that God compares Himself to the sun.) Also, fascinating is how some of the Psalmists' descriptions reflect the culture of the time.

5. Archeologists have difficulty translating many of the "logogram" writings that have been found on stone tablets. Only highly educated men could read, so stonemasons (who actually did the work) didn't always know where to end a line. Therefore, lines break in strange places.

6. King Tut didn't do anything during his reign. The only reason he is famous is because they found his tomb.

7. When Jacob and Rachel stole the "household" gods from Laban (Genesis 31:19), they did so for a specific reason. Whoever "owned" the gods would inherit everything.

8. The Hittites were a civilization talked about in the Bible. Yet no scholars (outside of the Bible) had ever heard of it and used it as one of the evidences that the Bible couldn't be trusted. But in the late 1800's a British scholar found carved rocks in Turkey and Syria. Further exploration unearthed the Hittite capital city of Boghaz-Koy. (Well, actually I already KNEW this, I wrote about it in the T&T books - still it's fascinating.)

9. Nebuchadnezzar has a strange 7-year break in his writing. Non-biblical scholars attribute it to depression.

10. There is truly nothing new under the sun. In the pictures above, you see ancient "flip-flops," cosmetics and jewelry.

Thanks, Siri. You did a great job!

(We all thought so as did the man who sort of attached himself to our tour, totally oblivious that this wasn't a REAL tour. He even asked Siri questions. More about HIM later.)

Our adventure continued ...

 

FIXED IT!

I fixed the Kit movie link for those who were trying to get into it.

A UNIQUE EXPERIENCE

The 8yo, 6yo and I got to do something very cool tonight. We had the opportunity to see a preview showing of the movie, Kit Kittredge, An American Girl. This is the first American Girl movie to be shown in theaters and is scheduled to be released mid-summer. The preview we attended tonight was the first time the movie has been shown anywhere - so we felt extremely honored.

Kit lives in Cincinnati during the depression and all around her, people are falling on hard times. Her desire is to be a reporter, so she observes people and events.

When her dad loses his car dealership, he goes off to Chicago to find a job while her mother opens their home to boarders: an uptight lady and her son, a dancer, a mobile librarian and a magician. Her mother also hires a hobo (much to the disgrace of her friends) to help around the house.

Then, money and jewelry begin disappearing and Kit is determined to find the culprit.

As a writer, the movie impressed me because some parts made me laugh and other parts made me cry. You could feel the desperation of the people.

I liked the movie a lot - as did the other ladies (and daughters) I was with. However, I think the overall theme might have been lost on the younger girls - what does a 6yo know about the Great Depression? Yet she liked it because she liked the monkey. The 8yo could understand the dad not having a job, but didn't understand why and her favorite part was when the girl talked her mom into letting her keep an abandoned dog. So, there was an aspect here that adults got, that the kids didn't.

However, I would highly recommend it - a good picture into l934 life.

ANOTHER PICTURE

Proverbs 7:6 — At the window of my house I looked out through the lattice.

CHANGES

Deuteronomy 4:2: Do not add to what I command you