Travis Hiner’s guest editorial in the Star-Herald fails in so many ways, I was tempted to not even write this, but I honestly feel that, if you are going to publicly state your opinion, then it should be able to bear scrutiny. This editorial does not.
I went to the Scotts Bluff County Fair and wrote stories for the Star-Herald about rabbits and poultry. I also met the best chicken in the world.
This is Mayda Leggott. She owns me, the best damn chicken in the world. Mrs. Brooke Heine helps the 4-H kids out because they need both their hands free to keep us chickens from running away. Shush now. I need to listen and make sure Mayda tells the judge everything she’s supposed to.
From the end of May through June, there was outrage over the forced separation of children from their parents as families entered the United States illegally. Many were seeking asylum. Outrage filled the news cycles. My Facebook feed had posts several times a day from people I know locally as well as national news. I had to stop checking Facebook to get away from it all.
There were protests and calls for the forced separations to stop. Comments such as, “I have a 4-year-old and can’t imagine this happening to me,” helped everyday Americans identify with the plight of people trying to escape from a variety of circumstances many people cannot understand or comprehend.
Then, everything went silent. Although I have continued to read stories about conditions at the detention centers where children are still being held, there has been nary a peep from the local folks who were once so angry about the treatment of children. It was like it didn’t matter. Several stories, however, have made national attention, and people are angry, it just seems like no one I know in western Nebraska cares about it anymore.
Sunset, somewhere between Denver and Scottsbluff.
After stuffing ourselves on the free dinner buffet, Paul and I returned to our room. We were tired. We wanted to go home. We needed to get ready for the next day, just in case our flight was canceled again.
Since I wasn’t going to be eating again tonight, I went into the hotel bathroom to brush my teeth. “Damn it,” I yelled. “I don’t have any toothpaste.” That audible thought was quickly followed by another. I didn’t have any deodorant left either.
I had carefully planned my trip, as I do all trips, so that I don’t have to carry toothpaste or deodorant back home with me. That least space for more chocolate, which is more important. Fortunately, the hotel had free toothbrushes and toothpaste. They did not have deodorant.
“It’s okay,” I thought to myself. “I’ll just be sitting on a plane for most of the next day. What could go wrong?”
Not our plane, but another United plane being pulled somewhere. It’s probably broken, too.
Paul and I arrived at the Hong Kong airport three hours ahead of time for our flight home. We waited forty-five minutes for the United check-in desk to open to get our boarding passes. For whatever reason, the self-serve kiosks were not working. The last fifteen minutes of our wait I tried to calm myself.
One by one, United employees came out to their desks, but didn’t open. Logically, I know there is plenty of time to get the passes, pass through security and get to our gate, but my heart rate is already increasing. I bow my head and stare at my shoes, tracing the lines that make up the shoe’s design. I close my eyes and take several deep breaths to calm myself.
The deep breaths don’t really calm me. They are a distraction to keep me from screaming. I really only start to feel better when Paul says, “Okay, now I’m starting to get annoyed.”
Chimney Rock on July 4, 2018.
Back in February, I visited Chimney Rock to write a story on upcoming changes to the visitors museum and on a long-time employee’s retirement. When I got there, I was fed a lot of food. The ladies there made me take a bunch of it home. I had food for a week.
While I was there, I got to chatting about how no one remembers my birthday because it’s July 5. In America, that means everyone is off doing vacation and/or family stuff for July 4, also known as Independence Day.
Vicki Cobb and Sharon Ulbrich did not forget this. They also remembered how much I loved Vicki’s coconut cake.
I’m sure it is, but I’m not fond of seafood.
After spending six hours going through my photos of food, cropping them down to manageable sizes and putting cutlines on each one, I realized I ate a lot of stuff in Hong Kong and Macau. Some of it, I wish I had with me right now so I could eat more. Some of it, I’m glad I tried it, but never again.
Waffles or egg puffs? I really want them all.
Vacations are a time to learn, have new adventures, and see what the world has to offer. Whenever I go on vacation, I look at the different types of foods I can try, but I also like to see what kind of snacks people eat in their part of the world. Here is a selection of things I found.
This is the best sign I saw in all of Hong Kong.
Whenever I go on vacation, signs at my destination always catch my eye. Since I am always armed with a camera, I take a picture of whatever it is that has piqued my interest. Here is a selection of those photographs.
Welcome to the Wetland Park.
The Hong Kong Wetland Park is located in Tin Shui Wai in the northwestern part of the New Territories. It took a little more than an hour to reach the site to from Kowloon. It was necessary to take the MTR, then light rail and then walk five minutes to arrive at our destination.
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