Abendblume

I'm supposed to be at a conference today, but I'm still sick. (Getting better, just not up to a whole day's effort in the world.) Ked did go, though, so since I'm home alone on a Saturday, I decided that this would be a good time to post some pictures from our very recent weekend excursion to the charming little "Bavarian" community of Leavenworth, Washington. We and our friend Su had been wanting to get away for quite a while, and decided to make the most of it, driving five hours from Portland to experience this place that we had heard from others was worth the long trip (and splurging on a very elegant Bed and Breakfast to enhance our stay once we got there). We were not disappointed. Plenty of good conversation on the drive made the journey pass quickly enough, and the beauty of the town, the B&B and the surrounding hills made us very glad to be there once we arrived.

The reason that I put "Bavarian" in quotation marks is that this distinctively European-style town, nestled among towering hills in Chelan County, didn't begin its life as a quaint German village. It was originally a railroad construction camp, living, and almost dying, with the coming and going of the Great Northern Railway Company. Its tracks and lumberyard gave it an initial reason for being in the 1890s, but when the GNRC pulled out in the 1920s, the town struggled to survive, and eventually had to reinvent itself to ensure its own future. Tourism seemed the answer, and so in the 1960s the community gave itself a makeover, transforming what was once a lumber town into an alpine village smack in the middle of Washington State. The townspeople set out to make something old--or at least Old World--by doing something new with their little bit of real estate. They had good raw materials; the countryside is beautiful and offers hiking and skiing aplenty, and the town planners did a good job of turning their vision into reality. Their plan to save their home worked brilliantly (at least judging by the bustle we encountered on our little getaway).

We chose a good time of year to visit, late enough to feel the nip of winter, but early enough that fall colors still clung to the trees. Actually, I doubt there's a bad time of year to see the place. It's just so darned picturesque. However, now that we've seen it in autumn, I'd like to come some other season, and with more than a day to spend, so that we could dive into the local outdoor sports. I would love to experience some of the local skiing and hiking, but coming Friday night, and leaving Sunday afternoon didn't leave us any time to do much more than explore the town itself.

It's kind of like a grown-up Disneyland. Trust me, if Walt had created a Bavarian section next to the French Quarter in D-Land, this would be it. The atmosphere just drips with gingerbread and polka music. The gazillion shops and restaurants all boast the same consistent theme, some more elegantly expressed than others. Most of it was appealing and well-done. Some of it was a little over-the-top. It was fun to wander and browse for a day, although neither Ked nor I have much patience for shopping. We did find some nice galleries, and were happy to note (and enjoy) some of the many wine tasting opportunities to be found along the main avenue. We also discovered (as you will see in the photos to come) a novelty shop or two in which to play. Oh, and there was chocolate. Wonderful dark chocolate. That in itself made the journey complete. All in all it was a lovely stay.

On to some pictures. As usual, click to enlarge...



Here was our home for the weekend: Abendblume Pension. Abendblume means "evening flower" and it was a fitting name for the place. We were all surprised by the profusion of blooms still thriving in the window boxes, considering the chill in the air and the snow on the hills. The beauty of Abendblume wasn't just in the flora, though. This B&B is extremely lovely. Its decor and setting are pretty much perfect, and all done with such attention to comfort that I'm afraid it's spoiled me for more mundane accommodations. Of course, the price tag suited the surroundings, so if that's to become my standard, I'm afraid we're not going to be leaving home very often.


We arrived in the early evening, just as darkness descended, and, although dinner came first, we eventually settled in for a cozy evening in this extremely elegant and comfortable lounge. We sang songs round the piano and oozed into the plush chairs to drink herbal tea, eat apple crisp and think deep thoughts in front of the fire. (More tea and apple crisp than deep thoughts, I'm afraid.)

This alcove off the main living room was especially pretty, and made me wish we had more time to give to every little inviting nook we found.

The hosts at Abendblume pay great attention to detail. I really liked these candlesticks--even though the candles themselves were rather too scented.

After we had dinner, we meandered about town a bit, and found ourselves exploring a very nicely done Christmas shop. Now, generally, I don't see much use in stores that are exclusively dedicated to the year-round commercialization of Christmas. After all, who shops for tree ornaments in April--especially ones that cost $10-$60 apiece? Who really needs a six-foot-tall statue of Saint Nicholas? Does the world really require another recording of Jingle Bell Rock, even if it is a tastefully done jazz recording? I can't fathom that it does. However, it seems that these mercantile extravaganzas must exist for some mysterious cosmic reason, and since we were in Leavenworth to do things which we normally would not, in we went. It wasn't terrible. As far as Christmas stores go, at least this one was quite beautiful, with unique displays and quality merchandise. These giant ornaments, which Su insisted needed a human in the photo (me) to give them scope, might be a tad big for the average evergreen, but they didn't seem so out of place dangling above the main floor of the shop, and they'd be just perfect for giving that holiday touch to a bustling mall. Huh. Come to think of it, that's another place I usually avoid. I'm sensing a pattern here...

Morning dawned to give us our first glimpse of the hills around Abendblume. Shrouded in mist though they were, they were still quite impressive, and rose abruptly to dominate the landscape around our inn--rather like the Gorge back home, but with green fields and goat sheds instead of the swollen Columbia set to the foreground.

Ked started the day with a little reading. Northanger Abbey was his volume of choice. Looks just right to me. Can you think of a more appropriate location for reading Jane Austen?

After a while, I wandered upstairs to call Su down to breakfast. This winding staircase is one more element of charm to add to the total package that is Abendblume.

At the top of the stairs sits another resting nook that's calling out, "Come, take your ease with me. Bring a book and stay a while." I needed about three days to enjoy them all. Alas, we only had one.

Here's Su's room, named Schneewittchen, also known as Snow White. It was just about as cozy as a room gets, with a jetted tub, fireplace and balcony overlooking the hills. That plush feather bed adds to the coze.

When I got up to her room, I saw why she had not come down for breakfast on her own. Su was so inspired by her beautiful surroundings (and our trip to the Christmas store) that she had gone into creative mode and was happily designing stained glass ornaments to make when we got home. (She sells them, by the way. Here's the link.)

Before we left for our day in Bavaria, creative mode struck again, and Su was compelled to explore the artistic possibilities of my camera and that winding staircase.

We timed our exit nicely, as this flock of geese put on a sky-show just as we headed outdoors.

Remember that goat-shed? Well, here are its goats. They were very eager to make friends.

They were happy to make my acquaintance too, especially once I started feeding them apples.

Here's Leavenworth. Was I right about the Disney thing, or what? Just replace those cars with a couple of horse-drawn carriages (which were indeed there, I might add) and you've got yourself a prime Disney locale. All it needs is some singers wandering the streets in dirndls and lederhosen...

I begged Ked to try on this goofy hat. It made me think of Jayne from Firefly. As you can see, he was thrilled with the prospect. Allow me to translate: "The things I do for you, Woman." (Actually, the look on his face is because he was practicing his Russian accent. For some reason, a Russian accent requires a near constant sneer. Maybe it's a cultural thing.) Lest you think I'm being unfair in posting this picture, I make it up to him later on...

We didn't have to beg Su to put on the goofy glasses. She was happy to oblige. We found this fun shop with all sorts of novelty glasses and hats and had a ball being silly. This is where the "making it up to Ked" part comes in. Scroll down to see what I mean...

If this doesn't do it, nothing will.

Just to be on the safe side, though. Here's a little overkill for you. Have I debased myself sufficiently to get myself off the hook, do you think?

Back outside (with Ked back in a hat that he's comfortable wearing), you might start to feel that you're really in some alpine village, what with those mountain looming in the background. They just need a little more snow to do the trick. We talked to friends after we got back who said they went to Leavenworth when there were multiple feet of snow on the ground and it was wonderful. That's a good reason to see this place in winter, although Ked might need to swap back to that Jayne-style, Russian, camo-fur hat if we do.

Well, that's it. I hope you enjoyed our tour of Leavenworth, such as it was. I've had fun whiling away my lonesome afternoon by wandering down (short-term) memory lane. Let me know if you're headed to Leavenworth in winter. We do want to see the place in snow and ski a bit, so time it right and we just might join you! I highly recommend Abendblume, too, if you're up for the splurge. Great breakfast, really nice people and wonderful feather beds. Of course what really might call me back is the chocolate...

Waah!

I have soooo much to do, but:

That about sums it up. (Sometimes a lolcat is really the best way to say something.)

Congratulations President-Elect Obama

Well, it's finally over. I'm glad. I can't say that I'm thrilled with tonight's election results, although there is a big silver lining. I would have preferred a McCain victory on policy grounds (though Senator McCain was definitely not my first choice for president either), but one thing that I can say wholeheartedly is that I think it a very good thing for the country that the long domination of the American presidency by white males is over. It is time we move beyond that portion of history and that divider of the body politic. It is time that we offered evidence that we are not a nation of bigots. I hope that we have given that proof tonight. I would have liked it better if the first African American president had been a conservative/libertarian type (and also would have liked it better if the gender barrier had been crossed first, given the political persuasions of this particular crop of politicians), but still, it's a milestone we needed to reach.

Ultimately, what a public servant believes and does should be our primary measure of whether they are fit to serve. My hope is that, as time goes on and successful minority and female candidates become ever more common, race and gender will assume less and less of a role in our political consciousness. Though we have not quite reached it, we are approaching that standard with the election of Barack Obama. I may not like his policies, but it is clear that a majority of Americans do. I think there is little denying that race did play a part in his selection, but perhaps it needed to. The fact that so many people wanted passionately to vote for the first black president says something about where we have come as a nation. I would have liked to have been able to share that experience, actually, and would have wholeheartedly if I could have agreed with his perspectives on the role and scope of government.

So, while I cannot be happy tonight that Obama was the African American elected, I can be glad that as a country we have crossed the racial divide and that any African American was elected president at all. I look forward to all of us reaching the point where a candidate's policies and political philosophy are the only things we evaluate as we make our electoral choices, not their race, religion, gender or any of the other things that senselessly divide us from one another. On the road that gets us to that elevated place, someone had to take us a step further in that direction. Our nation has selected Barack Obama to be that person. So, congratulations President-Elect Obama. May God guide you, and may you govern well.

I'll Be Glad When This One's Over

I haven't been sleeping well for the last few months. There are lots of stresses in my life right now, and some responsibilities that are making me feel the weight of the world (a very small, Kat-toy sized world, but I'm feeling the load nonetheless). However, I think I figured out, somewhere in the wee hours of my 47th consecutive sleepless night, that the general tension I'm experiencing these days is being greatly exacerbated by election anxiety. I don't think the world is going to end, no matter who is elected, but I do really care what happens on Tuesday. If truth, justice and the American way are going to prevail, I would like to know that for certain and move on to the sigh-of-relief portion of our elective process. On the other hand, if all right-thinking folk are going to stay home on the 4th, insanity is to prove itself victorious, and I have to take my lumps along with the rest of the disappointed minority of the electorate, then I'd like to get that over with, too, so that I can start adjusting to life-as-it's-going-to-be-for-a-while (or, God forbid, more than a while). I am aware, of course, that the election is not all about me, or even much about me at all (very little in life actually is), but still, I'll be grateful when this eternal-seeming election cycle comes to a close. I read a headline the other day that said the 2012 campaign will start on November 5th. Shudder. As much as I like to follow politics, that's like being stuck in a really gruesome horror movie. I thought Halloween was over for this year?

On a lighter note: Now that we've had our grand finale of Washington D.C. pics, and explored the ever-so-wonderful Museum of Natural History, maybe I'll get to some of the photos from this summer's few other little adventures. We went to a couple wonderful camping spots, that highly deserve to be photo-blogged. Maybe. If I get a break from carrying the weight of the world. :-)

Washington D.C. Pics Of The Day--Day 6

Well, we have finally come to the end of our journey (not the trip to Washington D.C.--that ended months ago--but the long journey of photo-blogging the adventure). We have made it at last to the Museum of Natural History. This will be the grand finale of my journal, both because it was my favorite day (or at least in a pitched battle for the honor with the day at Air and Space) and because I have so many pictures to show you that Blogger could well decide to kick me off the Internet forever due to the amount of server memory I'll be consuming as I bring you my favorites. This day was chock full of amazing discoveries. If you've ever been to this museum, you already know that its treasures range from exotic rocks to enormous dinosaurs, from ancient cultures to adorable animals and creepy crawly critters. If ever there was a museum with something for everyone, this is it.

The first place Ked and I headed was our favorite spot of all. We did not save the best for last. We went straight for the gems and minerals section and spent hours exploring its glories. In reality we shorted the museum's other wonders quite substantially, because we couldn't drag ourselves away from the odd formations, sparkling facets and myriad colors until we had seen every last thing in every last case. We read pretty much every last informational sign, too. For example, did you know that the National Gem Collection contains "more than 7,500 individual gemstones, ranging from a half-carat to almost 23,000 carats?" All those gems are cut from mineral crystals that formed within the Earth. So what's a mineral? Well, it's "a solid, inorganic, chemical compound that forms naturally." And a crystal? That's "a solid with an orderly, repeating internal pattern of atoms." The handy signs go on to tell us that, "Mineral crystals that grow under ideal conditions have geometric shapes with smooth faces..." and "a gem is a mineral crystal that has been cut and polished." Scientists have identified about 4,000 different minerals so far, and the discoveries continue apace. Some are common; some are rare. Some minerals always come in the same colors, and some have a rainbow of potential for their hue. Some are soft; some are hard like diamonds, and as Ked and I saw firsthand, most are beautiful in their own ways.

We got to explore the wonderful world of metal ores, as well, and learned some of their secrets. We're all so dependent upon the metals of the Earth, and our lives are so enhanced by their many uses that it's easy to lose track of how much they affect our lives, because they are so very common. I got the ins and outs of the stuff-from-the-Earth hierarchy a little more solidly in my head from this trip to Gem and Mineral World. Metals come from minerals, and ores are minerals or rock that can be mined for a profit. A metal is "an element with particular properties, such as malleability and the ability to conduct heat and electricity." Another one of those handy signs remind us that every time we use the phone, take our temperature, listen to the radio, get an x-ray, fly in a plane, or have surgery, we're using the bounty of the Earth to make it happen.

What would we do without metals? Our history has been shaped by how far we've come down the path of mineral exploitation. Take lead for an example. Its chemical symbol is Pb, from the Roman word for lead, which is plumbum. That's where we get our word "plumber," and it's used in everything from radiation shields to batteries. Could we live without lead? Maybe. We've certainly replaced lead as a plumbing aid, for the most part, but there'd be a whole lot of history to rewrite if the Romans hadn't found how well that nice malleable plumbum worked for channeling water! Almost everything in our history, from our use of swords to plowshares, from iPods to space stations and communicating on this little thing we call the Internet is directly influenced by our understanding and use of the fruits of a miner's labor.

Of course, we didn't stop with the gems and minerals, and as we wandered from place to place, seeing the birds, beasts and bugs, pottery and ancient coins, Egyptian mummies and towering Tyrannosaurus, we learned and gaped and enjoyed ourselves thoroughly. We saw creatures that I never could have imagined without the stuffed visual aids that were right before my eyes, and were reminded anew of the immense variety and creativity in nature. God is AMAZING, and the things people have done with the raw materials God has provided for us absolutely astound me. I came away admiring the pioneer inventors of old so much. If I were living in ancient times, would I have ever figured out how to extract metals from the ores of the Earth and pound them into useful shapes? I doubt it. Would I have figured out how to domesticate animals, or cultivate grains, or cut diamonds? Not remotely likely. Would I even have survived? Who knows? (Most people in ancient times didn't live much beyond thirty anyway, so what they had to do, they had to do quickly!) All these discoveries slowly laid the foundation for our modern life, and what the Smart People of our age are building on top of those foundations is mind boggling, and moving so rapidly that no museum could possibly keep up. I wonder what the future will hold...

Well, I know what the immediate future holds: pictures of some of the things we saw in the Museum of Natural History. Ready? Let's have a look.


The first thing that greets you as you enter the main hall is this huge bull elephant. Greet is too mild a word, actually. This fellow looms over you with the intensity and intimidation of final exams before graduation.

Here's Ked in front of a sheet of almost pure copper. The dark bits are shale that's still clinging to the metal from its former residence in a shale bed. Click on the photo to see the water ripples in the metal.

Okay, these Topaz crystals may not look that impressive, if you aren't there in person, although the color is awfully pretty, but it's the sheer size that makes them worth a look. These babies weigh 70 lbs. and 111 lbs. respectively. Take a gander of the kid reflected in the glass beside them and you might get a little bit of perspective...

This pillar of Beryl looked like a fancy candle to me, the kind you buy in an upscale home decor shop and never burn because it costs too much money. The nice thing about decorating with this pretty "faux candle" instead of the wax variety, though, is that it's unlikely that any evil perfume manufacturer has found a way to inject that nasty fake vanilla smell into the mineral. It's all natural, fragrance free and hypoallergenic!



Aren't these Pyrite chunks fascinating? It's so funny to see this average-looking hunk of rock with these perfect cubes jutting out like something out of a lab in Silicon Valley. I guess they did come out of a lab of sorts, just not one that mere mortals can access.

This sample of Mesolite reminds me of something out of the original Star Trek. It looks like a tribble convention being held on a rock candy island--really, really dangerous, hard, poky tribbles that tinkle instead of purring.

Isn't this Variscite pretty? That piece is quite large, if memory serves, maybe 16-18 inches across. Not just a little pebble to slip in your pocket.

The colors in this Corundum are wild, doncha think? That big one in the back would make a nice psychedelic 70's style dress. Wear your sunglasses...

Moving on to the sparklies, these gemstones are all Beryl, and soooo beautiful. Lest you think these are ordinary little gems, like you'd find at the mall, take a look at the size of these things--235.5 carats ain't no little bauble. You'd get a significant crick in your neck if you tried to wear one of these as a pendant.

Such a gorgeous piece for such a gross name. Who made that call?

The large gem in this piece is called Spodumene. It's really a stunning bit of neck decoration, although, as with the Beryl above, I wouldn't try to wear it if I were you. We're talking 396.3 carats of neck-bending dead weight. I've heard of sacrificing comfort for beauty, but that's ridiculous.

Speaking of over-sized crystals, how's this for embracing the huge? This giant slab from Arkansas weighs 880 pounds, and "contains about a thousand crystals." Can you say Big?

Kedley absolutely loves opals, and these are so fiery. This picture is worth a click to catch a little more of the brilliance.

These blue Topaz have been irradiated to deepen their color. That's some serious blue. What was equally impressive though, was, again, the size. That gem in the upper left is over 7,000 carats. Yes, that's thousand. It was easily bigger than my hand, and ever so shimmery and sparkly. Mmm, sparkly.

Okay, I couldn't make up my mind whether these examples of Malachite and Goethite looked more alien, or intestinal. You decide.

I mentioned that eventually we dragged ourselves out of the gems and minerals section, right? The brilliant colors seem to have followed us out of the rock zone, though. We stumbled upon these butterflies soon after.

Jay, here, was one of many birds that have found a place to "live" forever (or at least a good long while) and be admired by the multitudes thronging the bird display in the lower halls of the museum. These birds may have sacrificed their lives for science, but their beauty endures.

Nice Kitty.

Anybody know what species this armor-plated tail-hanger is? Let's start with the basics--is it reptile, mammal, amphibian, dragon, military assault vehicle... other? Anybody want the answer? Okay, okay, I'll tell you. It's a Chinese Pangolin, and it's a funky-looking type of mammal that eats bugs. See the hair that's sticking out from under some of the scales? That's a dead giveaway that a mammal is on the loose. This guy can curl himself up into a tight, tight ball when he's scared, although, if you ask me, what's he got to be scared of? Did you get a load of those claws?

Heh. I knew giraffes had long necks, but check out that tongue!! Trees and shrubs beware!

All I can think of when I see this little fennec (a type of fox) is, "Oh Hai." Maybe I've been reading too many lolcats.

Do you suppose I'd look that cheerful if the glass wasn't there and that bear wasn't stuffed?

Here's your chance to play Where's Waldo? This little snow fox has quite the camouflage ability, wouldn't you say? Click on this one to see the detail they put into the display. The tiny snow flakes are so cute.

Ked is standing here beside a capybara, a specimen of the world's largest living rodents. Is anyone else thinking Princess Bride...?


We eventually worked our way around to the civilization-related displays, full of evidence of ancient culture. These Greek pots were really quite stunning. I would love to be able to create something this lovely, that endures over the ages the way these have.

Here's an example of Roman glass. The Syrians invented glass blowing in about 50 B.C. and the industry spread rapidly, facilitated by the elaborate transportation system established by Rome.

This mosaic was amazing, and is about 2,000 years old. Click to enlarge.

Eventually we made our way to the bug displays. They were all extremely interesting, and some of these beetles were gorgeously colored. I would not want to run into that big guy in a dark alley, though. Come to think of it, I wouldn't want to run into him in a lighted alley, either. Look at the size of that thing next to Ked's hand. He's a monster!

Speaking of monsters, there's one now. Do you suppose T-Rex is scared?


There you have it. That's the last of my Washington D.C. pics-of-the-day. Honestly, I could have posted at least a hundred more photos from this trip. There were so many things of beauty, and things of interest, and things of inspiration that there's only one thing to be done. We must go back and start the whole process over again. We missed more than we saw, and we saw more than we could absorb. We need another round. At least one more. Two would be nice. At least.

You should go there too!

Pumpkin Surprise

Ked and I were driving to church this morning when we noticed a local produce stand had put out their seasonal pumpkins. Nothing remarkable there, of course. Halloween is almost upon us. The kids are planning their costumes. The grownups are hanging their cobwebs, and the Sci Fi channel is showing nothing but an endless stream of horror films. (Yuck, but that's another post altogether.) We can all expect to start seeing creatively carved orange faces appearing on porches any moment now. Funny thing was, though, some of the pumpkins at this local produce stand were decidedly not orange. They were quite definitely grey. Haven't ever seen grey pumpkins before. Have you? It was a bit disconcerting. Genetic engineering at work, perhaps? Anyway, Ked mentioned that they looked dead, and then, in the spirit of the jack-o'-lantern-related holiday, we decided they looked undead. Finally, in the tradition of Dave Barry, we determined that The Undead Pumpkins would make an excellent name for a rock band.

That's all. Just had to share The Undead Pumpkins with you.

Self-Defeating

You know how commercials sometimes blast you out of your chair when they come on the air because they're so loud compared to the show you're watching? Don't you think this is rather foolish on the part of whoever is running the show at the various networks? Ked and I are watching a movie on FX (cable) right now, and the volume change is almost unbelievable. The thing is, though, it's really quite self-defeating. The advertisers want to get our attention, but they grab it so hard that we scramble immediately for the remote control to get to the blessed mute button. If the ads came on at a humanly tolerable decibel level we might just let them roll over us without bothering to silence them, thus allowing them to seep in subliminally at least, even if we didn't pay active attention, but as it is we can't push mute quickly enough. We don't listen a nanosecond longer than we have to. Seems like somebody needs to rethink this plan.

Could Everyone Please Stop Calling Each Other EVIL?

File this one under random and frustrated rants:

These heavy political seasons bring out the accusers of every political persuasion. People left, right and center (well, okay, less center than left and right) can't seem to help judging one another's motives. Most of these judgments lack the understanding that people can share similar goals while vastly disagreeing on method. I would wager that 99% of Americans share a desire for children to be wanted, raised in peace and safety, and all of their fellow citizens to prosper. I'm guessing that almost no one wants war and that we would all love to see America standing among many prosperous nations in the world, each with its sources of security and revenue, populated by happy and peaceful citizens. We all have different methods that we think will be successful in bringing about our desired ends, but hardly anyone wants other human beings to live in poverty, or to see animals suffer, or innocent children dying in endless wars, right? For the most part, people desire what is right, don't they? Is it possible for us all to agree on that, or am I the only person who has that kind of faith in the goodwill of the average American? (I am not talking about ability and accomplishment here, just intentions.) Am I just that much more naive than other people?

Judging by "the accusers" of all political stripes, seemingly no generous motives can possibly exist in the hearts of the disloyal opposition. By the standards of their most extreme opponents, liberals support abortion because they think humanity is an infestation upon the earth and they enjoy killing babies. On the other extreme, conservatives opposed to abortion are thought to simply want to control everyone's lives and keep women tied to their unwanted offspring while men dominate the world. Conservatives face the accusation that their support for free markets and self-sufficiency can only come from their desire to increase their own lofty fortunes by stripping the last dollar from the hands of poor unfortunate children and uneducated social victims. The alternative accusation is that liberals use these same unfortunate children and uneducated social victims as an excuse to strip every last dollar from hardworking taxpayers so that they can increase the power of Big Brother and ultimately transfer all financial control to the Democratic majority in Congress--and ultimately the United Nations. Conservatives, of course, really want to rule the world.

Can we just all stop it, please? Whatever we think of each other's methods, could we please just give other people a little benefit of the doubt as to their motives? No one can see into another person's heart. We all misinterpret what we see even with our own eyes (and our eyes don't come anywhere close to reading minds). I know I do it all the time. On a personal level, I take things as slights, or even attacks, that are nothing of the sort, but my inability to see beyond my own perspective and insecurities hinders my ability to give other people their due as far as their intent. I regularly have to call myself up short, and seek God's help in not letting my limited vision make me see others as intentionally hurtful or neglectful, or whatever--and this is with people I love and desire to think well of. On the macro level, I see this multiplied many times over when expanded to group and political party dynamics. Larger groups of people become anonymous, and so much easier to judge. Whole categories of people somehow have the capacity to become evil en masse in a way that none of these people would be ever viewed if two ideological opponents were simply chatting in line at the grocery store about their favorite dish soap or Chardonnay.

Based on blog posts and comments I read (and I read a lot of them), from one political extreme to another, liberals and conservatives espousing their own views truly see themselves as the good, right, noble, compassionate and virtuous party in every ideological dispute. They want what they see as good to come to fruition. They aren't seeking to have wrong rule the world, but many of them don't seem to be able to recognize that same fact in other people who don't see things their way. Many refuse to even listen when someone puts out an idea that is different from their own. Some of these might actually be good ideas. If we could recognize that the folks out there that we disagree with aren't trying to be evil, and listen to each other once in a while, maybe we could make a little progress in finding common ground.

Or am I just being naive again?

Rant over.

Update: Please don't get me wrong. I do firmly believe that there is evil in the world, but do not believe that the average person intends to be evil and sets out to support wrong. They may be wrong, but that's not the same thing.