Friday Tidings

A few miles from where I went to college, a friend of ours had a plot of land with a creek running through it.  He’d timbered a portion of the property and even though the land was a bit scarred up, it was open to the sunshine—with ample fresh water. Digging out a garden was a tough challenge. Ironically, it was also a difficult season in our lives.  The garden came to represent our hope in a future we couldn’t see. We planted seeds, nurtured them, and waited. When the earth yielded succulent veggies, it was worth the effort. In late fall, we moved to my mom’s property and decided to create a new garden—in another area riddled with tree roots and rocks. We cultivated the ground, and the fresh earth was ready for seeds, but it wasn’t planting season. Waiting had never been easy for me. The garden was teaching me patience. But we moved before we had a chance to plant—our effort would help someone else’s garden. New garde...

Photo: Auto Guide Washington State drivers have a new “Driving Under the Influence of Electronics” law. Keep your hands off your phone—don’t even read that text message at a stop light. We are limited to a single finger to “trigger a voice-activated application”. Okay, I understand distraction, but how about reckless speeding? A few weeks ago, I witnessed a near-miss collision and it had nothing to do a phone. My rural highway leads to some spectacular camping spots. Tourists flock here every summer. Thirty foot motorhomes and trucks pulling huge trailers routinely drive slower than the speed limit. Most of them are unfamiliar with our curvy highway. I was behind a car that was tailgating a truck and travel trailer. But the slow-moving driver was  almost  going the speed limit—just a couple miles per hour  under  the limit. Apparently, the tailgating driver was in a rush to get somewhere, so he attem...