Snapshot from a vacation

My kid sister came out to visit last week.

We did Portland then drove out to the coast, so we had a long car ride just to talk. During a conversation about politics sis mentioned unnamed “friends” who were Republicans but were “nice people”; not overtly racist, sexist, etc. She lives in a piece of rural New York state, so I find that entirely believable that she knows these kind of people.

“They’re Nazis.” I replied. “Nazis are never “nice people”; they’re Nazis. We fought a whole war and incinerated whole cities full of them.”

“But…these aren’t bad people.” she insisted.

“Yes. They are. Just like there were sweet old grannies and kind men and cute kiddies in Dresden, they’re Nazis. You can’t excuse them because they’re “nice”. They have to be fought, and, if need be, killed.”

She was silent. But couldn’t agree. Just didn’t want to face that.

And that’s why we’re here.

“And when their Orange Fuhrer wins, and he sends his soldiers out here to Portland, and they shoot me down in the street because I’ll fight rather than surrender to Nazis, your “nice” Republicans will be happy about that, now, won’t they?”

And she had nothing to say.

Update 10/28: Bret Devereaux says the same things better and more completely.

"And while right now you may have many reasons and many concerns, if you sign your name to this fascist and a fascist government takes power as a result…your many reasons will no longer matter. No one really cares what Franz von Papen or Victor Emmanuel III or NSDAP or Blocco Nazionale voters were concerned about or their pet issues. It no longer mattered. Once a fascist government took power…they were fascists.

And that was all that ever mattered."

As Tubby himself said; this may be the last time you get to vote.

Last vacation snaps

 On our last day we visited "Pittock Mansion", the West Hills digs of a former Portland newspaper baron:

I'll say this for the old plutocrat; he had style.

Showing off wealth in an almost Trumpian way except with less gold leaf:

Mind you, here's where I'd have come in back in the day; the servant's entrance:

Last random snaps, kiddo:

Patinopectin (middle Miocene) Astoria Formation, Beverly Beach

Stone lion, Japanese Garden:

You at the Zen Garden:

Izakaya Kinchito:

The Inn from Otter Crest:

Sunset:

Moonrise:

Lighthouse Keeper:

Thanks for coming, sis. It was fun.

More vacation snaps

 Posting pictures from my kid sister's visit.

We stayed at a quiet little place called the Inn at Otter Crest. Sorry, no otters.

I'd done work there before, so I knew the good sights to see, like the little pocket beach below the landslide;

I took a ton of pretty pictures there that evening:

The actual "Otter Crest" is the point of land in the above photo, tho.

The swell was up that afternoon and made so pretty pictures:

Oh, almost forgot; on the way there we stopped off at a winery I'd also done some work at. Decent work, apparently, since they'd added this ginormous showplace out front:

The view was pretty spectacular:

As was the gigantic glacial erratic rafted from Coeur d'Alene to outside McMinnville on an iceberg:

Let's see. What else. Oregon Aquarium was fun...

Rockfish, though? BO-ring.

THE MEG!!!

Birbs.

Starfish

Anemones

Lighthouses (Yaquina Head)...

More lighthouse...

Pelicans:

More beaches:

Still more beaches:

And then back to Portland...

Vacation snaps

 My little sister came to visit this past week.

(Though at 65/67 the whole "little" thing is kinda passe'...)

Anyway, we did Portlandy stuff for a while, then traveled to the central coast and did "Oregon Coast" things, then returned here. I promised her I'd post some of the better photos - she follows this blog, so it's easier than attaching massive jpgs to an email.

So.

Here they are, beginning with...well, us.

This is up in the Gorge. We did the closer waterfalls on the Oregon side, like this one (Shepperd's Dell).

This is Latourell Falls, a bit further west.

The bigleaf maples were trying, but we just don't get real "fall color"...

This outcrop along the old Highway 30 looks really familiar...

...to the point where I think it's a popular tourist photo.

The next day we went to the Japanese Garden.

The vinemaple was in a bit better color.

Here's the iconic view of the zen garden...

The exhibit was on "kintsugi", the art of decorative mending.

I missed this, an urchin shell mended with resin and gold:

Fascinating concept. Beautiful objects.

Let's see...

We went to the Oregon Zoo. Because, well, zoo.

I had to show off the core down at the MAX Zoo Station because I had a tiny piece of the installation.

Oh, and the Rose Test Garden...

Plus the view; can't forget the view of the city...

Then we went to the Coast, and that's the next bit.