Wednesday, April 15

A tea party and a TEA party

It’s been a busy week. On Tuesday we went to a neighbor’s for a tea party. There was herb tea, fresh hot buttered crumpets, and a friendly visit with people we like. Our friend Candy’s granddaughter wanted a springtime party, and we were the honored guests. Even though it’s springtime, it’s an unusual time because the windy cold weather forced the party into the house which was heated by a massive stone-and-tile stove. It was a delightful time and gave us the excuse, since we had driven the worst part of the trip on our 3-mile driveway already, to continue to town and get the mail and have a delicious pizza at the Pizza Factory!

Today we drove to the Big City to do some ranch business and order some merchandise for the store at Florence Lake and get some leather conditioner for our truck seats and attend the Central Valley TEA (Taxed Enough Already) Party at the immense SaveMart Center on the Fresno State campus. For a while we weren’t sure we could even park. The parking lot is about as big as some eastern states like Connecticut, and we were getting farther and farther away from the festivities as we headed north and west. Finally we found an empty spot near the northwest corner and hoped we had enough gas to get back out of the place. We managed to walk all the way to where the action is without getting a resupply of food and water. In the midst of thousands of people we were impressed with the camaraderie. Some really amusing signs were being carried around by people wandering through the crowd. A blues band was blasting music from a stage made from one of two open 52-foot truck trailers donated by a local trucking company. Three television remote trucks had their masts raised to send video to the transmitters at Meadow Lakes to the east. Several local celebrities entertained us with jabs at government in general, and the present administration and congress in Washington in particular. No screaming of hatred, no threats to anyone, in fact none of the stuff that was later portrayed by CNN or the other eastern media outlets.

We were glad we attended the event. It was gratifying to hear the uplifting messages and agreement of so many decent people who simply want a return to the constitutional principles that made this country such a wonderful and successful experiment in liberty.

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