Yesterday at 9:15 AM I left Elkton and was on the road again.

The climbing clematis at 215 Rockingham Street.

I drove along through the beautiful Shenandoah Valley which I was leaving once again, headed for Nevada, Iowa and my brother Dick's. Another adventure was beginning. How I love adventures. I had five books on tape with me, two loaned, three bought at the Green Valley Book Fair. I started out listening to Bill Clinton reading his book, MY LIFE. I had owned that book, but never got into it. Listening to him tell his story was much easier, and I learned more than I ever knew about Bill Clinton, his early life and family; his education; his love of Hillary and Chelsea; his rise in politics; and his human frailties. I had forgotten that he had gone to the School of Foreign Service at Georgetown University, like Bob and I had ten years earlier than he. I finished that book somewhere in Ohio.

I stopped at a great rest stop in Pennsylvania, a Welcome Center on I 79. I was headed for I 70. I got out and sat at one of the picnic tables and actually had some lunch and watched people. I even used my wonderful hand carved wooden knife and spoon, which I had bought at the gift shop at John C. Campbell Folk School. It was a beautiful day. Traffic was steady but not particularly heavy. On all the highways I was on yesterday, I passed thousands of motorcyclists (yes, thousands) in groups of ten to fifty or more, headed, I think, for Washington, DC and the Memorial Day Event held every year on the Mall. My conjecture, but I think I am correct.

Gas prices at Costco in Harrisonburg, VA when I filled up on Thursday, were $3.45 for regular unleaded. When I made my first stop for gas I paid $3.99 a gallon, and had driven 311 miles. At that time I hit heavy rain which didn't last more than ten minutes. The rest of my day, it was overcast but no rain. The second time I filled up, I paid $3.95 a gallon, and had driven 331 miles. Apparently no one told these guys that gas prices were falling.

Anyway, after MY LIFE, I began to listen to a Bob Woodward book, about Bush and company and the lead up to the Iraqi war. I still had part of disc 6 on, when I pulled in for the night, to my hotel of choice, Best Western, in Danville, Illinois, about 700 miles from where I had started and eleven hours later. And it was cool and windy and still light out. I had gained one hour.

(I just returned from getting breakfast and coffee, and my conjecture about the motorcyclists is correct - they are The Rolling Thunder, headed for DC, from all over the U.S.)

I promised in my last blog that I was going to write something about Oprah. I never really watched much of Oprah, as I worked and she was always at 4PM. On a couple of occasions I did however, early on in her career and was impressed by what she said and what she did. No one can fault her Angel Network which has helped lots of individuals and families. Oprah's Book Club opened up a whole new world of reading for a lot of folks, which is definitely good! Helping women gain self esteem and courage cannot be faulted. Building the school for girls in Africa was wonderful as education is the key to pulling oneself up and gaining the ability to then go on to help others do the same. But the day came when I turned on her show - I was living in Elkton, Virginia by then - and she was showing her audience and the world, "her most favorite things for spring!" So I sat down and watched as item after item was brought out, shown and given credits, and then Oprah would say, "...and each of you is getting one." One of everything she showed! Probably well over a thousand dollars of "stuff" was given away to each and every audience member. My first reaction was "Wow, how neat is that?" Then, I thought, how many women all over the country are going to go out and buy that item (s) even though they can ill afford to do so. Hell, even I couldn't purchase most of them, nor would they be my choices anyway. And I then I thought of my clients who desperately needed dental care, simple haircuts, food for their children and themselves, decent clothes to job hunt in, and on and on. Wouldn't this be a better use of all this money? What about just giving her audience one item, not twenty? She was giving free advertising to all the companies; they in turn donated the items; and she paid nothing. To put it mildly, my opinion of Oprah at that point had dropped ten notches. And continued to drop as she went on to give away cars and pat her shoulder for doing so; taking her audience to Australia for a show and bragging about it; and the final nail driven in was her much hyped "last shows." None of which I watched but couldn't escape hearing about. I like the fact that those that have, give to those who don't. I don't like hearing them boast about it, like they are the Masters of the Estate and all others are their peons. I decided that Oprah had really forgotten about where she came from, and how wonderful her first ten or fifteen years of Oprah shows were; how much they helped others. Something went amiss. Could it just be power?

There are so many well known individuals who give, and give, and give. And we know nothing about them, or there is just a small article about something they have done. Did you know that Frank Sinatra had a number of charities he gave millions to? People like Bill and Melinda Gates have given countless millions over the year, sharing their wealth with the world, but pretty much stay out of the limelight. Some of the sports athletes have gone back to the "hood" and done much to save young lives by helping them gain self esteem, but don't make a big deal of it. There are many many folks who have made good and given back. Some with big names, some unknown. They just do it because it is right. There are families like the Kennedy's who were taught at an early age to go into public service and help others. Somewhere in Oprah's career, she allowed herself to get blinded by the stardom and power she had achieved. This is only my humble opinion.

I am now off to Iowa and brother Dick's house. I hope you all have a great day. It looks like rain here.

A hui hou,
Sally