Today there's no yarn/wool involved in this post. Today I want to write about yesterday. There's two retirees in our house and that means we can do things differently. Yesterday we took a quick trip out of the country and drove 1.5 hours to Bellingham, Washington. Bellingham is a city of approximately 80,000 with a good deal of culture (IMHO) for its size. It has been rated in the top 10 affordable cities for retirees to live in the U.S.; and this shows, there are plenty of restaurants, movie theaters, local plays and yet with the Western Washington University campus in town there is also a youthful vibrancy. Wikipedia says:
(Bellingham) is also famous for the large quantities of Canadian tourists and shoppers that flood in daily to take advantage of relatively cheap gasoline, airfare and other products. Most consumer products and restaurant meals are significantly more pricey in Bellingham than elsewhere in the United States, but still often cheaper than in Canada.
There was a purpose to our trip; Paul had some papers to drop off and I needed a passport photo taken. But there was more, we ate a meal out, did some grocery shopping and saw the movie Selma.
Paul and I don't always go to the same movies; he does really like certain types of action movies and I'm pretty fussy about what I see. Too much violence will cause me nightmares for days and weeks. But we both agreed on Selma.
No matter how old you are go see Selma. I remember watching the way ¨demonstrators¨ were treated on television in 1965 and even as a tweener not understanding the hatred. I wept when I saw those scenes reenacted yesterday. Fear and such hate causes humans to do unspeakable things to one another. That was 50 years ago and each of us needs to consider how much has really changed since then. Not as much as should have changed in 50 years, again IMHO.
(Bellingham) is also famous for the large quantities of Canadian tourists and shoppers that flood in daily to take advantage of relatively cheap gasoline, airfare and other products. Most consumer products and restaurant meals are significantly more pricey in Bellingham than elsewhere in the United States, but still often cheaper than in Canada.
There was a purpose to our trip; Paul had some papers to drop off and I needed a passport photo taken. But there was more, we ate a meal out, did some grocery shopping and saw the movie Selma.
Paul and I don't always go to the same movies; he does really like certain types of action movies and I'm pretty fussy about what I see. Too much violence will cause me nightmares for days and weeks. But we both agreed on Selma.
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| A scene in front of the voter registration office in Selma, Alabama |
As we crossed the border back into Canada a strange thing happened. We were asked if any raw chicken products had been purchased during our trip. We had bought a package of chicken breasts and two dozen eggs and all had to be abandoned at the border. It was clear we weren't the only ones who missed this change in rules; there were dozens of eggs visible and at least a couple bins full of chicken meat. So when we returned home I had to see what was going on.
What I found was that raw chicken products from the states of Oregon and Washington have been banned starting January 9, 2015 from entering Canada due to an avian flu outbreak. We missed that announcement and paid the price. So fellow British Columbia residents, heed this warning: Don't bring raw chicken products from Washington back home for the time being. (I hope they give all those eggs and chicken back to people who can use it in Washington. I doubt there's a ban on Washington chicken in Washington. There certainly was no notice in the store where the chicken was purchased.)
We were home by 4:30 pm before it was dark outside and generally missed rush hour. I know you are thinking what a fascinating day, right? It was just another day in the lives of two retirees living on the wild side, not so much.
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