One White Girl's Opinion on Ferguson

I get riled up.  I get upset.  And I probably should not put pen to paper (er...fingers to keyboard) but this time I can't seem to stop myself.

I am white.  I am a woman.  I have no idea what it is like to be a black man in this country.

I am white.  I am a woman.  I work in the pharmaceutical industry.  I have no idea what it is like to be a police officer in this country.

I have tried to put my own mind in the minds of Michael Brown and Darren Wilson.  I've honestly tried to look at the situation from each of their viewpoints. Please hear out my thoughts.

I am a young black man...recently having turned 18.  I just graduated high school 8 days ago.  I am young.  I am invincible, as most youths are.  Nothing or no one can hurt me, I am immortal, as most youths feel.  I'm with my friend and we're acting young, stupid, and careless.  We rob a convenience store of a box of cigarillos; perhaps to smoke and celebrate our new freedom...no more school...finally 18...let's celebrate.  We get away with the robbery and we're walking in the middle of the street.  A cop pulls up and tells us to get on the sidewalk.  I mouth off.  I'm tough.  I'm cool. I'm not afraid of no cop.  The cop is verbally abusive. I'm 6'4" and almost 300 pounds. It's daylight and there are people all around...he's not going to hurt me.  I confront him and put my arms in his car, scare him a little, and turn and walk off...

I am a young white cop.  I previously worked in one of the highest crime areas of Missouri.  There was so much conflict between white officers and black residents that the police department was shut down.  I was moved to the Ferguson police department.  Crime in this area was lower, "average" even. But there was still the tension between white officers and black residents.  In addition, as a cop, I am always suspecting and expecting the worst in people; it's the nature of the business.  It's how I stay alive.  This day I run across two teenagers stupidly walking down the middle of a road.  I tell them to get on the sidewalk.  They have the nerve to get mouthy with me.  I am the law.  What are they thinking?  I then hear a robbery report on my radio and the description fits that of these two boys.  I pull alongside them and curse at them to let them know I'm not kidding around.  One of the boys reaches inside my police car.  He's tall...the same height as me...and he has about 80 pounds on me.  He's a suspect in a robbery.  He's reaching inside a police car and blocking me from getting out...

I am a white woman.  What Michael Brown did was just plain stupid.  Who disrespects an officer of the law? Who disrespects someone you KNOW has a gun and the authority to use it.  Hell...forget the gun...a person who has the ability to put me in jail! I've just stolen from a convenience store!

Did Michael deserve to be killed?   NO ONE deserves that.  I am not justifying his death.  In a perfect world, if Darren Wilson really felt he was in danger, he should have shot to wound Michael and not to kill.  But Michael Brown should never have stolen from the store, disobeyed the officer who told him to get out of the street, or put his hand(s) in the police car.

Now.  What of the riots?  I completely understand WHY people are worked up over this.  A young boy is dead.  It's horrible.  It's sad.  It's wrong.  NO ONE deserves to die.  It is a fact that there is much tension between the white police and the black residents; something needs to be done about that.  Demonstrate.  Voice your concerns.  Scream out your pain.  Let your thoughts be heard!  But why are you being violent??  Why are you setting fires to your own community?  Why are you looting your local businesses? What in the world is that going to solve???  In all honesty...this behavior is making police even more afraid of what could happen to them on the job.  It's making tension worse.  And for God's sake it's not helping anything!!!!  My mind is blown.  I feel your pain...I do.  But these actions are dumbfounding.  I have no words to express my complete lack of understanding.  And as I type this, one of the latest headlines is "More Troops Deployed In Ferguson To Guard Against Fresh Riots".  Seriously.

I don't know what more to say.  I don't care if you are black or white or male or female or young or old or a policeman or a pharmacy tech.  This is wrong.  This is not helping.  This is wrong.

*These are just my opinions.  We are all entitled to those.  I'm not trying to start a debate or be hateful.  I'm protesting in my own non-violent way.  Please respect that.*


"The ultimate measure of a man is not where he stands in moments of comfort and convenience, but where he stands at times of challenge and controversy."  ~Martin Luther King, Jr.

Friends

This one is short but sweet.  I am so blessed to have my friends.  And so happy that 5 of us were able to get together on this beautiful November morning for brunch at the scenic Farm at South Mountain.

Janae, Danielle, Karen, Brittany, and Jennie at The Farm at South Mountain

View of the gardens from our table

They even pulled our cars around when we were leaving!

Janae, Danielle, Karen, Brittany, Jennie - love my girls!!

"Many a friendship, long, loyal, and self-sacrificing, rested at first on no thicker a foundation than a kind word." 
~Frederick William Faber

"Friendships are the family we make - not the one we inherit. I've always been someone to whom friendship, elective affinities, is as important as family."
~Salmon Rushdie




 
 

Arizona Off-Roading Adventures

Eric has fairly recently gotten into Jeep off-roading and last week I thought I'd take my second, more aggressive, ride with him.  And what a ride it was!  One thing I will say is that it's a large community of people who do this and everyone we came across was very nice.  But next time I think I'll opt for a shorter trip!

Here we go!  Out by Lake Pleasant.

I had to stop and take in the view

Awesome cloud

The road we came in on

So, in this photo, we could take the "normal" road on the right, or we could take the "off-road" on the left.  Guess which one Eric picked?!

Choices...

Beautiful Fall colors!

One of the Jeeps we pulled over to help said this creek was the halfway point. Only halfway?!  Yikes!

This couple were well known in the off-roading community.  They were high school sweethearts who had recently reunited and married in March.  The following month their Jeep went over the embankment above and landed right here...killing them both and leaving 4 kids behind.  Very sad.  And it only added to my scare factor!  John and Lisa Mendoza

This is where the Jeep went off and straight down.

View from my seat

Just taking in the view of our beautiful state

Lots of dust on my favorite mug!

More dust

More beautiful Fall colors

I still love the randomness of cows roaming the streets in Arizona!

Moo!!

And then the sun began to go down...

And the colors were stunning.

Cactus in the foreground of a beautiful sunset

"Make the dust, don't eat the dust."
~author unknown

"I think I peed a little."
~Brittany Wright

Meet Me In...Napa!

This was the last of 3 meet-up trips with friends, my birthday weekend, and our 3rd annual girls Napa trip.  And what a great trip it was!  We have been so lucky to have absolutely perfect weather every year we've been to Napa.  This year we stayed at the house in Sonoma where we stayed the first year.  Such a cute little house...we love it!

 

Our first afternoon after meeting up in San Francisco, we made a stop at Cline Cellars and this fine gentleman was our greeter:

Handsome greeter at Cline

Our second stop was...say it with me...Gundlach Bundschu (gun-lock-bun-shoe).  They had some of their freshly picked grapes out for a snack.

Our last stop of day one was at the appointment-only, Scribe.  The wine was good, the scenery was beautiful, but the service was just meh.  We ended the evening in the hot tub after enjoying some local pizza we picked up in Sonoma Square.

View from Scribe winery

Day 2 began with a liquid breakfast at Rombauer.  This winery was so beautiful!  And they did a first for all of us...served the white wine AFTER the red wines...which really worked for their big chardonnay. 

Of course, Jack the Squirrel joined us on the trip; but he was accompanied by Danielle-Barbie!  The real Danielle had to miss our 3rd year Napa trip (don't feel too sorry for her...she went to Germany!) so we represented her as a blonde everywhere we went (now, that's the reason you might want to feel sorry for her!).

Danielle-Barbie and Jack the Squirrel at Rombauer

Our second stop of the day was at Failla...(pronounced Fay-la) just across the Silverado Trail from Rombauer.  Failla provided a seated tasting with us and 2 other couples in their cute little cottage house. It was a pleasure listening to Jeff describe the wines to us.  ;0)

Failla Winery

After two great tastings, Wes drove us to Goose and Gander for a great little lunch break.  We sat outside and enjoyed the wonderful California weather, a charcuterie board, and a bottle of vino.  Perfection.

Lisa doing her best 'Vanna' for Goose and Gander

After lunch we walked down the block to Orin Swift's tasting room.  We met some fun, crazy people and drank some great wine and did a toast to our friend, Andy, who loves Orin Swift!

Orin Swift wines have the best labels!

 

Next, Wes drove us past, and then back to, Charles Krug!  LOL!  We love our Wes!  And we love Candice at Charles Krug.  She had more fun with Jack and Danielle than we did!

Charles Krug's new tasting room

Jack and Danielle getting along and enjoying some wine!

Karen is a member at Krug so we got to go "backstage"

Where Candice had even MORE fun with Danielle and Jack!

Add caption

Karen, Brittany, Jack, Danielle-Barbie, Shellie, and Lisa

We made a couple more pit-stops on our way to dinner at the Farm at Carneros Inn.  Wes even found us a vineyard to play in at sunset.

Karen and Brittany at Alpha Omega

Playing in the vineyard

Sunset in Napa

On day 3 the fog was slower to burn off in the morning and there was still a slight chill in the air.  We started our day at the lovely Etude winery.  Etude prides themselves on their Carneros Pinot Noir and they didn't disappoint.

Wall of wine at Etude

After Etude we did a really cool candlelit cave tour and barrel tasting at Del Dotto.  Every taste was directly from a barrel, and at the end we all shared a bottle of vino.

Sharing a bottle of Del Dotto with with Danielle-Barbie

Wes knew the back way to the balcony and got a fun photo of us!

After these two tastings we had worked up an appetite!  Wes called in a lunch order for us at Oakville Grocery and we picked that up and took it to Sequoia Grove where we sat outside at a picnic table and enjoyed a birthday bottle of wine compliments of the real Danielle! 

Yay!

Old wine cellar in the floor of the grocery

Oakville Grocery happens to be the oldest continually operating grocery in California...since 1881!

Karen, Shellie, Lisa, and Brittany

After lunch we stopped by St. Suprey but they were very snooty so we just posed out front and left!  LOL!  We then went to Stags Leap winery at the recommendation of a good friend and had some AMAZING wine!

Posing at St. Suprey

More posing at Stags Leap!

Danielle-Barbie got in on the photo shoot!

Jack the Squirrel was more about the wine

Our fun guy pouring the wine at Stags Leap!

After Stags Leap we made one last stop at Silverado but we were too late for a tasting so we just did more posing...and included Wes this time!

Wes, Karen, Shellie, Brittany, and Lisa

We were too late for wine, but they gave Danielle-Barbie and Jack the Squirrel a capful!

View from the Silverado tasting room

Next we had a real treat.  Wes took us to meet his father and tour his vineyard.  It was a perfect ending to a perfect time in Napa/Sonoma.  Now we know where Wes gets his charm!

John DeBow showing us his vineyard

Stunning Fall colors

John shows Lisa how to cork the bottle

Muscle!

Success!

Karen is up next!

Ginger muscle!

The following morning on our way to San Francisco we made a pit-stop at Imagery...which ended up being my favorite stop of the trip! They love to explore new varietals and little known grape regions and they love to support artists...both local and worldwide.

Trees surrounding Imagery Winery

Ah...Fall!  Don't see this much in Phoenix!

Beautiful grounds of Imagery

Another wall of wine!

Jack the Squirrel and one of my favorite labels

Imagery Garden tended by Girl and the Fig

Enjoying our last morning in Sonoma

This was the first time we all spent the day/night in San Francisco before flying home.  While it's not a city in which I ever see myself living, I certainly love to visit...especially when we have the beautiful weather that we enjoyed!

The beautiful Pacific Coast

The iconic Cliff House

 We enjoyed lunch at the world famous Cliff House with a wonderful view!

Shellie, Lisa, and Karen at Cliff House

Another shout-out to Danielle - a boutique in Cow Hollow

Streets of San Francisco

Redwood "forest" at the base of the Transamerica Pyramid

Looking up at the Transamerica Pyramid

Lunch on our last day

Shucking oysters that were DELISH!

So, once again, we had an amazing trip to wine country. I was fortunate enough to celebrate my birthday with my fantabulous girlfriends...and I thank them for a very special day in the midst of a very wonderful trip.  And how lucky am I that at this time next year we will all be together again, for my wedding in Italy??!!  I am blessed. 

"Brittany...look at your foot!"

Karen...were you that hungry?!

"The greatest gift of life is friendship, and I have received it"

~Hubert H. Humphrey

"Wine is constant proof that God loves us and loves to see us happy."

~Benjamin Franklin