The weather was awful this morning: totally cloudy, very cold wind from the north, and misty rain. Oh well, can't win them all. But, what do you know, by the time we left the lodge at Kentucky Dam Village State Park, the sun had come out. The morning sparkled as we drove northward.
As we drove around Paducah, Kentucky on Interstate 24 we noticed a sign for the National Quilt Museum. Jim suggested we might go there, and I surprised myself by declining. Having just set out, I didn't feel like getting off the road already.
Just across the Ohio River into Illinois we stopped at a "Welcome Center," only to find it boarded up with the sign: "Closed because of budget cuts." There were a few pamphlets set out in some racks, but the only map of Illinois was pinned up on the wall behind plastic.
My thought is this: if government wants to save money, anyone government employee earning over, say $150,000 per year and up, should have a 10% pay cut, and all the small jobs, at which people earn a (small) hourly wage should be retained. Surely that would do more to restore prosperity than cutting all the services for tourists (who bring in money) and slashing low-level jobs. How much difference would there be going from $200,000 to $180,000 compared to going from $20,000 to $0. IMHO it is TIME for the wealthy to quite being greedy and make it possible for the poor to improve their lives.
On a side note: some of the poorest countries are doing a better job at improving the lives of their poorest people. Bangladesh is an example of this.
On a lighter side, we've been seeing these beautiful trees throughout the southern states. Quite often they are in a row, lining a nice long driveway.
Because of the shrub behind this tree, it's not so evident that these trees have a nice straight trunk for about the first 4 to 6 feet, and then branch out into a lovely, oblong ball shape. We wondered what they were, but found no information about them anywhere. I was tempted to knock on someone's door and ask what they were.
This tree is outside the "welcome center" so I was happy to be able to take a picture, pick a leaf and, surprise, some berries. Does anyone know what this
really nice tree is?
One other side note: welcome to a new follower, Kate Eaton. Kate, when I get home and can access my Facebook, I'll send you a note. In the meantime, hope you enjoy the smattering of topics touched on here.
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