DAY OF HOPE

Poulsbo Washington was originally a Norwegian settlement, established in the 1880's, which was home to many Scandinavian people, but primarily the Norwegians.

It was settled because the area, cold and snowy in the wintertime and lush and green in the summertime, reminded the immigrants who traveled there, of their homes in Norway, which they had left to find greater freedom and greater economical security for their families.

Poulsbo was originally named after Paulsbo Norway, however a mistake made in the spelling when the application for a postal center was made for Paulsbo, making the name officially Poulsbo, which was incorporated in 1907. Not to be confused because of a small spelling error, the name is still pronounced Paulsbo

Now wasn’t that a helpful little history lesson. I only mention it because I was in Poulsbo this morning attending “Operation Day of Hope.” Gateway Fellowship, a Poulsbo church, organized a very cool event for us poor needy people who cannot survive on our limited income. They were offering FREE help with a haircut, family photo, manicure, hot meal, legal/financial advice, clothing, canned goods, social service advice, dental education/screening, a mobile dental van for emergencies, job assistance and more. And like Portland’s Tom Peterson always said in his late night TV ads, FREE IS A VERY GOOD PRICE.

I went to try and find information about getting help with glasses at and a dentist I could afford. I got great help in both areas. I was also looking for a winter coat, but, alas, they seem to make most of them too small around the middle. Haven’t they ever heard of tapering out? Haven’t the clothing manufactures seen any TV shows decrying how round Americans are becoming (I blame the government)? Don’t they want to sell more clothes? Must we always have to use mail order to get things that fit but we cannot feel or see before it arrives two weeks later in a plain, brown paper wrapped package so know one will not what shameful things we have ordered? How dare we have the nerve to be overweight in this world they want dominated by Twiggy’s? I’m sorry. The government made me do it.

Anyway, I did not get a coat. The meal was nice. The people at the church were terrific. After registering, we were met by a personal guide from the church who took us to the many different locations we needed to visit to get the help or information we needed. It was exceptionally well organized. I have never seen better. It is a large church but I suspect there were between 200 and 300 assistants besides the experts. Cool.

All in all it was a wonderful day. My granddaughter won her soccer game and personally scored three times. My grandson lost his, but it was their first game where they greatly improved in the second half. My daughter and I finalized the Christmas ornaments we will make for the craft fair.

It is only 7:00 and I am getting sleepy. I can only draw with daylight. It’s too dark for my fading eyes. I have the Nebraska – Ohio football game on TV, but plan to switch to the Seattle soccer game when I finish this. Or I may go to bed. I was up at 5:30 this morning. That has got to stop. I‘m too old for this foolishness.