Ruthie On The Road's Slideshow

I have added a Flickr Photo Badge to my blog. You will find it underneath my profile pic.

Click on it and you will go to my corner of Flickr.

Or, if you would like to see the awesome, high-resolution slideshow of the photos that I've posted so far, then click here:

SLIDESHOW

Yeah, Campers, I consider sorting through over 400 photos to be a real labor of love.

It's a real kick to see the photos and realize what I had to do to get them there: Buy a disposable camera [they were used to take the majority of the shots], carry the camera around in my backpack, zipped in a plastic bag, hitchhike, find a place to stay...and protect the camera from nosy people!

It's becoming a real walk down the memory road for me.

Notes about the photos:

The majority of the photos were taken by me. Some of them were edited [in fact, some were downright experiments!]and otherwise "tweeked" in some artistic fashion. Those particular photos were once stored in Yahoo Photos.

Some of the photos are different sizes and some are quite "grainy." But some are really beautiful or cute and a couple could be considered controversial.

The photos of me were almost all taken by me. Yup. I've become pretty good at doing that!

Only a few of me were taken by someone else.

And you will see me in both red, blond, short, straight, long and curly hair. Ahhh, the many looks of Ruthie! The photos are part of my history between 2003 and 2007.

As I already mentioned, I am adding more photos to the slideshow every day. And I considered waiting until I had them all loaded and organized before posting the link.

But I've watched the slideshow and I think that you might enjoy watching the process unfold.

A Hitchhiking Memory

Featured Road Poem For January 2008:

I've got sore and aching feet
And I smell like stinking DEET
A headache is banging in my brain
And to top it off, it's going to rain!!

Pick me up, Mister
Give me a ride
I'm smiling at you, Sister
But I'm screaming inside!

I've been on the road all day
With dust and flies in my way
And I know there'll be hell to pay
If I don't find a place to stay

Pick me up, old man
The day is ending soon
Give me a ride, Ma'am
I know you have the room

Yeah, I'm just a gypsy female
And I see your truck turning around the bend
Please take me away from this guard rail
And be my last chance roadside friend.

-Poem By Ruth Rader. All Rights Reserved.

Welcome!

For those of you who are visiting my blog for the first time: HELLO!

Click on the archive links to get some background on who I am and what I'm about.

Start with January 2008 [because I put some recent posts and photos there that you might want to check-out] and then look up from there. I started this blog in December 2004 in Portland, Oregon.

I've hitchhiked across North America for fifteen-years.

And now I am going to edit my blog and pull material from it to write a novel.

I have a story to tell that's never been written here. A powerful message.

Enjoy my blog, send me a comment [they're all moderated] or an email.

I look forward to hearing from you.

Even if you're hateful.

*LAUGH*.

For Love Of A Soldier

My friend Jane Collins has just published a book called "For Love Of A Soldier." [Click on the post headline above and read Rowman&Littlefield's description of the book.]

Jane's book includes interviews with families who have lost a loved one in the Iraq war.

It's powerful reading, Campers.

Check it out today!

You Saw Me Everywhere!

HAPPY 2008, CAMPERS! Yeah, I finally have the opportunity to write a good, long post about 2007. I can sum-up the year in five words: I was on the road!

I hitchhiked on the side of an icy ramp in Oklahoma. I stuck my head out the window of a big rig while crossing the George Washington bridge and yelled "George Bush Sucks!" at the top of my lungs. I sat outside a day shelter at six o'clock in morning in New England and freaked-out the psychic in her office across the street.

I slept in a little tent at an RV park for several days during a torrential rainstorm in Oregon. Despite the weather, I enjoyed the experience because the RV park is located across the highway from a cheese plant. And the cows on the other side of the fence stared at me. While I sat on a picnic table by my tent. And ate cheese. In the rain.

I went up to Washington State to escape the summer heat. And sat by the Pacific Ocean. Watched the ferry. And dreamed of Alaska.

I developed a terrible infection in my lungs in Iowa and recovered in a huge house in Washington State. I got beat-up in Oregon, collapsed from dehydration in Montana, tripped on a sidewalk in Ohio and went to the hospital. I rode a Greyhound bus until it broke down.

I slept in a small, humble trailer in Missouri and in a large room in a fancy motel.

I threw snowballs in the Rockies, stayed in a cabin in the woods in Washington State, watched fireworks beside the Pacific Ocean and ate a chili dog while sitting on a guard rail in South Carolina.
I LIVED, CAMPERS! And this year I plan to live, too. In another country.

The Picture Of Determination

I trudged up a hill on a lonely stretch of interstate in South Dakota last summer. And I mumbled words of complaint with every step. Then I looked ahead and saw a weed.

There it was, standing proud with leaves open to the late afternoon sun.

And I was struck by the realization that the plant had pushed itself through stones and dirt to live free. Right there. On the shoulder of the road.

I dropped my pack and took a photo of it.

Then, with a renewed sense of purpose, I turned around, faced the oncoming traffic and stuck out my thumb.

And smiled.

I got a ride in five minutes.

The Chemical Curse

I posted comments about the performance enhancement situation on January 23 of 2005:

[Spitball Steroids

And speaking of Dan Gladden, the former Minnesota Twin made a serious comment during the Annual Winter Caravan.
____________________________

On the subject of steroids, Gladden had this to say:

[“The biggest thing is with the new penalties, the players who use them will be exposed and names will come out, unlike what has happened in the past,” Gladden said. “The problem should have been addressed a long time ago.”]
_____________________________

Never let it be said that all ballplayers are phoney.]

_____________________________

Last night I wrote a poem called "The Chemical Curse" and it's obvious that Gladden's words and mine are still relevant three years later.

THE CHEMICAL CURSE

The final score doesn't matter...
And victory is bittersweet
Cuz Mr. Bigz the batter
Is in the game to cheat

And it doesn't matter...
If he knocks one across the yard
Cuz he's linked to the drugs
Like he's tied to the stats
On his latest baseball card

No, it doesn't matter...
If he rubs in a cream
Or injects corruption into
Some kid's dream

And it doesn't matter...
Where the ball falls down
Cuz he's headed to a morgue
Outside Cooperstown

So step back, Babe Ruth
Cuz Mr. Bigz has changed the play
He's reversed the truth
Blown his youth
And the chemical curse is here to stay.

--Poem by Ruth Rader. All Rights Reserved.

(Click on the post headline above to read about Roger Clemen's interview on CBS "Sixty Minutes."