In the fall of 2016, I ran away to Ocean Shores with my friend and fellow history writer Sandra Crowell, author of “The Land Called Lewis.”
We accomplished a lot on our writing projects in just a few days, so when she invited me again, I jumped at the chance to run away and write.
This time, though, we spent six nights in Mazatlan — while the Pacific Northwest froze under a white blanket of snow.
Even with sunshine and temperatures in the 70s and 80s, we both made good progress on our respective projects. I’m writing a novel based on historic fact — the story of Matilda Coonse Jackson who crossed the Oregon Trail in 1847 while pregnant with her husband and four sons. Sandy is writing about Chehalis tribal elder Helen Mitchell Sanders of Oakville, who sued the Bureau of Indian Affairs for mismanagement of timber resources. Her U.S. Supreme Court cases won in 1989 established precedents cited 2,700 times since then.
Mazatlan is a melting pot of North America, where we met many people from throughout the United States and Canada fleeing the winter cold. We passed luxury resorts and condominiums on a city tour along with colorful tiny houses crammed together.
Our tour guide said many people earn only five dollars a day for eight hours of work, although the average daily wage was $18.75, and they shop at the corner markets because it’s too expensive to purchase from Walmart.
No wonder so many flee north to the United States — where the minimum wage is $7.25 an hour, and to Washington state, where people can earn $11 an hour at entry-level jobs cooking hamburgers.
The disparity made it clear that most everyone in America — even those considered poor — are much better off financially than their counterparts down south.
During a “jungle” tour, we had our photos taken with a pelican and an iguana, saw a fresh scallop plucked from the ocean’s bottom and cut into pieces for tourists to try, passed a fleet of shrimping boats in the “shrimp capital of the world,” and listened to our guide Hugo punctuate nearly every sentence with these words — Take a peek-shure! Nearly everywhere men and women, young and old, hawked dresses, hats, jewelry, and other goods, offering “happy hour” bargains and promising prices that were “almost free.”
As we bobbed and bounced in a blue swimming pool under sunny skies for morning water aerobics, I’ll admit to feeling a tad guilty — especially after learning that snow prompted cancellation of aerobics at Toledo.
Billy Graham
Although we never turned on the television, we woke up Wednesday to the news that televangelist Billy Graham had died at 99.
I thought about the influence of this great Christian man, depicted as counseling European monarchs and U.S. presidents. But his influence even spread to Lewis County, where we have a fantastic museum dedicated to honoring our military veterans.
Lee Grimes, who founded the Veterans Memorial Museum, told me that as a young man, he watched Graham at a revival one night.
“I dropped to my knees in front of the television and asked Jesus to come into my heart,” he said.
Years later, when Graham held a crusade at the Tacoma Dome, Grimes attended with his wife, Barb, and son, Jeff. They all three went forward in response to his invitation.
“The hair on the back of my neck lifted, goose bumps prickled my body, and I felt chilled but not cold,” Grimes said. “My whole body just felt full of joy. I was ecstatic.”
It was Grimes’ love of the Lord that led him to found the museum we enjoy today.
More of his story can be found in his book, “The Miracle Museum.” All proceeds benefit the museum.
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Julie McDonald, a personal historian from Toledo, may be reached at memoirs@chaptersoflife.com.
