2017 - Be “Good to Go” This Year

2016 has zipped right by, I’m not sure I have even flipped my calendar from the month of March. Here we are reflecting on the year and wondering if we kept our resolutions when it’s time to re-resolve. As always,  I’m ready to assist if “to travel more” is on that list for 2017. It’s never too early to plan for an adventure, but it gets too late sooner than you think. I would like to remind travelers that 2017 could be the last year to be able to fly domestically (within the United States) with an Oklahoma driver’s license…

You read that right: As things are now, you will NOT be able to fly anywhere in 2018 unless you have a passport. Oklahoma is still one of the states that is not in compliance with the “REAL ID Act of 2005.” Beginning Jan. 22, 2018, travelers from nine states will no longer be able to travel with only their driver’s licenses when flying and clearing a TSA security checkpoint. 

Residents of Kentucky, Maine, Minnesota, Missouri, Montana, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, and Washington are the last remaining states in the Union that will have to use alternate ID forms (passport, military ID, or permanent resident card) even for domestic flights. 

The IDs from these nine states do not meet the federal government’s minimum security standards. And, according to the REAL ID Act of 2005, federal agencies (like the TSA) are prohibited from “accepting for certain purposes driver’s licenses and identification cards from states not meeting the Act’s minimum standards.” 

In order for states to pass the government’s security standards, they must verify every ID applicant’s identity, put anti-counterfeit technology in the production of the card and conduct background checks on those who issue driver’s licenses.

This is a big deal. The Federal government claims it is necessary to keep you safe while traveling – a worthy goal. But the reticent states are concerned about the privacy rights of their citizens – also a worthy goal. Where will it end? As of this writing nobody knows. But travelers from the nine states can either get a passport or wait and see if their state’s laws change in time to comply with the TSA.

With travel plans coming up sooner-than-we-expected, emergencies that never happen at a convenient time, and for just good peace of mind, knowing that you can fly when you want/need to, we at Good to Go with Patti Beth group travel company suggest you go ahead and fill out the paperwork, get those photos, etc. to get your passport (valid for ten years) as soon as possible. You just never known when we might announce that “trip of a lifetime” and you will want to be “Good to Go!”
 

After all, it will be 2018 before we know it!

Happy New Year!

A Creature WAS Stirring...

Before there was the Elf on the Shelf, there was the Mouse in the Tree. 

As your family comes in for Christmas, maybe part of the fun has been pulling out decorations from years past.  The little homemade ornaments from elementary school that have blobs of glitter and a flood of memories. Pictures of kids on Santa’s knees, maybe those kids have kids now. If you have a sentimental tree like I do, then each bauble and bulb adorns our Christmas tree with a little story. Once a year, these tiny treasures are like a time capsule to take us back to Christmas through the years.

I remember the reason for one ornament in particular. It was one of my first years being part of the Kountry Kuzins Jamboree Show and I couldn’t believe how much popcorn we threw away at the end of the evening. You need to know a couple of things, 1) I have been recycling, repurposing and pack-ratting for my entire life 2) Kountry Kuzins made their popcorn fresh every show and did not stir in the old with new the next show time. I couldn’t stand the waste, so that October, I started stringing popcorn to decorate our Christmas tree. I had miles of popcorn. I had it hanging off curtain rods, and over chair backs, just waiting on the tree to go up.

At last, the evergreen was brought in and the popcorn, the lovely buttered and completely salted strands of popcorn surrounded the spruce. I was so proud. But being a novice corn-stringer, I didn’t know that popcorn would “shrink,” because I discovered that there would be bare thread showing. I would shove the kernels to the end, tie a new knot and go on. This went on. And on.

One day, my favorite nephew (about six years old at the time) was admiring my tree. He hunted me up and asked, “Aunt Patti, why is there a mouse in your Christmas tree?” Seemed like a good question to me, so we went to look, and sure enough, there was Mr. Mouse, eating his way down the string of popcorn like Pac Man.  I had set up a literal buffet line for the little creeps! Well, deck the halls.

Country Living magazine may have instructions on how to decorate with old fashion charm, but I didn’t have a resource for getting wildlife out of the decorations. So, I set a trap. A mousetrap. In the tree. It worked! In fact, it worked three times! Let me tell you, finding a dead rodent limp and lifeless on a limb can be a good feeling during the holiday season!

So it began, the family bought me mouse ornaments to go on my tree, along with others that heard my story. And every year I pull out that ratty mousetrap and attach it to a branch and arrange the artificial mice around as warning. The family comes in and looks to see that the tree, free of popcorn (I learned that lesson) is also free of vermin.

Here’s wishing you and your family wonderful memories that you can treasure in years to come! Merry Christmas!

Where Did They Go?

I had a black lab once, her name was Ebony. (I know, clever.) This was back in my poor college student days, and we could hardly afford to feed ourselves, we had no business owning a dog. Labradors are big dogs with big appetites, especially when they aren’t eating their fill every meal. (I know, this is going to make my pet friends sad to hear this, but we were young, and broke, and that’s all I’ve got to offer as far as an excuse.) Ebony would meet us at the car and look to see if we had a sack of dog food. If we didn’t she would sulk a bit. I got where I hated to make eye-contact with the pooch.

One day, I met a neighbor that lived a few doors down. She asked me if I had any idea that they had been feeding my dog. I was confused; I looked over in the dog’s pen and back at the neighbor and asked for clarification. She went on to explain that when our cars left the driveway, Ebony would leap the fence and call on the neighbors. I guess it was a bit like trick or treating, because they came up with treats and Ebony caught on quick to this trick. If that wasn’t humiliating enough, neighbor said, “Oh, it gets better! This week she came to our door with her dog dish in her mouth. Dropped it right there on the porch and barked for us to come out.”

Eek.

I had neglected something and it had gone elsewhere.

I was reminded of this story this week as I played hometown tourist and took in some local attractions. I went to Har-Ber Village for the lights on Main Street. I was surprised there weren’t many people when I was there. There weren’t as many decorations as I remember from the past couple of years. I learned that this would be the last year for this event.

 I stood on the side of the street to cheer on the local Christmas Parade. There’s nothing like a hometown, small town parade with all the kids piled on the flat bed trailers! This year’s parade was well represented by churches and fire trucks. Nothing wrong with that, but it seemed that there were business  floats  missing  from the  regular lineup , organizations that were that  absent, and­­­­­ we were a half a dozen marching bands short. Maybe it was the wintery, Christmas-like temperatures that kept some folks from participating in these local hometown activities. It could be that there were too many celebrations going on for people to support everything. It might even be that locals don’t support hometown attractions.  And I’ve learned from experience, if you don’t take care of what is in your backyard, there may be a day when we discovered our pet has taken its dish to the neighbor to get fed.

We don’t want to lose these small town opportunities! We can’t starve them out and expect them to be there when WE want them to be available. Our little community has seen attractions and events come and go through the years, the “going” often times can be blamed on poor attendance, lack of participation, and perhaps just plain ol’ apathy on the part of us locals. If we don’t “feed” these things, then we can’t be mad or sad when they jump the fence and go somewhere else.