July 28th CSNY Concert

I'm going to try to put a bunch of photos on the BLOG tonight. Last Friday night the "Capper Family" went to the Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young concert at the Clark County Amphitheater. While not everyone is technically a Capper, it was the "tribe" as much as Mike could get them all together. This was Mike's treat for the family and we had a wonderful time. The music, of course, was wonderful and even the younger generation was amazed that they knew so many of the songs. Actually, in the end, the concert turned out to be (as in the 60's) an anti-war concert. We knew that and Johnny (Mike's conservative brother) was the best sport ever, even though it must have cost him dearly. He pretended not to "hear" and was a dear for the entire evening.

I think I gave Bonnie heart failure when I jumped up to cheer at Neil Young's song "Let's Impeach the President." She nearly died, I'm sure, but then the rest of the family stood up too. I believe Bonnie finally stood as well. We all reamined standing for the rest of the concert and sang along with the music.

We had a wonderful time and it was great to just be together. I know many of these photos are certainly not my best work, but they are a record of a fun family event and I hope you all enjoy them as much as we enjoyed the concert.

We had a great time the next day with John and Bonnie. We had breakfast at the Ridgefield Golf Course and then took a wonderful tour of the Ridgefield Wildlife Refuge. I, thinking we were only to eat breakfast, didn't bring my camera (stupid!!!!) so we'll need to return to this wonderful area. We did get to pick and eat blackberries and stand on a bridge and watch traine go under us.

Enjoy the photos! I'll try to include some recent ones of my flourishing garden later this week.

July 17, 2006

I ran a 5K this Sunday. It's the same 5K I ran last July on the Beach in Seaside. We run about 1 1/2 blocks on the streets, then down the soft sand to the wet (hard) sand, down to the cove, back from them cove and up the SOFT sand and down to the finish. It's a relatively small race but a lot of fun. It's easy to strike up a conversation with folks who run. Either they are people who live nearby or are toursits who decide to run beacause they are there. For two years I have taken second place to casual tourists who "just happen to be there" and be in my age group. YUK!!! While I treasure my second place medals (gotten mostly becaue I am OLD and most ladies my age can't, or don't, run) I would certainly prefer a first place. NEXT YEAR!!!! This year I managed to persuade Peter Lindsay, Mike's long-time friend and co-worker, to run, along with his friend Jim (who has been a track coach and runs very, very well) to run this race. Of course, we were among the "elders" who ran. Peter and I took a second place medal and Jim ( who is the better runner of us all by far) took a third. I collected all our medals as the guys went to eat breakfast after the race. After I had collected Peter's and Jim's Medals and then my own, I explained to the M-Cee that we would all meet at happy hour at the tavern. He concluded (over the microphone) that he now knew the secret of the Cannon Beach runners........it was beer! We all met later in the day at Happy Hour at The Lumberyard tavern. Peter and Jim pretended to be very "embaressed" to receive their medals, but I believe they were pleased, especially Peter who somehow thought I might beat him. RIGHT, like some one with a 28 inch inseam could beat a 6'2" guy! Right!!! Not a chance.
I have included a photo here of us with our medals. I hope next year we can all collect our medals again. As Jim Babson reminded us, perhaps only 10-15% of folks our age can even do this, so we should wear our medals with pride.............even though we seem to have had little competition in the actual race. In the greater race of life, I believe we are winners for sure.

July 14, 2006

Rain, sun, rain.......it's Oregon! Actually, it was very reassuring to have the rain again the past two days. It doesn't feel quite right here when the sun shines too many days in a row. I love the sun, but I need the comfort of the rain too. Perhaps I'm not really a Californian at all, just a misplaced Oregonian.

I still need to program my automatic sprinkler for the garden. I will do that in the morning before I go to the coast. I have a ripe tomato!!!! And two ripe cucumbers along with many onions and lots of lettuce. My hot peppers are growing and the cilantro...dadgumit...has bloomed! So, I guess I will need to cut it, dry it or (Heaven forbid) buy it, to make salsa. The roses in the "circle" are doing really, really well. Lots of blooms and new growth. I finally got to see one bud on my front yard roses that the local deer missed. It's PINK! I don't know if they're all pink or just that one. I may never know if I can't find something to keep the deer from eating the new growth. And I thought that would only happen at the coast. Stupid me.

My south neighbors are having an 85th borthday party for Jessie tomorrow. I will mow my lawn before I leave so it looks better for them. I trimmed those awful grey plants that Edna & I both hate last evening so she coiuld see the dahlias bloom. I planted those on my little strip of land between us for her pleasure and she waters them for me. They are doing nicely and have good blooms. I weeded along there too, but then, that keeps the weeds from under my fence as well.

I took some additional moon photos at the coast last weekend when there was a full moon. Since they logged near Mike's all we have is the younger forest from the last clear-cut alost 15 years ago. But those trees are growing and they made a good background for the moon.

I'm running that awful 5K on the sand in Seaside again Sunday morning. I can't imagine I'll do very well this year as I haven't trained near as much as I did last year, but it's a fun run to do and the weather should be nice again. Peter and his friend are also running. I wonder if I will even see them. Peter seems to have such a phobia about me being a faster runner than he. What rot that is!!! But, perhaps he'll see how badly he beats me and will get over that. Anyway, it should be fun and I'll definately get my run in for the day....and a T-shirt to boot.

After the 4th

Back to work after one day!! UGH! But the weekend looms. I'd thought to have an HTC team meeting on Saturday, but not enough folks can attend. So, I'll go to the coast instead. I've made a deal with my across-the-street neighbor to water my garden in exchange for some spending money for her. She doesn't work so I think that will be a bonus for Lori and certainly for me as well. Perhaps next Saturday will be better for my team and we'll get to decide some stuff........like who's running which legs.

I though someone might like to see a cute photo of a green tree frog masquerading as a sunflower bud in Mike's neice's yard. I'd thought it was the beginning of a flower and bent the plant to look and the "bud" hopped to the next leaf! There is a wee spider to the right of the frog. I'm sure that arachnid made a tasty mid-afternoon snack for Ms. Treefrog.

The moon was playing hide & seek with the last of the clouds this evening and I tried a couple of night photos with my little Canon A610. Interesting shots, if not good. But I'll include them here as well.

Have a great weekend. I hope to be able to run both days and enjoy my other garden at the coast. Perhaps even mat and frame a few photos as I have a request to "decorate" another Doc's exam rooms at the clinic.

Happy 4th of July

When I bought my home, the former owner told me I had the "best seat in town" for watching the 4th of July fireworks here in St. Helens. Well, he was correct.

I spent the daylight hours gardening and, unintentionally, dog-sitting my neighbor's dog. About 2pm Buster "busted out" of the yard. I stuffed him back in once and re-barricaded the exit-or so I thought. Five minutes later, Buster was out again. The two neighbor girls and I tried to get him back through the fence. We finally dissolved in laughter when Buster went limp and none of us could manage the 110 pound dog. I thought he would stay with them since there were several young folks out. But I misjudged the dog. Going back to my gardening, I soon found a cold, wet, friendly nose nudging me. We spent the remainder of the late afternoon and evening planting roses, edging with bricks and loudly discussing where Buster would roam. When the M8Os would detonate, he would retreat under my deck and whine. If it was only firecrackers or piccolo petes, he would glue himself to my leg or hide under my deck chair where I retreated to have a beer. Buster is a great dog, but I would have no garden with such a beast. About 6:30 Jeff & Carol returned from boating in the river and reclaimed the dog. They had many apologies and gratitude, but I totally enjoyed my afternoon with Buster.

Evening came and the "real" fireworks began. My 16 X 16 deck is certainly the place to be to observe this show. I took several photos that I will include here. The illumination revealed my work for the day. I have planted miniture roses between my larger ones and they look very nice. I also planted Mike's mother's rose against my back fence. I hope it does as well there as it did for Kate and as it has for Mike. It is really a beautiful rose and should climb all over my fence.

The "find" of the day for me was a rose called Bonica. Mike has one at the coast and it is a favorite of ours. It is a shrub rose and has beautifully delicate pink blooms. I found one at, of all places, Wal-Mart. I purchased it and have planted it against my south wall very nearly under Edna's kitchen window. It, hopefully, will do well there and continue to provide those wonderful pink blooms.