It Snowed in my Forest!

I have a miniature forest and some "boulders" on the railing of my deck. It's very cute and rather full of trees. I may have to do some logging soon, as I'm not sure there is room for all the hemlock and spruce trees that are growing in this little area.

This summer Mike had the house re-roofed and new gutters installed. This wee forest was growing in one portion of his rain gutter and was removed whole. Not being able to discard it, Mike saved it and I have adopted the trees for my own. The dish was found at Raintree and was the perfect shape and size. I have no idea how long my forest can survive here or exactly what kind of care it will need. It is very charming now and I'm hopeful that I can maintain it for quite a while.

And, about the snow. The storm took Portland by complete surprise this afternoon and resulted in a traffic snarl the likes in which I have never before had the displeasure of participation. My normally 50 minute trip home was three hours tonight and without my studded tires I would likely be one of those cars that you see in a ditch on the 11:00 0:clock news. As it was, I had no "incidents" other than not being able to cross the river for 2 hours. I am still trying to relax enough to sleep. Hence, I am updating my Blog!

So, goodnight to all and Happy New Year!

Christmas in St. Helens

Christmas day was beautiful here. It was suuny, just a slight breeze and 35 degrees. For those of you in warmer climates, 35 degrees may seem too cold to be considered beautiful. But, keep in mind that, just about 10 days ago it was 4 degrees and 11 degrees here. So, 35 is downright balmy for this time of year.

Seeing the sun out and not going out myself seemed more than I could stand, so I went for a walk. As I made my way down the several flights of stairs that lead from 2nd Street to the waterfront, I noticed that the old, corroded pipes that had served for handrails for untold years had been replaced with new shiny black powder-coated pipes. The last time Mike & I had taken those stairs we mentioned that those old pipes were getting sharp and dangerous. Someone else in my little quaint town must have noticed too.

Standing by the fence in Columbia View Park, I watched a tug (are they still "tugs" when they push and not pull?) pushing several large barges up the river. He was making good time against the current, perhaps 6 knots. Maybe the barges were empty. I hoped the tug captain was enjoying the solitude of the sunny quiet river on Christmas day as much as I was. I walked down onto the public docks, now completely empty save for a lone fellow fishing. He was bundled against the cold but seemed to be enjoying the day. The water was still and the reflection of the silently moored boats in the slips was irresistable for snapping a photo.

I continued on my walk around to the public boat launch, also totally deserted on such a fine day. Oh, there was the occasional person walking a dog in the distance (most likely at the dog's request) but not the people that this day deserved. Again, the reflection of a lovely red boat was more than any photographer worth the title could resist.....and resist I did not! Same to be said for the interesting black bird on the old pier piling. The bird noticed me and seemed to preen and pose for my picture. I obliged with several takes.

As I made my way back towards home Eric called to wish me a good day. He accompanied me all the way home chatting about Dylan (their new son) and about going to visit his sister Karen on Sunday. Eric is one of those folks that would think 35 is too cold for a pleasant walk. His loss!

A Long Needed Update

Well, here I am again afer a long absence. I could make excuses, but they'd be just that: excuses. Life gets in the way and I forget to blog. But then again, maybe no one really cares anyway!

Mike & I had a charmed and magical road trip this summer. We went back to where we met 50 years ago. I have spent the last 2-3 hours trying to get my Picassa program to upload a folder of our pictures onto this Blog site. To no avail, obviously, since you don't see a folder here. But, I will include a couple of the photos if I can.

In August of 1959 someone (we don't remember who) took a photo of the two of us in Reds Meadow campground. That was the weekend we met and both our families were getting ready to leave. The camera was Mike's but the photographer remains unremembered. Reds Meadow is near Mammoth, California in the Sierra Nevada range of mountains. We were determined to find that exact spot this summer and re-take that photo. We were indeed able to find "the spot" and found a kind fellow that tried his darndest to replicate the original. He held the original photo in one hand and my digital camera in the other while moving us to the right, the left, fore and aft. I'll include both photos here.

We also were able to hike where we hiked as children and young adults. Most of the area and campground is basically unchanged. There was a fire several years ago that destroyed a lot of very beautiful forest. I had hiked there the following year and was saddened nearly to tears. I was able to warn Mike, but, even with the growth that has taken place, the view was changed from what we knew before.

The trip was awesome and without problems. We had a wonderful time; so much so that we kept adding on and prolonging our vacation, finally ending up tacking on 3 days in Kahneeta before we finally drove home.

OK, OK, It's not Still Snowing in St. Helens

This winter has been filled with things other than snow.................although for a time it seemed as if that would not be true. After several weeks of snow and more snow the "normal" rain returned and most things returned to what a regualr winter is like here in Oregon.

The different part for me was that, after 35 years, I returned to college in January . I enrolled in PSU as a Psychology major with the ultimate (and far, far away right now) goal of earning my Masters of Counseling. First, though, I must finish my BS degree. I am enjoying school more than I ever imagined possible! I have made some really cool new friends, all of whom are younger than several of my grandchildren. But, it seems as if the classroom is the great equalizer and I am just another student trying to maintain a good GPA. So far my grades are great. We'll see how far that lasts when I take Statistics in the Fall. For the first time in many years I actually looked forward to Spring Break and am certainly looking forward to Summer vacation. Did you know that an almost 65 year old can get by on 5 1/2 to 6 hours of sleep for 10 or 11 weekes at a time? Well, I can if I can sleep in on Saturday morning. Of course, during Spring Break and Summer vacation I still have my "day job" which requires 40-50 hours a week. Bummer!!

The rest of the winter was filled with cutting and stacking (and burning) firewood. There were several weeks at a time where the weather was bad enough and cold enough that I couldn't even get to the coast to see Mike. That was not fun. But Spring has arrived at last and we are beginning to do things again. Last month we drove, in the Jag with the top down, to the Woodburn Tulip Festival. It was a beautiful drive, a long wait to get in, and the tulips were as pretty as ever.

Today we took a hike into some actual forest where, thankfully, there hasn't been logged in many years. It was so beautiful and peaceful we didn't want to leave. Riley came with us even though he had gome on a run with me earlier in the day. Mike found an enormous fallen tree whose roots had been wrapped aroung a volkswagon sized boulder. It had fallen and still had pieces of and imprints of the boulder in the roots. And growing on the ground side of the now up-ended roots was a beautiful Trilium. What a beautiful place we found. I'm sure we'll go back again.

So, I have a midterm exam on Tuesday. But as this quarter winds to an end I will try to be better about keeping up my BLOG. This summer should bring some interesting photos as we plan to retrun to Reds Meadow again to celebrate 50 years since we met. That should be a kick and the roadtrip there should be great as well.