May 25, 2010
Back at it
OK, I am writing this on an iPad, and given my limited HTML skills it might not go well so bear with me.
Art Court has started which means I am back at the Beaverton Farmers' Market. Our first week was spectacular, great weather, traffic and activity. this week, not so much so. for starters, my market neighbor, Cyndi wasn't there, her mom took a tumble and they were out late getting her checked out at the ED late the night before (she is doing fine). My canopy was soaked and so had to dry out in our living room and my sales didn't quite cover the price of admission. Oh well, some days are like that. Life is moving on for my market friends, Izzy and Steve are moving to California in late June, city TBD, Liz and Shari are likely moving to Arizona, Shirley's husband Ray is scheduled for a biopsy to stage his bladder cancer, Bo and Frank's granddaughters are way tall and growing up fast, Paula is sooo happy (David is a keeper). The market remains a happy place to be, and I have learned that life is all about change, but since I like it the way it has been, I just might have a bit of sadness to deal with as these changes unfold.
May 14, 2010
A New Season
We have been blessed with some perfect days lately, sunny, mid-seventies, which give hope amidst the other blustery days that bookend them. For me it is particularly enjoyable as I am just returning to an active life after three month of dealing with fractured ribs...not something I recommend to anyone.
The Beaverton Farmers' Market has started up again, and Art Court, the venue I am associated with at the market starts this week. I am looking forward to it, the market is a happy place to be with its own sense of community. Last Saturday, since I couldn't stay away from the market even if Art Court hadn't started yet, we rode our bikes to the market and did a bit of shopping. It was a nice intro to my future Saturdays of this summer. I saw some familiar faces--Paula, Lisa F., had some tasty samples and saw some market icons- market master, Ginger (who doesn't know who I am but was part of the Wilson High School Band parents group that I led), and of course the honker's wife, or perhaps more correctly by now, the honker's widow. Rather than referring you to age-old posts about the honker, in past years there was a car parked in the handicapped parking near where we are every Saturday. An elderly man sat in the passenger seat while his wife shopped and shopped at the market. He became bored/agitated, you can decide and started honking the horn of the car...continually. She returned to drop off purchases and dashed off for more shopping as the honking continued. Last year there was no honking and she had a different car, an older Volvo wagon with a large box in the back...hmm was the honker there or not?
February 24, 2010
Going for Gold!
I made my own run for gold this week. For the past several years I have done a lot of travel on Alaska Airlines and have enjoyed their MVP Gold status. 2009 was a different sort of year and as my boss told it, "my wings were clipped". I had resigned myself to moving back to the rank and file of fliers, but knew Dan and I would miss the perks this gave us--first class upgrades, no baggage fees, no change fees, etc. Well, Alaska sent me an email a couple of weeks ago suggesting that if I had a certain number of segments (that is one take off and landing) by mid-March they would make me "golden" again. I spent last Friday flying up and down the west coast and got my gold back. That means we need to make the most of our travel opportunities this year, wahoo!
December 6, 2009
Crime Scene
Got up early this morning to get to work on my last few outstanding glass orders of the year. I like early morning, the possibilities are exciting. Today I came downstairs to find evidence of an assault in our entry way. The victim, Frosty, a 3 ft. tall stuffed snowman who presides over winter from his perch on a sled near the stairs to our dining room had obviously been the victim of a serious attack. He had been knocked from his sled, lay sprawled across the entry way with the tassle from his hat dimembowled. A sad sight indeed. As is reported in criminology literature, the suspected perpetrator, Ollie spent a lot of time admiring his alleged handiwork. Frosty has taken another dive today, but as of this report is standing tall.
November 29, 2009
Ah, The Holidays
Much to my surprise Thanksgiving has come and gone. Dan's parents, sisters and their families come to our house and those who have been here before know the drill so it is pretty easy. Lee and Clare usually arrive Tuesday afternoon and have their annual visit with Sandy who keeps our lives in order. This year Sandy was gone by the time they got here, so they missed that catch up. The others start arriving Thursday morning. Dan and I start the turkey, cranberries, etc., but once the others arrive they get to work. This year Aaron peeled potatoes, and Matt riced and mixed them. As usual Clare did the salad, and suddenly it was dinner time.
Ollie is usually the life of the party, hasn't met many audiences he isn't prepared to wow with his acrobatics. Apparently Thanksgiving is different, he spent most of it hiding in the depths of our closet. Our guests all left by about 8 on Saturday. It took him until 8:30 to leave our bedroom, cautiously surveying the house to confirm his assumption that all of those extra people were gone. It took him another 30 minutes to get his swagger back, and 15 minutes more to assume command of the household. All is well.
November 19, 2009
Ahhh
A couple of months ago (actually at Linda's memorial) some friends from our college days talked to us about joining them for a Hawaii vacation in November. It was tempting, but afterall, the economy stinks and in all likelihood the sky is falling...how could we possibly do something so radical. Dan finally convinced me that spending money on a vacation was not in fact evil, and was something reasonable for us to do. As it turned out our friends were going to Kauai and the return flight on my airline of choice is a red-eye. That didn't sound like a proper ending for a vacation so we decided to go to Maui and hook up with our friends later on the mainland. Long story short, our Maui return ended up as a more or less red-eye, it is 3:30 a.m. and we just got home. Oh well
We had a great trip in all, some parts better than others, but something I would repeat.
The highlights:
- first class upgrades are really nice, these were probably our last since I don't travel much these days.
- The Sacred Pools near Hana
- Snorkeling at Molokini, awesome!
- the views from Haleakala
- Lunch at Mama's Fish House
The unbelievables
- People actually riding bikes UP Haleakala
- The young woman sunning near us who repeatedly arranged, admired and photographed her cleavage, multiple wardrobe changes involved.
Mahalo, life is good.
November 2, 2009
A splendid weekend
Dan and a small group of his friends from high school had their mini 40th year anniversary here last weekend. They numbered 3, a very select group. I was privileged to tag along, nice because I have long history with two of the three, obviously Dan, and his friend Pat was also a friend of mine in the dorm at Washington State in 1970. Their third, Nancy is yet another affable person and easy to blend with as was her jusband Rhett who joined us for Friday dinner. The hard part for me was keeping my lips zipped while they were planning the weekend, but I am glad I did, they came up with an agenda that was different than I would have that was great.
Saturday found us doing Portland's T4. It starts at the zoo, hiking to Portland's highest point, Council Crest, and on to OHSU, a 4 mile hike. From there we rode the tram to the Willamette River waterfront, and caught the streetcar to downtown Portland. We had lunch during the day's only downpour, and bathed in sunshine headed to MAX for the trainride back to the zoo.
After dinner Saturday the "classmates" headed out to a dancing studio for an evening of ballroom dancing which ended up being salsa dancing. Their evening ended earlier than planned and theywere back here for the end of the trick or treating hours.
Sunday we headed to Cannon Beach. Who would have thought that November 1 on the Oregon Coast would be a day when we would shed our fleece and walk on the beach basking in the glow of the sunshine. Too sweet!
October 14, 2009
Seasons
Just a few days ago it was summer, suddenly it is fall with hints of winter. I have mixed feelings about this, I relish summer, the long days and warmth, but there is something comforting about the colors of fall and the coziness of preparing for winter. The changes have been most notable for me at the Beaverton Farmers' Market. The produce is dwindling, along with the crowds. My artist and farmer friends are moving on to other things. Shirley has gone to Yuma, Roberta is busy with classes, Cyndi is preparing for a medical procedure, Lisa is doing wedding shows, Denny is enjoying his new gallery venue, Izi ismixing up her shows, our little community is winding down for the year. I enjoy the market, if I were to make a rational decision about participating I wouldn't do it, it will never pay the bills, and setting up and tearing down is plain hard work, but it is a happy place to be and I value the new relationships I have gained as a result of my time there. I don't know how many more weeks I will have there this season, the weather is getting less cooperative by the week. I will miss my friends over the winter, but look forward to a full report in the spring about Paula and her new soul-mate!
September 7, 2009
The Send Off,/p>
We said goodbye to Linda on Saturday. It was a nice service at a church near their home, followed by a party at the house. Bob had wanted to do the whole thing at the house, but quickly learned that the numbers of friends and colleagues who wanted to attend made that impossible. I think that Linda was comfortable with the service, despite the setting, a church. Churches weren't a venue you would find her in--daughter Megan once asked "what are all those buildings with the 't's" on them.
The tributes appropriately recognized her very social nature and ability to make everyone feel like her best friend. Her education colleagues repeatedly voiced their respect for her expertise and dedication to education. Bob delivered a flawless account of their lives together, don't know how he was able to buck up and do that, hats off to him. It felt right./p
We also had a chance to re-connect with our college friends Judy and Gary. I can't believe it has been over 20 years since we saw them, it is funny how time disappears with old friend, after a little catching up it was like old times.
August 23, 2009
Goodbye My Friend
My friend Linda lost her battle with glioblastoma today, a life well-lived and a battle hard-fought. Peace be with you my friend.
August 5, 2009
Dan's Bittersweet Day
We played golf early again last Sunday morning, teed off at 5:25 and finished at 8 AM, in time for Dan to swing by the house for a quick shower before he went to church. Playing early enough that a golf game doesn't impact the rest of the day is something that I am enjoying.
A couple of weeks ago we stopped to visit our friends Bob and Linda in Olympia, had a nice lunch in their incredible setting--overlooking the Sound, great deck and perfect weather. As we were leaving Bob showed us his new pride and joy, a new driver, and ended up sending his old one home with Dan. This driver and Dan developed a great friendship, it helped him conquer holes that had stymied him for more than a decade and gave him new hope for his game. On Sunday he was having a great round, it ended up equalling his best-ever. On the tee at#16 he hit a shot that was OK, a lay that I would die for, but not great for him, and looking down after the shot, there was the club head on the ground, detached from the shaft in his hand, broken. My source of relief was that it didn't break 20 minutes earlier as I had tried it on an earlier hole, that would have been bad. Dan's new best friend is at a golf shop getting a new shaft attached that should match the original and hopefully he will be in good shape for the tournament he will play with his dad next weekend.
July 30, 2009
The March of the Salamanders and other stories from the Inferno
It has been HOT in Portland for the past week. Hotter than we are prepared for. One morning this week we headed out early for a round of golf. At 5:10 AM as I drove down I-5 to the course the display at a car dealer said it was 81 degrees. It was bearable, but warm for our round, and the course's efforts to stay ahead of the water demands were obvious, puddles everywhere and we had to time several of our shots with the sprinkler rotations. On the 17th green, this would be close to 8 AM, 85 degrees, we saw a salamander wending his way across the green, his trek reminded me of my hikes where I climbed over 3 foot logs, not easy. We looked further and saw 7 or more salamanders on this trek. They were all headed the same direction from the holding pond normally to the left of the green that was nearing empty, toward the woods on the right side of the green...Seven or more salamanders, 10 feet apart all headed the same direction, somehow they had a conversation, but how? "Marge, it is time to bug out, the neighborhood is drying out and we need to move on, tell the kids".
The hot weather and Kyle's visit for his birthday have made for some nice times for us. Andrew and Diana haven't had AC in their apartment, so for much of the past week they have sought refuge at our house, which means that we have had all three of them here most of the time, how perfect is that? Kyle heads back to DC tomorrow and the weather is moderating, so the party won't continue, but it has been nice. A few lessons learned as a result of the heat, five people eat a lot more than two, so I've been to the store more than usual, 90 degrees is not a good temperature for working in my studio, and is also not a good time for my kiln to be on. This is Portland so the weather will change soon, and this heat will become a distant memory.
July 16, 2009
Kyle is on his way!
Kyle decided that he wanted to come to Oregon for a couple of weeks for his birthday. How could we say no?! His flight from DC should be landing in Seattle in about 20 minutes, and then a quick hop to Portland and he will be here. The timing of the trip ended up being perfect, I need to have him where I can see him for a while. Last Friday night he called to tell us that he had been mugged. He was walking, about four blocks from his house in Washington DC when he was attacked from behind. Other than scraped knees, black eyes and the loss of $30 he is fine, but still I need to see him. I am reminded of a line from a book that we read when the kids were little..."as long as I am living my baby you will be". Couldn't be more true.
July 15, 2009
Great Weekend
I am off from my day job for a few days and just had a lovely weekend. After the Beaverton Farmers Market on Saturday we loaded up the Mini and headed for Washington on Sunday morning. Had lunch with Dan's sister Ann in La Conner and then went to the Pilchuck Glass Open House. This is like the Holy Land for glassers, so was something I had long anticipated. It is an inspiring site, every nature scene you could hope to see in the NW. I have to admit that the open house didn't wow me like I had expected, but as a fuser in the land of blowing that is probably something I should have expected. I do however have to admit that there is magic in those woods, and it is something that I need to experience one of these years.
From Pilchuck we took the ferry to Pt. Townsend, a place that we spent several weeks hanging out while our kids attended Jazz camps at Centrum. It was nice to see that most of our favorite haunts were still viable some 10 years later. We played golf at Pt. Ludlow and then headed south for the highlight of our weekend./p>
Visit with Bob and Linda We had lunch with our college friends Bob and Linda who live in an amazing spot on the Sound in Olympia. We haven't seen them as much as we would like or should, but when we get together it is just like old times. Linda is the friend I have mentioned who is battling a glioblastoma (ickiest of brain tumors) for the past 2 + years. As all relationships are transitory, things like this remind me of how much so they are. Linda is doing well. She has started dealing with some of the consequences of her tumors that she has been quizzed about for the past two years, but is optomistic that the PT and OT that she started today will help her manage these. She retains her incredible attitude and has an outstanding team in Bob and their daughter Megan supporting her. As I have said before, if anyone can beat this, Linda can. We had a nice visit, as evidenced by the sunburn on the right side of my face I lost track of time and came home to celebrate our daughter in law Diana's birthday. What a nice weekend.
May 31, 2009
Owl as Lark
For most of my life I have savored sleeping as late as possible. To that end I have slept though fire alarms, earthquakes and a variety of domestic events. A few years ago I signed up for a bike to work challenge and managed to dislodge myself from bed to ride at daybreak. Surprisingly it was a transformational experience. I arrived at work awake, alive and happy. In time I realized that I could rise early for other things as well, and now, three years later I am usually awake before 5 AM, and enjoying it.
I enjoy playing golf, but am not ready for golf to be "my lilfe". Regular play takes a very long time and waiting for other golfers to do their pre-putt dances, and other rituals makes me crazy. fortunately Dan and I have similar timing so we are able to happily finish 18 holes in 2.5-3 hours if no one is ahead of us. We have recently made an effort to be the first to tee off at our favored course, and it has been great. To be finished with 18 holes at 8:15 AM and the rest of the day ahead of us, how great is that?
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