Beach I, II and III

August just wouldn't be August without a trip to the Oregon Coast but what about three trips?  That's what I'm doing.  Beach I trip was to Seaside where my sister and I reunited with a near total of 20 female relatives from our Dad's side of the family with two males thrown in just to keep us on our toes.  The women are all special personalities keeping the boredom level at rock bottom zero.  And speaking of zero boredom, I was fascinated with a little painted rock garden that Tracie, Bobbie and I found at the beach entrance at the end of Avenue W.  We learned about it from a little painted rock display at the yarn shop (we rate this a five star yarn shop, by the way) which featured some very nicely painted rocks and a well-written little description for how to get to the little garden. Beach goers are invited to paint rocks and contribute them to the garden and when we saw it, all three of us enjoyed exclaiming over the various rocks.  And we followed up that with a visit to the flower garden at a nearby motel (can't remember the name) that was spectacular.  So the weekend centered around these motley gardens of women, rocks and flowers.  I loved it.

Beach II was Lincoln City.  Just picture perfect weather at the Coast:   Blue, blue sky overhead, the calm blue ocean punctuated with whale spouts, a light tangy breeze and you have exactly what we experienced.  I have never seen such glorious weather at the beach. Pair that with the perfect ocean view from our comfortable room and top everything off with time spent with our oldest friends in the world who travel up from Arizona every year to spend time in cool, cool Oregon.  We laughed and strolled and played games and ate great food and remembered old times and places together and took pictures of each other in front of the gorgeous flowers at the Salishan Market Place.  Life was at its peak for us.

Tomorrow is Beach III.  Bobbie and I will go to Lincoln City to sign and sell books at Bob's Beach Books.  The weather seems to holding out so we will meet lots of interesting people and enjoy some time in the fresh air.  My new book is ready for the display table and I can't wait for readers to enjoy it.  Then I hope we'll get to enjoy a gorgeous drive back home through the farm land of the valley.  That drive has its own summer flavor and I enjoy it every time I drive it. As an old Oregonian, I've certainly made that trip plenty of times hoping to catch the magic of a sunny day at the Oregon Coast and that magic sparkled big time for I and II and we holding our breaths for III as well.

Ahhhhh Summer!

Here are the raspberries I bought last week at the Farmer's Market at Black Butte Ranch.  I can't think of a better way to capture the essence of summer.

The Boobs Return

You may remember Boobs Clea and her sister Boobs from last summer.  They are the Barbie doll sisters whose mother liked the name Boobs so much that she gave that name to both of her daughters.  Remember, too, that there's nothing disrespectful about the name in any way.  It's just a way that Mrs. Clea had of determining that her daughters would be athletic.  I know the meaning is somewhat cloudy but I think it has to do with my granddaughters' associating strong girls with large, well-endowed bodies along with a healthy dose of spirit.  Well, the Boobs girls are back and busy at being in charge of the entire Barbie population at my grandgirls household. (The population, by the way, is so large that the girls' mother doesn't really like to think or talk about it.)  When I asked about how these extraordinary dolls maintain control of the stylish, complicated clan, I was told that if one of the Barbies does something wrong, she gets tossed into the trash.  That's it.  Seems to be keeping everyone in the Bonus Room in line.

But maybe they've met their match. Way last summer I promised Alicia that I'd buy her an American Girl doll if she quit biting her fingernails.  I never thought she would and so I'd therefore be safe from the outrageous expenditure of this coveted doll.  I didn't factor in a sudden loss of many teeth that rendered the habit of nail biting impossible so the new doll arrived this morning.  She is truly a special doll and very well made but still not worth the bucks I put out.  She does, however, promise to have lots of doll power so maybe she'll put the Boobs girls in their places.  I do know for sure that the new doll will be coming to live at my house if Alicia grows enough nail biting teeth and starts up the practice again.  I hope a name has been chosen for her by then.  It's awkward to refer to Boobs Clea and the American Girl doll in the same sentence.  It just doesn't seem like a fit. She really needs a name soon.

Waterfalls to Trees

At long last the first draft of my new book is finished.  I learned more about writing from this experience than in all the years I taught it.  First:  Remember to be willing to change your subject and content at any second.  That's what you need to do if you start out writing about waterfalls and end up writing about trees.  Second:  Don't let the content depend on the seasons.  If you're planning a perfect fall day for the setting and need to do some field work, you'll find out that the perfect day will also land on the day when you need an emergency tooth extraction.  Third:  If kids are in any way involved in the writing process, you need to remember how many meltdowns a six year old can have in any given half day time period.  Fourth:  If using artwork by said kids, you need to factor in that they may not be in a creative mood at the same time as your deadline for art rolls around.  And (this one turned out to be most vital) if you're planning to use your own photos as part of the illustrations, be EXTREMELY sure that you know how to download those photos without accidentally erasing them.  If you do, you'll have to talk the kids into another long car trip, trace the steps of the previous discovery hike and pray that the new batch of photos can approximate the first attempt.  Oh.  And you'll need to bribe the children with ice cream cones.

Spook, Root Beer and One Tick

What a weekend!  After five months of battling snow, wind, heavy rain, wet feet and clothes, goose chases after phantom hoots that turned out to be a grouse and other challenges we finally, finally caught up with a Great Gray owl.  In fact, we found both a parent and its owlet.  We only had to travel about 260 miles east to a spot about half way in between Meecham and LaGrande to narrow the searching field.  We took the Spring Creek "road" to another numbered "road" which was little more than a dirt lane bouncing our way over dips, doodles and mud holes to find the five trees out of the thousands and thousands that we'd passed in the Wallowa Whitman National Forest.  We didn't see them the first day and my legs were wobbly the second day from climbing up and down a shallow draw several times over trying to find  all the nesting platforms.  We found two derelict ones-two at the Spook nesting site and one in tact at the Root Beer site-but couldn't find hide nor feather of the one at Spook that was supposedly housing a baby. We retreated to  LaGrande where I found a tick on Bobbie's head which she smashed on the table with her knife and then brushed it on the floor at Mt. Emily's Ale House.  The server looked mildly on as all I said was, "Tick."  She seemed to get it right away.  Then I got to battle with an annoying case of diarrhea the next morning which made me fast track it behind a few of those thousands of trees I mentioned above.  Nothing like the feel of mountain air on one's nether regions while maintaining a thigh shaking pose in the undergrowth.  All trials were soon forgotten as we made one more trip down the draw where Bobbie spotted the baby within 30 minutes.  Look carefully in the middle of the lower photo and you can see him.  Within seconds she spotted the parent owl a few trees to the left which you can see if you look in the middle of the upper photo.  We did silent high fives and screamed without making sounds for awhile and then settled in to watch the birds for about an hour and a half.  We heard the parent make a few comforting hoots to her baby and even found owl feathers.  We sneaked in as close as we dared so as not disturb them.  They were amazingly tolerant allowing us to set up photo bases in their area.  We did just about everything except climb the trees and pet them.  What magnificent creatures!  We paid them a respectful farewell and spent the rest of the day seeing other wildlife and stunning landscapes in the Todd Marsh Wildlife Refuge.  What a way to spend a vacation weekend.

Trying To Sleep

Sleeping presents a whole new perspective for those of us who are aging.  First, there's the element of partner disturbance.  Even in the best of relationships, someone is bound to awaken the other with snoring, weird dream restlessness, discomfort, frozen limb rescuing,  temperature sensitivity and even more oddball aspects of sleep behavior that prevent us from sleeping  like unconscious walruses the way we did when we were thirty.  We learn what sleep apnea is and take on the alien appearance of an ET sleeper with the addition of the C-PAP machine.  Don't assume this is an easy process.  A number of trips to the doctor and an interesting "sleep study" at the hospital are required before acquiring this impossibly ugly piece of night gear.  The adjustment period is long and fraught with anxiety and comments such as, "Adjust your mask!  You're making funny breathing sounds!"  Well, no kidding.   With the advent of the C-PAP, we have moved beyond the commuting bed stage and into the era of thinking about getting a new bed. The trip to Maui and the blissful nights of sleeping in the king size bed next to the soothing sound of the sea cinch it for us.  We'll get a new bed.  So we do.  I look forward to sleeping on the new extra firm mattress between new sheets and under a new lightweight summer comforter.  I won't bring up the number of trips it took to purchase just the right kind of bedding for this new bed other than to say that Pat is definitely not a satin sheet sort of guy.  And weren't we surprised when the new bed is way too hard (like a concrete slab, according to Pat).  So we make a "comfort exchange."  I am more than a little anxious about how we'll survive our first night on our new "plush firm" mattress. I hope this one does the trick because I've run out of ideas about sleeping well for older folks.

"Live in the sunshine, swim in the sea"

The title describes exactly what I did this past week in Maui.  Everything ever said about Hawaii is absolutely true no matter how many times we visit.  From the bottom of the ocean at Ulua Beach where I swam with clouds of colorful fish to the top of Haleakala where I could almost see to Japan, I had vivid experience after vivid experience.  The water in the ocean was warm; the air on top of the mountain was cold and literally breathtaking.  The flowers that studded the edges of the paths at the Kula Botanical Gardens were like tropical jewels.  The small upcountry town of Makawao had some  intriguing art work and a cool tropical breeze.  Hilo Hattie and the ABC store had fun stuff to buy for souvies and Safeway was just a few blocks away where we bought stuff for our meals and enjoy the spectacular view from our lanai at the same time.  The little historical church and the lava beach at LaPerouse Beach at the south end of the island were two very vivid spiritual experiences.  Maui is indeed a place of vivid experiences.  But my favorite and most unforgettable time in Maui was bobbing in the ocean with the tropical sun above and the fish, turtles and coral below.  It's one of the times when I feel most one with the universe.