Tree Hunt

It's time to consider what to do with the ugly, bare spot left in my sister's lawn because of the loss of the 50 year old maple in one of last spring's storms. We figured we'd just plant a tree or three and compose a little mountain woodsy sort of landscape with some found objects and our communal artistic ideas. I can sort of see it already.

So within the last few days, we've explored five different nurseries. We've covered a fair piece of ground up and down the I-5 corridor including the famous Al's Garden in Woodburn. Guess what? It isn't all that easy to find conifer trees to purchase here in our naturally thick with conifers Oregon. We were really surprised.

After some real time browsing at actual nurseries and some internet exploration, Bobbie decided she likes mountain hemlocks and alpine firs the best. Pat and I know that alpine firs are not that easy to find and mountain hemlocks can be tricky to locate as well but, boy, did we find some good ones in a Salem area nursery. I won't say which one because their trees go on sale tomorrow and you'll all probably rush out to buy the very trees we want. I'll tell you about this fabulous source after we've made our purchase. Suffice it to say that this place has great nursery stock and helpful though rather unsmiling clerks. Their nursery stock is beautifully cared for and thriving in an accessible and very navigable lot.
And the gift shop has some great stuff in it too.

So we'll finish our research on soils (we want to berm the trees up a bit), figure out yards to units (Pat's job), and get on with the buying. Someday soon all three of us will be out in Bobbie's front yard creating the new piece of landscape and planting something new in the place where my dad cautioned my sister to let the twiggy little maple alone all those years ago.

Writer's Block

Oh, um. . .what to write about? Need to update the blog-no more fancy trips just the one long and hot weekend in Prineville keeping cool by the swamp cooler or breezing in the boat on the Reservoir all with fun friends-slept on memory foam mattress and bought our own on the way home but it's the new and improved one with memory gel along with the foam or some such thing and, boy, is it comfortable and my back feels better than it has in a long, long time-thinking lots about turning 64 next month especially with the Beatles' song "When I'm 64" running through my head many times per day-want to get in touch with my Stayton friends for a walk in the Wilderness (maybethisweekendifyou'rereadingthis?) so did a practice walk in the cool of this morning-was lovely but I was puffing a bit-it's the extra weight which is driving me crazy but I can't resolve what to do and I can't believe I'm actually putting that thought out into cyberspace-yikes!and fall will start next week with childcare responsibilities shaping our schedules again but then it's off to San Francisco to see our Derek and Brian special friends for some Bay Area fun and hi jinks before I have to prep for the in-service workshop I'm doing. That's it! A blog update!

Alaska is. . .

• Anchorage-big, wide, clean, friendly
• the Snow City Cafe-french toast stuffed with mandarin cream cheese
• a great yarn shop with friendly knitters and local yarn
• Talkeetna-a rustic, historic village north of Wasilla
• the cabin way out there where we could hear the salmon jumping as we sat by the campfire
• sun until nearly midnight when the daylight just dims
• Homer-a little town that thinks it's big but it can't compete with the mountains and the water around it
• Seward with its gorgeous Resurrection Bay and the police officer who spent his shift shooing off a mama bear and her three cubs from the out of town bridge where they were fishing
• big sky, big mountains, wildlife
• SERIOUS fishermen and women who wear their waders all day long and even in town
• a secret restaurant that is rated one of the top ten in the USA by the food network
• a place that needs to be revisited

Real life in Real Time-Mendenhall Glacier

The power of Alaska is easy to see on the trail to Mendenhall Glacier outside of Juneau. Hike along with wildflowers beside you and icy streams gurgling down the hillside to your right. See some bald eagles perched above in the trees. Study the huge striated rocks that are so wondrously cut and colored by the glaciers that you just want to stuff some into your day pack to take home. And then you begin to hear the roar of the huge waterfall that is just to the right of the glacier which you begin to glimpse as the trail curves. And then there it is: the awesome edifice of ice that looks like some sort of fantasy created for a ride at Disneyland and then you realize that this thing is absolutely real and absolutely not created by any human hands. With the fog lifting above it and the waterfall bellowing just to the right of it, the glacier commands your perfect attention and you just stare and stare.

Floating Quarters

Alaska was amazing. I have no words to describe the power of Glacier Bay. We sailed in on a sunny, blue sky day on water that was as smooth as a mirror that reflected the glaciers and mountains all around us. The glaciers are interesting and we learned a lot about Marjorie Glacier and the Grand Pacific Glacier but the power comes from floating through the bay which is so refreshingly cool and clean and so sharply focused in the bright air. The glaciers and the ice floes are a deep sky blue. I cannot even imagine what it must have been like for the likes of John Muir and others who went up to study the glaciers and that whole stunning ecosystem. I feel so fortunate to have been there.
The towns of Juneau, Skagway, and Ketchikan are clever little villages obviously started by hearty souls who wanted gold and had an itch to explore this last frontier. The people in the shops, even though most are newbies anywhere from a few years to several decades of inhabiting, have this special acceptance about their environment which rules every move they make. It was comical to see the fans on in Ketchikan on a day of about 65 degrees which they felt was a heatwave. They are warm and welcoming to all the tourists.
The cruise itself was okay. I was highly aware that we were living on a gigantic floating mall that sucked money straight out of the guests at every turn. It was difficult not to feel like a packed in herd of cattle being shuffled from one deck to another to spend money. And the impact on the environment is not something I even want to think about. Food rules. I don't get that even though I am one of the world's most enthusiastic foodies. Why does everyone base the quality of a cruise on its food? And how do you know if the food is better on this cruise or that? I could find something good to eat any time day or night. Lots of it was mediocre, but there was plenty of good stuff to choose from as well.
But I absolutely love going to bed with the ocean singing outside our deck door and waking up in the morning at a new port or just lounging in bed with the sun streaming over a calm ocean onto our bed. That, folks, is the absolute height of luxury.
More about this later along with some photos.

Spacebook

My nephew refers to social networking sites as "Spacebook" which brings "LOL" to family members. (Did I use that texting acronym correctly?) These first two sentences give all readers the level of my knowledge about this area of technology. Actually, these first two sentences tell a lot about my level of knowledge about ALL areas of technology. And that's okay by me. I'm pretty much at peace with myself about what I don't know. I really think that if I know too much more, I'll just use up more of my good life moments in front of the flat screen which is exactly what I don't want to do. I have way too much real life to live.

But here's what I really would like to know about social networking and it has to do with something I learned from the aforementioned family members just yesterday. They told us about a major piece of family news that involves another family member whose life has become explosively controversial over the years. And they learned the news on "Facebook." My question and what I want to know: Why do people feel so comfortable posting intimate bits of personal knowledge for all the whole world to see? Why don't they call, or even better, visit the pertinent people who will be affected by the big news and tell them in person? What is happening to face to face communication? Is it easier to just spit out all your personal life problems all over the keyboard and thus onto all the flatscreens of everyone you know? And is nothing sacred anymore? Managing the ego's need for recognition for a large on-screen audience seems like one is answering all of Dr. Phil's questions even before being asked on to the show.

But then notice how often I blog. . . .

Paper and Plastic

I was headed down Highway 213 on my way to Dallas this morning to see my old friend Arlie who's laid up in an adult care home. I stopped at McDonald's for one of my favorite breakfasts (big confession to all my green and healthy eating friends here), a sausage egg McMuffin. One of my great pleasures is to munch this while cruising along this verdant road which is deep within the very definition of "Willamette Valley" with all the crops sprouting and the farmers walking around their properties and the small stands here and there selling scrumptious local berries. But I hadn't even left McDonald's; in fact, I'd barely gone 20 feet before I slowed down to throw the straw wrapper and the bag containing the McMuffin into the trash. I thought, "Hmmm. . .those paper products only lasted seconds, mere seconds before they were relegated to the landfill. Not good."
After my visit with Arlie (whose condition remains a mystery after a lengthy hospitalization, many tests, and still unbearable back pain), we traveled down 99E to Monmouth where we picked up some strawberry shortcake at Burgerville and then proceeded to the park to eat it under the shade trees next to where kids were climbing monkey bars and blowing bubbles and playing in the fountain while their families, relatives, and friends were barbecuing up the picnic lunch. It was a scene straight out of an old page of "Life" magazine. When we left, we carted two heavy weight cardboard boxes, two ultra sturdy plastic forks, and two large napkins to the garbage can. Those disposables lasted about 20 minutes from brand new to old junk.
Then on my way home (and could we just keep this a secret, please?). I stopped yet again at Burgerville for a cheese burger and some fries. I even asked for salt. These burgers remind me of the ones we used to eat at Bob's in Salem in the 60's and 70's. They have the same warm flatness which is mooshed together with the "special sauce" and has the thin cheese oozing out the edges. This is exactly what we ate for a special lunch in high school when we somehow scraped together enough money to have "hot lunch." Only the high school cafeteria ladies at North Salem made them much tastier. But that was back in the day; Burgerville is as close to those burgers as I can get these days. So the whole business of eating one brings back all sorts of good old memories to mull over as I complete my drive home. The scraps from that "meal" lasted from Canby until I pulled into my driveway and threw them into our own garbage can along with some uneaten french fries. I'd finally hit my saturation point with fast junk food. And look at all the paper and plastic products that lasted for only MOMENTS during this day of bad eating before I abandoned them to their fate in the landfill. How sad that they couldn't have lived any longer.