Hazards In The Work Place & Recreational Marijuana

Posted on October 2, 2015 by Jerrie Cate

A friend of mine showed up at our weekly Thursday morning coffee clash yesterday wearing a baseball hat. That was odd because he normally wears a watch cap. I commented on his change of apparel and he removed the hat to show us why. Then he mad the mistake of allowing me to take a picture which is pretty much permission to share it with the world because he knows I do that.

Although it appears he sustained these injuries by thwarting an attack by someone who had a board with a nail in it, I assure you he got them in a far less intimidating manner doing a job that would normally result in injuries to pretty much every other area of his body below the head. Pretty gnarly, huh?

What he does is supervise installation of cement forms for the purpose of creating foundations for new buildings. This particular building site was located in an area where the tree branches around the property were trimmed to about 2 inches lower than he was tall and he said he just kept running in to them. We suggested a hard hat but that’s apparently not an option.

When we shared the injuries with our waitress she said, “Geez! Did you stand under it and jump up and down?” We all laughed, including him, so it was OK. We feel his pain and hope he mends quickly.

At this particular moment it’s 0032, Friday morning. I’m up because I spent the last two hours tossing around in the bed unable to get to sleep. Diane was snoring peacefully, a sure sign that she’s doing OK, so I decided to get up and enjoy the night in other ways. Normally when this happens I ensconced myself on the sofa with my iPad and read whatever book I’m currently reading, but decided to write a bit. I’m handicapped, however, because the keys on my laptop are not lighting up like they used to so I can’t see the keys at all. Everything is by touch. A handy skill to have, for sure, but I like to look at the keys once in a while just for fun. It’s a habit. So far, however, it doesn’t seem to impede my efforts. I suppose I could turn on the light next to me but I’d have to get up to do it because it’s on a wall switch. Since I don’t want to get up, I’ll just keep hammering away.

Diane and I got our flu shots yesterday afternoon. She insisted. now my arm hurts a lot and I think the shot is the reason I can’t sleep. I don’t know why, though, because 4 hours ago I could hardly keep my eyes open was ready to go to bed. I should have done that. Instead we stayed up and watched just one more TV show from the DVR, then just one more, and before we knew it 10 pm rolled around. Then I wasn’t tired any more and it kinda sucks.

Not really. I like sleeping on the sofa and do it quite a lot, just not this early in the morning.

Everyone around town is gearing up for Halloween already. Familiar structures are going up in various yards that are constructed for the sole purpose of scaring the crap out of little kids seeking candy. Could be, too, that the structures may have an alternate purpose this year because, yesterday, recreational marijuana use became legal in Oregon. It’s going to be interesting to see how many drivers decide that, since they can drive perfectly well while drunk, adding a little MJ to the mix probably can’t hurt. The police used to issue tickets for DWI (driving while intoxicated), which turned into DUI (driving under the influence) because I’m sure an ACLU lawyer argued that a mere police office surely couldn’t determine if a person was really intoxicated. I’m sure that DUI would suffice for both alcohol and marijuana, but what about those who use both? Would that be a DUIx2, or should it be a DUI-A&M?

Decisions, decisions.

I’m sure our illustrious state leaders are hard at work on all these questions I have so I’ll let it go and see what the news media has to say later this month. Maybe it will be perfectly OK.

Now I’m going to stop and read my book until my iPad falls on the floor. Then I may get up and go back to bed.

Maybe.

Probably not because doing that would mean I’d have to get up and walk all the way to the bedroom. By the time I got there I’d be awake again so why bother.

Oh ya! Last Wednesday both Diane and I got emails from our new smoke alarms to alert us of the monthly test it was going to conduct, and to report that the basement unit needs batteries. The test went fine. I know that’s true because we got another email telling us. I think I’ll just let the batteries die in the basement unit and see what happens. Wonder if it will get angry.

I’ll let you know.

Super Moon

Posted on September 28, 2015 by Jerrie Cate

No doubt all of you have seen about a zillion photos of yesterday’s eclipse of the moon, but you haven’t seen mine. I have a bunch, but will only share two of them because they all look alike. I’ll just show you one when we could first see it at the start, then another when it began the transition back to normal.

A Vacation & Other Stuff

Posted on September 20, 2015 by Jerrie Cate

On September 8th we started working in earnest to get the old RV ready for a trip to the beach. The main focus was to run the water system through a cleansing process to ensure we wouldn’t catch some exotic disease from critters that seem to linger there. Though the RV is 36 years old, we can only verify that such a cleansing has never happened in the last six years that we’ve owned it. Prior to that, I suspect it was never done, either. Since we’ve been known to use the RV a number of times in the past, and have never suffered ill effects one may wonder why it was necessary that this task be performed prior to this next trip. The answer, of course, is that Diane determined it was necessary meaning nothing else was going to get done until the water streaming from the various exits of the system smelled totally like bleach. Therefore, we made it happen. Then we cleaned it, over and over until the offensive bleach odor (and taste) was removed. Let me tell you … adding the odor and taste of bleach is a snap. Getting rid of it, not so much. It took a while.

Part of the cleaning process included adding water to the grey and black water tanks then driving around a while so it would slosh around and make sure all interior surfaces received a cleansing rinse. Doing this was fun for me because it was the first time Diane rode with me while I drove the RV. All previous trips involved her driving the chase car, the one with air conditioning and a working radio, while I drove the RV which has neither. That’s not really too bad if it’s a cool day because the heater works great. So, having Diane with me was special.

Most of the sloshing voyage was on narrow back roads with lots of curves and bumps that put my rookie RV driving skills to the test and solidified Diane’s belief that we don’t need a tow car because she’s perfectly OK driving the chase car. However, we had already purchased a tow dolly for the PT so she was just out of luck. By ending the trip with a stint on a nice wide road her fears were soon forgotten.

Last Sunday morning, the 13th, the trip took on a serious note when Diane went took her Mom, Jean, to the store and left instructions for me to pack my underwear. So I did. It took me about 3 seconds then I went out and went to work getting the tow dolly connected to the RV and getting the PT secured. That took me about 20 minutes, something I was very proud of because I’d never done it before. All that remained was to get Diane home, crank up and head on down the road to see if it would fall off.

When Diane returned, that’s just what we did.

Eight miles down the road we stopped at Fred Meyer’s for gas because we had no idea how much was in the two tanks on the RV. The gas gauges don’t work very well. When I got out to unlock the gas tanks I was supremely gratified to see the PT still behind us. Since I hadn’t felt anything odd, or seen anything flying off the road behind me, I was pretty confident we still had it, but it was nice to eliminate that tiny little bit of doubt. Apparently I did an OK job of connecting all those chains and wires and had more confidence that it would stay put and follow us all the way to Cape Lookout State Park south of Tillamook.

The 2.67 hour trip went entirely as planned with the exception of where to dismantle the tow car lash up so I could back into our assigned spot. After driving around the park for a while, we came upon a turn around with a wide area that would allow me to stop and unstrap the PT so Diane could drive it. Though I can easily push the tow dolly around when it’s not connected to anything, I just can’t push if a mile which is about how far we were from our spot. So, I left it attached with the hope no one would get angry and start throwing stuff when I stopped in front of our spot to un hook it and push it out of the way so I could park. Thankfully, all went well even though the guy in the Flair next to us pulled up a chair to watch me do all of that. He said his favorite part was me attempting to get the rig level so we wouldn’t be sleeping with our heads downhill. It was the hardest thing I did all day. But I finally did it even though the parts of the inside of the RV I was using to check level are so not on the same plane as the beds. Discovering this anomaly proved to be the first step of successfully getting our heads at least level with our feet. Then I put the awning out and the RV adopted an obvious starboard list. Since that meant Diane’s bed (we have twins) leaned her into the wall, I called it good.

Oh ya. With the starboard list in effect, unless it was securely latched, the bathroom door would swing open and stay that way. Fortunately, if one were sitting down when that happened, it was fairly easy to grab the little knob on the door and pull it shut without allowing the folks in the trailer or RV next door to see anything important.

Cape Lookout State Park is a great place because the farthest spot in the back of the park is only about three blocks from the beach. Being back there isn’t a bad thing, we learned, because the closer one gets to the beach in the park, the denser the pack of mosquitoes becomes. Being closer, of course, conditions one to traverse the last 30 feet of solid mosquitoes with little or no pain after the 4th trip. Those in the back generally don’t make it more than 2 times before giving up and just staying close to the back of the park. It was OK.

Here we are being happy that we survived the Mosquito gauntlet …

We looked like this the entire time we were on the beach. The only difference is that sometimes Diane didn’t hide behind me.

Four days of no TV, no phone. Just us and the mosquitoes every time we left the rig, and leaving the rig on a fairly regular basis to walk the dogs. They insisted, according to Diane and I believe everything she tells me. When she tells me they want to go out, though I’ve not heard them exchange even one word, I believe her and take them out. I got pretty good at it.

The only casualty of this trip was when I lit the pilot light for the water heater. I got it lit the first time, then it went out when. So I lit another match and held the pilot button down a bit too long so that when I touched the match to the place where the pilot light lived, all that extra gas caught fire and blew out virtually every available hole on the water heater and burned off most of my eye brows and the last 1/4 inch of the hair on the left side of my head. The air around me immediately smelled like someone had just had a permanent. It was awesome. I couldn’t wait to get inside to share it with Diane. She wasn’t impressed. Turns out the frizzled ends brushed off quite easily. The ones that didn’t are on my eyebrows. I believe they are permanently curled, now, giving the appearance that I’ve had a bunch of pubic hairs transplanted mainly above my left eye. Since I only see it when looking in a mirror, which isn’t often, it doesn’t bother me. Diane was more comfortable with me wearing a hat low on my head whenever we took a walk. I think it’s sufficiently curly that I can use it to hold a little velcroed curtain over my eye when I sleep. Kinda dumb, but bet I could do it. If Diane lets me, I’ll take a photo.

One of the dogs loved the trip because she didn’t have to be on a leash any time we were on the beach.

The beach is over a mile long and, at this time of year, if there are 10 people visible, it’s crowded.

Looking south …

Looking north …

Alas, Thursday showed up signaling the end of this mini-vacation was near. Even so, we both felt as though these few days were much longer because we totally enjoyed ourselves and had a very relaxing time in one of the most beautiful places on earth. It was OK to be heading home.

First, however, we had to make it to Warranton for an afternoon soccer game between St. Helens and Astoria high schools. It was an uneventful trip because the rig ran really well with an exceptionally loud squeal from one, or both, of the belts on the engine. It didn’t bother me much, but Diane was totally embarrassed. As far as I was concerned, it just added to the authenticity of our 36 year hold ride. It wasn’t constant, but quit once we got up to speed. We understood the game was at 4 pm, figured it would take 2 hours to get there, left at 1 pm, made it in 1.5 hrs, and learned the game was really at 4:30. So, we were two hours early. The times are probably wrong, but that’s OK. The point is, we were early. The JV team won 10-2 and it could have been much, much worse. Lydia was moved from Keeper to Defender when the score was 7-1 so she got some field time which she also enjoys. Her team mates took turns filling in for her as the keeper. Most of the second half our girls spent playing keep away from the Astoria girls without attempting to score. It was like a drill they run all the time in practice. Varsity also won, 5-1.

After the games we headed home in the dark. Again, it was an uneventful trip. Everything worked just great. I had to take the PT off the trailer and put everything away before going to bed because I was being forced to go golfing Friday morning at 0830. I golfed better than I ever have. Part of the reason for that is because I started actually counting all my strokes instead of just guessing. Funny thing.

Another interesting thing we saw at the beach is this caterpillar. We seen hundreds of these things over the years, but none that had grey spikes.

Personally, I think it’s an alien. How about you?

Smoke

Posted on August 22, 2015 by Jerrie Cate

Maybe you’ve heard about all the forest fires currently burning in Oregon and Washington states. Such fires are always a concern for the Northwest because we have lots of trees, many of which are accessible only via helicopter, parachute, or narrow, little used logging roads. This makes fighting remote fires extremely difficult.

St. Helens isn’t traditionally in the forest fire danger zone so we are not accustom to worrying about such fires for our own safety. We do our worrying about those who deal with the dangerous job of engaging these fires up close. Many lose their lives every year due to the unpredictable nature of the fires they fight.

This year nature has made a point of engaging even us by blowing the smoke at us. As I write, the closet fire to us is about 60 miles away and we aren’t in any danger, but our visibility from the smoke is down to about a mile and it smells just like a huge campfire outside. Not a good day for organisms that need to breathe.

There cannot possibly be enough praise heaped upon the Hot Shots who deal with these fires close up. Discomfort from the smoke is very minor in comparison to what they endure.

God bless them all.

This is Highway 30 looking South toward Portland.

Here’s the view from our upper deck with the smoke obscuring pretty much everything beyond a mile.

For comparison, here’s a similar view from last spring.

Fun At The Beach

Posted on August 17, 2015 by Jerrie Cate

Just wanted everyone to know that, though were of advanced age, even we can have fun in the sun. The difference is we just wear more clothes when we do it.

This is from the beach at Seaside, Oregon.

The purpose of our trip, in addition to walking on the beach, was to watch Lydia play soccer with her high school team. We drove over on Friday and it rained all the way giving us cause for concern for the first game that evening. But it cleared up a little and the kids played a relative dry game.

Saturday was gorgeous and provided us with a fairly nice sunset.

Sunday was also great for our trip home. The dogs were happy to see us. The cat was indifferent.

Birthdays, and Soccer

Posted on July 13, 2015 by Jerrie Cate

Another Sunday has already come and gone with barely a shimmer that didn’t disturb the dust in my brain hardly at all. Nope. Not even a little bit. That’s partly because we were out of town for 4 of those 7 days doing stuff that I’ll probably eventually get around to. I didn’t tell anyone about that trip because I didn’t want anyone coming over to rob me. It wouldn’t have done any good anyway because Jeran was standing guard for us and he had the dogs for back up.

Monday was a celebration day because it was Heather’s birthday. This is the West Coast Heather, not the East Coast one, in case you were wondering, mother of Gilligan, for further clarification. Jeff’s wife. Now you know. We had an impromptu party in their driveway where we played with the kids and Heather opened her gifts. We weren’t allowed to spank her, the normal way of celebrating birthdays, because she’s somewhere in the 30’s now and it would have left marks, then the police would get involved, we’d have to hire a lawyer, I’d go to jail for a couple of weeks and miss our trip out of town, then Jeran wouldn’t have stayed with the dogs, Diane would have filed for divorce which would involve another lawyer, and all of our friends would have stopped talking to us making life just miserable. So, we dropped the spanking part. It wasn’t worth all that hassle.

On Tuesday, July 7th, our first Great Grandson, Draiden Jeffrey was born at 0809. I just found out today and don’t have any particulars other than he has medical issues that will require treatment but they are fixable. I ask that you pray for his recovery. Here he is being held by his oldest sister, Danyell, and his younger sister Juliette. Adorable, right? I must add that his Aunts Gilligan, Baylee, and Jerrie can’t wait to see him. Another not of interest, to some, is that age-wise, the six children listed fall in to line nicely in this manner, from oldest to youngest … Gilligan, Danyell, Baylee, Juliette, Jerrie, and Draiden. Almost like a perfect shuffle. I think.

Wednesday evening we went to Hillsboro to watch Lydia’s Crush team play against the St. Helens High School team. An interesting point it that Lydia is the head Keeper for both teams. This night, however, she was devoted to the Crush which won the night 5-1, or thereabouts. It was a good prelude for the weekend where the Crush participated in the Nike Crossfire tournament in Bellevue, WA. That’s what got us out of town for the weekend.

For us it started around 1330 Thursday afternoon when we loaded our car, picked up extra luggage at Daniel & Jennifer’s and headed north into Microsoft territory. We stayed at the Econo Lodge in Renton, about 30 minutes from the fields, because it was the only reasonable place remaining by the time we decided to go. It worked out OK. Daniel, Cedric and Jennifer stayed there, too, so it was kind of a family thing. Lydia stayed at the hoy faloy Silver Cloud Inn in downtown Bellevue with her team. Nice place. The matches began Friday afternoon.

The venue is a 60 acre park marked off with 24 soccer fields. Quite stunning. All of them were in use at the same time throughout the three days we were there, from 0800 in the morning to 2000 at night. It was a busy place. Apparently it’s a tournament where college scouts flock to view recruiting prospects. Making it more challenging for our girls’ 17U team, they were paired against 19U teams for all three scheduled games. We don’t know why.

Lydia’s first game was Friday afternoon at 1630. She played absolutely great, helping to hold their opponents scoreless during the first half. She made lots of stops, many of which would have made local native Hope Solo very proud. Here’s a sequence of one save that I actually caught with the camera … time elapsed was about 3 seconds …Watching this was kind of like watching a horse race … all the action is in the last few seconds. Amazing. She did stuff like this for the entire first half. In the second half the alternate keeper thought it was her turn in the box so went out and the coach didn’t notice until the other team scored two goals within the first couple of minutes. He then inserted Lydia who kept them at bay with the exception of one well place kick. Her team scored 1 so they lost 3-1. The talk of the day was what would have happened if Lydia had played the second half which was what was supposed to happen. We will never know, of course, but we can speculate. It was a learning experience. This will happen again next November. What fun. I have to add that the older players were pretty intimidating and played as though their coaching involved various ways to cheat, punch, poke, and shove in ways that got past the umpires most of the time. Sad it wasn’t as much as about the sport and ability as it was about getting away with “stuff”.

On a happier note, here’s a pretty fabulous Moon Rise over Mt. Hood you may enjoy … … and here’s a water tank in Renton that was disguised as part of the forest …It’s a crappy photo because I took it through the windshield with my phone as we drove past. Pretty tricky painting.

On another light note, we discovered that our XM radio truncates things at pretty interesting places …On Saturday Diane and I went to see “Minions” while everyone else went to Seattle with the girls. We enjoyed the movie and have been saying “BA-na-na” quite frequently. Cute movie and a good way to while away a hot afternoon.

On Sunday morning, after the final game, we packed up and headed home. The dogs were happy to see us as we were them, proving once again that no matter how much fun you may have away from home, it’s always the best feeling when you get home.

Father’s Day 2015 & Other Stuff

Posted on June 21, 2015 by Jerrie Cate

I suspect that many people will wind up here because of the generic title of this post, not because they know me and are interested in seeing what will be revealed this day from my half-wit age-adled memory banks. So, let’s get to it …

Father’s Day began yesterday with a trip to the beach with Diane, my lovely bride of umpteen-eleven years. Jennifer, Diane’s oldest Daughter, and Jeran, her youngest Son, filled the remaining seats in the Impala as we ventured forth at the un-godly hour of 0800 on our trip to Cannon Beach to join the crowds near Haystack Rock for the 50th Annual Sand Castle competition. It’s something we’ve never done before and we deemed it was time. Besides, it’s been a while since we’ve been to the beach and it’s one of our favorite destinations. Another reason for the trip was to watch a soccer match between Lydia’s tournament team play against the Astoria Varsity team.

First, the trip … it is my custom to relinquish my front seat navigator’s position to company whenever we have any because that’s just the way I am. Another reason I do that is so the new passenger can sit closer to the conversation she is undoubtedly going to have with the driver. It’s a safety thing, ensuring the driver isn’t engaged in a heated discussion with someone in the back seat.

Jeran joined me in the back seat and we were very comfortable during the entire trip. Everyone was being so good that Diane stopped at the Berry Patch Restaurant in Westport, one of our favorites, where we ate a hearty breakfast. Once our tummies were loaded, we continued our trek to Cannon Beach.

As the first Cannon Beach exit from Highway 101 loomed in the distance, Diane and I had a brief discussion about whether or not we should continue south to the Tolovana exit. Before we ended the conversation Diane had made the decision to take the first exit that also leads to Ecola State Park. Instead of turning right at the first stop sign after exiting all those frantic drivers on Highway 101, which leads to ECP, Diane went straight ahead into town. It was a good choice. She made another one of those when she didn’t cruise down the main street of town looking for a place to park. Instead, she took a parallel street, went south a few blocks, and pulled right into a vacant space.

Across the street was a pretty incredible art gallery that we couldn’t pass up because it had a bronze statue of a little girl holding a cabbage patch kid and it reminded Jennifer of her youth when she got a new cabbage path doll every time I went to sea when she was small. The statue even looked like her. Sadly, I didn’t take a photo of that or of anything inside the gallery. Amazing stuff.

The beach was only a few blocks from where we parked and looked a lot like this when we got there … that’s Jennifer in the middle of the photo taking the long way around to all the people gathered closely around the roped off areas where sand castles were being created.

Diane, Jeran, and I took the short cut to begin, but Jeran bailed on us and headed over to his Mom who was walking on firmer sand. They beat us to the displays for some reason. It didn’t make sense.

This is the first area of about 10 that were roped off so artists could work without interference from the masses of people watching their progress. We arrived shortly before 1130 when the judging was supposed to commence, but none of them were anywhere near finished. Sadly, we couldn’t wait to see the finished products because we needed to get to the soccer fields on Ridge Road which defines most of the eastern boundary of Fort Stevens State Park.

On the way back to the car we stopped for a short rest and photo-op where Diane took this photo to commemorate the day. Had I been more aware I would have sat straiter which would have allowed my stomach to retract a bit into the cavity from which it was seeking escape as she snapped the shutter. But, it is what it is.

Lydia’s soccer team played extremely well beating Astoria 8-1. Lydia played the first half and a newly acquired 2nd goalie played the second half during which Astoria’s only goal was scored. This pleased Lydia.

I must interject to report that next year, Lydia’s Junior year, she has been designated as the varsity goalie for the school team. She’s really stoked about that and is looking forward to the experience. So are we.

On the way to our perch on the hill surrounding the field on which the girls played we encountered what most people would call a “mole hill” in most parts of the world. Here at the beach, however, I figure this one should be called a “mole dune”. It’s all sand so what else could it be?

Before leaving Warranton, we stopped at Duggar’s restaurant for a late lunch. We weren’t sure Lydia was going to make it there because she only had one sandwich to fill the void for that 2 mile drive. It was a really good lunch and the trip home was restful for all of us, even the driver, Diane. She got to go 100 mph more than once.

I don’t think I mentioned that I assisted Daniel with his task of replacing the disc pads on his commuter car on Friday. Apparently it was a dirtier effort than I had anticipated. I even wore gloves!

This morning Diane was up and rolling at 0700 making a cassarole thing for the Father’s Day brunch the ladies were putting on after church. I even got to help and was glad to do it. Helping my bride with any task is my destiny. I’ve learned, however, that it’s prudent to wait until asked instead of barging in a taking over as I’ve been known to do historically. Lots less stressful on everyone concerned.

Now the light is fading from the sky on this longest day of the year, and I hear Diane dialing up an on-demand movie from our stunning array of entertainment available due to a free weekend of on-demand HBO & CINEMAX.

It’s been a great weekend and I must now bid you farewell till another day.

OH! And Happy Father’s Day to all you Dad’s out there.

Sunrise & Quilts

Posted on February 13, 2015 by Jerrie Cate

Here’s what I was greeted with this morning …

Today the Bethany Ladies opened their 35th Annual Quilt Show and they had a great turnout. It’s always a festive time for me because they always have sandwiches and I really love sandwiches – egg salad and chicken salad. They also have Chicken Noodle soup and Clam Chowder, the best in the West.

The quilt show is mainly a venue for quilters to display their art and there is plenty of that around. There are also vendors in the basement who sell specialty items not related to quilts. But, you can buy quilts, too, of course, just not the ones upstairs decorating the pews.

That’s Jean, Diane’s Mom waaaay in the back.

You could also spend a buck or two on raffle tickets to win one of these beauties …

My favorite is this Crazy Quilt whose owner said she’s been working on it for 10 years.

In the basement Barb, part of the crew, shows off her special apron.

Here’s Nancy giving me almost her best smile. I didn’t get the best one because she saves that for Floyd.Here’s Jennifer checking out a catalog of quilts created by the Featured Quilter, Terry Maloney. Sadly, I don’t have a photo of Terry to share. Apparently she heard I was coming and left.

Diane taking a break warming her feet on the heater grate. She’s going to have to do some more of this when she gets home this afternoon because they don’t close the doors until 1800 hours and she was there at 0830. Tomorrow will be a shorter day because the close at 1400 hours.

So, if you find some idle time on Valentine’s day, and want to spend some of it wandering around some beautiful quilts created by some very talented artists, pay a visit to Bethany Lutheran Church between 10-3. Kitchen closes at 2 pm. You won’t regret it.

Welcome to Rainy Oregon

Posted on October 4, 2014 by Jerrie Cate

Weather here is pretty funny. Funny because most people think about rain when Oregon comes up in a conversation. Last week, and even earlier this week, it really was raining, but it’s been sporadic so everyone can enjoy these first few weekends of fall. I think someone made a deal with the weather folks. there’s no other reason.

Yesterday it was so nice we took a trip to the beach. Really! We did that. It was 77 degrees when we got there and it was warmer when we left after enjoying the “crowds” that flocked around the Wreck of the Peter Iredale on a Fort Stevens State Park beach in Warrenton, Oregon.

Ok … so there was just one person in the photo, but there was a moment when 4-5 people were there at the same time. For added emphasis, Diane shared the moment so everyone could get a true perspective of how large the remains are.

Before Diane and I walked down to the beach, we dragged her Mom, Jean, to the top of a sand dune so she couldnt escape. She also had a very nice view of the beach and didn’t have to expend a lot of energy to obtain this lofty location.

The reason is because it was just a short walk straight out from where Diane parked the Buick in the upper lot. Not a bad day.We returned home shortly before 6 pm which was a good thing because we discovered that today we had an opportunity to watch Lydia play a little softball in Rainier. Sadly, the first game started at 0900, but we arrived just as it was starting. It was one of the normal weekend tournaments that she’s played in many times in the past, with many of the same girls she’s played with for many years. It was like a little homecoming for her, in a way.

Lydia’s team won that first game 8-3, but they lost the second one 3-2. They play again tomorrow, but we won’t be able to attend. I need to attend church to atone for whatever sins I’ve committed during the last few weeks. Diane makes me do that once in a while because she’s a little concerned that lightening will strike me some time when she’s near me and hopes to avoid the moment.

Here’s Lydia at one of her at bats … that’s Diane with the pink sweater in her lap next to my green chair … Lydia was the lead off batter for both games.Here she is running to first base … that’s Daniel just to the right of #2 keeping score. Jennifer normally keeps score but she couldn’t make today’s games because of work. So Daniel, like a good husband should, stepped in to fill that void. What a guy. Jeran is sitting next to him.

Here she is lounging on first base talking with her first base coach and Pete, the umpire. I think they’re talking about what to have for lunch. I’m not sure. There’s Daniel again, on the right.

Here’s Lydia running to second base …

Here she is lounging on second base … this is as far as she got before the team got their third out.

Here she is playing first base. The runner was out which is evident because Lydia is holding the ball.Lydia played the first game in center field and started the second one in that position but was moved to first base due to errors. She didn’t make any at this position. Sadly, after moving to first base the opposing team started hitting long balls to the outfield, mainly to center field. Sadder yet is that the first base person who was moved because of errors was playing center field. Consequently, runs scored that Lydia would have, I’m sure, prevented. But, luck of the draw, and it is what it is. They all still had fun.

It was a little odd that Marty, the normal coach for this team, wasn’t present. He’s always there. Today, however, we learned that he is currently at the VA hospital in Vancouver where he’s learning to walk a straight line again after suffering a stroke earlier in the week. Apparently he’s going to be OK but currently has the tendency to veer left as he walks. We’re not yet sure if that’s going to affect is driving abilities.

That’s about it for today. Had we not attended the ball games, I would have had to work around the house. Probably in the area of building a fence to replace the one I recently ripped down. The new one will be made of wood instead of loosely stacked rocks. Really heavy rocks.

Now I must rest. Lastly, however, I must share my sadness over the fact that the Oregon Ducks rolled over for the Arizona Wildcats once again. They beat Oregon last year, too. Their only loss. Looks like history is repeating.

Merc Returns Safely From Camp Tadmor!

Posted on August 18, 2014 by Jerrie Cate

Merc, his camp name, aka Cedric, was retrieved from Camp Tadmor yesterday afternoon after spending two months living in the wild eating bugs and wild berries, and feral rats as a member of a group of super heroes who monitor camping activities of hundreds of younger, severely advanced members of homo erectus from all over the world. He slept on the ground, without benefit of blanket or pillow, and has permanent dents in his sides and back that look a lot like pine cones, small rocks, large bugs, mice, birds, and other debris that typically litter the forest floor of this camp located a bit SE of Lebanon, Oregon. There’s talk about having these impressions tattooed to ensure he retains the memory on the off-chance they fade over time.

Diane, her Mom, Jean, and I traversed the harrowing I-5 corridor from Portland, artfully dodging drivers from neighboring states, who are apparently allowed to disregard some pretty basic driving laws, to retrieve Merc from the tenacious clutches of his fellow campers and counselors so he could be returned to civilization to prepare for his Junior year of High School.

On the trip down, the Buick’s A/C decided to go on the fritz making the vehicle interior a bit uncomfortable in the near-90 degree heat, but we persevered and arrived safely. When we arrived we visited with some adults who are part of the camp’s permanent crew, one of which was Ruby who is about 1. Very cute. With dimples. She looked at me in a ho-hum manner but lit right up with a big smile when Diane sauntered over. We suspect it was because of her natural affinity to like anyone who looks like a Grandma.

We didn’t have to wait long for the tour bus to arrive, bringing the campers back from their 2-day trip to Sisters, Oregon where they were encouraged to frolic in a river. Each person was given a bar of soap prior to the raft trip which they used to scrub away two months of grime they had accumulated as there are no showers at the camp and they aren’t allowed to contaminate the local streams in an effort to remain shiny.

As they exited the bus, it was readily evident that each of them had experienced a profound event, made life-long friendships, and were a bit sad to be leaving. But, leave they must. First, however, it was apparently mandatory that all of the girls who attended had to hug Merc. They lined up in two rows and waited their turn for a short time, then they all flocked to him leaving us only a small glimpse of the baseball had he was wearing. We had to pry the last three girls off him so we could get him to the Buick and begin the trip home. One of the girls broke down and sobbed. It was very touching, but Merc’s family was waiting for his return back in St. Helens and we had to go. He understood the need, as did the sobbing girl.

The trip home, for Merc, was filled with a constant stream of text messages with those he had just left, as well as all his family at home. His phone was DOA at the beginning of the trip, but i just happened to have a charger which we hooked up so he could get busy with his texting.

I don’t think he quit smiling during the entire 2.5 hour trip home.

When we arrived, he was greeted in the driveway by his Mom, Jennifer, Dad, Daniel, Sister, Lydia, and brother, Jeran. We stood around visiting for a few minutes before he went into the house where he discovered that about 10 of his friends had gathered to welcome him home. It was a touching scene, replacing his recent sense of loss with one of incredible gain.

It was a great day.

Sadly, I do not have any photos of either the departure or arrival home, but I do have one of Merc in a truck that a group of his fellow campers liberated it from a local farmer who inadvertently left it in his corn field from which the group was gathering food for one of their meals.

Cedric is wearing the blue shirt, just behind the cab of the pickup.

No doubt you have all guessed that the foregoing narrative, with the exception of the touchy-feely aspects of the camp departure, and home arrival, are pure gibberish. Lot’s of it is true, but most of it isn’t.

Camp Tadmor is a Christian camp where most of the activities I related are discouraged. It’s a great place, actually. It’s all about caring for one another and getting in touch with ones inner self. Cedric has returned to us with a far more confident outlook and a more firm direction on where his life will go. We’re proud of his efforts and of the fine young man he is.

After he shaves his face, he will be perfect.