May Poem of the Month

FULL MOON

Author Unknown

In the darkening sky, if you cast your eyes,

You will see the silver lady rise,

Bathing the world in a steely blue

Edged with a haunting, silver hue.

Higher and higher she rises with grace,

Shrouding the trees in a cloak of lace,

Sending her rays to the waters below,

Casting reflections in ripple and flow.

Oh, such a majesty gracing the sky,

Passing a twinkle to stars riding high,

Oh, what a magickal sight we purvey

From dusk, till the night gives in to day.

And so, she sinks in horizons west,

Content in the knowledge that we saw her best,

She'll return once again when the sky turns black,

And if you should whisper, she might whisper back.

For love of country they accepted death... ~James A. Garfield

I have lived down the hill, not even a mere mile, from Willamette National Cemetery for 5 Memorial Day's and this is the first time I have trekked up the hill for the Memorial Day Service. Each year that I have been in town on Memorial Day I have been able to hear the fighter jets fly overhead for the ceremony's customary fly-over. Each year I have asked myself why I didn't go. I grew up attending Memorial Day Observance Ceremonies. Many times being in them myself. I can't count the years of pictures my Mom has of me dressed in white, or blue and white, white gloves donned and either laying a wreath or holding a flag. It is part of my being to respect departed military in this way. So, spur of the moment, and only because my investigation on start time, I attended this year's 61st Annual Memorial Day Ceremony at Willamette National Cemetery. I felt at home there. Comforted.


Because I live relatively close, and because I've seen the steady stream of traffic leaving the cemetery on Memorial Days past, I decided to put on my walking shoes and walk UP the hill (officially called Mt Scott, by-the-way) to the cemetery. Boy, was it a walk, a hike rather. Once I got to the cemetery gates I had a nice hike through the cemetery to get to the ampitheatre where the service was held. I was elated to see the ample seating area, as I had expected that I would be standing. It was a chilly, overcast, threat-of-rain morning. Thankfully, it didn't rain, the sun came out and it became quite warm.

Below you can see the ampitheatre, and all the people. I was about 2/3 way back. Later news reports predicted that there were 2,000 people in attendance. It wouldn't surprise me.

The F-15 Interceptors from the Oregon Air Guard flew over. Because of the cloud cover it was hard to see them. This is the best picture I got. It was fun to hear and feel the rumbling for minutes prior to them flying over. I love that feeling. (linked photo courtesy of NORAD)


Master of Ceremonies...

It was fun for me to watch the speakers because I could see my homestate State Flag the whole time...can you see the head of the Buffalo?! Love it!

Advancement of Colors...actually, it may be the retiring of, I can't remember.

The Bagpipers for Portland Police Highland Guard.

No promises that the following video will work, but I must try. I love, Love, LOVE bagpipes. I had to capture a bit of their sounds.

A plaque at the ampitheatre.

The Fallen Soldier Battle Cross. Read more about the symbolizm HERE.

I didn't puruse the cemetery a whole lot, but did come upon this memorial of WWI with a plaque with the poem, In Flanders Fields, with Poppies planted at the base.

There was also a 21 Cannon Salute. The cannons of today look so differentfrom the cannons of yesterday.

Walking back down through the cemetery I discovered a couple of gravesites of men from Wyoming.

Lots of flags.

There are beautiful views of Portland from high on the hill (mountain) that the cemetery resides on.

Love the bright pink Dogwood tree, blooming in all of its glory.

Across the street from Willamette National is another cemetery, Lincoln Memorial. There were also flags displayed there. You can see the grounds of Lincoln Memorial just past the brick posts and iron fence.

All that traffic coming down the hill...still...at about an hour after the ceremony was over.

It was a great morning and I am so thankful that I ventured up the hill and experienced such a great tribute to the men and women we have lost in order to live the lives we are able to live in such a great country.

It is hard to make it through the day...

...when all I want to do is come home and crochet!

You may remember from THIS post that I started a new crochet project. All I had ever crocheted was a scarf. And that was years ago. Stasia taught me how to read a crochet pattern after I fell in love with a particular pattern/afghan. I had actually estimated that it would take me between one and two years. In actuality, it took me like 4-5 months. Woohoo. Yes, I stayed up until 11:30pm last night to finish it. Almost 15 skeins of yarn, lots and lots of hours I made 105 of the "motifs" and am thoroughly pleased with the end result of my first large scale crochet project!

Here it is in progress...

Ezme felt that she had to continually check my work and approve of it.
She also had to approve of the yarn balls...they made mighty fine toys if I turned my head for a moment.

This is a picture of one of the motifs. I think it does the color better justice than the pictures in the first post.

This no flash picture is so that you can see the pattern. I'm a swirl girl and this pattern is definitely swirly, and lovely.

Tada~

All done and glorious.

Now, on to the next project. And, believe me, I've got a few lined up!

Time Away in Corvallis

I'm so blessed and thankful to have friends in all places. Even though I don't get to all those places, sometimes I do, especially to the friends in places fairly close. My friend Tera wanted me to make a trip to visit her in Corvallis again after we had such a good time in the fall when I went. We planned the weekend and along it came. This time away was perfectly timed with a need to escape and get away from life in Portland. God's timing is good.

Tera was going to be running the last 5 miles with a friend who was running an ultra-marathon (32 miles through woods) the day I was arriving. Once she ran and made it home she called me while I was purusing parts of Corvallis that I know. I headed to her place and got the scoop on the run and the plan for the weekend. Tera had traveled a lot since I had last seen her in February so I got to travel vicariously with her and her pictures, to Israel in particular. We got to chat and catch up and then headed to her church where she is on staff and attended a prayer meeting. After that we headed downtown for dinner and more chatting.

We ate at a local brew pub called Block 15. The food was so good. We weren't sure if it was because is really is good anyway or if it was because we were both SO hungry. We walked around downtown a bit and made our way by the courthouse. I love the quaintness of Corvallis and its downtown area. When we got home the neighbors were out of town and had chickens that needed to be moved to a warmer place. So, in the dark, in a wooded area we moved 4 chickens, one by one from a backyard pen to the garage. What unexpected fun!

Sunday we headed to church, delivered car wash signs to a group and checked out one of the area specialty markets before heading home to make lunch, which was fun. Then we whisked away to a downtown antique store and stopped in at the Animal House, a pet store with unique and rare pets. Including these Chinchilla's that we took pictures of because they were so cute.

And they all liked to cluster up in jars.
Tera and me.

We were blessed by good weather during my whole trip. The forecast had been for rain the whole weekend and it barely sprinkled overnight Saturday night. What a great and rejuvenating escape and time with a dear friend.

A snow day, just when it is needed

Portland doesn't do well in the snow. Sometimes this makes me laugh and shake my head. Sometimes it makes me thankful when I am ready for and in need of an unplanned day off from work. That was how this day was way back in February.

This is where Ezme spent most of her time...sleeping, on or in between my legs. She was a good source of heat. We cuddled, I crocheted and she slept.

This was the view of outside.

Such a pretty snow.

Late in the morning I decided to take a nap. When I woke up this was the view out my back windows. Where'd the snow go? Don't worry, it snowed again later in the afternoon.

Thanks for a quiet day inside, snow day.

Attention

It has been brought to my attention (from a few people) that I have been neglecting the blog. It is true. I can't deny it. The last post was on April 1st. Well over a month ago, and that was even a scheduled blog, so I don't count it, really. I don't really have an excuse, or a good one anyway. Life has just been moving briskly along.

Anyhow, I just downloaded a load of pictures from my camera and will make it my goal in the next week to update. Look for more posts, mostly, really back-dated...to February, eh em. Actually, I cringe to say, venture all the way back to January if you dare...I am more behind than I had though...Sorry about that. Please forgive!