Destination: Timberline Lodge

Mt. Hood photo taken by a college prof of mine, S. Polozov. Loved it!

In the mythic tradition, the Mountain is the bond between Earth and Sky. Its solitary summit reaches the sphere of eternity, and its base spreads out in manifold foothills into the world of mortals. It is the way by which man can raise himself to the divine and by which the divine can reveal itself to man.

~Rene Daumal

One aspect of my job that I enjoy is the outings. Don't get me wrong, they are at times difficult to coordinate and for that matter, implement. You'd think, "oh, let's take this group of 5-10 people to a museum, garden, resturant, no problem." Usually that is not the case...first you've got to figure out where to go, take into account weather, timing, participants that are appropriate for the outing. Then comes asking them all and answering their questions, assuring them it will be fine, then at times mapping out the order that they need to be picked up in, call caregivers, and the list goes on. That is all in advance, not even day of prep (which is a whole other story). The prep work for them tends to be the greatest hassle, but once I am on the bus and on the way, all is good!

Today, I took a group to Mt. Hood, specifically, Timberline Lodge. I had never experienced this place. I've many times looked up to the mountain from the city and am just in complete awe of such an amazing, beautiful beyond words, fixture in this city. I have gotten close to the mountain, heard stories and seen stories of people getting lost in the wild of the mountain, but I needed to see this untamed wilderness for myself.

I also knew that many of my participants may not have had this experience (found out on the bus that of the 12 of us on the bus, only 3 of us had never been that close--I tried!). So up the mountain we went. This was our destination:

Timberline Lodge. The photographer is unknown, but I swear this picture was taken today. The clue: the car parked in the center of the picture, facing out, closest to the building on the right side...it was in the same place today...weird!

History lesson (courtesy of the ever trusted Wikipedia): "The lodge was constructed between 1936 and 1938 as a Works Progress Administration (WPA) project during the Great Depression. Workers used large timbers and local stone, and placed intricately carved decorative elements throughout the building.

President Franklin D. Roosevelt dedicated the Lodge on September 28, 1937. (side note: if we'd waited 20 days we would have been at the site on the 72nd anniversary of the dedication).

The dedication ceremony was five months before completion of the lodge interior February 1938, when it opened to the public. It took extra expense and effort to make the lodge appear presentable for the dedication.

Lifestyles Northwest published a story about the history of Timberline Lodge in its February 2005 issue, based heavily on interviews with the family who have operated the lodge for fifty years. The story noted that in the lodge's early years, it had had four different operators, none of which was willing or able to maintain it. By 1955 Timberline Lodge was closed and in disrepair.
Richard Kohnstamm, the patriarch of the family that currently operates it, remembered those difficulties as being due to financing problems arising from the fact that the government owned it. Kohnstamm decided to maintain the place as if he owned it himself; he lost money during his first five years of operation, but his timing turned out to be fortuitous, since he began operating it only a few years before skiing started exploding in popularity in the late 1950s. That popularity helped the family generate a profit starting in 1960. Kohnstamm, "The man who saved Timberline", died at the age of 80 on April 21, 2006. Richard's son Jeff is now the Area Operator of Timberline Lodge.

The 1980 movie The Shining, used aerial shots of Timberline as part of its opening scene. Film of the exterior of the Timberline Lodge is also used for some establishing shots of the fictional Overlook Hotel throughout the movie."

Good history lesson, right? On to pictures:

If there is an emergency, please put on your oxygen mask before helping your neighbor... Let's not have an emergency on the outing, but we'll plan for it anyway! Also, enjoy the trees at Mt. Hood's timberline.
The view from the bus. You can faintly see Mt. Jefferson between the rear view mirror and the tree closest to center.

The peak in all of its glory. It had snowed over the weekend, so there was a nice dusting.

True majesty.


I have ambitions to climb here. Not to the top, but to the snow line. Maybe if I get on it I can do it before snow again this year...maybe next year...

ElderPlace bus with the mountain in the background.

I know you all want to go an the next outing with me and my folks, right? I knew it! We do welcome visitors.

Reflections on a productive, yet unpleasant weekend.

So, my long weekend is almost done. The time is dwindeling, quickly. Can I have the time back? Nope. I have had a combination of a good and not so good weekend. I was blessed with dear friend who visited from what seems like so far away, not really, but because of schedules, one hour seems like an eternity. I am blessed to have a dear cat who dealt with me as I combed her, bathed her in vinegar and dawn dishsoap (two times) and still curled up on my lap. I am blessed to remember that there are so many good things going on in the world, amid the bad, as I picked up a friend from the airport who had just come from a wedding. I am blessed to have an extra day this weekend so that when I returned from the airport run, with the previous day and a half consumed with fighting a battle in my own apartment, I could indeed curl up on my couch, with a hopefully flea free cat snuggling with me while I read the most amazing book, The Book Theif and drank my morning cup of tea. Highly recommended, both the tea and the book, and for that matter, curling up on the couch with a purring cat. This had been my intention for two of my three mornings...glad it worked out for one!

I am thankful for friends that let me reschedule a gathering so that I could deal with aforementioned fleas and even graciously giving me suggestions and recommendations based on real, previous experiences for her. I'm thankful for a very clean apartment. Every piece of furniture has been moved and vacuumed under/behind. Along with mopped hard surface floors, etc. Now I just need to put everything away. :) I am thankful for hot, running water, which leads to hot showers, and sunshine through the clouds, a cat chasing a clear bottle cap...looks like she is chasing nothing! I am blessed with a friend that made me dinner (I did do some of the chopping) when she is one week from becoming a new mother. And she doesn't even look like some of those pregnant women that are truly miserable in the couple of weeks before they are due.

I am thankful that when I went to get gas tonight on my way home I had gotten 32 mpg's! Go car! I am so thankful that when my weekend ends, as they all inevitably do, and I do go back to work tomorrow I have an outing to Timberline Lodge. A place I have never been and am super excited about going too! And of course sharing the experience with my participants, some of them have never been either! Let's get to it!!

Flea update status post 6 hours and counting...

I'd like to say that I have never seen anything as disgusting as what I saw this evening, but I'd probably be lying. I try not to lie. So, it was about 6:15ish this evening that I discovered the dreaded fleas...and the 3 I hinted at in my previous post, those were just the tip of the iceberg. An iceberg that I discovered during a 3 hour battle in my bathroom, was VERY large.

After putting the Advantage on Ezme I decided to head out to the store to get a flea comb. I knew that even with the Advantage it would take some time and she was suffering, I am sure. Also considered buying the bombs to bug bomb my apartment, but that would require Ezme and I both to leave for 2-4 hours total...hard to do on a rainy weekend. If they reappear I will bomb. Trust me. After I returned home I think Ezme knew something was going to happen. She tried to bolt out my front door, which she has never done. I cornered her and confined her to the bathroom. I needed a bowl of soapy water and my special comb.

I went into the bathroom, weapons in hand. I started combing her. I should pause here and say that there are several things in the previous hours that I have to thank God for. I will point those thankful things out as we go. First thing, I thank God that Ezme LOVES to be combed, hates brushes, loves combs and that was to my advantage tonight. She sat for a bit and allowed me to comb her, it wasn't until I got to her face, belly and legs that she fought me. Thing two that I thank God for: Ezme knows when I mean business. We've done enough medication giving, nail trimming, etc. that she knows my stern voice. Yes Marta, I do have it in me.

So once I had gotten situated and started combing I swear that I upset all those little bugs, because they waged battle against Ezme and I. They had all been fairly dormant in my previous blog, this time, oh no, they came out in full force. I finally know what people mean when they say that they can see them jumping and scurrying. Thank God thing three: I don't get to easily grossed out and can maintain my calm. I think if I couldn't do that, tonight would have been much worse. After at least 2 hours of combing and at least 100 fleas, I had finally worn myself and Ezme out enough that she was panting. I'd never seen a cat pant with its tongue hanging out, that is, until tonight. Poor girl. I decided to give both of us a break, but she was still confined to the bathroom.

I on the other hand, headed for the trusty computer to see if I could find any remedies that were "natural" and any more immediate than the Advantage. Thank God thing four: I can pick up wireless, and there is a wealth of information at my fingertips.

Did you know, Apple Cider Vinegar has multiple uses? Well, apparently it is my new miracle liguid, gold in a bottle (I hope). I did a search for herbal flea baths and a website came up for it, but then there were lots of comments about using ACV, which I couldn't figure out. Then I did. To the kitchen cupboards I went and indeed I had ACV. Let's try it. The website had also said Dawn dishsoap, another miracle item in my mind, for other reasons, which was setting next to my sink was a flea killer.

Again, I entered the bathroom with more weapons in hand. I had diluted the ACV with water and stuck Ezme into the bathtub and poured it all over her. Next up rinsing, then sudsing with the Dawn. I just knew she'd fight me. Thank God thing five, I just trimmed her nails a couple days ago so they weren't the sharp daggers that they could have been. Amazingly, she was calm. I think once the liquid was hitting her and then I was massaging the soap into her she had some relief. It took forever to get all the suds out of her and she just sat there. I liken it to taking an oatmeal bath if you have chickenpox. I never did do that, but hear it works. Thank God thing six: that she was mellow during the bathtime event. She was such a trooper.

I had gotten some towels out and ready. When I got myself out of the bathtub she continued to just sit. I wrapped her up and cuddled with her, told her how good she was and we just sat for a few minutes. I released her from the prison we'd both been in. I immediately started collecting any fabric things that she had been laying on and started laundry. What couldn't fit in went outside. Thank God thing seven: I have a washer and dryer in my apartment. I'd love to vacuum, it says on all the websites that vacuuming is one of the best things to do, but I know my neighbor down below probably already hates me enough for the night. Tomorrow. First thing. Right at this exact moment I am thanking God for my numbers eight, nine and ten that have occurred in the last 6 or so hours (there are probably more that I can't think of at 12:15am). Eight: that I have been able to watch Ezme for the last 2 hours since release from bathroom doom and she hasn't been bothered once by one of those pesky, nasty bugs. She has been grooming, but it is completely related to the fact that she was soaked. Nine: that she is now curled up on my lap trying to dry out and stay warm and her little motor is just purring away. Ten: Really, thank God wet cats don't smell as bad as wet dogs. Sweet release, and here is to maintained normallcy in the bug department in our abode. Load 2 just got done. Can we got to bed yet?

Ezme post ACV and Dawn bath.

I'm including the post 24 hour discovery info in this same post since I hadn't published it yet. So, I slept well, not as well as I would have liked, but Ez also crashed last night. Right next to me. She was bothered, and let me know about it, each time I got up. When I finally awoke today (Sunday) I decided to start more laundry and to call Holly, who had a flea fiasco earlier in the summer. She made her recommendation for a bug bomber. You see, in the middle of the night I decided I WOULD NOT deal with these critters again this summer and the guaranteed way was to bomb my apartment. I wouldn't mind a real bomb at the moment. In order to successfully bug bomb, or "fog" my apartment I must purchase said "fogger" and get Ezme into my car, with something to entertain myself also. I first vacuumed everything...couldn't hurt could it? Then I packed us up. I set the room up for fogging and went about following the directions. I started the fogger once Ez was in the car. I closed my door, locked it and said a prayer. Please let this be the solution. I decided we'd go for a little drive. First, I was going to set the alarm on my phone so I would know exactly when we could return. 2 hours later right? Maybe? I don't know. And the box is in the apartment being fogged. Well, shoot. I guessed on 2 hours as that is what another product had called for. Off we went for our ride/Stephanie's reading time. Ezme curled up in the passanger seat and napped, watched what was going by, etc. See photo below:

We drove through rainstorms, sunshine, leaves starting to change color, stopped to get ice cream from Dairy Queen and then I parked to read. Shortly the alarm went off. We headed home. Only 30 minutes to go to let it air out, once we arrived. I left Ezme in the car and headed in. I started opening things, turning on fans, etc. Then I read the box. 4 hours, another shoot. Well, 2.5, which is what it ended up being had to be better than nothing right? I hope. We will see. If not, I have another bottle of fogger. It was time for another Apple Cider Vinegar/Dawn bath to make sure. Well, to try to make sure. And then I went to work vacuuming everything again. Moving furniture and all. Ezme is now sitting on my bed trying to dry off, I am sitting at the computer ready to be done with what is now laundry load 5 and this whole flea business. Anyone want to trade places? Oh yea, thank God thing eleven (I think) : I still have another day off this weekend! Good thing! :)

A flea by any other name...

...is still a bug that bites Ezme, and makes me want to kill something (mainly it and all that is associated with it.)

Yes, my dear Ezme has fleas...3 down, quite literally, down the drain, and who knows how many more to go.

Ezme has been grooming herself a lot lately, and I have been really questioning it. I know she has dry skin, so my thoughts went immediately to that and I sprayed her with a lotion/water mixture that the vet had recommended. That hadn't remedied the situation. Then about a week and a half ago I started noticing all these little black spots where ever she would settle. I consulted several people that I know that have cats, as there are still a few new experiences for me, being a first time cat owner and all. Most attributed it to dry skin, changing weather, etc, etc. NOT the case, as I found out today.

Danielle came up from Salem to hang out, it had been too long. Anyway, I was telling her my story and she asked about fleas. I had indeed thought about that a week ago and had checked her over thoroughly (Ezme, not Danielle). Nothing. Not one little bug. And these eggs, larvae, jumping insects everyone talks about must have been making a battle plan below the surface. After Danielle departed to head home today I started checking again. Mind you, I hadn't seen a single bug that fit a flea description anywhere. And then my finger found it. A perpetrator. A little brown bug (having nothing to do with a little brown jug). It fit the description perfectly. Damn. She has fleas. Well, what to do, what to do. My first thought was to find as many as I could and kill them and I did just that. Then I was ready to head out to find chemical back-up. As I put my shoes on I remembered that Ezme's dear Auntie Marta had outfitted us with lots of "kitty stuff" when we first found each other. I headed for that basket and hallelujah, there was the Advantage flea treatment. I read the instructions and went to work. Pretty easy I must say and I am now crossing my fingers that after washing everything and medicating that my dear one will be flea free. Keep your fingers crossed too...it couldn't hurt.

Nasty little thing isn't it? Die flea, die!

Deep Fried Goodness?...I think not.

Yea, pretty much decided when I saw this on the news that is was most definitely disgusting. Enjoy the following article courtesy of MSNBC Food & Wine Articles:

Move over, Twinkies: Deep-fried butter is here

Inventor of fried Coke and fried cookie dough is ‘back with a vengeance’

State Fair of Texas
Abel Gonzales Jr. says his deep-fried butter invention tastes like “a mix between a biscuit or a croissant that is just stuffed to the gills with butter on the inside.”

By Laura T. Coffey
TODAYShow.com contributor

Who among us hasn’t simultaneously marveled and shuddered over accounts of deep-fried Twinkies? Deep-fried Oreos? Deep-fried bacon?
Well, brace yourself, because a new deep-fried item has been invented that’s so bold, so audacious, so brazen, it’s bound to take your breath away. The invention is none other than:
Deep-fried butter.
That’s right. This artery-clogging, heart-stopping dish is among eight new deep-fried concoctions that will be unveiled to the public at the State Fair of Texas in Dallas later this month. Each year, fair concessionaires try to outdo themselves by dreaming up recipes that could send you racing to your cardiologist if they became regular staples of your diet. The friendly competition has become so intense that fair officials have dubbed the fairgrounds the “Fried Food Capital of Texas.”
This year’s fried butter entry is the brainchild of 39-year-old Dallas resident Abel Gonzales Jr., winner of past state fair competitions for his Texas Fried Cookie Dough, Fried Peanut Butter, Jelly and Banana Sandwich and Fried Coke recipes.
(That’s right. Fried Coke.)
To make fried butter, the butter itself needs to have an outer coating, or shell, if you will — something that can withstand the bubbling cauldron of the deep fryer.
“I mean, butter by itself does not taste good,” Gonzales said. “Nobody just grabs a stick of butter and eats it. That would be gross.”
So here’s what Gonzales does: He takes 100 percent pure butter, whips it until it is light and fluffy, freezes it, then surrounds it with dough. The butter-laden dough balls are then dropped into the deep fryer.
For purists who just want the unadulterated taste of butter, Gonzales serves up plain-butter versions of his creation. For others who want a little more pizzazz, he offers three additional versions with flavored butters: garlic, grape or cherry.
“When you taste it, it really does taste like a hot roll with butter,” said Sue Gooding, spokeswoman for the State Fair of Texas. “It tastes great.”
“It’s like a mix between a biscuit or a croissant that is just stuffed to the gills with butter on the inside,” Gonzales said. “I think that’s the best way to describe it.”
An order of fried butter will get you three or four pieces of piping-hot dough in a little cardboard boat.
“Any more than that and I think it would be a little bit too much,” Gonzales said. “A little bit too rich.”
Pork chips and pecan piesOther deep-fried creations to be showcased at this year’s state fair include:
Green Goblins: Cherry peppers stuffed with spicy shredded chicken and guacamole, battered, deep-fried and topped with queso.
Twisted Yam on a Stick: A spiral-cut sweet potato, fried on a skewer, then rolled in butter and dusted with cinnamon and sugar.
Fernie’s Deep Fried Peaches & Cream: Served with a side of vanilla buttercream icing for dipping.
Texas Fried Pecan Pie: A mini-pecan pie battered, deep fried and served with caramel sauce, whipping cream and chopped candied pecans.
Country Fried Pork Chips: Battered, thin-sliced pork loin deep fried and served with sides of ketchup or cream gravy.
Sweet Jalapeno Corn Dog Shrimp: Shrimp on a stick, coated with a sweet and spicy cornmeal batter, deep fried and served with a spicy glaze.
Fried Peanut Butter Cup Macaroon: A peanut butter cup wrapped inside a coconut macaroon, fried and then dusted with powdered sugar.
All eight creations will be judged in the categories of Best Taste and Most Creative. Winners will be announced on Labor Day.

The annual competition, now in its fifth year, has prompted concessionaires to push limits and become ever more imaginative and daring with their entries. Previous competitions saw the debut of deep-fried lattés, fried banana splits and chicken-fried bacon.
For his part, Gonzales has won three times in the past four years for his cookie-dough, Coke and PBJ-and-banana-sandwich inventions. He still remains a little astonished that he didn’t win anything for last year’s creation, something he called Fire and Ice. That complex dish involved deep-fried pineapple chunks topped with strawberries, strawberry sauce and — here’s the kicker — banana-flavored whipped cream flash-frozen in liquid nitrogen.
“Smoke would come out of your nose or mouth as you exhaled,” Gonzales said. “Kids really loved it. It was something to see.”
This year, Gonzales decided to get back to basics with a dish that doesn’t pussyfoot around.
“Fried butter, I think, is his effort to come back with a vengeance,” Gooding said.
‘Special foods for a special time’So what’s with this annual celebration of all things deep fried and deeply unhealthy? Should the Food and Drug Administration step in and ban the event?
No, said Jennifer Pereira, a registered dietitian in nearby Arlington, Texas. A firm believer in the “no bad foods” approach to dieting and healthy eating, Pereira said it isn’t such a bad thing for people to splurge occasionally on foods they truly enjoy.
“The state fair is only once a year,” Pereira said. “I would strongly encourage people not to binge. Don’t build up your hunger so you can eat everything in sight. Pick a couple of things that you really enjoy, savor them, and stop eating when you feel satisfied.”
Pereira pointed out that all foods contain some nutrition — even Gonzales’ fried butter dish.
“Fried butter has fats, and you need some fats,” she said. “The dough would have some carbohydrates. ...
“In my practice, once I get people to legalize all foods, it’s amazing how food loses its grip.”

Gonzales knows his deep-fried inventions aren’t healthy — but he also knows that they’re fun. “These are special foods for a special time,” he said. “The fair is the one time of year when grown-ups can be kids again. ...
“There are a lot of people out there that don’t get the fun in what I’m doing. I’ve gotten e-mails from people saying, ‘You’re a menace!’ But you know, if you’re really health-conscious, there’s always other alternatives. You don’t have to have it. ... And I tell people this is not healthy food. Be careful with it. Take it in moderation. Definitely get your exercise. Eat a salad.”
Frying for a livingFor Gonzales, being such a successful concessionaire at such a huge state fair for the past seven years has paved the way to a measure of financial freedom — so much so that he recently quit his day job of 14 years as a computer analyst.
“It’s funny, because being at the state fair is the total opposite of being a computer analyst,” he said. “I finally kind of figured out that I was in the wrong field. ... I’ve been really lucky — really, really lucky. I can just do this for the three weeks out of the year and that’s pretty much it.”
His fair creations tend to be highly labor-intensive, and every year his entire family — parents, sisters, aunts, uncles, cousins, nieces and nephews — helps him throughout the hyper-busy fair madness in late September and October.
“It’s like a little family reunion,” Gonzales said. “We all bond during the fair.”
Once the fair ends and the madness dies down, Gonzales chills out and spends plenty of quality time with his German shepherd, Scout.
“Mainly I just take it easy the rest of the year and think of new things to fry.”

******Are your arteries all clogged up just reading this? Mine are!*******

I love Donald Miller...

...yes I do! I even met him two times, and one of his books that I own is signed by the man himself.

Don Miller is a local author who has written popular reads such as Blue Like Jazz, Through Painted Deserts, and Searching for God Knows What. He is an enthralling author for many. When I went to one of his readings/book signings I was wowed by all of the individuals that he had reached through his writings. He was very personable and chatted with each person that approached him for a signature. I had gotten a copy of the book for a friend who had just moved to NYC and was having him sign her copy also. I remember that he was impressed I was going to read two copies of the same book, until I burst his bubble. He was very happy to hear that I was sharing the love. Jyndia was SO elated to get the signed copy...

Anywho, on to the reason for this post: Not only do I love Don Miller, I REALLY LOVE autumn, fall, leaf changing time, season between summer and winter, whatever you may call this glorious time of year, I love it. I don't know the exact reason I love it, but a few supporting reasons include: the colors-love the brilliant oranges, reds, yellows-and here in Oregon I get to experience the colors for a longer period of time. I love the crisp biting morning air, the smell of smoke from fireplaces that are being used again to warm the inhabitants of their respective homes. Even love decorating for it! I get this little burst of energy (usually on my way home from work), come home, clear out the storage unit to get to the decorations and get a little over excited about the prospect of donning my fall leaf garland, pumpkins, corn cobs, etc. I love the fall festivals, pumpkins, apple cider, you name it, if it involves fall I probably love it.

My love for fall brings me to Mr. Miller: In the Author's Note of Through Painted Deserts there is a passage I read and re-read every autumn here in Portland:

"It is fall here now, my favorite of the four seasons. We get all four here, and they come at us under the doors, in through the windows. One morning you wake and need blankets; you take the fan out of the window to see clouds that mist out by midmorning, only to reveal a naked blue coolness like God yawning.

September is perfect Oregon. The blocks line up like postcards and the rosebuds bloom into themselves like children at bedtime. And in Portland we are proud of our roses; year after year, we are proud of them. When they are done, we sit in the parks and read stories into the air, whispering the gardens to sleep."

There is much more to the Author's Note, and I wish I could regurgitate it all here now, but will close with this segment:

"It frightened me to think of it, that I passed up an early marriage or children to write these silly books, that I bought the lie that the academic life had to be separate from relational experience, as though God only wanted us to learn cognitive ideas, as if the heart of a man were only created to resonate with movies. No, life cannot be understood flat on a page. It has to be lived; a person has to get out of his head, has to fall in love, has to memorize poems, has to jump off bridges into rivers, has to stand in an empty desert and whisper sonnets under his breath."



I as I read these segments and the rest of the note, I can't help but be reflective on my summer, as we transition into fall. I vowed early on that I was going to have as many experiences this summer as I could. New and repeated. I was going to live life. I feel like I have succeeded! And still have more to go...festivals, events, time with friends and just plain fun things that are planned for the remaining days before the rain arrives and I am no longer go able to spend hours of my days outside hiking, strolling around downtown, and just enjoying life. There are first time experiences that I've had that will be repeated, and first time experiences that will be one time experiences and I love that I am able to say I experienced so much. Granted there were things that were neglected, well, really only one thing that I can think of at the moment--housework. I figure that there will be many a rainy day that I can vacuum, dust, put those shoes away (wait they are already put away--and I've kept that area up!).



I know that I will be sad as the rains begin, and will look back on the pictures and memories from this summer often. I also know that soon enough the seasons will change and we will be back where we were a few short months ago and I can do it all over again, and then some. Until then, I am hoping that I don't wish my life away too much like so many of us when we are busy and life seems to be too much. May I slow down and continue to appreciate the little things in life in a different way than I have been the past several weeks. May I catch-up on dusting those shelves that I've been avoiding, have more quiet, "ease into my day with my morning cup of tea" kind of days, and get good and rested so I can hit the ground running in my next go-round. May I be thankful for the life I live, the opportunities I have and the warmth of all the friendships that I experience. I wish the same and more for you all also! Blessings.

I have a shoe problem...

...and right now I have a problem with putting my shoes away.

Have no fear, I remedied the situation shortly after capturing this mess on camera. :)

Sunday drive...

...and hike!

It was such a cloudy day when I got up this morning, but I was ready to get out and about. I thought I'd head to Sauvie Island to do a quick hike, got to the island and decided I'd rather not hike on the island. I couldn't actually leave without stopping at a couple of the markets though. Enjoy the trip...

I love to pass under this tree every time I go to the island!

Peppers anyone?!

I didn't realize until I'd downloaded this picture that it looks like I took it in black and white...to bad I didn't. These are the actual colors of these pumpkins. Loved them.

Here is the color!





Beans!

After the drive around the island, I decided to head to Forest Park to do the hike I'd promised myself. I ended up doing about 5 miles. It was amazingly invigorating! Not only did I hike, couldn't help but get some photos also...

Mushrooms :)


"Sappy"

Lots of spiderwebs, also walked through lots of spiderwebs...ewww...but pretty.

Loved the shadow effect!

These adorable, and very petite flowers were all over, but I didn't see a one of them until I was hiking out. They stand only about one inch off the ground.

Christmas card photo....? Maybe...

After my hike down, I decided to stop off at Cathedral Park, a park in North Portland under the St. John's Bridge. I love this park, don't get to it as often as I'd like because it feels so far away from where I live. As you can tell by the pictures, the name is very fitting!

Just as an FYI, I was stopped at a stop light when I took this picture...I knew the parentals, and other concerned parties would ask. :)

Me (and the bridge I love!)

It was an amazing day. Couldn't have asked for too much more. Hope you all had such a grand day also!

Festa Italiana

Italian-American Month is in Spetmeber, however, Portland likes to celebrate things early. That is fine by me. I like a celebration no matter when it is. I have spent a lot of time at Pioneer Courthouse Square this summer, seems to be where the action is. I headed down again today for Fest Italiana. I knew I'd be in for seeing some dancing, smelling some good food of which I couldn't eat much, but nonetheless, downtown I went. It wasn't as bustling of a place as it has been for some events, but I took a quick stroll around just to see what I would get to check out. I made my way over to the entertainment area and settled in to watch the Furlane Dance Group who were in from Vancouver B.C. There traditional folk dancing in their traditional dress was nice to see. Much more mellow than the bollywood dancing had been a few weeks earlier at the India Festival. Here are some pictures to enjoy:

After watching the dancers for I bit I decided I was going to head in to the "food court" area. As much as I would have loved to have some sausage and pasta, I behaved so I wouldn't get sick later and had a salad, not bad, but not pasta. I made a mental note I needed to make some form of a gluten free pasta dish at home. Because I ate salad I justified purchasing and eating all of the Hazelnut Gelato that they gave me and it was good.

I loved all the colors of tomatoes. This picture hardly does them justice, but there were mounds of them, all colors at all the food booths.

Sausage!

Happy Italian-American Month...and now for the gluten free Italian dish!

"Without TRADITION our lives would be as shaky as a...

In keeping with our now 5 year tradition, yes, once I've done something 2 times I consider it to be a tradition; Holly and I renewed our season tickets for the Broadway Across America Portland Series. When we first decided to subscribe as season ticket holders we were still in college. We both enjoyed seeing plays/musicals/"cultural stuff" that not everyone else seemed as interested in. We picked the cheapest seats, we were college students after all. Once our tickets arrived for the first season we realized we were sitting on the main floor...no balcony, mezzanine or 2nd mezzanine business for us. We were excited. Our seats were back row of the main floor with a post on one side of us and two seats and then the aisle and doorway on the other side. We couldn't have asked for better seats. Easy access, people only one one side of us, no one walking across our foot path to get to their seats, easy exit. We have kept our same seats all five years, and though we've talked about "upgrading" we probably won't. We are happy where we are. Thursday nights are our nights, dinner and then the show.

The first show of this season was Fiddler on the Roof, which I've seen before and love the music and Holly has never seen. I kept hearing ads on the radio for the show stating that this would be Topol's farewell tour. I kept thinking..."who the heck is Topol? Must be a pretty impressive guy." I told my mom and dad and I believe my dad's response was... "He's still alive!?" Hmmm...what was the show going to be like?

We walked into the theatre lobby and there was an announcement that the show would begin promptly at 7:30, unusual because all the shows started 5-10 minutes late and we'd grown accustomed to that schedule. We got in and situated and low and behold, right at 7:30 the lights went down and the current opened. I remembered immediately when the fiddle music began how much I really did love this show and the music of it. Shortly this Topol came out (I still had no idea who he was and I hadn't had time to read the actor blib in the program before the lights went down) and the crowd went wild, well, as wild as a Broadway musical watching crowd can become. I shortly discovered why. He was ABSOLUTELY AMAZING! He had all the nuances of the charater of Tevye down pat, the walk, the talk, the sighing, the gestures. He had captured the audience.

We went along and made it to intermission (I sometimes neglectfully call it half-time, though we are not at a sporting event). I finally was able to read the actor bio and discovered the reason he is so wonderful. Chaim Topol has been performing this part for at least 32 years, more years than I've been alive. He had opened the show on London's West End, performed on Broadway in NYC, in Sydney Australia, and starred in the movie version. I told Holly that he probably has this character ingrained in his own person and probably sees Tevye creep out in his own life. How could he not?! Seriously, after all those years you sort of become who you are acting, which is why he was so good I'm sure. I expected him to maybe be 55 (note: later, after looking him up I discovered he has been playing this part for nearly 40 years and is 74, well, in a few days...Sept 9th he will be 74). WOW! He still sauntered around the stage and I'm sure that his fellow cast members had a hard time keeping up with him at times.

I would continue to be amazed through the second act. So, thank you for the education dear Topol. Thank you for your dear, sweet, yet sassy portrayal of such a wonderful character who was trying to get by and live life as best he could while the world and his long held traditions were crumbling around him. It is a good lesson for us all.

Chaim Topol as "Tevye" in the opening scene.

The cast in a rendetion of "Tradition"

Just playing...

Most days I love my work, and some days I even love the meetings for my job. Today was a perfect example. Monthly, all of the Life Enrichment Coordinators (that is the P.C. term for an activity coordinator) from our various sites meet. Every other month we try to have an internal inservice that is brought to us by one of our peers. One of the sites has a Horticulture Therapist on staff and she did a presentation today. To make it more authentic, we met at the Portland Memory Garden, an AMAZING garden in SE Portland that is meant to address the needs of those living with memory disorders and their loved ones. I take many of my participants on outings to this garden, and all love it. There are raised beds, lots of different flowers, plants, trees, etc. I even go on my own frequently. After our inservice I decided to stay and "play" with my camera. I have a sort of borderline addiction to taking photos, as amateur as I may be. Below are the results:

One of my favorites, along with the one below that is similar.

Rarely, I title my work, I don't feel I am "professional" enough for that. However, I decree that the one above shall be called "Juicy Fruit!"

Second favorite!

Bzzzzzzz........

I wish I could bottle the smell of Jasmine! Love it. Someday, I hope to have it outside of a window so I can smell it whenever I am near that window!