Screen Bug

This is why god made screen doors…

The nice thing is, he stayed there for quite a while. I don’t take life and it’s rubbed off on Steph…

Published
Categorized as House

Heceta Beach

Took this shot a few years back on Heceta Beach. I thought about Oregon as a destination but it rains too much and the beaches are usually foggy.

Published
Categorized as Travels

Deadlines

Our deadlines rapidly approach. The landlady want’s us out of the house by August 28 which gives me three days to wander around the West Coast with all of my possessions, and my cat, jammed into my truck until I can move into my new place, which I haven’t found yet.

This is after I drive a U-Haul truck to the deep south with all of Steph’s stuff, and then take the Greyhound back through the heartland of America. Yea, let that one sink in…

I have only two constants left in my life now: My words on this computer, and the feel of my beard on the soft underbelly of my sweet cat Piper.

Published
Categorized as Me

Tin Cup 11

Well, Steph and I made our 11th annual Tin Cup appearance this morning in Driggs park. Every non-profit in the valley had their cup out and we did what we do every time we go, eat the free breakfast. This will probably be our last event here.

Published
Categorized as The Valley

The Box

Sometimes we find ourselves wallowing around within the confines of self-inflicted boxes. All we can see are the limits imposed by the box. I was sitting on the deck the other day playing some Lukas Nelson on my Echo, feeling really sorry for myself and I wrote a poem: I’m a sad old man, without a plan, throwing it all away again. Pretending to not give a damn, not knowing if I’ll lose or win.

Well, I thought, that’s pretty bleak as I consumed some Oregon fruit from my recent trip, I need to start thinking out of the box. I was trying to figure out how to get Steph and her stuff to the South towards the end of August while towing her truck behind the U-Haul and then getting my own ass back here to get my life moving and what about Piper while I was gone.

As I went to bed my brain was on fire and around midnight I got it. Leave early in August, pull my truck behind the U-Haul, unload in the South and drive back here. Steph can put new tires on her Tundra and drive east on our last day, I’ll then grab my stuff and Piper and drive to… Oh wait, I haven’t worked that part out yet, better go visit the deck one more time…

Published
Categorized as Me

WA Visit 2018

I visited my boy Riley and wife Jess at their new home in the Northwest. I’m really proud of these kids, they’ve landed a beautiful isolated spread on prime land. I took a bunch of photos but for privacy all I’m sharing here is the first night fire-pit shots, including Riley’s boyhood friend (and mine) and a fine shot of Mt. Rainier.

Published
Categorized as Family

Packaged

I’ve been eating a breakfast of red cabbage, beets and garlic for years now and it’s one of the things I attribute my great health to. I also started adding kale for the calcium but the store was out today. I usually dice everything up together in my Cuisinart and store it in a container in the fridge but lately it’s begun to ferment before I finish it.

My normal procedure is to heat a third cup of water in a sauce pan, add 3/4 cup of the mixture, heat and boil for a couple minutes and then thicken it up with ground flax-seed meal. It has the texture of oatmeal and when topped with a sliced banana it’s great!

I’m going to be traveling for a bit shortly so I came up with an idea: Dice each vegetable separately, store one serving amounts in small individual baggies, and then freeze them. I’ll transport them in my cooler and all I have to do is power up my portable hotplate, heat water, add the frozen mix and cook.

One average sized cabbage, three beets, and one jar of peeled garlic made 16 meals. Of course, I had to bag up some flax-seed also:

Published
Categorized as Me

Cute Nose

One of Piper’s and my favorite affectionate gestures is to nuzzle noses. I don’t realize how cute her little nose is until I get down in her space when she’s sleeping.

Published
Categorized as Piper

Toris Ride

While I was doing the Parade (see post below), Tori was going up for her first balloon ride. Steph knows the balloon people, having provided their propane over the years, and got Tori a ride with three seasoned balloon pilots.

and, the great photo-journalist Steph shot a flawless video of the launch, here:

Published
Categorized as Family

Victor Parade 2018

I took a different approach to the Parade this year. Instead of standing midway in the madness I went to the start of the parade as it made the turn off of Elm Street on to Main Street (yes, I know…)

It worked out good, saw a couple folks and some kids that I know in the parade and I suppose because I was bare-shirted working on my tan, the Laid-Back boys tossed me a free Route 66 tee-shirt. Click the photo below to see the 132 shots I took.

Published
Categorized as The Valley

Ari-James

There’s a baby in the house, with an unusual name. I asked how his name was spelled and found out Ari has two first names, hyphenated together. What the heck, why not! He’s also pretty darn cute…

Published
Categorized as Family