A Holiday Jaunt To Seattle

Well, it’s eerily quiet around here now, as our kids and granddaughters have gone home to other Christmas celebrations with the other sides of their families as well as at church.

Even our dog Buddy is moping.

Yesterday, however, was a different story. Gregg, Elaine, Talli, Hayley, Aubrey, Grandma and Grandpa all went on a holiday excursion to Seattle.

There we met Doug and Jamie for lunch among the lighted city decorations and were treated with a visit to the very top floor of the building (left photo), where Jamie is employed.

As one would imagine, Seattle was packed with people. After missing one reservation at the Cheesecake Factory because Grandpa became gridlocked in city traffic, we finally settled in to enjoy a wonderful lunch together.

If you’ve been to a Cheesecake Factory and seen their 20-page (book) menu, you know how hard it can be just to make a selection. And everything is scrumptious there.

Almost too full to move, we waddled down the street where Jamie gave us a deluxe tour of where she works on the 50-somethingth floor. The 270-degree view of Puget Sound, Mt. Rainier, Lake Union and the city is nothing less than spectacular, and I would have included a photo. But I managed to blur it into infamy (tried to get tricky w/o a flash). The very top left front corner of the building is the conference room from which we viewed the panorama.

Ever gracious, Jamie gave us a wonderful tour that of course included her spacious work area. What a sweet, but well earned, position she has in an incredible setting and with one of Seattle’s finest financial firms. Can this really be work?

To cap off a great outing, we walked across the street to the City Center where there was an exhibit of creatively made Gingerbread Houses. Big ones. One edible example is pictured top right; it’s a replica of Seattle’s Smith Tower, once the city’s tallest building. The creation is made entirely of sugar, frosting and gingerbread.

It was a happy, but tired, family that returned to the home digs last evening.

Our Family Christmas

Our family tradition has always been to have lasagna for dinner and open gifts on Christmas Eve. This year, with our sons’ wild schedules, the closest we could get to Christmas Eve and still have everyone together, was this evening.

So we celebrated.

The entire Koskela clan gathered in our home tonight for, yep, grandma’s lasagna and related goodies. Of course during the meal, the kids chomped at the bit to open packages.

Immediately following dinner, tradition also dictates that the kids of all ages first check out the goodies that Mrs. Santa Claus (Grandma) has selected for each one and placed in their personalized stockings. Everyone found a variety of "treasures" in their sock.

Then we alternately opened our gifts, squealing, "oooohing" or "aaaahing" in response to the particular present. That’s four-year-old Aubrey in the photo proudly holding her “angel” gift for Grandma that she made with her own hands. She could hardly contain herself until gift time, but she successfully kept secret the special gift.

We had a wonderful time, and, as usual, we agreed that this was “the best Christmas ever”.

Brother Assists Brother In Steelhead Success!

My son Doug organized and planned the trip and drove his car. He even gave his older brother an early Christmas present – a beautiful steelhead rig (long graphite pole and spinning reel that was perfect for drifting a jig under a bobber).

And it was Gregg (at right) who got the fish, a beautiful, chrome-bright hen with sea lice still clinging to her side (translation: it was so fresh it had come from the ocean in less than a day or so).

This may be the fastest I’ve ever seen anyone get the skunk off a new rig. What it really means, though, is that Gregg is a very savvy steelhead fisherman.

After a two-and-a-half-hour drive from our home, to the west and deep into the Olympic National Park and Forest, we arrived at the Bogachiel River (above), near the small town of Forks. Three world-class steelhead rivers come together in the area – the Bogey, the Calawah and the Sol Duc.

Plus, it’s not far from a state steelhead hatchery which virtually insures that there are fish in the rivers at this time of the year.

Well today, for Gregg, there sure was. The wily fish made three desperate runs downriver, trying it’s hardest to spit the hook. But the fisherman prevailed. Another look: Doug took pic above with Gregg's cell phone cam at river's edge. The steelie was a seven-pounder and stretched a healthy 27-inches. Click here for Gregg's perspective.

It was a fabulous (and very rare) day together for the three of us. Doug and I will get ours next time.

It Doesn't Get Much Better Than This

My sons and I after a salmon trip on August 25, 2004

Both of my sons are here tonight, and we're getting our gear ready for a steelhead trip to the Bogachiel River tomorrow. We leave at 4:15 am.

I'm sure both Gregg and Doug will outfish me, and that's just fine. I trained them well.

I will enjoy tomorrow in a way that's inexplicable unless you have sons with whom you share a passion. It doesn't get much better than this.

There’s No Place Like Home

After a little more than three and a half days without power, heat or water, our house is once again “connected”. And you can’t imagine how good it feels to be in a warm home.

The inside temperature has come up over 25 degrees today, so the place is once again quite inhabitable.

In spite of it all, we are one of the fortunate ones. About 200,000 homes in the northwest still are cold and uncomfortable without power. Our thoughts and prayers are tonight with those folks.

The juice is flowing once again just in time. Our elder son, his wife and our granddaughters will arrive sometime tomorrow to spend most of the week with us. My other son and his wife will join us throughout the week to celebrate the Christmas holidays.

Hopefully, all of us boys will get a steelhead fishing trip in on Wednesday. If we’re successful, you’ll read about it here in the days ahead. Silence on the topic will indicate our disappointment.

Another Day… Another Motel Room

Well, we’re spending a third night in a motel room, as power, water and heat remain absent from our house.

The temperature inside our home was somewhere BELOW 40-degrees this afternoon when we went by to check things out.

A friend from church offered to let us use his spare generator, and that would maybe save some food in the freezer. But without water (we’re on a community well with an electric pump), we can’t do much as far as “living” is concerned, so we declined his kind gesture.

So, we wait it out.

It could be another day or two before we get power restored. We’re one of about 600 nearby homes without power due to fallen trees on local power lines. The main transmission lines have been restored, but the infrastructure is still struggling. It’s more important that the power company focuses on larger outages rather than smaller ones. That’s understandable.

We’re thankful that things aren’t worse.

70 mph Winds Knock Us Out of the House

I’m writing this sitting in a nice warm motel room about 20 miles from home. The horrendous wind storm has knocked us out (of the house).

With no power, no heat and no water, it became wiser for us to spend evenings and nights in a more temperate place -- not that we’re wimps, or anything, but we were concerned for our dog, Buddy :-).

The pic shows a man in Kitsap County just trying to get to his damaged car in front of his house after winds blew a large tree down that landed right on top of the vehicle (photo from an online newspaper).

During the height of the winds Thursday night I opened the front door to see what I could see. Not much (it was totally dark). But I could hear the 70+ mph winds bellowing up the Puget Sound Passage our house faces.

It sounded just like I imagine a hurricane sounds – just a steady, freight train-loud roar. Fortunately, our home is set back enough so that we were sheltered from the main gusts. To make it even worse, the temps dropped below freezing last night, leaving a real chill even indoors.

We went back to the house today to see if power had come on and to get some clothes for church tomorrow. It had not. So I guess we’re here for another night, at least.

The severe storm that came through Puget Sound beginning late Wednesday has drawn national attention. One thing has become apparent. It’s the largest power outage ever for Puget Sound Energy.

All tolled, about a million homes were without power for at least some time, meaning that maybe as many as two million people were on their own. The power company is in the midst of herculean efforts to get the juice flowing again, but it’s a daunting task.

Fortunately shelters have opened where there is power, and there have been few reports of injury or deaths (or freezings) as a result. For that we can be thankful.

However, I will miss a football game tonight. The motel TV doesn’t have the NFL Network. Buddy's gonna miss the game maybe more than I will. It could be a whole lot worse.

Our Last Day With California Friends Before Heading Home

First to Santa Cruz…

In the early afternoon on Friday of last week we spent the last few hours on the Santa Cruz side visiting Kay Lynne’s sweet elderly aunt, Beulah.

She still lives on her own in her home, just steps from the ocean cliffs near the landmark Santa Cruz lighthouse. Aunt “Beu,” as we all call her, is still sharp as a tack and getting around just fine. A classically beautiful woman in her prime, and still very attractive, Beu’s greatest asset is that she is a beautiful person – inside and out. She is a pure pleasure to be around.

We thoroughly enjoyed the time with her, catching up on the New side of the family. My wife has three cousins, two second cousins, and two third cousins, all from Beu and her late husband, Lee – Kay Lynne’s mom’s brother.

Then to Morgan Hill…

As evening approached, we returned to San Jose, picked up Darlene and headed for Morgan Hill, some 15 miles to the south. Eddie Wall, my old ad agency partner was driving home from an LA business trip and was to meet us, his wife, and Mike & Gwen Silkwood for dinner at a nearby restaurant.

Oooops, wrong partner!

















Ed's never seen a naked statue

After we all met at Mike and Gwen’s beautiful Morgan Hill “mansion”, and viewed HD TV in their high tech theater, we headed out to yak it up and get our fill at an Italian eatery. We enjoyed our usual, humor(?)-laden banter. We soon had the wait persons talking to themselves and regretting ever taking our table. But such is common with this irreverent group.

The funniest part of the evening was when the bill came. Buddy Ed and his dear wife had ordered the most expensive entrees on the menu. As Ed picked up the check, he announced, “Down here we always just split the bill by the number of couples; it’s much easier than trying to figure who got what.”

I’ve gotta remember that one. Seriously, Ed & Darlene are probably two of the most generous people we know, so I can needle him. I’m still trying to figure out if he was just testing my humor limit :-).










After dinner we returned to Silkwoods for more
friendly banter and enjoyed some (Marie Callender) pies that Gwen “had slaved over all afternoon”. We flew back home the next morning following a restful Friday night stay back at the Wall’s Almaden home that was gorgeously decorated for the holidays.

That's Ed & Darlene left above & Mike and Gwen at right above.

Hopefully our paths will again cross somewhere up here in the Northwest next Summer.

On to the Mt Hermon Christmas Dinner & Concert

On Thursday of last week, after a restful night at the Wall’s home in San Jose, we headed south “over the hill” (that’s what locals call the 1,900-ft high coastal range between Los Gatos and Santa Cruz) to Scotts Valley (another place we once lived for six years) and the nearby Mt Hermon Christian Conference Center.

This was our third or fourth time at the annual Santa Cruz mountain Christmas event, and it features a quaint holiday gift boutique and a very nice buffet dinner, followed by a Christmas music concert in the auditorium.

This year’s guest artists, for the week we were there, were Tim Zimmerman and the King’s Brass from Winona Lake, Indiana (“poor” available light pic at top).

They get a WOW! for a spectacular performance.

Accompanying us to the Mt Hermon concert were Ted and Sharon Petersen, Mike & Gwen Silkwood and Darlene Wall (minus hubby Ed who was in LA).

At evening’s end, we joined Ted & Sharon at their beautifully rustic mountain cabin right on the conference grounds. There we spent the night following a “catch up” on our respective interests and involvements while enjoying the comforts of easy chairs and sofas.

That’s Ted and Sharon in the other photo, taken at the cabin. I’ll include pics of Silkwoods and Walls in the next post. We really enjoyed the time with Ted and Sharon, as it had been about six months since we had seen them. They are the kind of people who enrich your life by just being around them

The Petersens live in Lake Wildwood, a gated community in the Sierra Nevada foothills, where the pines are tall and the lake is a short walk from their doorstep. Living on the second hole of the LW golf course just adds fun to everyday goings on. Don’t play Ted for money, however; he’s good. He hits long and very accurately – just the opposite of my golf game.

Sleep came quickly and deeply (I believe I might have snored a bit) in the cool mountain air. Sure hope they can come visit us next summer.

Making the Rounds in the Bay Area

Late Wednesday morning of last week we left Discovery Bay and headed to Fairfield, where we last lived in the Golden State, for a meeting with our financial advisor. Of course we had to drive by the house we then lived in. It appeared to be fine.

We then drove south in our rented mini-van (an UN-impressive Mazda MPV) toward San Jose, some 80 miles away, where my wife Kay Lynne had a dinner get-together planned with two of her friends from high school with whom she has stayed close.

She met Lorene Olszewski and Paula Brodick at a restaurant in Valley Fair, the extremely popular Westfield’s mega-mall. Valley Fair is one of Santa Clara Valley’s (and perhaps California’s) very first shopping centers. Macy’s was its first department store, opening in 1956, which became the center’s anchor retailer. The pic is of Valley Fair Macy's today.

Said to be the “best” mall in northern California, with the possible exception of the Stanford Shopping Center, Valley Fair is now all enclosed and is home to more than 200 stores, many quite “upscale”.

Kay Lynne was a Macy’s teen fashion model/consultant there “way back” in high school. All three of the gals were “pom-pom” girls (cheer leaders) together at San Jose’s historic Lincoln High School. I have photos, but I value my life.

The ladies had a great time at dinner, catching up on news and events in their lives. Lorene has two grown sons in the engineering and computer professions while Paula has a son who is in law enforcement.

I find it quite interesting that much like the six of us “Baggar” guys (see last post), my wife has remained close with several friends who also go back a very long way. She has known Lorene, for instance, since kindergarten.

All these “old” friends, however, make our periodic visits to California most enjoyable. More posts to follow on our Bay Area visit of last week.

50-Plus Years and Counting

Last week we were in California visiting many of our long-time friends there. On Tuesday night we enjoyed a restaurant dinner in Discovery Bay with friends we’ve known for 50-plus years.

In case you hadn’t thought about it, that’s half of a century!

The common thread – for the guys at least – was the late 1950’s and early 1960’s, San Jose State and a church-sponsored college group known then as Tri-C.

About that time and in those places we all became friends. Life-long amigos, it turns out.

Let me identify all the neat folks in the photo above, taken at the Klassen’s Bay home following our meal. Left to right in the back row are Joe Medal, Bill Brooks, Ralph Higgins and Bob Rodde. Front row are Dwight Klassen, Gayle Higgins, my wife Kay Lynne (seated), Mary Rodde and Lynnette Klassen.

Dwight, Ralph, Bob, Joe and I all lived together at one time or another during the above mentioned years. We were known as the Baggars. Bill roomed for a short stint with both Joe and Ralph near the end of the time frame. Unfortunately, Joe’s wife and Bill’s wife were unable to be there, but both guys drove some 80 miles from San Jose to join the get-together.

We enjoyed a wonderful, extended evening reminiscing about old times, many humorous, and catching up on what’s going on in all of our lives. Several had been touched by illness and are still in the recovery process. Thankfully, everyone is doing well.

I don’t know if it’s rare, but how many people do you know who have close, meaningful friends of more than 50 years? I’ve known Bob the longest, for 53 years, and Dwight for 50 years this annum.

Bob and I were high school friends, and I met Dwight as a college freshman. I’ve known Ralph and Joe a year or two less, as our paths came together in San Jose at the college group beginning in 1958. Bill joined the fellowship soon after.

The wives blended into the “Baggar Band” at various times along the way and, truth be told, are probably somewhat bored with the repetitive stories each time we assemble. In fact, we guys now just raise fingers to indicate the story number and then laugh like crazy. (Saves re-telling the tale and limits the growing exaggeration.:-)

Rare or not, each one has a special place in my life. And I’m the richer for it.

I Don’t Miss Topical Sermons

We’ve been in California this past week visiting a lot of long-time friends, and I’ll have some upcoming posts on that. But we came home a day or two earlier than we might have done otherwise, due to my wife’s Sunday School teaching responsibilities.

On the way home from church today, I came to the realization that we hadn’t heard a topical sermon since we began attending First Lutheran some 16 months ago.

I don’t seem to miss them at all.

In my previous Christian life, our weekly worship experience almost always included a topical sermon. I guess I should make the distinction clear.

Topical sermons are based on current societal events (such as “a statistical increase in premarital sex” or “global warming”) and usually are flaunted with a catchy “with it” title. I could come up with a dozen typical topics, but I’ll spare you.

Well, I just can’t pass up one. Ever seen a topic like this? “Is Global Warming God’s Warning?” You get the picture.

Topical sermons then attempt to snatch scriptures (many times out of context) and create a spiritual hypothesis about the subject. Some of these efforts may actually contain truth but to my way of thinking rarely teach us much about how we ought to meaningfully understand and practice our faith.

Conversely, in our church, sermons always are an exposition of scripture itself. Moreover, they usually follow the lectionary relating to the church calendar, which results, over a period of time, in a broad but relatively complete picture of the Bible’s teachings.

Today, the second Sunday of Advent, our pastor preached on the New Testament lesson taken from the first chapter of Philippians. Paul’s salutation to the Philippians is also a summary of his counsel to that body and also to us. I won’t try to “re-preach” the sermon here but I’ll just mention the highlights.

Pastor Jukam indicated that if we follow Paul’s advice, we should be more intentional about four things: First, to let Christ show through in our living (e.g., how long does it take someone to realize we are followers of Christ?).

Secondly, we should pray regularly and earnestly. Thirdly, we should be joyful in sharing our faith, and fourthly we should let our love overflow so that it affects others.

Sort of simple, yes, but very practical and effective advice from the apostle Paul that we can all benefit from and endeavor to put into practice in our faith walk.

How our climate might relate to a scripture verse here and there is of less relative consequence.

California Sun?

Most of this week we are hopefully enjoying some warm sunshine two States to the south of us, visiting six couples whom I like to kiddingly call our “California Cronies”.

We’ve known all of them for at least 40-plus years, and two of the guys I’ve known for over 50 years, one going all the way back to high school.

We’ll touch both ends of the greater San Francisco Bay Area on this visit, from Discovery Bay up north on the Delta all the way down to Santa Cruz, on Monterey Bay to the south of San Jose.

We have to leave our dog Buddy in a nearby kennel that also houses our vet and animal hospital facilities. That way, if he suffers separation anxiety again and doesn’t eat or drink, they can put him on IV’s till we get back :-).

Actually, my wife likely will have more separation anxiety than Buddy will.

Meltdown

We’re in a meltdown of snow and ice.

Our weather warmed overnight, and the five or six inches of snow – which covered a thick sheet of ice – is slowly disappearing.

By this afternoon we might even be able to get out safely. It was in an unsafe mode that I drove out and back the past two days.

Our driveway consists of a steep incline. Getting out is not too bad; you just aim the car and hope you can make the turn at the bottom that fortunately heads up hill again to help slow you down.

Getting back in is another matter.

I had to get the car moving – not too fast – on the snow and ice-covered gravel road in front of our house to at least get some momentum in order to make it up the frozen incline. The left turn into our paved uphill driveway provided the first thrill (to somehow avoid a side skid). Coming out of the turn into the driveway, I then had to “gun” it all the way up and let my “on demand “ AWD take charge. Right.

In spite of the AWD, I still fish-tailed precariously close to the drop off edge while ascending, and then I had to hit the brakes in an (un)controlled skid at the top so as not to crash into the garage. A hair-raising experience – but fun in a sick sort of way.

Well, I somehow got the MDX into the garage twice without damage. Thankfully, it’s over for now.

But I think I now could maybe qualify as a stunt driver.

The Morning After

The scene above is what it looks like this morning from our vantage point as the sun is trying to make its way above the horizon. You can see the beautiful fresh snow cover on the Olympic mountains in the distance as well as in our driveway and yard in the foreground. (You can click on the photo for a larger version.)

Just a typical November here in the Northwest. Not!

If you were watching Monday night football last night, you saw the snow coming down at Qwest field in downtown Seattle. It was a great game, and the good guys eventually won. But the weather was more Green Bay-like than Seattle-like.

We get a respite of sunshine for most of the day today, but they say another storm is powering up just off the coast. So more of the white stuff is on the way, but after that it’ll all change.

Warm air is behind the next storm, so all the fallen leaves will be soon visible again. Guess I better give the leaf blower a test.

SPU’s “The Sacred Sounds of Christmas” Provides Glorious Launch for the Holy-Day Season

Here’s a holiday recipe: Take a choir of more than 100 voices, add a full symphony orchestra and complement with a resounding pipe organ. Blend the ingredients in a presentation of the finest Christmas music from past and present. Accent with both male and female narration and stage in a setting of Christmas poinsettias and greenery.

The result? Last night’s musical production, The Sacred Sounds of Christmas, presented by the music department of Seattle Pacific University, and held in Seattle’s renowned Benaroya Hall (exterior pic above).

For my wife and me, it was a glorious launch for the upcoming “holyday” season. And to top off a virtually perfect evening, as we exited the building, large, beautiful snow flakes were floating gently through the seasonal lights to the street below.

As SPU President Phil Eaton indicated in his introductory remarks, with all the societal “pressures” currently on Christmas celebrations, this concert affords at least one marvelous opportunity to enjoy the true meaning and splendor of Yuletide expressed in melody.

And so we did.

A Time For Thanksgiving

With Fall colors emblazoned across our landscape, we are reminded that it is the time of year when we express our Thanksgiving for the blessings of life.

And so it is with deep gratitude to God, the creator of all and the author of our faith, that Kay Lynne and I wish you a Happy and Wonderful Thanksgiving. May you and yours be richly blessed at this holiday season.

Buddy Is Set For Football Playoffs

Our Cavalier King Charles Spaniel, Buddy, is now set for football playoffs and the Super Bowl, even if the weather is chilly, thanks to my cousin Jim Narva and his wife, Kay, who live in Sunnyvale, California.


Today the mailperson delivered Buddy's beautiful turtleneck pullover sweater, in Seahawk colors no less, from Jim and Kay.

The note in the package indicated it was a thank you gift for when they stayed with us the first weekend in November.

We, in turn, thank them for their perceptive thoughtfulness, and we thoroughly enjoyed having them here as well.

Buddy is ecstatic about the sweater, as you can see in the top photo. In the second photo, Buddy is showing off the cool football on the back of his sweater. His gait has taken on an added swagger when the sweater is on.

Also included in the parcel was a gorgeous, colorful 2007 photo calendar of Cavalier KC canine specimens which we'll hang in a place where Buddy can also see it. In looking through the calendar photos, it's obvious Buddy's markings are classic for the tri-color Cav.

Buddy really enjoyed Jim & Kay's attention while they were here, and we could tell he missed them after they were gone. When he smelled the sweater this afternoon to check it out, he wagged his tail. I think he knows the pullover is from them.

A Banquet Buffet Feast Amidst Famous Historical Aircraft – All For A Wonderful Cause

This past Monday night my wife and I enjoyed one of the most interesting events we’ve ever attended. We had a banquet buffet feast under the wings of the Spruce Goose. Yep, THE Spruce Goose.

Howard Hughes’ famous eight-engine flying boat and dozens of historical aircraft from WWII and before, provided a fascinating ambiance for the banquet that was a primary fund raiser for Twin Rocks Quaker Camp on the Oregon Coast just north of Garibaldi.

The affair was held at the Evergreen Aviation Museum in McMinnville, Oregon, now the permanent, weather-proof home to the Spruce Goose, an SR-71 (the world’s fastest airplane), several WWII bombers and a myriad of other flying machines going back to WWI.

In the photo above, you can get an idea of the immensity of the “Goose”. This is just the nose and cockpit, taken from eye level.

The gargantuan, glass-front hangar had enough available floor space to easily house the 900-plus attendees who were seated at circular tables accommodating ten persons each.

Most everyone arrived early to gawk at the famous aircraft specimens. Just about everyone got an up-close look at the impressive Spruce Goose, which is actually made mostly from birch wood. (Wags in the press tabbed it the "Spruce Goose".)

The gigantic craft flew only once, in 1947, piloted by Hughes himself, for only a mile, getting just 70-feet off the water in its short check out flight. (Have you seen the movie, The Aviator?) The jet age made it obsolete before it was completely ready for commercial use.

Pic at left, taken with available light, is a Boeing B-17 Flying fortress, a workhorse bomber in WWII.

My favorite aircraft was the sleek, dart-shaped, black, stealth-like SR-71, a piloted plane capable of speeds in excess of 2,000 mph. It’s an awesome spectacle at rest, but it was even more incredible in flight.

When I was doing my cross-country work during my private pilot training in the 1960s, I happened to fly over Beale AFB in northern California and watched an SR-71 take off below me and off to my right. As it left the runway and rocketed into the stratosphere ahead of me, my little Cessna 150 shook from the sound waves. I’ll never forget it. To the chagrin of many, including me, the SR-71 is no longer in active service.

Of course the focus of the evening was on the exciting future of Twin Rocks Camp. Our son Gregg’s family and our granddaughters have already benefited a great deal from this wonderful place, and we were interested in seeing the future plans.

The outstanding multi-media presentation on the $1 million first phase of the expansion was perhaps the best produced we had ever seen. Work has already begun on the initial phase that will soon create a green belt, add and upgrade cabins and re-invent the entire maintenance processes. Of course we participated in the campaign in our small way, as we have personally enjoyed activities there, and we believe completely in its potential.

This was one occasion that will long be remembered for its unique setting and effectual presentation. Unfortunately, my dear wife had to endure an on-coming migraine during the evening, but she still enjoyed the proceedings.

Too Much Going On – Blog Takes the Back Seat

As my readers (whom you can probably number on one hand) know, I blog for my own (self serving) interests more than anything else.

Blog posts enable me to exercise what few writing skills I have, and the composite blog then provides a nice chronology for events. (At my age I need assistance later in remembering in what order things happened and in keeping everything in perspective.)

Fall colors are now in bloom, as you can see, but lately I’ve not added much to these pages. Maybe for good reason.

During the past 10 days we’ve had the wettest five days in our State since records have been kept. Our kitchen renovation was finally completed after more than 12 weeks of semi-disarray. And we had house guests from California over last weekend while celebrating my cousin’s 60th birthday.

Additionally, due to some of the above, I missed out on a salmon fishing excursion to the Oregon coast with my California buddy, Ed Wall. We’ll have to do it next year.

With Thanksgiving approaching, the days will stay busy. We’ll likely spend Turkey Day with relatives, enjoy a day or two in Oregon next week with our granddaughters and then look forward to an early December week in California with cronies.

Hopefully, I’ll have time to add posts for most of it (not that anyone’s interested but me).