Smith and Bybee Lakes

Yesterday afternoon Greg and I took a trip out to Smith and Bybee Lakes. It was pretty and quiet. I took some photos:

From the Stacks

I recently cleaned up some corners of the office and the living room and dining room bookshelves. Man, there's a lot of stuff around here. So many comic books! So many loose photos and CDs and decks of cards! Here are some finds from the last few days:

Cleo's Easter Poster from a few years ago:



Amy in Greece, on our honeymoon in 1982:





Tammy and Kevin Higgins, stalked by Mark Simmer at the Holznagel-Corwin wedding in 2007:




Here we are at another wedding, this one back in 1987 in Boston:



And a photo of my 17 year-old self, looking like the dour youth I was:

Water and Land

Saturday evening Lyle and I went out on the Willamette in the canoe. It was windy, but beautiful.




This morning we met up with Greg and Chuck Boyce over at Chuck's new house (not far from here). The four of us walked over to Mt. Tabor and back, maybe 8 miles. It began to rain just as we were getting back to Chuck's house.

Camping at Sutton

The title above should link to a gallery of photos from our camping trip to Sutton Lake, just north of Florence, Oregon. It rained a little on us the first night -- I drove down with Iris and her friend, Maria.

Amy stayed behind because Cleo had a concert in Seattle to attend (Radiohead). They followed on Thursday, with Cleo's friends Rosie and Sarah along. They arrived in the rented Sebring Thursday evening in time for dinner. By then it was sunny, and it stayed that way until Sunday afternoon, when it clouded up again on our way home.

It was a fine time. The highlights were finding a good restaurant in Florence (Restobar), seeing a couple dozen bats all at once, reading TEKKONKINKREET (big fat comic), hiking around the campground and seeing the old gang again.

Here are a few photos from the trip:

Parking Meter

Weak in Review

Cleo was an intern at a drama/arts camp that was all about peace. I went to the performance at the end of the week. It was charming, the way all those kid programs are charming. And, yeah... a little annoying, in the way that those things can get kind of annoying. By that I mean you sometimes want to say to adults who work with kids, "Okay, here's the deal... they're YOUNG, they're not STUPID."

Mostly it was great to watch Cleo working with the kids. She's a natural. I was very proud, even though maybe I have nothing to do with it. You wouldn't catch me teaching kids to sing and smile. That's for grown-ups! Here you can see her behind the scenes, removing dozens of safety pins from one of her charges.



The Peace Camp was in the Presbyterian Church up the street, a red brick building that I'd been in before to donate blood, years ago. This time I got to look around. Very 1970s in style. The men's room was all brown/orange tile, the kind they used to give away at Texaco when you sprang for a full tank (ca. 1972).

The stained glass was kind of cool, although I couldn't help thinking that ten years ago it would have looked a little cheesy. Now I guess I'm thinking stuff from the '70s looks okay, which means the chemicals in that "flouridated" water have finally, finally kicked in.



We went to a wedding out on Stafford Road in Tualatin (maybe). Amy's colleague, being married by our friend, Judge Jean Maurer, who is a kick in the pants. Strangely, this photo shows neither the bride nor the judge. What was I thinking?



We got a canoe, courtesy of Greg Boyce. It has a slight warp, which means it's an aesthetic mate for the van.

Jumble!

Iris did the one above... I'm not sure if she meant to misspell PERFORM.

Dolly and The Joker

The ad for Dolly Parton's upcoming concert, next to an old photo of "The Joker." You can see why.

Vashon Vacation

We thought we'd go to Seattle for a couple of days while Amy had the week off. We didn't get around to booking a hotel until it was too late. All the downtown hotels were busy and, as it turns out, really expensive anyway. Did we really want to spend a thousand dollars to see two days of Seattle?

Then I checked Craig's List. The first thing I saw was a recent posting for a place on Vashon Island. Suites with kitchenettes for $135 a night. Amy called and talked to enthusiastic Nat, who then sent photos by email. The place looked pretty bare bones and we probably should have said no thanks. But Nat was comically eager and we're not that picky -- especially if it means we won't have to keep looking around for lodging.

Tuesday we took the ferry to Vashon Island and got there around 3:30 p.m. The ferry ride was great. Here's Amy in an action shot:



When we drove up to the place, "the Bates Motel" is what was going on in the minds of our children. Nat was standing in the driveway, looking kind of goofy. Up close it looked like he had shaved in the dark or perhaps with the lid of a tin can. Maybe both. Here's what the place looks like:



Nat kept saying he hoped we would use the pool. It had a tarp over it. Fortunately, the weather was cool enough that we never had the need to use the pool. The room itself was perfectly fine, though lacking in nearly all amenities. He had obviously rushed out to buy some soap -- giant bars of Ivory at every turn! -- a few towels, and, blessedly, some coffee (and, no doubt, his own, dirty coffee maker -- but what the heck, my coffee maker is pretty dirty).

We spent Tuesday night looking around Vashon Island. We had bought a load of groceries before getting to the place -- not realizing "kitchenette" meant a microwave oven and a little fridge. But no matter, there's an Indian restaurant in town, and we had a great and HUGE dinner.

We bought THE PRESTIGE at the local video store for eight dollars, but back at the room there were technical problems and we weren't able to watch the movie on the laptop as we'd hoped. Fine. We'd also been to the local bookstore and had new books to dig into.

Wednesday morning Amy and I took a morning walk. Across the street from our "inn" was an abandoned greenhouse, overtaken by white morning glory.



Behind it were a few homes, one of them a way-cool house made out of an old barn. As it turns out, this old greenhouse was one of a long line of them, all covered over with plant life and lining the road for a few hundred yards.

Wednesday we took the ferry to Seattle to look around.




We visited the Pike Street Market, the Public Libary and shops around there, then went to the Space Needle.












Thursday morning Amy and I drove to a spot we'd read about in a little book we'd purchased. We walked in, a short forested walk to a pond. Wilson's Warblers were flitting about, so we watched them for quite a while. We walked around the pond a couple of times -- probably only a mile and a half total. It was very nice. Lots of great stuff on Vashon Island.

Our inn wasn't great stuff, but we had a perfectly fine time and couldn't help laughing over the whole deal. Poor Nat is in over his head, I think. But in the end it was a great time and only cost $270 for two nights for four people in two rooms with two bathrooms and two showers.

Here is Amy standing by one of the hotel's features, a giant debris pile, about which Nat told me, "I'm going to have to do something about that."

Spray Paint Laws

In this county it's a big hassle to buy spray paint since the law changed last year. Merchants have to keep the stuff locked up, you have to show ID, they log everything into a notebook, including specifically what paint you buy.

Today I bought half a dozen cans at Shucks Auto Supply. While the guy was writing all my info down into their log book, I glanced at the birthdates of about 30 previous purchasers of spraypaint. There was one person who was 28 years old, but most of the people buying spray paint were my age or older. Birth years from 1945 to 1966, a couple in the '70s and then the one from 1980.

Rooftop in Hollywood

Rooftop in Hollywood
Originally uploaded by Paul Hehn

Late last night Iris, Maria and I walked over to the rooftop parking by the Hollywood Theater.

Mr. Showalter's 1955 Ford

Last year while we were in Medford Amy and I met a couple, Marjorie and Kirk, who live near the Eastwood Cemetery, where we go for walks. They have taken over a chunk of city property leading up to the cemetery and planted gobs of flowers -- a couple of very nice beds that extend probably 60 feet or more.

They also bought a burial plot and turned it into a flower bed (their yard is next to the cemetery).

This year they showed us that someone else had bought the plot next to theirs and put in a bench:



We also learned more of Kirk's hobby -- the restoration of vintage autos. For his high school reunion -- Class of '55 -- he restored a 1955 Ford. He showed it to us with pride. The next evening Amy and Cleo and I walked down there and said hello, and he ended up giving us a ride around the eastern side of town, around where the Holmes family used to live when I first met Amy.

He then gave us a ride back home, and Iris and the rest of the family, including the three Warren boys, got a chance to sit behind the wheel and pose for pictures. Here are a few:

Today's JUMBLE

Silverado

Lyle invited me along to see the inside of the old Silverado Club, most recently called Club Portland. For many years it was a bathhouse and bar and meeting place for men.

I took photos, which are in the Picasa gallery (linked from the title of this post). Here are a few:

Some Photos

In the front yard.


At Old Wives' Tale restaurant, after Iris's Promotion Ceremony from 8th grade.


Outside Memorial Coliseum the night of Andrea's graduation from Grant High.