Truck Day

I would be remiss if I did not post about special dates important to the Red Sox Nation.

Yesterday was not your ordinary TGIF. It was TRUCK DAY. I love it. Truck Day is when they load up the equipment truck and head the gear south to Fort Meyers for the start of Spring Training. It signals spring even better than the first crocus poking out (only to get buried, usually, by a late snow storm). Forget about groundhogs. If the truck leaves Boston, it's official. Amazing what die hard fans do. No kidding, there were about 100 people there to watch the dang truck leave.

What's on the truck? Stuff. Read all about it here and here.

This year there's even a sponsor (Jet Blue) and the truck is decked out with Red Sox advertising, decorated like a rolling Green Monstah. Watch the video on the Red Sox site to the end to see it. I hope it made it through New York okay...

Good Morning Baltimore

My sister Annie moved from Worcester to Baltimore last fall. Now I have to say "My sistah lives in Baltimore" which doesn't sound nearly as cool as "My sistah lives in Woostah". Worcester usually gets the worst weather in Massachusetts. When it snows, it usually dumps in Worcester, moves east, and starts raining/sleeting/icing at Rt. 128 as the storms move into the greater Boston area. When thunderstorms come across the state, they are most violent around Worcester, sometimes spawning tornadoes. Worcester people are hardy, and don't let a little storm get in their way.

So when she moved to Baltimore, Annie wasn't too worried about the weather. Baltimore is south. It should be warmer there. It must be less snowy, stormy and nasty. Right? If you live in New England, anything south of New York seems like it should be, well, THE SOUTH. The first storm of the season hit, Annie realized they might have made a mistake leaving all the snow shovels back in Worcester. Ah, but Annie is a very creative and resourceful person, so she crafted her own tool out of...a cereal box? I am impressed. I'll bet the cereal and the box had lots of fiber...

Alas, the cereal box wasn't up for heavy duty snow removal, so she took that as a warning, and before the big storm hit, Annie and Don made their way to Lowe's and got the very LAST snow shovel. The cereal box was officially retired to the recycle bin. Good thing. Because major snow was on the way, with more right behind it. Lots more. So much that there is no place to shovel it to. The neighbors were all out helping each other dig out. Nothing like a little weather crisis to bring out the best in humanity.

Annie and Don finally dug their way out. This was most important to Amigo. Amigo is a rescue greyhound. No one else can get out to do business, but for Amigo, it's a necessity. He's pretty tall and narrow, so a one-shovel-width path works for him. I'm guessing there's a privy area dug out at the end of that path.

These pictures are from the storm last Fri-Sat. There were no busses for about 5 days during and immediately after that one. They got another foot and a half this week. Their car is dug out but they can't drive anywhere yet. One step at a time. They were able to walk to the store and get some provisions today.

The plows had to stop plowing for a while this week because of white out conditions. The streets are still not ready for traffic. I don't think the garbage trucks will be coming through for a while, but that's OK. Everyone's garbage cans are buried.

Amigo, you're not in Worcester anymore!

Almost Border Crossing, Part 2: Seattle to Blaine

After my meeting adjourned sometime around 5:30 pm, my Skamania buddies delivered me to Dave and Nancy's house about 2.5 miles away, where I met up with Lloyd. He drove up on Saturday for a little break from the house. We've known Dave and Nancy since Rhode Island days, over 30 years, so it's always fun to catch up. They had some great pictures of their recent trip to Paris, and we'll look forward to the next batch from Japan, where they are heading in a few days.

Sunday we drove an hour and a half or so north to Blaine, which is right on the US-Canadian border. Our friends Tom and Leila recently retired from Chevron, and landed there right before Christmas after leaving their last posting, Bangkok. Talk about a big change of scenery! We had a several mile hike around their neck of the woods, in Semiahmoo, sat on Leila's sister's sailboat in the harbor (the one on the left with the green cover) and pretended it was summer happy hour time.

Monday we walked around Peace Arch Park. The Olympic torch came through the other day so it's been on the news lately. You can see the line of cars waiting to come into the US. Leila says they're all on their way to Costco in Bellingham. And Trader Joe's, I'll bet!


Here are some pictures of the 12th Annual Peace Arch Park International Sculpture Exhibition, which will be there through April 1. Follow the link for details on pieces (and prices!). I've only posted a few. There were many more. See them all on at the website.

I just loved this Humpback Whale Tail, made of mahogany reclaimed from a landfill. My fave.


I like this one, too. "My Foolish Heart" is a life-sized version of a 4” maquette made of horse-shoe nails.

This guy is the "Dancing Fool", who spins around on his base.


Here is "Eagle Eye", very totem-like.

"On the Upside Down" was very cool. It reminded me of Cirque du Soleil acrobats.

The Midnight Stomp series imagines birds having a private party in the moonlight, with one bird choosing the Electric Slide and the others choose a Midnight Serenade.

This piece is called "Overture", with the boy representing Canada and the girl, the USA, reaching out to each other to be strengthened by togetherness.

Okay, this one's pretty cool. "Monarch Butterfly" looks really pretty from far away. Wait til you see how the artist created it.

The artist is from Fort Worth, Texas. I'm thinking he was inspired by high school athletic booster clubs. Who hasn't seen styrofoam cups stuck into the local high school chain link fence spelling out the message of the week???? I have to say, these translucent plastic pieces are much prettier than styrofoam cups, though.

I hope we go back up that way in warmer weather. I'll bet the gardens are just beautiful in spring and summer. Next time we'll bring our passports!

Almost Border Crossing, Part 1: Bingen to Seattle

As people start wending their way to the Winter Olympics, I will think of them on their journeys.

I had a great adventure the other weekend. It started with an Amtrak train ride to Seattle, with one connection. Sounds easy enough. The train leaves Bingen Station a little after 8 am, with the connecting train coming through Portland after noon. Lloyd had a CPR class to go to early, so he would drop me off on his way. No sweat.

It would have been, if the Empire Builder hadn't been 3 plus hours late leaving Chicago. It isn't only O'Hare that has trouble with winter weather. Trains don't like big snowstorms either. Good thing I checked online. Now, if I was a seasoned train rider here, I'd have known to just drive the hour to Vancouver, where you can park for up to 3 days free, and meet the northbound Cascades there. But I'm not. And I didn't. Besides, I needed 4 days' parking. And I'll also clarify: it's Vancouver (NOT BC) Washington (NOT DC) near Portland, Oregon (NOT Maine).

My simple solution, put my LLBean backpack loaded with my weekend's worth of clothes on my back and hike 3.8 miles to the station. Heck, I had the time! So I got my exercise pre train ride, and was very pleased with the comfort of the backpack, which I had not yet used for its intended purpose. I got to the station and met Wilma, who'd been sitting there since the Senior Shuttle van dropped her off at 7:30 am. She was going to visit her daughter in Seattle. The train finally trudged in about 10:30 and dropped us off in Vancouver (WA) instead of Portland (OR) in plenty of time to catch the Amtrak Cascades to Seattle. If we'd gone to Portland, we'd have missed it.

The train ride was relaxing, but we were delayed along the way with track work and oncoming freight trains we had to wait for. They will be improving this corridor for high speed rail so delays will be the norm. Improvements are a good thing. And from the looks of the full cars, warranted. During this leisure travel time I learned that Wilma used to run a motel in Cascade Locks with her husband years ago. And that it was the very same motel that Lloyd lived in for 6 months back in 1976 when he worked for the Corps of Engineers on the second Bonneville Dam powerhouse. Small world.

We were an hour late getting to Seattle, but it wasn't a big deal for me. It was the end of the line, and I was hiking up to the Hilton from the train station, a mere mile. It was fun to be walking through downtown Seattle at rush hour, with darkness and a slight drizzle falling. Got my fix of city, and a really nice hotel night. My roommate from Yakima was in the resolutions committee meeting so I had the room, on the 25th floor and great view of downtown Seattle, all to myself for a bit, and took that nice hot shower I really needed after the hiking.

Friday nights at the Washington State Democrats Central Committee meetings are generally for networking. I met up with my friends from Skamania County, and we had a fantastic dinner a few blocks away at Wild Ginger. Fantastic meal, I'm already thinking about when I can get to Seattle again. We shared red curry squid, seafood Thai noodles with mussels, shrimp, squid and scallops, and Fragrant Duck with dumplings and plum sauce. We had a pot of jasmine tea with our meal, and the fragrance was amazing. We skipped the wine, thinking the hospitality suites would have offerings. Unfortunately, the only hospitality room was on the main floor of the hotel so it was hotel prices. We were one and done. It was noisy, and we decided to turn in early to be ready for the long day of meetings ahead.

Next up- Part 2: Seattle to Blaine

Who Dat!

Just in case anyone was wondering, I did watch every second of the Super Bowl on Sunday. In the comfort of my own home, with the Uncle Dick Memorial 54" projection TV that takes up half of my living room (dang, it looked so small in the Houston house). I love that TV for football games. It's like you're RIGHT THERE. Having drunk the daiquiris while living in NOLA for 5 years, the Saints were easy for me to cheer for. I even made King Cakes for good luck. And wore my very best Mardi Gras beads and earrings.

It's been over for three days and I'm still smiling. It was like the 2004 Red Sox all over again. Only better, in a way. New Orleans has been through a lot worse than Boston has. Don't hate me for saying that, Red Sox Nation. I still love you.

This morning I was reading in the Oregonian about the big parade they threw in the French Quarter. Near the end of the article in the sports page was this:

In the French Quarter, Thousands streamed toward the parade route, turning Bourbon Street into a river of black and gold.

Will Kaplan, 28, stood out in a billowing white toga with a gold-colored halo and the word "Breezus" on his back.

His Jesus inspired costume, he said, was made from sheets he had in a FEMA trailer he stayed in after Katrina on the University of New Orleans campus.

"I'm the spirit of the party", he said.

I can just imagine. I've seen lots of things on Bourbon Street. Some things I WISH I had pictures of...But this sounded so totally NOLA sacrilegiously funny, I thought SOMEONE must have a picture of this.

So I checked on a friend's FB site and voila! Breesus Christ himself. Only the Breesus was on his front, and the halo? Come on, those are obviously thorns. Thank you, Celia.

New Orleans. You crack me up. Still. Always.

Worth Waiting For

Let's see, hit the hot tub or download pictures and post....hmmmm....tempting to go with plan A. But guilt about my new year's resolution wins.

Today we FINALLY got up to Mt. Adams. We've bided our time, patiently skiing at Teacup and on the Hood side, with the masses. There has been no snow to speak of on the Adams side. Nothing worth skiing on. Until now.

Earlier this week, Thursday and Friday, Lloyd and Elliot tested the higher elevations, driving past SnoKing Sno Park to ski up the Forest Road 190. Saturday, Lloyd needed a recovery day, and I was busy being a good WA Democratic PCO in Ellensburg, voting on our candidate for Congress, but I digress...that's another post, for tomorrow.

Today's news was the Best Snow of the Season. Sorry, Saints, you're second fiddle to this (but I did get home in time to watch the OT and see you win).

It snowed all day. We started out at Forest Road 190, braving the snowmobile fumes in the parking area, and climbed where none of them dared to go, up to 4100 ft plus, about 2.5 miles. Here are Lloyd and Elliot leading the way up to our playground.


Had a blast practicing tele turns on the cleared hillside. Elliot was like a kid in a candy store. He lives for days like this.


Lloyd had more energy than anyone wanted to deal with (only kidding, sweetie). Note all the snow on his knicker socks...he loves falling in powder.


I took a break under a tree. This was my view.

Here I am, totally enjoying myself, under the tree and wishing I'd brought extra mittens or gloves because mine were soaked by this time.


Skip was a great coach, in between telling stories.


Janet, as always, made sure we found the best 'ladies rooms' and set a fine example for me to follow down the mountain. I'll figure out these tele turns yet.


By the time we headed back, all our tracks were about filled in. Here is Lloyd, pointing out the obvious:

There were about 5 inches of new snow to play in. Visibility was low, but the quality of the skiing was excellent!

We even did a good deed for the day, helping these snowmobilers out of their predicament with Ellliot's good ole Suburban and tow strap. Their mishap was blocking the road, so the people parked uphill from them would have been unable to leave Dodge either. NB: if it's snowing when you get to the Sno Park, turn around and head yourself in the homeward direction BEFORE you go and play.


A day of rest tomorrow, but Tuesday we plan to take advantage of 'our' mountain. Because today, we OWNED it! Now...on to the hot tub!

Voodoo

Last night was the monthly meeting of the Voodoo Philosophical Society, a group of local folk who like to get together for pot luck, wine, and thoughtful discussion. We hadn't been for a while, but since the meeting was at our friends' home in nearby Underwood, and the program was enticing, I baked up a crab quiche with mushroom crust, grabbed a bottle of bargain Chard, and we headed down the hill, across the White Salmon River, and up the hill on the other side on a dark and rainy night.

Our hosts decided that we should all watch Bill Moyers Journal, which featured Greg Mortenson, author of Three Cups of Tea. Most people have heard of the mountain climber turned Afghanistan and Pakistan school builder, and many of my friends have already read his first book (his second is called Stones into Schools: Promoting Peace with Books Not Bombs, In Afghanistan and Pakistan). I'm half way through it myself, so the show and following discussion were timely for me. I was reminded of what a good show Moyers Journal is.

American humanitarian Greg Mortenson's first book — THREE CUPS OF TEA — has sold over 3.5 million copies around the world. It tells the remarkable story about his efforts to build schools in Afghanistan and Pakistan. When in 2008 the JOURNAL asked viewers what books should be priority reading for the next President, THREE CUPS OF TEA was among the top ten suggestions. Now, the book has become required reading for our senior military commanders and Special Forces in Afghanistan.

The fact that our leaders are reading or have read this book is good news.

I highly recommend this book if you haven't read it yet. The video of the interview is worth a watch, as well. Very humbling. The world needs more Greg Mortensons.

Please Help Today

It's easy. Just get out your credit card, go to the website, and make a donation.

Doctors Without Borders is one of my favorite charities, and they get a monthly donation from me. But the need in Haiti is huge, and we all need to do a little extra.

Other worthy stops while you still have your card all warmed up include
The Red Cross and The Clinton Foundation. Gotta go. My credit card is starting to cool off.

When It Rains, Always Have a Plan B

Remember all that lovely snow we had on New Year's Eve?Well, it's been raining on our snow for days. We tried skiing at Teacup (3rd stop) yesterday, and had a mediocre outing, so today we thought we'd try plan B.

Around these parts, Plan B in January includes a short drive to the Balfour-Klickitat Day Use area to look for eagles. We parked in the empty parking lot, joked about the crowds, and watched as our friend Skip from The Dalles drove in. He had decided it was a Plan B day as well! This property was the likely site of a Klickitat Indian village visited by Lewis and Clark. An English nobleman, Sir Thomas Balfour, developed a farm here in the 1890's, with a few traces still apparent. Skip told me about the Osage orange trees that were planted as a 'fence', when I wondered about the round 'balls' on the ground near the trees. Sorry, I left the camera in the car for this stop and I didn't have my set of keys. Lloyd and Will had walked away by then, so when I caught up to them and they asked me "Do you know what these round things are?" I gave them the lecture about osage oranges. Lloyd was speechless...I usually say "I dunno" and he says "But you're supposed to be the biologist" as if I should know what every living thing is. I shouldn't have told them I just found out about them myself...

We did spot several eagles from the trail, and decided to head down to the fishing area where we've seen spawning salmon before. It's about time for the spring chinook to start doing their thing. And, lo and behold, they were! Those are live ones splashing, obviously, and to the left. The ones on the right were spent and done. And very smelly dead.

We could see them from the top of the bluff, splashing away in the shallows, so we climbed down for a closer look. Check out the video. Brindle was fascinated.



Up in the trees nearby where two bald eagles...I know my camera zoom is pathetic, but they are the two white spots you see just up and left of center.

Even closer was an immature eagle, who sat on a limb above us. He never moved. Must have had a good lunch!We went down to Fisher Bridge and watched for salmon in the falls. We actually saw them in that carved out area in the left side of the wall. They'd make their way up, then get washed back. Then we saw some jumping in the area near the snow. I tried to time my photos to get them, but alas, it was not possible. You will just have to take my word for it. This shot looks strange, but it's taken from Fisher Bridge looking down at the water.


All together we saw more than half a dozen eagles around Lyle. We crossed the river at The Dalles, and had some lunch at the fabulous La Petite Provence. The French Onion Soup is to die for and I needed some warming up. On the way back towards Hood River on I84, I looked out the passenger window to see another eagle soaring along with the car...what a day!

Happy New Year, Twenty Ten!

I've been a bad, bad, blogger. I let a whole month go by without posting. I think I hit web overload, keeping up with two blogs, facebook and managing two other group pages. When one gets busy with 'other things' like taking advantage of good snow when it's here, hanging out with my dear Alina when she visits, visiting friends in near places like Bend, celebrating with family in even nearer places like McMinnville, baking cookies to my favorite Christmas albums, well, time just flies. So my first new year's resolution is to pay more attention to The Pahk. I'm thinking this year will have plenty to write about.

My Top Ten Best Things About December 2009, in summary, are:
1o. A successful I'm Dreaming of a White Salmon event, I just love manning the s'mores table at the firepits. The tree was beautiful, including the lighted salmon Lloyd made for the top.
9. Being able to buy Food Bank bags of groceries at the register at our local grocery store. So easy to add on $10, and it's what the food bank needs. BTW, I think it's being extended thru January. I like it when I'm reminded that people aren't as lucky as I am, and can act on it right then and there.
8. Great cross country ski days with my ski buddies, lots of fun, no injuries, post ski pizza and brews at the Sawtooth, and the first cookie swap.
7. Excellent weekend in Bend, and visits with Edie, Bill, Bob and Jane mixed in with ski club business, as well as a perfect snow day ski at Swampy Lake. The drive home through a storm on Mt. Hood, not so much.
6. Getting snowed in twice. Lloyd and I never run out of things to do, outside or in. It's really nice to not HAVE to go anywhere...like work, school, pool, etc....I'll add almost getting snowed in at the movie theater the day we went to see AVATAR...clear on the way in, several inches by the time we got out. But so worth it.
5. Given #6, being able to get to and from PDX to pick up and drop off Alina without incident, with a storm 'window' new year's eve morning to get her there before the snow started. Except for that one bit about driving back through the gorge at 5 am, hitting ice while passing a semi on a bridge, and everyone sliding...that was not fun. Getting up at 3 am wasn't much fun either, but you gotta do what you gotta do to see your kids.
4. Hearing from friends near and far via cards, email, Facebook and phone.
3. Blowing glass ornaments at White Salmon Glassworks, this time with Mary and Syd.
2. A wonderful Christmas weekend in Mac, great food and wine, friends and family.
1. The fantastic present from Keara and Alina, hand carried by Alina from Boston: a gallery of framed photos of the two of them, and their sweeties, taken at Lars Andersen Park. I'll be hanging them in the living room, so stop by and see my beautiful young women who are missed so much. No digital images yet, so you'll have to wait a bit.