Falling through Fall

Once again, I'm paving the road to hell with my good intentions...Here, after long last, is the first of several updates to my neglected blog. To my readers who don't care for politics, you will be pleased that the main reason for such a long absence was politically related activity and that I spared you the agony by writing in other venues. We all got enough on our TVs to last a lifetime. I could make some smart comments here, but I will save them for another space. But fall is here in the Gorge, with winter knocking at the door. A nice rainy day makes for good writing weather!

After sending Keara off to Korea, we had some great days hiking and doing Wilderness Steward good deeds, kayaking on the Columbia and Klickitat, working up at the Tilly Jane Guard Station preparing for historical days and winter, dealing with a fantastic harvest of vegetables and apples from the garden, you know, all the usual things happening this time of year. We never did get out for another camping trip. I still hold out hope for one before the snow flies, though it's already flying at Mt. Hood. And as of 15 minutes ago, on Underwood, about 500 ft above us.

We were fortunate to have Roger and Lupe Severson join us for a long weekend, so we could show off our extended neighborhood. We've known them for over 30 years, lived in RI, CA and TX with them, and now they are looking at a landing place, too. I hope we convinced them with our waterfall hikes, wine tasting, mountain and river views, and promises of excellent nordic skiing if they come back this winter. The photo right is of Lloyd, Lupe and Roger at Multnomah Falls, after our Oneonta Gorge/Horsetail Falls hike.

A busy 10 day trip to Boston followed that weekend. The trees were in full color, as evidenced by this one in Grove Hill Cemetary (est. 1703) next to our street, where I love to walk and visit the old graves. I spent some quality time with my parents, visited with some relatives, and had some very nice Alina time, including a Fins Sushi dinner, which I always look forward to. I'll be sorry when she's no longer at BC, walking distance to this great little place. Her busy schedule of student teaching and a M-W childcare/cooking job keeps her hopping, and I was afraid I wouldn't see her at all. But a text message awaited me when I landed, so I took the green line to Chestnut Hill instead of to N. Station and the commuter to Waltham. We had oysters, chowder and salad at Legal Seafood, with Conor as our waiter. Fun, and I was back in Waltham only about an hour later than I would have been if I'd taken the train. What a treat.

My visit coincided with that of Father Bernie (a Columbian Fathers Missionary) and Una McDermott, cousins of my Auntie Marilyn (who was married to my late Uncle Bill, Dad's eldest brother). I hadn't seen Una since I was a teenager, and Fr. Bernie at my cousin Sarah's wedding in 1998. They are always great fun, and we had a wonderful lunch with them, Auntie M and my cousin Beth, at the homestead on Prairie Street. If those walls could talk...remembering the days of seven Waltham cousins hanging out with seven Concord cousins, while the adults had tea.

Another blast from the past included lunch at the Watch City Brewery with four jr high/high school friends, two I hadn't seen since graduation, the other two I've seen only once or twice in that 40 years. I was leaving a week too early for the short notice reunion being planned, so instead met up with a few people to scope out the venue for the main event. I'd been there before, and it was conveniently in walking distance on a nice fall day. Before I left, I got to squeeze in lunch with Arthur, my friend since 10th grade. But most of the time I spent helping out the folks.

We accomplished a lot. I walked with Dad daily, and starting reading him a fantastic book, Last Train to Paradise, about Flagler's Folly, the railroad built from Homestead to Key West FL, an engineering marvel until the hurricane of 1935 wiped it out. I can't wait to go back and read more. I helped Mom clean out her sewing area in preparation of moving it upstairs. Miraculous! Of course, Mom loved having a personal chef. And speaking of reunions, Mom went to her 65th high school reunion at Mt. St. Joseph's Academy, the only one there from her class. I hung out with Dad, and watched baseball (after Lawrence Welk and Jeopardy). Here she is in her reunion dress. Nice!

The day I got back, Will was here from CA for the weekend, always a pleasure. It was Lloyd's 'when I'm 64' birthday. I still need him, and I still feed him. No problem. Then Lloyd and I went to McMinnville on election day to help my sister Mary, Yamhill County Commissioner, celebrate one way or the other. She's checking the first results in the photo to the right. It turned out to be a happy ending, and Mary will have her third and final term. Turning back a tea party candidate in a conservative county was no mean feat this year, but honestly, the best candidate won. That's not biased. it's a FACT. That's all I'm gonna say.

We ended the visit with lunch at Red Hills Provincial Dining in Dundee, our favorite restaurant. Nancy even made Lloyd a yummy birthday cake! Sweet! Here is Lloyd being deliberately un-photogenic.

Stay tuned for some details and photos of recent activities. I won't make you wait too long.

What Not To Wear

Anyone who knows me knows how much I love to shop. NOT. My idea of a shopping spree is using my Discover points to get LLBean discount cards and hit the Sale page for a new pair of jeans or more fleece of various thickness. I am not sad that I live an hour away from any kind of mall.

Now that we live in the NW, I fit right in. We're not in Sugar Land any more. Jeans work for 3 seasons, and cool evenings in summer. Sweatshirts and fleece jackets never get stored away. Keen makes great hiking shoes, boots and sandals. Who needs anything more?

Apparently, one of Keara's goals for her visit last week was to stage an intervention. After our Costco and Trader Joe run, we stopped at the Outlet Mall in Troutdale, where I thought she just wanted to pick up a few last minute things to wear for work. HA! We entered the Gap Outlet where she proceeded to choose clothes for ME! Try this on. This will look great with that. Your jeans are horrible, try these! Then she stood outside the dressing room door and awaited my appearance to thumbs up or down. I ended up walking out with a new pair of jeans, a pair of gray bermuda shorts, a pair of taupe colored dress pants, a short sleeved T and a long sleeved button down white shirt to wear under the purple cardigan and the turquoise shawl collared sweater, and a colorful sleeveless blouse. Then it was time to find an acceptable bag to replace my aging LLBean healthy back bag that has way too many hidden pockets. The Totes store had the answer. I had to promise to work on shoes. We ran out of time.

I went to work at Springhouse Cellars the next afternoon, in my new shorts, a pin striped white blouse that was hiding in my closet, and sandals. I had to sneak my Keen sandals into the car when she wasn't looking. I need those rubber protected toes! And I wore the new jeans, Tshirt and purple sweater to the airport when she left for Seoul on Saturday (above photo). Thanks, Keara. You were a great 'Stacey'...we didn't even need Clinton.

Hope for the Future

It's been busy in the 'hood. We just finished up working on the primary election, Jamba Marimba had its last scheduled gig of the summer, and my first daughter came home for a week. One week. To put the finishing touches on her preparations for her year teaching English overseas. So thoughts of 'home', our lives and the lives of many friends have been swirling around in my head.

For Keara, home is wherever we are. She spent the first 5+ years of her life in California (though my Texas friends will be proud to know she had her REAL beginning in TX). Her K-5 elementary years were spent in Lagos, Nigeria, where she learned and played with kids from 40 different countries. During those years, we visited at least 13 different countries in Europe, Africa and the Middle East. She went off on her own to the UK in 2002 for a 3 week program at Cambridge between soph and junior year in high school. She added several more European countries during her 6 months in Berlin during junior year at Brandeis. After college, she wanted to work, enjoy life in Boston beyond college, and figure out what to do next. A few mundane admin jobs later, she made a choice to get back out in the world for a new adventure, and prepare for what comes next (grad school, perhaps at UT?). Her advisor in college suggested she needed non European experience to reach her career goal of International Student/Study Abroad officer at a university. Asia was one place she hasn't been, so Asia it is.

South Korea, specifically. All her language study has been European, with 5 years of jr-sr high Spanish, a major in German, and exposure to French at school in Nigeria. Why not go someplace and do total immersion????? That's Keara. I am so grateful we had the years in Nigeria to give the kids a broader perspective. Our friend Joel, the admissions counselor at AIS-L, gave a talk on Third Culture Kids that I'll never forget. Kids who live outside their own culture and how the experience transforms them.

I think about our friends Barb and John, whose daughter Kelsey is in The Gambia with her husband in the Peace Corps, both of them fresh out of grad school. Kelsey lived in Indonesia as a kid. Our friends Tom and Mary's son Matt was a junior high student when we came to Nigeria. After law school, Matt went to Rwanda and started up Indego Africa, investing in long term skills for Rwandan women. Most of our overseas friends' kids have done semesters abroad. Tom and Leila's daughter Andrea, already fluent in Spanish, is getting some hospital nursing experience under her belt, and studying French, so she can join one of my favorite charities, MSF (Doctors Without Borders). My friend Hal's wonderful daughter Sara taught English in Egypt for several years. Other former expat friends, like Diana and Scott, have kids in the military serving overseas. I often wonder where all the kids that Keara went to elementary school with have ended up.

Some of our friends NEVER went overseas, but their kids are out there in the world doing good things, like my friend Janet's Kate, who has been working for a health care NGO in Rwanda the last several years. My cousin Steve's daughter Janna, who just finished a year teaching English in, coincidentally, S. Korea. Keara's wonderfully crazy friend Lucy from Louisiana, who just finished a year of working in Australia and traveling all over Asia, and now wants to apply for a job in S. Korea. My friend Avalon's daughter left this week for a 4 year PhD program in Dusseldorf. Others in and graduated from the service academies, all out serving us in the world.

These are only a few examples. There are more. But it gives me great hope during a time when so many Americans have gone so xenophobic that I am embarrassed for our country. We finally have a president, also a Third Culture Kid, who has restored some semblance of respect in the world but ironically, brought out the worst ugliness at home. As a second generation kid myself (my maternal grandparents came from Germany) I get very discouraged. Living in SW Houston neighborhood of 30 plus homes with only 3 Anglo American families, with neighbors from around the world. I worry how they are faring with this nonsense. I am concerned about my wonderful Muslim neighbors, who would invite us to celebrate the end of Ramadan with them. My Chinese neighbors who would bring tea for Chinese New Years. My Vietnamese neighbors who would stop by with freshly made spring rolls. Our house was bought by a Chinese family. There was only one Anglo American family left when we moved. That makes me sad.

Then I think of all these bright young people out there in the world, putting a great face on what Americans are REALLY like. It gives me hope. Have a great year, Keara. Show them what American looks like.

Best Email of the Day

POLITICAL ALERT

Sorry I haven't been writing. I try to keep my political life out of my blog life. It's been difficult lately. There are so many things I want to write about. So I've spent a lot of time writing other places. I apologize, and will get back to local color when I'm done tilting windmills.

I got a lot of really annoying emails today. The most annoying was so aggravating, I responded with this.

But the best one was THIS one. I got an email from the Prez. Just because I signed his Birthday Card. Great manners. Really great.

Loretta --

I want to thank you for signing my birthday card.

Michelle told me that she was planning something a little different this year, and I was overwhelmed by the kind words I received from so many supporters like you.

This job has a way of offering humbling moments. And the support you have shown me, time and time again, has sustained me through any number of difficult days. It is more than any president deserves, and I could not be more grateful.

On my birthday, I spent some time considering what the year ahead will bring -- a new set of challenges and opportunities, some that we can foresee and some that we cannot.

If we continue to stand together, I know we will continue to move America forward and win these fights for change.

Thank you again for taking a moment to sign my card. As far as birthdays go, it is hard to imagine topping this one. But then again, Michelle always has a way of surprising me.

Sincerely,

Barack

I find myself really rooting for this guy (even though I was a Hillary supporter-still am-she's a great Sec State). He's working his butt off, swimming upstream against obstructionist Republicans who demand concessions then vote no anyway. He gets disrespected at every turn, yet he's accomplished a lot more than the previous president, with no recognition for it. He's a good person, a good dad, and a good husband, by all indications. I don't understand the hatefulness of some of the people in this country. It totally embarrasses and concerns me.

Thanks, Barack, for send me an email. You made my day.

Roaring Towards July

I'd be remiss if I didn't point out that, though they got a slow start on the season, my boys from Boston are back in the hunt. As of right now, they are tied with fast starting Tampa Bay, one half game back of the team I love to hate, the Yankees (Derek Jeter excepted).

There are plenty of things to cheer about right now, with new faces, healing injuries, old work horses, and oomph in Big Papi's bat. I still have heart palpitations when they call for the bull pen. Or when Dice K is pitching. But on the whole, I really like this team.

My Nextgen Red Sox fan, daughter Keara, was at the game the other day with her old college roommates, when they beat the Dodgers in the bottom of the ninth. That girl is a good luck charm. She has a history of this stuff. Thanks for being there, doing your part, while I merely scream at the computer Game Day updates.

For the past you know how long, I've been keeping up with news on the Deepwater Horizon oil blowout. After years of living on the Gulf Coast, with a spouse who was a deepwater explorationist, it's always on my mind. My favorite source of news before it hits the major networks has been El Jefe Bob, of the Daily Hurricane. Why do I mention this, besides the fact that he's been spot on THE WHOLE TIME? I knew I liked this guy. Look at him today on his post. Check out that hat. Nuf said.

New Hangouts in Husum

Since the demise of Hooba's last November, evening Husum hangouts were non existent. Weep no more, local denizens! Rumor has it that someday soon, there will be something happening at the golf course restaurant now that the ghosts of Hooba's have been busted. I hear it might even involve a deep fryer (gasp!).

The bigger news is that Shaffer and Regina are now running The Husum Ice House at the Riverside B&B. The 100 year old brick ice house-turned-wine bar is the centerpiece of the property, which was originally the Husum Hotel, founded at the turn of the century (the last one, not the present one!). The wine bar is full of local wines. Here is Regina pouring some Waving Tree Sangiovese in the Ice House.

We attended the soft opening recently, and were treated to great wines and small plates on the patio. We enjoyed the company of local winemakers, winegrowers, chefs, artists, all fans of eating well and supporting the good life in Husum.

Here are pictures of two of the five plates were were treated to. Top has shrimp and a sauce I don't recall (too much sangiovese) and a pork tenderloin with cherry sauce. The other is lamb balls with a green chutney. MMM good. By then the Sangiovese was gone and we were sipping on some Wind River Cellars reds.


I stopped in for a glass of wine and human contact on Thursday. It was rainy, so the patio was out. Instead, I got to sit at the "Chef's Table", the counter seating in the kitchen, where I watched Chef Shaffer prepare my carpaccio small plate. Nice. They are open Thurs-Fri at 5, Saturday and Sunday noon to 9 pm, and are planning on serving a weekend brunch by July. I'll double check the hours and update this info as well. You can find the Ice House on Facebook as well.

More news: The infamous hillbilly smoker has found a new home at the White Water Cafe, along with its creator and chief operator, John G. Look for the BBQ sign out in front of the WWC across from the Husum Golf Course on Rt. 141. John is open Fri-Sun for his famous pulled pork sandwiches, sliders, ribs, chicken, and combo plates. The Cafe also has plans for an early morning coffee plus shift, and a lunchtime shift. I'll update as all becomes clear.

This bodes well for the Annual 4th of July parade and o.1 K fun run. We're thinking pub crawl between the Ice House and the BBQ. If the golf course place is open by then, we might make it up the hill.

Escape to the Middle of Nowhere WA

Project #3 for being MIA in May: Camping Trip with the Nordic Club gang.

Once the snow is done (though I don't think it will EVER be really done this year) we look for other sources of adventure. Last year we kicked off the 'off' season with a trip to John Day Fossil Beds. This year, we decided to follow the Ice Age Floods. Lloyd and Fred planned us a three night camping trip to Palouse Falls and environs. The weather forecast was awful for the weekend. We were leaving early Thursday morning May 20th. The night before it was COLD, RAINY (snow at 3500 ft) and WINDY. More of the same was on the way. No one was calling it off. We were taking our pop up camper, so as long as the tenters were game, so were we.

We took our time leaving the Gorge, stopped along the way in Wallula Gap for a geology lesson, then had a lunch stop at the Marcus Whitman historic hotel in Walla Walla. The old part of the hotel is neat, but the food in the restaurant was forgettable. I wish we'd gone across the street to Jacobi's, where I'd eaten last fall during the State Democrats meeting. Much better food. And less expensive. Anyway, we made one more stop at the last grocery store for miles in Dayton, then headed in to the Lyons Ferry Marina on the Snake River to set up camp. KOAs are not our first choice in camp grounds but there weren't a lot of choices, especially since the vancampers needed hookups.

The four tents were up the hill from us and the van campers next to us. The weather held, and we set up a group dining area by merging our picnic tables between the two of us.

Skip brought down the Coleman tailgater grill, and we cooked ourselves a fantastic kabob dinner.

Ole brought his trusty guitar and we had a group campfire up the hill, singing every song we could think of, and of course, his Austin Lounge Lizard standards Old Blevins and Paint Me On Velvet. We crashed at the 10 pm quiet time. It was cold. I wore several layers to bed that night, including a hoodie.

The hikes on Friday were easy but interesting. Fueled by a hearty pancake breakfast, we went first to Lyons Ferry State Park across the bridge from our camp. We hiked to a viewpoint where you can see an archaeological site, the Marmes Rockshelter, where the oldest (10,000 year old) human remains in the state were found. There's a diked area to the center right of the photo, with a cave at the waterline where the remains were found. Cool.

Then we drove to the 200 ft. Palouse Falls. The weather looked threatening, but didn't act on the threats. We were treated to great views, and some friendly marmots.

Back at the camp, we feasted on grilled salmon steaks and salads. Meal planning is very important to us campers. Then another campfire/singalong. The campground was filling up, it being Friday night. We resolved to camp midweek if at all possible. It was cold again, but not as bad as the night before. It rained a bit overnight, but cleared by morning.

Who can go out exploring without one of Yolanda's breakfast burritos (on homemade tortillas) with homemade salsa? Not I. Some crazy people ate two. Not I. Friday's adventure was to return to one of the trails at Palouse State Park and hike the steep loose trail to the bottom.

Not being one to risk life and limb for such an experience, decided to stay above and photograph the journey.

As the insane ones made their way to the train tracks, I just KNEW a train would come. Yep, one did. Just as they made it to the next part of the trail. After getting a few shots in, I returned to the park and did Ken Ken puzzles (conveniently left in the car) until they returned. Not that I'm a wuss or anything, I truly just don't like steep trails. I know it's easier coming up. But if I fall on the way down and break my neck, how the hell am I gonna get up? See what I'm saying?

The second part of the day was fantastic. After a scenic drive through Devil's Canyon, we went to Juniper Dunes and climbed to the top. Great fun, great views and great Big Sky! Actually ran into a group that was leaving as we arrived, a nordic ski club from nearby Pasco. How crazy is that? We made it back to the campground for our final dinner (chili and leftovers). It was getting even more crowded, with noisy tenters long after we'd put out the fire packed up the chairs and guitar. It rained and gusted wind all night long. I don't think anyone slept much.

An executive decision in the morning: no one wanted to cook breakfast in the wind. We'd had it. Coffee, yes. Muffins and scones, yes. Enough to get us on our way. The tenters did not take care in being quiet packing up. With quiet hours 10 pm-6 am, they were well within their rights at 6:10 am...payback for the all night partiers, heh heh. We hit the road, but had to drive all the way to Umatilla to find breakfast. A sign by the road pointed down a side street to a hotel and restaurant...it was the first thing we'd seen in hours. The Desert River Inn and Tumbleweed Saloon looked good to us. The breakfast menu was fantastic. We all ordered different things and everyone was happy.

Great way to end the trip. Several cars went to The Dalles after that, and we crossed the river at Biggs Bridge to finish the drive home on the WA side of the Columbia.

More photos can be found on the club's Picassa site.



.

The List

Whenever I have a big decision to make, I use The List (apologies to Gilbert and Sullivan). You know, fold a paper in half. Put pluses on one side, minuses on the other. It usually makes the decision clear. The last time I used The List, it was when the job was taking us back to Houston. When we left Houston the first time, in 1985, after 3.5 years, the plus side for leaving was long. If you're not from Houston, it usually is. But all things are relative, so after nearly 6 years in Nigeria and 5 years in New Orleans, the plus side for Houston was pretty dang good. These days, I'd be hard pressed to find any good reasons to leave where I am. Good thing I don't have to.

There are other times where The List can come in handy, Elections, for example. You have two candidates for, say, County Commissioner of a large rural county. I want to vote for the person who has the best experience in matters financial, managerial, legal, and social and who has made a significant investment in the community. This particular race is non partisan, so the party of the candidate should not be driving the decision, even though it does. I'll call my candidates Mary 1 and Mary 2. And make my list.

Mary 1
18 year resident of county
Long record of involvement on numerous local nonprofit boards, gov't task forces, college forums
Successful fundraiser for food bank capital campaign
Former legal counsel and exec. asst to the warden, federal prison in county
Former law clerk in federal district court, Portland
Two term incumbent with experience in all areas of county management
Parent of a public middle schooler
Endorsed by both area newspapers based on her record and qualifications
Ran a nonpartisan campaign

Mary 2
17 year resident of county
No record of community involvement
No history of involvement in local government
Former tv broadcaster and radio talk show host
Failed candidate for governor
Tea Bag symbol on every sign

I've left out Mary 2's activist experience. It's at state and national levels, and not really germane to the job of county commissioner. Constitution Party politics, and you know, the hot button issues that get people all revved up but don't help much when you're trying to run a county.

Now, all things being equal, I'm going with Mary 1. But then, I'm a practical person. I like my public officials to be the best person available for the job. Lord knows it takes a special person to put up with all that being a public servant entails. Full disclosure: I'd also go with Mary 1 because she's my sister. I've known her all her life. She's smart, fair, ethical, honorable, respectful of her position and constituents, able to put herself in someone else's shoes, and damn, she's funny. She's a can-do sort of person.

You would NEVER know that judging by the 'chatter' from the haters in her county. Arrogant? Nope. Bully? Uh uh. Sore loser? Hardly. Tax and spend liberal? Why, for explaining the impact on county services should state ballot tax initiatives FAIL? For voting WITH the other two commissioners for a levy to deal with the meth problem? This is all they've got. That and the fact that she called herself a goddam liberal for caring about people, publicly taking the Lord's name in vain...someone catch me while I swoon. It's nicer than some of the stuff the other side has written online. This is the same woman who held a food bank capital campaign fundraiser for her 50th birthday, and as chairwoman, did cartwheels (a feat she'd never accomplished) when it hit $1 million. When it hit $2 million just before the election, she started working on her promised back flip. Yeah, I hate her, too. She makes me look like a slug.

The result of the primary last month was a sad commentary on the voters of that county. The sheeple couldn't look past the rhetoric and voted for Mary 2 in numbers high enough to warrant a runoff in November. I hope the 60% of voters who failed to send in their ballots change their minds in November. Maybe they thought Mary 1 was a shoo-in, even though she told them not to take anything for granted. I hope the 1500 people who voted but failed to choose a candidate for commissioner decide to vote in that race in November. And I hope those who chose write ins like George Bush and Minnie Mouse realize that their votes DO matter. That the county commissioner is more important to their daily life than most of the up ballot races they do vote for. Oh yeah, one more thing: I hope they all make their own lists, then use their BRAINS to make a good choice.

More Grapes, Please

The next installment of 'why I've been away from the Pahk':
Project 2. Planting Grapes at Energeia Vineyards

We had two planting weekends where we helped our friends John, Regina, James and Lynette plant Albarino grapes at their pear orchard turned vineyard up on Underwood. The young folks at Energeia are pioneers in growing Albarino in the area. They leave their various day jobs in Portland and Husum to plant for their futures.

Unlike some retirees, we don't care to have an estate vineyard for our house wine. We let other people worry about plants, water, disease, weather, equipment, etc. We help them plant and harvest grapes. And join their barrel clubs if they have a winery. It's the neighborly thing to do.

Albarino (or Alvarinho) is a Spanish (Portuguese) white wine grape, presumably brought to Iberia by Cluny monks in the twelfth century.

Its name "Alba-Riño" means "the white [wine] from the Rhine" and it has locally been thought to be a Riesling clone originating from the Alsace region of France, although earliest known records of Riesling as a grape variety date from the 15th, rather than the 12th, century.

The first weekend we planted bareroot stock, as we did with last year's gewurtz (shown right). It's kind of like planting roses. Lloyd worked all day, and earned foreman status. I had a county convention to run so did a short 4 hour shift in the late afternoon.

We were rewarded with great burgers, and the requisite bonfire. James had a good stock of his pear cider available. Wonder where he got all the pears?

It was a pretty raw night, so the fire felt good.
Former pear orchards have plenty of wood to burn.
The embers were particularly beautiful.

The second weekend in May we reversed participation. Lloyd was off installing a watering system with Will at Will's brother's in Hood River. Will comes up from CA for these little projects. So I did the Saturday shift and Lloyd did the Sunday shift.

The plants were more fragile nursery starts, so we had to plant them carefully and set up the grow tubes at the same time. It's a little more time consuming than the bare root planting, but you have more time to commune with your grape plant.

The small plant goes into the deep hole, you cover the roots to just below the first node. Then carefully thread the leaves through the tube, stand the tube upright, push the bamboo stick down to secure it in the dirt, pile up the dirt on the sides to keep the plant cool, and finally, make a watering moat. When you're done, move on to the next hole.

The second annual seafood boil was delicious.
Chef Shaffer can always be counted on for good eats.
James' hazlenut home brew and jug of house syrah were excellent potables.

And the bonfire?
It was scary big.

The biggest yet.
Quite hell-acious, if you ask me.

Anatomy of a Fireplace

Here it is the end of May and I've once again let myself get too far away from the Pahk. I looked over the file of photos for May, thinking, what have we been doing for this to happen AGAIN. Like the Red Sox, who started slow but are on a roll, I'm getting back in the groove.

Project 1. The Fireplace- Start date, March 30
Estimated time to completion: 2 weeks max

Step 1. Remove wood stove, and find it a new home. It's a good stove, but Lloyd just doesn't want to mess with wood, smoke, ashes, etc. Heck, he's retired! He'd rather be building stone walls, or skiing, or camping, or organizing a street festival, or designing websites.


Step 2. Frame in where fireplace will go. Include some bonus seating for our small living room.

Step 3. Box in, wire the outside, and basically stucco it.


Step 4. Decide it's way too tall. Cut down, repatch top.

Step 5. Insert super duper energy efficient natural gas stove unit. Hook up gas lines.


Step 6. Face the box with rock, then lay the hearth stones.



Step 7. Get someone to make the mantel. Meanwhile rearrange furniture.

Step 8. Patch the hole in the ceiling left by the stack removal.

Step 8. Get final inspection. Add mantel.

End date: May 15- Things always take longer than you think they will- Murphy's Law in effect.

Was it too warm to use? Heck no, it was cold all the next week. We used it every night!