DeJ has arrived !!!!!

Finally, after years of waiting, my dear nephew DeJ has arrived in Oregon. He and his mom flew in from Houston yesterday and we are all so very happy. He is eagerly embracing the Oregon ways; walking through rain with no hat and a smile on his face, enjoying all the sights and sounds of rush hour traffic and in general, getting his feet wet.

Autum

Autumn is here. The leaves are changing and falling. The days are cooler and shorter. The nights are chilly and the air smells rich and earthy. Although I already miss summer I still walk as often as the weather will allow and turn my face toward the sun when it's available. Somehow, coffee tastes better and I am eating more soups and stews. And sleep, yes, sleep is deeper and more rewarding. But how I long for a walk on a tropical beach and trekking through ancient ruins. How I long for discovering new places, meeting new people and tasting new foods. My pallet cries out for fresh mango, papaya and avocado with a little shrimp and lime on the side. I am not excited about the even shorter days to come and the freezing temperatures. Last winter we had more snow than we have had in 40 years and I'm just not looking forward to more snow and ice. I need the tropics. I need sun. I need to be out and about. Zihuatanejo, and points south, call out to me.

A watched pot never boils ...

The old adage seems to be holding true for me at this point in my life. Day after day I keep hoping to hear that Texas has set a release date now that the paperwork has made it's way through the pipeline of the bureaucratic nightmare that is the TDCJ. The last word I had was that they had to do another review and that it would be 1 to 3 weeks. It seems to me that it has been much longer than that and I'm sure that for DeJ the same is multiplied my thousands. So, to another adage, "Patience is a virtue". I hope that DeJ and I are both becoming more virtuous every day.

Ask, knock, etc ...

It happened just the way is should. Yesterday I was poised, ready for action in case nothing happened. Today, it happened. The house passed, paperwork is on it's way back to Texas via Salem and DeJ should be here in less than two weeks. Relief is the only word I can think of at the moment.

Did you ever have that feeling, that something just wasn't right?

Something just doesn't feel right and I'm just not sure what it is. Everything is set and ready for the first domino to fall but yet I feel that there is something holding everything back, like a dam, and I can't figure out who is in charge of the flood gate. It's not just about me. It's about my nephew first and foremost. And it's about his mom too. And it's about me and my future. If I don't hear something tomorrow I'm going down to the office in Oregon City and make my presence known so they can't ignore me and the situation at hand.

If it was just about me I could be patient and wait it out. But this has gone on way too long and if it is not resolved soon DeJ might have to wait another year ... and that would mean that I would too.

So, now that I have put that out into the universe we will see what comes of it. In the words of Ren Hoak "Maybe something good, maybe something bad."

Small product photography

The last few weeks I have been having fun with my camera, working on small product photography. It is great, having a good camera, lights and a place to set it all up. It is also nice to have some fresh roses to work with as they always seem to photograph well. I have also picked up a few items at the local thrift stores that work well for the setup. I also found some fun stuff at Ikea that has inspired me and fired up my creative juices. Just one more item is needed but that will come along when everything else is ready.

Das Boot ...

I finally put my little pontoon fishing boat into the water up on the Clackamas River at North Fork Reservoir. I rowed around for awhile and then made my way to a small inlet where there was less traffic and then rowed back to the launch site. It was about 2 lazy hours at the oars and then took a walk along the river on the old access road (about 2 miles). All in all it was a very nice day.

One little thing leads to another ...

It was a beautiful morning and I decided it was a good time to survey the estate, so, with coffee in hand I walked the perimeter and found, blooming in the garden, another perfect pink rose. "Time for a photograph." I said to myself and headed inside to get my camera. I'm not sure what it was that made me look up but, there, on the corner of the house, in the rain gutter, grew a weed.

That weed told me that it was time to clean out the gutters whether I wanted to or not. So after taking the photo of the rose I got out the ladder and headed up on the roof. The corner over the guest bedroom was blocked by overhanging tree limbs so I went back down to get the long handled clippers and set to work cutting away the offending branches. I got to work cleaning out the gutters on both sides of the house and went back down to clean up the branches I had just cut away.

By the time I was finished I had also cleared away some more ivy and "woodsy debris" from the far corner. I'm glad that I got the work done but see what happens when you get distracted by something out of the corner of your eye?

While I'm waiting ....

Over the last few days I have set up an area in the living room for small product photography, what some call "table top photography".   It is fun and creative and it keeps me busy.  There's not really much to it, just having a good camera and lights that can be controlled ... and time.

Centennial observance ....

One hundred years ago, in the little town of Cleburne, Texas, my father was born. He was as restless as the west Texas wind and although he tried his best to settle down he drifted like a tumbleweed. He could never give me what he wanted but he gave me more than he will ever know. He lived to be 80 years old and died of heat stroke. Had he taken better care of himself he might have been around today to celebrate. I am proud to say that I knew him, I just wish I had known him better and longer. We all loved you Daddy.
DeMarquis Walls born May 23, 1909 (this photo taken circa 1945)

Exhausted ...

Thursday was a day to get ready to head back to Oregon. I got an oil change and some well deserved rest and we headed out on Friday morning at about 8 am. We got to my sister's in Seymour, Texas at lunchtime and had a nice visit. We hit the road again and made it to Gallup, New Mexico before we took a break (two hours crashed out in the van).

We got to the Grand Canyon mid day on Saturday. The wind was blowing and it was very cold so we only got our of the van a couple of times. We went through Page, Arizona on the way to Kanab, Utah and fought our way throuh a dust storm.

We left Kanab via Hwy 89 heading north to Salt Lake City, Utah and at an altitude of 6,000 feet we ran into snow, ice and more wind.

We made it to just north of Ogden, Utah where we took another two hour break. We hit the road again at about 4 am and made it to Bend, Oregon to have lunch with our friends Billye and Carl. We finally arrived home at about 6 pm on Sunday night. The run from Plano, Texas to Oregon City is 2,500 miles and we made it in 2 1/2 days. That works out to 1,000 miles per day - can you say "Exhausted"? I bet I can.

Plain old Plano ...

I made the turnaround in Tavares, Florida and am now back in Plano, TX. It was 18+ hours on the road but it went by pretty quick. We will head for Seymour, TX to visit my sister and then on to the Grand Canyon as Boyd has never seen it. I'm glad to be the tour guide for him. We should be home by Monday the 27th.

A couple of days in Florida

I had a very nice visit with Suzanne and Marc in Tavares, Florida. Today Marc took me out for a cruise on Lake Dora and the day was perfect for it. We circled the entire lake and I took lots of photos (posted on my Flickr account). There was a pair of Osprey circling overhead and lots of alligators in the water. We never got close enough to get a good picture as they would submerge as we approached.

I will head out in the morning heading for Shreveport to pay my respects at my mothers grave before heading back to Plano, TX to pick up Boyd for the return trip home. I should make it to Plano by Thursday midday. more later ....

Back in Florida again ...

I left Boyd in Plano, Texas with his brother Eldon on the 17th and headed for Houston. The weather was foul! The rain and wind made driving difficult for everyone and impossible for others.
I made it as far as Huntsville before I had to stop for shelter at an RV Park where I spent the night.
The morning of the 18th was calm and slightly overcast and I made it to he prison to visit my nephew at 8 am. During the four hour visit the sky turned almost black and the wind kicked back up. I left there at about 1 pm heading for Florida and only made it 16 miles before I had to leave the highway for safety. The sky was so dark it felt like 8 pm.

I waited for two hours and caught another break and made another 50 miles or so before I had to pull off again. I was just outside of Beaumont, Texas when Boyd called and said that he and Eldon where there taking shelter from the storm so I joined them at the motel they were staying in. The morning of the 19th was just slightly overcast with very little wind and it stayed like that all the way to Florida. I drove straight through from Beaumont to Tavares where my sister-in-law lives (that's DeJ's mom). I got in just before midnight which was 16+ hours. When my head hit the pillow I was out like a light and slept 10 hours straight. We spent today, Monday, just catching up and sharing. Tomorrow we might go out on her husband's boat and try to catch a fish or just cruise the water ways.

Texas - miles and miles of nothing but miles and miles

We left the Los Angeles area at 5 am on Monday and headed for Phoenix to visit with Boyd's sister. We spent the afternoon there and then pushed on toward Texas via Las Cruses, NM. We passed through El Paso at about midnight and around 2 am stopped for a cat nap at a rest stop. We arrived in Plano, TX to visit Boyd's brother yesterday (Wednesday) at about 6 pm. Along the way we stopped in Sweetwater, TX where I was stationed in 1966 and 1967 when I was in the Air Force. Like most places it has really changed in the last 40+ years and there was no sign of the old Air Force Station. The town has a brand new City Hall, a community college and much more. It was a quick stop (about one hour) so it was not much more than a walk down memory lane but I'm glad I did stop.
Tomorrow Boyd and his brother will take off on thier own road trip and I will meander down the road toward Rosharon, TX where my nephew is in prison, just south of Houston. I get a four hour visit with him on Saturday morning and then will head directly for the Orlando area to visit with his mom and stepdad.
More later.

Road Trip 2009 - part 1 - day 1

Boyd and I hit the road from Oregon City yesterday about 4:30 pm heading for SoCal to visit his son Don. We made it through Grant's Pass just as it was getting dark and stopped for a bite to eat in Redding about 10 pm. We stopped for two and a half hours for a nap in Stockton and then pushed through to Burbank/North Hollywood just in time to have a quick lunch with Don before he left for work at noon. I had a short nap and now feel quite refreshed. Boyd and I will go shopping for something for dinner to have ready when Don gets off work. Happy Easter everyone.

Changes ... many, many changes.

Yesterday I bought a new road vehicle - it is a 2000 Chevy Astrovan. It rides well and only has 93k miles on it. It is clean, quiet and comfortable. I am happy.

Today at 4:00 I will pick up the keys to the house in Oregon City that I will be calling home for a while.

Jaimee and Kris have moved into their new apartment and it will do for them until Kris finishes school this year.

And that's just the beginning - more to follow.

The Rose

Also, Happy Birthday Oregon

150 years and still going strong.

February (Friday) the 13th

An ordinary day. I had promised my daughter that I would go to Costco to get some stuff that we needed. No big deal. I wasn't focused on the date - Friday the 13th - which most people view as unlucky but to me it's just another day. So, I'm standing in line at checkout and every check stand has at least 4 people waiting with huge Costco orders. I'm in no hurry so I'm just patiently waiting. All of a sudden, to my right, a very lovely lady steped into the end of the line and she had just one item, a large bouquet of roses. She looked up and down the row of check stands and resigned herself to having to wait her turn. Then my line stared to move, quickly, so I gave a little "pssst" to get her attention and waved her into the line ahead of me. She moved over with a beautiful smile and looked into my cart. "No flowers for your someone special?" she asked. "No one special." I said with a shrug. She put her flowers on the conveyor and then turned to help me put my stuff on the belt. The cashier finished ringing her up and as she picked up the flowers she dropped her card. I reached down to pick it up and as I handed it to her she had pulled one rose out of the bouquet and handed it to me and gave me a hug. I said in her ear " I hope someone does something really special for you too." I was so taken by surprise that it took me a moment to recover and to finish with my order. Then, as I passed by the line at the food concession, there she was, smiling at me and she held out her hand. I made my way over to her and took her hand and told her that she had not just made my day but that she had made my whole year. She gave me another hug and then our lines forced us to move in opposite directions.

As I made my way to the exit I kept asking myself why I didn't go back to give her my number or ask for hers but I felt that it would be wrong. After all, she was buying roses for her "someone special" and she was just a sweet lady who decided to share one with me. At the door, the lady who checks receipts pointed at the rose with a question in her eyes and I told her quickly what had happened and she said "That's sweet. I would much rather have a single rose than the stuff I usually get". She put a smiley face on my receipt and I was on my way to the car. Half of me wanting to go back and the other half wanting to get away as fast as I could with the understanding that they both had a "someone special" who might not be perfect, but they did have someone.

A fun day out and about ...

Yesterday was a fun day. I hopped on the C-Tran bus at Fishers Landing (just a short walk from the apartment) and changed to the MAX in Parkrose. The ride into Old Town Portland was relaxing and I enjoyed the sights while listening to the tunes on my MP3 player. I walked along the waterfront and then strolled up and down Front Street then headed west to 5th and back down Oak Street to Front. The air was cool but the sun was out and it was quite refreshing.





Just after noon I hopped the bus for Washington Square to celebrate a birthday for our friend Noak. I got there early and just wandered the mall for a while, enjoying the sights and sounds. We all met at the Newport Bay restaurant at 3:00 for an early dinner with lots of laughs and giggles. After dinner we went to see the movie He's Just Not That Into You which was not only funny but very insightful. There was a little something in it for everyone. Then Noak was kind enough to give me a ride home as the busses had stopped running from Parkrose to Vancouver by that time.

Special thanks to Suzanne for organizing the event and to everyone there who made it a special occasion.

Also:
There is some hopeful news on the situation with my nephew, DeJ. His mother is trying to buy a house in Oregon City for when he is released which might be in June. If she gets the house I will be moving in to get things set for DeJ when he arrives and to be there for him during his adjustment phase. Then I should be able to move on with my own life sometime in September.

Waiting, waiting, waiting ...

There are so many things in limbo right now and all I can do is wait. This is one of the toughest things for me to do ... not doing. So I am looking for other things to occupy my time and my thoughts. I have done more reading in the last few months than I have in the last 10 years and yet my stack of "next to be read" books seems to be getting taller rather than shorter. I have been walking about 5 miles per day with a short stop for either a light lunch or just coffee and some time on my laptop. I always carry my backpack which has my laptop and my camera and other miscellaneous items that I think I might need for the days outing.
I have done some short "sprints" to see how my legs and lungs respond to the idea of being pushed a bit just in case I decide to take on the Shamrock Run again this March. So far, my entheusiasm is underwhelming. Running is not way up there on my list of favorite things to do but I know that I should do it for my health. There's only about 6 more weeks until St. Patrick's Day. A decision must be made.