Keeping in touch with Jim

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.

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 co...

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.

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)

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 Ci...

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.

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 ....