This post contains a story from our travels to Scotland, some favorite old photos (film that's been digitalized), and some other news. Hope you enjoy.
The World, It Is Exploding
Our first time using timeshare for lodging in Scotland was in the fall of 2003. We spent a week at Scandinavian Village in Aviemore in the central Scottish highlands. Our apartment had two bedrooms and a kitchen/dining/living room. What we missed by staying in self-catering (mostly the grand B&B breakfasts) was made up for by doing our cooking. With a stove, oven, and microwave we had plenty of cooking options.
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| Scandinavian Village unit in 2014 |
For breakfast on our first morning of cooking I planned to cook a microwave soft egg like I do at home. I had a correct size microwave proof bowl, but unlike home where I use Syran Wrap I had no plastic cling film to top the bowl. I just covered the bowl with a paper towel. I set the timer for 45 seconds on high heat (at home I use 55 seconds at 80%) and turned it on. Something made me turn and look at the microwave just in time (about 40 seconds) to hear a loud bang! The door of the microwave was blown open. Egg bits splattered everywhere and steam poured out of the open door.
Surveying the disaster scene I discovered nothing but particles of my egg were left in the oven, but that no real damage had been done in the room—the microwave was a mess, but still worked. As I cleaned up I mulled over the cause of the explosion. Were the eggs different enough in Scotland that they couldn’t be done in the microwave—after all, eggs in Scotland aren’t cleaned and are almost never refrigerated? Was the microwave too powerful at my settings? Did I really need cling wrap with holes poked in?
I never did find out the true cause of my eggsplosion, but in the more than 25 trips I took to Scotland after, I never tried to duplicate my experience.
Favorite Photos
Astronomy: an interest of mine since Jr High days.
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| Telescopes on Mona Kea at over 13,000 feet. Grainy photo from 800 ASA film. |
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| Solar eclipse from Biggs, OR, 1979--published by Sky & Telescope magazine. |
Sled Dogs: Raised and raced Siberian huskies from 1970 to 1985.
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| Anne running at team at one of the Oregon beach races in mid-70s. |
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| A winter run on a wheeled rig with limited snow at Beaver Marsh, view of Mt Thielson. |
Forest Fire: in the early 80s we were on Mt Ashland when a major forest fire threatened a friend's home.
Backpacking with Dogs: we backpacked from the early 70s into the mid-90s.
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| Backpacking into Chambers Lakes basin for an article for Cascades East magazine. |
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| Me and Myko in the Three Sisters Wilderness area. |
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| Myko early morning in the Green Lakes area on South Sisters. |
Other News
This next section of the post isn’t the fun stuff, that was all in the story and the photos. This section is a report about us. First, Anne is working hard at recovery from total shoulder replacement surgery on her left shoulder—no golf for her most of the summer. Her surgery was three weeks ago and she is doing fine, but the hardest part, physical training (otherwise called physical torture) is to begin in a week and a half. We know how hard it is going to be, she had the same surgery on the other shoulder about eleven years ago. It’s amazing how strong she is and how independent.
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| Anne has to wear her sling for at least 4 weeks, but rides along while I play. |
Second, while I live with the spinal stenosis that makes walking difficult, I continue to learn about life with Parkinson’s. My symptoms are so far quite mild and mostly controllable with medication. I know that things will change, there is no cure, but one of my hardest challenges is accepting that I won’t know how PD will affect me until it happens. I’ve always relied on my old Boy Scout training and tried to be prepared. I find that it’s difficult to prepare; all I can do is adapt—it’s a new concept. I still play golf, although my balance is completely different than it used to be. All I can say is have one of the more unique swings out at my golf course.
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| I lose my balance when I swing the driver, but I haven't fallen...yet. |
Although we can’t really do much travel planning currently, we are both thankful for all the support we’ve received from friends and family.
