#219 Holiday Season Greetings

Hoping you all find something to be thankful for.

Our Old House in Canby

A Couple of Thanksgiving Stories

Thanksgiving Holiday is always a thoughtful time and this year. because of our leaving our house of 38 years, is even more thoughtful for us. For this post I decided to present a couple of Thanksgiving stories and some fall photography.

The Birks of Aberfeldy, Scotland

The Fairy Pools Trail, Isle of Skye

Anniversary to Remember

Married in 1968 the weekend before Thanksgiving, our anniversaries have always been near the holiday. Our 25th wedding anniversary, celebrated in 1993, was an important one and on the day of Thanksgiving. Plans were being made for big celebrations, but those plans got interrupted by Anne’s chance to go to Hawaii for the whole week of Thanksgiving to attend a teacher leadership conference (which included golf opportunities). I couldn’t go, of course, and Anne was reluctant to accept the offer until I convinced her we’d still have our celebrations, just later. On the Wednesday before Thanksgiving I was at school when I received a giant bouquet of flowers in the middle of a class. Lovely as it was, it quickly became the talk of the school—Mr. Bob got flowers. When Anne called on Thanksgiving, I told her I loved her, but she had embarrassed me at school. Then I asked her about what she was having for Turkey Day Dinner. She told me about the fancy dinner they had had. She then asked what I was having. I said, “Fried Spam.” I tell that story of my 25th Anniversary/Thanksgiving Spam dinner every chance I get.

Ballatter GC, Highlands

St Fillans GC, Our Club

Sma'Glen, Highlands

Near Loch Tay, Highlands

This second story is an award winning essay about Thanksgiving memories from a newspaper contest in 1978.

A Freshman Alone at Thanksgiving

“Closed,” “Sorry.” The signs reflected off glistening streets. Neon colors splashed from the wet sidewalks. Arcadia, California, was a lonely place for a stranger on this Thanksgiving Day 1963.

All day I had been involved in a college speech and debate tournament at Humbolt State University. Amidst camaraderie and competition I hadn’t given much thought to being away from home on Thanksgiving. But the coming darkness draped around my shoulders the shroud of the loneliness of a freshman away from home.

When you’re eighteen and a freshman in college everything new is an adventure.

A speech tournament at Thanksgiving only meant a chance to see a new place and meet new people. Reality, though, has a way of catching up, even with a freshman. So, here I was wandering dim streets, alone, in a strange town, seeking the only inexpensive restaurant open on Thanksgiving within walking distance of our motel.

The garish fluorescent lighting of the cafeteria blinded me as I sought to adjust from the dark night. Servers filled trays with the contempt of those forced to work when they wanted to be at home with their families. “Thanksgiving Special—A Complete Traditional Turkey Dinner (with all the trimmings—$1.89, drink extra,” said the sign taped to the glass overlooking trays of limp lettuce salad. At the end of the line my tray had on it two thin slices of pressed turkey (mostly dark meat), a scoop of dressing, a scoop of whipped potatoes almost as runny as the speckled gravy on it, a small paper cup of cranberry sauce. I paid extra for a glass of milk and a cup of coffee.

My hunger overcame my growing depression. I found myself enjoying the food in spite of the surroundings. As my plate-to-mouth motions became automatic my mind strayed out the rain streaked windows. My thoughts wandered into the darkness and all the way home. The family would be gathered at either an aunt’s house or our place. Dinner of plump hot turkey which I might have gotten to carve, fluffy dressing bulging with spicy sausage, both mashed potatoes with rich gravy and yams with brown sugar, and all the extras that make tradition live would have been cleared away hours ago. Uncle Lee and Dad would be arguing about who would deal the card game. Aunt Loretta, Mom, my sister Dee and the cousins would be cutting pies, whipping the cream, and sneaking bites of meat off Henrietta Hen’s carcass. Someone might have pulled out a Christmas album which propriety dictates can’t be played until after Thanksgiving Day—or at least until after the dinner is over. A car honking outside the cafeteria interrupted my communion. I finished my coffee and left so hurriedly that I left a tip even though there hadn’t been a waitress.

Back on the damp street I tried to recapture those visions of family and warmth. The moment was gone. I’d had my Thanksgiving, but would have to wait a few days to share it with those who mattered.  

Autumn at Ankeny Winery near Salem

Fall leaves with Christmas tree farm in the background.

Maes Howe Megalithic Tomb, Orkney Islands

Fattening the sheep, Orkney Islands

And autumn will soon turn into winter.

#218 A SKY FULL OF PHOTOS

 PLEASE BE SURE TO VOTE!

We’ve had two recent Super Moons, both of which I missed because of cloudy skies. That made me look back at old files which showed I didn’t have any pictures of Super Moons—at least none worth showing. I also recently missed opportunities to see the Northern Lights (Aurora Borealis) from Oregon. Again I din’t have any aurora pictures. I have seen the Northern Lights once from a commercial flight passing over Idaho on a trip from Albuquerque to Portland. No photos of that either. I did find some photos of sky phenomenon that I thought might be worth sharing. Some of these (or similar shots to these) might have been shown before, but most go back a few years. I’ll group the sky show into Sun, Rainbows, Moon, and Clouds. Hope you enjoy the views.

THE SUN, Sol, our nearest star, dominates our skies and our lives. But it is hard to photograph without special equipment or special conditions. I’ve managed to pull out a few examples of my photographs of the sun.

October 1978 solar eclipse taken from a farmer's field near Bigg's Junction, OR. A photo of mine from this shoot was published in Sky and Telescope Magazine.

Sun with a halo of light reflected off high altitude ice crystals. Photo taken on a dirty iPhone.

August 2017 solar eclipse from Salem, OR.

        SUNSETS

Mt Hood with alpenglow.

Taft beach Lincoln City, OR.

Illusion of a double sun, Orkney Islands, Scotland.

Illusion of a flat sun caused by the sun's rays having to go through more layers of atmosphere as it approached the horizon. West coast, WA state.

RAINBOWS are probably the most common of sky phenomenon to be photographed. Sunlight filtered through raindrops are always a wonder to behold.

Sept 2012 Scotland

Balkaneil Beach, northwest Scotland

Near Tain, east coast of Scotland.

Besides a halo the sun can also create sun bows and other effects.

        DOUBLE YOUR FUN

When double rainbows are created the secondary rainbow reverses the colors of the first (ROY G BIV - VIB G YOR). St Fillan GC, Scotland.

THE MOON is the earth’s only permanent natural satellite, though we get an occasional astroid visitor which hangs around for a while. The second brightest object in the sky, the moon dominates our night sky and is easier to photograph than the sun.

2014 lunar eclipse in BW.

Lunar eclipse with nearby Venus. Nearby only in astronomical terms.

A very new new moon. Sept 2017. From Santa Fe, NM.

The new moon with the old moon in her arms. From either Dejection: An Ode by Samuel Taylor Coleridge or the early English Ballad of Sir Patrick Spens.

Old and new moon with Jupiter.

CLOUDS can make a sunny day dull, but they can also be spectacular in the sky. For the photographer a cloudy sky is almost always preferable to a bright blue sky.

Near Durness, northwest Scotland.

Mammatus clouds are usually a sign of severe weather, such as thunderstorms, heavy rain, and lightning.

Clouds, rain, and the Taos mountains, 2015.

Colorful clouds make the sunset.

Abstract clouds.

4000 year old standing stone and clouds, Orkney Islands, Scotland.

NOTE: Please let me know if this kind of blog is worth your time viewing--I enjoy producing them, but I’d like to know if you like viewing them.

#217 A NEW STORY

#217 A NEW STORY

This post is about what has happened to us in the past month. There’s a little about travel, but not much about photos. First the travel. We had planned a 14-day trip to New Mexico for the end of September and beginning of October. Most of our time would be spent in non-handicapped rooms (hotel and timeshare). It was the best we could get. We decided we needed to take a short trip (two days) to the coast to see if we could make non-handicapped rooms work for me. We stayed at Newport in the Hallmark Resort. We discovered two things. First, with difficulty we could make the non-handicapped accommodations work. Second, we found out the rest of our long trip was badly planned. Among other things I noted that I had planned far more driving than we could reasonably do, that I had planned far too many activities, and that I didn’t leave enough rest time during the trip. When we got home from the beach we reluctantly cancelled our New Mexico trip. Back to the drawing boards.

One of the things I probably brought home with us from Newport was an uninvited guest, Covid-19. I’d had Covid before—a mild case helped by anti-viral meds. This case is different. We had planned to get a booster before NM, but didn’t plan for Newport. Also, my Parkinson’s is much more developed than before. The current Covid variant, Covid-19 KP 3.1.1, has the affect of worsening Parkinson’s Disease non-motor symptoms, such as sleep disturbances, cognitive function, mood and appetite disorders, and pain, especially pain. Besides not being able to take the anti-viral drug that is available in my area, I have the runny nose, low-grade fever, and hacking cough of Covid. I also have new sore muscles and joints (a Parkinson’s symptom I didn’t have before) called Rigidity. But Covid just keeps on giving.

A few days ago I was feeling particularly poorly and for the first time since testing positive I took my vitals. I discovered my heart rhythm, which had been under control since late 2018, was out of whack. I was again in atrial fibrillation (a form of heart failure) with a heart rate steady at more then twice my normal resting rate. After three hours in the ER, three lab tests, an EKG, a chest X-ray, and consultation with my cardiologist, it was decided to do a cardioversion (use of quick, low-energy shocks to restore regular heart rhythm). The procedure wasn’t very comfortable, but did succeed in getting my heart rate stable at the correct rate. Thank you, Covid!

I’m recovering now, though I still have to sleep sitting up in my recliner (laying in bed stimulates the cough). Now Anne has tested positive and is feeling quite rotten—she just started taking anti-viral meds. The lessons this experience leaves me with are stay up to date with Covid, flu, and other vaccines; take Covid seriously, and test plans before you commit. STAY SAFE, friends.   

PHOTOS

Thanks for reading this far into this post. I hope these few nostalgic views (from old files) of the past add some brightness to your day. 

From my 2010 File

Osprey nest near Mt Angel, OR

From my 2012 File

Scott's Mill, OR

Fall Creek Falls in the fall

Mt Hood Scottish Games

From my sled dog racing days 1970-1984. These are pictures of me and my team racing or training, They were taken by friends or professional photographers,

We trained mostly on gravel roads.

Sister's Race

Start of the Beaver Marsh Race.

Start of the 2nd day of the Oregon Mail Run--not a race, but a commemorative 72-mile run through the Oregon Dunes National Recreation Area. The trail was through dunes, beaches, creeks, and rivers.

Tired, muddy Attica.

A training run of 4 miles at Pistol River, Oregon.

NOTE: Thanks for being patient with my lack of creativity. It's been an exhausting time.