#197 Journaling

Journaling.

I didn’t start journaling until I retired from teaching and was on my first trip to Scotland. My last student teacher had given me a journal for my trip. I found that I loved making daily notes about my travels. I have now over 40 full journals with notes and stories about the trips I’ve taken since retiring, big or small.

At first I wrote in commercial journals, but I realized I wanted something special. 

For a few trips I used special journals that I had printed and spiral bound. 

These were especially good for notes on golf courses and pubs used in writing my first books about Scotland and Ireland. Later I discovered an even better system. Called “Circa” and produced by Levenger (www.levenger.com), the basic system consists of a variety of special pages that fit into plastic-ringed binders. 

This journal system is very adaptable; it’s a create-your-own journal system. Staples sells its own system called ARC which fits with most Levenger Circa products. 

Whatever system you try, I whole heartedly suggest you try journaling even on short trips. Having journals with good notes or narratives are useful in many ways: to answer questions about past travels, to help with future travel planning, to relive past trips, among others.

My latest journaling endeavor I’ve mentioned before in my blog—a set of stories from years before I started journaling, a journal of remembrance. I’ve categorized the journal: stories about growing up, about high school and college, about speech and debate activities, about raising and racing sled dogs, about teaching, and about whatever doesn’t fit in the other categories. This post contains a couple of stories from that journal. I would very much appreciate reactions to these stories and particularly whether this type of story is worth sharing in this blog. A Big Thank You to any who do share their reactions.

Note: most of the photos in this post are just some feel-good pictures from this summer.

My Fifth College Year—What a Way to Live

After four years at Linfield College I didn’t graduate but moved to Oregon College of Education for my Fifth Year and secondary teaching certificate. At summer session I took an extremely heavy class load of 21 credit hours (normal would be 12 credit hours). I also had to survive on practically no money. After tuition and books I had about $200 for the two month term.

First was lodging. I rented a one-room apartment for $25 dollars a month which included electricity, water, and garbage. I paid both months up front so I would have a place to live. The room had a kitchen sink and stove and a separate bathroom with shower. It came furnished with a single bed, small table, two chairs, and one small dresser. The unit fit me well, but I soon realized I needed company. One day with no classes, probably a Saturday, I walked to Salem (12 miles), bought a $20 plastic table radio at Pennys, and walked home. Most likely I hitched rides both ways, but I recall walking a lot of it. That radio was my entertainment for the whole year at OCE.

For food I had several strategies to stretch my meager funds:

(1) Three times a week I would go to the college commons to have a butterhorn ($.15) and a coffee with cream and sugar ($.10 no refill) for breakfast. Tuesday and Thursday I had no early classes so I’d skip breakfast.

(2) Dinners were as cheap as I could make them—$.10 Kraft Mac and Cheese in a box, fried cornmeal mush. For meat I’d buy pork steak or bacon (both cheaper than beef) or Spam. Lunch was almost always PB&J or bologna sandwiches.

(3) Once a week or so I’d go to Shakey’s Pizza and scarf—buy a soda and wait until somebody left and clean up their spot (including eating any leftover pizza). The manager never said anything because I was cleaning up the tables.

(4) For a special treat I’d walk down to Wagon Wheel Burgers and have one of their specials—large and cheap at $1.25.

Between summer and fall terms I lived with Grandpa and Grandma Jones in Salem and worked 32 straight days at the Del Monte Canary dumping beets into a cooker (I still hate the smell of cooked beets). For fall term I shared a new apartment with Mike Harrell (my high school and college debate partner). Money lasted until winter term.

Winter term I moved back into the $25 apartment and went back to my survival living. The only difference was now how to heat the apartment. The electrical system would only accommodate my small heater on low which would take the chill off. When I needed to study in my room (most of my time was spent in the warm library) I would open the door of the electric oven, push the table up to the open stove, and turn the oven on low. When I told an older classmate (probably in her 40s) about my arrangement she gave me an electric blanket, which was a life saver.

A couple of days a week I wouldn’t have to buy coffee or butterhorn—someone would buy for me. Several kind souls helped take care of me in small ways. I got a grant for my last term—my student teaching term—which got me into a nice apartment with enough left over for real food. I have never regretted my decision to give up a college teaching assistantship to get my Fifth Year and teach high school. And I cherish all I learned in my year of survival at OCE.

The Telescope that Could Hear the Bees

On the day of the total solar eclipse visible in Oregon, August 21, 2017, I set up a couple of cameras and a couple of telescopes at Charleen and Dave’s (sister and brother-in-law) in South Salem. Their yard had spectacular view of the eclipse path and was filled with family and friends getting ready to enjoy the spectacle.

Before the eclipse, I set up one of the telescopes to view a neighbor’s cluster of bee hives about a third of a mile away. The scope was near a drop-off filled with flowering bushes. I invited people to test out the scope and as they viewed the hives I told them that if they listened carefully they could hear the bees as well as see them in the special scope.

I got reactions such as, “My God, how can you do that?” “I can really hear them!” and, “That’s Amazing!” Word spread and others came to see and hear the bees. Finally, someone asked how the telescope could do that? 

I explained that all you had to do was…and I pointed to the bank of bee-filled bushes in front of the telescope…set the scope in the correct place. 

Next: maybe a real travel post.