SUNDAY RERUN: Dad Tells Me a Story

This is an entry from my diary, May 12, 2003. It includes a story Dad told me, one which I'd forgotten:

There are times I'm intensely aware that any journal is a series of choices--what to record, in how much detail, what to omit. You may even have to choose whose stories to tell. I'm deciding tonight, here in the time-share vacation condo I'm sharing with my parents, Mom's sister Charlotte, and Dad's brother's widow Jewel. Already a week has passed since the fund-raising dinner/theatre entertainment for the new production of Chaucer's Canterbury Tales, Mother's Day was yesterday, Bruce's hearing with his supervisor's superior was this morning, and I have spent a rare five hours alone with my dad as we drove from Portland, (actually he joined me in Hood River) to Leavenworth, followed by dinner here, a round of crafting stick-pins, and swapping reminisces until Mom and the aunties were too tired to stay up any longer. Dad went to bed shortly after dinner. The trip had worn him out.

Now here I am, sitting propped against the wall, sideways at the head of the Murphy bed. I'm trapped in pajamas, as the living room is my bedroom, and perspiration beads my forehead. Aunt Charlotte was worried some Peeping Tom could see through the vertical blinds. What would she think if I opened a window? I am ready to go out and sleep in the van. Anything to cool off. I am going to open a window.

I surprised myself by being ready to leave when Mom and Dad arrived this morning. The car was packed, I'd had time to eat, RC had checked the tires and transmission.

Mom rode with me as far as Aunt Charlotte's, in Hood River. We had a brief visit there with cousin Cindy, and a light lunch, and then loaded Charlotte's gear into Mom and Dad's little red Taurus and drove over to pick up Aunt Jewel. Dad was my passenger now. Said he didn't want to get stuck in a car with three gabbling women. He'd told me in Portland he'd switch with Mom. Sometimes I've felt as though Dad and I didn't have a lot in common. I think it's a male/female thing. Duane told me once he always fretted about what to get Mom for Christmas and birthdays, but Dad was easy. It's just the other way around, for me--with Mom, I have to take a l-o-o-o-n-g list of possibilities and pare it down; with Dad I walk around wondering what one earth he might like to get! But there's one thing Dad and I have always shared: Our love of music.

We sang together for long miles, reminding each other of songs we hadn't thought of in years, resurrecting lyrics in a patchwork fusion of mental filing systems. 

And Dad told me stories. 

He told me of the time he'd been out logging with his brother, (my Uncle Walt) and a couple of buddies. They'd set out from camp one morning, Dad and one of the guys. Uncle Walt was still in camp, and the fourth man was already out in the woods. Dad had a double-headed clearing axe over his shoulder, which they used the way I suppose one would use a machete, to clear brush around the trees they wanted to cut, or to clear a path through the forest. It was honed every morning until it had an edge you could have shaved with.

Well, it was cold and frosty, and Dad stepped up onto an icy log lying in the path, lost his balance, and tried to keep his feet by bringing the handle of the axe down, slicing his neck quite neatly at the base of the skull.

His buddy managed to get him back to camp, where Uncle Walt hustled them into their old car. Dad's friend had a thick, folded cloth over the gash, trying to staunch the bleeding, but it wasn't working. At the sound of the car's engine, the fourth man came out of the woods wanting to know why they were going back. Uncle Walt jerked a thumb at the back seat, where Dad and his friend were. 

That fourth man took one look at the two of them and said, "Stop the car!" to Uncle Walt, yanked the back door open and said, "Get out!" to the friend, who did, and scrambled into the front seat. Then the latecomer climbed in with Dad and pushed his thumb into the pressure point on the side of Dad's neck, stopping the flow of blood. Without his knowledge and action, Dad would have bled to death.

Now, back to 2011, with the latest photos from the yard:

WORDLESS WEDNESDAY: EAGLE CREST FLORAL

Just pictures today. The flowers at Eagle Crest were so pretty....

SHOW & TELL SATURDAY: OUR CRAFTY WEEK

Our condo. We had the lower level.

Okay. That was a teaser. I'm not really going to tell about the week yet, but I will show a few pictures, just of the condo and the four of us.

Aunt Charlotte, Mama, & my daughter December

Me, Mama, and December

Our crafty vacation ended yesterday at noon. December and I made pretty good time--three and a half hours from Redmond, Oregon to home, chattering like magpies all the way, except for times when she was copying recipes from the awesome cookbook I picked up at one of the thrift stores we'd gone to. I finally told her she could just borrow it; I know she'll bring it back.

I was too exhausted by the time I got home to do much of anything except vegetate, especially since we'd taken time before the drive home for a swim and soak in the hot tub. This morning, I got the DH off to his remodel, which is blessedly near being completed, and then rushed to get ready for a Trillium board meeting, after which I went to Value Village (Oh, my. Can you say SCORE?!) and Joann's. Home for a quick bit of lunch, change of clothes, and then off to our friend Bruce's, where I pounded nails in or pulled them out of lumber he'd thrown in the front yard for the burn pile, and loaded them in to the back of my car. Finished that up in time to get home and fix dinner, and yes, I'm even more tired tonight than I was last night!

Almost forgot: Just before jumping into the car to run load wood, I grabbed my camera and got a few shots of the Grandpa Ott morning glories and crocosmia out in the yard:


Aren't they beautiful?

I'm looking forward to tomorrow: I finally got to my email and found out who my partner is for the Decorative Envies postcard and envelope swaps. Oh, I am Smiling!

WORDLESS WEDNESDAY: OUTSIDE

A very nearly wordless Wednesday today--photos from my own yard, of tiny things and not-so-tiny, that caught my eye:







The nightshade in the last photo looks so cool seen full-size--be sure to click on the photo to see all the detail!

SHOW ME SOMETHING SATURDAY #2

I thought I knew what I was going to show the world today on this second excursion into Show Me Something Saturday land--the art I've been working on since I got home from Hood River on Monday.

I was out in the yard with my camera, setting up a shot, when art from a much more practiced and professional Hand grabbed my attention. Can't compete with the Divine, and ain't gonna try.

And I'm suddenly put in mind of an old, favorite, saying: "Earth laughs in flowers." My garden is fairly burbling with joy right now if that is the case!

The pink and white roses next to the yellow cottage grabbed me first:





And then the honeysuckle against the fence:



And the love-in-a-mist, which I think is also called Devil's claw, at the base of a birdbath:


By then, I was just wandering around, looking at all the beds. There's an enormous buddleia (butterfly bush), which I guess we aren't supposed to grow anymore, now that Oregon has declared them an invasive species. My husband hacks it to the ground every year, and every year it just comes back stronger. It's taller than the peach house now, but smells so deliciously of honey, and is draped so beautifully with purple spires that I can't resist it. Neither could this bee:

Click on this one for sure. The bee's amazing.

The foxgloves are everywhere. Very few white or cream ones this year, though, but I've been wanting to shoot down the throat of one forever, and never had the right light. Aren't they fantastic? (Yes, Deb--I'm looking at the sex organs of flowers again! I should be blushing, but I'm just fascinated, lol.)



Then, as I took the path to the bed next to the porch of the peach cottage, this perfection in pink lit up the shade:


And last, the lavender and curry blooming together, one of my favorite combinations, and one I wait eagerly for every year:


So now, what have you got to show me this Saturday, or next? Leave a comment with a link, and let me know, so I can come see!

PS Clicking on the photos makes them bigger, and even more amazing. And here's one of my favorite computer tricks: After you've clicked on a photo, push the F11 key. Everything at the top and bottom of the screen will go away, and the picture will get even bigger! When you want your stuff back, just push F11 again. It's a wonderful way to see more screen on any page.

CALLING ALL GARDENERS! I.D. THIS PLANT, PLEASE!

Hood River Lavender Daze is a favorite festival of mine, one I look forward to eagerly each year. A big part of the pleasure and joy of it is the location--smack in the middle of the Hood River Valley, with Mt Hood shining white to the south, and the snowy slopes of Mt Adams rising to the north. The orchard, the rows and rows of lavender, banks of red poppies and tall white shasta daisies, mounds of curry plant, lawns dotted with lawn chairs and tables, where you can sit and sip lavender lemonade and soak in the scent and beauty.

My booth, for the last two years, has had its back against a row of lavender, yarrow, and ...and...what is that? I asked Diane, who owns the farm along with her husband, and found she's a bit frustrated at not being able to remember! And I really, seriously, find that I need to have this plant in my own garden. But how can I get any if I don't know what it is?

I'm asking you. Can you identify this plant? It doesn't seem to have any scent to it, and stands roughly 18" tall. Help me out here. Please. Pretty please.

If you need a closer view, click on the photo, and it will enlarge. Oh, and the flowers are about an inch to an inch and a half across.

Thanks to anyone who know the name!

PS I did not mean that Diane owns both the farm and her husband, but that they own the farm together!

Rose Petals & Clematis

Shhh! Don't jinx this now. I think, maybe, I hope, summer has arrived!

There's some good evidence to support the thought:

• The temperature got up to nearly eighty today
• I made strawberry leather, and didn't have to use the oven
• I wore shorts for the first time this year

And the flowers in the yard are going nuts. Must be the two record-breaking months of rain we just had. A stroll through the yard was called for.

Looking down the walk inside the gate

Click on the photos to see them large, as per usual.

Tomorrow I'm hoping to get pictures of the ten (count 'em, ten!) new Teakettle Characters. For now I'll just tell you what an odd sensation it was this morning to walk into the kitchen and see all those pairs of eyes looking at me! Kinda cool, but weird, too.