Month: November 2013

I remember our family’s old black and white television set from the mid to late 1950’s.  What a technological marvel it was–even more so when we got a color set in the mid to late 60’s, as I recall.  In those days a massive TV with a heavy 25-inch CRT was set in a fine wood cabinet, and was a furniture center piece in the living room.

Sometimes we would get away with rabbit ears antennas, but the roofs throughout the neighborhood displayed large TV antennas to pick up Los Angeles stations from 60 miles distant, for example.

I am amused sometimes when I reflect on some of the TV shows I watched growing up, such as “Mr. Ed” (starring a talking horse) or “My Favorite Martian”.  I was a more regular viewer of “Batman and Robin”, with its “POW” and “BAM” graphics during fight scenes, and sign off of “same bat-time, same bat-channel”.  My younger brothers used to dress up in Batman and Robin costumes and act out fights.  I can still sing the full two verses from the opening of “Beverly Hillbillies”.  (“Now listen to my story ’bout a man named “Jed”, poor mountaineer barely kept his family fed…”)

Other shows I watched regularly were more engaging and spawned future editions, such as “Star Trek” and “Mission Impossible”.  I still can’t believe “Star Trek” lasted only three seasons with Captain Kirk, Spock, Dr. McCoy, Sulu, and Scotty.  (“Shoot me, Klingon!”)

There were innumerable westerns, with gunfights between good guys and bad guys (you always knew clearly which was which), such as Gunsmoke and The Rifleman.  (Chuck Connors from The Rifleman also played professional baseball and basketball.)  And a few WWII shows such as “Combat” (Germans were the bad guys.)

Suzanne wrote a great blog post about 60’s commercials (link).  So many were ads for cigarettes and beer, and many were amusing or had addictive phrases or jingles–“Silly millimeter longer”, or “From the land of sky blue waters”.  (If you are from the 60’s you know what I’m talking about.)

When we first moved to our home in late 1984, we lived on the edge of the country.  We could look out our living room window and see farms and undeveloped land to the north and west.  Our neighborhood was bordered to the west by 158th Ave., which ended at a T-intersection just 100 yards further north.  Here are a couple of photos from the late 80’s.

 Looking to the northwest from our living room. Looking west from our street with 158th just beyond.158th Ave.

By the early 90’s there were housing developments to the north and west, and 158th Ave. was continued through to the north.  It was also renamed Bethany Blvd.  As time went on and housing developments continued to the north the narrow “country road” Bethany Blvd. needed upgrading.  Here is a link to Suzanne’s blog which explains much of how all that came down.

Several years ago when we became aware of the scope of the plans for widening Bethany Blvd. we were thinking we might lose the houses across the street, and that we should consider selling our house.  Thankfully, that didn’t happen, and I think our property value and quality of life have not been adversely impacted.

So the past year or so Bethany Blvd. has been the scene of extensive construction, with flaggers, delays, gravel road entrance to our street, detours, traffic light timing disruptions, and reduced speed limits.  We’ve pretty much gone with the flow, not letting it stress us out.  In just the past few days the entire length of the construction area has now completed to the extent they are allowing four lanes of traffic.  Two traffic lights were added to the south, which will slow our car trips on average, but will also serve to break up traffic flows to allow easier exits from our neighborhood stop signs.

One downside is that there is now a permanent center divider between northbound and southbound lanes at the closest entrance to our neighborhood, which means we can only make right turns in and out.  For left turns we need to circle around to the other neighborhood entrance to the south.

 Looking west to the new right turn only intersection. Looking south on Bethany Blvd. Looking north.  The addition of the right turn lane is a big help. Looking south showing sidewalks, street lamps, sound walls, and four lanes.Many vehicles disregard the 25 MPH limit (and many get ticketed)–easier to do now that there are four lanes of traffic.  I shake my head when I see cars zipping by at 35 to 40 past our street.

Several more months are required to complete the curb work, paving, and landscaping.  I think it will look pretty nice.

At our family reunion this past summer in Sunriver we hired a photographer to shoot some family photos.  We scouted out the area for a suitable location, and scheduled it for early evening to avoid sharp sunlight and heat.  We are pretty happy with the results.  Here are some samples.

Remember the old days when you had to list items for sale in the newspaper classified ads?  And pay a fee?  Or put signs in the car window and park it somewhere visible?  craigslist.com has come to the rescue!

I have bought and sold a number of items locally via craigslist, including cars, bicycles, computers, cell phones, and cameras.  This is one of the marvels of technology and the internet, and is a great boon to both buyers and sellers.  Here is a craigslist ad last month to sell my car.

I have sold cars on craigslist that required several weeks to sell, but this one sold in half a day.  Even though I did my usual online research to determine market value I’m sure I must have priced it too low.

I have used automated search tools to alert me via email whenever a new item is posted on craigslist that matches my search criteria, such as a certain car model with manual transmission and below a certain price.  This is the best way to capture a true deal, and to beat the competition (as happened with my car above).

However, the internet in general, and craigslist in particular, has a flavor of the wild, untamed west.  There are lots of scammers out there.  For example, I have been shopping for a condo purchase for an investment.  I had my eye on one that was for sale and did a search on craigslist for similar properties that were for rent, so I could get a feel for the rental market.  Lo and behold, this same property was listed for rent!  The posting had the identical text and photos that were included in its online “for sale” listing, and the “owner” was certainly operating from a dark room in Nigeria or the Ukraine.  This is a scam where somebody hopes to trap a prospective renter into sending deposit and/or first month’s rent money.  This actually happened to someone hoping to rent a house across the street from us.

Anyway, it’s a jungle out there, so you really have to be on your toes.

 

I purchased our lawn mower almost ten years ago, a nice Honda model.  At the time I often mowed the lawn of a woman I served as home teacher.  The yard was large and the grass always tall and difficult to bag.  So I added a mulching accessory for the mower.  Until this week it sat unopened in the box–I just never got around to trying it out.

This time of year our front lawn is often covered in fallen leaves, and we had already raked it clean a few times, depositing the leaves in our garden area and compost bins.  I think Suzanne asked something about the ability to mow the leaves up, rather than raking, and I recalled that we had some kind of attachment for the mower which might help.  I retrieved the box from high on a garage shelf, blew off a layer of dust, read the assembly instructions, and installed the extra blade on the mower.

I have to confess I had low expectations on how well it would work at chewing up leaves.  I tried it first on the lightly covered side yard, and was pleased to show Suzanne the resulting fine debris that was left sifting through the grass.  Next I tackled the thickly covered main lawn and really got into it.  It was slow going, with the engine bogging down frequently in the heavy sections (and often requiring a restart until I figured out a technique).  But we loved the thick, fully chopped up result.

Most of the resulting mulch we just left in place on the lawn, knowing that it was a healthy addition.  But we also raked numerous leaves into one section where we then gathered up the resulting mulch and added it to the compost bins.

For the rest of the day I could hardly get that mulch out of my mind.  I was just so pleased with the discovery of this new method of mowing and utilizing the result.  I joked that we could heat up some mulch porridge for dinner.  I find myself looking forward to more leaves dropping on the lawn so I can mow some more.

Next spring it will be interesting to see if I can stay ahead of the wet, fast growing lawn to use the mulching mower effectively.  It would be nice to avoid the hassle of bagging the clippings and, instead, returning the nutrients to the soil.

Do we sound like true Oregonians, or what?

 

We have a few bird feeders in our back yard.  Some of them hang right by our back window so it is entertaining to see various birds up close from inside our house.  We  have seen as many as five or six at a time bunched up at one feeder.  Different types of birds like one or the other feeder or seed.  One caters to hummingbirds.  Here is a sample photo.

With all the flowers in our yard we get other creatures finding food.

A neighbor’s cat likes to perch on the top of our back fence.  I’m sure it is licking its lips hoping to catch one of the birds unawares.  We moved one feeder further from the fence so this wouldn’t happen.

Blue Jays liked eating our blueberries, and slugs our strawberries (ugh).  Squirrels often scurry across our yard, fence, and trees.

The past few nights we have heard scratching and rattling sounds from our walls.  Perhaps mice are the cause–we catch them in our house from time to time.  We hope it isn’t squirrels or something larger than mice.  The critters are welcome to hang out in our yard, but not in our house!

 

 

Daniel was our second child and son, born in 1978.  He had a rough start in life right from the beginning.  It took many years and doctor visits before he was diagnosed with a mild case of Cornelia de Lange syndrome, with its variety of physical and mental handicaps.

For the most part Daniel has been mainstreamed in school and activities through the years, though he did attend a different elementary school which had more resources for a couple of years, and was in a special program in high school.  He earned his Eagle Scout award with only very minor accommodations.

One of his heavier burdens in life is epilepsy.  He is prone to clusters of seizures, typically six weeks or so apart.  He is not able to drive a car, but does manage to get around via the public transport system.  He lives at home with us and is independent with many things, but not everything.  He will always need an assisted living environment.

One bright spot in his life is Quiet Waters, a retreat for special needs adults where he goes for a weekend every few months.  Here is a link to a video about the program (which includes some clips with Daniel and Suzanne):

Quiet Waters

He likes his regular routine, which includes watching TV and movies in his room, “reading” library books, walking around the Oak Hills loop each morning, doing his laundry every Friday, emptying the dishwasher, volunteering at the city library each Thursday, going to his sister-in-law Emily’s house each Wednesday (and volunteering at Springville Elementary), attending church each Sunday, and looking forward to dinner every evening.

Here is Daniel working at the Beaverton City Library

I try to bring Daniel along when I go places (he likes Home Depot, as well as the food samples at Costco), and we sign up as a team for various volunteer assignments.  Recently we covered two volunteer shifts at the Portland Temple cafeteria.  In September we flew down to California together to spend a week with my parents, and we took in a Dodger game.

Cleaning the church last Saturday

Though Daniel can be a bit impatient and blunt at times, he really has a heart of gold.  And he has many friends and neighbors who watch out for him and bless his life.

I am enjoying the chance to spend a little more time with Daniel, my good buddy!

I’ve read a number of books lately that were particularly interesting.  One I recently finished is “The Omnivore’s Dilemma”, by Michael Pollan.

Prior to reading it I asked whether it was a modern version of something like Upton Sinclair’s “The Jungle”, and the answer was “no”.  However, I think there are some common elements between the two.  I have certainly had my eyes opened about many of the foods we eat, and how they are grown, processed, marketed and distributed.

For example, the author spends quite some time describing how corn has become the dominant agricultural crop in the USA, and has come to dominate our food as well, particularly in non-obvious ways.  And this isn’t necessarily a good thing.  I recall “corn fed beef” being viewed as a positive, whereas now “grass fed” is preferred.  Now I understand better why.

The author went on perhaps too long extolling the virtues of a particular organic, sustainable farm in Virginia–one that doesn’t bring in chemical fertilizers, nor antibiotics and other drugs for the animals.  It does sound quite appealing.

It is a thought provoking book, and makes me view foods with new light, and may change my shopping and eating habits a bit.

Two of my favorite things from summer here are picking peaches from a local farm, and eating them.  The peach orchard where we go is perhaps 7 miles from our home (and near where I often ride my bike on the pleasant country roads).  Over the years I often bring visiting grandkids with me.

Here are Shiloh and Paisley from this summer.

Here is a link to a cute video I took of Miriam and Magdalena in 2010.  I think Magdalena is laughing due to the grass tickling her feet.

M&M Peaches

I love adding peaches to my breakfast cereal or pancakes.  And making smoothies with them.  The peach harvest season is much too short.  I did freeze some for later use, but regret I didn’t freeze a lot more.

 

 

For all these many years I have enjoyed having both my parents around, and in reasonably good health.  My dad turned 90 this year, and my mother 88.  So the years are finally catching up to them.  Both have been quite active until recently.  My mom would go on hikes up hills with us well into her 80’s.

So it is a bit sad to see them slow down.  My dad is plagued with a bad back, which necessitates using a walker and disrupts his sleep and activities.  My mom fell and broke her hip a few months ago, and is still rebounding from that.  Both remain mentally acute, which is great.  (Reference my post from yesterday about my dad’s memory.)

I went down to California in September for a week to visit with them and help around the house.  I was wall to wall busy the whole time but got a lot of satisfaction completing some chores and projects while there.  On my first day there we made a trip to the March Air Base commissary.  We weren’t sure how my mother would be able to get around but we got her into an electric scooter, and she and dad drove all around the store in them.

 

Aren’t they a good looking pair?  The store has wide aisles, and many patrons are elderly, so scooters there are routine.

I was unsuccessful convincing them to upgrade their TV to a high definition wide screen.  I know it would increase their viewing pleasure, but they are quite content with their ways and current standard of living.  I give them a lot of credit for that, even though it is frustrating to me, as I want to help them and they do have enough resources to upgrade some things around the house.  I’ll try again next time I visit.

Meanwhile, I count my blessings for having such great parents, and having them around!