Up North and Back Again

This has been a very simple week. I preached at the Springfield Free Methodist Church Sunday so we drove up Thursday evening -- not to Springfield, but on up to Salem. This gave us some time to be with Ginger. We did some yard work for her Friday while she was at work and then went to a birthday party that evening. JoAnn Harper was celebrating her 60th so her son and daughter-in-law invited family and friends to a mystery meal. It was lots of fun and we got to re-meet some of her family we hadn't seen in a long time. Saturday we took Ginger sofa shopping and picked a hide-a-bed to replace her futon. It was time to upgrade a little. We also looked at a couple mobile homes for her to buy. But... we're not sure if that is the right move at this time.

Sunday morning we drove to Springfield, enjoyed a great worship time (good preacher, too!!!), had lunch with some friends at the church, then drove home. Pretty simple. We didn't get much work done on The Backyard. Probably won't get much done this week either and we go back to Springfield next Sunday.

It is really smokey in southern Oregon. There have been thousands of lightening strikes the past couple weeks and northern California has 1,420 active fires. The few fires Oregon had were easily put out but California is getting it hard. The wind started blowing smoke this way a few days ago and when we got home yesterday afternoon we couldn't even see across the valley. Most of the smoke we are getting is from a hard-to-fight fire near Happy Camp just over the state line. In addition to that, it is HOT! Well into the 90s and 101 Saturday. So that has slowed our outdoor activity somewhat.

So that is our world right now. Not very exciting, but it's good and we enjoy it. I'd invite you to come and see us but you would have hard time finding us home. Maybe it's not exciting, but it's busy.

I'm A Cockeyed Optimist

We arrived home yesterday evening too tired to blog. But it had been a super great weekend. Friday we left for Annual Conference in Newberg. That is southwest of Portland. From the trunk of the car protruded the bottom portion of a recliner chair -- the top was in the backseat along with our suitcase and snack cooler. We dropped the chair off at Ginger's in Salem, then on to Newberg. Our friends, Loren and Sylvia Van Tassel were gracious to let us stay in their guest room. We so much enjoyed our talks and walks together. We met them in Seminary and then they went off to Hong Kong as missionaries. Through the years we had numerous opportunities to cross paths when they were home on furlough. Now they are retired and we had lots of things to catch up on. Dinner at Izzy's together gave us a good start.


Annual Conference was at the Northside Free Methodist Church. It was routine as Conferences go, but fun in visiting with friends both new and old. Our new bishop, Matt Thomas, did a good job of keeping us on track as we moved through the business of the day and giving us inspiration in his talks. Friday evening we ordained three men as Elders and received six men and women as candidates to work through the process of becoming ministers. As chairman of the Board of Ministerial Education and Guidance, I introduced them and then participated in the ordination process.


I must tell you about Saturday evening. We had the privilege and fun of eating dinner with Joyce's niece and her family. Kim, husband Bryan and children live in Newberg so we don't get to see them very often. They have a little girl named Emma who is 6 years old, just a couple weeks older than Josiah. Then about 2 years ago they adopted Mykel. He is just a little younger than Emma. His sturdy build, black hair, and missing upper teeth makes him an adorable hunk of a gentleman. He is black so he gives the family a great contrast. But to top this, just a month ago they adopted a little girl they named Sara. She was 4 weeks old yesterday and weighs 6 1/2 pounds. What a cozy little bundle! She was so much fun to hold that Joyce and I decided to have another baby. Just kidding! Just kidding! Get up off the floor and quit giggling. Down at the end are some pictures. You can check out Kim's blog at popcorninthesky.blogspot.com (or click on Kim's Blog in the favorites at the right). This was the first time for us to meet Mykel and Sara so it was a fun visit. We had dinner together at J's Restaurant and they gave us a seat in the back so we could just sit and talk and talk and talk. And hold the baby.


Sunday we attended worship at the Northside FM Church which is where I was Associate in Christian Education back in the late 70s (boy, that sure sounds like a long time ago). There are still a few people around who remember us and it was good to see them again. After church we stopped to visit a couple of people in a nursing home, stopped in Salem to have lunch with Ginger, and then stopped on the other side of Grants Pass of help Charles Agee celebrate his 85th birthday. When we got home we were beat.


In the Broadway musical, "South Pacific," Nellie Forbush, the female leading lady sings, "I'm A Cockeyed Optimist." That must be me. I thought The Backyard would be almost complete by now. It's not. It doesn't look much different than it did a week ago. But things have happened. We did a lot of little catch-up things and installed a watering system for the garden and the photinia. I made up my own system using some old soaker hose and PVC pipe for the garden. For the bushes in the back, we used a whole lot of drip tubing. Now I'm working on an underground irrigation system before I put in the new lawn. We'll get a little done this week but not very much -- have to be gone next weekend.


And that about wraps it up. Although we don't need much to wrap up in. The weather here has been warm and will be even warmer this week. Warm -- I think that is what we were looking for last winter.

Yeah, she's really enjoying that, isn't she? The baby, I mean. The baby is enjoying the bottle.

Kim and Emma

Mykel

Pretty cute, huh? Of course, I mean the baby. The baby is cute. All babies are cute, but this one... well, she is a real doll. See how well I do that? Sara does have eyes but we didn't get to see much of them.

It's Coming Together

Wasn't this a delightful week? Well, I sure hope it was for you. You can always look at the positive things and rejoice in them. Yes. There are some, even if it seems like there isn't. Joyce and I made quite a bit of progress on The Backyard. We finished off the Jo-Gro, spread bark nuggets, put down 1 1/2 inch rock (I call it drain rock), laid some pea gravel for Joyce's "river," and got some fist-sized stones to make the river look more like... well, a river. We actually got these from the bank of Rogue River at a friend's house. Friday was the big "rock" day and since I don't like shoveling and really don't like shoveling rock, I hired a high school guy to help. He worked hard and was worth every dollar I paid him. I was really beat by the end of the week so Saturday was a welcome day of rest. All we did was go to the Saturday Market down town and buy a few plants -- some grass-like stuff to put on the banks of the river and another tomato plant for the garden.

Today was great. We went to church at Allen Creek, came home to a nice nap, then watched Tiger Woods force the US Open to an extra round tomorrow. After the golf game, we went to J.J. North's Grand Buffet with Mike and JoAnn for a nice evening meal. Good day of rest. Tomorrow might not be too hard either because there will be another 18 holes of golf to watch. The girls called this afternoon and wished me a happy Father's Day.

The "river" I keep referring to is actually a flow of rocks to simulate a river -- but no water. It begins on the berm in the photinias and flows to the grass in the center of the landscape. Oh yes, photinias! Diamond Home Improvement had 5 gallon containers for half price so we bought 8 of them to complete the border on the berm. The ones we transplanted are still holding on but looking a little wilty. Will they make it? The jury is still out so we decided to go for the sure thing.

Joyce worked at the Daycare Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday -- about 4 to 6 hours each day. It is really work having 20 to 30 kids to watch (there is one adult for every 10 kids). This week she had the closing shift so that means she cared for the last 10 kids by herself. I went down a little before closing and mopped the floor for her. Nice guy, huh? But it gave her a break from The Backyard.

The Backyard is taking shape and we'll get close to finishing this week. We have an area to pave with ... something. We're trying to decide what. We also have grass sod to put in. That might wait because we'll be gone next weekend for Annual Conference and no one will be here to water it. But it's coming together. Together! That's a good word to consider. Do you have it together? Or are you simply trying to hold it together? Or is it falling apart? God is able to help, you know. Give him a try. Until next time -- and maybe some pictures.

Progress

It's starting to come together. The first part of the week it rained and we didn't do very much. That was a good thing because we were able to rest and get over our colds. We are both nearly 100% now with just a little residual coughing. A friend down the street offered us fully grown photinias -- all we had to do was move them. They are mature bushes cut back to about 4 feet high and I wasn't sure it would work. But on Wednesday we dug out a couple and discovered the ground was very soft -- almost sandy. We weren't able to get much root wad because the sand just fell off. It was sort of like bare root transplanting. After digging two and having to cut roots to get them out, we decided to try pulling them. So I hooked a cable to the pickup and tugged out 8 more. We actually got more roots doing it that way. We replanted them quickly and Joyce has been watering them twice a day. So far, so good. They look a little wilted but if they pull out of it, we'll have a head start on the hedge. If these don't die, we'll go back and get 8 or 10 more to finish out the hedge line. Pictures later.

Fortunately it has been cool all week so we have been able to get quite a bit done without feeling we were pushing ourselves. After the transplant project we laid down a ground cloth and spread Jo-Gro over it as a mulch. (I explained Jo-Gro about 3 or 4 weeks ago). To get it, we made a trip to Jo-Gro with Mike's trailer half full of his leaves and half full of our branches and other yard debris. We brought back his trailer full and my pickup partially full (2 cubic yards total). The Jo-Gro place is at the old landfill about 10 miles from here so with today's diesel prices I think twice about making the trip. This phase of the project is about half done. Tomorrow, we get more Jo-Gro. Doing this little job made me realize we needed better access to the backyard so today we moved the RV over to the garage side of the house. Now I can back in across the RV pad and get much closer to the work area. This will help when we get rock, too. Also, I took the tool box out of the pickup so I have that much more room for mulch and rock. But the work goes on. In fact, it seems all consuming. Except, of course, for resting, shopping, church stuff, coffee with the guys, eating, resting some more, watching TV, and eating some more. We're real dedicated workers. This coming week Joyce works 3 partial days at the daycare. That will give her a break from The Backyard and cause me to appreciate her more.

During the inclement weather the first part of the week, I squeezed out about 2 dozen lemons we brought back from Jana's house. They have a lemon tree with more lemons than they know what to do with, so we carted about 50 to 60 pounds home. All our neighbors, relatives, and friends have gotten a bag. I got about 22 ounces from the ones I squeezed. We'll freeze most of it for lemonade but I did use a little for one project. Joyce's favorite pie is lemon meringue so I made her an almost-sugar-free pie. First lemon meringue pie I ever baked but it turned out pretty good. The recipe was in her Splenda cookbook. There are more lemon things in there I'll have to try. Oh, I must confess: I bought a pre-made pie crust. Good thing they come two in a pack. I burned the first one when I pre-baked it. Must be something wrong with the oven.

This has been a good week. Probably because we are starting to see progress on The Backyard. Notice it is now a proper name with it's own particular identity. Today we went to the traditional service at Allen Creek. It's always good to see old friends and there are a lot of new faces also. Well, take care.

A Change in Plans

This blog will be short because I don't feel like writing very much. While we were in Los Angeles, Lilly caught a cold and Joyce caught it from her. When we left home last Sunday we thought Joyce's cold was not going to be very bad. Wrong! By Tuesday it was really bad -- lots of coughing, hacking, etc. So... I said, "we're going home." Good decision. After my meeting on Tuesday, we drove home (remember, we were at Ginger's in Salem). This meant canceling about 4 reservations and appointments we had made for Newport and Florence. I began to get the cold on Thursday and have not been at full steam since. I did go to our family reunion planning meeting in Creswell yesterday and hope I didn't infect everyone. Last night I felt pretty bad and this morning we didn't go to church -- just stayed home and coughed. This afternoon I feel better, so hopefully I'm over the hump. I look in the backyard and see all the work that needs to be done. Oh well... It'll happen eventually.

I was reflecting on our health while sitting in my recliner feeling lousy. We have really been in good health over the years. The last cold I had was while we were in Dawson City, Yukon, Canada on our way home on the Alaska trip. That was almost two years ago. Joyce has done about as well. We are blessed. Thank you, Lord.

Isn't God good.

And The Wheels Keep Spinning

Now we are in Salem! Actually, I thought there was going to be a week between the LA trip and the Salem trip but, alas, it was not to be. I must have looked crooked at my calendar. We got home from Los Angeles Tuesday evening; drove straight through which is not at the top of my list of fun things to do. But we stopped a lot and had a book on CD to listen to. For those who like these kind of things: We traveled 1480 miles, got 25 miles per gallon, paid a high of $4.04.9 for gas (Lodi, CA) and found LA gas prices to be only 2 cents more than in Grants Pass -- $3.85. Of course that went up even while we were there.

Of course we loved the time with the kids. We went to the library and played on the lawn for awhile which is where these pictures are taken. Then got to see Josiah in his swim lessons. He's the one with the blue goggles!

This morning we left early, attended church at the FM in Roseburg, then had lunch with my sister, niece, grand niece, and grand-grand niece (is that how you say it?) in Creswell -- close to Eugene. And now we are at Ginger's in Salem. The basic purpose of this trip is a board meeting on Tuesday at the Conference Office but we'll lump a bunch of other things into it. So stay tuned.

Happy Birthday, Josiah

A week ago it suddenly occurred to me, what is stopping us from going to Los Angeles for Josiah's sixth birthday? And the answer came, nothing except a little gas money. So as I write this blog we are sitting in Jana and Korak's backyard watching Josiah and Lilly while mom and dad are having an evening out. We left Grants Pass early Thursday morning, made numerous stops and arrived here in the evening -- a 13 1/2 hour journey. Friday was Josiah's birthday. Grandpa got him a remote control truck which he has been having fun with. His mom and dad gave him a 10 foot diameter swimming pool and a huge water slide. We set these up Saturday and the kids had a blast playing with them. You'll notice pictures of all this throughout the blog. His BIG party is going to be next Saturday because of various scheduling conflicts. It will be a water party with various wet-type games and, of course, the swimming pool and slide. Alas, we will miss this because we are home this week in time to do Kids Klub Wednesday. A short trip, but worth it.

Today we worshipped at Marina Christian Fellowship. One of the associate pastors, Trisha Welstad preached on spiritual gifts. She was a Conference Ministerial Candidate in Oregon and one of the people the MEG Board interviewed and encouraged many years ago. Then she moved to California, was ordained, got married, and is now on staff at the church our kids attend. It is very satisfying to realize I had a small role (as a member of the MEG Board) in her growth and development and now she is helping lead my kids in their spiritual journey.

Back home the yard awaits further developments. We did make some progress. Monday I rototilled the area where we will put either rocks or plants or mulch. Now, that was work! Then I put together some used railroad ties for a raised bed garden. Joyce and I even got a small section prepared for bark dust. I realized then that this will be a backbreaking job. Even if we stayed home we probably wouldn't have gotten much more done. On Thursday the temperature in Grants Pass sored to 97 and was 101 on Friday. About the time we get home it is supposed to cool down. Yes, it is hot here in LA but only up into the 80s where the kids live. I think we got out of town just in time.

Tucked in here are some pictures of the yard before the rototilling, during the rototilling, after it was over, and a view of the new raspberry patch. The area beyond the black fence used to be "our" field with pheasants, birds, and even an occasional skunk. It was peaceful and relatively private. It now has a street running through it, is subdivided for lots, and two houses are being constructed in it. That is why we want a privacy screen of some sort -- like shrubbery. It will happen; it just takes time.

So next week it will be returning home and returning to work. I wonder, maybe there are other things we all need to return to. Like returning to commitments we made years ago and then let slide away. Or returning to a proper focus that has gotten a little blurry because of pressures around us. Or maybe even a return to some of the things that used to give us joy but the serious things of life have overshadowed those earlier joys and we've lost the fun and zest for life. Or something like that. Make your own sermon here. And enjoy doing it.

I'd Rather Play Than Work

Happy Mother's Day. If you're not my mom, just ignore that greeting. Better yet, take it, plagiarize it, use for your own, and send it on to your mother. You did remember didn't you? Today I gave Joyce her choice of churches and she choose to go to Jerome Prairie because a lot of our friends are going there. It was a good service with a couple baby dedications and a special prayer for the children and children's staff.

Yesterday we were all set to get in a few hours work in the backyard. I had cooked up some omelets for breakfast, now we had shovels in hand, the dirt pile awaited... then Mike and Joann showed up with a wheel barrow I had asked to borrow. As we inspected our yard project, they asked if we wanted to take a ride up to Union Creek. Well, I always prefer play to work so that was a no brainer! They agreed to pick us up at 1:00 so I actually got in a couple hours of moving dirt. They showed up at one and off we went. Our destination was a wide spot in the road on Highway 62 about 50 miles east of Medford. It is noted for three things: Becky's Cafe where we ate a late lunch. Her huckleberry pie is delicious but only available when they are in season. The Rogue River Gorge is also at Union Creek. Here the rocks force the river into a narrow, downward channel churning the water and sending up a cloud of spray. It's not spectacular in terms of the Grand Canyon or Niagara Falls but it is still an awesome sight. The third point of interest is Farewell Bend Campground. Mike and Joann wanted to check it out for a possible camping destination. It is a beautiful camping place right on the Rogue River -- but still snowed in. It was fairly warm even with snow on the ground and me in my short sleeved shirt.

As we checked out all these places, we came up with the notion to drive on up to Crater Lake National Park. So we did. There was about 10 to 12 feet of snow at the top and when the wind blew it was cold! -- and me in my short sleeved shirt. But it was absolutely gorgeous up there. You see a picture of the lake and Wizard Island at the top. I also found this snow nymph hanging around and talked her into posing for me. The other picture shows some of the parking lot with Crater Lake Lodge in the background. At the bottom is a look at part of the Rogue River Gorge. (Click on any image to make it larger).

Friday evening Joyce and I volunteered to help at Silver Ring Thing sponsored by the Pregnancy Care Center. This is a very well done professional program encouraging teens to be sexually abstinent until marriage. they can buy a silver ring to remind them of the commitment they have made. Joyce helped register -- this after 6 hours at the day care. I was involved with helping set up earlier in the day and then with security in the evening. It was held in the Performing Arts Center at Grants Pass High School and the place was filled -- about 800 kids. Good program. Very high energy.

That is about all we did this week. Oh, we worked in the backyard. Other than that... not very exciting. But it sure was a lovely day Saturday.