A Rainy Spring Break Week

It's pretty typical; if it's Spring Break in Oregon, most likely it will be raining. Lucky for us Oregonians, we've learned not to let a little rain dampen our spirits.

Actually, one of the things about being retired and especially having no school connections is that things like holidays and spring breaks don't really register. Except that my daughter is a substitute teacher and often works during the school year. That being the case, I went to visit her and her hubby on Sunday afternoon, returning Tuesday night.

Kristin is a volunteer with Whale Watch Spoken Here and was scheduled to do interpretive work at a couple sites today and next Saturday. My sister who now lives in Medford came over with a friend who was visiting from Minnesota and we wandered out to some headlands to try to spot some of the migrating whales.

Unfortunately, the water was quite choppy and you couldn't really see any spouts from whales. Plus it was rainy and windy. But I did learn some things. For instance, did you know that some whales can stay submerged for up to two hours before coming up? Others are only 20 minutes (I think Humpbacks) or 30 minutes (Grays). This explains why, unless they are playing and frolicking, you can see a spout and then not ever see another -- in 20 minutes they can be long gone out of sight.

We did, however, see and hear lots of sea lions -- Stellar and California -- and harbor seals. Kristin's friend, who works with her at Oregon State Parks, told her the juvenile elephant seals were on a certain beach so we were able to go and see them. This is apparently the farthest north elephant seals live and it is rare to have very many pups. Because the storms were mild this year, they had a pretty good crop. So it was interesting to see these creatures. The younger seals didn't look that different from other seals, except larger. They didn't yet have the long noses for which the species was named.

I am so proud of my daughter and her husband. They have a simple life with a large garden. They enjoy cooking a variety of ethnic dishes. Ryan makes his own really good beer and Kristin does a beautiful job knitting. They have done some things to make their home much more cozy and suitable for them, doing most of the work themselves. They are very much what we in the Portland area would call "urban homesteaders." Most importantly, they are happy. They have two cute dogs and Charlie enjoys visiting his "cousins". They live the life they want to live without worrying about how other people might perceive them. I think they are pretty authentic and I enjoy spending time with them, though it makes me regret some of the choices I have made in my own life. But tomorrow is another day . . .

Just one little note: I have sent out proposals for my book to four agents who have requested it (one of whom also works for a publishing house). I have no idea how long it will take to hear back from anyone. But I am very hopeful that I will find an agent and eventually a publisher to take on my book project. In the meantime, I continue to write and edit and work on the book. It's been healing and helpful for me to do it.

travelinlady

Marching into Spring

Well, one can only hope. This has been the weirdest winter I remember in a very long time. Lots of very cold weather and today, March 8, the day daylight savings time starts, it was very cold and snowed off and on. It has snowed more this winter than any I ever remember in Portland. And I'm old enough to remember when the Columbia River just had a fairly narrow stream between two very icy banks. That was probably back in '79, the winter my daughter was born.

It's not a good day to be without heat, but when I woke up this morning it was quite cold in my house. I usually have the thermostat set to go down at night but it should have been starting to warm up at 6. Although it was actually 7 so I realized I needed to reset the clock. Nothing. I fiddled around with the thermostat and then the heater and . . . nothing. So I've been cold all day. Thankfully I have wood for a fire and a small electric heater. But it's still darn cold in here.

It's been a week of things going wrong. Last Sunday I had someone come to look at the Mo and when I tried to start it I got . . . nothing. So it looks like I may have to replace the batteries. I was already thinking it likely that the house batteries were on the verge of -- if not already -- dead. Now the chassis starting batteries are apparently also beyond help. I think the cold winter probably contributed to their demise, but then they probably ARE seven years old.

Since last I wrote, my brother left and then returned the following weekend. The apple tree I wanted pruned still isn't done, but the door in my kitchen no longer exists. I was thinking I'd have more room in the kitchen if I eliminated that, and I usually use the patio door off the dining room anyway so . . . He and his friend also replaced the gate posts on my fence where it was ready to fall down. And patched a hole in my bathroom floor. I painted the bathroom and laid linoleum in there this weekend. It's not perfect by any stretch, but it looks much better than it did. It was a depressing dark gray and tiny little tiles. Not very nice. I like it -- it's much lighter and brighter. So things are getting done, but things are also breaking all around me. Feels sometimes like I can't quite get on top of things.

However, I DID put some concerted effort into my book proposal and pretty much finished it. I have a couple of editor friends who are looking it over before I send it to the three agents who have requested a proposal. With any luck that will be done and out by the end of this week.

So if I don't freeze tonight I'll try to get back into the "going to the gym" groove. I did finally buy my tickets to Kauai so I NEED to get in shape for hiking and kayaking and snorkeling.

TravelinLdy