Sunday Salon, August 23

Adventure Monday: Staircase Ranger Station Olympic National Park

Finally summer edition!

Weather: hazy and warm. We are worried that the haze is cuased by the wildfires that are ablaze in our state.

Finally summer: We have finally spent some vacation time as a family the past week in both Central Oregon and then the Puget Sound  region of our state. Though we have had mini vacations and adventures this summer, and I have helped my sister celebrate her 60th birthday, this week-end represents our first family vacation of the summer.  Just in time.

At Elk Lake with parents and younger sister, Grace.

My parents assemble family and celebrate 64 years of marriage: My family got together at the Seventh Mountain Resort near Mt. Bachelor a few miles outside of Bend, Oregon. The weather was lovely. There were three highlights for me: 1) the luncheon we had at Elk Lake, a favorite family vacation spot; 2) the family "church" session which we held on the banks of the Deschutes River. Dad, who is 86 years old had some important thoughts to share with us which felt so poignant because one never knows how many more years we will have with him;  3) the luncheon a few of us had at the Pine Tavern Restaruant in Bend with Mom and Dad. Mom grew up in Bend and the Pine Tavern was the site of their wedding reception 64 years before.  We called ahead and the staff printed our special menus with HAPPY ANNIVERSARY written on them. It was so touching.

Adventures in driving: Something awful happens to the traffic in the Tacoma area on the Interstate Freeway every summer.  Last Friday, as I drove to pick up Don at work before heading out to our second leg of the vacation, I passed a sign that said the exit I needed was 2 1/2 miles ahead, then another sign that said it would take 32 minutes!!!! I kid you not.  And it did take that long. Ugh. / En route to the first leg of our vacation, we had to take an hour long detour around a forest fire. Another Ugh!

Tangled roots, Olympic National Park

"I knew it was morning when I saw the light coming through the floor": Don't you think this would make a great opening line of the book? Just guess how it relates to our recent camping trip to Soundview Camp on the Puget Sound with our church family. (Leave your guess in the comment section below.)

Spending a few days with church friends in a camping setting is fun and relaxing: We are so lucky to live in such a lovely part of the earth. Today during our worship service , held on the basketball court at Camp Soundview, we sang the following song, I Could Sing of Your Love Forever. The first verse seemed so perfect.

Over the mountains and the sea
Your river run with love for me,
And I will open my heart
And let the healer set me free.

Books read the past two weeks:

• The Wright Brothers by David McCullough---a favorite author reads his own audiobook about the famous Americans who were the first to invent an airplane. Don and I were able to finish this book while wandering around on Mt. Hood as we were detouring away from a forest fire.
• Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston--- written in the 1930s, this book, now considered a classic, was actually out-of-print before Toni Morrison rediscovered it 1972.
• The Boys Who Challenged Hitler: Knud Pedersen and the Churchill Club by Phillip Hoose---WWII in Denmark, teen boys conduct acts of resistance.
• The Alex Crow by Andrew Smith---another zany novel by Smith where the unbelievable ends up being believable or at least understandable.

Currently reading:

• What Matters in Jane Austen? by John Mullan---Twenty crucial puzzles about the writing style of this popular, classic author.
• Ishmael by Daniel Quinn---surprisingly philosophical. It is slow going as I digest the information.
• The Truth Commission by Susan Juby---Art students start a commission to encourage honesty and truthfulness, but for Normandy Pale she has to look far for the truth but she does need to look closer to home.

Slowly heading back to work: The school year starts very late this year, September 8th, but I have attended two in-service classes and have worked many days in the library getting things ready for the new year. I am slowly heading back to school.

Mom and Dad on the banks of the Deschutes River in Central Oregon, a favorite spot.