White Christmas

Christmas is a time to share with friends. Marilyn does more of this than I do with all her girl friends sharing lunch and gifts. However, the year the weather limited the number of gatherings as the ice and snow caused several of the events to be canceled.
She still managed a couple of lunches and the annual pizza dinner with three tennis friends. Mine was limited to the usual coffee with my early tennis group and sharing the pictures of the group with our former member, 86 years young Wayne, that had to quit a couple of years ago. Marilyn and I were also blessed with a visit from my special singing friend, Pauline, and her husband Ed as they traveled back to Victoria, B.C. They had to put on chains to get up the hill to our house and could only stay one night but it was a wonderful time to catch-up on what has been happening.
Of course Marilyn has the house decorated just right and the table is set with the Christmas dishes long before anybody arrives. Like maybe two or three days before they arrive. The snow has putting the sharing of gifts and food with the granddaughters on hold until the last minute. Living in Portland with all the snow and ice has severely limited travel. Some the have tried talk of the hours it takes to get just a short distance and all the accidents you see along the road.
Today is overcast and we do see snowflakes fall once in awhile but with the temperature at about 35 degrees it doesn’t stick to the road. You can more of my Christmas pictures on my Flickr account.

Cold and Snow Continued

Well the cold and snow continues in Corvallis. It has been a very long time to have snow on the ground and freezing temperatures. We may even have a white Christmas. Well it looks like we may be above freezing in the daytime for the next week so maybe most of the snow will melt.
I don’t have snow tires so I have been forced to put on the cheap chains on my car. I never planned on using them. I only had them to meet the carry chains requirement that is sometimes posted.
They did plow our streets yesterday and it was a little above freezing so Marilyn got out for a few things she wanted to do. Then we got two more inches of snow and it froze last night. Now we wait for the next break. I put the chains on Monday and we did go out Wednesday to get a few things. I hope to take the chains off today.
I spent my life being ready for snow and able to travel in bad weather. Now I am ready to not think about chains, snow tires or even ice on the road. Maybe that is the reason we go south for the winter.

Snow in Corvallis

It seems Corvallis gets a bad storm about every year and this may be it, at least for now. We escaped the start of the storm on Sunday as it hit Portland with cold and snow. Chains were required to travel in Portland not just the hills around Portland. However, we had a nice day all things considered. We had some early morning snow but it never got below freezing so the snow melted and we even saw some sun during the day.
As darkness came so did the wind, snow and cold. Now at 9 PM it is 26 degrees F. and snowing. We will see what tomorrow will hold. I don’t think I will be playing the 7 AM tennis and Marilyn’s 9:30 tennis has been canceled, too. Maybe it will be a day to turn on the fireplace, pop some popcorn, and relax. I think I will save this note and not post until tomorrow and maybe even get a picture to post. It does look like a white Christmas but then I am sure all the snow will be gone by then. They are saying freezing for the rest of the week, but it never seems to last too long.
Well it is Monday morning and it is cold 23 degrees F. It got down to 21 last night. I don’t think we got much snow. With the wind it is hard to tell just how much there is but none of the drifts are that big. Most of the schools are closed for the day and the paper was late as is the garbage pickup. The birds are happy I had filled the bird feeder but the hummingbird is not that lucky since the sugar water froze. The wind blew snow onto the covered deck and entry but not really that much of a storm just cold. It is just the ice that will case problems if it melts and freezes again.

Out of the Fog

We have had some foggy days in Corvallis so it was great to take a trip to the coast. Marilyn has many activities at this time of year with the regular tennis matches and then lunches or dinners with her friends. This meant that we didn’t leave Corvallis until after 10:30 in the morning but were glad to see the fog lifting before we were 20 miles out of town.
We got to Newport just before noon so we stopped by Mo’s for the usual clam chowder and garlic bread before we headed to the aquarium. The sun was out and we left our jackets in the car for our three-hour visit to the aquarium. It was not crowded so I was able to get many pictures without being in other people’s way. A visit to the aquarium is always a great was to relax and is a sure way for me to raise my spirits.
The early sunset meant that we drove home in the dark after having our dinner. So the drive home was not as relaxing and enjoyable but well wroth the time out of the house and valley fog.
Some of my pictures from the day are on my flickr page.

Halloween in Lahaina

Halloween in Lahaina is always an interesting time. We have been going dressed as Raggedy Ann and Raggedy Andy and it seems to be well received by many people. This year was much different than the last two years in that they did not close down Front Street for the whole evening. They closed it for the Kiddie parade but then opened it up again. It made for a very crowded sidewalk and not as nice for taking pictures. I guess there had been too many problems in the past but I can’t think that this would prevent any of the drinking or carrying on. It just created a very crowed Front street with cars and people instead of just people.

As the evening went on some of the costumes become more R (X) rated and there are more people that have been drinking but for the most part a good time is had by all. I took my 100+ pictures again this year and posted a few of them.

Usually we have left by 8:30 but this year we stayed later so we were stopped by the sobriety check as we left Lahaina. It is usually a short stop unless they think you have been drinking then it becomes a longer time to prove you are sober.

Just hanging out

Relaxing in Maui means hanging around the condo reading or processing pictures, talking with people we know that come every year, or going to some of the same places we always go like Halloween and Keiki Hula show. This year was about the same. Marilyn finished a couple of books and I read a little of Tom Brokaw’s book “Boom!”. The nice thing about his that is that it is a collection of stories about people he first met as a young reporter in the 60’s and what they have done and how they have changed over the 40 years. Of course my pictures are much the same with fish, flowers, and the people. Some are out on flickr.
There are always some of the same people staying at KBC each year but then we also meet a few new people. They had the first of the Thursday gatherings the last Thursday we were there which is always good for meeting people. The young couple staying next to us were there with his Father, Dr. Edward Jones, and step Mother, in a different unit. It was nice to meet them as he also attended the University of Washington and his Father was retired from UW. They gave us a copy of his book Tutankhamon. At 86 he follows my feelings that many college professors can never retire they just keep researching and writing books. Since we will be taking the Red Sea, Egypt trip next spring the book will be a great reference.
We met friends for dinner one night, at a place that had a great jazz trio playing and also when out for our usual dinner at Kimo’s with the Hula Pie. We also usually go to the Tropical Plantation were Marilyn’s get to feed the ducks and I get to take pictures of the flowers. It is a beautiful place but I’m afraid we don’t do much to help it survive since we spend very little money there. The last Saturday we have been checking out and then going to the Seawatch restaurant for a great breakfast with a view of the ocean. It is a great way to end the two weeks.
The Halloween in Lahaina is another story.

Snorkeling Maui

Snorkeling is my favorite thing to do in Maui unless it is going out to eat. I spend many hours in the water looking for the fish that is willing to have its picture taken. Photographing the underwater animals has a number of problems. First they never stop to pose. I met one person that shoots video and then takes his pictures from that. Of course he also had a new camera that gave me a case of camera envy. It was not one of the $1000 plus but still a nice camera.
Of course it did get some nice shots from the over 800 I took I have about 50 I would show you but then that is photography. There are also a number of very small fish that dart about and never really show on the picture even though they are often in shallow water and I can get close to them. This year I also saw a number of octopus but they only look like a rock in the pictures.
We had great luck with turtles this year and even got to swim with two of them one day as they were feeding on the moss. There I was almost too close to get a good shot and be in focus. One of the turtles was missing its right front flipper. I am not sure if it was shark or boat that did the damage. I also saw a number of eels this year and even got a few good pictures.
We did not venture out to many sites this year going only to Ulua beach and the beach by the condo. We tried the beach by the Maui Prince which is close to turtle town but it was not that great and you can see turtles other places. Ulua is our favorite but I like to look for the turtle that lives in the coral by the condo. Even though I didn’t think we would try to go to Fish Bowl this year I was sorry to hear they had closed it. It is a 30-minute walk across the lava field but the water and fish were great. The problem was that people were trashing the small-protected area. It was a great place to take pictures. Maybe next year we will try some new places.

Other fish pictures from Maui.

Nuremberg

Our day trip to Nuremberg was beautiful, overwhelming, and enjoyable. Since it was fall the color was great and everywhere you looked the fall colors were outstanding.
Since about three hours of our time was spent and the former Nazi Party Rally Grounds, the amount of information and remains of the building that were never completed after 1939 left us tired just from standing and listening. The Documentation Centre opened in 1994 provides an excellent source of information about the Nazi Party and the plans for these rally grounds that cover eleven square kilometers. We listened to the audio guide for about two and a half hours and were still not through the complete exhibit. But we quickly went through the rest of the exhibit and walked around the uncompleted Congress Hall. It was a nice day and it would have been a beautiful walk around the Dutzendteich lake but time did not allow and some food seemed necessary so we caught the bus back to the center of town.
Once we were at the Hauptmarkt we found the Bratwursthausle and a nice table outside to enjoy our lunch of bratwurst and beer. We then wondered up to the Castle but it was too late to take a tour so wondered the grounds and enjoyed the garden.
Our walk back to the train station was a pleasant time of enjoying the sights and doing a little shopping. We left tired but with many things that still need to be visited.

Wings of Wnder

I spent about two hours taking pictures at Wings of Wonder by Buena Vista. I took about 200 pictures but could immediately eliminate at least half of them as out of focus or no butterfly. It was a great time and there were many of the butterflies that never stayed in one spot long enough for me to get a picture. They are such beautiful creatures and for most of them such a short life. They are also very fragile and you would see a number of butterflies with wing damage.
I was pleased to see the number of people visiting the exhibit. I realize that it is not in a major population center or on a main road but people seem to be finding their way to the excellent exhibit. Most people did not spend the length of time I did in the exhibit. It is hot and humid and I was sweating soon after entering the exhibit. The sweat did have a positive effect you could say. It seems to attract one of the butterflies. First it landed on my leg and I was concerned I would damage it as I walked but it later moved to my head and stayed there until being removed before I left.
One very large moth did not move the whole time I was there. They said it was nocturnal and also did not feed, no mouth. One other very enjoyable animal was the Button Quail. There are several adults and a few very small babies. The plants were also interesting and varied as needed for food for the butterflies and there was a nice garden outside the exhibit but I did not spend time taking pictures there, maybe another time. I had depleted one set of batteries and needed to move on.
I have posted a number of pictures but have not tired to identify the butterflies as I am sure I would be wrong.

Never Again

Corvallis held its “”NEVER AGAIN” Hiroshima/Nagasaki Remembrance at the Starker Arts Park on August 7. I am sure it was very similar to other remembrances that were held over the last few days to commemorate the 63 anniversary of the bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki.
There was an opportunity to fold cranes and decorate small paper sacks to float on the pond at the end of the evening. The cranes were part of the continuing project started by Sadako Sasaki and there were two stands that held a large number of prefolded cranes. I did not find out the number on these stands.
There was a reading of Hiroshima Mayor’s Proclamation by Sho Kimura followed by the Mayors’ Peace pledge by Mayor Charlie Tomlinson. Mayor Tomlinson followed this with the singing of the Mayors’ for Peace document adding Corvallis to the list of 128 cities in the USA that have joined.

The night ended with the floating of the candles on the pond. More pictures

Summer flowers

Well we are into summer and that means many beautiful flowers. Marilyn works hard and deadheading and cutting some flowers to bring into the house. We even provided several bouquets for a 50th wedding anniversary party at the tennis club last Sunday. Of course in the front yard the deer have taken care of all our pansies and marigolds. I have even sprayed the flowers so the deer are not supposed to eat them but they don’t read the labels very well.

I have been spending time taking many pictures of all the flowers. It gives me a chance to learn how to better use my camera. I have even started using the manual setting more to help with the settings and try to get the focus better. Close-up photography is a very interesting process and it seems the camera keeps getting into the light to cause even more problems. Anyway it has been fun and I am sure I will have a very large collection of flower pictures by the end of the summer. I even got a wall in the dinning room for my collection of framed enlargements.

Of course I have a large collection of the pictures on my flickr account in addition to the ones displayed here. I am now trying to get more birds and bees to pose for pictures. The bees seem to like the sunflowers but both the birds and the bees seem to fly away just as I am going to take the picture.

Philomath Frolic

This is the weekend of the Philomath Frolic & Rodeo. We attended the parade with Lance and his two daughters.
Of course it had most of the standard things you need in a small town parade but it was missing the marching band. Other than recorded music only a Western Band played on one of the floats.
You start off with the Grand Marshall. When Kevin Boss graduated from your high school and play for the NY Giants to help them win the Super Bowl, he gets to ride in that first convertible as the Grand Marshall. Did I mention he went to college at Western Oregon University where I taught? No he was not in any of my classes.
Then you follow with all the standard floats for a local business, other festivals in the area, student robot or drag race team, and the rodeo Queen Alyssa Miller. Many of the floats were throwing out candy so the granddaughters had a small bag to bring home in addition to what we all ate while watching the parade.
Both political parties had floats but I only got a picture of one of them. The Hull family had a number of logging trucks in the parade. They are one of the big logging families in the area. Some of the trucks were new and some were very old, showing the different trucks they had used over the years.
Both the fire trucks and the local swim team were spraying water so you had to be on the lookout for a stray stream of water. One lady about 50 yards from us said, “Spray me,” and they got the lady next to her, their aim was not that good.

Oddwater

We stopped by the Aquarium for a short time on the way to visit friends on the Oregon Coast. This was our first time to visit this summer and see the new exhibit, Oddwater.
We will be back for another visit in a couple of weeks with the granddaughters but it is nice to stop by when ever we can. Even though it was a short visit I did get some good pictures.

The new exhibit was very interesting with all of the different and weird looking animals that live in the ocean. It was displayed very well with blown glass in the water with the fish.
We didn’t spent much time with the otters or seals but they are more fun a feeding time. Maybe we will see that later. Also we went past the touch area. I will get more on that with the granddaughters.

Fourth of July

Well it is time for obligatory Fourth of July fireworks pictures. We spent July 3-5 on the Oregon Coast at the home of a friend in Waldport. It was a full house with people sleeping everywhere. It was a two bedroom house and eight people. We drew the high card so we got the master bedroom and not the hide-a-bed in the living room. One of the ladies slept on a cushion on the pool table downstairs.
We spent the first part of the evening on the third playing bridge, then when to another friend’s house to watch the fireworks that Waldport has on the evening of the third. It was a cool evening with a little fog but with a few snacks and drinks everyone had a good time.
We had planed on attending the parade in Yachats on the Fourth but when we got up it was raining and that turned into fog as we ate breakfast. We continued the round of bridge and decided we didn’t want to stand out in the old wind to watch the parade. Of course by noon when the parade was to start it was beginning to be a nice day.
The afternoon was spent having our picnic of more food than we needed and going for a walk on the beach. That was followed by a nap and more bridge by the others but I sat out to finish pictures and write the blog.

Summer Flowers

Well summer is here and we finally have some warm weather. It was actually hot for a couple of days. Of course it cools off at night so it works out well. My garden has started to grow except one of my bell peppers died. I guess it got tired of waiting for the warm weather. Of course they are predicting a chance of rain for the 4th of July.
The iris have finished but we enjoyed ours, our neighbors, and we made the trip to Scheiner’s Iris Garden for their Memorial Day open house. That is always fun. The Capital City Jazz Band plays, there is a chicken dinner, and the flowers. Of course they have many different iris in the display garden as well as many other flowers and are more than happy to sell you many iris blooms or roots as you want. Some of the new release roots sell for $50. We did have some rain during the open house this year but it was not that bad and I got a number of pictures. Many times I can’t see the difference between two similar plants but I am sure they can.
After a very slow start the dahlias are about to start blooming and the roses are getting started. The sunflowers and lilies have the buds and a few warm days produce many flowers.
As I drove home from my 7 AM tennis on Tuesday I saw a wild turkey and her seven little chicks. I had been saying that I hadn’t seen the wild turkey yet this year but she is back. It may be that soon we won’t be so happy to see them as they increase in number. They could really take care of a garden for you.

Yorktown and Jamestown

We visited the other two areas of the Historic Triangle, Yorktown and Jamestown. Jamestown is the area of the first settlement in Virginia and Yorktown is the place of the last large battle between Washington and Cornwallis in the Revolutionary War.
I enjoyed the Jamestown the most of the two. It is really two areas. One is a visitor’s center and recreations of a Powhatan Village, the James Fort, and the Susan Constant and a second archeological area at the original site of the settlement. The Powhatan Indians were the natives to the area and Pocahontas was the daughter of the Chief. In the Powhatan Village in addition to the examples of homes and other things you would see in a village there were a number of people in native dress performing some of the activities you would see in a village such as basket making, scraping deer hides, and making stone tools.
The James Fort was their best guess of what the first fort was in size and contents. Recent discovers by archaeologists has required some changes but for the most part they have found the recreation to be very accurate. There you would also find a blacksmith, person demonstration the firing of a musket, and others answering questions about the other buildings in the fort all in period dress. I found it interesting that both the person firing the musket and running the blacksmith shop were both women while the original group that settled the Jamestown had no women.
The original site of the settlement is most an area set aside for archeological study. They have found the corners of the fort and many of the building in addition to many graves throughout the area.
The Yorktown area shows the area of the battle and I was not interested in visiting all of the different encampments but we did visit two houses in the area. The Thomas Nelson Jr. house is in the town of Yorktown. Nelson was a signer of the Declaration of Independence, Governor of Virginia, and commander of the Virginia Militia. He lost all his money in support of the revolution. The Moore House is located more in the area of the fighting was the site of the negotiations that lead to the British surrender on October 19, 1781.

Williamsburg

We have spent the last two days in Virginia as they experience record breaking heat. It has been at least 100 degrees both days and it can really make you tired walking and viewing much of the history of the early Colonies.
We are stay at a large resort on an old plantation by Williamsburg, Virginia. I am not sure how many units are on the 250 plus acres. There are many geese, rabbits, and squirrels roaming the grounds. It is a very nice setting and has many amenities such as tennis, pool, restaurant, etc. for our use. Internet is available in the unit for $40 for the week but free at the Grill so we walk the Grill to use the internet.
The first day we drove the 100 miles to visit Thomas Jefferson’s home of Monticello. The foundation is doing an excellent job of resoring the home, garden, and many of the dependencies; We toured the home, garden and Mulberry Row.
The vegetable garden and flower garden have been restored as much as possible to the directions drawn by Jefferson and contain older varieties of flowers and vegetables that we grow in much of our yards.
Mulberry Row was the area where much of the work to support the plantation was done. The blacksmith and carpenter’s shop as well as the dwellings of both free and slave workers are gone but through Jefferson’s notes and archaeological digs provided at history of the walk that was one of our tours.
The home and the two wings placed under below the home are well restored. We toured the two wings of the dependencies before taking the house tour. One side contained the kitchen, cooks room, and smoke house the other side had the ice house and stable. They are connected by a tunnel under the house that provides storage and access to the house.
We finished the day with a late lunch at a tavern a short distance from Monticello that served traditional buffet lunch of the time.
The second day we explored part of Colonial Williamsburg. After the introductory film and walk we explored some of the buildings in the area. We visited the George Wythe home which also had weaver and basket makers at work in the out buildings. Wythe was the founder of the William and Mary Law School and teacher of many of the early lawyers such as Jefferson. We also visited the Capital and a number of the other shops along the way. There a few more we will visit another day.
Once of the most interesting presentations was a presentation by a man portraying George Washington. He gave a talk and then answered questions in character as if it was 1777(?).

Hot Air Balloons

After reading about the German man that cause a number of calls about a UFO, when he sent a number of hot air lanterns into the sky to propose to his lady, I thought I should share our hot air balloons. We did not cause much concern with the locals, but maybe it is because these are often used in festivals in Northern Thailand.
The balloon is made of what I assume is rice paper and is about a meter high and about a meter in diameter. The top is closed and in the center of the bottom is a small ring of material that has been soaked in kerosene and then covered in wax. Bamboo is used for the top and bottom ring but nothing on the side so it will collapse to a flat ring. When you are ready to fly you open it up and light the ring in the center of the bottom. After waiting a little time the balloon is filled with hot air and will fly off into the sky.
We released eight of them and I was amazed at how high they went. Our guide said they would fly for about thirty minutes. As for the fire danger, I would not think there is much of a problem. They go very high and will not come down until the fire goes out. And the material the is burning will all burn so there should be now embers by the time it reaches the ground. It was a very fun activity and Marilyn started saying immediately that it would be fun to do it here but I don’t think our neighbors would think much of it.

Buddhism

Writing about Thailand and not talking about Buddhism would be ignoring the elephant standing in your living room. Ninety percent of the people are Buddhist and it is a major influence over the lives of people in Thailand. Our guide said many times that Buddhism in not a religion it is a way of life and you see it every day from the monks walking the street to the many Wats (temples) and the people visiting with gifts to present. Also almost every house, and hotel, has a spirit house where offerings are place regularly.
We visited many different Wats and most were similar but each had a significant reason for the visit. The Golden Buddha is a must see in Bangkok. The solid gold Buddha weights about 5 tons and was not discovered until 1955 that it was discovered that the plaster was covering a solid gold image. We also visited Wat Pho which contains the largest Reclining Buddha. The highly impressive gold plated reclining Buddha is 46 meters long and 15 meters high, and is designed to illustrate the passing of the Buddha into nirvana.
What can I say about some of the other Wats? They all have a Buddha image and most are traditional in style and construction, you must take off your shoes before entering, and you will encounter people giving offerings and taking pictures, where allowed. The Wat Rong Khun was perhaps the most unique of the temples. It is completely white and very modern in design. It is designed and financed by and artist Chalermchai Kositpipat. We also visited another wat that I do not remember the name but the anterior was covered with small mirrors that gave it a very interest look. One of the interesting things at this temple was you could buy your offering including your small Buddha image to present inside the temple. The food in the offering was giving to the monks and the Buddha image would be recycled after a day.
We visited the Emerald Buddha at the Grand Palace in Bangkok and also the pagoda where the Buddha was found after a lighting strike.
One morning some of us took part in the traditional Buddhist alms giving. For the one-hour after sunrise the monks will walk through the streets collecting food to eat and to share with other people that come the monastery needing food. Our guide had purchased some non-perishable food to give but you can also buy small trays of food at stands located close to where the monks walk to give to the monks. The trays we purchased where about a dollar and contained small cooked fish and rice, some water and bread.
It is impossible to understand all about Buddhism in such a short time or short story but it was a great experience. I would like to share something of Buddhist thought that our guide gave us. It is more about thinking of others and a better world only in the last line is the work me used.
Spread loving kindness and compassion
May all living beings be free from violence and fear
May all living beings be free from suffering and pain
May all living beings be free from hatred and killing
May all living beings be free from hostility and affliction
May all living beings be free from misery and depression
May all living beings be happy and secure
May all living beings be healing and cured
May peace prevail in the world
May peace prevail in me

Paluang Indigo Home

The Royal Family in Thailand has a huge influence on the people of Thailand and is greatly loved by the people. The present King became king when he was only 19 years old and has reigned for over 60 years. He as no political power but works very hard to improve the life of the people of Thailand.
The Queen is very active in visiting, promoting, and helping the women of the villages to develop cottage industry to help raise the standard of living for the rural people. We visited one such place, the Paluang Indigo Home in Thunghong Phrae. This family as received recognition from the Queen for there work and proudly displays pictures with members of the royal family. Here cotton is printed with wax designs using block prints. The material is then dyed using dye from the indigo plant. The finished product is used for many things including a shirt I got, tablecloths, and bags.
As you can see in the picture of Marilyn making her print, we got an opportunity to make a small print using some small wire patterns, which they dyed for us and we got the next morning. To make their designs they use larger wooden blocks with more designs in each block than the simple wire frame we used. Some of the block designs are shown in the picture. In my picture I am wearing the shirt that I bought at the Paluang Indigo Home.