Memories Through the Grief

 

unfortunately somewhat of a short post.  unfortunate because of lack of contact.

 

               Before starting my senior year in high school I had gone to San Francisco to visit my Grandma Mary.  Uncle Bruce picked me up at the airport.  I hadn’t seen him for quite some time and wasn’t even certain that it was him.  I got in the car with him anyway.

         I remember spending one day with his wife and son.  They had two cats.  I remember Joe had used two different methods of discipline one for each cat.  I also remember holding him when he was a baby.

         When Jaime was two or three she received a child sleeping bag from one of the neighbors.  Bruce was visiting my mom and I happened to have the sleeping bag in the car.  I was having problems rolling it up and asked Bruce if he could show me as I knew he was an experienced camper.  Jaime unrolled the bed at least twice while he was there.  I think she thought it was a game.

         I remember my other uncle having an upright piano in his house.  It had been painted bright orange.

         I remember having listened to his record collection without realizing that it was his. He had served as a police officer and said the mission district was his least favorite.  I remember Grandma having put me on the train at the mission underground.  I got off at a station above ground.  I remember meeting my uncle at the transport system in Lafayette. I spent a Sunday with the family.  I do not recall our interaction with one another.

        When my uncle returned me to the train station in Lafayette he gave me specific instructions not to go upstairs once I arrived at the mission but to wait for grandma to come and get me.  I related this to my mom after my trip was over.  My smiled at the thought on how I was to wait underground for a little old lady to come and save me.

         I met my cousin’s wife when we had gone to Salem for a convention.  Our visit with them was an hour or so.  Same with the convention. Richard, Jaime and I were the only non-staff who attended.  We won the two door prizes that were offered.  They had tons of food and told us to take as much as we wanted.  I called my cousin and his wife and gave the address and told them to bring containers.  They did not come. And we had a three hour drive so we didn’t take any food. What a waste.

         My mom seemed to be close with each of her brothers.  I do not believe they were close to each other.

Discover a Reason

        I just read my brother’s latest post in which he mentions paying fees towards a park that he never uses.  It is annoying paying fees for something in which you don’t feel a part.  For example there are many paying taxes for schools when they have no children.  Those who reside in Myrtle Creek pay taxes on a small airport.  I remember a man complaining about it. At the time I didn’t even realize there was an airport in Myrtle Creek.  And though it’s true that no commercial planes will ever land here, and I will never personally train to fly, I do reap benefits of having an airport so close to my house as I had mentioned in this post.

        My brother took a picture of himself at the park – I don’t know from the photo how big the park is or if there is a playground or walking trail available.  If so, I would think that it has the potential of being a good source of giving children or walkers a place away from traffic – more importantly a place away from mischief.  If the park didn’t exist, what would become of those who attend?  I have been to Las Vegas.  There is no way on God’s green earth that I would ever think of driving there!  I might not even feel safe as a pedestrian.  But I would be willing to take a stroll in the park.

        There are still a handful of children who can have fun without electronics.  I would rather have them playing at a designated playground than wandering in my yard out of curiosity.  I’m not saying having the park there will protect them from acts of crime, but think about it.  There is a reason.  Perhaps it isn’t as popular as it was when it was initially proposed . . . but still . . . just a thought really.

        Some drivers have complained about traffic lights and sharing the road with buses or trains or trolleys or whatever.  And yet, what if we didn’t have them?  How much heavier the traffic or more accidents as suggested in this post?

        If we didn’t have an airport in Myrtle Creek, where would the helicopters park during fire season? The heat gets unreal in the summertime – but not as bad as Las Vegas.  I have suggested to Steven several times that he and Isaias should move to Ashland.  I am certain that both could get jobs there and he would be more comfortable than in Vegas – though I don’t know if Isaias would feel the same way.  He would rather do the city driving than the country.  I’m sure he’d find his niche though.

So Much Post Info . . . So Little Time . . .

           I thought I would be able to create at least one post today, but Roland just informed me that he has the day off.  I suspect that can change as his boss is a flake. We took Jenna to the airport last night and will be returning for her on Friday.  Tomorrow’s Thanksgiving.  That makes for more wait until I am able to sort my thoughts and post something.

          On Friday, the 19^th, we spent the majority of the day in Ashland.  We toured the campus at Southern Oregon University.  I wore myself out.  Jenna ran into one of her friends and made friends with another also majoring in theatre.  Layne will be gone by the time Jenna arrives – unless she chooses to go elsewhere.  Today she will be touring the Dixie State campus only ten minutes away from her brother’s house.

          Parent/Teacher conference had been scheduled for Monday and Tuesday.  We’d gone early on Monday and spent less than 20 minutes to see all five teachers.  She is an amazing student and no one has anything bad to say about her.

          Yesterday I was at the church for a few hours trying to organize our ministering routes.  I had left the house at 9:30 but did not return home until 1:30. Jenna and I took Bonnie for a walk and watched some shorts before we went outside to get in the car after Roland pulled up.  She didn’t get into Utah until after 3:00 am.  I was in bed before nine, I think. 

          Don’t know what the plans are for today or tomorrow.  Roland had suggested that we find a restaurant to eat for our Thanksgiving meal. Perhaps we will do that today instead.  Jenna will be spending it with at least one brother.  I don’t know if she will even be able to visit the other two. 

          Thus if any of these topics might interest you, be sure to tune in.  Hopefully, I will have elaborated more on each paragraph and posted by December 1^st.  Happy Holidays, everyone!

The Skies Are Filled With Smoke and Helicopters

The airport is within walking distance. 

Each year we can hear the helicopters . 

Some are looking out. 

Most appear carry buckets that appear

to be half the size of the helicopter. 

Each year the chopper noise increases –

or seems to anyway.   

 

More than it did in 2019 when

the fires were so close and in

2017 when the entire state

was on fire.  We were surrounded

by smoke from every direction and

wouldn’t have been able to safely

evacuate as every direction had

fires burning.  Even last year. 

 

Smokey skies can sometimes make for

amazing sunsets.  I would rather not have

the amazing sunset and have no smoke. 

Bless the firefighters who risk their lives

to keep us safe.

Here is one that Jenna took

Better Than Denny's

         I went to Church by myself last week.  Jenna had opted to go with Roland to pick up Randy and his family at the airport.  Roland and I had picked up a van the day before.  We had also borrowed a playpen for the baby to sleep in. 

I am happy I was there for sacrament meeting.  Bonnie’s doctor and his wife were the speakers.  We hadn’t seen Dr. Nay at Church since COVID began.  He still had a mask on his face which made me feel guilty that I wasn’t wearing mine (as masks are now optional at Church)

Sister Nay talked about taking upon His name and comparing simple reminders to power bars or power bites.  Reading the scriptures would be a power bar, performing service, being kind . . . Though I have put Sister Nay on possibly a higher pedestal than perhaps she would place herself, it made me realize that even those that seem to be natural at taking upon His name and wouldn’t need power bars do have to work at it. Spiritual power bars give us energy.

Dr. Nay had mentioned that oft times we may become offended by the choice of words or actions of another – but it isn’t as though most people are going around intentionally offending others.  Sometimes we just get rubbed the wrong way or see things out of context.  How we react is on us.  I wish I had taken notes.  Both talks were both very meaningful.  I enjoyed them a lot.

It appears I published a post after I returned figuring I would see them all within the hour.  Ironically, I could have created several more thoughts to post each day but had decided to finish watching a movie I had started the week prior.  I had even gone through a second and wondered: “Where in the world could they be?”

I did figure that they would stop for something to eat even though Roland had Chicken Cacciatore cooking in the crockpot.  They made the mistake of choosing a Denny’s that evidently was not fully staffed.  The ironic thing was that in the time they had ordered until the time they were served, they could have eaten the Cacciatore.  I had several reports that it was NOT a good experience.  But at least they got to visit, right?  Probably in a more productive way than the van would allow.

So now I have a week’s worth of family time plus another two unrelated but will perhaps be mentioned during their first day of June with us.  I have loads of pictures that Jenna had taken.  How great it is that she is documenting what I used to.  So, I’m back.  Don’t know how missed I was.

Oregon – last day

After we left Newport, Roland had asked if I would like to get some shoes.  So as we were heading back toward McMinnville, we stopped off at a Fred Meyer’s – I don’t even know which town.  Jenna and I both ended up with rubber rain boots – which turned out weren’t necessary, as we didn’t need them for the car nor for the following morning.

On our last day we looked at housing in Beaverton, Milwauke, Happy Valley and Gresham – all suburbs of Portland.  We found a Kmart in either Beaverton or Gresham and exchanged Jenna's cheetah print footies for the only other pair of footies that was available: a meduim hot pink with rubber ducks.  Fit better and she says she likes the duckys and would have chosen the pink pair over the cheetah pair - so it actually worked out great.

 Nothing we looked at seemed promising as far as housing that we could afford.  Seems like the market has drawn potential buyers to the area – and they obviously have more money than we do.

Our house in West Valley will sale for $130,000 at BEST.  Same house in Oregon would go for $380,000 – 420,000 – that blows my mind!

We were told that housing in Vancouver did not run as high.  As we were close enough, we took Portland’s Intrastate across the Columbia River and went to Vancouver, Washington.  We ended up at a mall.  I don’t think we even looked at housing.

If you have been following my blog, you know that I am NOT a shopper.  There worst part about being at the Vancouver Mall (for me personally) was the rubber boots I was wearing. My feet were not happy with my choice of footwear.  I can tell you that.

Jenna and I had chosen to wear them as I thought they would take up too much room in the suitcase.  My feet were complaining by the hour.  We had already checked out of our room.  It’s not as though I could return and soak the aches away.  I just had to deal with it.

 

We left Vancouver Mall and crossed the Columbia River again – this time on Interstate 5.  Our destination was to check out Voodoo doughnuts – which several people had told us about.  There is absolutely not enough parking for that location.  The time I spent in line was not that long – not compared to how it’s advertised.

we would not have waited in this line 

- even if we didn't have a plane to catch

Roland said he was surprised that I had purchased only three doughnuts.  He said he thought I’d get a dozen.  Our next stop was the airport.  Why would I want to take 9-12 donuts to the airport?  Especially if we were going to have to carry on each piece of luggage before we checked them in (as we had done in Salt Lake)

The doughnut itself had an okay flavor.  It’s the way they are topped that qualifies them as gourmet.  I ordered two chocolate based doughnuts for Jenna and had forgotten to order the buttermilk for myself.  Jenna didn’t even want her doughnut and so I ended up eating the two I had gotten for her.  

Our flight was at 6:00.  We arrived at the airport between 3:00 and 3:30 and said good-bye to our rental (that was tough, actually, as I had gained an emotional attachment) and went to the baggage area and checked in our one, walked through security (this time it was Jenna and I that got to move ahead while Roland stood in line)

Jenna and I walked through security with six pieces of luggage, her stuffed frog, and a bag of bananas, cereal bars and one of the doughnuts.  They questioned the amount of luggage, but I assured them that we were with one more person and that I wasn’t even planning on taking the food on the plane.

The airport seemed dead.  At least the gates in the D section.  Only two flights going out – both at gate D7.  Both to Salt Lake City.  If there had been room, we would have been put on the earlier flight.  But both flights were booked actually.

Jenna rode the walkway back and forth until she became bored with riding it.  I read. Roland and I tried working puzzles together.  We ate.  It was a long wait.  We were given the option to check our luggage.  We checked in three pieces.  Jenna carried her stuffed frog.  We put our bags in front of us. We didn’t put anything in the overhead.

We were scheduled to arrive at 8:44 but were a few minutes late.  Tony couldn’t pick us up.  I had offered to meet Randy at a TRAX station, but he and Carrie had come to collect us from the airport and were driving around in circles until we came out.

We are definitely going back!

April 2, First Day in Oregon

            It's now been a week since we flew out of Salt Lake City.  After we landed we went to find our luggage.  Portland is a nice airport.  Portland must have been a connecting stop for most passengers as there weren’t many people standing at the carousel to claim luggage, nor were there many pieces coming out.

            Every time I wait for luggage, I think of one time when I had gone to the San Francisco airport and stood behind a crowd of people surrounding the luggage carousel but in no way could get near enough to collect my luggage.

            As I saw one piece make its way around I loudly asked, “Could someone toss me that light blue bag?” 

            I soon realized that I had made a wrong word choice as my blue piece of luggage seemed to be hurled towards me.  I was grateful that no one was hurt. 

            I had to show my luggage tags to someone before I could leave the airport.  That was such a foreign concept to me.  At Salt Lake International, the individual who takes the luggage is responsible for checking his or her own.  We didn’t have to show our luggage tags to anyone in Portland either.

            My grandma had always marked her luggage with yarn pom-poms.  I had added ribbons to each of our luggage to make it easier to find.  All four pieces arrived safely.  We took our luggage downstairs to the rental car area and got a really nice 2015 Toyota Camry.  Both Roland and I really liked it.  

            From Portland we headed to Salem and started looking at houses and calling on apartments.  We looked at places between Salem and Albany and between Albany and McMinnville.  I called Beth after we got into McMinnville. 

            Kayla had called me to ask about some mail and to ask how things were in Oregon.  At that point we were stopped at a local diner and Roland was writing down addresses from the church.  I told Kayla what we were doing.  As soon as the words left my mouth, I realized I hadn’t told her that we had considered moving to Oregon.  I had dropped a bomb on my sister, and I felt very bad about the way I had just blurted it out instead of allowing her to get used to the idea. At that point I think we had only told two people – Corey, for financial reasons, and a sister in our ward that recently moved to Salt Lake from Newport, Oregon.

            It was actually a while before I made the opportunity to call her back and apologize because if it had been the other way around, I would have been bawling my eyes out.  And Kayla had cried for a bit.  Corey had returned her call just after I had dropped the bomb and she was crying when she talked to him.  But by the time I returned her phone call, she was genuinely happy for me and had convinced herself (or maybe just me) that it was/is a good thing that I am doing.

            When we arrived in McMinnville, I called Beth and we went to her house to visit for just a few minutes. Beth had offered us room, but Roland did not want to impose.  Besides Beth has a cat – and our reasons for coming to Oregon was to see if I could breathe better – and would I be able to tell with a cat around. Also the inn we checked into had an indoor pool – the highlight of children’s expectations of what all traveling must include.  So there would be swimming involved which made for a great birthday. 

Salt Lake International

            We had asked Tony and Rochelle to house sit – not that our house needed sitting, but because we wanted them to have time to themselves and we thought that would give them the opportunity.

            After they arrived, we watched Walt Disney’s Into the Woods.  I was quite surprised when Ester joined me in the recliner.  She didn’t watch the entire movie, but she was in the recliner long enough for pictures. 

            Roland slept on the couch and I slept on the recliner while Tony and Rochelle took Ester in our room.  My, she was loud.  Enthusiastic.  Not even close to sleepy.  I don’t know what her parents did to hush her.

            I don’t know why I woke up just before 4:00.  I tried to continue sleeping.  At 4:00 a.m. I finally got up and went into the computer room to read.  I actually have three books going at the same time.  I was hoping to finish one of the library books as I did not wish to take a library book to Oregon.  I didn’t finish however, and I am at a really crucial part.

            At 5:30 Roland came in to find me and we woke up Jenna and told her to get dressed.  We also woke up Tony, who said he’d drive us to the airport.  Even if he changed his mind, his car was still behind ours.

            Tony did take us to the airport.  We packed his car – which was certainly a lot more roomy than our own.  We had seven pieces of luggage – though only one was large enough to have to be checked in.  But we had planned on checking in four pieces.

            We were told that the four pieces would be 110 dollars. What?!?  I don’t remember ever being charged for luggage before.  We were told that we were entitled to two carry-ons each.  And so we checked in the large suitcase (which actually is not all that large – just beyond carry-on size) for 25 dollars and then dragged the remaining six pieces to security.

            Roland and Jenna were pulled from the line and permitted through the first security gate right away.  I had to stand in line that led toward the other two gates.  After a while it was learned I was standing there without companions and was taken to the first gate where Jenna and Roland had gone through minutes earlier.  How weird.

            So after we had dragged all of our luggage from the baggage check to the gate, there was an announcement that the flight was full and  passengers were asked to voluntarily check in any carry-ons that they were willing. We had been willing – just not for a price.  We got to check in three pieces without expense.  Why couldn’t they have figured out their booking before we had to drag the pieces through security?  

            The plane was an older model.  I felt like we were flying in a relic.  I think there must have been turbulence on the way to Oregon.  Jenna’s flown before, but was too young to remember.  She enjoyed the flight.