I'm BAAAACCCCKKKKK (for a visit!

I am back in California for a 2 month visit. Had a great 12-hour, one-day road trip down with my sister, Mary. We laughed a lot as we drove through light rain, overcast skies and breaking sunlight. The trees changed after we passed Mt Shasta; we lost pines and gained oaks. I didn't catch sight of the view I have most missed - scattered oaks tucked into folds of golden hills - until we neared Sacramento. Oh how I have missed that view! It was wonderful to see California hillsides glowing in the late afternoon sun.

We celebrated our entry into California by stopping at an In-N-Out Burger near Vallejo. I do love those hamburgers.  An hour later we were in Novato, tired but happy to have finished the trip.  Thank you, Pattie, for the wonderful bed that awaited. I am grateful I have a stake in two states - and both Oregon and California are so magnificent.

Friday, my last day with Wesley, was poignant. I didn't want to make a big deal about it but I am going to be gone for 2 months and I am really going to miss him. When I arrived at preschool, he was napping with all the other 2 and 3 year olds. They had had a busy day and he, according to his teacher, was really tired. I waited in the 4-year old room, looking up each time the door opened - would it be him? One by one others wandered in until, finally, it was Wesley. Clearly, he had just awakened. His hair was plastered against one side of his head and he was a bit groggy. When he spotted me he whimpered, "Gramma" and climbed into my lap. I held him close enjoying the feel of him in my arms as he slowly woke up. About 5 minutes into the "snuggle" I realized something had changed. One leg of my jeans was suddenly wet and that unique smell of urine floated up to my nose - Wesley had had an "accident" and I was the lucky recipient. I say lucky because my beloved Armenian uncle, Uncle Lev, had told me many years ago that it is good luck to have a baby pee on you - so how lucky I was, sitting there, with a wet boy in my lap.

Eventually we changed his clothes and off we went. Once at home he picked out some favorite books that we read sitting on my front steps, chatting with neighbors who walked by. We watered plants and then I had a surprise -  I showed him the early birthday gift I had received from his Aunt Mary and Uncle Colin the night before.  Here it is:

Yes, I am now the proud owner of Candy Land. But it gets better - it is a 1955 edition - the one that I played with when I was young and the one my children used.

Can you see it in this photo?  It has the same design, the same path, the same drawings, the same thick cards and the same plastic gingerbread men. I had read reviews on Amazon that complained about the newer versions with thin cards and playing pieces that fall over - but not in this set. Colin found the real thing. Mary and I immediately played one game (I won and did not cheat - did NOT stack the cards in my favor) and then on Friday Wesley and I played two games (he won one, I won the other) but I realized he is too young. He was just as happy going backwards on the path as going forwards. Didn't quite grasp the goal of the game but did enjoy matching the candy cards to their places on the map. I put it away for a later time.

He then helped me clean the basement. When I had suggested, in front of preschool classmates, that we might clean the basement, one boy said that monsters live there. Wesley thought about it and then answered, quite seriously, that the only possible monster in my basement was my Christmas tree, sitting in its bag. When we finally went down to the basement, he pointed to the tree and said that it was a very funny monster and that was it. He enjoyed helping me sweep and get things a bit more organized.

Stephanie joined us for dinner but, all too soon, it was time for them to go home. I hugged him tight and waved goodbye. I am glad I will see him  at the family wedding next weekend.

After he left I finished packing the car - everything fit - and was able to leave early Saturday morning.

I look forward to these next weeks - what an adventure - Redwood City, Pacific Grove, Yosemite, Africa, but am also looking forward to getting back to Portland in August. My heart belongs with the wee one.

I'm Closing In

Look at my desk. It's empty. The huge stack of paperwork related to my To Do list? Gone. It's in the mail, filed away, or tossed because it's no longer needed. I can't believe it. It's done. Okay, okay, there is one itty bitty thing left - the actual packing - but even that is now possible. My room, however, is a disaster. 5 big bags, pushed here and there, labeled Wedding, Yosemite, Africa - Safari, Africa - Capetown, Common To All Parts of the Trip fill the room. I can't get to my blinds to open them so the room is pretty dark unless the lights are on. Most of the bags are at least half full. I'm waiting to do a last load of laundry - but it is definitely doable. I WILL be able to leave Saturday morning. Of course, with the mounting excitement about all the wonderful things happening in my near future, I am also treasuring each minute with Wesley, my kitty cat and the joys of my life here with Stephanie, Dan, Mary, Colin, Lynne, John and my neighbors including all the kids and chickens across the street.

Yesterday Wesley and I cleaned the refrigerator - had to toss all the stuff that won't survive til August. I felt a bit like Tom Sawyer as I described the joys of refrigerator cleaning to the wee one on our way home from preschool. By the time we pulled into my driveway he could hardly wait to get started. Is this manipulation of the highest order or wisdom? Not sure but we DID have fun. I put two paper grocery bags on the floor in front of the refrigerator and he played Bagger-At-The-Grocery-Store and packed into them all the things that could survive my time away. I handled the icky stuff - into the garbage or recycling. Once all the food was gone, he watched, fascinated, as I took out the shelves and drawers. What he liked most was leaning into the empty refrigerator to wash down the inside walls. We took turns - he'd make a swipe, I'd follow up with support. In the process we searched down every bit of whatever-shouldn't-be-there on the walls and wiped it away. He liked using clean towels to sop up all the excess rinse water - both in the refrigerator and on the floor. His enthusiastic scrubbing meant that there was, indeed, a small lake beneath our feet.

Then we had the delight of washing the shelves and drawers. Water play is always fun and I was able to both convince him not to add all the rubber duckies from the bathroom to the sink and to let me handle the glass parts of the shelves (although I did let him pour a big mug full of water down each side to rinse them). He happily helped me wash the plastic parts. When it was all reinstalled we stood and looked, with great satisfaction, at what we had done. Then we put the food back. He decided to turn the butter compartment into his own special place to store the yogurts he likes.  He carefully pointed the pictures on the cartons toward him so that he can easily pick out his favorite of the moment. This is the kind of thing that would have driven me a bit mad when I was a mother. We stored butter in the butter compartment, it's where it was best placed. I needed to find things quickly. What would have happened if both children decided they each wanted a space in the refrigerator? Or worse, the same space? Today, almost 40 years later, who cares? My life is small, my obligations few, and the refrigerator is much larger than I need. I can deal with placing butter elsewhere. Let him have his special space.

There it is - note the butter, on its own, on the shelf beneath.

Today we tackled his room upstairs. The best part of the room for him, I think, is the under-the-eaves attic storage space. He likes to play there - especially if flashlights are involved. I have to lean down to get in and move around, not him. I let him decide where we should store the winter things like the space heaters (there was actually very little free space but he got to make the decisions). Then we cleaned his room. He would spray the "magic" - the cleaning product - on the dishcloth and I would rub - until he wanted to rub and then we would exchange roles. He likes the concept of vacuuming but not the actual noise so he jumped on his bed while I vacuumed sections of the floor or rug. We wiped down everything. While we cleaned the framed photographs we discussed the pictures of his Mommy when she was little. We laughed about the funny one of her showing the contents of her 4-year old mouth full of chocolate pudding. I showed him photos of my parents, my husband (his Grampa Gary who was his Mommy's Daddy and who we miss), etc.  So many generations. One wonders what his little mind makes of it all.

So what plans do I have for child labor tomorrow and Thursday?  Why the living room and basement, of course. He loves the basement so it should be fun. It is just creepy enough to make it kind of interesting but not scary. . .  and so different from upstairs. Quite satisfying.

So I move forward to a Saturday departure. Thank goodness child welfare folks aren't out watching what I am doing. Whoops, I forgot about Jennifer - if you are reading this, Jenn, it's all a lie.

ACHHHHH! Sunshine. Who Knew?

It is sunny in Portland. The sky is deep blue - not a shade of gray to be seen. Fluffy clouds float by. I am in shock - this is not usual. Well, to be fair, I have experienced bright sunshine in the past but it is rare and is sandwiched between dramatic shifts of weather within single days - overcast and gray in the morning, sun breaking briefly through followed by a short light rainfall, then a return to gray and gloomy - and it has been like this since last November. So today (and yesterday) have been startling. Beautiful and warm. How warm? Today it hit the low 80s. I know that summers are supposed to be glorious in Portland (and can get quite hot) so guess I am getting the first inklings. Looking ahead? It will soon return to the 60s and we will have rain on Monday and Tuesday but the latter half of the week is going to be gorgeous, in the mid 80s. Oh my goodness. Sun . . . in Portland.

Visitors who came in to the library today reacted in several ways. We assured the tourists among them that this is typical weather for Portland (most knew enough to know we were kidding) but it was the response from locals that most amused me. One laughingly put up his arm to protect his eyes from the sudden onslaught of the sun, another assured me that he was looking forward to the return of rain later in the week (again with a wink and a smile), another warned, "Well, just wait a minute." It was charming (and so unexpected) to see sun dresses in downtown Portland. And, get ready, no hoodies.  Well, there were a few die-hards, but most people were hoodie-less. Just too hot.

I came straight home today (yes, working diligently on my To Do List - 31 down, 11 to go), no stopping to play in the downtown area. Am glad I did because of the sight that greeted me as I turned the corner onto my street. I know there are lots of kids on my block (let's see, I can quickly count 8 below the age of 10 in the houses immediately surrounding me) and they were all out playing in the sunshine. Scooters whizzed by, a group of parents were blowing huge bubbles that children raced to pop, chalk drawings decorated the sidewalks (my favorites were the door mats carefully drawn in chalk on the street in front of each of the houses), and parents had dragged chairs to sit on lawns to watch the kids who played nearby. Thankfully, not a lot of cars drive down this street so it is a relatively safe place to play but I automatically look twice, make that 4 times, before I move out from my driveway onto the street. Today, make that 10 times.

Stephanie and Dan dropped Wesley off at 4 - I am keeping him overnight. Have to squeeze in every opportunity before leaving a week from today for an almost 2-month absence. He immediately wanted to go across the street to visit the neighbor who has chickens in her back yard. Yesterday, when we visited, only 3 of the chickens were out. He wanted to see the 4th, the one that often hides. Today we were in luck. Opie was strutting around in her magnificent plumage and Wesley watched delighted. They also have a beautiful garden and invited us to pick raspberries. Wesley loves berries more than just about anything and soon had a slightly stained mouth from popping them in as fast as he and I could pick them. It is interesting to watch him interact with the neighbor children. He is almost the youngest - by about a year - which is significant when you are closing in on 3. He is often reticent; holds my hand tightly. However, now that we are outside more, he is getting to know the kids and was interested in more interaction. I am sorry that I will be leaving so soon, it would be nice to further this along.

So, who knew? Bright sun and blue skies in Portland. I can attest that it even happened two days in a row. Although I am looking forward to my time in California and my trip to Africa I am also sorry that I will miss most of the Portland summer experience.

Tomorrow will be a bit cooler but I will be inside - working hard, working hard. Have now laid out which tasks need to be completed in each of the remaining days and I am driven to meet my deadlines.

Bless the upcoming days of rain - it will help me focus.  Hmmm, I think I am becoming a true Portlander.

Moving On

I have finally started on my To Do list. It has 42 items - some small (make an appointment for the cat), some huge (pack for California), some a bit odd (buy a deflated soccer ball for the school I am visiting in Zimbabwe), some quite unpleasant (get yellow fever shots), and some complicated (is it wise to change my specific health coverage plan before the upcoming due date?). To help the process along, I put the list on the refrig with a yellow marker nearby so I can cross off items as I complete them. This gives both satisfaction and keeps me going. As of this minute, 10 items are yellow - okay, okay, you're right, I did the easy ones. The cat has an appointment.

I continue, however, to find excuses to do other things. Last Saturday, for example, if I had been truly responsible, I would have come straight home from my library shift to work on the list but it didn't end up that way. Nope - and I couldn't help myself. The "attractive nuisance" that distracted me from doing the right thing was at the foot of the library steps. In fact, to avoid it was extremely difficult. Police and horses and children by the gazillions stood in my way. And anyway, who can say no to a parade? Especially the 100th running of the Portland Annual Rose Festival Parade? Come on, no one is that strong.

Actually, to be quite truthful, I am not a parade person. I find them long, tedious, and "been there, done that." In addition, I am spoiled in that Pacific Grove has 2 absolutely perfect parades (according to my skewed criteria). So perfect that I try hard not to miss either one - and this from a parade naysayer. The first is in September, The Butterfly Parade, that welcomes the monarch butterflies back to Pacific Grove. It is incredibly cute. Every child, from preschool through elementary, participates (there are only 2 small elementary schools so we are not talking a lot of kids). The children walk with their classes in costumes designed by their teachers. Well, the kindergarteners are always the butterflies and the 5th graders always wear Indian costumes their parents make for a social studies unit but the other grades vary from year to year although we usually see a lot of sea animals. The children are darling, the midde and high school bands add the necessary prance-along-with-the-kids music, the whole thing is over in less than an hour, the crowd is enthusiastic - a perfect parade.

It may be topped, however, by the annual Pet Parade in July. In this one, anyone with a pet is welcome to join in. It's short - once the people at the front hit the end of the second block the whole parade makes a U-turn and walks back to the starting point - 20 minutes max. There's no music, just the noise of the pets and the spectators cheering them on. And it's fun. Lots and lots of dogs but others make their appearance as well, many held in arms, some represented by stuffed animals. Costumes are popular - both for pets and owners. A favorite memory is the child who pulled a wagon with her fish bowl tucked carefully inside. This is home grown and very hard to beat.

So, now I am in Portland. This is not the REALLY big time but it is certainly bigger time. Not the Rose Parade in Pasadena but also not teeny Pacific Grove. And it was, surprisingly for me, lots and lots of fun. I first got an inkling of it when my bus was re-routed. I had no idea the parade's path took it right along the front of the library. It didn't reach us until almost 11:30 (we were near the end of the route) but participants had not lost their enthusiasm by the time they reached our vantage point. The horses still high stepped it, the floats floated (well, I was amused when the people behind one float helped push it when it hit the small rise in front of the library), the gorgeous roses still had life in them, the music was lusty - it was all as it should be.

Favorite memories?

An unusual Grand Marshall - yes, it was Pachy, the elephant born at the Oregon Zoo who turned 50 this year. Packy is one adored animal here in Portland. Naturally he couldn't make the walk so they had a replica.  The crowd cheered and cheered.

And, of course, if you have an elephant (even a replica) you need a pooper scooper to follow - this one is called PoopLandia with a drawing of the iconic Portlandia statue turned into Pachy.

This was my absolute favorite. In front of this group of flight attendants (who you can barely see - squint hard) was the Alaska Airlines float - beautiful - showing Alaskan animals, etc. but the crowd gave even stronger applause to the flight attendants who followed behind. They did wonderful marching routines with their apparatus - no, not batons, not flags, look really close - yep, carry-on bags.  It was hysterical. They marched, flipped those bags, circled, all in synchronization. The crowd roared its approval.

My sister, Mary, suggested that, next year, we volunteer in the wee hours of the morning to help finish up the floats. I suggested we join this group instead. It will take much more practice but these, by age, are my peeps. And look at them strut! I look better in silver than in gold so the trim on their outfits will match my coloring, I can learn the baton strut, etc.  . . . . Well, maybe that float idea is better.

I loved how enthusiastically the crowd got into the mood - including elephant ear toppers. This woman shared the library steps with me.

When I had reached my fill (about 90 minutes into the parade) I wandered down to my rescheduled bus but stopped at a deli to grab a sandwich.  Yep, parade spirit was there too.

Pachy was everywhere.

I did enjoy the humor of it all.  I love that Portland does NOT take itself seriously. The bus ride home was full of parade goers carrying sleepy children, folding chairs, and smiles.

Okay, now back to more serious stuff - 32 items on my list still to go.  I CAN do it - as long as parades and such don't get in my way.  Oh, the mind is willing but the flesh is so very weak.  

Procrastination

I am so very good at it. One of the most common reasons I do housework is to avoid a task I find even ickier - and that includes just about everything on my current To Do list. Anything - dishes, laundry, pulling weeds - all are better than dealing with that list. My house, unfortunately, is immaculate; the laundry is done; and Wesley and I worked on the garden yesterday so I am getting a bit desperate. Hmmm, it's time to write a blog entry. Yes, that's the ticket. Unfortunately, I purposely placed my To Do list on my desk, right behind my laptop - I can see the top of it in my peripheral vision - however I find that I am quite able to look straight ahead. I do not see it.

This is not a new phenomenon. In college I wrote most of my papers the day before each was due - just kept putting it off, putting it off. When teaching, I justified procrastinating long term lesson plans by saying, "I don't know how much they will actually absorb in each lesson; I need to remain flexible so I can do next what is best." Yea, right. And a good book can detour me from just about anything that needs be done.

The pesky To Do list is long - I leave in a few weeks for a trip to California and from there on to Africa. I know, not great planning. When initially thinking about my trips to France and Africa I didn't realize they would be so close to each other but I find that, when opportunities present themselves, it is best to just close your eyes and jump in. But, in this case, I face a mess of a packing job.  Let's see:

1.  A family wedding in the Bay Area (the 5th in the garden of my family home - including mine and my daughter's). Got to look nice.
2.  A week in Pacific Grove where it could be foggy and cold. Need to add cold weather stuff.
3.  A week camping at Yosemite - may be scorching hot and I have to prepare one dinner for about 40 people. This means significant camping gear.
4.  3 weeks in southern Africa where it will be winter. Staying at animal parks - so need to plan for a rugged lifestyle - but also spending a week in Cape Town where such clothing won't work. By the way, the most interesting notification (other than the need for yellow fever shots and malaria meds) was that some of the nations we will be visiting do not allow civilian use of camouflage. Drat, there goes my whole wardrobe plan!

How does one pack for such variety? At least I am driving to California which makes it easier.

The camping gear is the challenge.  I am not sure where it all is - at my cousin's house in Marin (I will be there before Yosemite so can look in her garage)? At my son's place in Oakland? At Goodwill? If it's in the attic of my home that is rented in Pacific Grove - well, that's pointless. Couldn't get to it even if I asked to be let in to look. As I remember, the small attic space is crammed with my stuff.

I think I will have to count on the kindness of family members who will be at Yosemite with me.

Thankfully family members up here in Portland will look after my house, my plants and my cat so I can leave with more ease. However, I will truly miss my time with my grandson, daughter and son-in-law. They will be at the wedding so I will get some time with them but it will be a while before I am back to my regular schedule.

Okay, so now I have whined about packing - is there ANYTHING else I can do to avoid the list that I can still see in my peripheral vision? Shouldn't I be a bit more mature and face facts? It won't go away and the longer I put it off the worse it will be as I try to jam all the remaining tasks into the days before departure.

Hmm, I think my cat needs brushing.