Scenes from the Waterfront Blues Festival

Photos from Friday, July 3, at the Waterfront Blues Festival in Portland, Ore.

Happy Groundhog Day

Here's to hoping that furry little varmint doesn't see his shadow and winter will soon be over.

But who am I kidding? This is the Willamette Valley and it's been unseasonably dry so far this year. There's still lots of rain left to fall and my amateur prognostication tells me that winter-like weather will last far more than 6 more weeks.

2008, we hardly knew ya

I have been so busy dealing with weather adventures, holiday issues, family stuff and work that I really haven't realized that the New Year was almost here.

I used to say the New Year's was my favorite holiday. It's a date with so much optimism. It was a nice counterbalance to the pessimist in me. For many years, Christmas tended to be a disappointment. It think i expected too much of myself and those around me.

That changed somewhere along the way. I think that happened when I quit concentrating on myself and the things I wanted and started thinking about concentrated on my daughter and making the holiday good for her in some way.

Maybe that's what they mean about the spirit of the season being about giving rather than receiving.

So, maybe now that Christmas is better, great even, I have less need for a hope for a better year to come along because the one ending was ending on something of a sour note.

In the long run, maybe that puts less pressure on the new year, when the old one ends well. And all, in all, 2008 turned out to be OK, thanks to family and friends. That is if you don't take the economy and my bank account into consideration. But 2009 promises to be a big one too. It's the year my daughter graduates from high school.

Nothing says the holidays like sharing a communicable disease

In addition to enjoying great food and wonderful time with family over the Thanksgiving holiday and weekend, I came home with a cold.

I knew I would probably get one. Spending parts of four days with a sick family member made it unlikely I would escape in perfect health. And as long as the bug is out of my system by next Monday, it's all good.

I have a trip to take next week. Vegas baby!

But for now, I'm curled up under an afghan and wishing my sinuses would clear.

Thanks to a stranger of the giving kind

A woman I had never met, who's name I do not know, gave me an early holiday gift this evening. She demonstrated the spirit of generosity, sharing and selflessness that the holidays are supposed to be all about.

I don't want to be overly dramatic or make a bigger deal out of it than it deserves. We aren't talking about an organ donation here. But she game me something new to be thankful for and made me smile.

I went to the local Fred Meyer store to pick up a pie for tomorrow's family Thanksgiving feast. I was asked to bring a pumpkin pie, but I didn't know if one would be enough. I didn't want to take two of the same pies. You have to have a little variety and give people some options. Besides, I don't eat pumpkin pie. I'm not a big dessert eater ever and pies in general are not my favorite dessert. But on those occasions I do eat pie I mostly stick to apple pie and cheesecake. Cheesecake is my favorite, but when I think of Thanksgiving desert, I think of apple pie.

So when I walked in the grocery store this evening, I checked out the large display of pies at the front of the store. There were plenty of pumpkin pies and a few peach pies, and a bunch of other berry pies. But there was no sign of an apple pie.

While looking through the selection of baked goods, I noticed another woman who also seemed to be having trouble finding whatever it was she seeking. Pretty soon she walked away and I was left to examine the display more thoroughly. But soon I gave up and headed for the back of the store to the bakery section.

When I got there, I found another big display of pies, including pumpkin pie in two different sizes. So I grabbed a pumpkin pie and kept looking.

"Are you looking for apple?" a woman standing near the display asks. I recognized her as the woman I had seen a few minutes earlier at the other pie display.

"Kinda," I said. "I'm under orders to get pumpkin, but I like apple."

"There were only two left," she said. "Here, take this one. I already have one." And with that she places the pie she is holding back on the top of the display."

I tried to say no thank you, but she said she didn't need two and that I was welcome to it. "Take it," she said. She smiled and went on her way.

I smiled too. That simple act of sharing, that display of generosity, was a great way to start the holiday season. I have been looking forward to Thanksgiving because it will give me a chance to spend time with people I love. But now, thanks to a random act of kindness, I'm looking a little more forward to the holiday season in general. I had been worried about finances and not being able to buy as many or as expensive of gifts as I would like to buy for loved ones. But a stranger in a grocery story demonstrated what I already should have known --it's acts of caring and kindness that make this season special, not the price tag or label on a gift.

Monday minutia

I broke down this evening and turned on the heat out in the living room for the first time this evening. I've turned on the heat a few nights back in the bedroom this season, and I've been turning on the space heater in the morning to heat up the bathroom for a while now. But I've been holding out on heating the main room But I'm tired of having to wrap up in a blanket and wear a sweatshirt just to watch TV or work on the computer.

I'm not looking forward to higher electric bills, but I HATE being cold.

***

I drove up to Portland last night in the fog. I got spoiled living in Southern California. I don't ever remember having fog there. I realized when I was driving home from Portland in the fog that If I have to drive in the fog I'd rather do it at night than during the day. You can see the taillights further up ahead at night than you can in the day. But still, driving in the ground mist is exhausting.

My eyes ached by the time I got home. By the time I went to bed I had a splitting headache. I'm not sure if driving in the fog contributed or not, but I'll blame it anyway.

***

I'm not pleased by all the Christmas displays and Christmas commercials on TV already. That stuff shouldn't start until after Thanksgiving. I swear the weeks from Thanksgiving to Christmas used to be plenty of a holiday season. My favorite radio station has even started playing the occasional Christmas song and promoting their website where you can get commercial-free Christmas music 24/7. I'm tempted to boycott the station until after the holidays.

But I know the real reason I hate the hard sell is I don't have money for many, if any, Christmas gifts this year. I don't need to be reminded of that every second of the day for the next 6 weeks. I had to by tires and still need an oil change and new brakes for the truck and new eyeglasses.

Merry Frickin' Christmas.

***

I took the plunge recently. I filled out a profile on an online dating site. I haven't used the site to contact anyone yet and the profile still needs work. But it's a first step. Right? That's progress. Right?

Pumpkin magic

It wasn't my normal time of year to come home for a vacation. In the years I lived in California, it became my routine to come back to Oregon during my daughter's spring vacation, which was always close to her birthday. And whenever possible, I would try to come home as close to Christmas as possible.

Why I came home in October eight years ago is lost to posterity. But for a change I came home near my birthday. I got to thinking about that trip over the weekend. I had to do some research to figure out just when it was I made that trip.

The reason it came to mind is that over the weekend I visited one of the same spots, with many of the same people important to my life. We went to the Pumpkin Patch on Sauvie Island in Portland to pick out some gourds for carving. There was a certain symmetry to the visit. I wish I had a scanner to scan in some of the photos I took on that trip eight years ago. I would love to post them side by side with some of the pictures I took this weekend.

Eight years apart, but it was like that pumpkin patch was a portal through time. Same place, different times, all side by side in my mind and my emotions.