...reconnecting

In 1976 we were twitterpated as only 17 year olds can be twitterpated. We had fun together, no doubt about it. Then, towards the end of our senior year, John got a bit too serious. Talking marriage serious. And it would have been a disaster. So things ended between us. Badly. And a few years after I was married I heard from my mom that John had also found someone, and I was happy for him.

Fast forward 33 years. We met each other again at the recent class reunion.
And so we laughed and talked and danced the entire night, with others as well, but we kept circling back to find each other, catching up on a lot of years.

He is single again. I've been single forever. We're texting and emailing, making each other laugh and maybe just a little bit twitterpated again. Who knows what's next? For now, I am enjoying having my friend John back in my life.

...the end of summer vacation

Today's ride was the last official group ride of my summer vacation. And while there will be plenty of riding to be done this fall, the freedom to get up and go...has gone. I put 1167 miles on the bike since school got out in June, almost half of my 2009 total so far. It has been a good summer for riding...

Two years together and still in love...ain't it grand??? Ha!

...why I'm not blogging

Several days have gone by without a post...why? I sit down at the computer...and...nothing. I ride my bike and think of things to post...but then...pffft...nothing. I think it's partly the end-of-summer blahs. My classroom is calling. Meetings, schedules, lesson plans...all crowding my brain, and, like every end of summer...I am resisting. Once I get going and HAVE to be on a schedule again it will all fall into place. But I'm not officially on the clock until next Tuesday morning at 7:00 a.m. So until then...I know myself well enough to know that I will continue to indulge my slothful side...waking up without an alarm, going to my classroom when I feel like it, leaving there as soon as the first hunger pang strikes. A young first-year teacher is staying with me for a few days, until her place is ready. She has been gone from morning til night, anxious about getting everything done on time. As she left this morning she asked, "Aren't you going in today???" Eh, maybe, maybe not. But, classes start for her on Monday and not until the following week for me. I'll kick it into gear soon. Really.

Another thing that's been keeping me from blogging is my camera...I miss it! We had an awesome combined class reunion last Saturday night, and...I have to rely on others to supply me with pictures. Nothing yet. And I hate to nag. But. Come on! Maybe because I'm a little weird that way--I try to send pictures out to everyone involved as soon as possible and it frustrates me when others aren't wired the same way. But as soon as pictures arrive...I'll be blogging about dancing like a 17 year old again with my old high school boyfriend who is now divorced and we've been texting and emailing and laughing like the silly that I am/was with my best friend and wondering who the old people in the room were because I'm certainly not that old and having a guy that I dated my junior year not recognize me then slip me his phone number at the end of the evening....yeah...stay tuned for that post.

...camera woes

On Monday my camera went *splash* into the toilet. Yikes! I immediately took it all apart and dried it as well as I could. A post on Facebook spread my tale of woe to friends and relatives, and I got all kinds of suggestions for my next camera. But my brother Tim said not to give up too quickly--just put the camera in a bag of rice for 24 hours. He had gotten the info here. He dropped his camera in the river last year and said it still takes beautiful pictures. So, with nothing to lose, I gave it a try. And it almost worked. The camera functions, but the pictures have lines through them. Rats. So I'll be camera shopping this fall. (It's not in the budget right now.) In the meantime, I can use my phone camera--but had to make another trip to Tri-Cities today to get it fixed. I've always been able to take pictures with my phone, but could never do anything with them. It wasn't a big deal until...*splash*. (The young man who waited on me thought it odd that I bought the phone last October and just now want the feature fixed. Shrug.)

...a day with Cristian

My godson Cristian and I had a date yesterday.

We loaded our bikes in the back of my truck and set off for the Tri-Cities. First stop--Kohl's, to find a pair of jeans for school. Score! Next--a park by the river with access to the paved trail system. We rode for a few miles, stopping to give Cristian's legs a break every now and then. I got a few pictures before my camera met a soggy end. (It was in my shorts pocket because I was on my mountain bike and wearing street clothes--no jersey with a handy pocket on the back. Potty break...camera in toilet...augh!) After riding a while we drove over to Pasco to the Sacagawea State Park and wandered through the nice little museum there. Lots of hands-on displays that appeal to almost-10 year old boys. (Just how much power does it take to pull the arrow back on the bow? Can you imagine doing this and staying steady enough to hit your target??) After the museum we took a wrong turn and had an adventure in driving. I told Cristian tales about my own kids getting so worried when I'd get us lost when they were young. We finally figured out where we were, got turned around, and headed back to civilization for a late lunch. Then we checked out the movie theater to see what was playing. (Not much that appeals to both a boy and a middle aged woman. What a relief that GI Joe wasn't playing!) We agreed on G Force but it didn't start for an hour, so off to Barnes and Nobles to wander and look at books. I haven't been in the children's section for a long time, so that was a treat. Then, off to the movies with our 3D glasses. That was pretty cool, even though the story line was lame. After that it was time to go home....we did the math and realized my old dog had been inside for 8 hours. How time flies! It was a fun day with a great kid. Katie wonders how much longer Cristian will want to hang out with me. Hard to say....but I'm game as long as he is!

...Joan Baez

What a class act! If you ever have the chance to see Joan in concert, GO!

Jacque and her good friend Lorinn who met up with us. (Thanks, Lorinn, for the great pictures!)

The orange T shirt read "gnarly head." And it was. Every time this guy knelt to get a better look, his gnarly head was all we could see!

Jacque and me. (My turn to look like a Dr. Seuss character. It's usually Katie! ha!

People started dancing and security must have made a move to stop them. Joan said, "Oh for God's sake, let them dance!"

The Portland Zoo has a really nice lawn for concerts.

Good music, good friends, a fun time...

...cool free stuff!

It was a surprise to open my mailbox yesterday afternoon and see a bright blue package inside. What's this?? I haven't ordered anything lately. So I tore into the package to discover a water bottle and two stick-on tattoos (!) from Eleven Gear.

What fun! Last week Kathie had emailed me the address--we're going to order one of their jerseys as a birthday gift for Scott. As I poked around on their site I noticed that they had cycling haikus on a sidebar, so I submitted one of mine--and they used it! And since they sent me cool free stuff I won't get too upset about the fact that they changed the title I had given my baiku and changed "farm truck" to "big truck." (How dare they! haha) So, I have a new bottle (like I really need another one!) and am sporting a tattoo on my right hip. ha! I'd love to be able to show it to Katie with a straight face next weekend--she knows I'm not a tattoo kind of mama--but it will probably be starting to fade by the time she's here, and I can't keep a straight face about anything that makes me giggle. (I'd have both tattoos on my bod, but neglected to take the protective plastic covering off the first one. Rats!)

Thanks, Eleven Gear!

...Juice

Love's been a little bit hard on me....Just call me angel of the morning...Playing with the queen of hearts....

That's right, Juice Newton was playing at the county fair tonight. What a fun blast from the past! I haven't seen her in concert since....1983. Nathan was a tiny baby and we could barely afford the tickets, but oh how we needed a night out. Tonight, I didn't need a night out like an exhausted young mother with a new baby needs one, but on a soul level I needed a night out. Thanks, Juice! I didn't quit grinning the entire time.

(It's a good week for music. For the price of fair admission (a measly $7) one can listen to all kinds of acts. And tomorrow night my good friend and I are making a quick trip to Portland to see Joan Baez at the Zoo. More soul food in so many ways....)

...a different sort of ride

I'm glad I was able to go to North Bend this weekend. It was fun, as always, to hang out with my cycling buddies Kathie and Bob. But it was a different ride, one we probably won't mark on the calendar for next year. The pancake breakfast was edible. The scenery was beautiful. The people were friendly. But...

We didn't get more than 10 miles away from town in the first two hours. (Up one mountain road and back down again, up another, and back down again.) And in those two hours they had a rest stop every 7-10 miles--more than needed. So they faked us out. We thought the whole ride would be like that. Finally, finally we headed out of town on a 50 mile loop. And guess what? The support ended. Nada. Zip. Zero. A porta-potty on a construction site got lots of use--we were mighty glad to come upon it. Thankfully, the weather was overcast and cool so we didn't go through our water quickly, but by the time a rest stop did appear, we were running on empty.

In spite of it all, the three of us had some laughs. This picture is for Scott. Last week on a group ride we were hustling our butts to get back in because it really started to rain. Kathie and Bob heard Scott yell, "Hey! That's sweet corn! We could stop and pick some!" And he meant it. So on Sunday we just had to stop and take a picture of Kathie picking sweet corn.

...a dilemma

There's a ride this weekend. A ride that I hadn't planned on doing. And since I hadn't planned on doing it, I put it out of my head and thought no more about it. But last night Kathie and I were out together and she really wants me to go along. She has the motel booked and is driving her car. All I would have to do is show up. Easy. So by the end of the evening it was decided--I will do the ride this weekend. It wasn't until I got home, sat down to check email, and heard somebody behind me in her usual spot... ...that it hit me. I didn't plan on doing this ride so I didn't make arrangements for doggy care! Oh dear. The easiest (for the old dear) is for me to run her to Portland to Katie's. But there isn't time for that. The last time I asked a friend if she could stay at his place, she was so nervous that she peed in his garage more than in his yard, and escaped and ran back to our old home (where she had lived most of her life) not once, but twice. Another time I asked a friend to come let her out during a day trip. She got busy and sent her teenage son instead. (Nice kid, but certain recent events make me nervous about the thought of him in my house unattended.) So what to do? Which friend can I impose on now??? Who would be willing to interrupt their weekend several times to come let an old, neurotic dog out? OK, time to start calling...wish me luck! (Why does staying home now seem like a bad thing? I hadn't planned on doing the ride in the first place!)

Update: I found someone willing to come let her out and feed her. Thanks, Chris!

...peace of mind

I had an appointment with a new dermatologist today. I told him I wanted a whole body check. Let's face it, with my history--fair skinned, many bad sunburns as a child, lots of time outdoors now--the chances of skin cancer are up. My old dermatologist would have taken one look at my face and immediately started freezing blemishes. The entire exam would have taken 5 minutes (if that) and I would have walked out looking like I had the chicken pox. This new guy did a thoughtful, thorough, gentle exam, talking to me the whole time like I was a human being and not a cha-ching in the cash register. End result? Nothing to worry about. Come back in 3-5 years. A $10 co-pay=peace of mind worth a whole lot more.

...insomnia strikes again

Thoughts that keep rattling around in my brain tonight...

• Old high school friend going through a painful divorce
• Death of the wife of a blogger I follow
• A heartbeat, new life. :-)
• Missing family. Would someone please get the elephant out of the living room?
• Am I old because I sew? I've been sewing since my teen years. Odd comment...
• Missing lazy days of patio time and talking endlessly about books. Different paths...

OK, these thoughts are filed away here for safekeeping. They don't need to bother my brain any more tonight. zzzzzz

..."our" camp site

A few weeks ago my dad called and said he and mom were headed to the mountains. Would I like to join them? Of course! I packed up the truck, loaded up the ol' dog, and off we went. We stayed at Tamarack Camp site--it has water faucets and regulation outhouses, and is easy to get a trailer in and out--a great campsite. But--"our" campsite is further up the creek, has no faucets, no outhouses, and is down in a gully, so getting the trailer in--and out--is a bit of a challenge. "Our" campsite is the place that we claimed over 30 years ago. Every camping trip, the closer we got, the more anxious we were. Would it be open? Or would someone already be camped there? Now we just visit, play in the swimming hole, and "remember when." (I want to be like Mom--still playing in the creek at 76!)

And I don't know that I truly want to camp there again (regulation outhouses at night are nice). I think it's more that I'm nostalgic for a different time when regular camping trips were what we did as a family.

2000

Chasse and I shared a tent.
The view from my tent in the early morning hours.
Fresh trout--yum.
Cherrie pie, cooking over the coals. A friend from Canada introduced us to these.

Fisher people--Dad needed something from the truck and told me to hold his pole (slightly illegal). I swished the worm through the water and felt a tug. Um, Dad?


The log...that leads from "our" site to "our" swimming hole. About 21 years ago I sat down on it to nurse Katie, and the guys who were camped in "our" site decided to pack up. Really, it was all rated G and very discreet! Don't let Arlene tell you otherwise! haha