Weekend Fun: A Wedding Reception And A Shed Raising

The weekend of June 4th and 5th was quite busy for us, as we had both a wedding reception to attend (on Saturday), and a shed to build from scratch in our backyard.

Michael's parents, Ted & Donna, very graciously spent their weekend with us, beginning on Friday afternoon and lasting until nearly 10p.m. on Sunday.  Ted and Michael were hard at work buying materials, measuring, nailing, lifting (and even a little bleeding) to get the shed built.  Donna and I tried to keep them hydrated and fed at regular intervals. 

Our friend John helped out on Saturday and Sunday, lending an extra pair of hands and getting to experience an authentic "shed raising," which I like to think is not too unlike the barn raisings of the past, when neighbors would all pitch in to get a barn built in a day or two.  And now, if he feels a hankering for a shed of his own, he knows exactly what to do to get it!

The guys were up early on Saturday (like 6a.m early), as they wanted to get as much done as possible before leaving for the wedding reception later that day.  I had a couple of appointments in the morning, so I ended up meeting Michael and his parents downtown at the venue where the reception was being held.  The weather couldn't have been nicer.  And to tell the truth, it was the first really nice day we've had this summer.  It felt so good to walk outside without my coat, to feel the sun warm my head and shoulders, and to see other Portlanders out enjoying the sun in tank tops, sundresses and shorts.  It was like everything, including us, was reborn, and it was heaven to put on our sandals, get outside and remember what the sun feels like.

The reception was held down by the waterfront at a cute little wine bistro called "Thirst."  When I entered the restaurant, I was serenaded by the sounds of keyboard and saxophone by two musicians stationed near one of the entrances.  I soon found Donna and her cousin Jan who is one of the mothers of the two brides, Bobbi and Kelsey.  Bobbi had been to our wedding back in 2004, and we'd seen her at various family gatherings over the last 10 years since Michael and I have been together, but neither of us had yet met her now-wife.  We were only able to chat a bit, as seems to be the case at most wedding receptions I've attended, but she seems like a sweet girl, and the two of them look very, very happy together. 

We were served a very lovely luncheon of salmon or steak, a excellent rice pilaf dish, potatoes, caesar salad and whatever the bar had that we wanted to drink--I was delighted with my glass of sparkling water (Perrier), and in fact downed a couple of bottles of it during our time there. 

After lunch there was a heartfelt toast given by Kelsey's cousin, wishing the two brides happiness in their new life together, and then we were invited to sample one or many of the cupcakes provided by a local "cupcakery", St. Cupcake.  They were bite-size bits of heaven, truly heaven, and I could have eaten a whole lot of them.  My favorite was the red velvet cake, although the vanilla cupcake was also divine.  And how could they go wrong with cheesecake frosting?  Mmmm, the best.

It was after the cupcakes that the guys excused themselves to head back home where the beginnings of the shed were patiently waiting to be assembled.  Donna and I lounged at a sidewalk table outside the restaurant for at least another hour, enjoying the sun and the slight breeze coming off the river.

Finally we said our goodbyes and headed back to the house where it seemed to be much, much warmer.  The men were parched and Michael was already sunburned.  I slathered his neck, face and forearms with sunscreen, and sent him back out where he was happy as a clam working alongside his dad and John.  I'm sure it was a nice change of pace for him to use his hands for something other than clicking a mouse and using a keyboard as he does for 50+ hours a week at work. 

The shed progressed quite rapidly . . . Donna and I tried to remember to run to the backyard every so often to take pictures of the latest stage of development.  I was most nervous when it came time for the roofing, as I was worried someone would slip and fall.  I was right to be wary of an accident, but I did not guess that it would be the nail gun to fall off of the ladder, instead of one of the men.

Ted was the unlucky one who was in the path of the falling nail gun, or rather, his right thumb was--it got him good, tearing a chunk of flesh loose and cracking part of the thumbnail.  Michael, John and I were standing nearby when it happened, and what scared us most was that we knew something had happened since we heard the nail gun fall, but we didn't know what.  That and Ted's response to our questions about him being okay--a quiet "no."  One of the man's heroes is John Wayne, and he is just as tough, so hearing him say that he was not okay made us all very worried.  Luckily, it was "just" his thumb (and not his head, as Michael feared, or his leg / foot, as I feared), so in that respect, things turned out well.

He let me put one Band-Aid on his thumb, then asked Michael to bring him some painter's tape so he could tape the rest of it up and keep working.  I pointed out that one corner of the wound was still visible in the middle of the bandage, and told him we should put something over it so he didn't get dirt in there.  He smiled and replied, "Dirt will just stop the bleeding."  Tough as nails, that man.

The guys were outside until after nightfall, and finished up everything but part of the roofing and the door.  Michael said he could do those last bits on his own later in the week.  They came inside for a dinner of homemade chicken soup, courtesy of Donna, and then both of his parents headed off back home to The Dalles.  We tried to get them to stay with us one more night, but they were planning to leave for a week's stay in Welches, and wanted to get home so they could finish getting ready and leave early the following day. 

Michael and I were both so grateful for their help; it was a job that Michael couldn't have completed half as well without his dad there to guide and oversee the operations.  And his mom kept me company and even weeded a good deal of our yard for us.  We are lucky to have them.

Memorial Day Weekend

In this continuation of catching up on blogging is the story of what we did over Memorial Day.  It was a busy one spent with our families, which was good and probably overdue.

Saturday Michael and I drove to Vancouver to help get my grandparents settled in at their new assisted living facility.  It is only about 5 miles from my mom and dad's house, and having them so close is something that Mom has wanted for a long time.  When they were in Dallas, it was just too far from all of their children for anyone to be able to visit them every day or every other day.  It was more like once every 2 to 4 weeks.  Now my mom can go over for an hour or two and take off when they need to rest or when she has something else she needs to do, and she can do it every day if she wants to.

Michael was asked to help unload the moving truck with the help of Uncle Martin, Uncle Brent and my dad.  My job was to keep my grandparents company while their new home was being unpacked.  We sat in the "library" at the facility--a lovely room with books lining one wall, a gas fireplace and comfy couches and chairs.  My grandma loved sitting in front of the fireplace, even though it was one of the few days we have had when the sun has been shining.  She's always on the cold side, so she happily sat there for about 3 hours, chatting with me and having an ice cream cone (the best vanilla I think I have ever had), while Grandpa tried to nap on one of the couches.  It turned out to be too short for him to really stretch out and get comfortable, but he was able to close his eyes and rest that way for a bit.

When their room was ready, we all went up and met my mom and two aunts who had been unpacking Grandma and Grandpa's few dishes and knickknacks.  Their furniture had been arranged to resemble as closely as possible the arrangement at their apartment in Dallas, mostly for my grandma's benefit.  She gets confused easily, and everyone was hoping that if the new place looked like the old place, she might think she was still there, which would reduce the stress of being in a new environment.  Sadly, this was not the case.

When it was time for everyone to leave, Grandma got pretty distressed.  She almost looked ready to cry, at being left in a place she didn't recognize, with people she didn't know.  She had thought that she and Grandpa were "just visiting," and would be returning to Dallas.  My parents and Michael and I stayed to have dinner with them in the dining area, to try and help Grandma feel more comfortable.  I could understand her distress, as the other residents stared curiously at them as we filed to a table.  It was not unlike the feeling of being the new kid at school.  Luckily, our group was too big to easily fit a table in the main dining area, so we were invited to eat in a private room just off the main one.  It felt like we were in a real restaurant as our orders were taken by an extremely polite boy who looked to be just out of high school (maybe college), and reminded me very much of the boyfriend in the movie Juno--gangly and sweet and soft-spoken.

By the time we'd had our meals (and dessert, of course!), Grandma seemed to be calmer.  She didn't fuss when Mom and Grandpa suggested she go upstairs and get her jammies on, and seemed to think it a good idea.

After some initial confusion about medications and Grandpa's oxygen tanks, they both seem to be doing pretty well at their new home.  I'm looking forward to being able to see them more frequently too.

The next day, Michael and I went to a birthday celebration for our niece and nephew, Ryan (12) and Jessica (9).  Their birthdays are both in May, so usually a day is chosen when schedules are free and that is the day that the extended family celebrates with them.  We got to visit with Michael's sister Christy, her husband Dean, his father Kirk, and Michael's parents.  It was a full house!

The kids wanted to play Monopoly with us on their WII gaming system and we naively took the bait, only to be trounced by a 12 year-old.  This kid could match real estate wits with Donald Trump!  Michael joked that we should get the game for our Xbox and practice on our own, then play with Ryan again and beat him.  :)  Competitive much?

Something I thought was pretty cool was that we ate dessert first!  We all had bowls of ice cream with optional berries, almonds, and chocolate topping.  Yum.  Later we had cheeseburgers or salmon burgers, chips and salsa and potato salad.  Even though it was definitely not ideal barbecue weather, the food still tasted good and it was great to catch up with everyone.

On the actual holiday itself, Michael and I started a mini spring cleaning of our home--kind of like the show Clean Sweep.  We made lists and designated items to sell or donate, and moved the computer from our upstairs "office" to the downstairs dining area.  It felt good to make space in our lives for new things . . . who knows what might happen?  ;)

Our Day With Mt. St. Helens

Hard to believe it's been almost 2 months since my last post.  We have mostly been busy working and slogging through a seemingly endless spring rainy season, but there has been some time for fun and a few days of glorious sunshine thrown in as well.

The Sunday before Memorial Day, Michael and I got our hiking boots out, packed a lunch and headed out to Mt. St. Helens to meet Gary and Roni.  We hadn't seen them since our snowshoeing trip last January, so it was good to catch up and get some fresh woodsy air into our lungs.

Roni researched online and found a trail for us to explore at Coldwater Lake, which, if I am remembering correctly, is about 5 miles from Mt. St. Helens.  We met at the boat launch area at 10:30a.m. and weren't really surprised that we were practically the only ones there.  The forecast was for clouds with a 30% chance of rain, so I don't think any of us were expecting sunshine.  I for one, was glad that I had decided to wear long johns under my cargo pants, as well as several layers of shirts and sweatshirts--and jacket!  The temperature was definitely on the cool side when we arrived, but we quickly warmed up once we set out on the trail around the lake.

We watched as one lone fisherman launched a boat that looked like it was part raft and did not seem as if it would provide any protection against the elements.  Besides him and the family of three cyclists we saw upon our arrival, it seemed like we were alone in the misty morning air with the lake and the creatures who call the area home. 

Close to where I think the base of Mt. St. Helens is . . .

It didn't take long for one of the guys to spot a herd of elk meandering along the hillside to our left.  Immediately we all wished we had brought binoculars, as the elk looked mostly like tiny cream-colored shapes that moved every so often.  We did see a lot of their droppings as we continued along the trail and one very large hoof print.  Next time we will have to bring the binoculars for sure.

Every so often we came to a place where water was rushing down from the hillside, and made me cognizant of just how much snow was still up there.  We came to two or three such places and there was always a plank of wood over the water, or the tops of rocks in just the right places to form a little bridge that we walked across to get to where the trail continued.  It was a little precarious, but we all managed to cross without mishap.  We could tell when we were getting close to one of these crossings because we'd hear the rushing water as we approached, and it was exciting to see what we would find on the other end.

After about two miles of hiking, we heard quite a lot of water off in the distance, and when the trail brought us to the place where the water came down, I got nervous.  This seemed like wider, faster water than we'd experienced at the other crossings, with a steep drop studded with rocks to the lake below.  Most importantly, there was no bridge.  There were a few rocks sticking up here and there, but none in a clear path to the other side, and there weren't any low-hanging tree branches to hang on to for balance as there had been at one of the other places we'd crossed.  It looked like it would be very easy to slip on a rock and fall in.  We stood around and discussed whether or not we should try crossing, and the consensus was that we would turn around and head back the way we'd come rather than risk it to continue around the lake.  I breathed an inward sigh of relief at the decision because I'm not that coordinated when it comes to that type of thing--I think the guys would have risked it, but Roni and I saw the potential for an unhappy end to our hiking adventure, and were very glad to turn back.  We all agreed it would be good to hike the trail again later in the year when there wouldn't be so much water coming off the hillsides. 



Roni & Gary at Coldwater Lake

On our way back, I really noticed the many downed trees all along the hillside where we were hiking.  Some of them were just gigantic and we tried to figure out if it was the 1980 eruption that had knocked them over like toothpicks, or if it was some other reason.  Since it was so fogged in around the lake, and none of us had been there before on a clear day, we couldn't tell where Mt. St. Helens was supposed to be in relation to us.  It wasn't until we got back to the trailhead and looked at a map of the area posted there that we realized the mountain was in the opposite direction from where I had thought it was, and suddenly all those trees lying in the same direction made sense.  They had most certainly been knocked down in 1980.

It was lunchtime by the time we returned to the trailhead, so we headed over to some picnic tables and tucked in.  It was then that I noticed more people and cars in the parking lot, which was surprising because it was still very cool out and had been raining off and on for the last few hours.  I guess I was surprised there were so many people who were not afraid of a little bad weather when it came to exploring the outdoors on a Sunday afternoon.

I was even more surprised after lunch when we decided to drive the six or so miles up to the Johnston Observatory, and we were met with February-like conditions: snow that had clearly been around for awhile, wind and so much fog that standing outside the observatory building in the wide open circular expanse that is the viewing area gave only a view of white.  It was a bit eerie to look out where you knew there was a looming mountain, and valleys, trees, etc., and see nothing but the fog that looked thick enough to cut.  The most I could see was a smidgen of the steep drop as I peered over the viewing area fence--it was enough to remind me that we were very high up--4,314 feet above sea level.

Looking down the hillside at the observatory

Michael and the volcano

We were all able to get inside the observatory for free, thanks to Gary and Roni's National Forest Park annual pass, which allowed them to bring up to three people with them as guests--awesome.  It was neat to walk around looking at the exhibits which gave information on the May 1980 eruption, and realize that where we were standing was directly inside the "blast zone."  Had we been there that day in 1980, we would surely all have died, just as David Johnston, the volcanologist with the United States Geological Survey, who lived and worked at the outpost where the observatory that bears his name now stands, died that day.  Johnston was the first to sound the alarm about the eruption, transmitting "Vancouver, Vancouver, this is it!"  Then he was hit by the sideways blast that occurred as part of the north side of the mountain collapsed.

I learned some interesting things at the observatory about volcanoes: Coldwater Lake, where we had hiked was formed as a result of the May 1980 eruption, and granite, basalt and obsidian all come from the same beginning--lava.  Their differences come from how fast or how slow the lava cools and whether the lava is inside or outside the volcano at the time.  But what touched me most were the stories like Johnston's, of the people who were there that day--those who made it and lived to tell their tales, and those who did not.  It reminded me of just how powerful and indiscriminating nature is, and of how strong, beautiful and ephemeral life can be.

Once we were finished touring the observatory, we headed back to our cars just as the skies opened up and the intermittent showers we'd been experiencing for most of the day morphed into a heavy, drenching downpour.  Even though we ended up soggy, our spirits were high as we headed back toward Oregon and home.  It was a day of camaraderie, exercise, and reflection, and I can't wait to go back--hopefully on a clear day when Mt. St. Helens can show me her beautiful face.