Happy Birthday Rynn!

February 26, 2003

February 26, 2004

February 26, 2005
February 26, 2006



February 26, 2007

February 26, 2008

Today is Rynn's 5th Birthday, a fact that is still a bit of shock to her mommy. How is it that time passes so quickly? Today at her preschool Jason, Eleanor, and I watched her celebrate her birthday with her class as she "walked" around the sun five times. As Rynn carried the earth around the sun five times her teacher, Colleen, showed all the children a picture of Rynn at each year of her life. Her close buddy Talia is the sunshine in the middle. It was pretty sweet.

Miracles and Mysteries

"Mommy," comments Rynn, "I think I'd like to go to outer space, but maybe I'll wait 'til I'm ten, 'cause that's a long, long time away." And so went the conversation last night as we watched the most spectacular lunar eclipse I have ever seen. Not only did we enjoy a beautiful, clear, crisp night (the clear part of that equation being the rarity in these parts), but we saw the eclipse between 6pm and 7pm- just as the moon was making its slow rise over the horizon. It was HUGE, still with the pink glow of sunset, as the earth's shadow began its absorption of the moon's bright glow. The moon here, when visible, is quite dramatic rising over Mt. Hood, but to see the moon being taken over by an eclipse while it was so low on the horizon was truly awesome. The orange, coppery glow provided an eerie faint light for a brief time before the moon reasserted its normal bright white. Meteors and moon shadows...and all in one week.

Other fun fact of the day.... on the very beach which we collected sea glass last week, Arch Cape, some beach combers uncovered two cannons on Tuesday. Archaeologists say they date to an 1848 schooner named The Shark which crashed on the rocks of the Oregon Coast. To find pre-Civil War cannons on the West Coast is apparently quite something. And to think we were walking over them! On the very beach pictured below! Jason teases me that I am a frustrated historian, but doesn't that capture your imagination?? Perhaps there's buried treasure. Ahoy Mate.

Cannons? Under those two?

Yep...one week later. soooo cool.

Meteor Magic

So, here is the latest news from this magical state they call Oregon. Today, at 5:30am, a meteor sailed across the sky lighting up the predawn sky and supposedly crashing somewhere in Eastern Oregon. Pretty cool stuff, I might say. Here is an excerpt from the Oregonian's web site,

"The reports started coming shortly after Tuesday's first signs of daylight.
A massive fireball streaked across the Northwest skies about 5:31 a.m. and exploded with a large boom, sending fiery streaks toward the ground.
Dog walkers saw it. Early exercise fanatics saw it. A private pilot flying a small plane over Washington state saw it.
And even one of the security cameras at a local hospital caught the action.
Experts say what everyone saw was a large meteor, visible because of a days-long pleasant break from cloudy weather.
"That's what this is really all about," said Dick Pugh, a member of Portland State University's Cascadia Meteorite Laboratory. ""When you have such clear weather, it makes an even bigger impression on you because usually when you look up, all you see are clouds."
Pugh, a retired Cleveland High School science teacher, said the meteor -- which becomes a meteorite if it strikes the ground -- was going from west to east. Witnesses reported seeing it in Oregon, Washington and Idaho. " Read on at http://blog.oregonlive.com/breakingnews/2008/02/a_bird_a_plane_a_ufo_no_that_w.html

Arch Cape, Chapter 2

For those dear ones who have persevered with the blog since last fall, you may remember an entry titled Arch Cape which described an absolutely glorious place on the Oregon Coast called Arch Cape. Thanks to the kindness of a new friend in Portland we were able to return to his unbelievable house in Arch Cape- this time with both our camera and the Parkers (Kyle, Gretchen, Jack, and Molly).

Happy Valentines Day!

To see more pictures of our trip go to http://jasoncaroline.winkflash.com/

Curing the February Blahs

If life didn't feel like it were moving at break neck speed it might be remotely possible for me to get the yearly "February Blahs." As a wise friend once told me, "Never make any major life decisions in February." It is the longest shortest month of the year. With both the girls home yesterday and a cherished morning with nothing to do, I decided to drop by the Kennedy School. For those folks who have not yet been out to see us or who haven't been by McMennamin's Kennedy School YOU NEED TO MAKE A TRIP. It is a 1920s schoolhouse converted into a hotel/restaurant/movie theater/live music venue/anything else "portland hip" you can think of. One of their highlights, though, is the 'soaking pool'- an outdoor pool heated like a hot tub and instead of chlorination (made of those dirty, nasty chemicals Portlanders despise) it is kept clean with an organic mix of salts. What better way to spend a rainy 40 degree Portland morning than soaking in a salty tub. The girls loved it and are begging to return.

Pink is In

Rynn: “Daddy, are these going to be boobies when I grow up?” (pointing to her chest upon waking up this morning)
Jason: “yes”
Rynn: “Good, because pink is my favorite color”

and out of the mouth of the littler Little

Eleanor:"Mommy, are you two or four years old?"

Inhale, Exhale

footnote (at the top) on this entry....I am not making a political statement in either direction in this entry. It is just a commentary on the culture of Oregon. As for my political views on the subject matter, I'll keep you guessing. They may not be what you think or, then again, they may be :).

Sitting today in a yoga class with fifty other people crammed in a small room heated to a temperature that would rival a hot August Houston day, I started thinking, “I feel so cool..so West Coast!.” And then, as though Englightenment struck, I saw us all as we really were- a bunch of spandex clad people, looking more like we were in our pajamas than in workout clothes, twisting our bodies into strange shapes named after animals such as ‘frog,’ ‘fish,’ and ‘dog.’ Sweating profusely in a small contained space with my head hanging upside down, I tried to concentrate on my “breath of fire” instead of the odor from the armpits of the guy next to me. I thought, “Life is so strange, and the things we do to ourselves sometimes even stranger.”

The class perspired on, and I bent, pulled, and lifted my body in various shapes trying to get some indoor exercise as the rains/snow continued to come down on our Portland streets. But, it wasn’t until after class that I realized that living on the West Coast really is different. As I fumbled to put on my shoes and head back out into the rain, I overheard a man crying and sharing an emotional exchange with a fellow yogi.
“I can’t tell you how happy I am. Finally, finally, we are not second class citizens. We have rights. My partner and I will be married tomorrow,” he said through tears.
Ohhhh, now I remember. The front page of the paper today-
Civil unions get the nod in Oregon
A referendum ruling clears the way for gays and lesbians to register as domestic partners

And I thought, “Toto, we are not in Kansas…I mean, Tennessee, anymore.”