June 12, 2005

I have pretty much come to the conclusion that if you hold off because the weather is threatening in the Northwest, you'll do nothing.  How is that for profound?  I?ve learned to just go ahead and do it and most of the time - weather isn't an issue.  On Wednesday, my philosophy just didn't work.  Bruce and Pam were to pick up Nancy in Longview and bring her home.  All I had to do was straighten up the house a little bit and I'd be all set.  The new lawn I planted (overseeded) when we first arrived needed to be mowed as soon as it stopped raining (not a true rain - more of a drizzle).  I waited all day and it rained all day.  The Thompson's just had to live with long grass - they didn?t even notice.

Bruce and Pam started in Eugene, Oregon that morning and got to Nancy about 1:00.  They went to see Joy and Wayne's new house in progress in Kalama, WA.  They are building using the foam wall construction method.  You take a slab of foam, 4" thick and glue wallboard to each side and that's it, no studs or other means of support - just the foam.  It's a two-story house.  The material is a little more expensive but the labor is significantly reduced.  The wall panels are built in a factory, shipped to the jobsite, lifted into place with a crane and bolted together.  The door holes and windows have been precut at the factory.  Part of the reason it took Wayne so long to get his building permit was that the county they are building in has never seen a house like it.  As it turned out, by the time Bruce and Pam got to the building site, the prefab walls had not yet been delivered. So all they saw was the foundation ? and their fabulous view of the Columbia River, all the way to Portland!  The walls were to be delivered the next day.

This week we have very low tides during the middle of the day. The eelgrass has put on a growing spurt and the tide flats look almost like a lawn - a very wet lawn.  The eelgrass makes the beach very treacherous - slippery.  It looks like the stuff the Japanese use to make sushi, I wonder if it's the same?  What?s the seaweed supposed to taste like by itself?   I set the canoe down on the beach, above the tide line, while I went back to get the paddle and lifejacket, and the boat slipped by itself into the water.

Trying to launch on an eelgrass beach is bad enough - landing is even harder.  As you nose up onto the beach and try to step out, the boat slips back into the water -- with you in it.  A recipe for disaster.

The Thompsons are planning to be with us for an extended stay.  So, the first day, Thursday, we rested.  Well, Bruce rode his bike for forty miles. Pam and Nancy went shopping. Bruce and I went to Stanwood to buy a computer/cell phone interface and some parts for his bike. And then Bruce and I played nine holes of golf.  We still weren't fully rested, so we took Pam to dinner in Stanwood for her birthday.  Got home and spent an hour pushing logs off the beach - Pam is getting really good at the pike pole. And then had a fire on the beach. By the way, a "pike pole" is a ten-foot long aluminum stick with a point on one end used by loggers to push floating logs.

Friday we decided that we hadn't really gotten enough rest on Thursday, so we decided to have another rest day.  We did get a little more rest than Thursday but we did manage to move some pretty significant logs away from the bulkhead (to widen the volleyball court), had a delightful walk on a native trail - gorged ourselves with wild berries - had nice walk on the beach, and got in a couple of hours pushing logs and weeding the beach.  Pam cooked us a great dinner.

On Sunday we talked the neighbor into cutting the above logs and are planning on taking them down to the beach as time and energy permits.

By Saturday we were as well rested as we were going to get, so we headed out.  We went to Mount Vernon to one of the two Alpaca Farms conspicuous in the area to view the shearing of the wool.  The viewing of the alpacas was everything that one could hope for in such an event.  There were lots of alpacas to be shorn, competent shearers, and the knowledgeable owners to answer our questions.  Pam, Bruce and I were quite interested - Nancy was thrilled.  She has a very strong interest in alpacas and here they were.  She could touch, smell and hear both the animals and their fleece.

Nancy showed such interest and demonstrated such understanding that the staff gave her a full garbage bag full of fleece.  It was a wonderful gesture on their part, but the reality was that the bag was full of bits and scraps that would have been very difficult for them to make useful.  It will be interesting to see what Nancy will make of it.  Alpaca fleece is quite valuable and is worth several dollars per ounce.

From the alpaca farm we went to La Conner for lunch.  La Conner is a little tourist town that Cindy and Terry had shown us on the Swinomish Channel that connects Skagit Bay and Samish Bay forming Fidalgo Island where Anacortes is located.

After lunch we wandered through the shops and galleries of the little town.

Notes from Nancy - My trip to California was great!  No problems in traveling back and forth.  Worked one day at the yarn shop.  Spent a day spinning in the vineyard in Livermore.  Had my thank you party for my team members for the conference where they turned in their reports and I now have to do a final report for the parent organization.  Saw Adam and Evan and everyone is fine.  Evan's starting to smile and respond and maybe even a little giggle or two.  Stopped at the house and did a couple of checking things and picked a big bag of lemons to share with everyone along the way - miss the lemon tree!  House looks fine and the renters will move in this week.  Came home very tired, but glad to have Bruce and Pam here for a long visit.  And, we're looking forward to our trip over to Eastern Washington to see Jerry's family, some golf and then over to the Tri-Cities to visit Cindy and Terry.  Bruce and Pam have been trying to get there for a couple of years and this year they will make it!

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