one year later - in full bloom

It's been year now since Alexis and I sat in that hospital room - waiting for the girls to arrive. How time flies. Today will mark Eleanor and Quinn's arrival into this world, and the beginning of that difficult but beautiful journey.

The magnolia we planted in the backyard last summer has started to bloom. It's almost if it knows exactly when - and is offering itself as a reminder.

This weekend will be time for reflection and family. Saturday will be spent together playing with Greer, and we'll have a birthday cake to celebrate their lives - as we continue on with our own.

Back from Bend

Why do I always feel more tired after time off? Ok...yes, we did drive over 500 miles round trip on our jaunt to Central Oregon......but Greer got dropped off at this grandparents - and we had no real agenda during our stay. Go figure.

For as short as it was, we had a decent time on our mini-vacation. Alex sang well with the PDX Opera crew at the High Desert Museum - and we moved at a leisurely pace for the remainder of the time.

One of the highlights included our semi-annual visit to the Peterson Rock Gardens - the greatest crumbling curiosity this side of Redmond. It's still hanging in there after all these years, and just as amusing. I remember visiting this place with my grandparents and taking in the cheeseball brilliance of rock garden grottos and lava rock renderings of U.S. monuments....nevermind the arrogant roaming peacocks.

These days, it's looking a bit rough. Make that...a lot.

The museum/giftshop is a mix of dusty geodes and decaying merchandise - mixed in with more dust and dead flies. It's as if they stopped cleaning and selling things in 1983....but somehow the door is open. Outside, the rock attractions are in a state of decline. While spring cleanup was underway, you got the sense that very little changes in the larger scope. Stagnant water, overgrown walkways and wind-blown trash add a demension akin to an abandoned (and perhaps haunted) house.

In short, it's a keeper.

Back and Forth

It's been a long busy winter, but things are finally settling down a bit. The gig at Regence is in transition into something with a different set of responsibilities. Same role, just different faces.
For the first time in a while, we'll be taking a couple days off to hit the road. Alex has a gig in Bend on Thursday, so we'll be dropping Greer with his grandparents on our way out east. Not sure what we'll be doing after the show, but we don't really care either. Free time is good enough for us.

That being said, things will be back to busy once we get back.

This upcoming Sunday will mark the 4th anniversary of the beginning of the Iraq conflict. I've arranged for a screening of a new documentary "The Ground Truth" - to play at our church on Thursday. It's mainly in preperation for the M18 protest march in downtown PDX, but it should help remind folks of the sacrifice and damage that has come as a result of this bogus military adventure.

Impromptu dinner

Busy, busy, busy this week....

Feels like I should have been headed into work today, but Alex had a radio gig this afternoon with KPBS 89.9 that kept me back at home with the boy. I tried...though. The office gave me laptop to use from home, but cable modem protocols and toddler antics kept me from doing anything but waiting for a fateful office phone call that never came.

Oh well.

The day ended well though. My folks were in town - and we had a family dinner over at my aunt's place. Roast beast, mashed potatoes, veggies, fruit and lemon cake for dessert. Mmmmmm.... There's no place like home. Of course, Greer got to see the grandparents and his favorite uncle Chris - and ran himself ragged before the night was over.

The boy collapsed when he got home - and gave Alexis and I just enough time to sit down and watch Kurosawa's "Rashoman".....a benchmark in Japanese cinema.

It would make a great opera....