azetteG December 2006

Remodeling 301Eating through EuropeSporting family

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Gazette, an annual opustyped since college days

by James Thomas, akafLY bY nIGHT Productions.

We read those letters, love thephotos, especially of you.

Keep them coming.Family stuff: www.voicedoctor.net/

jim/Medical stuff: www.voicedoctor.net

girls website: www.twinsis.us

Susan & JamesSydney & Morgan Thomas1316 SW Mitchell Lane

Portland, OR 97239 - 2826(503) 892-2920 house

(503) 341-2555 jimjim@voicedoctor.net

susan@voicedoctor.netmoogan@twinsis.ussydney@twinsis.us

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C o n t e n t sA new Babe .....................................3

Traveling to England & Belgium ..... 4

Forced Exercise .............................. 13

Moogen’s Year ............................... 16

Centerfold - the family snoman ...... 18

Sydney’s Trips ..............................20

Remodeling 301 ........................... 22

Chemical Queen ..........................26

Life’s Journeys ..............................28

Our daughters ..............................30

The Rat ......................................... 31

Why live in Oregon? ................... 34

Parting Shot - Susan in England..36

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A new Babeby Jim

Born in advance of our vacation to England, Babe arrived before we left, but I left her sitting at the dock while we were travelling.

We visited her birthplace in Oxford, England and on returning home to Portland, we went straight to Rasmussen MINI auto dealership from the airport.

Red as a Ferrari, Babe took Morgan, Sydney and I home, but we had to leave Susan at the car dealer. No room for extra baggage and a wife!

Babe & I returned to get Susan after our first date - with the top down - Babe’s, not Susan’s.

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Traveling to Eatby Jim

The third course on our first day in Europe comes out of the kitchen. It is still only breakfast, but we are really breaking the fast.

After Muesli with milk, hot cereal, yoghurt, orange juice, coffee, toast & marmalade, we were brought a hot plate of fried bread, once over lightly eggs, beans, grilled tomato, sausage and fried bacon, then tea. Phew!

I really do not understand my fascination with Europe. I much prefer the United States for scenic beauty, so, perhaps, it is the food that brings me back.

We arrive in Brussels, rent a small car, a VW Golf Plus (actually a l a rge car in Europe). I manage to get out of the garage (it is a tight fit, sometimes I s u s p e c t I a m actually driving on a s idewa l k and not an actual street) and adjust g r a d u a l l y t o the road signs - c e r t a i n l y n o t recognizing al l of them. I was a b i t conce r ne d about the travel to England and the

uncertainty of travelling on the wrong, no left, side of the road. We were going to be on the small island by nightfall of our first day. We stopped for lunch

i n G h e n t , Belgium, one of my favorite towns f rom a p r e v i o u s visit. The girls started doing h a nd s t a nd s i n f ront of the cathedral, their version of annointing another town. I found the Brooderie, and shared a lunch of homemade bread, smelling the difference in the air. The o n l y s h o c k is paying in Euros at our

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present dollar exchange rate of about $1.30 per Euro. We found a ferry in Calais across the Channel and the girls fell asleep, but I imagined WWII during my ride between Cap Blanc Nez to the white cliffs of Dover. How small a distance a war can be fought over. In the middle of the channel I could view the French cliffs and the British cliffs at the same time.

Arriving, we passed customs (Britain is not part of the EU) and drove out speaking out loud reminding ourselves - Stay on the left! Stay on the left! I made no mistake, still every one was beeping at me. I was going the speed limit (something not recognizable to Brits, but we were on a four lane highway and while I was on the left side of the highway, I was staying in the right lane of the two lanes in our direction. Now I get it, the slow lane is the leftmost lane on the left side...

It was easy to see the edge of the road from the drivers seat. I only worried about Susan in the right seat watching the oncoming lorries. Many of them are from the continent, so they also have their steering wheels on their left side. The drivers are out of harm’s way, it is the passenger who will suffer in a collision.

We found a small town - Rye. Now there was really sticker shock. All the rooms were only for two people and with a British pound worth almost 2 dollars, lets check the price. Imagine needing two rooms at 85 pounds each. That would come out to about $320 for a single night. These are not 4 star hotels, just rooms. In order to have something left at the end of the vacation, we took only one room and the girls slept on the floor.

After the first breakfast, we were staying in the lovely beyond compare,

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English Garden home of Joan Cramp. Now we could spend our money on groceries and british beer. While I enjoy wine, it seems the Brits have no special deal on wines from the continent.

Somehow we found our way to Joan’s home by wandering Kings Sutton and then passing Bulls Lane once, but returning to find Old Johns Cottage plaquarded on the side of the entrance. There is no A street and 2nd type grid system here, just winding lanes. Wow, a solid stone home, a walled English garden spilling over with fruits and vegetables. We arrived during a heat wave, but I noted dried moss on the roofs and a few days into our trip, rain arrived, so we could feel England as it really exists. We shoehorned our car into the “front yard” of neighbor and Joan’s son, Simon. While there are fields everywhere, every inch of space in an English town is spoken for. Kings Sutton is

Left: Morgan & Sydney hanging out at Joan Cramp©s home.

Middle: Pastries in the Cotswalds.

Below: Joan Cramp©s English Garden

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Above: Broadway Tower - high in the Cotswolds

Left: Weavers homes in Winchcombe, The Cotswolds

Below: M&S on the Walking path to Kings Sutton

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north of London, n e a r O x f o r d , Banbury and the Cotswolds.

We s t a r t e d out learning about

rights of way, where you can actually walk through other peoples yards and fields if there is a right of way there. We had a hiking map from the 1970’s and discovered the neighborhoods as well as Roman ruins by wandering

though yards and fields. We also discovered S t i n g i n g N e t t l e s (Urticaceae), hence urticaria. J u s t a s k Sydney. It is a bit like having bees crawling around under your skin.

T h e C o t s w a l d s ,

Oxford, Cambridge, Canturbury and London were our major destinations and we walked all of them.

The Cotswalds were meant for wandering, picnicing and exploring, fields, ruins and stone rings as well as old country homes. Oxford made us feel smarter by bying T-shirts from the university. We admired architecture everywhere, but especially in some manors and castles.

In London, Susan oriented us to the sites of the London Bridge,

Above: Trafalgar square, London

Middle: On the Lorrie Ferry

Below: London©s Tower Bridge

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London Tower, Trafalgar square and Westminister Abbey. I found back streets St. Martin-in-the-Fields and Neal’s Yard Dairy.

We left England via Cambridge, just another medieval college town with fabulous architecture. Ultimately, a stop in Canterbury with a Cathedral that could have six or more masses simutaneously where we found a Farmers Market/resturant where everything was fresh.

Returning to the continent, I reserved a slot on the overnight slovenian ferry that is filled mostly with lorries. The drivers mostly slept or were in the bar, so we practically had the passenger deck to ourselves. We arrived in Oostende, Belgium at 4 am, too early to drop in on our friends, so I parked the car and everyone slept, except me. I scanned the radio dial and listened in. One station piqued

my interest and a mesmerizing tune came on the air with a

driving cello, then a haunting accordian, followed by a celestial female vocalist. I couldn’t understand the Flemish announcer, but I made a note of the time and the radio station, meaing to look up perhaps a playlist online.

We arrived at the Baert family household exploring for a week West Flanders from the town of Roselaere. The best way to get to know the culture is to immerse one’s self into the cuisine. After a week in England where they do not know what the word coffee is (seriously, there is only tea - I stopped in a cafe in Cambridge where the students must need caffeine from time to time and when I asked the graduate appearing student behind the counter where I might find a cup of coffee, I thought I heard him say, “I don’t know, I’ve never had anything but tea!”), I delighted in the morning cup offered by Lieve and Filip, then finding a cafe at lunch. Europe competes quite well with the coffee culture of Portland

and Seattle.

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Breakfasts were wonderful affairs starting with a walk to the bakery, loading up with pastries, sweet and savory. The table was spread with Goudas, jellies, muesli, yoghurt, 2 men and 7 blond women.

Then I heard it again, on the radio, that haunting voice and song.

“ No ’, s a id L ie ve , “that is my CD and the g roup i s Mad radeus (www.madredeus.com).” I had heard the song A

Vaca De Fogo - “Holy Cow” might be a rough translation. I am now intimately familiar with Teresa Salgueiro and Portugese Fado singing. Every time I travel, some music captures my imagination and remains with me as an essence of my journey for years. Listening to the music at home transports me

back again and again.

There were many towns to explore, from the beachfront Knokke-Heist on the Channel to the WWI town

o f I e p e r a n d shopping in Lille, France. Travel back in time in the medieval town of Brugge, then on to the heart of the Europen Union’s Brussels.

We set out wa l k ing a long canals and biking

along the ubiquitous bike paths and back roads. It rained so we could enjoy “typical” Belgian weather.

With a guide we explored the Flanders Fields around Ieper (Ypres), where a stagnant war was fought and gravestones sprout now where the poppies of Canadian Lieutenant Colonel John McCrae once did. It is too bad everyone cannot visit the battlefields of Flanders, Normandy, Vietnam, Yugoslavia, Germany and

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see the destruction and loss before voting for politicans who utilize war as a tool.

Filip took us sailing near Brugge. I scoped out the cheese shops, bakeries and patisseries

and tried to return each day laden with new food. We won’t have five little girls running around again together soon, so we enjoyed our alloted time together to the fullest. I specifically hope my daughters have absorbed some of the culture so they can have some perspective on the world a b o u t t h e m . If not, at least they ate their way through the culture.

Above: Eating in FlandersLeft: Eating in FlandersBelow: Eating in Flanders

Far Below: Sailing in Brugge, Belgium

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Top right: Handstands

Left: Knokke-Heist on the Channel Below: Begonias in Brussels

Above: cycling Belgium

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pedals and shift/brake (since there are several more gears on Jim’s fancy bike). Although I was hesitant at first, I soon realized that you could go up hill and ride faster if a bike is 15 pounds lighter than your old bike.

May 13th, we would participate in the Gator Grinder sprint triathlon in Canby, Oregon. The best thing was the swim was in a pool without a mass start. If I tired I could just stop at one of the ends. Maria started first. It was fun to see that we were beginning this goal we had set so long ago. I started just before Maria had finished her bike. Things didn’t start off well for me. My swim goggle strap broke just prior to the start of the race and so I panicked trying to find a new pair or fix mine so that the race could begin. It took me the

Maria was first, casually stating on New Years Eve that her coach would like her to cross train and that he wanted her to do a triathlon. So she was looking for some “sucker” (not the words she used) to do it with her. So guess what? I was just that person. Maria and I agreed we would do a sprint triathlon sometime in the spring before her summer track season started. I soon realized that this was a BIG commitment and that in order not to let Maria down I was really going to have to train. So in early January the training began with swimming added to my weekly exercise regime. It had been a long time since I swam laps and I forgot how much air you needed for a successful flip turn. After several weeks or maybe it was months of training things eased and so some days were filled with both a swim and a bike or a swim and a run. This way I could get used to two distinctly different sports back to back. The other challenge would be that I would need to learn to ride Jim’s road bike, as my 20+ year old mountain bike wasn’t going to do the trick. After several tries I finally learned how to clip in/out of the

Forced Exerciseby Susan

As I age, life is busy & I find excuses not to exercise. I need to be home with the girls. I should really do… This year,

thanks to my friends Maria and Martha, I learned that in order to exercise consistently I need a goal.

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entire swim time to calm down and the swim took about 2-3 minutes longer than my predicted finish time due to frequent stops to catch my breath. I was really relieved when the swim was over. Then the mad dash to put on your biking shoes, shorts and top and get on your way. The bike was pleasurable, except for one really long steep hill that they forgot to tell us about, but it was a beautiful ride out in the country. Biking went well despite several guys

passing me from the swim heat after me; I felt like I did fine. After my final clothing change during the triathlon I was off on my run. Surprisingly I didn’t feel so bad. Initially my legs felt like jello but the further I ran the better they felt. The run was over before I knew it and success; I had just finished my first triathlon in over 20 years. Maria and I both achieved our goal of finishing and completing the triathlon in

less than 2 hours. My time was 1 hour 29 minutes. I was even more surprised when I heard my name called out as the fourth place finisher in my age group. The day ended with a great dinner, a good bottle of wine and a successful triathlon finish.

The Hood to Coast RelayMartha was my next exercise

motivator. During dinner one night Martha stated that her Hood to Coast team was in need of another runner as someone had just pulled out. The Hood to Coast is a 197 mile relay race that goes from Timberline lodge on Mount Hood to the Oregon Coast. Each team has 12 runners, two vans and hopefully two designated drivers. Each runner does 3 legs of approximately 5-6 miles over a 24 hour period. The race takes about 29-30 hours for the average team and 17 hours for the fast teams. I had always wanted to do the race but wasn’t sure I wanted to commit and certainly didn’t want to let the team down if I couldn’t complete my three legs. With Martha’s persuasive manner I agreed to participate. I would certainly have to increase my weekly mileage if I was going to be able to accomplish this. Since I wasn’t sure which legs of the run I would get, I increased my average run to about 8 miles and I practiced hills, which isn’t too hard since we live at the top of one. After meeting my team members, I soon realized that Martha had connected me to a wonderful group

of interesting women who were all working toward the common goal of finishing the run and having fun doing it.

Early Friday morning on August 25th, six of us and our faithful driver Tracey, crowded into the minivan Le

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Top:

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and headed up to Mount Hood. Soon after our departure we realized that a larger vehicle would make the process even better, so with a few calls to Jim we made arrangements to exchange our rather small minivan for the Chevy roadtrip van as we transitioned through Portland. At 8:30, Martha, our first runner, headed down the hill. It was exciting to see all the teams, decorated vans and volunteers ready to go. My first leg, which occurred in the heat of the day with no shelter from the hot sun, was my longest at 6.95 miles so I was really happy to keep under 9 minute miles for the whole run. My next leg occurred at about 11:00 pm along a boring highway, fortunately I only had a 3.3 mile run which made the dark deserted road seem to pass quickly. My final leg was closer to the coast and was my favorite leg of my three. I am not sure if it was because it was my last leg or because it seemed like a familiar run

of undulating hills through beautiful forests for only 4.2 miles but it certainly was my fastest miles throughout the race. I felt great accomplishment as I finished my final leg and even more excitement when our van officially finished our commitment to the run. It was then off to the beach for a shower, some food/drink to then meet up with our team later as they were crossing the finish line. That night we enjoyed a wonderful curry meal prepared by our faithful drivers and enjoyed our successful completion of the run while overlooking the sunset on the beach. Although I have told my team that I am not sure I would do this again (since now I have experienced it once) I do know that I am deeply honored to have met and spent time with them over the course of three days and they were truly what made my experience an enjoyable one to remember.

I am not sure what my next forced exercise venture will be or who will be my motivator but both my experiences were fun and brought with them better fitness and a great sense of accomplishment. I look forward to the challenge whatever it may be.

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Moogen’s Yearby Morgan Thomas

Move to Westside for gymnastics.

Outdoor school was the best week ever!!!!!!!!!

Robert Gray is my middle school.

Gymnastics is so fun and I mean, it is fun!

All trips this summer to Belgium, England, and Canada were great adventures.

New teachers, friends and classes.

I love cows, they are the best animals!

Snow is the best kind of weather.

Tea time in England is yummy and we should bring it to America.

Hey, I am 12 years old!

Every day is rainy in Port-land, almost.

Belgian friends I saw- Laure, Karen and Louise

Every Saturday eating a Gabriel’s cinnamon roll is yummy.

State team champions - gym-nastics level 6.

The big rat chase.

!

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Stat

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We are the w i n n i ng t e a m -

Westside Gymnastics for the State of Oregon. I placed 2nd on Bars, 4th on Vault, and 8th in the All Around.

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Centerfold - the family snoman

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Happy Holidays

Sydney, Susan,James & Morgan

from

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Sydney’s Tripsby Sydney Thomas

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Bakeries in Belgium were good.

Europe was fun.Languages are different

everywhere.Gymnastics is terrific. I love flying pigsU should see our remod-

eling we are doing Moved to Westside for

gymnastics

England, Belgium & BC are where we went this summer

Nothing is more fun than readingGoing to the NCAA gymnastics champion-

ships is fun.Learning a little French before we go to Eu-

rope.A s a team we won 1st at state. I placed 5th

in All Around.No one is better than Sydney Thomas.Driving in the new car

is not fun!

A new year at Robert Gray

New teachers, Friends, Classes

Doing knitting is fun.

Being at outdoor school for my birthday & Halloween was fun.

Catching a rat was scary!

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23

7 8 97A 8A

The Dining Room

2002 in white, gray & yellow

Remodeling 301by Jim

Would you make me a mantel? she asked. I tapped a little hole in the drywall to have a peek inside for an attachment point.

Wow! a piece of stone. That was the beginning.

a w ine rack . So with a large leftover piece, Susan requested a mantel in the dining room. I put a little hole

We found straight grain Douglas Fir flooring under a carpet two years ago and that sparked remodeling 101 - the guest bedroom that our long-time friend Ray helped us with. Last year we removed more carpet and in class 201 Susan finished the concrete floor in the dining room with a red earth tone stain. Apparently that was the commencement, not the end of our projects.

Late last year I built a desk for my office and with some leftover wood, I built

Last year after the floor redo & green upgrade?

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23

10 11 129A 10A 11A

The warmth of the red rock from Madras, Oregon

Finding the original fireplace Removing the concrete facing

in the drywall above the fireplace. Beneath, I found a beautiful stone fireplace with a mantel - no wait - an entire stone wall - finally three walls of stone!

We ended up removing all the wallboard covering the dining room; I replaced all the electric, added ne w re ce ssed and low voltage lighting. I found a nd re pa i re d h id d e n le a k s in the outdoor walls. I removed all the painted w o o d a n d r e t r i m m e d t h e w i nd ow s a nd c o lu m n s in Bubinga. It wa s qu ite a n undertaking, not even yet finished, but a delightful upg rade. The r o o m f e e l s

warmer, just from a change in colors. There was plumbing in the walls

from a previous heat pump and an air conditioner, old wires and other odds and ends.

Unfortunately, as we got to the entryways into the dining room, we

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29 3029A 30A

Photos by James & Susan Thomas Destruction by Susan, James & Richard Sienko

23 24 2522A 23A 24A

The Kitchen Fireplace

didn’t know where to stop, so we continued into the kitchen, uncovering a fireplace in the kitchen. That was another couple of months. Some recent occupant had coated red, vertically textured Roman bricks (typical of Frank Lloyd Wright’s Prarie style) with thinset mortar and had broken off the brick shelves.

Susan scrubbed and eventually went dumpster diving when a neighborhood home was being demolitioned and came up with additional replacement bricks which otherwise seem impossible to find. Five homes in our neighborhood were completely demolitioned this past year for rebuilds.

The kitchen is a bit bigger project and I have trimmed the two fenestrations with Western Bigleaf

Maple, Susan has prooceeded with actual drawings of a future kitchen remodel - perhaps 2007.

Of course there was more than one doorway into the dining room and last month we decided to strip and refinish the doors and trim for the the living room entry. It turned out they had painted over Douglas fir and Mahogany trim. Curious, I put a hole into the living room wall (it was always very drafty in the living room when the wind blew - all winter). There was no insulation in the walls. And after removing the plaster from the walls, there were actually holes at the top of the walls to a ventilated attic allowing wind to directly enter the walls and then exit through the outlets and switches. Just covering these holes with plywood warmed the room

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32 33 3431A 32A 33A

Floor staining by Susan Thomas A real Christmas tree and really big trains

26 2725A 26A 27A

The Chemical Queen

considerably. The wall with a fireplace had been all mahogany plywood - now painted. I cannot understand the 1980’s fascination with paint. Susan’s present sewing room which I exposed from behind is also the same Phillipine mahogany plywood (painted on the room side).

Of course the entire exterior of out home is stone - but painted! Paint store stock must have done well in the 1980’s. There was some aversion to natural materials and finishes in the Paintian Epoch.

The house was built in the Ranch style, designed and built by an architect in 1950 who lived here 25 years. I chose the home for its location, not its style, but the infrastructure in the home seems substantial. Only the

later coverings seem - how do you say? Cheap?

When I uncoverd the wall in the living room it was labeled “the den”, perhaps a Ranch term. On the last wall uncovered, we found a mahogany pocket door into the kitchen that had been covered & sealed. Well, that doorway is open and very well used now. Perhaps there was no pot of gold hidden beneath the walls, but it sure feels like we have found one. My plans to build a dining room table have been put on hold because of all the interesting findings.

It has always seemed like a big step to consider putting a hole in a wall, but it is actually quite fun and rewarding. Someday, when you are in a certain mood, take down a wall!

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Chemical Queenby Susan

Just call me the chemical/tool queen. Our remodel project has given me a new appreciation for what is possible given the incentive and the right tools.

Upon discovery of the red brick fire place in the kitchen we called several masons to come and give us a quote to clean up the fireplace. Only one came and he could put on a new hearth and fix the broken bricks but would not quote the cleanup portion because it was too labor intensive.

Well what good was a new hearth without clean bricks on the rest of the fireplace. I inquired at the local stone store what I could use to remove thinset and glue (since the wall board was glued and the marble tiles cemented to the bricks directly). They gave me suggestions and I proceeded to use my environmentally correct chemicals on the fireplace. Several days and an entire bottle of cleaner hadn’t made a dent, I needed something stronger. So back to my friendly stone guys for a stronger chemical. Their next suggestion was to hire someone to use dangerous muriatic acid to take off the thinset. Off to the hardware store I went to purchase muriatic acid, gloves, and brushes since I already knew I couldn’t hire anyone. Dressed in the latest remodeling fashion of gloves, goggles and the ugliest clothes in my closet I set off in pursuit of the red bricks which lay beneath the thick white thinset. Fortunately, success came slowly and after several days of mask

wearing and brushing, the bricks were as clean as I could get them. Alcohol removed the glue and then a few coats of impregnator and sealer and the red brick fireplace had a new life.

The only thing missing was a red brick hearth. This problem was solved one day as the girls and I walked to play tennis. We walked by a dumpster filled from the ongoing remodel near our house. Red bricks caught my eye, so on the way back the girls and I removed a few bricks from the dumpster and took them home to compare them. They were the perfect match. Back we went to the dumpster and dug until there were no more bricks. Unfortunately, we weren’t going to have enough to complete the job so the next day I visited the contractor working on the house. Despite their denial that they had anymore, 30 more bricks appeared the next day. Now an expert with muriatic acid, it only took one afternoon to clean up the bricks like new. It will be the beautiful fireplace I imagined and all it took was about 6 gallons of muriatic acid, 6 brushes, and at least 6 days but who’s counting.

My second remodeling challenge came when Jim decided the remodel would move from the dining room into

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the living room. The wallboard came down since there was no insulation underneath, the baseboard came off upon determination that under the white paint was mahogany, and up came the carpet (thanks to the hard work of my dad during a recent visit). Since we couldn’t make a decision about whether to put down travertine or wood, I decided the quick and easy fix would be to stain the floor to match the dining room since now I was left with a concrete floor that had some white sealer over part and glue where they tacked down the carpet. From my previous concrete experience last year I learned that all the chemicals I could use could not take off the thin layer of sealer so I would start with the one method that took it off immediately last time; the buffer. So off to Home Depot I went to rent the buffer for what I thought would be a four hour job. After several hours of work, only a little bit of the white was removed and I realized that this method was not going to work this time. Back to Home Depot I went to determine what my next choice of tools to accomplish my job would be. After an hour discussion with several different guys, they determined my most hopeful method would be to rent the diamond grinder and take off the top layer of the concrete. So after my lessons on how to mount the blade, put together the vacuum, and use the grinder I headed home for an afternoon and evening on my knees trying carefully to only take off the top layer as the blade spun quickly around. The grinder, once I got the hang of it, was just the right tool. Slowly the concrete floor was back to the original

color and there were only a few mistakes from where I put a little too much or uneven pressure that were distinctly noticeable. After about 10 hours of grinding the floor was now ready to etch, clean and stain. As usual, etching took longer than expected when I ran out of etching solution onThanksgiving day, then when cleaning the concrete a thin white layer appeared again which took several hours to remove. Finally the floor was ready for staining. After two days the floor was stained and then 7 coats of sealer over the next three days completed the project making way for the trains and tree to be set up. Thanks to the patient guys at the stone place and Home Depot I can now say that I know how to use any chemical you can imagine and that complex tools can be conquered. So as our remodel continues I think there are a few more skills that I will learn since the more I can do myself, the less I spend on the contractor and ultimately the more rooms that can be remodeled. So next year I hope to have a few more skills in my pocket.

28 Gazette2006

Life’s Journeysby Jim

Travel best describes my year & my addiction. Apart from vacation, I visited family. Medical lecturing took me to Atlanta, Philadelphia,

Phoenix, Chicago, Port Angeles, San Jose, Vancouver and on December 28th, I leave for India for two weeks.

friends around the world.

Sundance Film Festival contines to be a regular stop. I sat at the bar talking to this curmudgeonly man who was more interested in the young female on the opposite side. Turns out this guy, Sam Sheppard does film making!

Giving a lecture to the Quebec Otolaryngological Society, I tried my hand at Maple Sugaring while catching up with a friend - Phil Norton - from Penn State University who settled in Quebec. Fascinating to see the paths our lives take and it is good to have

29 Gazette2006

I went and saw two of his films - they were pretty good.

We have stopped piano lessons - just too much and something had to give. I still accompany the Trinity Episcopal Choristers, the children’s choir and have added another Chopin Nocturne to my piano repetoire.

I cannot keep up with email. Unanswered emails are currently running about 500, really, even with several hours per week dedicated to correspondence. I receive over 1000 junk emails per day, about 20 per hour are missed by the filters. Then

occasionally a good email ends up in junk!

I continue to cycle extensively and race occasionally, this year trying out a one hour hill climb, track racing (where a slow beginner slid down the track in front of me taking me out - only cuts, no broken bones), circuit racing (where

I was dropped but not lapped) and a team time trial (where I won first place thanks to my three team members, not because of me; because the time is based on the third to cross the line and I was a quite distant fourth). I ride most Saturdays with Adnan and Matt on the team.

I produced several films, mostly of the girls gymnastics, also Susan’s Triathalon as well medical films.

On the wine and food front, my highly recommended cheeses are Vacherin Mont d’Or and a goat cheve - Humboldt Fog. I have not

gone wrong with California Pinot as my favorite grape. Our garden was prodigous with baskets of apples, pears, figs, Asian pears on 25 fruit trees and 12 vines, not to mention raspberries, blackberries (ouch!), salmonberries and 25 blueberry bushes. Then there was

the vegetable garden as well...

F r e n c h - e v e r y Wednesday.

Work - It is still a pleasure when I can fit it in!

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Our daughtersby Jim & Susan

t

he g

irls c

reat

ing

last

Dec

embe

r

The

last

day

at M

ary

Riek

e

Elementary school and f fth grade. The f rst day walking to sixth grade and middle school. Sydney, A

veritable Bookworm

31 Gazette2006

The Ratby Jim

Susan was learning the pleasures of a well made tool. Susan tackled the floor, first with a wire brush, then off to home depot for a 25 lb, 7

inch diamond cutting grinder the Home Depot Assistant recommended. It really was a wonderful tool, if dusty and noisy job. In full protective gear with plastic safety glasses, ear muffs and air filter, all covered with concrete dust, she was ready for a B movie.

After a while, even with the living room taped shut we could smell the burned concrete and the dust in the rest of the house, so Morgan asked if she could open the front door with the screen. Fine, I said and I opened the back door for some airflow. It was cool, but a relief from the dust.

Now though, she was winding up a 45 minute stint with a wire brush on the end of an old drill to try and clean up the edge of the floor where the large grinder wouldn’t work. My rough calculation of 81 more linear feet of wall to go meant that she would be done sometime later in the week rather than by Sunday evening. I suggested a trip back to Home Depot and we should consider buying the appropriate tool. We came home an hour later with a Ridgid 4.5 inch grinder, compact and removes concrete like warm butter. She went at the remaining grunge on the concrete floor and with the grinder

squealing along at 10,000 rpm, it was cleaning the floor up like butter.

My mom called. I call her every week, but I had been lazy or busy or both the past two weeks and she took it upon herself to give me a ring. The girls got me on the phone and went back into their room to surf on the internet. I was getting filled in on the family minutie, including the death of my mothers aunt Ellen who had passed away and I was getting all the details. Not that I didn’t like my great aunt, after all we we had corresponded a bit a decade ago. I was wandering the house while listening on the phone and noted a floor threshold that had come up a bit. I tried to shut the door and it sprung back at me. Damn floor strip..... Whoa that looked like an 8 inch reptilian tail attached to some gray stuffed animal and it moved! The tail wasn’t fuzzy and it hopped behind a bench. It was a rat!!!!!! in my house!!!!!.

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“Mom, That’s interesting.”

S h e c o n t i n u e d m a k i n g conversation.

“Mom, I’d love to hear all the details about the flowers and the service and the family, but I really need to call back later.” I was watching the bench filled with baskets of winter gloves and scarves that the thing had gone behind.

I recalled the time, a couple of years ago, as a teenager, on an April 1st when my mother had stuck her head under the kitchen sink and I said, “Look, its a mouse!”. Her heart apparently stopped and she had jumped up onto the counter. I never knew she could move like that. She didn’t think much of mice and neither of the April fools joke, I learned with some sort later punishment. I didn’t think you could be punished for a holiday everyone in the world celebrated.

Anyone, that experience came back into my head on the call and I was 2500 miles away, so there was no way I could help her off the kitchen counter now if I said “Aagh, there is a rat in front of me!”.

“I want to hear more, but I really need to go, can I call you back tomorrow? She allowed me to terminate the conversation early.

MORGAN!

...

SYDNEY!

...

GIRLS!

...

MORGAN!

...

SYDNEY!

My voice was nearly drowned out by the din in the living room, the grinder screaming away. I continued yelling with no answer.

SUSAN! SUSAN!

...

That was hopeless. I was in the kitchen and could see where the rat was and didn’t want to let him out of my sight.

Finally Morgan comes around the corner. “Dad, what do you want?”

“When I call I want you to come!” I said my voice was nearly drowned out because the girls had heard all my calls.

“Dad, I said ‘What?’” Morgan answered unapologetically.

“Well, if I scream your name ten times at the top of my lungs, perhaps you could offer more than a ‘What?’” God, I hope I don’t have a heart attack before I get two tweenagers fully trained. I am sure I am the only father with this issue.

I assign Morgan to a broom and guarding the bench and Sydney to get her mother to stop grinding. Finally without the noise, we can come up with a plan. We close all the doors in the room except the one back out into the kitchen. We put up a 3 foot tall barricade in the kitchen to force the rat out the back door where he presumably came in.

Parl A

venue (drop caps), Serp

entin

e (Titles), A

dobe Jenson Pro (text), A

rchitect (byline, Captions), Black(footers). Bound at K

inko©s. D

igital photos shot on a Canon XL-1 videocam

corder & a N

ikon Coolpix 8700.

33 Gazette2006

“Dad, how high can a rat jump?” inquired Sydney.

“I don’t know, but they can jump.”

“Dad, how high can this rat jump?” she repeated a couple more times.

“Well you are here, I guess you will see. Now help!”

We pulled each basket of clothing out, emptied it and beat each hat and glove with the broom. No rat. We opened up two sleeping bags and shook them out, then squeezed them. No rat. We moved the bench. No rat. I turned the bench over. No rat. Each time we opened something, my heart rate went up and then down. I saw a cabinet open. I do not know how he could have crossed the floor without my seeing him. This cabinet was rarely used and packed with art supplies. I reached into the dark and began pulling out boxes, brushes and paper. No rat. This guy has transported himself like they do on StarTrek. We checked behind the washer and dryer. No rat. I have no clue how he could disappear. There are no holes in the room that I know of.

We decide to get back to the work of remodelling, but I post the girls on guard duty and I cut some plywood and duct tape the pieces to the bottom of each door, so there is no gap and if the rat is still in the room, then he cannot go anywhere.

Later, I need to get to the electric panel to shut off a circuit to the living room and as I open the door to the laundry room, I catch a peripheral view

of motion near the washer, it certainly seemed like a tail.

“Everyone, come here!” This time, at least, human beings appear.

We reassemble our bulwarks and arm ourselves with brooms.

Have you every seen Alice in Wonderland, where the hedgehogs roll up into balls for croquet? Well, I pull out the washer, still partly full with water.

“A A A H H H H HG G G G G! ” simultaneously from several women. The rat runs across the room, now it is somewhere between a scamper and a bounce. He lodges behind the door rather than passing though it. I open it and he heads for Sydney. She sweeps him back, he heads for me. I swing the broom like a baseball bat and he somersaults across the room, but turns for Sydney. He does not get where the door is. She sweeps, I bat, he keeps coming back. We get him out of the laundry room and still he returns. I am yelling, the girls screaming, laughing, working incredibly hard, but without success. Finally, he goes into the kitchen and heads towards the box barricade. I can imagine him leaping into the air, landing on a box and Susan passing out, but we actually sweep him out the back door and lock it.

It is all my fault, with the inclement weather, I had not emptied the compost buckets and there is a wood pile outside the door. Home and food for a rat, in retrospect. Then, an open door and the warmth of a house.

Produced on my lap, on a M

acintosh MacB

ook Pro Intel Core Duo.

Printed on a Xerox Phaser 8400 duplex wax color printer. Fonts include

Sand & M

yriad Pro (cover), Com

ics & Jim

Tea

cher (girls articles),

34 Gazette2006

Why live in Oregon?

Autumn along the Hood River

35 Gazette2006

Left: Beargrass on Mt. Hood’s northern slopes.Above: Springtime

Right: White river canyon forest.Center: Columbia River Gorge wildflowers

Below: Just another day in Portland.

36 Gazette2006

Parting Shot - Susan in England

Big BenDoubledecker BusSusan - the tourist