Addendum to: "January Stupidity Report"

31 January 2014; Grumpy's Castle --

I must confess that I left out a VERY IMPORTANT event in my last POST. This was the visit by Uncle Bob and me to see my Great-Great Grandson Gunner! Now how could I have overlooked such a joyous occasion? Since Uncle Bob left this past Wednesday (29 January) for the more benign weather [supposedly!!] of Alabama, I can blame him for my forgetting to include the Great-Great Grandson visit. [And just in case he reads this POST and denies that he is at fault, I shall then invoke the excuse that my new Operating System performed the transposition of fault.]

Yes, we did indeed go up to visit the G-GGson Gunner and his lovely Mother Joshlynn. She remains one of the most proud parents on Planet Earth. And why shouldn't she be? After all she has performed what no other descendant of mine has been able to do -- as of this date, anyway. [I am looking forward to the possibility that another of my Great Grandchildren may eventually succeed in doing the same: Presenting me with more Great-Great Grandchildren. What a five-generation photo-op that would be!!]

But enough of my day-dreaming! What we did while visiting was eat from a splendid Italian-cuisine lunch-time menu. Gunner, bored either with the lack of his favorite food, or perhaps bored with the incessant adult conversation that went on around him, took a nap.

He was awake later, however, to be in this photo of him with his Mother and his Great-Great Uncle Bob. I look forward to many more opportunities to visit with him and his Mother during the coming Spring and Summer. I also anticipate an opportunity to take him and his Mother up in the Mooney for a really historic airplane flight! Photographic evidence may not do this event justice; we shall see. Stay tuned!

 And, by the way, this addendum does not fall into the "Stupidity" category; the only thing stupid about it is that I was stupid to have forgotten to include it in the original January report POST.

January "Stupidity" Report

28 January 2014; Grumpy's Castle --

It has been awhile since I have posted anything exciting [as if everything I post isn't exciting!], so I thought I ought to try to summarize all of the mischief up to which I have been, [aided and abetted by one kid brother!] since last I whined about other people -- mostly my descendants -- trying to dampen my enthusiasm for doing stupid things. Like driving to Mt Hood for breakfast on New Year's morning.

As previously reported, Uncle Bob [aka, kid brother] has been at the Castle since he and his bride [Adelaide] left the ski slopes in early January. As if I needed help in coming up with crazy -- let's call it like it is -- STUPID things to do, brother Bob is of great help in adding to and enhancing the fun of living "on the edge". That "edge", since last March 2013, now involves the Mooney. I sometimes refer to it as "our" airplane, although you should all know that it belongs to Bob -- except the cost of keeping it in the air with 100 octane low-lead fuel, and miscellaneous small parts and materials, while it is "home-ported" at Crest Airpark.

Typical mid-winter Seattle weather has kept us grounded much of the time. However, we managed a three-day excursion to the South a week or so ago. We flew to a fine airport* at Troutdale OR and rented "the smallest car" available [a four-door Ford F-150 pickup] at the airport, in which we drove up to spend two nights at Fort Bale.

At Fort Bale, besides being fed very generously with "Gourmet Food" ala "the Swede", we were also treated to a sound thrashing by the two Great Grandsons in lively games which they had acquired in recent Christmas and/or birthday celebrations. Restful sleep was afforded by both boys giving up their respective Queen-size beds to comfort we two "elderly" guests.

The third day, we drove from Fort Bale to Estacada OR where Granddaughter Amy, and husband John, lives with her five-boy, one girl flock. The two older boys (Malaki and Amos) were in school, so we missed seeing them. However, I got to hold my youngest Great Grandson Samuel and enjoy his cheerful demeanor.

Another treat was being welcomed by Great Granddaughter Elianna, who liked the fact that I had no beard -- as I had previously promised when I saw her last October near the end of our "Around the USA in the Mooney". Elianna pointed at my mustache as if to say, "How about that flea-infected briar patch?" However, when I questioned her about her opinion as to whether or not I should shave it off as well, she responded with a reassuring grin that "it was OK to remain".

At various times, this Great Grandfather got to hold more than one Great Grandchild at once. Since I enjoy the interplay with small children, I treasure each of these opportunities and look forward to them each time I visit one of my Grandchildrens' families.

The third day, we returned to Troutdale airport and flew back to Crest. Again, the East wind was brisk at Troutdale as we took off; this made for a quick lift into the air and a fast gain in altitude without much movement over the ground before we turned North for our homeport.

* The winds aloft were of no consequence on our flight from Crest to Troutdale. However, as we entered the "Columbia Gorge" area, a 25-35 knot wind [the wind velocity variation was due to gusts!] from the East greeted us and made for a sporty landing! I diminished the effect of the gusty conditions by making my approach and landing with minimal wing flaps and a higher than normal air speed. The head wind as I touched down resulted in a speed over the runway that was slower than normal. Taxiing up wind to the tie-down area involved a judicious control of airspeed during taxi so as not to take to the air again! A great experience!!

Some Thoughts by the Old Thinker

04 January 2014; Grumpy's Castle -- 

I am sitting around on this beautiful sunny January day, and I got to thinking about my children -- and Grandchildren, Great Grandchildren and of course my little Great-Great Grandson. I treasure each chance I have to be with them. I also enjoy the opportunities I have had and will have to experience adventure, including the amazement of people who think I am too old to be capable of anything other than sit in a rocking chair pronouncing wise -- or inane -- advice to my descendants.

I saw a cartoon the other day [when I get the chance, I will ask its owner for permission to get a color scan of it to include in this BLOGPOST]; the cartoon showed a half-grown kitten frantically clawing to get itself out of an open-top aquarium into which he had fallen while trying to capture a goldfish that resided therein. The caption at the bottom struck me as very appropriate for myself and others who may be approaching old age, or who are looking forward to same:

• To live to an "Old Age", one must first survive "Young and Stupid".

Here is an old photo of me on the right when I was about 6 or 8 months old. I was "captivated" in this old wooden apple box. In the "olden days" apples were shipped to the grocery stores in these wooden boxes. [I'm quite sure that "Red Delicious" were not invented yet; they would not have survived this kind of rough and unprotected treatment.]

And here on the left is another photo of me when I was 17 years old, a Naval Aviation Cadet in the U.S. Navy Reserve. 

Any resemblance to the cute baby in the first photo is probably due to Photo Shopping which was a technique that required the photographer to use his skill prior to the exposure of the film to the object. Ask #2 Son to explain this process; unfortunately I revealed to him one part of this photography trick long ago with a small fish that I caught.

And, finally, here on the right is a recent photograph of me  about 86 years later than the one in the box, standing on top of the snow on the hillside of Mt. Hood in Oregon.

Now, I believe I have survived the first part -- I have survived the "Young" part.


Now all I have to do is survive the "Stupid" part. Please, everybody, let me enjoy that part.

Love to all,
Dad/Grandpa/Great Grandpa/Great-Great Grandpa Z.

Having a Happy New Year

01 January 2014; Snow on the Mountain --

By leaving The Castle at 0230 on this first day of the New Year, I accomplished two things: 1) I avoided the drunks who got booted out of the bar at 0200 and were already in the ditch -- or in jail, and, 2) I was able to arrive at the Timberline Lodge on the southwest "corner" of Mt Hood in time to have breakfast with Uncle Bob, Aunt Adelaide, David and Jane. 

The one thing that concerned me about this trip was the worry that at least one of my offspring voiced before I left: she was concerned about my safety on "this, the most unsafe day in the year for driving!" I want to assure everyone that in any case, I am statistically likely to die in an automobile accident anyway. After all, I love to drive [having already covered over about one and a half million miles by automobile in my life so far], and I love to go wherever I am going or have gone. I would rather be remembered for having been doing what I enjoy when the Good Lord chooses to take me off this Earth. So, all of you: Please don't worry!!

But on to my report of the New Year's Day's doings!

First Sunrise of the New Year

As I arrived at the Timberline Lodge, the sun was showing her dawn brilliance in the Eastern sky. Earlier, as I drove toward Mt Hood, I glimpsed the stars in a clear sky overhead. This photo of the imminent sunrise, reminded me of a time a few years ago when the Grand Mother and I [with a young Ramiro] has stayed overnight at this lodge. The snow was much deeper then than I found it this time, but the sunrise was similar. 

The inside of this beautiful 1930's era lodge is as interesting as it is warm and welcoming. This big fireplace is a center-piece to the architecture of the whole lodge. I waited here until I spotted Jane, one of the people with whom I had hoped to visit and have breakfast with on this morning.

Uncle Bob, Me, David; Jane peeking from behind Adelaide

Bob & Adelaide, and David and some others soon arrived and we all sat down to a scrumptious, buffet breakfast of scrambled eggs, various kinds of fruit, cheese bits, and sausage and do-it-yourself waffles. And of course, lots of hot coffee. [The coffee was welcome after the four-plus hour drive down here!]

Apparently, it had snowed a good 4-6 feet back in October, but there hadn't been any more white stuff -- other than a skiff or two -- since then, and the skiing conditions were -- well, they were almost like ice-skating! The top of what snow remained was solid ice; the main, high speed run was littered with rocks all of which would be deeply buried in a "normal" year. 

With a crust on the top of the snow at least 3 or 4 inches thick, I had no trouble walking on top of the snow all over the area in which we "snowshoed" with no hint of breaking through this crust. This is on the South side of the mountain, so the sun had a chance to partially melt the snow in the daytime and allow the cold, clear sky to re-freeze the stuff during the night.

However, the snowshoes were a good idea; they were equipped with crampon-like steel claws on the toes and under the area of the snowshoe where the heel comes down. So, although I would have had no problem breaking through the crust just wearing my hiking boots, the steel claws prevented me from sliding down this steep side hill -- all the way to the bottom -- or, until I encountered a tree -- or a rock!! 

We saw some people who owned crampons who were easily hiking up the same slopes we hiked. Like I suspected, the snowshoes were not needed for the usual purpose of buoying up the weight of the hiker in normal soft snow.

When we reached the upper limit of the trees, we opted to stop rather than continue to get overheated with the exertion of the climb plus the sun beating on our backs. We found this "Heather Bed" and used it as a convenient stopping place to enjoy the view and watch (and listen to) the skiers "schoosh" by as they tried to steer right and left to moderate their downhill speed. Here (left) Bob and Jane recline on the side hill for a little breather.

I took this photo (right) to show the steepness of the hillside up which we had just come. It seemed even steeper, but a good photo is more convincing than a good estimate. The reader can appreciate the problem I would have had coming back down this icy hillside without the traction devices on those snowshoes. Indeed, I would have slid down rather than walk.

As I lay there on the Heather, I spied Mt Jefferson peeking through these ancient tree trunks, relics of the past, killed perhaps during an extended dry period, or perhaps by a fire that once seared this landscape. The new growth, seen poking up behind these bleached trunks are white pine, I believe. Jane's forester daughter will verify the species when Jane returns home and has an opportunity to show her daughter some photos of the foliage.

After arriving back at the lodge at about 1400, I had a relaxing lunch with Jane and at about 1500, after saying goodbye to everyone, I left to drive back to The Castle where I arrived at about 1900 that evening. Needless to say, I slept very well that night and surprised myself with having nothing painful to deal with the next day other than a little stiffness/soreness in my shoulders from having wielded the poles that were issued to us along with the snowshoes. I have to admit that the poles served their purposes with me. I found that I had an illusion that I needed to lean away from the hillside; this resulted in my almost losing my balance a few times and falling over backwards downhill!