Short cuts

March 8, 2023 to March 10, 2023

Some short takes on what we’ve been up to for the last few days as we wait for departure.

Wednesday

The weather has been generally dismal for the last few weeks, but it looks promising today. It’s beautiful when we look east across the river at the low-lying fog, and the forecast promises a dry day after some early morning light precipitation. Minimal wind, not too chilly, as good a day to hop on the bikes as we’re apt to see before departing next week.

The view southeast this morning. Looks like a fine day to ride.

That’s not the plan though because today is dedicated to a long overdue drive up to Seattle to visit dad, whom we haven’t seen since last winter before we left for our nine month journey through France and Britain. Since then of course mother passed away last summer, leaving dad on his own for the first time since they were married almost 75 years ago when he was 20 years old. We had plans to drive up for a visit in December right after we returned from France, but after my Covid diagnosis that of course was impossible at that time.

It’s a long day driving up to Seattle and back, but it goes as well as can be hoped - a good day to bike is also a good day to drive, and the 3-1/2 hour drive up goes quickly as there’s a lot to talk about - anticipating the visit, reviewing departure plans, and so on. We arrive at the door of dad’s apartment at 10:31, which isn’t bad since we told him we’d arrive around 10:30. The door is unlatched when we arrive, and we walk in and call out to him when we see him at his table staring at a screen. He doesn’t have his hearing aids in because he hates them, so it takes awhile to get his attention.

We’ve been apprehensive about this visit, anxious to see how he is doing on his own a half year after mother’s passing. It’s a relief to see how well he’s coping, and we have an excellent visit. It’s largely one-directional because dad likes to talk and even with his hearing aids in he has difficulty hearing and understanding us. We start with an extended conversation at his desk, as he goes over what he’s working on and the business affairs he’s dealing with.

He also talks about what it’s like living on his own, and how he’s careful to not let himself get snatched up by one of the widows wandering the halls keeping an eye out for the next good catch. Mom warned him about this, and he’s not about to make that mistake at this point late in his life.

Eventually the conversation turns to his upcoming move into an assisted living unit once one becomes available. He’s ready for it and recognizes it’s time - he’s had a couple of falls in the last year, and would welcome help with managing meals and the other details of living alone now. It prompts him to want to talk about downsizing to a smaller unit and he takes us on a tour of the apartment, pointing out belongings that will go with him and those that won’t. He and mom have a stylish place filled with art works, walls covered with books, mementos from his career as a flight test engineer at Boeing, and souvenirs from their years when they traveled to such places as Morocco, Egypt, Iran and Afghanistan.

My favorite photo of dad, from their visit to Greece.

And my favorite photo of them together, from Isfahan a few years before the Shah of Iran was overthrown. This photo hangs on the wall of their apartment and of course will go with the move.

Dad posing in front of the beloved framed photo that greets him every morning when he wakes up.

Bobbie (Grandma Woodings) cradling mom. This must be from around 1925. Dad doesn’t remember for sure, but I’ll bet it’s one that mom colorized. For years she worked from home colorizing black and white photos such as high school graduation portraits.

One of the three photos stuffed into the frame above: Grandma Woodings, mom, and her older sister Aunt Virginia.

That photo will go to his new apartment, of course. Also going is his collection of four vintage ukeleles. Before Covid started shutting down the facility he and mom lived in, he started a ukulele group that would stage performances for the residents. He could play again now, but he hasn’t felt the motivation yet since mom’s passing. I’ll feel really good for him when I hear he’s playing again.

Checking the tuning. He said he’s started working on getting one back in tune again, which seems like a good sign to me.

Dad’s mobility is surprisingly good, and better than I’d expected. He uses a cane and sometimes a walker for stability, but when it came time to leave he surprised us by walking us down to the car, choosing to go down the stairs rather than take the elevator.

Thursday

We’re cramming a lot of social engagements into our last days here. This morning we have a coffee date down at Caffe Umbria with Steve Robinson, a friend of ours from the years when we were bridge players. We probably haven’t seen each other for more than five years, but we’ve finally got a chance to catch up again while he’s up here from Eugene to visit his daughter. It’s been far too long, and we’ll have to find the time to meet again when we’re down in Eugene and can catch up with his wife Nancy also. I haven’t thought about it for awhile, but years ago we stayed overnight at their home when we biked down from Salem and caught the train home the next day.

After coffee Rachael and I went over to REI so she could pick up some socks she ordered and I could get some spare disk brake pads in case they need to be replaced on tour this spring. While we’re there Rachael also found a new shirt and fell in love with it. It’s her color, very light, crushable and wrinkle free - an ideal travel shirt.

When we’re back home she puts on a fashion show, first showing me how well the new shirt goes with the two skirts she’ll travel with and then the new bike shirt she bought a few weeks go.

Not quite a perfect match. This one will look great with her bike shorts though.

After the show, Rachael leaves for a walk and I ride the Rodriguez down to the bike locker to stash him away until summer. I don’t see any break in the weather coming before we leave, so I might as well put him to sleep now. I don’t have the heart to tell him that he’ll be sleeping alone for the next few months because Rachael wants to leave the Straggler in our storage unit now that we’ve cleared up space for it.

Afterwards there is still another hour or two before rains are due to return so I decide to take the long way home and walk along the waterfront, giving myself one last chance to see a gull and hopefully a new species for the year. No luck on the gull front, but I’m happy to find the cackling geese are out grazing so I can take a video of them; and not long after I come across some grazing Canada geese so I video them too to show how differently they look and behave. Once you see the difference you can’t really confuse them.

And then, just as I’m turning to leave the waterfront and head up the hill I look up and see exactly one gull. I stalk him for a few minutes, trying to get close enough for a good shot for a firm identification. I do, but it’s a disappointment when I get back home and look him up. Just another Western gull.

The day ends with us down at Cinema 21 watching a poignant French film, One Fine Morning - the second film we’ve seen in Portland this winter. We also saw Emily, the story of Emily Bronte another very good movie.

Another Western? Where are all the California, Glaucous-winged and Herring gulls?

Friday

For some reason I wake up in the middle of the night wondering what we were doing five years ago at this time of year. I know generally, because it was in the period of time between when we moved out of our condo and when we left for Crete. The iPad was within reach so I picked it up and started reading the journal from that period when we were downsizing and trying to sell our condo. I read the whole thing up until we left for Crete, reliving what was such an important turning point in our lives. So exciting, so stressful, and so many details I’d forgotten about. One thing I was surprised to come across was the three year plan we laid out at the time. I knew we had developed one, but I was surprised by what it actually was. 2018 was right on, except that we ended up our autumn tour starting in Dubrovnik instead of Split. The other two years were complete misses though. I’d forgotten we were seriously looking at touring in Australia, Ireland, South Korea and South Africa during those first of our vagabond years.

2018

April: Portland
May, June: Greece & Albania
July, August: Portland, with an embedded month-long trip to the Canadian Rockies
September to December: Split (Croatia) to Barcelona
December, January: Taiwan
February, March: Portland

2019

April to June: Italy, Montenegro, Croatia (Palermo to Dubrovnik)
July: Portland
August: Ireland
September, October: western Spain, southern Portugal (Santander to Lisbon, using the new ferry service from Cork to Santander that starts this year)
November thru January: Australia (SA, Victoria, Tasmania)
February, March: Portland

2020

April, May: Japan, South Korea

June: Portland

July thru September: Europe. Many possibilities of course, but something like Edinburgh to Budapest looks attractive, taking us through Brittany, Burgundy, Bavaria, and Slovakia among other places.
October, November: South Africa
December, January: American Southwest
February, March: Portland

Also of course I came across many photos I haven’t seen for a long time, two of which I’ll include here:

Bruce’s cat Pinky, from a few days when we cat-sat. Such a sweet animal! It’s nice to be reminded.

A photo of our first storage unit (even smaller than the one we have now). I’m including it to show the tansu that we gave away last week, because I forgot to take a photo of it at the time. It’s just an end view, but it’s all I’ve got.

We have a pretty unstructured day, with only one commitment - I have an appointment for a haircut this afternoon. Rachael takes off for a walk again and I take a load of stuff down to the storage unit, including the Straggler. The bike fits in easily, and there’s plenty of free space left. We still have some last minute junk to take down next week, but I think that there’d be room for the Rodriguez in there too. We’ll likely give our bike locker back to the city this summer.

We’ve made great progress at downsizing this winter. I’m pretty sure we’ll take another good whack when we’re back this summer.

And then, the haircut. The haircut is an utter disaster. It takes a minute for me to realize what this monster is doing with my hair, but by the time I do it’s too late. I haven’t had a shearing like this since I was in the army over fifty years ago. I’m embarrassed to be seen in public, and I get mad again every time I look in the mirror. I’ll include a photo just so I have something to compare against every month or so while I wait for it to slowly grow back. Grrrr!

Before and after. The horror! The horror!

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Rachel and Patrick HugensLove the same day different year comparisons!
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1 year ago

Graham FinchI actually like the hair!
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1 year ago