January 6, 2025
The Return of the Raven, day 6
We awakened in our rustic room in Bandon to clear skies and what looked like a beautiful last day of our trip. Unlike the fantastic breakfast the Eureka Comfort Inn provided, the Sunset Oceanfront Lodging breakfast was kind of mediocre, but enough. I welcome anything, even just coffee.
It was nice to have such a perfectly gorgeous day to drive along almost all of the Oregon coast. We were on the home stretch and wanted to get the car back to Scott and Rachael while it was still light. It takes a lot of time to drive along the coast for 200+ miles. But we couldn't have asked for a better day.
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We sat back listening to Andrea's excellent playlist and watched the light bouncing off wet fir tree needles and backspray off the tops of big waves. We stopped occasionally to take a quick little trail out to see waves exploding on rock islands. We read an informative plaque telling us that the shoreline 12,000 years ago was five miles out from where it is today! Five Miles!! The water level rose 300 feet in those 12,000 years. I suppose it rose because the glaciers and the northern ice cap melted. As soon as the rest of the ice melts the shoreline will change once again and I don't think that day is as far away as even the experts think. Most people think everything is fixed and will never change but they are the ones who need to read informative plaques and think about it.
We walked down onto a beach to sit on a large log and eat our leftover pizza while cowbirds begged small pieces of crust from us. The sun was warm and the home stretch drive was one of the most relaxing Oregon coast drives I've ever experienced. Not a lot more than that happened all day but not a lot more really needed to happen. We were very happy. It also afforded me some time to think about my upcoming year.
For quite some time (years) I've had the feeling of being overwhelmed with all the various unfinished projects in my life. There are major house projects (1908 house) that never end and massive garage projects too. But there are other large projects as well. Ever since I started taking digital images I have been behind in storing them properly. It's a huge organizational issue that involves technology, something I'm not very interested or knowledgable in. There are also major writing projects that I should complete, most of which combine with my photos. I have had photo projects that have gone on for years and they can all now be called finished and something done with them like publishing in some way or another.
I just feel overwhelmed all the time. Part of the problem is that if the weather is nice I go outside to work in my yard and garden. That is what I feel most adept at and most happy doing. I work in the yard 50 hours a week at least 10 months per year and I love every hour of it. There is always work to do in the yard and many of the things I have planted in the past 34 years are labor intensive - pruning galore. The soil is so fertile in Oregon that everything grows like crazy.
I like my life being full. There is no down time. But I don't like the feeling of being overwhelmed. It could be that I have a 'Balance' problem or a 'Focus' problem because I don't ever seem to complete any of my projects. 'Strength' is often a problem that gets in my way due to Lyme disease but aging has something to do with it as well. But I do work hard so strength is maybe not as much of a problem, yet.
What would make me happy this year would be if I could complete at least one of my major projects. I know it sounds pretty boring after such a long buildup as to what on earth my nudge word would be but I feel my nudge word for the year should probably be 'Perseverance' with 'Completion' as the goal. I was thinking 'Discipline' was maybe more fitting for my nudge word because it will be needed to complete anything but I think I actually do have enough discipline once I get going on a project. Of course, 'Focus', 'Balance' and 'Strength' are also all components I will need along the way toward any 'Completions'. But does anyone really care what my long reasoning is about this? Even I am having a hard time focusing on my lengthy one-sided discussion!
I am glad, however, that we met Liz and George who told us about the nudge word concept. I hesitate to choose the word 'Completion' because it could mean end of lifeand I have way too many projects that I must complete before that happens. So, I'm choosing, 'Persevere" as my nudge word. Whew! Sorry for all of that.
We very much enjoyed our final day of driving the Raven. The light was so beautiful. Andrea and I just sat there wondering why we were so lucky. And then, as I was emptying my stuff at my house Andrea looked down in a crack between her passenger seat and door and there was Scott's face looking up at her - his lost driver's license! Getting the Raven and the bikes back safely was a big deal to Scott and Rachael but possibly getting his driver's license back was even a bigger deal. He was ecstatic when Andrea called him with the news. And then she also found a credit card of his too for a second phone call to him. A good day all around.
I want to thank Scott for letting me write whatever I wanted and being so gracious about adding it to HIS journal without any objections at all. I'm honored to have been included in one of his wonderful journals. I also want to say that through this whole ordeal Scott and Rachael have been through their attitudes have been outstanding; something we all should note for when we deal with major life-changing things. Scott has taken the loss of eyesight in one eye largely without complaint. He told me that he and Rachael have had lots of eras where they have gotten into doing certain things together but then things changed and they did other things together, thus, eras. He figures this is yet another new era they are entering and that they will figure out how to navigate through it. Exploration is in their blood and I'm happy they are up for more.
Thank you.
Bruce
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Thank you both so much, and for being such wonderful friends all these years. We both really felt your concern for our situation, as we did from so many others. Every interaction made a real difference to both of us and helped us maintain our morale, hope, and optimism. And I’m convinced that they played a role in the recovery we’ve been blessed with (so far).
But we’re especially thankful for the two of you for your readiness to partner with Liz and George and fly down when it was clear that we not only couldn’t drive of course, but couldn’t travel slowly either. We needed to be back in Oregon and in front of my new ophthalmologist more or less immediately, so the car needed to either be sold or find a way to have it transported north. And I never hesiitated to ask, and I never questioned what the immediate response would be. A friend in need, or something like that.
And what a win/win outcome! We love it that you got to meet with our new friends Liz and George, and you finally got a chance to check out your friends’ quaint cabin in the woods while it was still available. And you got such fine weather! I was watching it from up here hoping it would break your way, and it really did. You didn’t get the best weather driving through the famous redwoods, but they’re just big trees after all, and you’ve seen big trees before. After all, Portland proper has something like 500 sequoias and coast redwoods, so if you feel in the need for a big tree fix, just walk around your neighborhood and look up.
And it’s a win for us too of course. Actually though it’s a double win for us and the whole exchange is a really a win/win/win situation, tilted in our favor. Really, I feel like we owe you a half a Win to level the board, but maybe you can be bought off with a breakfast or two at Stepping Stone Cafe or a monthliong certificate to coffee at Clinton Street, with free refills. Your choice.
Why two TA Wins? The one’s obvious: we get the Raven and Roddy back, plus all of the other junk we left behind. Also though, look at that Like count you’re racking up! For a total of maybe fifteen minutes of cut and paste work from your emails were getting back at least 300 likes - a terrific ROI for TA.
Like! Like! Like! Like! Like! Like!
1 week ago
You don't owe me a thing. I am looking forward to having breakfast with you at Stepping Stone Cafe when you return from Tucson. Remember their motto; "You eat here because we let you."
1 week ago
And thanks for your inspiring nudge thoughts. In things like 'my word for the year' or whatever, I usually make a quick choice - and then forget all about it. But you mulled it over, took a close look at your daily life, identified what was satisfying and what worried you. I have a fair amount of 'unfinished business' that I could attend to. Maybe I could focus on just one aspect and not feel so overwhelmed. Thanks for your input on this, it has got me thinking.
I think I already wrote 'thanks' three times here - so, as not to be excessively redundant I won't say it again.
1 week ago
Yes, I had to mull over what my nudge word would be. I have always packed maybe too many things into my life but as I get older I need to draw a lot of the projects to a close. You said, 'focus' and I think that is a great nudge word.
Anyway, thank you for following along and for your insights. I knew Scott and Rachael needed their car and bikes to make their way back to Portland. It was a fun little trip for Andrea and myself. Glad to do it.
1 week ago
1 week ago
But, it's a new era isn't it. Embedding a journal in an existing journal. I wonder if it has ever been done. Did Scott do this to get more likes? I doubt it. Someone who is in first place in the 'likes' category isn't looking for more.
But the idea of including someone else in a journal is intriguing. Like if two people were, say, riding separately but at the same time in the same territory they could have a joint journal that could be pretty interesting, especially if they met up from time to time. Just for example: If one person rode around Lake Superior one direction and the other person rode the other direction and they met. After they met they could rely on the other's information and maybe stay in the same places occasionally but their experiences would be totally different because we are all different people and how we experience things differs wildly. Just an intriguing thought.
6 days ago
Before retiring, I had an automatic email signature that ended in:
"Persistence and determination outweigh talent and genius"
Persevere seems to catch that well. I approve! (as if my opinion was worth a pebble in your hiking boot)
6 days ago