Soots the Jungle Cat

Our lawnmower was broken and we finally got a new one... but then the weather was rainy so it was difficult to get out and cut the tall grass. But Soots didn't mind -- he enjoyed playing fierce jungle cat. (He says to ignore the leash part.)

a couple of new postcards...

When we were in McMinnville recently, we stopped at an antique store and I found a few postcards.

This one doesn't fit either the 'road' theme or the geographic area on which I concentrate, but I do allow myself to pick up postcards in the "miscellaneous" category if I find something that strikes my fancy. And this one struck my fancy because I love Cary Grant! I wonder if that is Cary's sporty green car in the driveway.



This next one caught my eye because it features Donaldson's in Minneapolis. We went to Minneapolis on buying trips for the drugstore a lot when I was growing up, and I used to remember shopping at Dayton's and Donaldson's -- but Dayton's seemed quite a bit better (and in the late 60's cooler) to me. I'm actually not sure if this is that same Donaldson's company or not...



The postcard is over 100 years old -- postmarked September 8, 1909.
The writing is a bit tough to read, but it says something like:
Have lots to tell you, but do not know where to start. Love, Borghild



That's my exact thought sometimes when I am trying to catch up with people!

may 18

Today is the 30th anniversary of the big Mt St Helens eruption. Back in 1980, we were in Forest Grove, Oregon attending optometry school. Here is a picture we snapped from campus. (That's one of the dorms in the foreground.) The photo wasn't taken during the initial eruption, but during one of the ash eruptions that followed shortly thereafter.



Little did we know that we would eventually be living even closer to the volcano...

E.T. and friends

This weekend was the fun, kooky, and (yes, even) informative UFO Festival in McMinnville, Oregon. Mike likes to go, and I'll admit it's a good time! The weather was beautiful and people watching was excellent. ;) One of the speakers was Travis Walton, the UFO witness and abductee on whom the film "Fire in the Sky" was based. I hadn't seen the movie before, so it is on our Netflix list now. (As a bonus it features James Garner, whom I really like.)

This is Travis talking about those pesky aliens who abducted him:



A cool part of the festival is the parade in downtown McMinnville. Here is an alien float...



And an alien family...



And even an alien dog...

thanks for voting...

The photo of Christina snagged second place in the Tulip Photo Contest! There were 502 entries! (I think the prize is braggin' rights.)



List of the 5 winners here.

Friday Five: Family Trees

Sophia had a recent "genealogical adventure" which inspired this week's Friday Five...

1. Do you have any interest in geneaology?
Yes! Several years ago I did some research and was able to get lots of good genealogical information. I haven't done any recent work, but I would like to get back into that and create a family tree book.

2. Which countries did your ancestors come from?
My ancestry is entirely of the "Germans from Russia" group. (Quick definition: In the 18th century, the Russian Czar invited German citizens to settle near the Black Sea and Volga River areas. In the 19th century, many of them moved on to America. Quicker definition: Think Lawrence Welk.)

3. Who is the farthest back ancestor whose name you know?
That would be Wendell Hoerth and his lovely wife Otilia -- both born around 1583.

4. Any favorite saints or sinners in the group?
My most famous relative is Bob Newhart.

5. What would you want your descendants to remember about you?
Hmm... I guess if I ever do complete my family tree book, they would fondly remember that I gathered and preserved that information for them!

Bonus: a song, prayer, or poem that speaks of family to you.
I'm going with this clip of the closing credits of the Lawrence Welk Show. That show reminds me of family -- both mine growing up and my own kids who watched it (on PBS) as they were growing up. And I love Lawrence's accent -- it reminds me of 'home'. :)

an experience of a lifetime

Yesterday I had a glimpse of heaven (without having to go through a pesky near death experience first). Yep, yesterday was the Carole King and James Taylor concert in Seattle. I keep searching for an adjective to describe it, but keep coming up short. AMAZING will have to do.

Mike, my mom, and I met Christina and David in Seattle and had lunch -- at which time Mike revealed a surprise. We had purchased our tickets back in January (and I was excited they were floor seats), but unbeknownst to me Mike had done a significant upgrade for my mom and me for Mother's Day. For a charitable donation (a yikes! amount but for a good cause), he got us access to CK & JT's sound check session, a reception with hors d'oeuvres, and Stage Seats -- and ours were in the first row!

At the end of the sound check session, Carole and James came and talked to our group for a bit. We got James' autograph on our commemorative book, and he signed David's CD too. Way cool! The concert was, seriously, the best one I have ever been to. Carole is my favorite performer of all time (and James rolls in at number two), and they were just incredible. I could go on and on... but I'll just share some of the pictures I took.







And here are a couple of pictures taken by the stage seats...





(Mike is up for "Best Guy Ever" award, by the way!)

vote for christina!

Christina has a photo entered at the Tulip Photo Contest. What could she win? I have no idea! But it would be cool if she won, so go vote! :)

old home movies

One other thing I did while on my "blogbatical" was play around with old home movies from my childhood -- using some of that footage to create new small movies. For example, I found a section which included my cousin and I made him a video birthday card.

Continuing the theme from an earlier post of giving my mom a hard time (!) -- here's a little movie I did saluting her parenting skills. It's especially fitting with Mother's Day right around the corner. Enjoy!