Moving On

I flew into Portland the day before my brother's memorial cele-
bration. Several of the family made it a one-day deal on Sunday - up and back in one day. I just didn't have it in me, so I took my time with the rental car to do a little look-see. This is the Gray's River covered bridge. It is such a foreign structure to us high-desert rats.


What an interesting structure and since it has never been raining when I'm here, I can only imagine the necessity that drove it's construction. Bob told me that they get about 100 inches of rain a year. We get 7-9 inches. It was only a rental car, so what the heck - I stopped in the middle to record it's quaintness.

And I took the liberty of pulling into a camp-
ground to snap some pictures of the Columbia River. It's so big! With film, I probably would have take one or two pictures, but life is different digitally. This was my first time to travel in a rental car by myself. I don't think Ian would have enjoyed my digressions had he been with me, but he had to fly to San Diego for another family situation.

Of all the pictures I took, this one is my favorite. These are two of Bob's grandsons, who wrote the most astounding notes in the journal left on a table for all of us to record our feelings. Bob was a bigger- than-life big brother to me, and these grandsons acknowledged him as a bigger-than-life grandfather and life influence, with specific examples - blew me away.
And did the sun come out for Bob's memorial cele-
bration? No one was surprised to see it. About 100 people gathered to honor him, and dense me, I didn't realized that I was expected to "say something." I ended up writing on the back of my Dollar rental car agreement with a pencil, erasing and rewriting, just like I was back in school. I still have those notes, sideways, large print, asterisks and key words, but I got through it without tears. I kept telling myself that the point was to celebrate...

Those of us who stayed went into the house where Georg lit a fire in the woodstove to take off the chill. She still couldn't get warm so wrapped herself in the blanket that I had woven for Bob. I was so happy that she was able to enjoy it, even if he couldn't. What a family resemblance, she and her oldest daughter.








And now I need to do come catching up. This is my order from the Soap Saloon in Sacramento. I've ordered supplies from them for nearly ten years and have never been disappointed. I had 120 pounds of coconut and palm soap oils, plus an assortment of essential oils, delivered to the library and brought them home tonight. It will be a while before I have time to weave again. I am just about out of soap! No fibery posts for me for a while~