Meandering on the Way — October 7 to 17, 2022

Friday, October 7, 2022

Went for little hike today on the Baker Creek trail. We saw this on the ground. What is it? Anyone know?

Saturday, October 8, 2022

We spent the morning planning an overnight trip to Tumalo State Park, which is about three hours east of us. The idea is to drive over there tomorrow afternoon, camp for the night in a yurt, go for a hike along the Deshutes River in the morning, and then return home that afternoon. Our camp menu includes grilled cheese sandwiches and soup for dinner and pancakes with maple syrup for breakfast. We did a little bit of packing and preparation today–with more to follow tomorrow morning.

Then, in late afternoon we got some bad news about our good friend R. An email from his daughter informed us that he was in the hospital. He is in a coma and not expected to recover. R’s wife passed about a year ago; they had been together since college. After her death, R’s health declined. Yeah.

Sunday, October 9, 2022

A little discombobulated this morning. We finished packing for the trip, but also spent a couple of hours at the hospital. Very sad, yet meaningful to have a chance to say goodbye to R, whether he was listening or not.

Left town around two in the afternoon.

Monday, October 10, 2022

It’s often hard to sleep in a strange place, and M was out for a walk at 5:00 AM. Here’s how the yurt looked then. 

A few hours later, things were brighter. Here’s a video from inside the yurt.

After breakfast we hiked alongside the river for about two miles, heading upstream toward the city of Bend. The trail continues into the city for those who want to go that far. But the first two miles might be the nicest. The river runs through a narrow canyon. 

Thursday, October 13, 2022

Lots of warm clear days lately, great days to get outside and hike, work in the garden, or just snooze in the sun. We’re pretty sure that these nice days used to come in September, at least around here. The way we remember it, October days used to be much cooler, mostly cloudy and mostly damp. We worry that this change can’t be good. What is this doing to the flora and fauna? What will become of them? What will become of us? Is the world careening toward disaster? Maybe yes, maybe no, maybe something in between. Nothing like a nice fall day, though. Gotta go for that walk.

But speaking of worry and disruption, we found in our driveway this morning a potent and unmistakeable omen, one that points to hard times ahead. Change is coming; and at least for a month or two, it won’t be pleasant.

Friday, October 14, 2022

We went out to visit our friend L, who has five acres on the edge of the Coast Range, about twenty miles southwest of Corvallis. We took a walk on her newly created forest path, then toured the rest of the grounds.

Saturday, October 15, 2022

Both of us did yard work today. We also cleaned up the patio and did a few other preparations for having people over. M went to the middle eastern grocery and got some Mehmet Efendi Turkish coffee. (He also got some Loacker Quadratini, but we don’t imagine that the guests will get any of those.)

Sunday, October 16, 2022

Time for the 19th Annual Greek Fest, which we celebrate by eating too much Greek food and then–just for balance–having a cup of Turkish coffee. Of course you can’t drink Turkish coffee at a Greek church party–that would be crazy. So after our group of friends finishes eating at the Fest, we buy some Greek(ish) desserts to take out and everyone comes over to our place. 

Monday, October 17, 2022

Work continues on the bathroom project. You can see that there are still a few rough edges.