Month: December 2022

Thursday, December 15, 2022

Not much rain or snow here lately, but still it was a cold and frosty world this morning, with winter mist in the air and a crunchy layer of frost. E walked to tertulia while M drove. Coming home, we switched roles.

Sunday, December 18

Fairly nice weather today with intermittent rain and sunshine. Our new neighbors down on Maple Street marked the upcoming solstice by inviting the neighborhood to a celebration. It wasn’t an open house party, but rather an open garage party that also featured canopies in the driveway and a couple of propane heaters. They served snacks and drinks and also gave every departing guest a bottle of homemade soup to take away. They had quite a crowd, but they were ready. What a nice idea and what an undertaking!

Wednesday, December 21

We visited Niagara Falls today. We didn’t know if we could spare the time, but we decided we needed a break from all this Xmas business. And as it turns out, the Oregon version of Niagara Falls is only a few hours away. Why had we never been there before? We don’t know. And why is it called Niagara Falls? Is it because it looks so much like that other, more famous, Niagara Falls? No. It’s pretty though.

There are actually two falls on this hike, both dropping into the same box canyon. The first one is called Pheasant Falls.

At our lunch spot we were at the end of the box canyon, with sheer walls rising on three sides. Only the northwest end was open, which means that the base of Niagara Falls hadn’t  seen direct sunlight for three or four months. And you know what? It was cold down there. The temperature up on hillside was somewhere around 40. Down in the bottom, it had to be in the twenties. We ate our lunch there anyway, but we did not linger.

The trail leading down to the falls was only about a mile long, but it is a lovely walk. In the beginning it follows a small watercourse downward. On the hillsides the trees are mature but not really old, maybe fortyish. But down near the stream in the bottom of the ravine, it seems like nothing has ever been cut and many of the trees are mammoths. Most prominent are the huge old ash trees, but there are also a few ancient hemlocks and cedars. On the ground lie their immediate ancestors, just as impressive in their way.

Thursday, December 22

So we had a break yesterday, but today was super busy. E started at 4:00 a.m.(!) by doing some digital correspondence. M slept in till 6:30 when he finally rose and made coffee. We had a pre-breakfast of wonderful Texas grapefruit and then read the paper for a bit before heading off for tertulia. It was pretty cold, 24 degrees, and the news was full of warnings about possible ice rain. So E decided to come with M in the car instead of walking. Later in the morning we went down to visit Wild Yeast, the newest bakery in town. Then we were off to Trader Joe’s for a few tidbits–boy were they crowded–before coming home to do some baking of our own.

M made pecan sandies. They filled the house with a wonderful aroma as they baked. But that may have been their high point. Our preliminary conclusion is that, as cookies, they’re not what they should be. Serves M right for having used an internet recipe. E, on the other hand, did something tried and true; she made her famous bars. They’re definitely good.

After the baking, it was time to deal with fact that the Mazda’s left front tire has been leaking. So off we went to drop off the Mazda at the tire place. Then it was time for a quick lunch: humus for M and leftover Solstice party soup for E. Then the guys from Lane Marble arrived to install the shower glass–the final piece of the bathroom remodel. Joe the contractor also came by to see how it went and to celebrate the project’s completion. Somewhere along the line, E had put together a small platter of cookies and fruit for him to take away. Then the tire place called to say the Mazda was done. Off we went again. E then went directly from there to a medical appointment, returning an hour later just in time to tune in to Laughter Yoga. 

Meanwhile, we’ve been getting bits of news from the world outside. From Big Sky, Montana, we’ve heard from our friends L and P. P has been working at the Big Sky resort for many years now, after leaving his job in Bend, Oregon back in the 90’s when that town got too crowded for his taste. Finally, this year, it was time for him to retire. We hear there was an awesome party to mark the occasion. We’re not sure how old P is; we think he’s 92. 

Friday, December 23

We got up to find Corvallis locked down by a layer of ice. Nothing is moving on any of the streets around us. We’ve never known it to be so quiet here. At 8:00 the temperature was 24 degrees and a light rain was falling, perfect conditions for making the ice even thicker.

By 1:00 the temperature had risen to 32. Not much help there; the ice was worse than ever. By 3:30, though, there were clear signs of melting. They say it will get into the 40’s later this afternoon and stay that warm overnight, so we may be able to move around tomorrow. Meanwhile we have heat, light, food and an abundance of unhealthy sweets. We’ll be fine. 

Peace, warmth, and happy days to all.

Friday, December 9, 2022

After lunch today J and R joined us in our first adventure with “cupping” at Margins coffee in Albany. Our host was Margins owner and roast master David, a thirty-something former chemistry teacher who seems to be really enjoying this coffee thing. He had five coffees for us to sample. Three were from Ethiopia, one was from Honduras, and one was from Indonesia (Sumatra). The photo above shows a cup of Taro, which comes from Ethiopia and which is dried via a natural process. More on that later.

Our host brewed the coffee very simply by putting grounds into the bottom of a cup, filling the cup with hot water, and waiting several minutes for the grounds to settle out. He then used a shallow spoon to skim off the coffee foam or crema. The result of this process was a thin liquid that was quite flavorful but not very strong. 

When the five sample cups were ready, David gave each of us a spoon and a tasting glass and then demonstrated how to use them. First you dip your spoon into one of the sample cups and transfer about a teaspoon of the brew to your glass. Then you have to slurp up the whole sample, trying to spray it into all parts of your mouth. Before demonstrating that part, David warned us that cupping is a noisy process.

During and after the tasting, David also talked about some of the many factors that affect coffee flavor. Different varieties of coffee plants, differing soil types and differing climate all have their effects. He also mentioned that there are two main methods of coffee processing: natural drying and wet drying. Coffee beans, we learned, are the core or pit of coffee fruit. The whole fruit is called a coffee cherry. In a natural drying process, fresh picked coffee cherries are spread out onto concrete or onto drying tables and left in the sun to dry. They need to be raked constantly so as to prevent rot and assure uniform drying. Once the cherries are fully dry, the outer skin and fruit are separated from the coffee beans inside. The wet process is more complex. First the coffee cherries go through a depulper, which removes the outer skin of the cherry, but leaves some of the underlying fruit still covering the bean. This remaining fruit material is called mucilage. The mucilage-covered beans then rest for a day or two during which time the mucilage starts to ferment–which releases sugar– and some of this sugar is absorbed by the beans. After two days, the rest of the mucilage is washed off. The beans must then be dried, either in the sun or by mechanical means. 

And of course roasting also has a great deal to do with flavor. So how do coffee roasters like David know which coffee will respond best to various kinds of roasting? The answer is that they don’t really know until they try. David performs cupping sessions every Friday and visitors are welcome, but even if no one shows up to watch, David does the cupping anyway. His purpose is to sample the beans that he has roasted earlier in the week to see how they’ve come out. We noticed him taking notes. Was he carefully writing down how each of us responded to each sample? Nah. People who are passionate about what they’re doing don’t bother with focus groups. He was making notes about what he tasted. It was great talking to him. Good company and a bit of caffeine. We all came away in good spirits.

Sunday, December 11, 2022

Wow. Quite a bit of sunshine today. There’s a big winter storm system in the news, but it’s passing a hundred miles or so to the south of us. 

Monday, December 12, 2022

As was expected by almost everyone, the implementation of Oregon’s new gun law has been idelayed, as there have been a number of legal challenges. The measure bars the sale of ammunition magazines larger than 10 rounds, requires purchasers to undergo firearms training, and requires that a background check be fully complete before a gun transfer can proceed. (This last provision closes a major loophole in the existing federal law regarding background checks.) The law is the result of an initiative measure that passed by a very narrow margin: 50.6% to 49.4%. The new law is opposed by many police and sheriff departments, partly because it charges them with the task of conducting the training and maintaining the records without providing any resources to support it. The legal challenges, however, are focused on the first provision, and claim simply that a limit on magazine size violates the constitutional right to keep and bear arms. 

The magazine capacity limit applies to new civilian purchases only. Military and police are exempted as are current owners of large magazines. This did not prevent one Oregon county sheriff from releasing a statement saying that if the law is implemented “we will be helpless to defend ourselves.” The position of the Meandering on the Way (MOTW) editorial board on this issue is that almost all of us feel that way once in a while. 

Tuesday, December 13, 2022

Another great weather day and also the day when we finally got the drawer pulls for our bathroom cabinet. Whoopee. This makes the cabinet fully useable and marks the next to the last step in the completion of the bathroom remodel. The last step will be installing glass panels instead of a shower curtain around the shower.

Tuesday, November 29, 2022

It’s a big week for our bathroom project. Today we got marble in the shower.

Wednesday, November 30, 2022

And today we got a granite countertop.

Thursday, December 1, 2022

Icy rain early this morning at our house; snow in other places. And then, by nine, the sun was shining, and M went out to rake apple leaves. Just as he finished, the sun was obscured by another passing shower. or two, or three, or four. Nevertheless, In the afternoon we drove east to Waterloo, Oregon and went walking on the south bank of the Santiam River. First we meandered through an eighteen-hole disc golf course, a long, narrow affair that threads its way along the river through a forest of firs, cottonwoods and the occasional blackberry thicket. Someone had once spent a lot of time and effort making it. Every hole had a number marker, a bench, and concrete pad to launch from. But all else was wonderfully natural. If you weren’t looking at a tee or a basket, you’d have no idea you were on a course. And even in the tee areas, there was a sense of disuse, as if the bench and pad  belonged to another era. Was it simply that December is off-season? We couldn’t quite tell. 

After touring the disc golf course, we returned on a path that runs very close to the river, which was running high and fast. 

Friday, December 2, 2022

Another major development today; we now have fixtures! It’s still not quite finished, but the bathroom is functional. M will move back in.

Drawer pulls, shower glass, and a bit of marble trim are all that remain to be installed. Poor M is already having buyer’s remorse and missing his old ugly bathroom. He’ll get over it.

Saturday, December 3, 2022

Time to prep for Christmas! We spent some time in the garage, pulling out lights, ornaments, and our trusty tree stand. Then we went and got a tree, a modest one, at our usual place. We decided to set it up immediately so that the fresh cut base wouldn’t have time to dry out. First, we had to move away the giant jade plant so as to clear space for the tree. But where to put the jade? Last year we tried moving it into the dining room for the season, but overnight it went limp and looked terrible. “I’m dying here,” it called out. “Don’t you care at all?” We knew we’d have to figure out a better place for it this year–but that would have to wait. We needed to get that tree up. 

Now, as we all know, the basic process of setting up tree up is simple. You put it into the stand and then one person holds it straight while the other person tightens the clamps. Unfortunately for us, we often have trouble with the straight part. Funny how many different ideas of straight there can be. And of course the trees we buy are almost always kinda crooked in themselves. (Why do we buy them then? We don’t know. They look pretty in the lot.) Anyway, we got through the straightening part okay and in the end there was our tree, in our stand, looking pretty darn good. Time to add water. E volunteered for this. She put in one liter. She refilled her bottle and started adding another liter. Then she noticed that as she poured water in at the top, there was quite a considerable amount of water oozing out from the bottom. Whoa! M was paralyzed with dismay, indecision, and general incompetence; but E quickly fetched towels to soak up the water and a basin to wring them into. After we dealt with the water, we took the tree back out of the stand and carried it back onto the patio. We examined the stand and found, of course, a large crack in the bottom. Our bucket, as the song says, had a hole in it. Time to break for lunch. 

So we got a new stand and some take-out food. And after we ate, we set up the tree again and poured water into it. And it didn’t leak. And that was fine. After that, M went out and put up the outside lights while E crossed the great divide (Walnut Blvd.) and took a walk up a nearby hill. She came back with the triumphant announcement that she had climbed 12 floors. In the evening we watched A Boy Named Christmas on Netflix. It was very nice, both nice in itself and nice in giving us a break from our current Turkish series, the endlessly frustrating but oddly addictive Black Money Love.

Sunday, December 4, 2022

We had an unexpected event today at breakfast when we got into some Hiatt Bakery pastries that we had previously stashed in our freezer. M’s treat was a moderate sized bear claw. E’s was a largish cinnamon roll. Prudently, she split it in half before attacking it. After taking a few bites, she was heard to remark “This is really sweet…really, really sweet.” And then later, “Ooh, it’s too rich.” Who would have expected such sentiments for this source? Strange indeed are the days in which we live. 

Despite the strangeness, we managed to take a walk in the forest and get the tree decorated.