Meandering on the Way — Nov. 29 to Dec. 4, 2022

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.