Thursday, May 7th
Today we attended an event sponsored by OSURA, the OSU Retirees Association. The speaker was women’s basketball coach Scott Rueck. Rueck has been coaching at OSU for 14 years and his teams have had a lot of success, three of his teams having made it into the Elite Eight and one into the Final Four. His OSURA talk is an annual event and we’ve attended two or three times over the years. Rueck is a positive and engaging speaker; listening to him always seems like time well spent. Today there were about 50 people in attendance, most of whom have been fans during his whole tenure and who have gotten to know him over the years. This made for a very relaxed event, like a gathering of old friends. He talked about the ups and downs of the season just ended and about how much he enjoys finding ways to help his athletes improve their abilities. The audience was mostly white-haired, but M got to sit next to a good looking redhead.
In other news, M reports that whatever else is going on in Washington D.C., the passport office is still functioning. Renewals can now be done online, so on May 1st M submitted his application. On May 2nd he received confirmation that his application had been received. On May 4th he was advised that his application was being processed and that this would take 4-6 weeks. On May 5th he was told that his new passport had been shipped. Today, May 7th, it appeared in his mailbox.
Friday, May 9th
We ran across a gopher snake up in the OSU forest today. It’s been a decade or two since we last saw one there.
Saturday, May 9th
We went up to Vancouver today for an early Mother’s Day celebration. The Andees took us up to Woodland, Washington to visit the Hulda Klager Lilac Gardens. Hulda Thiel Klager was born in Germany in 1863 and came to the U.S. when she was just two years old. She married Frank Klager in 1879 at the age of sixteen. Around the turn of the century, with her children mostly grown up, she was given a book about the work and methods of Luther Burbank. From then on she devoted much of her time to plants, creating many new plant varieties, especially lilacs. By 1920 she had become widely known as The Lilac Lady. Klager died in 1960 at the age of ninety-six. The story of her life and the rather dramatic history of her garden can be found here.
Before we left the gardens we had a picnic lunch catered by the Andees. No need to go into details, but we will mention that lunch came packed in a deluxe vintage picnic basket and that it included chocolate chip cookies.
Saturday, May 16th
We went along on a birding walk today at Inspiration Garden up in Monmouth. We spent about two hours peering through binoculars and listening to the group leaders giving us pointers about how to identify birds by sight and sound. We heard or saw 32 different species, including a kestrel eating its lunch on a flat topped outdoor light fixture. But that was a little far away. Among the birds that we saw more clearly, the standout was a black headed grosbeak.
Monday, May 18th
Today we slaved away in the garden all morning and then in the afternoon drove up to Brooks, Oregon to visit the Adelman Peony Gardens. What a place that is! They must have twenty or thirty acres of peony fields. What do they do with all those flowers?! For a few weeks in May and June, they are open for retail sales of potted peonies. They have several dozen varieties in stock with prices ranging from $20 up to more than $100. They were doing a very brisk business at around 2:00 PM on a Monday.
In the background of the truck photo you can see some of the many varieties for sale. Those were beautiful, but the really spectacular blooms were to be found Inside the sales room. Here are some examples.
And of course they have a nice website. If you would like to know more about the different sorts of peonies, click here. If you would like to purchase a nice expensive peony, try this one. In total there are over 500 varieties for sale at Adelman’s. All can be ordered online with individual plants being delivered September 15 to October 15. If you don’t need a peony, how about a canvas tote?
We have some peonies in our garden, all given to us by neighbors. We like them because they come up every year and require little care. They are also very pretty, of course. But we have reservations. Aren’t they a little too showy? Rolls Royces are nice cars, but there is a tinge of vulgarity in owning one. Peony cultivation has a very long history, dating back at least to the sixth century. Ancient texts from China mention medicinal uses and also the use of peony flowers as a flavoring agent.
Tuesday, May 19th
Actually we’ve been overwhelmed with flowers lately. Our back garden is being overrun by a plague of volunteer poppies, rapidly spreading calla lilies, and Oregon blue flax popping up everywhere except where we’d like to see it. See below for some glimpses into the chaos.
