Christmas With the Kids

 

Monday, December 30, 2013

Today Lorraine and I got back from the coast. That would be the Oregon coast, and that would be the Pacific Ocean---just in case someone out there is not sure what coast I’m talking about. Every Christmas the family goes some place and spends a few days together. We’ve been to the Oregon Coast numerous times, to Park City, UT, to Zion National Park, UT, to Monterey Bay, CA, to WI, to Maui, HI, to Chicago, IL, to Sun River, OR, to both Texas and to Kentucky a couple times, and to Washington DC, to name a few.

This year we ended up at a house above the beach just south of Newport, OR. This house has no beach access, but does have a great view of the ocean. We’ll stick some photos in later to show you what I mean.

The people involved were our daughter Sonia, her husband Bruce, their teenage kids Cora and Adam. Also there was our younger daughter Shauna, her husband Kevin and their kids Haley, Andee, teenager Hannah, and almost teenager Sam. Of course Lorraine and I were there also.

This group is fairly mild mannered, and they are reasonably good citizens, or as Haley clarified, at least not caught yet. They are fun to be around and we always have an enjoyable time together.

The house has four bedrooms and a sleeping area in the tower, which is, well, a tower. The whole place has a nautical theme including a ship’s wheel in the loft seating area, and an indoor widow’s walk from the loft area around to and along the front wall of the two story great area. This widow’s walk had cushioned window seats so a person could sit and gaze out at the ocean.

We were there for three nights and the program worked something like this: The three older girls decided what we were going to eat at each meal. Then each family received a grocery list showing what to bring to make up these meals. Along with this was the caveat, “bring whatever goodies you feel we’ll all like.” Now all these people involved are fairly health conscious, however, looking at the goodies a person would wonder. For instance--there was a 12” by 18” by 1.5” pan of fudge. That’s a lot of fudge. There was a big tin of Chex Mix and an even larger tin of Neiman Marcus triple-threat popcorn---buttered, cheese, and caramel. There was always an assortment platter of crackers and cheeses at hand. Then there was a container of cake pops, some chocolate covered soda-cracker things, and some chocolate-covered peppermint slabs. To make it look as though we had a modicum of good sense we always had available a platter of veggies and dip, or at least I’m told we did. In addition to all this we always had available leftovers from the previous meals.

It may sound like all we did was eat, but we did manage other activities. Nearly everyone in this group loves to read, so it was not unusual at all to find most of us with our noses in a book. Adam and Sam did spend some time on video games. The girls put together a couple puzzles, and most of the group played Apples to Apples one evening until everyone was wondering how to bring the thing to a halt. One of the things that helped keep that group awake was Andee’s shrieks whenever she accidently played a card face up.

Speaking of puzzles: Shauna concentrates on puzzling like a bomb-disposal agent who absentmindedly left her protective gear in the car. This gift, her ability to focus, has stood her in good stead during her life.

Then there was the beach. The weather was marvelous---mostly clear skies with sunshine with very little wind and comfortable temperatures as long as we were wearing enough clothes. So each day we spent some time on the beach, enjoying the sun, sand, surf, and each other.

On our last day we hiked north to the Yaquina Bay south jetty, climbed up on the thing and walked out to where we needed to climb down off the jetty if we wanted to stay on reasonably dry beach. The jetty is made of big boulders all dumped together higgledy-piggledy, some as big as a small car. Climbing down off the jetty was not that easy. I was making my way down when I made a long step onto a lower slanted rock that had some barnacles on it, or so I thought, which would have made good footing, although somewhat discouraged by the naturalists, ecologists, marine biologists, park rangers, and others. This lower step was to be a launching pad for another step even lower yet to a flatter surface.

The barnacles turned out to be small sea anemones all closed up waiting for the next high tide. They made for very slick footing. That foot went out from under me, landing me on my side. I then slid down the face of that rock for about six feet before coming to a stop. As soon as I came to rest Bruce latched on to my arm with an iron grip, to make sure I didn’t, I guess, slide back up. Actually he was being helpful, but it all happened so fast that it was the soonest he could grab me. I walked away from the situation so felt fortunate. Even my camera and binoculars survived the ordeal. When people now ask why I’m walking funny and wearing a brace on one hand and wrist, I just give them my enigmatic smile and say, “Just a small rock climbing accident out on the Oregon coast.” If they read more into that than they should, well, I’m sure not the thought police.

As I explained to Kevin, getting old sucks---the balance goes, the eyesight goes, and the reflexes go, or so I’m told. People at checkout counters ask if you need help getting your groceries out to your car. Of course the answer is “No.” Now finding your car might be another matter entirely. Young people call you “Sir” and think they need to hold doors open for you. I’m sure most of you older citizens haven’t experienced any of the above.

 The sunsets were fantastic. Check out the picture below.

By the way, those of you who have read my book “In Search of the Painted Bunting” know that Lorraine and I have a passing interest in birdwatching. As we were messing about the south jetty at Yaquina Bay, in Newport, we did see a Surf Scoter, otherwise known as the Skunk Duck, as per one of our bird books--probably because of the white patch on the back of a black head and neck. As far as I can tell, not being a keeper of an organized life list, it was our first time to see a Surf Scoter.

One of the gifts the family gave me is a Samsung Tab3. I have a desktop computer, a laptop computer, and now this tablet. So far I have my desktop and the tablet going at the same time, and sometimes all three are vying for my attention. Most evenings I have my laptop and now the tablet going. So my life is full of beeps, squeaks, chirps, ringing bells, and all sorts of other noises. It sounds like a spirit medium has tapped into an otherworldly flash mob.

The whole weekend was a great success, and I only gained about five pounds.

One week later: After continually increasing pain in my back, I ended up in the emergency room of our local hospital at two in the morning. The short version is that I have a broken rib. They didn’t see any damage to the lung or surrounding tissue. Of course the total treatment package for this is to tell you that you have a broken rib and to not do anything that may aggravate it, and this after my spending two sessions exercising at the club since I’ve been back.

When I think back over the Christmases we’ve spent with the kids I realized that it might appear to a third party that I’ve gone out of my way to avoid this togetherness. Several years ago just before we were about to leave to meet the kids I had a mild heart attack and was in the hospital getting a stint put in. A couple years ago (see story above) I had a gall bladder removed on Christmas day when we were scheduled to be enjoying their company. Both seem a little extreme as avoidance mechanisms. Now this year I break a rib, but at least I got to spend the time with them first, so maybe I’m improving.





Shauna, Andee, Hannah, Lorraine, Haley, Cora, Sonia

Where are the boys? Who knows.