My last road trip with dad

I had a conversation today with a fellow photographer about the pros and cons of taking a road trip with another photographer. And like taking a road trip with anyone, you'll either love them or hate them by the end. Then randomly (?) I started looking at images on my long neglected website and Flickr feed and found a set from a road trip I took in 2008.

When my husband couldn't go because of work at the last minute, I invited my dad to go as I was heading to Mt. Shasta to meet a fly fishing guide, and perhaps he could get a day or two of fly fishing in while we worked on Shasta Trout's (then) new website. He was beyond gung-ho and drove to Portland and picked me up.

We opted to take a meandering route to have a look at Crater Lake, which I'd never seen and planned to stay the night in Ashland so I could take him to a fun English Pub my husband and I discovered the year prior. We encountered forest fires, thunderstorms, downed trees that blocked highways and a balloon festival. And through it all my dad never once complained about my wanting to stop to take a few snaps or a few hundred, for that matter. He was as easy going as could be. My dad passed away suddenly last September. My heart is utterly broken and I've struggled for months to put my thoughts and feelings into words. I'm grateful for countless adventures we enjoyed and for his patience and love. I miss him more than words can convey. Thank you dad.

Roamin'

Over the summer, we've been having lots of fun. On various outings, things take an expected turn and almost always result in amazing adventure.

Before we even left the house for adventure one day, our neighbor brought over a tiny kitten she found sleeping under her front stairs. She asked us to watch it while she ran some errands. She had to go but promosed to return later to help find the rightful owner. Of course, with a tiny haggard kitten to play with, we were all over it - it was quite fun. The doggies were suspicious but eventually we just went through our day and the kitten napped in the dining room.

Our neighbor returned and with the help of a group of people, the original owners were found and all was good. The owners didn't seem particularly distraught and were busy with their dog and a newborn for most of our encounter. It seemed like the kitten was just not getting attention.

A few weeks passed and "Roman" (as a play on words for "roamin'") faded from memory.

Then, one night while walking through the park across the street, we walked past a tree and an an animal scurried up the tree about ten feet to the first nook. Upon closer inspection it was Roman again, this time quite dirty and with some dried blood on his chin. He was slowly heading to feral, it seemed.

Well, we took Roman home, cleaned him up and set him up to sleep in the basement with Bobby, since it's full bedroom and away from the doggies. He snuggled right in and probably slept a lot better than outside in the grass. I'm unsure where Roman will end up longer term, but we'll hold onto him for a few days and see if he sticks around when the door is open.

Sounds

Have a Listen!

Summer Solace

Hello again, dear friends and family. The summer is full blast and we're through the first week of above-100-degree weather. No word on if another will hit us, but right now things are delightfully balmy.

We've been busy. Here's a summary:
I got ordained as a minister and officiated two friends' weddings. They didn't want to do anything complicated or large, so having a friend help out was impossible to ignore. The big days were flawless, and everything went just fine. Hanmi shot the weddings and the photos are beautiful.

Han's working on some new websites. They are not only well-done, but quite informative. If you're in the area, give these businesses a visit
FixYourOwnBack.org: using doctor-approved gentle exercises.
Shasta Trout: When you want the best trout-fishing excursion possible.
h2meyer.com: The most beautiful photography ever.
Padre Pio: Cool Tunes
Diamond-Cut Life: Sustainability Blog and News. Great ideas for living great the low-impact way.

We're both back to full climbing season, with 3 or 4 trips out per week, getting set for nice trips to Smith Rock, Leavenworth, and Red Rocks.

Han is now selling "The Hotness" BBQ Sauce. If you want some, just let us know. We have testimonials from all over our circle of friends: This stuff is THE best BBQ sauce you'll ever try. It's hot, not too sweet, and full of a flavor.

Padre Pio has a show coming up! If you're in the area, stop in and let us entertain you.

Until next, time, be sure to kiss your chick.

Sunny

Well, it's Spring again. After the cold and wild Winter of 08/09, the trees are showering us with beautiful flowers. As usual, our piecemeal status updates are dropping into other channels than this area. We're on facebook and email, but nothing really pours into online channels - too many real-life people to chat with, thankfully.

Han's documentary concepts are forming, and she's been working with Reach, a community development non-profit to help with their photos and presentations. Her web development skills are now powering quite a few sites, including Shasta Trout, Diamond-Cut Life and the Spring's latest project, Padre Pio. It's quite amazing to see her branch out and use barter for smaller transactions, which helps everyone build great relationships and stay connected while the official economy tanks.

My own projects has revolved around music this Spring. Starting in Feb, I switched from guitar and MIDI-based songwriting to a more social band atmosphere. Although I still like dabble, the fun of collaboration for writing, play and recording has been awesome. All the usual drama around a "band" comes along, which is fun in its own way.

The house transformed for a few weeks into an amateur studio/rehearsal space while the band prepped for a few performances. It may still convert from time to time, but for now, its (almost) back to a full dining room.

I've gotten knee-deep into the world of online music promotion, ranging from a few social networking sites to more of the marketing and selling sites. I've also stumbled across a ton of great musicians along the way.

Also, I've had to realize that 38 is old in the music sense. A lot of the folks who have the most freedom to participate are young and subsisting on their parents' resources. In other words, there's a lot of people about 3 years away from reality smacking them in the face. I'm happy to split a "day job" with true focus on music in a realistic sense: ability, creativity, sociability. I'm glad to have been introduced to some similar folks through Han's musician links she's made over the years.

In the non-music news, we've been taking "NET" classes for a few weeks now. NET is a regional version of the federal "CERT" program that teaches citizens preparedness, light rescue and medical techniques for getting through a large-scale disaster. Here in the NW, our particular dangers are from volcanoes, earthquakes, windstorms, and possibly fires. When a "big one" hits, the professionals have realized that they will be overwhelmed, and so these classes become essential to getting the most number of people to survive. We're learning basic techniques to getting through such events, from how to use certain equipment, to organizational/communication skills to psychological concepts that can arise. It's wonderfully fascinating, even if the subject matter is scary and morbid. Look for this in your town - it's amazing.

The economic depression has hit our way, just like everywhere. We've scaled back on travel plans, taken a 10% hit on income, and re-formulated our cost-of-living. Also, we're re-financing on a much lower rate, which should offset some other losses. In the end, though, I'm happy to see that our cost of living was already so low that just a few changes were necessary to keep us going. We're able to still save in case of something big, and we're still enjoying all the activities we always have (biking/climbing/gardening/cooking/music-making).

In the future generally, Han and I are both bracing for even more narrowing of our spending habits. But for now, with the Spring in full action (no heating bills) and no big projects on the list, we're confident we can weather the dollar drought.