One reason for sending Christmas cards

You receive a picture like this:

These are my grandnephews Hayden, Patrick, and Preston, sending Christmas greetings to all.

Family Reunion 2007

The Stephens and Brown clans got together at Champoeg State Park. The Stephens folks have been getting together every year but it had been some time since they've been with the Browns, who are cousins on Mom's side. It was my turn to host so I took the opportunity to get both clans together in one place.

Larry Brown brought photos and a notebook compilation of the Brown family archive. It was great to see the photos and letters that our grandfather, my mother and her brother Delmar had gathered. Our grandparents were descendants of pioneers who had settled in Oregon in the 1840's so seeing the artifacts and reading the history was a real treat.

This was the ending of a very busy June. It was a lot of fun and full of variety. I'm looking forward to a few lazy days of summer before the chorus season begins again.

Gird your loins

The election is more than a year away and already I'm annoyed. This isn't a good sign. I'm a fiscal conservative social liberal, which means I want the government to have the programs we need to maintain a semblance of a good life for everyone but not waste money doing the job. I could swing either Democrat or Republican, so I'm one of those voters the presidential candidates need to convince of their worthiness.

So far, I'm not impressed.

The Democrat machine is spinning out Hillary Clinton as the candidate of choice. Next to her is Barack Obama, the young upstart who is winning voters with his ideas. Behind both of them is John Edwards, who ran as the vice presidential candidate with John Kerry. The media is making the Clinton/Obama competition the headline of the Democratic offering for the presidency. Today I heard about their attending the civil rights commemoration events in Selma, scheduling their speeches so that they conflict with each other, then walking together over the Edmund Pettus bridge with other officials. Obama had come at the invitation of Congressman John Lewis (D-GA) to Selma, then Clinton announced she was going, attending a ceremony that inducted her husband, Bill Clinton, into the Civil Rights Hall of Fame. This jockeying for media exposure didn't win my respect for either candidate. But then, neither candidate was really pulling my heartstrings. Obama doesn't have enough political experience to be president. Clinton has too much baggage. Edwards, who is speaking at the University of California , Berkeley, wisely stayed out of the fray.

On the Republican side, John McCain announced his jump into the fray, but I don't see him winning the nomination what with his stand on some issues that the Republicans traditionally support and remarks he has made. Mitt Romney and Rudy Giuliani will most likely be duking it out.

I'll be watching these guys.

Coming to a porch near you

This morning I heard a thump and thought it was a cat jumping from the high perch in the other room. Then I saw one of the cats, who had been sunning herself on the back of the futon chair, down on the floor and looking furtively over her shoulder to the outside. Inspection of the front porch turned up another phone book, this time from Verizon. This makes three. Now, tell me in this age of Internet phone directories why I need three phone books? I understand there are folks who don't have computers or use their computers for looking up phone numbers, and it's good to have one phone book in case of emergency. But there is no need for three phone books from three different companies (in my case, Qwest, Verizon, and Yellow Book). The books appear to be cast upon us by squads of cheaply paid temps who go through the neighborhoods and drop off their bundles regardless of need, like advertisement slips. It seems like such a waste of paper. Though for a cheap amusement, get one wet and see it bloom like a flower as the pages crinkle.

Knitting

The second sleeve on the Sirdal is coming along. I'm working on the upper motif now and should have the sweater completed in a week or two. I'm starting work tomorrow part time, taking on the bonfires that flared up in my absence then coming home to nap. We'll see how much of a button band and collar I knit up this week.

Friday, I took my sister Pam to Woodland Woolworks. It was a going to be a challenge to my sticking to the Knit From Your Stash and I failed. I had a list and got all the items in it: buttons for the Sirdal and yarn for knitting a Fair Isle practice hat that will go in the gift basket. Then I went in the Stash Room and found enough Dale Heilo in their darkest blue (it looks like black) to knit another Dale sweater. Opportunities like this don't come often so I seized it. Good thing my tax refund was already in my account.

Pam and I had a lovely day together. She's my eldest sister and surrogate mom. She knows that an outing with me is guaranteed to be interesting and tinged with the thrill of adventure. She took knitting back up a few years ago, so I knew a trip to Woodland Woolworks would be enjoyable. Since it's located in the heart of wine country, the trip itself is beautiful, even when it's pouring down rain. The trip gave us a chance to talk over things and have a few laughs. She's going through a stressful period right now so anything that can help her laugh is always welcome.