One Year Anniversary


As of May 29, I’ve been in California for a year. The bad news of December just kept getting worse...there was no work for either of us in January and February. Then in March, Gauss discovered that he had prostate cancer.

Surgery seemed like the best option, so Gauss scheduled it as to happen as soon as possible, March 27. Gauss seemed most worried that it interrupted his training for the Stillwater Marathon, but that was the least of our worries. Fortunately, the pathology report following surgery seemed to indicate that the cancer was contained, so now that his prostate is no longer in him, the cancer shouldn't be, either.

The other good news is that part of the stimulus package was a provision that pays 65% of COBRA premiums for 9 months. Our 9 started in March. It was a huge relief for us, as the COBRA premiums are about $1400 a month. I wrote a short piece about it that was accepted by KQED, our local public radio station. That aired May 5.

http://www.kqed.org/epArchive/R905050737

Uncle Sam swooped in with a temporary job, too. I worked for two months for the U.S. Census Bureau as a crew leader, beginning in March and ending in May. The operation was called "address canvassing" and our mission was to find every address where anyone lived or could live and document it so that when the actual census takes place next April, they will know where to send the forms or the census takers.

I was looking forward to walking the streets of my neighborhood, figuring that all the exercise would be healthful. However, as crew leader, my job was to stay put and play sheepdog to my 15 charges. I discovered that as the boss, I got a grand total of $1 more per hour than my crew. I was really happy to have the steady income, but next time, I would be just as happy to be a grunt, thank you!

Travel hasn't been in the cards, but Gauss and I played hooky for a Sunday and drove to Big Sur.




I also managed a short trip to Tacoma, Washington, for a family reunion with my cousins, all the children and stepchildren of my late Aunt Esther and Uncle Carl. It has been decades since I was in the Seattle/Tacoma area, and I remember why I went there so often as a college kid. The mountains are spectacular! I found it comforting to be in a northern latitude. The angle of the sun is different, and Washington, like Minnesota, is GREEN in the summer, not brown.

The flight there and back was spectacular. The skies were clear, so I got a bird's eye view of all the snow-cappedCascade volcanoes: Shasta, Lassen, Oregon's Three Sisters, Mt. Bachelor, Mt. Hood, St. Helens, Adams, and Rainier. Best of all, we flew right over Crater Lake. See photos from plane, below.

Crater Lake with snow

Mt. Hood, the Columbia River, and Portland

There was a big pot luck family reunion at the home of the Chase Vanload (my cousin Laura, her husband Bill, and the Chase kids.) In attendance were my cousins Kory and Steve, Kory's daughter Leah and Leah's son Finn, Laura's half brothers Mark and David Sinclair, my Mom, my sister Ginnie, and assorted significant others and friends.

Mom and Ginnie stayed with Kory at her new condo--it has a spectacular view of Mt. Rainier from the balcony.

I stayed with Kory's daughter Leah and her husband George in Gig Harbor. Steve came by and gave us a slide show of his nature photos. My two favorites, of red-winged blackbirds singing on a chilly morning, are included here.

I also had to show one of my favorites from Steve's online portfolio, entitled "Got the hay cut in time" because I miss big sky and bigger clouds. For more of Steve's amazing photos, follow this link:

http://photo.net/photos/stp



Finally. besides seeing Mom, Ginnie, and the many cousins (sorry I'm not naming you all here) a big highlight of the trip was enjoying Tacoma's Museum of Glass, featuring installations by Dale Chihuly.

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