Wild Things and Mountain Peaks

"...And when he came to the place where the wild things are they roared their terrible roars and gnashed their terrible teeth and rolled their terrible eyes and showed their terrible claws."

That's Sarah's cousin Matt below reading "where the wild things are" with Mateo, who loves to act out the scene quoted above. (including material from the recently discovered first draft, where Sendak wrote "...and stuck out their terrible tongues!"). Mateo loves all of Maurice Sendak's books, especially this one and "In the Night Kitchen". There are plans afoot to get him into Max's wolf costume for halloween. We'd like get a "wild thing" costume for Dad, but perhaps if he just doesn't trim his hair or beard before then, it'll do.

Matt's back for his second year in the seminary at Mount Angel. We're glad to be able to be an oasis of family in a foreign land (hey, he's from California!) When his studies allow, we have him over for dinner (or to do his laundry) and he's been a great help to the other Matt in house projects - and mateo has a ball with him!

Nona had been wanting to visit Timberline lodge on Mount Hood for a while, so we took the opportunity on a sunny September day. It rises just south of the Columbia River Gorge, and is a couple hours northeast of us on back roads. Hood is one of several dormant volcanos in the Cascade range, and a big skiing destination. In fact behind them above you can see the glacier that is groomed year-round to allow summer skiing. This is about the most uncovered you'll see Hood, at the end of the summer melt and before high altitude snow starts. For a winter view, check this travelogue page (Hood Facts)
Timberline Lodge was built by the WPA (and is aptly named, as you can see from the last scattering of trees at the timberline behind Nona and Mateo) and has the kind of incredible construction and craftmanship you only see in that depression era agency's projects, when everyone from unskilled laborers to artists and architects came to the same place to get work in hard times.
We took the long way home, heading up the Hood River Valley east of the mountain, to the Gorge and back into Portland. The valley is orchard central for Oregon, and has been since shortly after pioneers arrived. It was a good time to take advantage of the apple and pear harvests, and we hit a number the stands and farms on the hood river "Fruit Loop" picking up lots of uncommon varieties of both on the cheap.