California Dreamin'

Early this October, Matt and Mateo had a chance to go to their first football game together in San Francisco. Matt's been a long-suffering Patriots fan (since 1973!) and has found the last 7 years most gratifying. (Notably, the week after I first saw my good luck charm Sarah at a Boise State game, Tom Brady stepped into the starting New England QB slot, and the team's run to their first Superbowl began - can there be any greater sign that we were meant to be?!!) Pre-child, we'd done our best to get to a Patriots game each year. But we'd taken a pass for the last few years, until the vagaries of schedule put the team out on the west coast for 4 games this season, not to return for several years. So we decided try for Seattle tickets (eventually proved unavailable, due to the Ticketmaster/Seahawks legal scalping racket - Don't get me started!), and added on a trip to the bay area. Sarah's Dad's family is from Sacramento, and are still scattered around central California. We decided it would be a great chance for Mateo and family to see each other - and Mateo got to see his first football game with his Papa, who came down from Idaho for the trip, and Sarah's Aunt Cathy, as devoted and eternal a 49er's fan as Matt is for the Patriots.
We flew into Sacramento, where visited with Sarah's grandparents, Don and Pat, and her Aunt Marcia and husband Klaus. Above, Mateo puts himself in the picture at the Sacramento Zoo. I think we've tried to pose in half a dozen of these things before; This is the first time he really got it.


We picked up Mike in Sacramento, and he had a great outing with the grandson. Mateo had changed so much since the last time, and he loved the zoo and the chance to play with Papa.


Mateo was still in an animal watching mood once we got to Marsha and Klaus's, and he spent a lot of time in front of their tank, staring at the fish (and experimenting with turning on and off the lights and pumps!)

We found this little frog curled up underneath a patio lounger cushion at Marsha and Klaus's. Mateo spent ages just quietly observing it, and then we let it go in the garden.


Mateo with Auntie Marsha and Uncle Klaus. We had a wonderful visit there, great food and company, and talking into the night. Their home is on a golf course, and like many of the residents, they have a golf cart that's used to tool around the development (they don't golf, but it came with the house) Mateo really loved riding around in it, and he even got to drive.

Silverton Murals, part III

Silverton's Favorite Son

Three of our town's murals are directly or indirectly related to Silverton's most famous resident.  At the turn of the century, America's most influential political cartoonist was Homer Davenport. And his legacy is remembered in the town's annual festival, "Homer Davenport Days". Working at the Hearst papers, he helped expose some of the great scandals of the day, covered presidential elections and the sinking of the Titanic , and was so popular and  valued that he was for a time paid as much as the US president.  Ultimately, Davenport’s work became so well recognized for skewering political figures he considered corrupt, that his opponents attempted to pass a law banning political cartoons. The bill, introduced in the New York State Senate with the prodding of U.S. Senator Thomas Platt ,did not pass, but the effort inspired Davenport to create one of his most famous works: “No Honest Man Need Fear Cartoons." shown above. Behind Platt is Boss Tweed, exposed in the Tammany Hall scandals a generation earlier by Thomas Nast, an inspiration of both Davenport and his mother, who became enamored of the cartoonist's work while pregnant with Homer, and resolved that her son would follow in the man's footsteps.

His memoir "The Country Boy", though poorly circulated, was compared to Twain's as americana. And he remained a simple country boy at heart, though he became a close friend of William Randolph Hearst and made his career in cities like Portland, San Francisco and New York. It is perhaps his yearning for his Willamette Valley roots that endears him to his hometown as much as does his fame.

Davenport is remembered not just by political cartoons in American History books, but also by horse enthusiasts, as he brought some of the first Arabian Horses to the United States via a "Lawrence of Arabia"-worthy adventure to the middle east. But that story's for another day (and blog, as it has its own mural.)

Davenport was an enthusiastic supporter of  Teddy Roosevelt and left the Hearst Papers for a time to support his campaign. The party considered him worth $1000 a week ( in 1904!), and then spent $200,000 to circulate the cartoon of Uncle Sam endorsing T.R. below, considered the largest vote-getting cartoon in the history of American Politics.

Mateo and I recently got back from a trip to central California, Sarah's family's ancestral homeland and the location of Mateo's first Patriots Game! We'll chronicle the adventure in the next couple of blogs....

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.

A Weekend of Fests

Mt. Angel Oktoberfest

Oktoberfest has come around once again, and we got to host friends for the festival. (Hint: you're all invited to come visit for an Oktoberfest sometime) We volunteered at our congregation's Knights of Columbus sausage booth...where you can get one on a bun with kraut or without and one on a stick if you are just serious about in-taking protein.

The Glockenspiel is a cuckoo-clock like timepiece with life-sized moving figures: Monks, Handsel-and-Gretel-dressed kids, Medievel artisans.


Matt & I at a table in Alpine Garten with my dear friend Melissa and her friend Angelina. Angelina lives in Kellogg and came to visit Melissa for the weekend but agreed to spend part of it with us at O-Fest...we've assured her that she is welcome to come back any year, with our without Melissa.


And they weren't even drunk!

Welcome to the Shrewsbury Faire, M'Lords and Ladies!

Shrewsbury Faire is a Renaissance festival outside of Philomath, OR



Mateo really hit it off with Diana & Whitney Hardin (daughter's of Sarah's old Corrections friend, Paul)

...here they're observing a grasshopper that Whitney caught.

Below is the video of an antler parade...yet another experience that Sarah thought she would never partake in...but we had a Ye Olde Time...

Love from Oregon, Sarah & boys (check out the post below...it's new too)

First Camping Trip as a Family!

So on Labor Day weekend, we went trekking with our friends, Miranda, Eric & Sage Traeger. I finally agreed to sleep on the ground, so we went camping to a place where Eric spent lots of time in his early days...the 4 inch memory foam mattress from Costco made it so pleasant, I think we will go again...plus Mateo had so much fun playing with Sage on the hammock...higher 'Uncle' Eric, higher...

At the headwaters of the Metolius River, with Mount Jefferson in the background. Mateo loves his Baby Carrier (Oops, that's 'Big Boy' carrier.) Straps may prevent low back injury, but also make for less than pleasant picture taking...

Tired out at the end of a long day! How I miss the days when he would crawl into my arms first thing...it doesn't happen often, but when it does, it is amazing!

When it's time to pack up, Mateo lends a hand

Mateo, Sage, Matt, Miranda and Eric feeding fish at the hatchery. Mateo loved putting quarters in the fishfood dispenser as much as feeding the fish.

Thanks to our friends for showing us how much fun the great outdoors can be!!

Love, Sarah & the boys...