One of the joys of living like vagabonds is the ability to change locations quickly. The weather in western Oregon was turning downright cold and damp. One morning recently I went to get something out of the shop trailer and I perchance looked at my lathe and behold it had taken on a distinct red hue. My tools are rusting away before my eyes; Oh the shame of it. A sheet of 600 grit sandpaper and some oil put things right, but it is time to seek a warmer and dryer climate. Continue reading Return to Gilroy:
Family Legends 2:
This is the second in the Family Legends series. This is the infamous story about “The Gasoline Can.” Even in my youth I was a compulsive tinkerer and fixit person. This is a story that could have had a very different ending… Continue reading Family Legends 2:
Bluegrass Weekend
This is our third year of attending the Tygh Valley Bluegrass Festival. (Pronounced like ‘tie valley’) Each time it just keeps getting better. This time we talked some of our friends in to joining us in Tygh Valley. Long time friends, Fran Pickering and David and Adrienne Schilling joined us at the fairgrounds. Adrienne, Fran, Judy and I sang together in choir for many years. In addition, Fran is an excellent, classically trained violinist. We perhaps corrupted Fran just a bit. Continue reading Bluegrass Weekend
Waltzing Mathilda:
At 2:42 A.M. Friday, September 10, 2010 Renee and Neil Tice welcomed sweet little Mathilda Starr Tice into the family. Judy and I were caring for Georgia Ann who is just one day short of her 4th birthday. We spent most of Friday at the birthing center in Portland.
When we left the center at seven p.m. everyone was doing just fine and Georgia elected to sleep in with Mommy, Daddy and Mathilda. You will find a photo of this precious little bundle on our website: Continue reading Waltzing Mathilda:
Family Legends
In the big inning there was the typewriter and gelatin transfer mimeo. In that era Judy and I were the leaders of a square dance group called the “Sage Hoppers.” I produced the monthly news letter on “spirit transfer stencils” and a tray of transfer gelatin. Believe it or not, the product is still out there. I Googled it and was directed to a tattoo supply company. The product is used to transfer designs to the skin to guide the creation of the tattoo.
Next came the ham radio and QSL cards for spreading the words. I sold my ham radio intending to buy a better one but instead purchased a CompuColor II computer based on the intel 8080A CPU and 32 kilobytes of memory. With a 300 baud modem we could have posted notes on the popular bulletin boards of the day but that was not exciting to us. Glen and I were both learning to program in Basic and Assembly languages. We were computer geeks with a capital ‘G.’ Continue reading Family Legends