Water Works

Robin enjoyed a wonderfully productive Saturday in the yard weeding, landscaping, planting, etc. I, on the other hand, had quite a destructive Saturday in the yard breaking our sprinkling system.

We inherited a sprinkling system that came with the house. I tried to turning it on for the first time Saturday and learning the lines, circuits, etc. I did poorly learning the valves. I turned something that wasn’t supposed to be turned. –Snap. Run around to the other side of the house and close the main valve, quick!

After an hour of work with a pocket knife, vise-grip, and hammer I clogged the hole the way one might try to shove an oversized cork into a champagne bottle.

Then I was back to my original problem. Why could I hear the electric buzz of the solenoids and sound of flowing water in the pipes when circuit #3 was turned “on”, but see absolutely no water coming out anywhere in the yard? I double-checked the drain and bleed valves (or what I thought were...). Still no answer.

And that’s how I leave you. If you’re experiencing an unexpected water leak (as opposed to an expected one?), call me. It might be hooked up to my #3.

Happy Mother's Day

...to all mothers everywhere.

We enjoyed the new dimension of being parents on the occasion. How grateful we are to have Talmage, and his wonderful mom. Waffles, letting her sleep in, and a poem go a long way. Plus it was a beautiful day. We walked to our favorite park and set Talmage loose on the ducks and geese. His growling crawl was no match for their quacking waddle however. Picture an intense chase scene in slow-motion. He was still thoroughly content. Robin and I wear smiley beaks for the surprising and indescribable joy we're finding in parenthood.

Block by Block

Talmage hit a couple developmental milestones this week. The first one I wasn't expecting at all, had never considered... Robin called me at work and exclaimed that Talmage was stacking blocks. This was a definite departure from his usual destructive performance with the blocks on the coffee table. It's fun to watch his concentration as he tries to manipulate a block and place it carefully upon another. For his second milestone, he enunciated his first audible word. He knows what it means and will say it whenever the time is right. His first word is (no joke) "chicken"


We visited Silver Falls, OR this past weekend--land of large and many waterfalls. Our ward had the Father/Son campout there and I played substitute dad for a couple boys. Robin and Talmage joined me the next day along with cousins from Corvallis and we enjoyed a short hike and picnic together.


Driving home I jumped into the large Walmart in Woodburn to purchase some badly needed socks. Inside a Mariachi band was playing live music--happy Cinco de Mayo.

Talmage Top(s) Ten (Months)

If you’re not Talmage’s grandparents, you probably won’t be interested in this submission—move on. This is more talk-about-your-kid time. I wanted to document some of the recent Talmage-10mo.-isms before they’re forgotten.

. We take showers with Talmage. So he knows what’s happening on the other side of the obscured glass door. Sometimes, or usually, when Talmage knows you’re in the shower he’ll crawl up to greet you by banging his palms on the shower door. I respond with a “palm bang” opposite his on the other side of the door. Yesterday, he started doing blowfishes.

. When Robin works her 12-hr Saturday shifts I get plenty time with my son, as I sometime say: Talmage and Briton, mono a mono. I’ve been out of the loop lately on what he eats, beyond the ‘sprinkle Cheerios on the high chair tray’ to keep him occupied. We’ve stopped stocking the Gerber goo, so you have to be more creative when deciding what to feed him. Yesterday afternoon I quandered (ie. was in a quandary)... and then remembered Robin saying he can eat bananas. I didn’t realize he was going to consume an entire banana right there.

. Talmage does well to play the part and put up with me sometimes. When putting him to sleep, I tried holding him in his darkened room and swaying side-to-side singing a lullaby. He began to feel limp on my shoulder and I knew it was near time for that risky move to lay him in the crib. As I was about to start, he suddenly reared up, lifted a superman fist to the stars and exclaimed “Rrraa!” Seeing he completely startled me, he grinned and gazed at me with conniving eyes. Oh boy, I thought, this is going to be harder than expected. But then he went limp again on my shoulder, as if to say, “C’mon daddy, I know you’re going to put me in that crib. Why don’t you just get on with it...” So I did and he went to sleep without a fuss.

. Talmage, perhaps like most babies, is incredibly fascinated with light, and sources of light. He loves to look at lights, see them go on and off, and try to touch them. He’s become quite an expert on the lights in our house, and the other night he shared with me some of his deep knowledge. We have a light fixture in the dining room, a basic three-lamp piece suspended from a chain. We also seldom have a table underneath, so you can walk right up to it (in fact, I often bonk my head on it). A real hit is to spin the fixture on its chain. Talmage gazes intently as the lights twirl around. He’s discovered, particularly at night, that the lights reflect in the windows, and he loves to track the reflections too. He revealed to me the symmetry of light in the south wing of our house. Talmage created this scientific diagram showing the four sources of reflection he discovered, and he’s diligent about checking all of them when the light is on:

. Robin lets the chickens roam free in our backyard now. Talmage loves to stare at them, and growl.

. With the weather getting nicer, I’m starting to drive around with the windows down. The draft produced in backseat is pretty intense and Talmage loves getting his hair whipped around. When we’re stopped at a light to turn left, cars wiz by at high speeds on either side of us. Peering back at Talmage, I see his head turn quickly from side-to-side as he tries to get a glimpse of these new noise makers on the road.

. Our son has this red/blue outfit, like a one-sie but the bottom snaps down the legs part-way to form, uh, shorts. They’re like coveralls with legs cut just above the knee, and short sleeves (so not really like coveralls). The other day Talmage was motoring around, and crawling up on things as usual, in this outfit. The bottom half wasn’t snapped—at all—forming a priestly skirt look. In fact, it looked like he had joined the ministry.

. The cupboards and drawers in the kitchen all have kid-locks on them, except for the cupboard with the spacious though inaccessible inside which takes up that awkward corner space. This is Talmage’s cupboard. He sits or stands and plays with his things that are stored therein. His treasures include water bottles, plastic Gerber food packages (they function as great little tupperwares), a food masher handcrank, breastpump hoses and other stuff. It takes little time for him to spill his wealth out onto the kitchen floor. An amusing sequence can then ensue. He’ll step on one of the tiny, see-through plastic Gerber food package lids, which subsequently sticks to the bottom of his foot. When he takes another step, that foot now glissades along the linoleum as he struggles to balance himself and comprehend what’s happening.

Meet Beethoven

I sing here and there, in choirs etc., especially being a Mormon, there’s ample opportunity. About a year ago I sang with the large Portland Mormon Choir and Orchestra for a super Joseph Smith Commemoration. I enjoyed it tremendously, but felt quite outclassed and also not up for the time commitment. Well, this last December the Choir sent out a call to help with their newest project--a joint performance with the Willamette Falls Symphony Orchestra doing Beethoven’s 9^th Symphony. Sounded like quite an exciting opportunity, so I began attending rehearsals, listening to the music, and stretching my voice again.

I’d only known the main theme before this point, but began to be intimately familiar with it, at least the 4^th movement (the only one which has any singing). I find it quite beautiful--and as we recall, Beethoven wrote this piece after having lost his hearing. I carpooled extended distances with friends for the rehearsals once or twice a week. We were on a tight schedule: show time in one month! The notes were coming (though way too high Meister B!), and I was slowly picking up German pronunciation, sorta.

The week of the performance arrived. Excitement was creeping in and Talmage was surely tired of hearing my practice CD for his every breakfast. Final rehearsal with the orchestra went well, we were sounding good--just keep your eyes on that conductor. And then... the night before the performance, I fell ill. We’re talking wasted, no-energy, I-can’t-sing ill. So set in sadness as I was lying in bed thinking of the choir and orchestra some miles away recreating Beethoven’s masterpiece for a packed auditorium.

However, there in bed the idea struck that I was approximating Beethoven’s own experience when his 9^th premiered. He could only imagine the sound, hearing it in his head, but not with his ears. Freude!

Muir Woods Weekend

Vacationed to California last weekend. That’s one of the reasons I enjoy not living in California—so I can say I’m vacationing there. I can also claim to get respite or delight in respite in the Golden State, though I’ve only taken holiday to Britain once.

Long time coming, Robin and I had signed up for the 25K trail run in Muir Woods, CA two years ago. Then surgeries and injuries forced perjuries and EnvrioSports graciously held our registration fees to a future event, this year.

Road trip to the Bay Area; hook up with friends who heroically handle hotel babysitting Talmage.... As I wound the Subaru through the foggy drizzle down to Stinson Beach on race morning, Robin and I exclaimed, “this is crazy!” --thinking of running 15.5miles in the cold rain with obscured scenery. But after a rousing refrain of “America the Beautiful” some 300 runners launched up the “Steep Ravine Trail” to wander into misty Muir Woods...

There’s something about running through beautiful scenery that thrills my soul. “The woods [were] lovely, dark, and deep...” and the rain quickly became an accent rather than an irritant. I “soaked it up” –all of it. Plus, I was feeling on top of my game and ran well (though definitely walked some stretches too).

Here are some of Robin’s words worth echoing:

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The first 3 miles were an uphill scramble (including up a 10-ft wooden ladder) to aid station number one. Lots of bottle-necking on the uphill, thankfully for me, as it modified the race-pace to a fast walk at many switchbacks. The rain was not so noticeable under the redwood canopy and as I began the gradual downhill descent after mile 3, with runners more spaced out now, lengthened stride pounding on soft pine needles, my grin betrayed my inward joy. It felt so good!!! The rain cleared up eventually. It was a beautiful run. I walked a lot on several other uphill stretches, but .. no matter. I was there for the scenery and the exercise. It was one of the most joyous, challenging races I've been in. Imagine coming out of the woods at mile 11 (or so) to find yourself at the top of a green, wildflower-bestudded (word? sp?) grassy meadow that overlooks the beach down below; the sky is clear-blue now, and the last 4 miles are all downhill. It was stunning. Briton agreed - we'll be back.

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Race over, it was time to enjoy friends and other sites. First priority was pizza-party (gimme calories!) and catch-up with friends; one couple from Palo Alto who also came up for the race, and the other couple with their two kids up a grand distance from LA... they’re our heroes!! It was fun to see them all again.

You’d never have guessed the rainy morning while gazing off the northern high hills with the Golden Gate Bridge in stark red stenciling across the sunbathing San Fran city. Wharf, Alcatraz, Exploratorium, TransAmerica Pyramid, the whole Bay scene in full view. Love it!

We took the longer way home to Oregon, up Hwy101 through all those Redwood Forests. Definitely worth touting in those patriotic hymns. Also found the town Talmage, CA 95481 along the way and did an obligatory stop and photo-shoot with the little guy, who btw was an excellent traveler all things considered.

Seems my annual habit of journeying to the Bay has picked up again. See you next year?

Welcome to the Hotel… Wilde

[This story happened in the past, like most true stories do]

As new home owners, we are owners of home newifying projects. Our small entryway has a hardwood floor. It’s called hardwood because it’s hard to refinish yourself. Nevertheless, as a converted card-carrying library patron, Robin brought home the do-it-yurselfer VHS from the library. “That’s easy!” Well, we rented this hummer sander (vacuum cleaner-style dealie) and several hours and ounces of sawdust later found the floor pretty well stripped down to “natural” wood again. Hands and knees sandpaper action got the edges, corners, and wrists.

Step number next? The wood filler (Mincrap Woodfiller Especial). Robin started application numero uno one night after Talmage went down. Whoa, that’s some potent stuff. The fumes from this product are outrageous. We had fortunately turned off the heat/ventilation systems and shut Talmage’s door, blocking the seam with a towel. The rest of the doors in the house were unwittingly left open... Robin applied filler to about 5 square feet before calling it quits due to either her own respiration warning system or my incessant barking about how strong the fumes were.

Bedtime. I couldn’t sleep. I tried counting brain cells that I knew were dying with each breath, but that did no good. We were both completely under the covers, breathing through our pillows. Mind you this is after we’d left the front door and a large window open for ventilation (and yes, verified that Talmage’s room was still uncorrupted). So, January, the house is very cold inside now. How grateful I was that I’d picked up a space heater for Little T’s room just two days previous.

In times of desperation, we often jump on the first solution that pops into our brains, however uncalculated it is. I did. I flew out of bed to the closet, grabbed my mummy bag + foam pad and before taking another breath was out on the deck doing the “get-the-bag-open” dance in the freezing midnight moonlight. Done. Ah, warmth and fresh, clean air. Then of course conscience strikes… I’d totally ditched my wife. Just about then, the door opened and … [I become fuzzy on the details here –the fumes you know]

She reasoned, “Briton, shouldn’t we go sleep in Talmage’s room. Cause if we can’t sleep in there, then he shouldn’t be sleeping in there either.” She’s brilliant. So, we quickly slipped into his room with sleeping bags and crashed on the floor, and the three of us slept like babies.

The next day, Robin left early with Talmage to a friends house and a day full of activities away from the house. I got to work early and stayed late. That evening the fumes hadn't really improved. The cold, stagnant air of the day had done very little to usher the odor out. Our friends, the Wildes, graciously opened their home to us where we enjoyed a peaceful night's rest.

Peek-A-Boo

Voici some verdent shoots peeking out of this winter- wasted dirt clod blog... Spring arrives! We're happy to say we're happy and that Robin really did well choosing that blue pot for the prim roses on the front porch. She put the primroses in the blue pot as they weren't growing out of the porch, yet.

Talmage remains tubby and has grown so quickly this last month or so, sprouting spryness and cruising on his fours now, with quick pull-ups on any semi-stationary object. The hoot for us is his growl: he really is a little tiger, ripping off Grrr's and Rrrr's with intimidating intensity. Unfortunately, the main victim of his prowling is his own noggin, as he learns navigation and gravity. He just turned 9mo and loves lights and ceiling fans.

We just returned from a wonderful weekend in Utah to visit my dad who celebrated his 60th birthday. My family didn't know we were coming. The great fun was planting Talmage on the backyard grass and watching the grandparents discover him in utter surprise.

Here at the Hillsboro house we're trying to assess how to attack our lawn and other yardy enemies. We're also trying to maintain decent running schedules as a footrace in Muir Woods California approaches--heading down mid-April. Time filled flies, and any cracks are certainly stuffed lest the weeds win.