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October 3, 2008
IT'S FRIDAY, MY FAVORITE DAY!!
The week started out about the same around here. I attended a post-tsunami drill meeting on Saturday and we got to learn how our drill last Tuesday worked out. Everyone seemed really pleased and with a few minor adjustments we should be able to handle any emergency! We will see. One thing that was mentioned was the fact that the siren for the warning was too low and not everyone could hear it, especially if you were in your house and weren't really listening for it. They also were going to do a reverse 911 telephone call to everyone (where the emergency center calls every phone in town at once), but then decided to call only Manzanita without telling those of us in Nehalem and Wheeler! As I said, the communication needs a little work. After the meeting, I came home with a 72-hour emergency supply kit to keep on hand. I have an emergency kit already, but it isn't as complete as this new one.
Speaking of emergency preparation, the street that we live on is a dead end, but at one time someone had carved a trail up to the area near the clinic on the hill above us. Actually, the last time the trail was used it was a "drug" run from the "felony flats" apartments up the hill to a "used-to-be drug house" across the street from us. Nice neighborhood! The end of our street is located about 200 feet below the clinic and if there is some kind of emergency where we can't use the main road (like flooding or a tsunami), then we can use the trail to get up the hill to the clinic, food bank and other emergency facilities. Anyway, Dave and I decided to explore this "trail" that has grown over with alder trees and blackberry bushes and was very hard to find. We managed to hack our way to within about 50 feet of the clinic, but had to stop because we needed a chainsaw to get any further. Then it was a challenge getting back down because everything looked different than when we went up! There is a lot of steep terrain but I think if we did get a bunch of neighbors together to help us clear the way, we can actually make a decent trail up the hill. Then we'll just have to worry about keeping it clear, because it doesn't take those blackberries long to come back!
The rest of the week we have been getting ready for our company to arrive from Germany. Tina and Steven have actually been in the U.S. for over a week, visiting friends in Detroit and LA and we are their last stop before they head back home. We hosted Tina as an exchange student in 1989-90 and we have kept in contact all these years. She is now married and has a son Quentin, who will be five in January. We have had decent weather all week but guess what? As soon as they arrived, it started raining and is probably going to rain the whole time they are here.
I went into Portland to meet them at the airport and to make sure they could find their way back down here without getting lost. Dave had to stay in Wheeler for a previously scheduled play rehearsal, so he couldn't come with me. I planned my trip into Portland so I could do a few errands on the way. My first stop was at Costco to pick up a few things, on to the credit union and then a stop at Freddies to finish my grocery shopping. I was really doing great on and I had only one more stop to make and that was to pick up some night cream from my daughter Lara before I headed to the airport. Since I had a few minutes, I visited with her at her office and then arrived at the airport with five minutes to spare. I checked their flight on the airlines schedule and wandered down to the baggage area to wait for their arrival. It was so good to see Tina and Steven again and to meet their four-year old son, Quentin. He is so cute with his big brown eyes and dimples. Everything worked out great! We piled all their baggage into my car (after shuffling the multiple bags of food from my grocery stops) and headed for the car rental place. As we were leaving, I got into line to pay for my parking and of course, I had to pick the wrong line! The guy ahead of me had lost his ticket and so it took longer than expected. In fact, before I got into line I was under an hour, but his delay pushed me over that time. But the ticket people were understanding and only made me pay for an hour. After picking up the rental car, Steven followed me to the Red Robin restaurant to have a bite to eat because it was rush-hour traffic and we figured it would be easier if we let everyone get home first. As we were headed down the freeway, a whole fleet of police cars and trucks came screaming by with lights flashing and everything! That was kind of exciting and we found out later that it was some kind of "police activity" that they were all headed for and they had sealed off some streets. I am glad we didn't get stuck in that mess!
After eating, we decided it was late enough and headed for home. Steven and Quentin followed and Tina rode with me. It was dark by the time we made our 2-hour trip to the coast and we stayed up talking most of the night. They will be staying with us for a week and I just hope the weather will be more welcoming with a little more sun and less rain! It's absolutely pouring out today and the forecast is for even more rain tomorrow. But, that's Oregon for you!
