75 Years and Aging Like Fine Wine

This weekend I jetted down to LA to celebrate my dad's 75th birthday. It was a blast! While on the plane heading home Sunday night, I reflected on the event.
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"Dad's 75th birthday is coming up next month. Wouldn't it be great if we all could get together for him?"
That's how it started; Paavo threw out the idea during a phone conversation. Steve sent an email and we all started making plans.
Now when I say, "we" I'm referring to the original six siblings -- Jeane, Annie, John, Patty, Paavo and me. We live in Santa Rosa (CA), Lawndale (CA), Albuquerque (NM), Santa Maria (CA), San Luis Obispo (CA) and Longview (WA). Three states for the six of us and the last time we were all together was when Scott and Heather got married.
Scotty -- since Dad married Linda, Scott makes us seven.













Linda & Me

September 26, on a Friday night, Scott, Heather and the boys flew in from Colorado. I followed around 11 pm and Linda snuck out of the house to pick up me from the airport. Dad didn't discover I was there until Saturday morning when he returned from the grocery store with milk, Cheetos and ice cream for the grandsons. I cherish the memory of his face as he saw me and uttered, "What?" I gave him a kiss, told him that I had a Portland-LAX ticket and decided to use it this weekend.
"You've got a birthday coming and I thought this would be a good weekend to use it."
Annie came over and we made pasties.
Who came next? Maybe John and Sam; Scott picked up them from the airport. Leilani and Kakoa...Jeane, Rachel and Jasper...Patty, Emma and Patrick...Paavo, Courtney and Kirk.
Alan and Mickey showed up. Dad took a shower and put on a shirt and tie.
Around 6 o'clock more came -- from Advanced Recovery, LMU, ASM and Finlandia Foundation.
A neighbor came. A long-time friend of Linda's came. The "greats" were there.
It was a house full of laughter, stories, pictures and LOVE.
When it was time to blow out the candles and cut the cake, grandchildren gathered around Dad, and Linda stood by his side. He recited a poem that ended, "...will you still love me when I am old?"
Linda smiled in response and they kissed.

VISITOR FROM NZL

Anne, my dear friend from New Zealand, came for a visit and I skipped school for a few days to show her around my neck of the woods. We started by visiting the beach on my side of the Pacific Ocean.
God blessed us with a totally beautiful day in September. We drove out to Astoria, Oregon, at the mouth of the Columbia River and visited the Astoria Column. Painted on the Column is a mural spiraling from the bottom to an observation deck, depicting the early history of Oregon.

One of my favorite things to do at the beach is fly kites. Each year Long Beach (WA) holds an international kite festival, and I figured I would have my own with Anne. She confessed that she hadn't flown kites since her children (now grown) were kids.

While at the beach, I couldn't resist the opportunity to have Anne drive on the "wrong" side of the road. The story I read says that originally folks drove on the left side of the road as a carry-over from the days when right-handed knights wore their swords on their left. They rode on the left and pulled their swords out with their right hands to defend themselves when approached by a foe. Apparently the drivers in the USA took the right side of the road in rebellion!

I had to ask Anne if she felt rebellious driving on the right and she said, "No. Mostly scared."

Whenever driving from Astoria to Long Beach, I take a look over my shoulder to see who's docked at the port. This day Atlantis was there and after a little smooth talking and lots of groveling, I managed to get the captain's permission to board with Anne.

Last time I was on board was in 2004 when I participated in the SEAS program and dove on the East Pacific Rise. I was so excited to have a friend on board to see the ship and the submersible, Alvin. Anton, one of the Alvin pilot-in-training, was kind enough to give a wonderful tour!

On Tuesday, Anne and I headed up to Seattle. We shared Starbucks coffee at the top of the Space Needle and took in a great view of the city.

We also took in a baseball game Tuesday night at Safeco Field. The last-place Mariners were hosting the Texas Rangers in a short two-night stand. On Wednesday, there was a terrific afternoon game that the Mariners won by one run, but when we attended on Tuesday, the Mariners stunk. Not only did they lose, they lost miserably...a terrible example of baseball for a Kiwi who had never been to a game before. :(

We arrived at the ballpark before the game to watch batting practice and to tour the park. As empty as the stands are here before the game, they were that empty during the ninth inning. The big difference is that it was dark during the ninth.

I'm not sure that Anne will start watching baseball when she returns to New Zealand, but she got a free Ichiro t-shirt out of this event.

On Wednesday, we drove up to the Canadian border and I delivered Anne to her friends just south of the border. Thus endeth our visit. Perhaps I should go to New Zealand next and see her side of the Pacific.