Bit of rain... and a twister

Thank you all for your kind thoughts and emails about my Uncle Russell.  If you were looking for the post I wrote about his passing it is here: My Uncle Russell

We have had a touch of rain over the last week or so. I can hear you saying... umm.. Rebecca.. it is Oregon. It rains there.  Yes yes... I know.  I lived in the Pacific Northwest several years ago... in the great state of Washington and absolutely loved it... there is a reason it is so green and lush.  David was living in Oregon around the same time I was in Washington... so he is familiar with the weather patterns in this part of the country as well but the rain we received recently was a touch more than we expected.  

 There was even the added bonus of being in the path of a tornado.
Of course being in the path of a tornado that peters out is soooo much better than being 'touched' by one.

We are not in Kansas anymore Toto.... we are in Oregon. Tornadoes are not real common in the Pacific Northwest so it was pretty big news around 'these here parts'.  David and I had closed the course during the worst part of the surge in water and were trying to loosen tree trunks that were lodged under the covered bridge.  David had climbed over the railing and was standing on one of the support pilings chainsaw in hand 

and I was leaning over with my hand on his collar so he would not fall in. That picture there is two trees...  and they look small in this photo... the one is underwater and then the other has the roots showing.  Here is a different angle.  They were not small:

Another view of the trees hung up on the covered bridge

David was sawing away at parts of these trees and I thought cold, wet, wood chips were hitting me...  it was hail.  Not that unusual except that is was the hail that preceded the tornado that touched down to the south of us. We had no idea until we came back to the clubhouse to defrost and turned the TV on to see the tornado warning... and that we appeared to be in it's path.  It lost steam though and passed through our area without any problems although it demolished some buildings where it touched down in nearby Aulmsville.

The creek that runs through the course that seems to swell and at times overflow like over-filled bathtub with every drop that falls from the sky... or every Russian golfer I catch wading through it.  This overflow seems to occur semi-sorta-frequently despite previous assurances that the creek floods .... "oh maybe once every 20 years or so."  Well, this must be an off year because we have seen the river crest it's banks twice in the past 7 months. 

BEFORE:

AFTER:

That photo above is normally a grassy area and cart paths... under all that water. This shot below is of David and Delta and her stick (sigh) walking past a small golf cart bridge on the way to the big covered bridge. That railing is the TOP of the railing and is normally waist high.

One thing about the speed of this particular creek's rising and subsiding is that the very next morning, after a break in the clouds and a couple hours between rain showers the creek is back within it's banks and golfers are able to make their way around the course relatively easier... and much dryer.  David got some help from Adam and they hooked the trees up to tractors and managed to work them loose so they could flow under the bridge. 

Because of the weather and because it gets dark so quickly it has been slow here at the course.   We planned for it and after the wild and crazy summer it is nice to catch our breath.  Christmas is coming and we have been getting ready for that.  

I put up some decorations, baked some banana bread, put Duke Ellington's Nutcracker Overture on the stereo, and got out the world famous and rather well traveled Christmas Angel and placed it on the top of my faux Charlie Brown tree.

This will be a fun Christmas time this year as there is a baby in the family...  well, he was here last year for Christmas but in the semi-floppy needing to be carried baby mode.

This year Donovan is running around like a madman getting into absolutely everything and he is going to get a big kick out of this Christmas business for the next few years.

He is going to just dig on that huge tree at Great Granny and Great Poppa's house!  Little ones make it fun... Christmas is best seen through a child's eyes and we are going to soak it up.

Beer, Brats, Boobs, and the Bible

As I mentioned I went to Green Bay the other day for some training. While I was there I noted that Green Bay is a much smaller city that I always thought (a little over 100k people) and it seems to be currently revitalizing itself.

As I have just started traveling around, I find it so interesting in different states because of the different state cultures... California definitely has one and can even be broken down into distinct Northern and Southern California differences. During my brief stay in Wisconsin, I just started noticing a bit of a cultural clue that was especially obvious in Green Bay... they have a fondness for Beer, Brats, Boobs, and Bible. I am not sure if Wisconsin is considered bible belt country but it seemed like every other radio station had some kinda religious thing going on. I drove around a bit looking for the downtown area and wandered into Olde Town. Olde Town had several breweries and 'dancing halls'... 'gentleman clubs'... 'strip joints'... whatever you wanna call them. As I was driving I even saw a gal who fit the stereotype of a stripper walking down the street towards her car. She had on some whoppin' high heels, a mini skirt, the obligatory long blond hair (obligatory for both the Midwest and for strippers), a button down white shirt, and a fedora. I was wondering when the ZZ top music was going to start.

However, to defend Green Bay, this is not particular to Green Bay. When I crossed the Michigan border into Wisconsin I had to pass through a town called Spread Eagle. There is a golf course there, a couple of bars... in a row... some miscellaneous shops, and of course a nearby exotic dance club. As I drove through these areas I was desperately hitting scan on my radio over and over to try to get away from both the mild christian rock stations to the fiery... 'you are going to burn in hell for eternity if you do ____ (enter the appropriate sin here)' talk shows. It was all very interesting and by the way...

Oh I almost forgot... they are big on cheese too! I even saw a Cheese and Candy shop! I tried to get a picture of it but it was too blurry.

Just so you all know so I don't get any crazy comments about Wisconsin... from what I saw... Wisconsin is a beautiful, clean state. Green Green Green and the people were all very friendly.

Speaking of green, when I was not training I went to Green Bay's botanical gardens. I really enjoyed it, and I think when I am in different cities for an extended period I might start looking into going to more of these. There is a great one just outside of Fort Bragg, California that our family always enjoyed. When they are organized nicely and not too expensive these can be a fun relaxing detour. Some let you bring leashed dogs, others allow picnics... find out where your local one is and give it a try!

The Green Bay gardens cost $5 to enter, it was a sunny very warm day, and the gardens are organized very well. This post is going to be mostly pictures of the gardens I saw... I have to tell you that I started taking pictures before I even made it in the gate! Their parking lot and entrance had great displays! I will put little comments here and there... maybe. I also had an ulterior motive while I was there. I wanted to get more ideas for our yard and thought a similar climate botanical gardens would be just the spot. So without further ado....

Down the garden path we will go...

Check it out below... those ferny looking things in the background are not ferns.. they are rainbow swiss chard! Very edible (Like a spinach or beet green) and pretty too! They were planted in large swaths with flowers in between. This is a great idea... on a much smaller scale of course, unless you are REALLY into Rainbow Swiss Chard.

And then below look at this contrasting planting. It is petunias and an ornamental pepper! Look how dark those leaves are! It was a cool planting there was a large grouping of them interwoven to show off the contrast. One could have the same effect I bet with flowers and the darker purple basils.

I liked that grouping above because of all the different types of leaves you can see in the picture. Spiny ones, round ones, pointy ones and then there is the different colors.

These two below were part of the children's garden area. This small bridge led to a large playset. This picture unfortunately did not do it justice. The plantings were all whimsical and wild.

The second picture is a close up of the interior of a covered bridge... it was an arched bridge, actually nearly horseshoe shaped, and the wire frame itself had tendrils so in the winter when the winding plants died off it would still look natural and plant-like. Very nice.

and then in the center of the herb garden:

and then this... and I quote from the Green Bay Botanical Garden website:

Stumpf Belvedere - The Belvedere is an example of an early Grecian Gazebo. The stars, clouds, and moon cut into its roof capture the poetry of the view as much as the quote from Wisconsin Poet Laureate, Ellen Kort.

The Belvedere was so cool!
The light showed through the top and made glowing reflections on the inside of the dome.





The poem carved into the base wraps around the inside edge of the bench:

and then my favorite... the Vanderperren English Cottage Garden:

Then finally ... I left the garden, and I left training.

After 3 1/2 long days I headed home...

As quickly as I was rolling out of town, a storm was quickly rolling in. It was getting darker, and windier, and kinda wild looking. I am not quite sure what kind of storm it was because while trying to find a radio station that was not telling me how naughty I was, I only heard the end of the radio emergency beeping thing after hearing an announcer say...

"...if you are near shelter take cover" then beeep.. beeeeep... beeeeep..

and then the christians started singing and yelling again. I was like... "what?! what did that guy just say?! what was that?!" Once again I was frantically pushing the scan button to see if the emergency notice was going to be repeated on some other channel.

It wasn't.
Well, that's helpful.

You see, I am a newby to this Midwest storm thing so when I hear an emergency signal where someone is actually talking... and it is not just a test of the emergency broadcasting system... I always think about Dorothy and Toto...

I know I know... they were fortunate enough to be in Kansas. ;)
But you never know where a tornado might pop up...
they are kinda like ninjas that way.

So, I looked around real quick to make sure that storm did not have a tail growing...
(took a picture just to share)
then clicked my heels three times and wished for home.