One Big Hunk of Metal

 

Prominently located in the plaza of the Columbia River Maritime Museum is a gigantic ship’s propeller.  This prop’s specifications are impressive;  fourteen feet in diameter and weighing in at nine tons.  It’s one big hunk of metal!  Propellers such as this once drove the Charles Adams Class destroyers across the world’s oceans.

As impressive as this hunk of metal is, the reaction of the people relating to it is even more interesting.  Young children will scale the smooth surface of the blades then slide down  laughing as they go.  Teenagers will climb behind the blades and pose for a picture with only their head showing.  Middle age men can often been seen just standing before it and staring.  I suspect that they are former sailors and appreciate a thing of beauty when they see it. 

When I look at it, I see it as an object of raw power. Two of these propellers working together were capable of driving a ship that was longer than a football field through the ocean at nearly forty miles per hour.  In my book, that’s pretty impressive!

I decided to see if I could capture some of that power with the camera, so over a period of two months I made multiple images during different times of the day.  Hopefully, the following images convey a sense of what I saw.

 

The energy radiates from within

 

 

The energy flows across the surface

 

Everything is interconnected

 

Is It A Sign?

 

I was headed to the basement last Friday when I noticed this sign on the side of my neighbor’s house.  The day was bright and sunny so my first thought was that it be a signal of an early spring.  Whereas the groundhog does not make an annual appearance in Oregon, we are  left to interrupt the winter/spring transition ourselves.

The past several days have dashed my hopes for an early spring; we have experienced two wind storms, rain, hail, sleet, and snow.  So what could this sign mean?

A Trip To The Big City

It’s funny how you do something once or twice and suddenly it has become a tradition.  A few weeks ago I called my friend Dale to remind him that that his birthday was approaching and that tradition dictated we get together for lunch.  I must have caught him on a bad day; he proceeded to inform me that he no longer wished to celebrate birthdays!  I paused and reminded him that it was tradition so how about we just call it an “un-birthday” celebration?  I further suggested that he plan a day that would be filled with outrageous activities for us to accomplish.  He inquired if I had something in mind and then mentioned that he has no desire to get arrested!  I simply told him to give it some thought and get back to me.

We spoke again about a week later and he told me that he had developed a plan for the “un-birthday” celebration.  His idea of an outrageous day was to ride the light rail train into the big city of Portland, Oregon and partake of a few of the city’s cultural opportunities.  As someone who seldom goes to the city, it sounded like a good day to me.

Our first stop was at one of Portland’s more weird establishments, the Voodoo Doughnut shop.  Now if you love doughnuts, and who doesn’t, visiting this shop is a must when you are in Portland.  The doughnuts run from the simple to the exotic; picture if you will doughnuts topped with Coco Puffs, Captain Crunch, or Fruit loops.  If that doesn’t get you, perhaps the maple bar topped with a slice of bacon will.  Just for the record, we both feasted on a doughnut, but we both chose from their less flashy offerings.

Our next adventure was to hop the street car and ride it to Powell’s Books.  Without a doubt, this store is a Portland intuition; the main store covers an entire city block and boasts over one million books in stock.  Walking into the store is a bit overwhelming so be sure to pick up a map at the front counter.  I actually left the store with a feeling of accomplishment because I noticed three book that I have recently read!

The rest of the afternoon was spent visiting several of the city’s historic parks before boarding the train for the return trip to the suburbs.  Tradition will soon be upon us as my birthday is not too far off.  Perhaps another outrageous day in the big city would be in order.

Only Three Months

It’s a truism that after reaching fifty, the majority of the people with whom you interact seem to get younger each year.  I accept the ever increasing age divide as a fact of life except when it’s time to donate blood.  Since the donation of blood involves the use of rather large needles, I much prefer that the technician be “a little long in the tooth”!

So begins the tale of my recent visit to the Red Cross blood drive. 

I arrived at the processing station and was greeted by a young lady who looked as if she was perhaps a freshmen in high school.  Since her duties were  limited to signing me in, I saw  no problem here.  For those of you who have never donated blood, your next stop is at the health screening table.  Here they determine if you have a pulse and barrage you with question to access the suitability of your blood.  If you are approved, it’s on to the donation area where the fun begins!  Yep, you guessed  it, this is where the needles come into play.

It was at this point that I realized that the technician who would be sticking me with a BIG needles might be all of twenty years of age.  Foolishly, I inquired how long she have been employed with the Red Cross, to which she sheepishly replied, “only three months”.  She then asked if this was my first time donating to which I replied “oh no, I have donated over 100 times”.  The expression on he face lead me to believe that she was attempting to estimate how many years 100+ donations represented.  I was tempted to tell her that when I made my first donation, it was more than ten years before she walked the earth.  With that thought in mind, I decided it was better to just smile and keep my mouth shut. 

With the prep work complete, the moment for getting stuck by the needle arrived.  As is my custom, I turn my head and hope for the best.  Surprisingly, the needle stick was without sensation; I was just about to compliment her when I looked to see an expression of panic upon her face!  I immediately knew that she had missed the vein, definitely not a good thing.  The expression on my face must have scared her because the next word she uttered was HELP!!

Immediately, another technician came to her rescue and with little fuss, I was soon filling the bag with blood.  The rest of the process was thankfully uneventful.  In less than fifteen minutes, I was done and headed to the canteen for refreshments and to schedule an appointment to donate again in March.  The way I have it figured, my young friend will have nearly five month experience by then.  

A Time For Reflection

As the year draws to a close, it causes me to reflect on the blessings received this past year.  The year offered many opportunities, but the ones that I am most thankful for are those that allowed me to serve others.   I have finally come to the realization that my acts of service will not save the world.  Such work is best left to the young; my actions, at best shine a little light into the darkness of someone’s day.  Heck, that’s not so bad!

During the past year, I volunteered a couple of hours each week at our local food pantry restocking the shelves.  The job requires less of the mind, but a strong back is most helpful.  I arrive hours before the pantry opens it’s doors for distribution so I never see those who receive the food.  My reward for a job well done is to return a few day later to restock and replenish the nearly barren shelves.  The cycle seldom changes!

I also had the opportunity to serve home-bound senior citizens by delivering for meals on wheels.  Once again it’s a very simple task, you arrive at a person’s house and hand them a meal.  Sometimes they complain because you are either early or late but then you can never please everyone!  I am especially thankful for Mrs. Smith, she knows me only by the sound of my voice because she is totally blind.   Despite this, she never fails to greet me with a smile and kind words of thanks.  Her smile is better than any pay check I ever earned.

Finally, I was thrilled to serve at the maritime museum as a docent; during the past year, I hosted seventy-one tours which included numerous children’s educational programs.  The opportunity for service allowed me to meet people who visited from forty-six of our United States.  It never ceases to amaze from how far and wide people travel to visit our little  corner of the world.  I am also honored and very grateful for three of my fellow docents:  Mr. Ed, Carol, and Marianne.  Together, these guys made serving at the museum a real blast!

As I sit and reflect, I eagerly await the opportunities that 2011 will bring.

Hanging Christmas Lights – Oh The Joy

In a typical year, I will attempt to hand our Christmas lights the weekend of Thanksgiving so they are ready to be energized on December 1st.  This year the plan was altered by the snow and icy cold temperatures we received the week of Thanksgiving.  As much as I enjoy the Christmas light show, there was no way I was going to hang from a ladder and string light while the temperature hovered around twenty-five degrees!  Thus began the month of December!

My originally plan was to write about a Christmas long ago but the month was consumer by near endless activities which did not include blogging.   For the present, the ghosts of Christmas past will just have to be still for another year.  I will simply take this opportunity to wish all of you a very Merry Christmas.    

Always A Time For Giving Thanks

A while back I read Vernon Heaton’s The Mayflower and was reminded once again about the importance of giving thanks, regardless of our circumstances. Heaton chronicles the Pilgrim’s sixty-four day voyage as follows: “As the days drew into weeks, the weather steadily deteriorated: gale force winds blew up and the sea rose until the Mayflower found herself in the middle of a series of fierce storms. Below deck, the air grew stale, fetid and vitiated. Attempts to relieve the stench and drive out the stale air by opening the scuttles and hatches were frustrated by the rush of seawater that soaked the bedding, clothing and the bodies of the passengers. Seasickness broke out again and in the dank, stuffy … passenger holds, conditions became almost intolerable.”

About 18 years ago during a visit to Plymouth, MA, I had the good fortune to tour the Mayflower II. Obviously, the Mayflower II is a reproduction but if memory serves me, the ship builders made every effort to build a faithful reproduction. I still have vivid memories about how little space there was below deck; it was nearly impossible to stand upright and not knock your head on a beam. I can only imagine how fowl the air must have become below deck with with 102 Pilgrims living below.

Finally on November 9, 1620 “land ahoy” was called and the road trip from hell was nearly over. The Mayflower’s intended destination was the mouth of the Hudson River in New York State but the unrelenting storms had driven the ship far north. With winter upon them, the decision was made to find a suitable location to build winter quarters, finally on December 11th, the Pilgrims disembarked in what is now Plymouth, MA.

William Bradford, who was later chosen by the Pilgrims to be their first governor described their arrival as follows: “Being thus arrived in a good harbor and brought safe to land, they fell upon their knees and blessed the God of Heaven, who had brought them over the vast and furious ocean, and delivered them from all the perils and miseries thereof, again to set their feet on the firm and stable earth, their proper element. They had now no friends to welcome them, nor inns to entertain or refresh their weather beaten bodies, no houses or much less towns to repair to …..” Still, they all gave thanks!

As Thanksgiving approaches, if you have a roof over your head and your biggest worry is whether you turkey is organic or if it lived its life as a free range bird, then you have sufficient for which to give thanks. The older I get, the more I realize that life is more or less a matter of perspective, so lets all give thanks for what we have, regardless of how little it might be!