Guess what May 30th is?

It's somewhat shocking to realize that on May 30st*, Scot and I will have been married for 21 years, and together for three days over 24. Years. As in 8,760 days. We met and started dating in 1989, before I was even out of high school. We married in college in 1992, and there's no dramatic, romantic backstory: we were living together, and in our hearts we were already married. We just woke up one morning, in the wake of a friend who had a significant accident, and realized if something happened to one of us, the other would be the last person informed. "Do you wanna get married?" "Yeah, sure," was how the conversation went.

Some people have been saddened when I tell them this, which perplexes me; to me it's an amazing, wonderful thing because at that young age, we were already there, married in our hearts and minds where it really matters, without the pomp and circumstance, a big rock, a fancy party, a religious proclamation, etc. It was already there, and we didn't need any of that other stuff. (We had a very simple, small ceremony with a justice at a local park with only the barest of family and friends in attendance.)

It's that which has gotten us through the troubles we've encountered in those 24 years: finding ourselves and growing up while growing together; navigating the challenges of choosing and setting priorities, perhaps made easier by the decision to not have children ("child free by choice,") but also made more difficult by that same divergence from the cultural norm; and finding a way to make one the path of two people who are by our very natures very dis-similar, but having become a little more similar in the years that have gone by.

24 years. Shit, that can't be. It just can't. Doesn't feel like the interminably long time that sounds like! We still talk about everything and nothing. Just the other day he made me laugh so hard I almost peed myself and died from asphyxiation, simultaneously. (Almost; I said, "Almost.") We try to call each other on our shit, and support each other through the rest.

It seems very fitting that over this weekend, Scot's friend from high school, Brent, is coming to visit. He was somewhat instrumental in getting us together. It's been a while since we've seen one another, and it's his first time out here. It's just happenstance to be around this time. Kinda cool.

Vintage campers roll into Milo Mciver State Park

Some time last year, Scot and I spied a Mobile Scout going north on I-5 here in Oregon. Seeing him signal to exit the freeway, we stalked him in hopes he was swinging in for gas or some other quick stop, so we could talk to him about his trailer! After trailing him down streets, through neighborhoods, and back toward the highway, we wondered if he'd made us, and was concerned about our tailing him! Come to find out, he'd just missed the turn-off for Wal-Mart, got a little lost, but made it there eventually. That's when we pulled in and said hello.

He pointed us to a local vintage camper group, Rollin' Oldies Vintage Trailers. We weren't able to make a rally last year, but were quick to put the May rally on our calendars, way back last fall. This past weekend we camped out with a bunch of other vintage enthusiasts at Milo Mciver State Park. What a gem; the park is large, the single camping circle is full of wonderful sites under dense forest canopy. Despite it raining on us, we had a great weekend, met some lovely people, and saw some stunning campers! We were the only Mobile Scout present, but many were familiar with them.

You can see some of the campers present at the Flickr site of Steve Walser who was around and snapping some fantastic shots. Alas, our rig didn't make it as a model for this master.

This is Oregon. It has been unseasonably warm and sunny for almost two weeks. Which means we were not surprised when it rained all damn weekend. Oh, and did I mention it's sunny again today? Yeah. It is. Seriously.

We had fun anyway! We learned from other vintage campers some nifty little things we need (no, seriously, NEED) to really deck out our camp site experience, making it more like a little slice of home. We've got some nesting to do! But that'll come AFTER we pay off the new toys we picked up recently, including an awesome camp OVEN from Camp Chef.

Things that make you want to scream.

Supporting small local business is important enough to me to spend extra time AND money to do so. Which makes me doubly pissed off when they let me down.

Frustrated with white balance issues, I decided to add an X Rite Color Passport to my DSLR toolkit. Asking a friend for a local outlet, he suggested Focal Point Photography in Dallas, OR. Calling to ask if they had them, the young man who I spoke with assured me they did. As I was coming from Salem for that reason only, I asked if he could check to make sure they had one in stock.

They did not. Good thing I asked.

Could they order me one? Yes, and it would be arrive in about a week. Disappointed, but willing to wait in order to buy local, I left my name and number. Having that tool for an event that same weekend would have been really nice. AND this past weekend doing some outdoor shots would REALLY have benefited, as well.

But, I was willing to wait to support a local business.

Tomorrow marks two weeks from that conversation, and I'd heard nothing. This afternoon I call and the same young man says they aren't in, cups the phone and turns to ask someone if they've been ordered yet. (THIS IS TWO WEEKS LATER, mind you.) The answer was that he just ordered them, and...

It'll be in, in about a week.

"Did you leave your name and number? Oh yes, I see it, here it is..."

I politely said I couldn't wait any longer, thank you. That is most certainly NOT what was running through my head. (Think flying frothy spittle, very creative profanity, acts of violence, suffering, etc.)

Not only did you NOT come through for me, local retailer, but you screwed me for two weeks in the process. And you wonder why people are buying things online? Even when you have a customer who is willing to WAIT for you to stock the item, DRIVE 20 minutes to you to pick it up, AND pay a higher price... you fail to deliver.

WHAT MORE DO YOU WANT FROM YOUR CUSTOMERS??

And your response was like, "Oh. Whatever." If you'd at least been, "Oooh, I'm SO sorry, the boss had his hand in a meat grinder and couldn't call to place the order," or SOMETHING, I would have said, "S'kay, it happens. Have a nice day," and maybe called upon you the next time I need something.

If anyone ever hears this business or its operators bemoaning the state of buyers flocking to Internet retailers, smack them, because they deserve it. And tell them Amy sent you. Jesus.

The thing about star photography is...

Beavertail April 2013 (20 of 23).jpg
Originally uploaded by lavachickie

Before one gets all excited about taking star shots, one should look at a moon phase calendar.

* facepalm *

The Tygh Valley in Oregon was bathed in the impressive silver light Friday night of a full moon, and again on Saturday, with a smattering of clouds, too. Which made star shots impossible. However, the area was nonetheless stunning, amazing, beautiful and very relaxing, as the clan of Leith siblings, their spouses and canine children staked out two sites in Beavertail campground. We did little more than eat, sleep, wrangle dogs, drink beer, tend to a fire, take short walks with or without dogs, and laugh.

A great camping trip.

This room'l make you crazy.

The bathroom in Old School Pizzeria in Olympia, WA is simply terrifying. The ceiling in this small room full of visual cacophony  quite literally layers upon layers of it. Wide swaths of color are filled in with yet more elements written on them in lighter colors--or vice versa. Please click the thumbnail below to get a little sample of the craziness.

The pano does no justice. 

It's just like hot wings, but not at all.

Photo from TheCurvyCarrot.com

In the pursuit of more vegetables, Scot and I tried this recipe for a vegetarian taste/texture replacement for chicken wings and/or boneless chicken wings with wing sauce and blue cheese.

And I have to say, it pleasantly surprised us. The result? We ate a whole head of cauliflower, and got our wing sauce/blue cheese fix. They were even crunchy!

http://www.thecurvycarrot.com/2012/08/18/buffalo-chicken-vegetarian-style/

I used whole grain spelt flour. Cooking might take a bit of a learning curve; use a baking dish as she suggests, and distribute the items so they are not "glumped" together but individual so each will get crispy. (I separated mine out on metal baking sheets, which got too hot too quickly, heavily browning the bottoms before the tip could get crispy. This necessitated some very close attention under the broiler only to finish up.)

This one's a keeper, we'll be making this one again! Thanks to Laurin at work for sharing this one with me.

Uplifting words.

While I wear the sash of an agnostic atheist, the Prayer of St. Francis has always appealed to me. 

Lord, make me an instrument of your peace;

where there is hatred, let me sow love;

where there is injury, pardon;

where there is doubt, faith;

where there is despair, hope;

where there is darkness, light;

and where there is sadness, joy.

O Divine Master,

grant that I may not so much seek to be consoled as to console;

to be understood, as to understand;

to be loved, as to love;

for it is in giving that we receive,

it is in pardoning that we are pardoned,

and it is in dying that we are born to Eternal Life.

Amen.

Fair and respectful.

Discussing current news this morning on the way to the dog park, my husband shared his fairly intense and out of character anger at the flip-flopping of Sen. Rob Portman in his support of gay marriage. An interesting conversation. I share his outrage. 

That outrage is at this clear example of a politician who is not representing his constituency, but rather simply furthering his own personal biases. His constituency, from what I've read, has been strongly against DOMA-like legislation for some time, and FOR fair and equal union rights for gay couples. 

Does he listen to them, and vote for them? Does he do his f'ing JOB? No, he continues to vote his own personal bias. 

UNTIL the issue actually hits home and then suddenly, oh, he gets it! His son comes out and he suddently realizes, oh, wait, gays are people, too! 

From an AP story in The Province: 

"He said it prompted him to reconsider gay marriage from a different perspective, that of a father who wants all three of his children to have happy lives with people they love."  Read more

So where was this perspective when he considered his constituents and their children? Oh, wait... he didn't consider them. I'm sick and tired of the, "Well, that doesn't affect me," mentality. Especially from a leader, a representative. 

I recall when an old high school friend was spouting racially bigoted bullshit; I shut him down, and he was completely bewildered. "Why would that offend you? You aren't black!" 

(Seriously, he was that clueless. My head about exploded.) 

"I'm offended because what you said offends HUMANITY, not just people of a certain skin color!"

Portman explains, "Ultimately, for me, it came down to the Bible's overarching themes of love and compassion and my belief that we are all children of God." Really? Really. 

I will gladly burn my "marriage certificate" in exchange for a certificate of civil union or whatever you want to call it, as long as it's equal. In this f'd up world, we need to stop fighting against people who want to JOIN TOGETHER and face the world as a team, a team of humans based in love and commitment, regardless of what form their naughty bits take. We need all the love we can get while we confront the bazillion other serious problems we have. 

A $430 trip to the dog park.

We were having a good Sunday morning at the dog park. I'd been at home for days, sick, and getting out for some fresh air was welcomed.

As Jackson was going long for a Chuckit throw, an Aussie Shepherd took off to intercept him. Running full out, the friendly looking dog slammed into Jackson, knocking him down, and then just kept on running. There wasn't a scuffle or anything, so we didn't think much of it. We were chatting with others and playing with dogs, so when he got up and got the ball and slowly returned to us it wasn't until I looked down that I saw a lot of blood on his neck, which is white. I ran over to him, and saw thick drops of blood coming from is left ear, which had a perfectly clean 1" tear in it. It's like someone took a sharp knife and just cut right through his ear!

We don't know if the dog nipped at him, or if the ear got caught on a tag or... what. But I kinda freaked out.

We run everyone back to the truck, load up Greta and Winston, and take off towards the emergency vet clinic. As I hold him in the front of the truck he's not real freaked out, but he's pretty well covered in blood, and there are blobs and smears on me, my hands, Scot's hands, the truck, it just seems everywhere. Probably wasn't as much as it felt like. But certainly more than I've ever bled, or even seen Scot bleed.

And he's a little dog!

So thankful we have an emergency vet clinic, and it's even close to our house. As they calmly assessed him, I calmed down a little. But then she says, "Let me get you a quote," and I wanted to kick her in the  butt. I understand they have to do this, and I would hope they wouldn't necessarily do it in an emergency situation. At that moment he shakes his head for the first time since the incident, spraying blood all over and opening up the wound which had actually clotted pretty well, and it starts to quickly drip thick droplets of blood again. Argh! I take a tissue and wrap it around his ear and squeeze a little, and it kinda sticks like a bandage.

She quickly returns and starts to slowly go through the estimate line item by line item, and Scot and I both just scan to the total and say, "Okay, yeah whatever that's fine JUST DO IT!"

They take him back, put him under, suture the ear together, and watch him as he comes out. We were able to pick him up just a few hours later, all doggie drunk and loopy. He is sleeping it off between us on the couch under a blankie. Poor little guy. He had big thick stitches in his ear, looks like Frankenstein.

Just one of those crazy things that happens.

My favorite page on the internet, ever.

50 animated gifs of dogs making fools of themselves. Viewed while at home sick, it sent me into uncontrollable fits of coughing, the likes that almost asphyxiated me, and I had only counted down to #39 at that point. OMG, so much funny hilarity. I had to view the rest in smaller groups to protect my own mortality.

See them all here. 

I can't even pick a favorite. But maybe... on, I just really can't. Okay maybe #42.