If I can read the map right, these two guys called me last night at 11:45 p.m. and this morning at 7:45 a.m. from a 4,971-foot peak near Portland.

UPDATE: They're home, safe and sound. The last OK came from where they live! I asked Lamont if each of them would pick some of their favorite photos for me to share with y'all, maybe sooner, maybe later.

OTHER UPDATE: I finally felt like I could drive the car safely to the doctor today and found out that I have a urinary tract infection. I have three days of antibiotics and hope they get rid of it.

That's my sons, Lamont and Leland, in 1979. Lamont was three, and Leland's a few months--like a nut, I didn't write anything on the back of the photo.

The guys and their girlfriends Lindsay and Kailey are today in the middle of their three-day hiking/camping trip, from the North Burnt Lake Trailhead and back.

Not expecting them to find any cell phone signal while in the Mt. Hood National Forest, for the guys' birthdays--Lamont will be 33 on Sept. 24 and Leland will be 30 on Oct. 31--I got them a Spot, billed on their Web site as "The World's First Satellite Messenger." Actually, I got it for my peace of mind, but you'd already guessed that, right? There's an OK button that sends me an email with a link to a map that shows me their location, within moments of the OK button's being pushed. There's also a Help button, for which we have worked out a plan because they will only use it if they get back to the car and find some sort of problem there, and a 911 button which will call for professional help. The messages go to the girls' families and to my brother, too.

When my phone rang last night, showing Lamont's name on the screen, I thought, "What?" It was Leland, using his brother's cell phone to check in with me, telling me they were spending the night on that peak, where originally they had only planned to watch the sunset. Another hiker/camper they met on the trail had mentioned that he sure wish he'd decided to camp there, instead of down at a lake--I don't know which lake. Leland said the moon was so bright that they hardly needed their head lamps. He told me it was the peak labeled 4971 on the Portland Hikers Dot Org field guide topo map for Burnt Lake. I asked him why Lamont had turned on his phone, and he said that Lindsay had turned hers on and found a five bars, so Lamont tried his, too. Then Lindsay wanted to talk to me for a minute, to tell me that they could see every single light of Portland. It really did my heart good to talk with both of them and hear how much fun they were having, all four of them.

This morning at 7:45 a.m. when I saw Lamont's name on my ringing phone, I thought, "Yeah!" He repeated what the other two had told me about the moon and the lights of Portland, then he told me that Lindsay had used Google on her phone and found out that the sun was supposed to rise at 7 a.m., so they all four got up and saw it come up beside Mt. Hood, just about the same place they'd seen the moon come up last night. Wow. He told me that they would OK signal me several times close together so that I would know the location of tonight's base camp, and I wished them a continued mind-blowing trip. I know from checking the map links that they're spending tonight at Burnt Lake, something he thought they might do, even taking a swim. In a mountain lake. Wow.

Here's a bit of info from Portland Hikers about Burnt Lake:

* Elevation:
1,051.56 meters
3450 feet

Description

Nice small mountain lake on the flanks of the Zigzag Ridge which connects to the southwest side of Mount Hood. Seven designated campsites around lake. As long as you're here, walk up the Burnt Lake and Zigzag Mountain Trails to East Zigzag Mountain, about a mile and 900' elevation gain away.

East Zigzap Mountain is where they spend last night. Oh, I just read the description of their original spend-the-night idea, Cast Lake, west of East Zigzag--am I ever glad they changed their mind. It offers no view of Mt. Hood!

P.S. I am feeling better and hope to go to work tomorrow.

The guys' muse . . . she's back.

Mama, Saturday, March 15, at the Taste of Tillamook, just about the time we finished enjoying the guys' demonstration plates.


The guys, Saturday, March 15, at the Taste of Tillamook, just about the time the other chef was presenting his food to the judges.


Roast beef and potatoes; butterbeans with okra; apple, banana and raisin salad; cornbread muffins, and a glass of sweet ice tea, Wednesday, March 19, at our apartment, right before we enjoyed Mama's homecooking. The guys couldn't be with us this time, but there will be other times, of that we are certain.

Thanks to Lindsay for those first two photos.

Heavenly Iris

First let me apologize for forgetting the monthly theme day. And for not having time or energy to look at all of your posts right now. I will at some point, and I know I will find them to be impressive.



Last May I found this flower in a front yard, off Burnside in SE Portland. Naturally I thought it was beautiful and started to take a photo. Imagine my surprise when the homeowner, who saw me looking, said, "Smell it. It smells like grape Kool-Aid." I took a sniff, not knowing what to expect. She was so right. Neat-o!

Here's an interesting bit about the iris, in general, that I found by using Google:

This next piece of information is not exactly a legend, but we found it to be one of the neatest things we read. The flower got its name from the Greek goddess Iris, goddess of the rainbow. Iris was also know to be the messenger of Zeus and Hera. Iris would take messages from "the eye of Heaven" to earth travelling on the arc of the rainbow. The word iris means "eye of heaven". It was the name given to the goddess, this flower, and the center of your eye. This means that each of us carries a piece of heaven with us.

Update:

Mama moved to the bed by the window today. She says it's cooler on that side of the room, so she wraps up in a blanket while sitting in her chair. I'm going to take her warm vests with me when I go over there tomorrow. And a small footstool for her little feet. She said she worked about two hours this morning and one hour this afternoon in therapy. I told her that all of us are very proud of her and how hard she's working.

Duncan didn't have any accidents last night; we sort of slept on the couch. I've been fighting falling asleep sitting at my desk at work and on the bus and now at the computer. In a few minutes, I'll be stretched out on the couch.

He also didn't have any accidents today while I was at work. Lamont came over at 11 a.m. and took him out where he successfully did his business. That meant that I didn't come home to a mess myself--hooray. He's ready for me to hit the couch.

One thing before I go, please add to your prayers the safety of Lamont and his girlfriend Lindsay, and Leland, as they ride their bicycles to visit Mama, to meet her at the doctor, to our apartment to check on Duncan. Thank you so much.

Public art on the MAX and today's Mama update

I took these photos on that cold Saturday in December when I walked and walked, taking photos all along the river between the Broadway and Morrison Bridges. I had such a good time.

Here you have some of the public art on the Interstate MAX Yellow Line that runs from the City Center to the Expo Center, which is "The Portland Metropolitan Exposition Center is a multi-purpose facility that has served for more than 30 years as the region's primary destination for consumer public shows, trade shows and public events. This 60-acre campus includes a complex of five inter-connected buildings comprising 330,000 square feet of multi-use exhibition space, 11 meeting rooms, a full-service kitchen and parking for 2,200 vehicles. The facility hosts nearly 100 events annually, attracting in excess of 500,000 attendees."


From TriMet.org: Artwork at every stop along the MAX Yellow Line draws from the history and culture of the area to create a unique identity for each station. With over 40 local artists contributing artwork and 75 community members participating in forums and committees, the art along MAX Yellow Line is a proud reflection of a historically rich and vital part of Portland.

This particular art is at the Interstate/Rose Quarter Station in front of the home of the Portland Trail Blazers, our professional basketball team.

From TriMet.org: Brian Borrello presents a three-part metaphor for displacement and change.

* Illuminated metal trees generate their own electricity from solar panels.
* A virtual campfire flickers with light at night, surrounded by stainless steel stump seats.
* Light filtering through colored glass on shelter roofs simulates the dappled light of a forest.
* Concrete tree rings in the platform symbolize the forest once abundant on the site.
* Custom guardrails feature branching tree limbs and roots.




That's the home of the Trail Blazers in the background.


Here you're looking towards the Willamette River. All of this, the basketball arena and the streets and mass transit, etc., is practically on the east bank of the river. Sorry I only got photos of the metal trees, but to tell you the truth, they stood out so beautifully against the blue, blue sky that I got distracted from even looking for the other parts of the art at this stop. Maybe a shot or two for another time, eh?


Here's the latest on Mama--sorry that I ramble so much, but my brain's going several directions at once.

She's still having problems with her blood pressure, not only being higher that the doctors want, but also dropping more than they want when it's taken lying down, sitting up, then standing up. The man who did the angiogram and put in the stent last Thursday told the kids today that he wanted to re-evaluate her on this coming Friday, so there won't be any new procedure or surgery right away, if at all.

Also, the doctors have decided to have her evaluated by physical and occupational therapy because they want her sitting up more and walking some, with a walker that has wheels on the front two legs. She's now calling for the nurse, then using the walker to go to the actual bathroom, which is a step in the right direction. If some of this blood pressure problem is due to her having been flat on her back (or nearly so) for over a week now, then the movement they've prescribed just might help her blood pressure get under control better.

Mama is trying to do what is asked of her because she wants to get better, but she is pretty weak. I'm hoping that the increased activity, even in small amounts, will help her regain a bit of strength. All of that ought to help, don't you think?

Lamont, Lindsay and Leland came over today. Leland stayed until he needed to head for school. Lamont and Lindsay stayed until I got here after work. It's now a little after 8 p.m. and I'm about to head home to a lonely little dog.

Thank you for your continued prayers, well wishes and kind thoughts. They mean so very much to all of us.

The 3 Ls who're helping this one L with Gee-Ma, 'cause they love both of us so very much

Mama's doing a tad better, as she puts it. We're so thankful for that, even if her blood pressure remains too high. The doctor said they're still working on controlling it with medicine. Hopefully tomorrow we'll know what is next for her.

I took this photo on Dec. 6 after we'd been to the Bagdad to see "The Bourne Ultimatum." That's Lamont, Lindsay and Leland. Don't they look grand, standing at the Bike Parking Oasis on the corner of SE 38th and Hawthorne?

Those three young people have played a big part in keeping me sane this week, helping out so very much with Mama. Besides taking Mama to the ER, twice (Leland) and coming to the ER to check on Grandma as soon as they got off work last Sunday night (Lamont and Lindsay); visiting repeatedly (all three); asking pertinent questions and remembering the answers(all three); loving both of us immensely (all three), there's also this-- Leland has been driving our car part of the time, Lindsay's car the rest of the time, back and forth to work and school since the middle of November. Now that I need the car to get quickly from home or work to the hospital, Lindsay's letting him use her car as often as he needs it. She's riding one of Leland's bicyles or her own bicycle to work and to the hospital to visit Grandma. Lamont does that, too. Leland rides his other bike to the hospital. They're amazing, flat out amazing.

The Bike Parking Oasis is one of several around the city, offering covered bike parking on a newly widened sidewalk, in a space the size of one and one half automobile parking spaces. Where to people park their bicycles in your city?