2016 Christmas letter

 Greetings of the Season from the Left Coast!

Was it Horace Greeley who said, “Go West, young man”? We did – lock, stock, and kitty cat. But first, the highlight of the social season: Matthew married Mary Louise Roberts October 15 on a mountainside overlooking the Tennessee River near Chattanooga. (They met on the website OkCupid). It was wonderful! Small wedding attended by family only and a reception for several more featuring blue grass music, blue jeans, and Southern BBQ. After the wedding and a honeymoon in Napa Valley, they returned to their respective jobs in the Stanford University system, ML as a nurse and Matthew as a computer artist.

           

Chattanooga (nicknamed “Gig City” because of its Internet connections) was a happy surprise: We’d never been there. It has an aquarium that looks a lot like the one in Baltimore (having been designed by the same person), a minor league baseball team, clean air, a 100-year-old restored antique carousel, rides on the river in a restored WWII landing craft, an open-air market, the MoonPie General Store, many top restaurants, and, of course, the Chattanooga Choo Choo, a transformed hotel that was once the largest train station in town.

            And now to the move: We decided, as both sons live on the West Coast, if we couldn’t beat ’em, to join ’em. A friend told us about Seaside, Oregon, and a potential realtor, and Ed spent at least once a day, every day, checking out Realtor.com and Zillow. We found several houses we liked; in February we flew to Oregon (because it’s sort of half way between the boys) and began looking at the possibilities. And wouldn’t you know? The last one we looked at last (in Gearhart) was the winner! So three yard sales, many donations to nonprofits, and several farewell parties later, we set out on our own Adventure in Moving.

            And it was an adventure! We first thought we had to race to the Coast to beat the movers,

which would, they told us, take nine days. Turns out, we need not have worried. Our stuff was first on the van so it would be last off. We put Roy (our cat) into a crate – he was a perfect gentlemen the whole trip – and loaded the crate, several suitcases, a vacuum cleaner, a cooler, and much more into our new 2016 Prius, and began the 3,000-mile journey, staying at Motel 6’s along the way because they allow pets to stay, too. Things went smoothly for us, but the movers were not so fortunate. The van broke down in Oregon (so close!), so they (and we) waited for a tow truck and a mechanic. The movers finally arrived at our new home at 11 pm on April 3 and were here until 2am April 4, moving furniture in. (That’s 2am and 5am East Coast time!) We never knew unpacking was so much work, but it’s sort of like Christmas every day – “I forgot we had that!” or “What were we thinking?” So it has been an adventure, and we are finally settled in – in a 3-bedroom house rather than a 5-bedroom house. We have some really nice neighbors. And both Rob and Matthew (and their significant others) have come to visit. Except for having to return to Maryland to take care of some details with the sale of our house in Monkton, life goes on .… [sigh] And it’s nice to be in the same time zone with our sons. (When Ed went East to tie up some loose ends about the sale of the house, Barb, while waiting for appliances to be delivered, lived out of a cooler and a microwave. Hallelujah! The sale of our house in Monkton was finally completed in June.) And we’ve learned about the weather out here. Although it was an early spring when we moved in, we’ve since learned about the ferocious coastal storms that are common during the late fall and winter – when the wind howls and it seems as though your house will blow away!

Unfortunately, we weren’t here very long until Roy disappeared – last seen headed East with his overnight bag and a PB&J sandwich. (A recent news story featured a cat who found his way “home” after a decade – hope springs eternal). In the meantime, we adopted Tuffy (in honor of a previous Fishel cat) from the local animal shelter. He seems to be a cross between a Persian and an orange tabby. He’s a real sweetheart and very curious; Barb once caught him in the freezer drawer of the refrigerator! He’s also quite the athlete – jumping from pillar to post and back again. Is there an Olympic event for kitties? Tuffy is quite the adventurer and ever ready to escape. As soon as we’re near a door – any door -- Tuffy is there, too. As the song says, he’s always on the wrong side of every door. He found his way under our porch (it was easier to get in than to get out, he discovered), and Ed had to remove the lattice before we could retrieve him. We’ve also adopted some birds as “pets.” It’s interesting to see the difference between East Coast and West Coast birds, but they all chow down at the bird feeders! Red-wing blackbirds, a Steller’s jay (like a blue jay, only black and blue instead of white and blue), finches, and hummingbirds have visited. As have the ubiquitous crows, mourning doves, and sparrows. And we saw a bald eagle on one of our exploratory trips – just sitting on a tall post looking regal. We’ve even seen some honeybees buzzing around our yard!

Farmer Ed was not to be denied. Although the ground is not great for growing vegetables, Ed planted four different tomato plants as an experiment, based on our friend Art’s recommendation. We’re happy to say that we didn’t have to rely on store-bought tomatoes this summer.

Oh yes! Ed bought a moped to tool around the neighborhood. He’s a happy camper!

           We are not far from “the beach.” The water is quite warm (as Barb discovered when she took a misstep and fell into the water). Cannon Beach, Seaside, Gearhart, and Astoria are “the” places to be during the summer. We were warned about the amount of traffic starting Memorial Day; visitors, however, didn’t get the memo until the July 4 weekend this year. The high school team is the Gulls, and every time we see it, we think the sign says Bulls (as in Hereford Bulls). And instead of signs along the road warning of deer, we have signs warning of elk. And tsunamis – with instructions for evacuation.

Things are definitely different out here – more laid back, more I’ll get to it when I get to it. Espresso available on every corner. Lots of signs advertising cannabis (it’s legal here, both rec and med, as the signs say). We saw one sign advertising a “cemetery and recycling center.” (What are they recycling?)

Ed actually saw a herd of elk not far from our house. It still gives us pause occasionally to look at the horizon and see mountains instead of gently rolling hills. Tall cedars and many shrubs in a zillion shades of green line the roads (reminds us of a long-ago book club selection, Snow Falling on Cedars).  Nevertheless, there are aspects of driving around here that remind us of driving in West Virginia – driving under a canopy of trees, for example, and the weather.

           

And voting is different, too. Everyone votes by mail in Oregon. No long (or short) lines on election day! They even provide a website where you can check to make sure your ballot was received.

            We found a church – actually, Ed found it. He’d gone to two services and signed Barb up for choir before she visited. The congregation is small, and the church is a warm, welcoming place – reminds us a lot of Epworth. The service is also familiar. And Barb is NOT volunteering to start a handbell choir! Who knew? The church is within spittin’ distance of a hotel where we stayed while searching for a house. Barb also joined the North Coast Chorale – a community choir with a very ambitious program. It’s planning a week-long trip to Barcelona next year to participate in several workshops and concerts (Barb is opting out). And thanks to a program at church, we heard about the local food bank, so Barb is volunteering there five or so hours a week.

            We still have many places to explore. We took a trip to Tillamook, a dairy co-op where they make really good cheese and ice cream. We visited the rain forest in Washington State courtesy of Pegg and Sue, Ed’s sisters, staying at Lake Quinault Lodge, which President Franklin D. Roosevelt visited during a fact-finding trip in fall 1937. He enjoyed lunch there in the later-named Roosevelt Dining Room. Nine months later, he signed a bill creating Olympic National Park. We enjoyed the stay – complete with a bed the size of a football field, a fireplace in our room, and many, many hummingbirds! And we first heard of marionberries (no, not Marion Barries); they’re like blackberries, only bigger. Peter Iredale. We visited the Lewis & Clark salt cairn (where the travelers boiled ocean water in “kittles” to extract the salt used in preserving food). On the way home, we passed several houses that would cost $2 million or so back East, but probably cost less here because the PNW is economically depressed. In June, we visited the Scandinavian Festival (aka ScanFest) in Astoria. It was a lot like Baltimore’s Kennedy Krieger Festival of Trees without the trees – vendors, food (featuring Swedish meatballs, Danish pastries), and music. One difference is that ScanFest also featured trolls and the organizers advertised for young blond females to help get the Viking ship to the East Coast. We visited Fort Clatsop, where Lewis and Clark holed up during four dreary months while it RAINED during their trip west. We checked out the Seaside Aquarium, which is reminiscent of the aquarium in one of the government buildings in D.C. where Barb took the boys 35 years ago. Seaside’s aquarium is small but has seals that are nothing if not clowns, clapping when visitors throw fish to them. We ooh’d and aah’d at fireworks on the beach. They were so amazing even an elk came to enjoy the show.

We explored Fort Stevens State Park near Warrenton, site of an 1860s military fort and near the shipwreck of the

We checked out a restaurant featuring exotic meats, took a ride on the Oregon Coast Scenic Railroad (which reminded us of the Cass R.R. in West Virginia), and visited Ecola State Park (not Ebola and not E.coli), where painters painted and people picnicked. We also visited Newport, which has a wonderful aquarium (thanks to Matt and ML, we visited it) and is home to an historic lighthouse. On the way, we saw some signs for gluten-free and free-range crabs (wha-a-a-t?). It turns out Seaside (the next town over) is the end of the Hood to Coast relay – in which runners and walkers run or walk from Mount Hood to the coast (198 miles). We’ve been keeping up with movies, usually once a week. Thanks to Matthew and ML, we have a 500-page guide to Washington, Oregon, and the PNW, which has hundreds of suggestions of places to visit. We’ve only scratched the surface. We’re slowly finding medical professionals. A small hospital is not far away; we’ve found a doc and a dentist―next on the list, an optometrist. We joined the local pool, so we can swim two mornings a week. We found a good vet for Tuffy, and we found a good pedicurist. And let’s not forget the rose gardens and the Japanese Garden in Portland, which are still among our favorite places to visit.

But still no sightings of Sasquatch, which, it is said, hangs out in the Pacific Northwest (although a reasonable facsimile might have been spotted at the Seaside July 4 parade). And thanks to the parade, we learned about the Astor Street Opry Company, which is like a dinner theater without the dinner – but plenty of popcorn to throw at the villain. We saw Shanghaied in Astoria, which featured some very talented singers and lots of fun. Uff da! We’re looking forward to the Christmas show, Scrooged in Astoria.

A big vacation was out of the question for this year (we had our trip), but a trans-Canadian rail trip, a partial trip of the Mississippi River on a paddle boat (Barb mistyped paddle board first – and spell check didn’t catch it. Can you imagine traveling the Mississippi on a paddle board?), and possibly a cruise along the Pacific coast north or south are still on our bucket list. We’re looking forward to a cruise on the Columbia River next April, when we’ll see Mount St. Helens, visit Multnomah Falls, and check out the Evergreen Aviation and Space Museum.

We miss you all – our friends at Epworth, the book club, our wonderful neighbors (Come visit! We have two spare bedrooms, and the Oregon Coast will be the best place to view the total eclipse next year), the chickens, cantaloupes and sweet corn from the Eastern Shore (but we did finally find good cantaloupes at Fred Meyer and sweet corn from a local farmer), Maryland crabs, Wegmans (although our “neighborhood” Safeway is a very close second), watching the O’s and the Ravens in real time (Barb ran into a guy wearing an Orioles shirt at the local grocery store; he’s a transplant from Harford County), and the friendly people at the p.o. We have to remember to go to the mailbox every day, because it’s a block away – none of this mail delivered to your mailbox at the end of the driveway stuff. We DON’T miss stink bugs! Or 100-degree weather and high humidity during the summer!

One of the advantages of living out here is that we get to share in Rob’s musical treats. He was music director for a high school production of Little Shop of Horrors, which was quite good. And he was once again (for the something-teenth year) music director for the Rec Council’s camp in Hereford, which produced Seussical and Peter Pan this year ….

Rob and Vera will likely marry when she is finished with med school (two more years for naturopathic medicine and three for integrative mental health).

And that, friends, is all the news that’s fit to print this year. We wish you all a happy, healthy 2017!

                                          Best wishes,

                                         Ed and Barb