First Snow of the Season...

It was a delightful surprise to wake up this morning and find two inches of snow on the ground! The horses I feed are always happy to see me, but this morning they seemed even more excited for their morning hay feed.

While I was waiting for the water trough to fill I took a couple of pictures to share. The snow is nice and wet! Perfect for making snow balls! There's a couple of people I wish were here right now! I'ld surely take the opportunity to throw a big one at them and hope it hit them right in the neck, where it would run down the inside of their shirt! Makes me smile thinking about it! Bet you wonder if you're one of them. Bet you know if you are!

Dad's horse pasture is right at the edge of town. It looks out over the high desert. I enjoy the view very much. There's something special about snow. It cleans up everything and covers up the hand of man.

Everyone hustles something!

Yesterday was my dad's 80th birthday. Nothing special, right? Wrong! He woke up at the usual time and headed straight for his computer. With a cup of coffee in one hand he heads straight to his computer because not much happens in his life until the emails are checked. And then it's off to the Starlight cafe for more coffee and a sweet roll for breakfast. And it was while he was in the cafe that Rhonda brought in this huge plate of cookies and set them down in front of him. "Happy 80th birthday Tom!" Did he ever give her hell! "What are you doing telling everyone here that I'm 80? Can't you see there are 55 year old women here? Couldn't you have said that I was 60 or maybe 65?" My dad is the funniest person I know!

Now let's talk about the cookies. Rhonda brings Dad cookies every week or so. I'm not complaining, since I live here, and that makes me a major beneficiary of her kind acts of baking prowess. But my sister had put his picture in the local paper wishing him a happy birthday. Turns out she used a picture several years old. It was a picture of Dad looking into a mailbox out in the country (people next door to the farm he used to rent) collecting his cookies that they gave him on a regular basis. Now how does he do this? Turns out that my dad is a major cookie hustler. He'll hustle cookies from any woman in town who will bake them for him and I think the number would be much greater than it is except for the fact we can hardly eat the free cookies that come our way now!

And if they're not baking him cookies then they're baking him nasty little panty cakes and delivering them on his birthday! I'm telling you he's the baked sale hustler of the century! You go Dad!

It was wonderful to be able to hang around and watch Dad on his birthday. Cookies, cake, watch, brownies, door mat, a banana cream pie, shirts and candy bars (80 of them which he immediately hid in his room) were all delivered to his house throughout the day by people in the family and in the community who know my dad is simply one of the greatest people around. It was wonderful to see him honored in such a way. Doesn't change the fact that when it comes to cookies the man knows how to put on the hustle! Happy Birthday Dad!

Lessons for Life...

"To celebrate growing older, I once wrote the 45 lessons life taught me. It is the most-requested column I've ever written. My odometer rolled over to 90 in August, so here is the column once more." Regina Brett

1. Life isn't fair, but it's still good.
2. When in doubt, just take the next small step.
3. Life is too short to waste time hating anyone.
4. Your job won't take care of you when you are sick. Your friends and parents will. Stay in touch.
5. Pay off your credit cards every month.
6. You don't have to win every argument. Agree to disagree.
7. Cry with someone. It's more healing than crying alone.
8. It's OK to get angry with God. He can take it.
9. Save for retirement starting with your first paycheck.
10. When it comes to chocolate, resistance is futile.
11. Make peace with your past so it won't screw up the present.
12. It's OK to let your children see you cry.
13. Don't compare your life to others. You have no idea what their journey is all about.
14. If a relationship has to be a secret, you shouldn't be in it.
15. Everything can change in the bliink of an eye. But don't worry; God never blinks.
16. Take a deep breath. It calms the mind.
17. Get rif of anything that isn't useful, beautiful or joyful.
18. Whtever doesn't kill you really does make you stronger.
19. It's never too late to have a happy childhood. But the second one is up to you and no one else.
20. When it comes to going after what you love in life, don't take no for an answer.
21. Burn the candles, use the nice sheets, and wear the fancy lingerie. Don't save if for a special occasion. Today is special.
22. Over prepare, and then go with the flow.
23. Be eccentric now. Don't wait for old age to wear purple.
24. No one is in charge of your happiness but you.
25. Frame every so-called disaster with these words, "In five years will this matter?"
26. Always choose life.
27. Forgive everyone everything.
28. What other people think of you is none of your business.
29. Time heals almost everything. Give time, time.
30. However good or bad a situation is, it will change.
31. Don't take yourself so seriously. No one else does.
32. Believe in miracles.
33. God loves you because who God is, not becasue of anything you did or didn't do.
34. Don't audit life. Show up and make the most of it now.
35. Growing old beats the alternative - dying young.
36. Your children get only one childhood.
37. All that truly matters in the end is that you loved.
38. Get outside every day, miracles are waiting everywhere.
39. If we all threw our problems in a pile and saw everyone else's, we'd grab ours back.
40. Envy is a waste of time. You already have all you need.
41. The best is yet to come.
42. No matter how you feel, get up, dress up and show up.
43. Yield.
44. Life isn't tied with a bow, but it's still a gift.

HOWL! O WEEN at Todd's...

I just spent a week with my brother Todd and his family in Albany, Oregon. It was my great pleasure to be there during Halloween. For Violeta, Fami, and Louie it would be their first Halloween in America. And I must say, it ran the gamut, from a Halloween Pumpkin Carving contest to visiting a haunted house, where someone, who I will not mention by name, wet their pants! I think the sound of the chainsaw had something to do with it but I'm not sure! A great time was had by everyone.

Todd and Atticus are so lucky to have such wonderful people join their family. Violeta, Fami and Louie are delightful people. I can hardly wait for the rest of the family to meet them when they all come to Vale for Thanksgiving. I believe we will have something like 35 people here. What a wonderful introduction to an American Thanksgiving this will be!

Please check out the Family portraits taken of Todd and his family to the left of this post. You can also check out the pumpkins created during our carving contest. Todd won the contest! I'm sure he bribed his kids for votes! I tried to register a formal complaint with the 'Pumpking Carving Association for Fairness' but they wouldn't let me fill out the paperwork. But if you check out the pumpkins in the slide show it is more than obvious that Todd's pumpkin is not the winner.

Todd's new home is beautiful. It's surrounded by pine trees and his property looks over the valley. I saw three does while I was there. Two of them were in his back yard one morning, one of them going to the bathroom in his garden!

Hope everyone had a frightful and wonderful Halloween!

Dog Climbs Trees to Chase Squirrels!

Dakota will do anything to get to a squirrel! His favorite past-time is now climbing trees. This is one of three trees he heads for at lightening speed each and every time he goes out the front door. Two of the three trees are in the neighbors back yard. I'm convinced that when he's tied up that the squirrels get together and tease him to death. By the looks of things it won't be long until he's up chasing them in the tree tops.

Yep! I'm a truck man now...

In 2004 I purchased one of the first Scion XB's sold in the state of California. I loved that car. It was simply the funnest vehicle I have ever owned. I drove it for three years and then sold it to my sister D'Ann. I used the money to purchase a scooter to get around on and camera equipment to pursue my interests in photography. And look at me now! A dog, some Tony Lama cowboy boots and a big big truck! I have everything except for the camper trailer and the concealed weapon permit! And I'm still a Democrat!

The funnest thing about owning the new truck is driving it through town at 20 mph like the rest of the old men who live here. No one honks at me. Lots of people wave but no one expects you to wave back since most of the old men can't see well enough to know who's waving at them anyway. And this is my new station in life! Yep! I'm a truck man now!

Portrait Photography and Working in the Basement

We're making lot's of progress in the basement. My sister-in-law is the Dungeon Master and the Mudder! Please say mudder real slow! The two bedrooms are finished except for baseboards and trim around the doors. The new floors look great. And it looks like we're going to be able to finish the ceiling, install the floor, and finish the painting this week on the Rec Room. I thought my family would like to see the picture of the Rec Room with hardly anything in it. They will understand what a miracle this is! Perhaps the rest of you won't, unless there is someone in your family that stacks everything from the past 40-years from floor to ceiling and wall to wall! Then maybe you too will understand.

It's been a wonderful project to work on. I have gotten to know my little brother and his wife Kim much better than ever before in my life. They are fine people and I have learned to love them very much. This project has been a joy to work on with them, if for no other reason than this.

This is the baby of the family, my little brother Tommy. I love the way he thinks things through. He just doesn't screw things up. Doing a great job!

And this is my Dad. He pitches in and helps here and there. I can tell he really likes the transition and is excited to have it put back together in a way that our family will really be able to enjoy it. We'll have a pool table, a dart board, air hockey, video games for the kids, and lots of sleeping spaces available for the many family members that visit during the year.

My niece Santana has had a visitor from Germany during the past month. Marika was a foreign exchange student last year and lived with Santana and her family. I told them I would do some portrait photography for them, and since this was my first attempt to do something nice in this genre I did it for them for free. I thought it would be nice if they had something to commemorate their friendship. They're BFF's you know. I was pleased with the results but have much more to learn. I think I need some studio equipment which I hope to be able to purchase this fall. Lot's of fun though. And the girls were great!

County Fair

The Malheur County Fair is 100-years old this year. It was originally known as the Corn Festival. And by the looks of these square dancers they could still be corn growers. There's lots of corn grown in this country. The old-timers say that during hot weather you can go out in a corn field and hear it grow, it grows so fast!

A bunch of family went over on Wednesday evening to watch the County Fair Talent Contest, which my niece Santana competed in. She won first prize and $300 and the right to compete in the Oregon State Fair. She sang some country western song, something about losing her man, smoking a cigarette and drinking a six-pack of beer. She hit the high notes though.

I had alot of fun with my photography. The three photos posted here just might make my triptych collection. They're my favorites. I've posted more in a slide show and hope you all enjoy them. Click on the slide show to the left to view them in larger scale. Hope you all enjoy your county fair as much as I did.

Prey-Man's Thunder...

Prey-Man's Thunder by Patrick Braniff

My friend was born to fly
Through billowing clouds of sky-home.
And with wingtips stretched in freedom's search
Others joined
In the soaring brotherhood of life.
And all thinking the wing-flight
Would endure forever.

Then the Prey-Man's pointed thunder sparked
And mangled wing and fiery pain
Mixed with fearful screams of reason.
Yet my friend lived
Through the tumbling fall of darkness
Seeking to enjoy
The settling dusk of beloved sky-home
Until the thudded thump of impact
Brought blissful peace
And pain no more.

Life to life or life to death?
My friend still soars
And the Prey-Man's thunder
Speaks no more.

200 Model T Fords...

200 Model T Fords recently drove through Vale. They were on a road trip from New York City to Seattle. My friend Rosann called me up at 6:30 a.m. to inform me of this earthshattering event and we agreed to meet at the Livestock Sale Yard to view the parade of cars as they drove towards Unity and John Day.

The Model T Ford was manufactured from 1908 to 1927 and was known as the Tin Lizzie to the masses. 1908 is the historic year that automobiles came into popular use. It is the first affordable automobile that put America on wheels.

The Model T was designed by Childe Harold Wills and two Hungarian immigrants Joseph A. Galamb and Eugene Farkas. Before starting a Model T with the hand crank, the spark had to be manually retarded or the engine might 'kick back'. The crank handle was cupped in the palm, rather than grabbed with the thumb under the top of the handle, so that if the engine did kick back, the rapid reverse motion of the crank would throw the hand away from the handle, rather than violently twisting the wrist or breaking the thumb.

The car's 10-gallon fuel tank was mounted to the frame beneath the front seat; one variant had the carburetor (a Holley Model G) modified to run on ethyl alcohol, to be made at home by the self-reliant farmer. Because fuel relied on gravity to flow forward from the fuel tank to the carburetor, a Model T could not climb a steep hill when the fuel level was low. The immediate solution was often to drive up steep hills in reverse.

Consistent with the practical-mindedness of folk in those 'make do' days, the cost of the car was rationalized by added duty. The vehicle was used much like a farm vehicle by taking off the rear wheel and uysing belts, etc to power commonly available belt-driven equipment of the time. An example is a wide belt, powered from the rear hub, used to move hay from the ground to the hayloft in the barn.

Small Town Patriotism...

I don't think there is anything more special than witnessing our nation's birthday in a small town. Vale has a long tradition of celebrating the 4th of July, always with lot's of family, flags, parade and rodeo. The Vale 4th of July parade was 101 years old this year. The Vale Rodeo turned 95.

The citizens in this part of the country have a strong sense of national pride. Sure they're opinionated, when it comes to politics, and they'll all tell you that government should stay out of their business! But when it comes to loving our country they are willing to die for it. Many have sent their sons and daughters to war over the past many decades to defend America's freedom and liberty, and die for our country is what many have done.

I rode in the parade with my dad in his 1942 Chevrolet pickup, throwing candy to all the kids on the parade route. Put on my best 'Great Gatsby' look and had a great time. Also spent a couple of nights doing some photography at the rodeo. Hope you all enjoy the pics.

Must say, I'm grateful to be an American! No matter what our problems, I'm very very grateful.

Dog Wash!

Car wash, yes. But I've never heard of a Dog Wash. And would love to see a Cat Wash!

My niece, Santana, is a Cheer Leader at Vale High School. And today the Cheer Leaders had a fund raising event and it was a Dog Wash! I have never given Dakota a bath and didn't know how he would react so decided that I would take him to the Dog Wash and let them sort it out. I was the first customer of the day. I made sure I arrived early because I wanted my niece to do the honors, which she did beautifully. By the time they were finished shampooing, conditioning, cleaning ears, coat waxing, perfuming, and pedicuring, the line for Dog Wash was really quite long. Must have been six or eight dogs deep waiting for their turn. Of course I bought the super deluxe pamper special for $9. And because the girls did such a good job I also left a $1 tip. Lest you think I'm cheap, a 15% tip would have brought the total to $10.35 (so what if I was $.35 short of the 15% good manner tip). Still happens to be a good tip percent for Vale!

Thank-you 5th Graders...

For the past two years I have been a volunteer in Ms. Scotta's 5th grade class in the Mission District in San Francisco.

10-year old kids ask the most fascinating questions. My favorite came from a little hispanic kid who asked, 'Mr. Braniff, if the universe blew up would God still be alive?' You have to be sharp to keep up with these kids, let me tell you. My response was to answer his question with a question. 'Well, what if God created 10 universes and only one of them blew up, would he still be alive then?' 'Hmmm' he said and that was the end of that.

I just received a packet of letters from the '09 class and want to share some of the excerpts from their letters to me. I have quoted the excerpts exactly as they were written to me, bad spelling, bad grammer and all. Two of the kids spoke no english at the beginning of their 5th grade. One of them was Roxane from France, the other Muthana from Yeman. They speak english now, which speaks volumes about the kind of teacher Ms. Liz Scotta is. All the letters start out, 'Dear Mr. Braniff'.

'I think that you are an amazing and fun student teacher. You helped us a lot on every subject and you especially spend your time on comming to fieldtrips. When you came to some of the field trips you were always taking picures of us. Ms. Scotta told us that you are an excellent photographer and when she told us that you are were going to give us a dvd with pictures, videos, and music. I thought that it was the most special gift I ever had. When Ms. Scotta show us the dvd I was almost crying. Again thank you for this very special gift. I don't know if you remember but I am from France and I remembered that you were helping me at pronouncing number in english.' Roxane D.

'thank you for the pictures and I like all the fleacher marin headling. thank for make a dvd for us pictures. I like watercolors and I like the boats.' Muthana

'When we needed you you were like always there. I remmeber when we went to the moma museum I was in your group. I really miss you and friends miss you too. Thanks for being a good phothographer.' Paola H.

'First, I want to tell you thank you for helping Ms. Scotta with the students, and reading with us. Also, thank you for taking our halloween pictures, and our first 5th grade photographers. Next, I appreciate you and Ms. Scotta for having us improved our writing process, and my mathe skills.' Also, helping us do algebra, and fraction and even decimals, and percents. In conclusion I hope u could come back, and visit our school, and class again.' Tynesha D.

'Thank you 4 everything u did 4 us all year and u were a awsome photagrapher. It was a blast being with u in all the field trips. I really liked the Dvd u made 4 us it made me kinda like bursting out of sadness and crying.' Antonio Q.

'Thank you for being our class photographer and our class helper. We mostly liked that you took pictures of memories of our fifth grade year. I hope I have a teacher just like you in middle school.' Michael D.

'Thank you for giving us all your love to all the students I realy aprishiate that. Ms. Scotta chowed the students and me all the videos that you had done. That was so nice from you Mr. Braniff. I remember we went to the exploratorium and we so the eye of an cow and it was dicusting I really didn't like it because it was wird too.' Leslie P.

'Thank you for been whit us all the time and for been taking us photo and for been helping us and go whit us all the field trip and corect us no say bad words because there alot of them that are saying bad word in the school and Thank you for been reading whit us and been hyelping all the time and some times I didn't go whit you because I stay at home.' Anderson H.

'Thanks for being such a great volunteer. And I also wanna thank you for being our class photographer and for reading with us. In halloween I liked the costume you were wearing It was really funny when you pressed a button and water squirted out of the flower. When you came to our field trips it was funner than usual. The best field trip you were with us was Slide Ranch because you took pictures of us milking goat except me I did not want to milk one because it felt pretty weird.'

Volunteering the past two years has been a wonderful and rewarding experience for me. Sometimes it was frustrating. And sometimes when I was finished with my weekly four hour commitment I wanted to head to the nearest bar for a stiff drink! Thank you Liz for letting me be a volunteer in your classroom. And special thanks and gratitude goes to all of the students I have worked with over the past two years. You're the greatest!

'Wind River'

'Wind River' by Patrick Braniff

Ears hear
The unseen rushing
Move
Through narrow canyons
Of rustling leaves.

The guided whispers
Banked and channeled
Stir
Fields of winter wheat
And play clay chimes.

Pass this way but once.
Stand and feel
Rapids
Of throw away air
On wind-river's shore.

Disaster Clean-up 101

In order to understand 'Disaster Clean-up' you first have to create a good disaster! A good disaster sometimes takes days in the making, as it was at our house this past two weeks. For several days I kept smelling a bad odor in the kitchen area of the house. I examined everything to try and determine the source of the smell: food on the counter, the fridge, the garbage can, even the dog dishes. And then I examined them again, and again, and again over three or four days, never being able to determine the source of the foul odor. Finally, this past Monday I mentioned the smell to Dad. He too had been noticing the smell and couldn't find the source either. I headed over to Ontario to take care of some business and when I got back I found Dad in the basement. 'I've found the source of our problem.' he said. I went down the back stairs and walked into a playroom soaked with water. Kind of reminded me of that line from the very famous poem, 'Rhime of the Ancient Mariner' which goes like this 'Water water everywhere and not a drop to drink!'. Both bedrooms, the playroom and the utility room were soaked with water. It was apparent that they had been in this state for several days! What a mess! My first thought was, 'This is not how I had planned my day! This is not how I had planned my week!' For sure the disaster was now created!

Thank God for family! My little brother Tommy and his wife Kim came right over. We immediately began the process of pulling up the carpet and pad from all the rooms. Kim and I did everything we could to save anything of value that was in the basement. You have to understand that the basement was completely full of all kinds of stuff, mostly Mom's stuff from her years as a tap dance teacher, or her collection of screws and nails, or horse stuff, or scraps of fabric, or furniture, or or or ad infinitum! We ended up filling two dumpsters full of stuff we didn't save or didn't want. I threw away five turntables for playing vinyl records. We kept one in case someone wants to listen to Englebert Humberdink, one of Mom's old records which of course she saved, and so did we in turn! It took us two days to pull out all of the carpet and start the drying out process.

The insurance company insisted that they send in a Disaster Clean-up Contractor. They cut the drywall out, four feet high, all through the bedrooms and closets. They then put in six fans and two humidifiers for two days which just roared with noise. I was kinda wishing that like Dad I could take out my hearing aids to go to bed at night. The equipment finally left here yesterday. Disaster Clean-up finished.

Now we begin the reconstruction part of the project. We have to deal with a completely new insurance adjustor from another company since Dad's insurance does this outsource thing for different parts of the project. Must say they have been pretty easy to work with so far. Keep you posted.

The Day is the Story...

I forget sometimes that my happiness comes from the events of the life I live today, only today. For much of my life, I haven't been present enough to really enjoy and celebrate the pieces of the day that shine light on me. It's easy to wake up, immediately wrap yourself in the problems and behaviours of past days, and sometimes even past years. Justifying bad behaviour is easy when you present your problems. "You don't understand! If you had the same problems as I did I'm sure you would act the same! Probably much worse, since I'm better than you!" And of course this justification only made the problems and pain of my life grow bigger, taking on a life of their own. It was justifieded though. Just ask me. I would tell you. Not my fault!

Today I was able to celebrate my life with two cups of coffee, a toasted bagel with onion and chives cream cheese, fresh carrot and apple and ginger juice brewed in my juicer, watched Dakota run the puppy out of himself, chasing Starlings at the park; never catching them but running, first left, then right, then left, then right, again, hither nither until he collapsed at my feet with no puppy energy left (not even in one bone), pulled some weeks in the yard and set the water tractor for a pass-through irrigation, vacuumed the car out for my Dad and his lady friend who will travel tomorrow on their adventerous two days of celebration, took Dakota to Bully Creek to play in the water. and watched him put his head out the back window and then step on the electric window switch with one paw which closed the window tight to his neck trapping his whining head outside the car while his body wriggled inside to try and free himself! With some help from his Master (that's me), we were able to remedy his problem without him becoming too upset. All in all a great day. Enjoyed the moments. Celebrated my day. Loved my dog. Helped my dad.

No justification today for problems. There was only time today to celebrate love and light.

Art Beat

I've been to many a street fair! For the past 15-years I have lived in the San Francisco Bay Area. Street Fairs are a weekly event during the summer in San Francisco. They take place in different neighborhoods throughout the city. Each neighborhood has it's own theme. Some of my favorites were the Fillmore Street Fair (jazz), the Haight Street Fair (you could always buy a cool new pot pipe), the Castro Street Fair (great people watching), and the Folsom Street Fair ( 250,000 people celebrating sexual fetish - something you only need to see once). Street Fairs are a great way to connect with your community. And they don't cost much to attend.

On My 30th, I attended my first ever Street Fair in Eastern Oregon. It was held in my home town of Vale and was sponsored by the Drexel Foundation, a non-profit working to restore some of the old historic buildings in town, some of which will be used to promote the arts among young people who live here. The Drexel Foundation wants to restore the old Opera House and the Rex Theater, which has been closed for decades. I remember seeing Mary Poppins in the Rex when I was a child some 40-plus years ago. This was the second year this particular Street Fair has been held in Vale and was appropriately titled 'Art Beat'. It was held on Main Street, which is the oldest street in this Oregon Trail Town. The Old Stone House was built in 1872 and was originally called the Stage Coach Inn. It now houses the Vale Museum, which has a wonderful collection of Oregon Trail memorabilia.

The Street Fair had all the elements of the most successful ones I have ever attended: Live music (Headliner was Santana), booths selling crafts and jewelry, and of course activities where people, for a fee, could participate in some way to raise money for a worthy cause and at the same time have fun. 'Art Beat' booths included a dunk tank (hit the target with precision and drown some poor kid), a put put golf course (I was really entertained by the miss-spelling of 'put put' - see pictures), and the incredibly exciting bean bag toss and deep sea fishing booths (which each cost 1-ticket). And of course every Street Fair has something a little carnivalish and Art Beat was no different with it's Basket Ball Toss.

I had a great time! And as you can see, the success of a Street Fair is always measured by the smiles of happiness you see on your friends and neighbors faces.

I should mention that our live music headliner, Santana, was not the Santana of the 'Supernatural' album fame, but Santana Braniff, my niece, who is leaving around July 2nd to travel to Europe to sing in a choir of young people in four different countries before returning on the 18th. My little brother Tommy Braniff accompanied her on his guitar!

From my point of view, Art Beat was a smashing success!

My Favorite Poem - For 35-years Now...

Leap River, Toward Sky by Maxine R. Jennings

_________________________________

You, said my father in the forever of my youth,

Are like a river seething on a slate-blue morning.

Your malcontent reinforced by a cloudburst,

Your strength full and surging with eagerness, you shout

May the regiments of birch and willows be defeated!

Down with banks!

But like unyielding walls, my stalwarts towered on my right

And on my left; and they channeled my rushing.

_________________________________

Now, calm in a tall noon, I know about rivers.

For once I saw an armed and arrogant stream

Proclaim its triumph and promote itself to waterscape

In a muscle-wild invasion of everywhere.

Banks tumbled in chaos, weeds waded in shallows -

And a valley lay prostrate under gray waters

Knocking, shuddering, muttering zeros,

While the cracked dome of heaven wept, no shore, no shore.

Then the voice of the lost water rang with the words of my father,

And I recalled the wisdom of banks.

Bewildered in brassy hours, I think about rivers:

Another young stream, caught in the fren of his youth,

Presses to escape containing.

How this river, loud in its rush from the beginning,

Argues with banks - pounds them with watery protests,

Attacks them with waves, with waves!

Away with these absurdities

That tower on the right and on the left

To confine and to coil thes waters.

And the river recruits from the mountain

Other young streams waving foam banners and shouting.

Their logic demands the instant repeal of banks -

Is not river, whose form is the form of all rain,

Worthy of sun on more surface, more flowing room?

Let the hammered air report these banks unyielding:

Surge, river, and meet frustration.

Boast of your depth with your cataracts of half-reason,

Hurl your threats and your havoc, your wrath livid with current.

Certain in their holding are the stalwarts that tower

On the right and on the left; they will channel your rushing,

Till the valley for miles around is electric and light silvers the darkness.

__________________________________

Leap, river, toward sky; you are spilling freshlets

That lilt and linger on a tilting field,

And there is singing in the valley and plenty in the land.

Is there not also gratitude for banks?

Social Life? Not much for me!

My musical claim to fame happened at Vale Union High School, during my senior year, as a french horn player. In the spring of 1974 I traveled to Portland to perform in the state Solo and Ensemble Festival at the Oregon State Competition. I played Mozart's 4th Concerto for French Horn, all three movements, by memory. It took 35 minutes to complete. I took 5th place in the Oregon State finals. So when I was invited to attend the 'Spring Music Extravaganza' performed by the various music groups at the High School, I was very interested in attending. My niece is in the choir and I wanted to hear her sing.

The performance was held in the school cafeteria, just like before. There is a stage in the cafeteria. The tables and benches, for eating lunch, were put away in the wall cupboards, and chairs had been set up for the audience. The choir sang first. It was an all girls choir (small in number), which surprised me. Where were the young men? And then it was time for the Concert Band to play. The curtain came up and there they were, all five of them. Someone was playing the flute, another the clarinet, a trumpet player and a bass saxaphone player, finished off by someone on the piano. That was it! No percussion! No french horn! Where was the oboe, kettle drum, trombone section? Where was the concert band? I was shocked. I was looking forwad to some sort of cultural entertainment and this was it. I later found out that one of the members of the band was sick (I would have been sick too if I had been forced to perform in that kind of music extravaganza). But who knows, perhaps that one extra person would have made the difference. This was my first attempt to immerse myself into the social fabric of my new community.

Please understand, I'm not making fun of this, I'm just commenting on my experience. I know that funding for education has been drastically cut across America over the past number of years. This experience flew in my face, in a very real way, how these cuts affect our young people. Learning the arts and music is something that has enriched my life greatly. I hope these students get the opportunity to learn how the different art forms make a life more complete, whether it is music, sculpture, photography, painting, or gourmet cooking. I really believe the arts are a means of making our humanity more compassionate and our spirits more present, as we understand and create the beauty that surrounds us in our lives. Learning these skills at school is a great place to start.

Hold On To Your Teeth!

The population of Vale, Oregon is 1548 souls. I suppose the net resident count is now 1549, since I've moved here. I remember the day when a person would drive into town and see a sign that said, 'Entering Vale, population 1892'. Babies are born here, but they mostly move as soon as they're old enough to need a job. The old people stay. They pay close attention to the obituaries, by far the most popular part of the local paper. One of our old-timers died last week so maybe the census count really is 1548. It's hard to keep track of week to week.


I rescued Dakota from the Idaho Humane Society in Boise. He's nine months old and still has quite a bit of puppy in him. Wonderful dog though! He has fit in well. Both Dad and I are really enjoying him. He's completely house broken, which makes things easier, and for the most part is well behaved in the house. He likes to chew on things so I've bought him the obligatory chew toys, which haven't lasted long. I finally got him a cows hoof. Now that's a chew toy! And Dakota knows it belongs to him.


This morning I got up and did my usual stuff, including taking care of Dakota, then decided to lay back down on the sofa and watch CBS Sunday Morning. I fell asleep for about an hour. When I woke up, there was that damned dog chewing on Dad's teeth! Totally obliterated them! This was at 9:15 a.m. My dad usually wakes up around 9:30. I immediately called my little brother, Todd, for moral support. "I'm in big trouble I told him!" "What? You been talking politics with Dad again?", he asked. "No, my dog chewed up his teeth and Dad doesn't know it yet." Of course Todd's response was to laugh, not just a little hee hee laugh, but the kind of belly laugh that just can't be stopped. "You little bastard!" I said. "I call you for moral support and this is what I get!" Between his gasps for breath, due to intense and uncontrolable laughter, he managed to ask me to call him back in an hour and let him know how it went! That little shit! No moral support here.


Dad really slept in this morning. Didn't get up until 10:45 a.m. I swear, that was the longest hour and a half of my life. He come out of his bedroom with his uppers in but no bottoms, acting like he didn't have a care in the world, looking for some coffee. "Dad, we have a problem." I said. I unwrapped his teeth from a paper towel and layed them on the table. "What's that?" he asked. "It's your teeth. The dog chewed them up." "Why that son-of-a-bitchin dog!" he said, before starting to laugh. My dad has a great sense of humor! Turns out that he had another set so I don't have to buy him baby food! He made one request. "Hell, tell people that I just went down to the mortuary and got another set!" Good thing we had that funeral in town last week.