Going All Klickitat

We spend a lot of time reading and listening to Beezus and Ramona. So we went to visit the statues, in Grant Park near Klickitat Street and Beverly Cleary Elementary School.

Some people think Ida is a little like Ramona. Similar haircuts, similar pesty-ness?

Wait, who's that, over there?

"People liked Ribsy, and Ribsy liked people. Ribsy was what you would call a well-adjusted dog."

For some reason, there's no Beezus. And neither are there Mrs. nor Mr. Quimby--we're relieved that he quit smoking, though, and got a better job, even if he didn't get his degree. Meanwhile, what about that creepy Henry Huggins?

He looks a little suspicious of what Ida and Miki were doing to his dog.

Adventures of this Material Plane

Whoa, these past two weekends we've had some adventures but between those adventures and recovering from them and making a living (Ida's most favorite recent question, "How do you get money from your job?") we have been unable to document them. So

On the return to Wahclelah Falls, we remembered to bring headlamps, so as to do some spelunking.

It turned Ida into a kind of demon who started cutting people in half with her eyes.  She seriously injured a passing dog.

It's so nice, those winter holidays, but they tend to take us away from the Bradfords more than we'd like--someone's always traveling--so these last weekends have been a chance to spend some time in the Bosom of that family.  Here they are, eating lunch on that glorious hike.

Ella said we shouldn't go off the trail, but Arthur wouldn't listen, and he took Elsie and Miki with him.  They peed up there, I heard.

And then a week later we rented a house up in Government Camp and partied like it was 1992.  Look at these Vining sisters, getting down to business:

Miki liked the snow.

Furious sledding ensued, later on:

Theo had some interesting breakdowns on this trip, though nothing like MIki's psychotic break on Saturday night, when Ella had to go out and stick her in a snowbank at 11:30 PM.

This was a pretty serious bobsled run.  Ida especially was able to race past the dangerous rock I was guarding.  She'd go over the lip, then down onto the icy road, then about another hundred yards past houses and cars until skidding to a stop on the blacktop.  One time she did this and a whole bunch of hipster snowboarders were standing down by where she stopped and they were all like "You killed it!"



and she was like "Smoking will make your lungs turn black." and they just all started screaming and high-fiving each other with their free hands.  Whoa.

Anyway, lo, the cousins had some sweet times:

Speaking of sweet, check out Arthur!  Some people think he looks like Abraham Lincoln skiing, or some mad sexy physicist.

All I know is that I mistakenly climbed into the wrong bed one night, suspecting that Maggie was Ella, and Arthur reached out in his sleep and held me tenderly and very strongly.  He would not let me go, all night long.  Let me say this:  his beard is not as soft as it looks.

Meanwhile, Ida took a ski lesson!

She made her ski instructor work pretty hard, and I suspect he didn't get a tip.

Because we only carry huge bills.  But hey, have I mentioned how strong Arthur is?  Here's a still picture rendition of the film I showed you before.  This man's legs!  Adamantine!

Uncle Arfur

Oh, he's a man, all right!  A regular Valentine, an under-rated singer and a bad influence:



How strong is he?


As Ida would say, "Not as strong as you, Daddy.  You're older."

More soon on both of these strange trips of the last two weekends...and also his "beard."

I See Your True Colors, Shining Through

Hello. Elsie had a birthday party at the rollerskating rink!

Actually it was for Issa and Kaito, too, but I don't have any pictures of them.

Everyone got the hang of it pretty quick,  because they're rather young.

Elsie is five, of course.

Wait a minute!  Who is that graceful swan?

Some people thought that President Abraham Lincoln was rollerskating, due to the beard, but in fact it was Arthur. Many times we tried to get some help setting up for the birthday celebration and the eating and he was like "Don't bother me. I'm skating, here. Clean up? Leave that to Maggie or someone. I got to skate." It really was something. Very graceful. If I were a real computer person I'd attach some music to this so it would be more true to the moment. "Flight of the Bumblebees" or something:

Wait a minute...did the above suggest that Maggie didn't skate? Oh, that would be a misunderstanding. She got out her superhero tights and the tennis skirts that have bike commuters around PDX pedaling furiously every morning and then gave everyone a lesson:

I know that GrandKathy really enjoyed that film of her young son Arthur up there, just like old times. For those who are interested in "the making of" documentary, or those just curious how I managed to film that swooping beauty, here's a picture of that (thanks, Amy).

Forget about the Super Bowl! Big soccer game in the Portland sun at Duniway this afternoon. Unbelievable. Arthur and Maggie 3 Pete and Ella 2

The Winter Months of 2012

I kind of forgot about this winter snowshoe/sledding trip we took a while back; maybe because it was so painful, at times, that is was like how women have rosy memories of childbirth. But there were some nice sweet times, too.

Ida got snow in her face after a crash and kept cursing me all the time I was taking this "I don't like it when people take my picture right now; don't take my picture!"

Fortunately, these little bears found a cave.  They've been watching some videos of Knut, the cute polar bear cub raised by Thomas Dorflein,

who died recently.  The bear, that is.  Some said he went crazy.

We continue to be involved in a deep and sensical celebration of Ella Vining, the 40 year old.

Her ardency and flexibility are unparalleled. Here is some of her training:

Aficionados may be wondering how Ida's photography is coming along.  Well, she's still shooting, don't worry.  Here are some shots of Miki, taken just yesterday:

Mostly Ida wanted to document the picture she'd made for Miki and hung in her room (there it is, and that's how Ida likes to hang things up):

Miki may or may not have that ear tube operation. We'll see.

Here are the girls after swimming class yesterday. Ida is about to bust out of Otter class; Miki is patently bored in Starfish (where many of the parents, IMHO, wear too much patchouli), and Ella has suggested that I re-register her (Miki) and lie about her age so she can get into Goldfish.

Ida is kind of ferocious and wise.  I am in my teaching now mostly relaying things she's told me.

For instance, the other day, very early in the morning, we had this conversation over breakfast--

I:  The first people, when they lived in caves, didn't know how to talk.  They had no words.

P:  What did they do?

I:  When were you born?

P:  1967

I:  Did you have words?

P:  Not right away, but other people did.

I:  Oh.  Well, those first people didn't have words.

P:  What did they do?

I:  They silently walked along, until they needed to say something, they made up words.

P:  Like what?

I:  How they were feeling.

P:  And their names?

I:  Yes.

That's really all I have to say about writing.  It's about showing people how we feel and who we are/what our name is.

What 40 looks like, around here

Yes, it's true; and this wildness hangs out in hotel rooms, after falling into sandpits on the beach.

40! And how does 40 act? I can't tell you, here. Just don't try to tell her what to do!

Me? I'm older than that. Really old.

Where were the girls? Having a sleepover, which may be documented on the cousins' site, some day. Of course we missed them and wondered how they were faring. This is a message we got back from Arthur:

 "All good bro! Miki woke up around 4 and ran into the hall saying "I'm really scared! Where's Theo?". But Maggie quelled her fears and miki joined the four of us in bed and slept like a proper bradford until 7:45 when Ida woke up; They've been playing happily ever since. Take your time!"

And take it we did.

Pressing on deeper into the 12

So, yeah, you know it's getting to be like the holidays are over once the gingerbread houses come on out for their destruction...

Actually, the girls were quite careful about the deconstruction.

Outside of a little licorice whipping.

What would these childless folks think if they could see all this?

Both girls got their bangs trimmed! And Ichi's UTI cleared up and he's still alive.

And Miki is a big fan of Maggie. Who can blame her?

Ah, 2012: strong starter!

the early 2012

Doesn't seem like all that long ago that Grambee was here taking care of us...

Certainly not so long ago as 1980, when the whole Rock family was looking so fine.

Ichi's been sick, the heat went out, the gas fireplace is broken, the refinance people are trying to drive Ella insane, and I'm trying to meet a book deadline. Answer: "chocolate beers." Ella is addicted to these.

She's also been driven to them because of behaviors like this, displayed at "Old Navy," where Ida seemed certain she should get three items, not just two:

And then the usual procurement of Trader Joe's necessities, you know...

Mostly we were just biding our time until Arthur came back with his handsome new haircut to take care of our childrens.

Finally, the girls have taken to setting out down the block to have a picnic.

Soon they'll be in central America with a bunch of hippies and we'll wish they were here waking us up every two hours.