Safe Harbor

My wife and I live in Hood River, Oregon.   We like to stroll along the river to watch the sail boarders and kite surfers dance on the river.  The wind through the Columbia River Gorge is amazing and gives rise to a lot of wind daredevils. 

One particular evening we were strolling by the yacht club.  It was windy on the river, but all the berths in the harbor were in use.  Every boat was anchored, no sails were rigged. We could hear the lines of the sails whipping against the metals masts.

"The ships are safe within the harbor.  But is that what ships are for?"  

I was told that Albert Einstein said that.  But looking for the proper citation for this little entry I stumbled upon "https://quoteinvestigator.com/2013/12/09/safe-harbor/".  The Quote Investigator tells me that this saying should be attributed to John A. Shedd, from his  1928 volume, "Salt from My Attic."

So, I will go with that.  

On entering my sixth decade...

On Friday, July 27th, 2018, I entered into my sixth decade on this great planet.  I have spent the weekend in deep thought about my life as it is.  I have a beautiful life. I have been blessed with great parents, (R.I.P.), great brothers (Mark, R.I.P.) and sisters.   I have a wife who gave me two great kids. My wife has connected me with another whole family, aunts, uncles, cousins, and more sisters.  I believe I have really accomplished everything I set out to do. My life is blessed.

This weekend I celebrate my sixty years on this  planet. Friday spent in pensive thought and restfullness.  Saturday, a farmer's market and off to a winery for wine and music.

And today, Sunday, my wife and I took a trip to the Maryhill Art Museum out in the gorge.  It was something I have wanted to do.  What a great little trip.  It is about 45 minutes east of us in Hood River, Oregon.  It was a nice drive although all the hills are now covered with a dry, tan grass. It is a nice museum.  I was pleased that the Rodin exhibit was still there.  I have been a huge fan of Rodin's sculptures.  The ruggedness of their form still manages to capture all the emotion meant to evoke.   We were lucky to see it.  

After a tour of the museum we drove about 4 miles east to the Stonehenge Memorial.  Sam Hill, the benefactor for the Maryhill museum also contracted for a replica of the Druids Stonehenge site up here in the Columbia Gorge.  The replica was built as a memorial to the 11 Klickitac county young men who lost their lives in The Great War (AKA the war to end all wars, World War I).  The memorial contains plaques honoring those 11 young men -- not a one older than 30, most in their early 20s.

This memorial was built in the 1920s or 30s.  It was not until later that the WWII memorial was added, as well as the American wars since, Korea, Vietnam, Iraq, and Afghanistan.

The Stonehenge memorial touched me this weekend as I turned 60.  The young men memorialized here were barely in their 20s. I have lived triple their life span.  I wonder if I have accomplished enough to justify their sacrifice.  Should we not all live our lives to the betterment of society?  Should we not live our lives to make these men proud and to honor their sacrifice.  We should be taught this early on in our educations.  I wonder, if knowing this now, that we must live such as to honor those who have given their lives for our continued freedom and liberty, I wonder.  Can I still make the necessary changes to my life, so to make those who have given me this life, proud?

I wake up every day and try.     

Oregon Trail

I live on the Oregon Trail.
And enjoy all the hope
and treasures the journey affords. 
And God is my neighbor.  

D.R. Normand
C. 2018

A Mystery of Life

The other day was a particularly stressful day at work.  I was struggling with trying to understand a sufficiently difficult task so that I could write the procedures about it.  I was struggling with how to make it understandable to the normal person.

The engineer I was working with called it "black magic" and said no one understands it.  Know that Joe is an engineer and went through years of training in math and science to get to where he is now.  I am a technical writer, a geographer, trained in maps, blueprint analysis, and the ability to read two dimensional depictions of three dimensional items.  This "black magic" is a mystery to me.

During the course of my research into this topic I was introduced to a concept called "Fast Fourier Transform".  It was basically important for me to understand this concept, so I used my trusty research associate, "Google" and ran a search.  My associate came back with a website called "Betterexplained.com".  This site takes math concepts and simplifies them.  This site told me a little about Joseph Fourier and his transforms.  They even mentioned a descriptive model that he had about circular forms being made into a staircase.  STAIR CASE??!!  JOSEPH.  Whoa!!

Joe is my engineering cohorts name.  Wow.  Amazing.  Staircase? Joe! St. Joseph's staircase!  (https://www.lorettochapel.com/info/staircase).  "Black magic"? No.  It is the beauty of a higher power.  The workings of this problem, this task?  The understanding is part of the mystery of life.  To understand it, you just gotta have faith.  That much I understood.  It is a miracle that I figured that out.

DN. 

So, I sit and stare...

I stare at the blankness of the beckoning page.  Do I have something to say?  The emptiness taunts me, the blankness, like a silent elevator among strangers, I am compelled to make a joke.  Compelled to speak.  The silence is painful.   The blankness is painful. And so, I throw ink on the page, words to  the silence.  AND for what?  What is this saying other than I feel a need to communicate.  I in my silence.  My blissful silence.  I, the lonely poet,  I feel a need to speak?

No, not speak.  A need to communicate.  This is my communication.  This is my voice.  These are my songs, my blogs.  This is what I do. 

Whenever.I.remember...

DN

Blogger Since 2007

I started my blog in 2007.  I've been at it for over ten years now.  When I got laid off last summer, I started to look for other income streams.  I went into my blogger account and checked my account balance.  My balance was a cool $25.00.

So, over the last ten years I have made $2.50 a year off of my blog.  Contrast that with 265 working days (365-100 weekend days = 265) in a year.  So, my blog has yielded me less than a penny a day.  And there you have it.  A penny for my thoughts.

That would be true if I blogged everyday.  But I don't.  My total blog posts actually dilute my worth.  Does that mean I will give it up?  No, or course not.  Write, I must.

I guess this just proves the point.  "It ain't about the money."

But I want it to be.

David Normand.

Rowena Plateau

The last two and a half years have been an adventure.  Job losses, pulling family roots, moving towns, moving states.  But we landed in a place I never want to leave.
  

We live in the great Northwest, where God is our neighbor.  He lives here in the trees and streams and sends us fresh air every day.  It is the greatest pleasure I have known. 

Unfortunately, the past few weeks we weren’t listening.  Somehow I picked up some respiratory crud.  It knocked us for a loop.  Weather too cold outside, so we locked ourselves in our new apartment.  Some lingering germs maybe?   We fought it. 

This weekend we may have finally knocked the illness that has haunted our household the last few weeks.  Friday, was the first day both of us started feeling like we had our old energy back.  Real bad cold threw us for a loop.

My wife works from home now, and I have the chance to, if I am under the weather or just don’t feel like spreading germs.  So, last month good friends of ours were in town and we went walking in downtown Hood River for souvenirs and other novelties.  I bought this book about places to see and trails to hike in our neighborhood.  This weekend, feeling much better, my wife suggested that we take the book and explore. 

Ten miles east of our town is a scenic overlook and trailhead to the Rowena Plateau.  We both thought this would be a nice leisurely way to start to get some fresh air and gain our strength back. 

A wonderful hike.  

We started out overlooking the Columbia River.  Then a short hike into the meadows.  Awesome.  

The little white dots in the river are wind surfers.  The water actually had white caps today.  A good strong west wind. 

Lupine

The HIstoric Columbia Gorge Hwy 30. 

Balsamroot flowers.

And below, more Balsamroot flowers, the trail be some basalt outcrops, Ponderingwife, and I-84 to points east.

The Day

Smile, I meant to say,
    to you on this beautiful day,
    when we wake up, breathing and living.

A day, the gift to any mortal being,
    when the night and fears are fleeing,
    the day begins, a gift for the giving.

David Normand, March 2018

To Honor My Dad

On This day he would have been 88 years old.

Night Words

after 3 years

I was away when you died.
You said “safe travels” before I left,
Words I should have said to you.

But my plans could not be changed.
The rule-breaking was not for me.
The die had been cast.

I was not meant to be there,
By Whoever’s plans, as in
Other things, and other lives.

David R. Normand, 3-31-2018

Labor Day, 2017

Sometimes things happen and you just want to call your parents and your older brother and talk about the great fortunes in your life.  Sometimes you think to yourself, and it is so real, that you can just pick up the phone and call.  You think you can just hear their voice and the enjoyment and pleasure they would get from your news, your story, or just even a joke.  Sometimes you think you could. 

But not today.  Today the reality hits that you can't call.  You can't talk to them about the news, a story, or just even a joke.  You should have done that years ago.  When you could have. 

But I talk to them now.  I try to imagine that they are watching.  I hope they are guiding me to do the right thing, to be a good person, to make the right choices.  I hope.  I am trying to be the person that perhaps they thought I could be. 

These are just some thoughts that occurred to me today.  Today, the wildfires in the Gorge are blowing smoke all over the Portland area.  It kind of reminds me of the San Diego wildfires of 2004.  I saw ashes floating down in the backyard tonight.  It was like little snowflakes.  There is a slight layer of ash on all the cars.  The air outside smells like a campfire.  They closed I-84 in both directions just east of here.  I do hope they get it out soon.  Forecast is for rain on Thursday and Friday.  I hope that helps. 

D.

Week 7, Day 4 - My Birthday (Well, tomorrow, anyway)

Alas, I come to this point.  Week 7 of my unemployment--my crossroads-- my turning point.  Did you know that I finished my book?  My collection of these little essays.  I envisioned that the whole world would have looked at them by now and that everyone would love them.

I thought for sure the system would have crashed under the sheer weight of demand.  No such luck.  I average about 900 hits a year.  I have some regular readers, whom I cherish, and some irregular readers, whom I also cherish.  Readers who stop by when prompted or cajoled into it by some Facebook posts or link.  I am left to myself to blow my own horn.  If not me, then who?

But I digress.  Alas, I come to this point.  My crossroads, my turning point.  I try to continue on the path of these past 20 years.  Do I continue as a technical writer or is their some alternative career path hidden around some unforeseen corner?  "Am I to be the hero of my life, or is that station to be held by someone else?"  I must choose.  I MUST CHOOSE.  I cannot let anyone else determine the course of my life.

Each day I wait.  I wait for the e-mail, for the phone call, text, or any new information.  On the days when there is no new information I find myself looking for new channels.   New paths of creativity.  New career choices to make.  Some of them may be a stretch, but some are not beyond the realm of reality.  I can do that.  Just give me the chance.  I just need to get out of the house.  This searching is driving me bonkers. I am a worker.  I need to be busy.  I am a doer and I find it difficult to wait for others to finish their work for me to do mine.  And yet, I must wait to find out.

So, on this 27th day of July, in 2017, I find my impatient self waiting for news.  Waiting for the chance to redeem myself, to re-make myself into my own hero.  I don't want to be a superhero.  Just a plain regular, everyday hero who works for a living, pays taxes, lives the good life and helps his fellow man in some small, unrewarded, unremarkable way.   I am not asking much.

D.

Week 6, Day 4.

I set my alarm to wake this morning shortly after my wife left for work.  Busy day ahead. I had lots of plans. (No, not really.) But I kept hitting the snooze.  And I fell back into some deep rem sleep.  Must have needed it. Or maybe just wanted it.  At any rate, got out of bed and hit the computer.  So there you have it.  No motivation, no inspiration. 

And in the middle of writing this little ponder, I went downstairs to have some breakfast.  I had an old coffee cake recipe of my mom's.  Decided to make some comfort food.  And coffee.

During breakfast, I was watching inspirational videos on my phone.  (Who doesn't do that?  Be honest!) There are so many.   One popped up of that deaf singer on AGT, Mandy Harvey, (Mandy Harvey).  "It's not the dream I always had, but it's okay.  I showed up."  There you go.  If she can overcome her challenges, I can certainly rise out of my little funk.  There.  Done.

Just look around your great beautiful world.  There is inspiration everywhere. I look to my own family.  My brother's widow and her kids.  They are embracing life, in all its sadness, to find the joy and inspirations that keep them going.  The love of family, the joy of new life and new experiences.

I look to my cousin fighting cancer.  I see him looking at new ways to regain his strength.  I see so many family members struggling through life.  I see their struggles and I look at mine.

What do I have to complain about?  I have my health (reasonably so).  I have a loving wife. I have two beautiful kids who make me proud everyday.  I have money saved and a great many places to go and dreams to dream.  And I am doing okay with my prospects. Something will turn up, I am sure. Keep the optimism in your  life.  Hope springs eternal.  The future is a matter of the choices you make today.  Make the right ones and your future will take care of itself.   Good luck everyone.

A Poet's Paper Scraps

Poor Dany

I think I scared the kitty cat.
I think I scared her twice.
Once when I was being mean,
And once when I was being nice.

C. 2017 D. Normand

Notes from my desk cleaning - 2017

I find myself with a lot of time to clean my office.  These days, my unemployment days, I have perfected my schedule.  I wake, have coffee and breakfast, then hit the computer looking for work.  Some days I am lucky and find two or three jobs to which I can apply.  I update resumes and cover letters to match those chosen jobs and send off the applications.  Then, I wait.  This process usually takes until noon.  Time for lunch and then to wait to see if the applications actually took.

In the afternoon check my e-mail, usually auto-responses that my applications were received.  I print out that email and put that copy in my work seeking binder and note the company and job on my desk calendar.  Then, usually by 1:00 pm I am free.  I clean my desk and office, or go do some household chores, laundry, kitchen cleanup, yardwork.   That is my schedule, Monday thru Friday.  Broken only by phone calls and the occasional interview. 

During one of the desk cleaning days, I found some notes from probably 2006 or 2007.  I guess my wife and I took the kids to the local elementary school "country hoedown":

"Some of the children I had known since they were babies.  It is a beautiful thing to be able to watch them grow up.  There is a certain freedom in their play and ease of expression.

I also found a little quatrain.  I probably wrote this about the same time.  I noticed that it was getting more and more difficult to get moving in the morning.

'I'm sorry,' he said as he rose this morn,
An old body ached and worn.
The quickness, gone as fast as the years,
The friends, lost in death, as well as the fears."

Maybe I will use that in a poem some day.  Or maybe some thoughts like it.  Who knows?

 

Week 5, Day 1

The title says it all.  This lay-off is not as bad as the other two.  I have prospects.  I have had several interviews.  Several companies are interested.  I have had a lot of experience in my field and my resume has been updated to note that.  I am ready. 

And yet, my fate is in other's hands.  Other people are set to make the decision about my future.  Not the way I envisioned it at this point in my life, but so be it.  I shall be patient and see where that virtue takes me. 

I am ready again to devote the energies of my career to the next employer to hire me.  A new job will not have as steep a learning curve as my last one.  I am ready.  Just let me at it.