Good-bye 2012...

     Today is the last day of an incredible year.  Where do I begin to say in just a few words what this past year has brought to the experiences of my life?  How can I paint a picture of the growth that has come to me in just 365 short days?

     I will begin with some of the thoughts I shared with family and friends through my annual Christmas letter:

     "To say that the year of 2012 has been 'interesting' would be the understatement of a lifetime.  I can't even begin to list all of the events of the past year; so suffice it to say, 'the Mickelson Family has been alloted a boatload of challenges, (as well as blessings).'  We've experienced health issues, mental stretches, and spiritual balancing acts.  No one has been left out!

     "...I continue to be tested and have proven once again my resilience and will (with a bold statement) say, 'I am not ready to let go of this life just yet!'  I experienced a traumatic head bleed in June, which landed me in the hospital for brain surgery.... I had to work hard to overcome some of the deficits, however, but find myself 'good as new!'  (Well, almost!)

Not a pretty picture, at all, after my surgery

My wound from my second surgery to correct an infection

     "...Billy, (my) angel child that my Father in Heaven promised me long before he was born, never ceases to astound me with his talents, his zest for life, his relationships with people, and his ability to take control, when all hope is lost!  His music takes him all over the world (where audiences are touched by his humble spirit).  He is on his second tour of Europe, making an unplanned stop in Barcelona, Spain to check out how medical services are performed there.  He found that they are very competent, and may have saved his life.  For that, we give a huge, 'Hurrah!' for Spain. (And Thank You!)"

Billy and Ingrid in Barcelona after being released from the hospital

Billy, the amazing, inventive cellist

     Added to the above experiences that threatened to end two lives, I was witness to the beginning of a wonderful new life through the Temple marriage of my granddaughter, Randi Sanders on May 4th to Travis Williams in the Mt. Timpanogas Temple.  It was a beautiful and blessed day, to be sure.

Presenting Mr & Mrs. (Randi &) Travis Williams

Watching the Photographer at work and stealing a shot

     In June, I was blessed to be able to fly to So. California to attend my Santa Monica High School 55-year Reunion.  What a great time I had and it was incredible to renew old friendships.  Though we are all a lot older, inside we are all (mostly) still the same.  Only time and experience have shaped us into better people and we connected with others in the class that we hardly knew in school.

Me, Jerriann and Barbara

The main building at Samohi

     I also added 2 new great-grandbabies to my growing list of descendants.  Jacki Lynn Bracken and Mark had a baby girl, Sydney Rose, who was actually born in December of 2011, but I didn't get to meet her until Randi's wedding.  Little Blair Laidlaw, beautiful daughter of Aubrey and Matt, was born on January 6, 2012.  Both babies are happy, healthy and wonderful photo subjects!  (Unfortunately, I do not have any photos on my computer to add here.)

     With our hearts and minds once again relishing our focus on the past  Christmas Season, we are still in awe of that wonderful and amazing first gift--the blessed little Christ Child whose birth we honor and whose ultimate and necessary sacrifice we revere.  "We live in difficult times, but that one bright star that once shown over a humble stable in Bethlehem more than 2,000 years ago, still burns brightly in every heart that looks heavenward every Christmas day and says, 'Thank you, dear Jesus, for all thou hast done for me.'"

That's my fireplace!

     It is hard to let go of a year that has produced so much spiritual growth for so many of us, and look toward a New Year that is full of questionable experiences.  I just pray that with added strength, we can overcome any and all obstacles that may be placed in our paths.  I have a deep feeling in my heart that the coming of our Lord for the second and last time to this earth is not far distant.  The signs are increasing on a daily basis.  I don't know if I will be alive on this earth to witness it, but I know many of my children and grandchildren and great-grandchildren will be.  What a wonderful promise to look forward to.

     God bless everyone as we end our relationship with this sometimes crazy, sometimes blessed year of 2012, and move into yet another new year.

Waterfalls...

 

      For some reason, ever since moving to Oregon, I have had a tremendous fascination with waterfalls.  Well, maybe I have always loved them.  I remember the first waterfall of any significance that I visited back in the 60's was Niagara Falls!  That was a memorable experience.  Then in 1986, on a vacation from Taos, New Mexico with Billy only a little over 2 years old, Dean and I took a vacation to Oregon and his cousin, Lorraine, took us to see the Multnomah Falls, along the Columbia River Gorge.  I was so fascinated with this falls.  Here is one of the reasons:

     Way back in 1970, my husband, Gerry, and I bought a house in Rowland Heights, California.  My parents wanted to give us a nice house-warming gift (people actually did that in those days) and they gave us a huge painting of a gorgeous waterfall.  I had no idea where it was, and I guess I didn't bother to read the inscription on it that named the falls.  Well, as soon as I saw Multnomah Falls, I knew it was the falls in my painting.  It sort of made it more precious to me.  We have returned a couple of times and have hiked to the top.  Magnificent view from up there.

     Later, when we moved to Oregon, we visited a lot of falls all around the central and western part of the state.  I loved the falls outside of Silverton.  It was a park where you could hike a couple of miles in and see dozens of falls.  It was beautiful.  Even in the rain, we have been drawn to falls.  On a trip north to Tillamook, we were drawn to a sign that indicated there was a very nice waterfall off the road about a mile or so.  It was raining hard, but we decided to go anyway.  With umbrellas in hand, we hiked to see a beautiful waterfall  It was worth the drive and then the hike to get to it.

     When we moved to Lincoln City, we were told about a waterfall park just north and east of where we live.  We decided to explore the region one day with Billy and hiked about a mile or so down into a canyon, across a beautiful bridge, and then to an area where we could view the Drift Creek Falls.  Another view that is well worth the hike.  In fact, I have visited it on 3 other occasions--one with my daughter, Debi, when she came to visit last fall.

     Most recently, when Dean and I ended our road-trip vacation in November, we stopped in Roseburg, Oregon to stay overnight before driving home to Lincoln City.  We noticed signs for several waterfalls up Hwy 138.  It was out of the way, and it was drizzling, but the following morning, we decided to drive up the highway and see us a waterfall or two.

     Our first stop was at a little wayside park to view Colliding Rivers.  This is where the North Umpqua River meets the Little River.  There are a lot of big rocks in the area, and the meeting waters swirl around those rocks.  I imagine during the spring run-off, it is much more dramatic.  We did take some beautiful pictures, however.  Lots of fall leaves and moss on the trees.

Colliding Rivers

Little River on the left

North Umpqua on the right

Fall leaves on the path 

     Further up the road, we missed the turnoff to Susan Creek Falls, but thought we could catch it on the way back.  Continuing up the highway, we came to Fall Falls (yes, that is the name of it!) and turned into the parking area to begin our hike.  It was drizzling when we began our hike, but we were dressed warm enough so it wasn't too bad.  It was probably a half mile hike up a muddy trail, but the double falls were worth it.  As beautiful as it was, I imagined that it was twice as nice during spring run-off, when a lot more water would come crashing over the cliffs above and plunge some 200+ feet to the creek below.

A split in a huge boulder where the path leads us

Lori on the muddy, leaf covered path

Dean & Lori at the falls

Beautiful Fall Falls

     As we were getting ready to hike out of this area, the rains came in earnest!  We hurried as fast as we could down the slippery trail and were soaked by the time we got to our car, laughing all the way.  It was worth the wet!  We opted not to go to the Susan Creek Falls, as the rain was really coming down now.

     Continuing our journey north on I-5, we decided to stop at a little hole-in-the-wall cafe (recommended by Elwood and Doyne) and take a break and have some lunch while we watched the pouring rain outside.  While sitting at a table, watching and listening to the rain outside, I thought how wonderful this place is.  After all, this is Oregon, and rain is what gives us our green countryside, our huge and beautiful rivers, and our waterfalls!

Clear Lake, California...

     Clear Lake certainly lives up to its name.  It is a beautiful clear, blue lake, that is surrounded by mountains on 4 sides.  Getting there was an interesting journey.  We drove from the south, after leaving Jack London's Ranch in Glenn Ellen.  It was late, so we drove through the mountain passes in the dark.  I wish we could have seen them, but it just was not to be.  We drove totally by the guidance of our GPS, and it was fun watching the little blue car on the GPS maneuver on its blue road turning crazily through every hair-pin turn.  Fortunately, our car didn't swerve like the little blue car on the screen.

     We arrived at our World Mark by Wyndham Resort close to midnight...we are good at those late arrivals, because we try to cram as much as we can into each and every day!  It is a beautiful resort, and many pictures were taken the next day.  Like every resort we visit, we spend a lot of time exploring the surrounding area.

Ducks on the Resort property

The beautiful Clear Lake World Mark Resort

     Clear Lake is a very old community, and it was odd to see such a beautiful resort there.  The only other modern building we found anywhere on the lake was the Ceago Winery, about a mile west of the resort.  I presume that the main attraction to the area is the lake itself.

The entrance to the Ceago Winery

The grounds of the winery--flowers in bloom in November

They also grow Lavendar for their soaps, etc.

 

     On our first day at Clear Lake, we drove west to the little town of Lucerne, the "Switzerland of America," to buy some groceries, and got some fun pictures there of the lake and the sign of the town.  Very Swiss! 

 

Yep, we are in Lucerne (California, that is!)

One view of the lake and distant mountains from Lucerne



     We took our groceries home and then explored the Resort, itself. There are beautiful rose gardens, a weight room, a reading room, and a wonderful pool and spa. (Those will be visited later.) We walked the grounds, saw ducks, and a wonderful pier that jutted out on the lake, where there were a couple of fishermen catching fish for dinner.

This gorgeous tree was outside one of our bedroom windows

 

Interesting ceiling design in the main Welcome Center

A lovely fountain outside of the Welcome Center

The beautiful, warm swimming pool.

The pier is in the background, and mountains in the far distance.

 

     This is the day that we prepared for visitors.  Our dear friend and former Pastor of the SDA Church in Redmond, Elwood Starr, brought his sweet wife, Doyne to share some time with us on Clear Lake.  They live south of the resort, near Stockton, California.  It was a pleasure to meet Doyne.  She is a sweetheart.  They came prepared to fix us a most wonderful stirfry dinner, complete with egg rolls and a delicious bread to go with it.  And to top it off, she brought delicious homemade oatmeal cookies.  What a treat! 

 

     After dinner and after the dishes were done, we just sat in our cozy living room, with a fire in the fireplace and enjoyed catching up and getting to know Doyne.  Elwood lost his wife, Verna, a couple of years ago.  She was my dear friend and I felt the loss, too.  But traveling through this lonely sphere without someone to hold close was never meant to be.  The Starr's told us about the story of how they met--she being from Southern California, and he living in Oregon.  They were introduced by mutual friends and met over the phone.  From there, they carried on a long-distance relationship, via telephone (much like Dean and I did) and eventually met, fell in love and married.  They appear to be very happy with each other and well matched.

 

     On Wednesday, we drove to Lake Port, which is the Lake County Seat located on the west side of the lake.  We spent a good portion of the day, exploring this little town.  We went to the museum, which is located in the old courthouse.  There were some really interesting artifacts there from earlier times and an entire room dedicated to the native Indians that live in the area.  It was interesting to learn about these Pomo Indians.  They were and still are a peaceful tribe, and their intricate basket weaving is like nothing I have ever seen before.  The boys and men made canoes out of tule, which is a reed like plant that grows along the banks of the lake.  They tie them together in bundles, then tie the bundles together to form canoes.

 

An example of the canoes made of tule reeds.

Elwood and Doyne, in the background

This intricate necklace is crocheted thread

Very fine craftsmanship

Three of us outside of the courthouse

     After touring the museum, we went to a nice little park on the edge of the lake, where we could take pictures and amble along, watching ducks, herons, and other species of water birds, which I cannot name.  It was a beautiful experience with beautiful friends.

 

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A view from the park of boats on the lake

and old pilings

 

     Our friends had to leave about 2:30, to make the drive back to their home in daylight hours.  It was a very good day, indeed, to spend with good friends.

 

Elwood and Doyne, sitting on the old

Coleman Cooler that she brought all of the food in

 

     In the evening, I made some soup mix soup, added some fresh ingredients, and while it was cooking, we went for a swim (for Dean) and hot-tubbing (for me)!  The water was wonderful and the scenery around the pool helped to make it a pleasant experience.  We then mosied back to our condo, ate our wonderful soup, and walked back to the recreation center to rent a couple of movies.  We talked with a delightful young woman at the counter, who told us that she used to live in Lincoln City.  Small world.  Also, she has children who live in Utah.  Even smaller world.  And, we learned from her that she is a Republican who voted for Romney and was very disappointed with the outcome of the election.  Wow!  We are not alone!  We talked for quite some time, then took our movies back to our condo and watched both of them!  It was like a double feature at home!

 

     The first movie we watched was "Snow White and the Huntsman."  It was a very interesting, very dark version of the fairy tale I grew up with.  The second movie was "Finding Neverland," with Johnny Depp.  Now that was an excellent movie, and one we need to add to our library.  Johnny Depp did the best ever job of acting.  It was a remarkable movie.

 

     On Thursday, Dean and I gathered our hiking gear and decided to "climb a mountain."  Well, it was more like a hill than a mountain, but it was a pretty steep climb up a graded and (sometimes) paved road.  The mountain is called "Cow Mountain," because of all of the long-horned steer that used to roam the surrounding valleys.  At the top, we had the most glorious view of the entire lake.  It is a huge lake!  It is always interesting to view something from a higher vantage point.  Half way back down, we sat at the edge of the road and ate the lunch we had packed for the trip.

 

Looking up at one of the hills at the base of Cow Mountain

Looks like someone got stuck in the mud trying to navigate

the road in rainy weather

A picture of the two of us, nearing the top of Cow Mountain

The lake is appearing in the background

View from the top!  Beautiful lake.

 

     After coming down off of the mountain, and returning to our car, we drove to Lucerne (which we visited on our first day here) and walked the grounds of the beautiful Ceago Winery.  (I already posted pictures that we took, above.)  We enjoyed the quiet walk among the vinyards and the lavendar and the trees.  It is truly a serene and calming environment..

 

     For dinner, we barbecued steaks, baked potatoes, grilled some peppers and I made green beans with french fried onions on the top.  I also sauteed some onions for the steaks and cut up an avacado.  It was a wonderful dinner.  I love cooking when I am on vacation!

 

     After watching our dearly loved episode of "Burn Notice," (which we have become addicted to every Thursday night) we retired for the night.  It was an enchanting day and we are two very tired vacationers.  In the morning, we shall pack up, clean up, and say good-bye to Clear Lake (which is, by the way, the largest natural freshwater lake in California!)  This has been a crowning touch to our vacation.  

 

Jack London's Ranch...

     About 35 miles northeast of my friend Judi's house, just outside of the little village of Glenn Ellen, California, sits a beautiful ranch, called "Beauty" that Jack London built up for his wife, Charmian.  It has everything from wooded hills to acres of grape orchards.  Most of it is in ruins now, but Charmian's house, now the Museum and the ranch house are still maintained.  Charmian was the love of his life, and he intended to build her a castle here.

     We spent more than four hours touring first the Museum, then walking down a long road to the ruins of the house that Jack was building for his sweetheart.  It was supposed to last forever, but just days before they were to move into it, it was destroyed by fire.  It is said that there were some rags lying about soaked with linseed oil that the workers were using on the interior wood.  They spontaneously combusted and started the fire.  After a nice picnic lunch, we drove to the parking lot and walked another road to the house where Jack and Charmian lived together and he did much of his writing.  We looked at the ruins of the workers quarters and then walked down another road to the "Pig Palace" and 2 huge silos.

      Charmian called the house that she built, after Jack's untimely death, "The House of Happy Walls." I thought it a curious name for a house, but as you walk through it, on many of the walls are tapestries that they brought back from their adventures to the South Pacific Islands. Tapa cloth and spears and reed mats are everywhere. And, I assume these gave her fond memories of the adventurous part of their life together.

The Dining Room in Charmian's House

 

      Early in their married life, Jack decided to build himself a ship and the two of them could sail around the world. He did build the ship, and they did, in fact, sail all around the South Pacific. He became violently ill, however, so they had to sell the ship and find passage back home. 

   

 

The Snark model

     I thought it interesting that the valley where the ranch is, is called "Valley of the Moon" and Jack was fondly referred to as "The Wolf." Jack was only 40 years old, when he died of renal failure, November 22, 1916. At that time, they were living in the main house.

Dean, looking out over the vinyards

     After spending much time in the Museum, we walked probably a quarter of a mile to see the little grave plot, where Jack and Charmian are burried. Jack chose this spot, because nearby there are two other graves of the Greenlaw children that they found. Jack wanted to be cremated and his ashes were placed under a huge rock. When Charmian died, her ashes were also placed there.

The rock, under whick are the ashes of Jack and Chaimian

One of the headstones of the Greenlaw children

    We continued our walk, and came to the site of the mansion that was consumed by fire. Most of the walls and chimneys are still standing (with some help with braces), but the interior is completely gone. It was supposed to be absolutely fireproof, and would stand forever. There was an eery feeling about the place...like "death" and "loss." Something in Jack died with the loss of that house, and he went into a deep depression.

The front of the ruins of the "Wolf House."

Another view

An artists rendering of what the house was to be...such a shame

      After lunch we visited the main house. It was a lovely place. I loved the "office" where Jack sought seclusion for his writing. It is lined with shelf after shelf of books. There are literally thousands of books in that room. Writing consumed him. He wrote more than 1,000 words a day, and he wrote it all by hand. Charmian was his typist, and it was she who transcribed all of his writing into typed form.

The house Jack and Charmian lived in...and where he died

Jack's writing room

     We left the house and walked down yet another road, past the acres and acres of grape vinyards (still producing, but owned by others now) to what Jack lovingly called "The Pig Palace." He loved his pigs and built them their own space to live. Nearby, were his silos. Not sure what he stored in them...perhaps feed for the pigs or for his horses.

The "Pig Palace"

The two silos

 

     All in all, it was an educational journey through history, and a side-trip that I am glad we got to take.