Snowy Christmas!

We would not have guessed - the weather forecast has been more miss than hit lately - but today on 10/26/21, so technically still during Christmas, we did get snow! The first snow during Christmas since 2008 (we had snow on other days in other years, of course). We all enjoyed the associated change in scenery: 

Christmas has been a pretty calm affair otherwise in this second year of the pandemic. We had a couple of furniture movers move one Christmas present from the garage into our upstairs exercise room on the day before Christmas Eve. We were glad we did call professionals - no way we could have done that on our own without injuring our backs. We spent some of our Christmas Eve morning assembling it and now have one less reason not to exercise in 2022 😀

The remainder of Christmas followed a  well worn routine: taking the Christmas family photo (it seems to get harder and harder to wrangle everyone onto the same picture), unwrapping presents, followed by fondue for dinner, and playing with some of our new toys on Christmas Day morning (yes, also running on the new treadmill).

Oh, and I almost forgot: while we lacked the energy to make some Christmas cookies, we did get around to making a Gingerbread house!

Summer has arrived!

Summer started with a bang, i.e. a record heat wave with up to 115F in Portland. If there has ever been a case to be made for having AC in the Pacific Northwest, this was it. We spent most of it indoors - having ample practice after the last year's parade of reasons to stay inside: pandemic, wildfires, and ice storm.

George got diagnosed with diabetes and while he certainly did not appreciate any of the changes in his routine in terms of feeding, injections, pricking for blood sugar measurements and - most of all - wearing a shirt to prevent him from gnawing off his new semi-permanent (~10 days) blood sugar sensor, he seems to be doing a lot better now.

Michaela took me on a privately guided 'Third Wave' coffee tour through Portland for my birthday, good coffee and good fun!

I also got a new duffle bag (thank you, Michaela!), which has come in very handy for my windsurfing trips:

Shiny new duffle bag!

Lyle fire.

Good times in the Gorge!

Speaking of windsurfing: while in Rowena on July 4th I saw my first wild fire of the season in Lyle, just across the river, probably caused by fireworks... this was by far not the first or only fire in the area, of course, just the first one to witness first hand. River was a bit smoky on the Washington side, but firefighters got it under control within a couple of hours.

MKS shut down for the week of July 4th, which meant not only more windsurfing, but also the opportunity to play some chess with Jacob for the first time since the pandemic started.

Enjoying a morning walk in Tryon on July 11th.

Summer is coming!

Here we are, Summer is upon us and it looks like it could be better than last year's - though that's admittedly a low bar. Michaela and I are by now fully vaccinated and are slowly adjusting back to a life with fewer masks (at least outside) and going places as the weather is getting nicer.

First up was Willamette Mission State Park, just a good half hour drive from Wilsonville, but for some reason we have never made it there since moving to Oregon in 2008. It's a popular birding spot and we did in fact spot a bald eagle, who is nesting there, albeit from a distance. Ospreys are apparently in the area, too.

View of Mission Lake

Mid-May is typically the time of year when we are headed for our summer vacation, given that this marks the brief gap between the end of Michaela's semester and the start of her summer research. Given the ongoing and ever changing pandemic situation, getting into a plane was not really on our options list. But we did manage to eek out a long weekend at the coast with Pepper and Skittles - good times! 

And this morning - Memorial Day - we visited Lak Oswego and it's popular St. Honore Bakery for the first time in well over a year. Progress!

April update

 

After the ice storm in February we had to disposition our front yard tree - and we were not the only ones. Our street looks noticeably different now...not sure what we'll replant there. The only thing we know is that it'll be a different type of tree.

I moved into our new campus in March. Not that I have spent any appreciable time there, but - eventually, once the pandemic is better under control - this will be my new work place. More than a dozen years after Michaela I'll have my very own office, too! 

During Spring Break we finally made it to the coast. The first time since August of last year: The wildfires in early September caused road closures and with everything else going on, it took us this long to finally get back there. It's still gorgeous, of course, and we all thoroughly enjoyed the change of scenery.

On Tuesday, March 30th, we made what felt like very tangible progress: Michaela got her first Vaccine shot! Very happy and quite excited. I hope to get mine in the next week or two, which would imply that by early June we will both be fully vaccinated!

Naps remain a staple in the meantime:

And spring has undoubtedly arrived! 

Ice Storm 2021

 The adventures continue! The year 2021 is apparently trying to compete with 2020 and getting a head start. Yesterday (Saturday) morning we found our surroundings covered in a thick layer of ice. Throughout the night we had heard crashing branches falling and indeed, the sight the next morning was stunning:

Streets have been blocked by large fallen branches, houses and cars damaged, more than 3000 households in Wilsonville are without power and after more ice by Sunday morning, we now have a warning for even more ice later today...all while still in the pandemic!

2021: Happy New Year!

 We finally made it through 2020 and are hopeful that 2021 will be a happier year!

Christmas was spent in isolation, of course, which gave us the opportunity to relax & recharge through lot's of walking, cooking and playing.