America, Land of Opportunity - October 9, 2008

Hanna is 18 today.   When she got home from school yesterday, she told us she received a letter at school, wishing her Happy 18th Birthday along with an Oregon application to register to vote, so she could vote in the upcoming national/state/local election in November.   She was astounded that a non-US citizen, here on a special Visa as an exchange student, could get such a thing.   She said she turned the application back in to the office at school.  I told Hanna that I was not surprised, as I bet that anyone registered in any public school in Oregon who turns 18 during the school year probably gets a similar letter, as the school forms don't require a statement of citizenship.  

Welcome to America, Land of Opportunity - Vote early and vote often . . . . .

I also told Hanna that another benefit of now being 18 is that she can volunteer to join any of the US Armed Forces, since citizenship is NOT required to be in our military.    She said that her Visa would prohibit that, to which I said that any Recruiter who knows what he/she is doing could probably get around that pretty easily - they will do most anything to get their monthly enlistment quotas filled.     As part of the registration process for Hanna at Scappoose High, we made sure to check the NO box regarding contact by Armed Forces recruiters, so she does not get contacted at school and we don't start getting mail from the various services.    We are pretty sure that Hanna's plan is to return home to Germany on June 13, 2009, as a civilian, and to finish school so she can go on to college or university.

Alaska Cruise - September 12-19, 2008

Well, this is a little out of date order, but DeeDee and I went on a cruise to Alaska from September 12th to 19th.     The cruise left from Seattle, which meant we didn't have to fly across country to get to the ship like we have done the past four years when we cruised in the Caribbean.    The four prior cruises and this last one to Alaska have been Stamp n' Cruise trips, where DeeDee attends rubber stamp and craft classes while we are at sea and I just enjoy relaxing and being aboard the ship.     This was our last Stamp n' Cruise, as Dee Gruenig, the instructor from whom DeeDee wants to take classes, and who has become a good friend, is retiring and will no longer be teaching on cruises.      But, this will not be OUR last cruise, as we would like to go on a cruise to Hawaii for our 20th wedding anniversary, which is coming up in 2009.     We may have to wait until 2010 for that cruise, but it will still be our anniversary present to ourselves.

We really enjoyed the Alaska cruise, although after four cruises in the Caribbean over the last four years, on this cruise it was very different to see people around the pool, completely dressed, wearing jackets and wrapped in blankets - because, IT WAS COLD.    On the Caribbean cruises, it was my duty to spend as much time as possible at the pool, hidden of course behind sun glasses, checking out all those fine people who had worked so hard to look so good in their, sometimes skimpy, bathing suits.     What good was all their hard work, if there wasn't someone like me there to appreciate the results of their efforts?     But, due to jackets and blankets being the dress code of the day at the pool on the Alaska cruise, I found no compelling reason to haunt the pool area, other than to get from one end of the ship to the other; because, on the deck with the pool, the gym was at the bow and the buffet was at the stern, so I could go back and forth from one end of the ship to the other to gain, then lose, calories.    I only put on 1 lb on the cruise, so using the stairs instead of the elevators and the occasional workout in the ship's gym paid off, cause I sure didn't miss any meals or snacks.

Our ports of call were Sitka, Juneau, Ketchikan, and Victoria BC, with a lingering two hour slow cruise past the Hubbard Glacier.    The cities, except for Victoria, all looked about the same, with a lot of small wooden homes and some modern buildings.    The scenery was beautiful, with strange wisps of mist and fog wafting through the mountains and valleys.   Except for the time off Hubbard Glacier, the weather was mostly overcast and drizzly to rainy, but as we pulled up toward the glacier, the clouds disappeared and for that two hours at Hubbard Glacier we had a bright blue sky with full sun.   Then as the ship turned and started out of the bay, the sky closed up again.

The photo above is Sitka.    DeeDee really liked the little ladders and bridges people have between their houses and small islands, and depending on the tide, how much walkable land is available or not.

The photos below are of Juneau and Hubbard Glacier on the top row and on the bottom row, someone being very involved in her rubber stamping and cruising along the Inland Passage south of Ketchikan.  If you enlarge the photo of the Hubband Glacier by clicking on it, just to the right center of the photo you can see the splash made by a large chunk of the glacier that just "calved" or broke off from the glacier.

And, you may ask, where was our foreign exchange student Hanna while we were frolicking in Alaska?    Well, in August when we first met with the exchange program coordinator, Bruno Zanotta, to talk with him about our being host parents, we told him we had a week-long cruise planned in September.   He said that would be no problem, as the student could stay at his house for the week we would be away.  So, after being with us for only two weeks, Hanna packed up again, but this time only for a week and not 10 months, and stayed with Bruno and his wife Lori for a week.   Hanna survived and came home talking about the brownies that Lori made.    So, now we have added brownies to Hanna's favorites of Burgerville hamburgers, pizza, peanut butter, ice cream, anything chocolate, and KETCHUP.  

Trojan Relays - October 2, 2008

Hanna is on the Scappoose High School Cross Country team.    On Thursday, Oct 2nd, SHS XC participated in the Trojan Relays against 9 other schools.    The SHS girl's team came in #1 and their star runner, Jenny Elder, posted the best time for any of the girls; the boys team came in at #3.    We went to this meet because Wednesday night Hanna said that the bus was going to take the team to the meet, but had to leave right away and would not be there to bring them back to the school when the meet was over.  We thought that was weird, but told Hanna were would be happy to come to the meet to watch her run and bring her home afterward. 

Apparently Summer and the nice warm days officially ended as of Oct 1st, as it was pouring rain as the meet started.  Fortunately the rain had stopped by the time Hanna was up to run her leg of the race and a beautiful rainbow came out.

One boy from another school came across the finish line, minus his right shoe - I bet there is a neat story about how he came to lose a shoe during the race.    Everyone was pretty muddy from running in the soggy grounds of Trojan Park.   DeeDee and I had a good time watching the kids just being kids and then watching them race.   

The photos are of Hanna and her friend Brittney as they get ready for their turn at the starting line.

Visiting Bellingham Morses - Part 4, Sunday 9/28/08

Sunday morning, we drove to Artist Point on the Mount Baker Highway to see Mount Baker.    The sky was so blue, with no clouds, and you could see forever.    Hanna said it reminded her a little of the South Tyrol where she and her family like to hike.    I thought the photo of Susie in her long coat looked like she was a monk communing with nature.    After hiking around for a little while, we returned to Bellingham around 12:30 and met Aunt Joyce and cousin Anne Marie for lunch at Dos Padres Mexican Restaurant in Fairhaven.     After lunch, we said our goodbyes to Aunt Joyce, Anne Marie, and Bellingham and returned to Scappoose.   We had a great time visiting our relatives and can not thank them enough for their hospitality and all they did for us.

Visiting Bellingham Morses - Part 3, Saturday evening, 9/27/08

Saturday evening, cousin Bob hosted a dinner for us at the Harbor Bistro in the Hotel Bellwether on Bellingham Bay.   We were thrilled see our Aunt Joyce and first cousin Pat.    While cousin DC could not make it - he had tickets for the U-Dub (University of Washington) vs Stanford football game in Seattle (from the score, maybe he would have enjoyed being with us more than the game) - Jan was able to be there with us.    We really enjoyed visiting with our Aunt and cousins.    I had met Pat only once before several years ago, and was happy to get a chance to visit and get to know her.     Dinner was super, but the time together was priceless.   The photo shows, from left to right, Tom, Susie, Aunt Joyce, Pat, and Bob.

Visiting Bellingham Morses - Part 2, Saturday, 9/27/08

On Saturday morning we met first cousin Bob Morse at Morse Steel Service.   Bob has officially retired from active daily participation in the business, which is now being run by his son Mike.    Bob showed us around the business, which included us having to wear hard hats while we were inside the work areas for safety reasons.    I thought Hanna looked really cute in her pink hard hat.   Outside, Susie and Hanna posed by one of the company trucks.     And, or course, we had to have a photo of one of the original Morse Hardware signs.    

After touring Morse Steel Service, Bob took us to the new house he and Jeanette just moved to (they moved in on Thursday, two days earlier).    We thought the house looked pretty good for just being moved into.

After leaving Bob and Jeanette's new home, we drove to downtown Bellingham where Bob showed us the location of the original Morse Hardware Co store on State St and the Morse house two blocks up the hill on North Garden.   We left Bob at that point and went on to the Fairhaven District, where we had lunch at Mambo Italiano and then had a great time prowling around the old bookstore and shops.    Anne Marie was modeling some clothing from the Fair Trade store, so we had a chance to visit with her a little more.    Hanna really loved the book store and bought the fourth book in a series of novels by Stephenie Meyer she has been reading.    Reluctantly, we finally had to leave so we could get ready for dinner (see Part 3 of the Visiting Bellingham Morses). 

Visiting Bellingham Morses - Part 1, Friday, 9/26/08

On Thursday, Sept 25th, my sister Susie from Vista, CA, came to Scappoose for a short visit.     Part of Susie's visit was to include going with us to Bellingham, WA, to reacquaint ourselves with our Morse relatives there.    DeeDee, Amber, and I had not been to Bellingham since 1994 and Susie had not been there since the early 2000's.  

DeeDee, Hanna, Susie, and I drove to Bellingham on Friday the 26th.    Friday night, first cousin DC and his wife Jan hosted a wonderful family dinner at their home on Lake Whatcom.     It was a full house and a lot of folks around the dinner table, as three of their children, our first cousins once removed Anne Marie, Daver and Jud were there, as well as Jud's wife Michelle and their very, very new baby Andrew (our first cousin twice removed) and Daver's friend Heather.   We had a great time reliving memories from 14 years ago and gossiping about Morse's who were not there.   The photos show Susie, DC and me enjoying the late afternoon sun out by their dock,  Jan and Hanna in what appears to be a very deep discussion about worldly affairs, and Anne Marie, Heather, and Hanna talking with Jud listening in.