It's me again

It seems it is time for my semi-annual blog update. Not a lot has happened since I last wrote, so it shouldn't take too long to bring you up to date. On May 31st, The David & Jeanne Lindsey family and I went on a hike on Whidbey Island (about 20 minutes from their home). This picture was taken on top of a mountain overlooking the water as Cooper and I were enjoying our sandwiches--his a peanut butter and jelly and mine a roast beef...with no jelly.

It was about the first time I had gotten out to "see the sights" since I had arrived. Prior to that, all time and effort had been allotted to one goal--getting the 2008-2009 Skagit and Islands Directory to the printer.

We all had spent many long hours trying to meet our print deadline. Some weeks I had as many overtime hours as regular hours. Some days we'd stay 'til 2:00, 3:00 or even 5:00 o'clock in the morning. Even when I was asleep, my dreams (or, more commonly, nightmares) were phone book related. Finally, at the end of June, all our files were sent to the printer to be turned into what has become the most used, most preferred, most referenced phone book in the area.

A few days later, I was on a plane to Reno, Nevada to visit Larisa and Nick and their family in Carson City. I did a little tile work and such at their house and hung out with the family for a couple of days before they went to a family camp and I went to visit Kirsten and Mussie and their girls.

I had originally only planned to be in California for a couple of days but, fortunately, I was able to stay longer. I hadn't been to the Berhan home in ages, so I'm glad I had the chance. When I first arrived, Mussie and his friend, Peter, were building a chicken coop for the chickens the Berhans are raising. I helped out a little on that, but they did the bulk of the work themselves because I was often out doing something else.

One of the first days I was there we went to the beach so I could try my hand at surfing. I got the paddling out part down pretty good but there were not many waves, so the standing up and riding the wave part (supposedly the key element of surfing) was never achieved. We spent several other days at the beach however, and I did successfully ride a boogie board.

Another interesting experience was my first excursion to an all-vegetarian restaurant. As many people know, I am a carnivorous person so this was uncharted territory for me. I ordered something that neither Kirsten nor anyone in her family had tried before. If I remember correctly, it was something covered in chili. I wont say if it was good or bad, but Kirsten and I both agreed that it tasted similar to a casserole that Mom would make up.

After about a week and a lot of fun, I flew back to Washington--just in time for distribution of the freshly-printed phone books. I began distributing to the businesses in Mount Vernon. It was nice to hear the responses of the people to the new book as they gently caressed the embossed cover and noticed the improved coverage area. To see their faces light up as they opened to the reverse directory. To hear their jubilant exclamations about the restaurant section or the maps or the coupons. To watch them hold back tears of glee as they declared that they had been waiting for this book for as long as they could remember. These were but some of the experiences I had in my days as a telephone directory delivery man. It is an experience I will not soon forget.

Towards the end of the distribution period, David, Cooper, myself, and a guy named Jim (from the office) took a ferry to the San Juan Islands to deliver books. We took two big trucks (David drove one and I drove the other) onto the islands and got books to as many people as we could. We spent the night on top of some moving blankets in the back of one of the trucks with a few pallets of books. Everyone at the office thought it was very intrepid of us to do such a thing, but I thought nothing of it. I guess when you grow up sleeping in the gutter of a Dodge van that carries the aroma of musty food cooler for a week you become somewhat desensitized to sleeping conditions.

The morning after we got home, Cooper's sister were happy to see him and were anxious to wake him up--as you can see in this picture.

They were, however, indifferent to the fact that I was home and would not let me join in on the enthralling conversations of their numerous

miniature dolls who all bear the same name--Polly Pocket. I guess my Polly was not as appealing as the others (but she did have a sweet spirit).

Since then things have slowed down a bit. We've gone fishing a couple of times. We went to a lake in Ferndale where David said Dad used to take us when we were younger. I caught a monster sized yellow perch but that was about all the action we saw that day. Cooper held it up for the picture. We've been salmon fishing a few times since and no one has caught anything except Cooper. He has caught close to ten little fish of various species with his new favorite bait--night crawlers.

We've also been to a few fairs. The Skagit County fair was fun. The kids wanted to see all the animals and ride the rides. Here's David and Eliza on the Merry-Go-Round. And here he is with Sophia and Alice at a musical performance. We also went to the Western Washington Fair so cooper could ride a sheep. I didn't see much of it because I was taking this picture but I heard he fell of and the sheep stepped on his head. Needless to say he is excited to go again.

To wrap things up, I thought I'd include a glimpse into the ingenuity of the Lindsey kids. Here they are attaching life jackets to the bottom of a sled so they could float in the pond. Cooper's maiden voyage left him with wet pants--but he was floating.

Well, that about does it for now. Check back in three to six months.