Ambiguous Engagements

My uncle, my cousin and myself retreated to the back-right area of the barn. The area was shadowed by  the bar and it's tin roof, but was otherwise open to the warm, thick air of the night. There was an old coffee table surrounded by an assortment of seven or eight chairs. My uncle turned on an old, tough radio, the kind one would find at a construction site. Soft and quiet classical music came on. He gave me a Widmer beer wrapped in a faded Coors beer jacket.

We talked theology and beliefs the whole night. I always thoroughly enjoy those discussions. As the night went on, my aunt came and joined us, along with two more McCool cousins and one cousin's girlfriend.

I had been in Eugene at a wedding. I hadn't planned on going to it. I talked to my Dad on Thursday and he mentioned my cousin's wedding was that following weekend. I had known about the wedding for several months, and I had said I'd be there. But...

I forgot. Until my conversation with my father. The next day I decided I'd go down on Saturday afternoon and make it in time for the wedding, which was at seven. I went to Moonrise Kingdom with some friends late Saturday morning, and then drove the two-hundred and eighty miles down south. The wedding was at my grandma and grandpa's farm.

I always love being there. I get to see this sign whenever I go:

My grandparents used to have goats. But they died (the goats). I loved those little fellas. They have chickens and some ducks. And in the past, they had horses and pigs as well. This weekend, though, they were taking care of some neighbor's sheep. I've never pet a sheep. The sheep were sheepish (I now know where that saying comes from) and wouldn't let me pet them.

After the wedding ceremony, I got talking with my uncle. He mentioned how he prefers to be one-on-one with people, rather than mingling with everyone. My father is the same way, and my other uncle is the same way. And so am I. So, that's when he asked if I wanted to join him over in the little area by the barn, where I stayed until I left. And I was perfectly happy over there. I don't do well in group situations; I'm not good at mingling. If I'm at a group function and not having a one-on-one conversation with someone, I'm usually a wallflower. I guess I'm more introverted than I care to be.

And now I'm on a much-needed vacation. So much shit has been happening, it's nice to have a change of pace. Work is insane. I've been by myself for the past six or so months in the warehouse. The Foreman has been in another department, leaving me to take care of the warehouse. And it's the busy season.

My brother and his fiancé (as of a few days ago!) are in town (which is my home town, West Linn) from Idaho. Took a few days off work, and I'm here for a week. I had told my family that I wanted to do a bit of traveling while we were all together. I told them I wanted to go to Seaside, Astoria and Hood River.

I left work early on Friday, and zoomed down I-5 with my windows down. When I got to the house, no one was there. David and Natalia were spending time in Portland, my step-father was at work, my mother was getting her hair done. So, I went down to the river. Jumped in the water, sat in the sun, walked around. Great way to start a vacation.

Saturday, my step-father, my mother, my brother, and future sister-in-law got in the Lexus and headed to Seaside. The heat was stifling and thick. Got to a hundred degrees. We got on highway twenty-six to  go west to Seaside.

And then the car stopped. Traffic was brutal.

Guess everyone else had the same idea we had. We inched by for quite a while. Considered turning around and going another day.

We held on to our hope. There was some complaining, but traffic finally started moving.

The first thing we did when we got to Seaside?

PIG'N'PANCAKE. Because it is the best.

This is me at the beach.

The small town was insanely crammed full of people.

I've never seen a more full beach. Not even in Hawaii. It was hot. Really, really hot. We walked along the water. My feet got seared from the sand. We swung from the swing sets. Jumped off the swing.

Walked around town. Went to an antique store and found this amazing gem:

Dumping sand out of my loafers, we hit the one-oh-one northbound. Half an hour later we found ourselves in Astoria. We visited The Goonies house. Then went to...

This is me at Fort George Brewing.

Good food, good beer. Most people glossed with a hint of sweat on their faces, including myself. I enjoyed the heat thoroughly. Astoria reminds me a lot of Hood River, which is my favorite town.

With grains of sand still between my toes, we started the two hour trek back to West Linn.

Sunday came around, and Dave and Natalia went to church and then out to lunch. I stayed home with my mom and Hugh, helping them in the yard. Hacking off limbs of trees mainly. When the soon-to-be married couple came back, the three of us went down to cool off in the Willamette. For those of you non-Oregonians, it's pronounced, "Will-am-ett", not, "Wull-uh-mit". Anyways. David and I have been going down to that river for years. It's a hidden little place in West Linn. After jumping off the dock, there is a short swim to a big, crescent-shaped island with a big bay in the middle.  We spent several hours exploring the outer edge of the island. We found crawdads and honeybees.

The evening was spent on the back porch with family. Using the app "Mix Booth", we combined each other's faces to see what our kids would look like. Very entertaining.

Monday was mostly a lazy day. Dave, Natalia, Dave's friend Spencer and I went back to the river and relaxed. I explored the island, Dave and Spencer fished, and Natalia drifted off to the middle of the bay in the raft. While they fished, I kept myself busy by feeding ducks and geese a never-ending supply of blackberries. The island we were on was abundant with them. Later on, us men kept ourselves entertained by attempting to crawl onto a loose, floating log. We made it our bitch.

Tuesday, we went to my favorite town. The place I'd love to live. East of Portland on interstate eighty-four: Hood River. The day was cloudy when we left my brother's apartment in Portland. It was around eighty with blue sky in Hood River. It was perfect. The four of us started at Full Sail Brewing.

After beer there, we relaxed with some more beer at Double Mountain.

It's disgusting how cute they are.

I love Double Mountain and I love Hood River. The air is hot, the breeze is warm. It's quiet and peaceful, but vibrant and young.

After all the beer drinking, we decided to take a break - we drove across the Columbia into Washington, and relaxed at Everybody's Brewing in White Salmon. We wound down with more beer and some fries, then hit the road.

And don't worry, David was the D.D. We were safe. We took highway fourteen back, which was on the Washington side. We met my step-father at Grain and Gristle in Portland. Had a good Hefeweizen with a lamb burger, said goodbye to Thomas, and came home.

David, Natalia and I went on a walk when we got home. We went down the dog path, a walk David and I used to always go down when we were young. We told Natalia about the Haunted House - an abandoned mansion who's backyard faced the dog path - and how him and I would always hang out there. We walked to the park afterward and briefly talked about the things to come in their life. We swung on the swing sets, and played on the teeter-totter. We walked home and watched Parks and Recreation until I was falling asleep on the couch.

Wednesday: the day for me to go back. David and Natalia left to spend time in Lacey with family. I'm thankful for the time I got to spend with them. My mother and I went out to Aurora, visiting an architectural salvage yard, along with a few antique stores. I found a wine skin, wrapped in leather, with copper lion faces on the side for eight dollars. After getting back, I gathered my things together. I hugged my mother goodbye, along with our dogs, Sophie and Rosie. I hugged Rosie tightly and warmly, knowing that that was probably going to be the last time I saw her.

She has cancer. For the second time. The first time, she was treated and grew better. It came back, and it's deeper and incredibly fast-growing. I love her so much, and she's so fat and adorable and chubby and cute and sweet. She always goes around the kitchen looking for scraps of food, sniffing and grunting, sounding like a truffle pig. I'll miss her cute grunts of pleasure of when her ears got scratched. She's our younger dog, too.

The all-too familiar feeling of the end of vacation came. It didn't help that the morning was brisk and overcast - an image that cements that feeling. I really didn't want to go back to Seattle.

I ended up leaving at rush hour - the highway was packed. I didn't think it would be bad. I hate traffic. I'm ALWAYS in it. I hate it. I hit it whenever I'm going to West Linn, and when I'm coming back. I don't always leave at rush hour, by the way. I never have. I turned around. I went to the house and took a walk around the neighborhood with Sophie and Rosie. I sat against a chain-link fence, under some trees, facing the park. The girls caught their breath in the shade with me. I went out to dinner with my mother and step-father, and hit the road at a quarter to eight. There was a little bit of stop-and-go traffic in Chehalis (road work). See? I ALWAYS hit it.

It's been a nice trip. We didn't watch as much Office, Parks and Rec, and Community as I thought we would. Probably my favorite thing about vacation? Enjoying the mornings. Grab my laptop, cup of coffee, and sit outside.

Glad I got to spend so much time with everybody. I love them very much.

Now to resume my life in Seattle.