clearlyconfused: A Full September

Most of September was spent on a major remodel of the office space in Portland. We sold one of the buildings in the Tigard Complex, and redid the newest of our buildings into a new mediation center. Lots of office moves, including mine, so major angst among lawyers and staff as they got rerouted. Nonetheless, I was really lucky to get some great time away from the office as well.

Labor Day weekend started with the blessing of little Tulia. It was fun to have Nathan stand in with all of the brothers! This is a great little family!

The next day we did the final family swim and barn party at the lodge. We try to keep the pool open until at least Labor Day. Weather was fantastic and we also celebrated birthdays for Weston Beesley, Lyann Pham, and Kayla and Sara Huynh. A genuine barn dance!

Little Alvin was lookin' sharp with sister Sara!

Though Felix was not too sure with dad Chuongh

It was a dog day!

The next weekend, Hoa invited us to go crabbing out in the bay at the mouth of the Columbia River. It was another beautiful day, and Hoa and Dillan were great hosts!

We were in the water by 9 or so, and ended up getting nearly 100 crabs by early afternoon.

Nate was our driver for most of the day.

With Hoa and Dillan as captains!

Dillan would hook the rope attached to the buoy of the traps,

While Chris and Tucker worked hard to pull the full traps up from the bottom.

Two fun gulls were out in large numbers on this beautiful day.

The Hermann Gull in it's winter plumage.

And the Herring Gull

In both Adult and Juvenile plumage

Crossing out of the bay into the river channel was a great bird rock. Brown Pelicans were plentiful.

Truly a fun activity.

The following day we had a fun gathering at the Lodge where Mario and Angie, transiting from Alaska to Texas where Mario is working for a law firm, cooked the whole crew a Chinese dinner, learned when they were teaching English in China a few years ago.

Seriously Yum.

Grandma was a hit as well!

A couple of days later, my aunt DeOnne, the younger sister of my mom called to tell me that my Uncle Ron had died. He was the oldest of my mom's siblings. A half brother, he was raised by my Grandma Lillian when his mother died and my Grandpa George DeLand remarried. A really good guy, he was an engineer in the aerospace industry in southern California. So Paula, DeOnne, my cousin Andy and his wife Sarah all flew into LAX for the funeral. We helped pull together some pictures for the event, and I grabbed a few from the book that my cousin Susan had there at her folk's home.

The above picture is of Uncle Ron (standing) and Uncle Dick (whom I was named after). Below is one of my dad taken around the time of his marriage to my mom.

This next one is of my mom as a little girl on a pony.

Among my earliest memories is going to my Grandpa's shop in Lynwood, California where the smell of wood shavings was strong. He made patterns for complex parts in the early aviation industry.

My mom with her brothers.

This next one would have been taken about 1978 in the summer. Uncle Ron and Aunt Virginia had come up to Grants Pass for a visit. Nic and Ben were both about 1 or so. Grandma Lillian is holding Mike.

It was really great to go to the funeral, and especially to see cousins I hadn't seen for maybe 30 years.

Andy, Susan, Angela, Martin, Me

Susan, Martin and their aunt DeOnne

Early the morning of the funeral, Andy and I got out to a local park and saw a few birds.

A Pair of Wood Ducks

Snowy Egret

Egyptian Goose

Black Crowned Night-Heron

And a Black Phoebe

Nearby we also saw a Swan Goose, and this post's mystery bird.

On our way back to the airport to return home, we decided to go by the homes where my mom and dad grew up. They are now in predominately immigrant neighborhoods in Lynwood.

The DeLand home, with the brick that my dad put up after he and my mom were married.

And the Vial home. Now with a much smaller living room window, with bars on it!

Back at home at the Rainbow house the next morning, while getting ready for church, I saw a very distinctive display going on in a tree out back near the river. Many flycatchers have a way of hunting that includes returning to the same branch after each time they dart out after prey. This makes them relatively easy to photograph if you know that is what is going to happen, and you are patient. This was a fun shot with the bird sitting on the branch, diving after a moth and coming back with it's prize.

Little guy fooled me however, and came back to a branch a couple of feet away!

Went to the movies with our friends the Mechams for my birthday on the 28th. Saw "Trouble with the Curve" starring Clint Eastwood. Highly recommend the film. Great story about family and love, with super baseball stuff!

To finish the month, I got out on the river in my kayak for a couple of hours before the high school alumni game (more about that in a minute). It was a beautiful fall day, and the water was really calm and peaceful.

This Beaver didn't even slap at me he was so chill.

Earlier that morning we had met Hai and her family up at the farm to pick the last of our poor grape crop.

And on my walk that morning, I got these shots of my friend and storyteller Mike Welch's latest story board work. He was just finishing this set of doors for another neighbor. about 7 feet by 6 feet.

So the culmination of a really busy month was the first annual Hill Hi/Glencoe alumni football game. Nate had been working out all month for it, and even wore his old number 54. So there we were as a family, cheering on the boys of fall!

Under the full moon, and the bright lights of Hare Field, we packed up the babies, and grabbed the old ladies (that's from a song), lathered up the hot dogs, and I got my camera crew to help!

Nate was a little nervous before the game,

But once he got in on that first play, he was loving it!

I daresay he was the stalwart of the offensive line, which protected it's quarterback in amazing fashion. He was blocking guys who outweighed him by 60 pounds or better, but hung in there all night.

Actually by the end of the game he was getting a little tired of dealing with the bullies and changed his strategy.

All good though. Check out the score!

But wait! There was one day left in September!. On Sunday we had our traditional Sunday dinner at breakfast instead at Rainbow, and skinny Kevin got ready to go to the airport after coming out for the game.

On the way home from the airport, we all went to Chuongh and Liyan's for the Chinese Harvest Feast! This was Liyan's treat, and it was a typical family gathering.