Westmoreland Asays

Ian loves going on adventures. His definition might be more inclusive than most people would allow, but sometimes our adventures are walks around the neighborhood, bike rides to the park, or just playing in the back yard. They are all adventures to him. Tonight, with Aaron and Edward staying in Salem with their friends so they could attend a day camp, I thought it would be a good time to take the boy out. We rode our bikes to the Oaks Bottom trailhead, then hiked along the trail to the meadow below Sellwood Park. Ian pretended that all other hikers were zombies and he wasn't shy about letting them know this while he shot them with his squirt gun (sans water, of course). I appreciate that Ian likes to spend time with me, and that he still likes to hold my hand as we walk.

"Mike Asay. Wow. I was just telling my son about you, how smart you were at Gubser and how you need to be like him." So said the woman as she came over to my table after I told my wife to go bug her about joining her on the dance floor--a woman who was always way-too-cool for me back then. "Mike Asay. The master of the double-play. I still remember that one game, last inning, field covered in mud, winning runner on base. You turned the 4-6-3, game over. We win. Anyone else would have muffed it and we lose. That was our best season, even better than the next year." So said one of actual players on the state championship team of the next year (I was still JV). "Mike Asay. This is you, right [pointing to a picture of me and fellow teammates at the start of our final race together]? And that's Jon, and Brian . . . Do you think it would be all right if I stole this? I need it. You were always one of the nice guys who never teased me" So said the woman w...

I would have thought that finding an available camping spot for the fourth of July holiday would be difficult, but Meg scored us a yurt at Lost Creek--in the Mt. Hood wilderness area--maybe a week or two before the holiday. The drive took about an hour, and the air was immediately cooler than the city. After unloading our things into the yurt (which didn't have a lock or heat or electricity, features usually available at other yurts we've stayed at), we all hiked along the nature trail that traversed the campground. The trail was relatively short, so we were soon making our own trails along the Sandy River. Luckily Gollum had joined us again, so we had a veteran guide to lead us to fun and adventure. Meg and Ian eventually got bored with our antics and headed back to camp, while the remainder kept making our way along the river. At some point I decided we better head back, because I had no idea where I was or how far from camp we were. We could have followed the river back, b...