A Month in Summary - August 2019

Little Whale Cove

Depoe Bay, Oregon

August was the great month of distraction, so there was very little reading going on and I managed to finish only two books. What distractions, you ask? Well, of course we are busy getting ready to head out on another two-month long journey. This takes an enormous amount of planning & packing and since the ultimate goal is to attend our daughter's wedding in San Diego, we have been busy shopping for our wedding clothes. I can't tell you how many dresses I have purchased (and returned!) from Nordstrom until finally settling on THE mother-of-the-bride dress.

In addition to making lists, crossing off tasks and slowly packing for our road trip, we have driven to and from Seattle twice in as many weeks. My 86-year-old mother took a Holland America cruise to Alaska and we volunteered to get her on and off the ship so she wouldn't have to fly from Portland to Seattle, fussing with all that complicated travel. This also allowed us to spend some time with my stepmom, as well as pick up our new-to-us Smart car, which we bought from her.

The month flew by far too quickly and as I write this, I know the next three weeks are going to be a blur! We left Depoe Bay yesterday morning and are spending a couple of days in Bandon before continuing south. We should arrive in San Diego in a little over a week.

Books Read in August:

Henry, Himself by Stuart O'Nan

Ask Again, Yes by Mary Beth Keane

First Lines:

His mother named him Henry, after her older brother, a chaplain killed in the Great War, as if he might take his place. In family lore the dead Henry had been a softhearted boy, a rescuer of stranded earthworms and fallen sparrows, presaging his vocation as a saver of souls. Salutatorian of his seminary class, he volunteered for duty overseas, sending home poems and charcoal sketches of life in the trenches. At church the stained-glass window that showed a barefoot Christ carrying a wayward lamb draped about his neck like a stole was dedicated in loving memory of the Rt. Rev. Henry Leland Chase, 1893-1917, the mock-Gothic inscription so elaborate it verged on illegibility, and each Sunday as they made their was to their pew up front, his mother would bow her head as they passed, as if to point out, once more, his uncle's saintliness. When he was little, Henry believed he was buried there, that beneath the cold stone floor of Calvary Episcopal, as below the medieval cathedrals of Europe, the noble dead moldered in cobwebbed catacombs, and that one day he would be there too. (Henry, Himself)

Francis Gleeson, tall and thin in his powder blue policeman's uniform, stepped out of the sun and into the shadow of the stocky stone building that was the station house of the Forty-First Precinct. A pair of pantyhose had been hung to dry on a fourth floor fire escape near 167th, and while he waited for another rookie, a cop named Stanhope, Francis noted the perfect stillness of those gossamer legs, the delicate curve where the heel was meant to be. (Ask Again, Yes)

Movies and TV Shows:

RBG - Outstanding! I'm inspired to start reading about this amazing woman.

Blade Runner 2049 - I really enjoyed this more than I thought I would. I wasn't a big fan of the original (I dislike movies that are visually dark & gloomy), so I didn't have high hopes for this follow-up. It's pretty long, though.

Seven Pounds - Will Smith has always been a favorite of mine and this tender film was touching without being overly sentimental. We both enjoyed it.

Woodstock - I was seven years old at the time of Woodstock and don't remember hearing anything about it, although I'm sure my older brother and parents knew all about it. I have always enjoyed watching movies & documentaries about the 60s and this PBS program did not disappoint.

The Wolf's Call - The dubbing for this film was terrible, but I still enjoyed it. Makes me want to watch The Hunt for Red October again.

MI-5 - It hasn't been all that long since we watched this, but I don't remember much about it. Must not have been terribly impressive.

Good Night, and Good Luck - Great movie with a fabulous cast. This was the second time I've seen it, but it was still just as good as the first viewing. The following quote is from Rogert Ebert and as I read it, I couldn't help but substitute Trump's name for McCarthy's.

"Good Night, and Good Luck" is a movie about a group of professional newsmen who with surgical precision remove a cancer from the body politic. They believe in the fundamental American freedoms, and in Sen. Joseph McCarthy they see a man who would destroy those freedoms in the name of defending them. Because McCarthy is a liar and a bully, surrounded by yes-men, recklessly calling his opponents traitors, he commands great power for a time. He destroys others with lies, and then is himself destroyed by the truth.

On the Basis of Sex - Having watched RBG at the beginning of the month, we were eager to see how this film compares. It was very good, but I liked the documentary better. This felt a little fluffy.

Outings & Trips:

Two quick road trips up to Seattle. Far too much traffic, which makes us very happy to live in our quiet little community on the coast!

This is 86! 

Heading out on a two-week cruise to Alaska.

Our new-to-us Smart!

And then there were fun times with good friends! As much as we love our travels, we are going to miss our friends (and Mom!) in Little Whale Cove.

The RV is packed and ready to go. I'm finally caught up (after an entire year!) on my posts about our 2018 trip, so we'll see how I do with documenting this two-month journey! You can always follow me on Instagram to catch the latest photos.