30 Years--A Blip in Geologic Time

 majestic Mt. St. Helens

 still majestic in a new way

For 30 years now, Pacific Northwest residents have paid special attention to what remains of Mt. St. Helens. Before the May 18, 1980 eruption its conic beauty was likened to Mt. Fuji, but since then it has had a flattish appearance, as if a good portion of the top had been sliced clean-off with a very large butcher knife.

We lived in southwestern Idaho at the time of the eruption, and the ashfall barely skipped us. My friend from Othello, Washington said her family was in church that Sunday morning when word of the surprise 8:32 a.m. eruption arrived, and worshipers went right home. Her photos show a roiling jet-black sky heading straight for them, a catastrophe of alarming proportion. Now farmers revel in their improved soil.

For four years, 2004-2008, the mountain was again in eruption stage. At first it was closed to visitors and climbers, but in 2006 restrictions were lifted during the eruption, and of course we had to get a front-row-seat on that event. Read about that experience right here

Because today is the 30th anniversary of the violent eruption that radically changed the mountain and its surroundings, there have been some major progress reports on the mountain's "recovery." One report included original footage of news reports on that day in 1980. For some days no one could get near enough for a close-up view of the damage, so some of the speculation voiced by reporters now sounds ridiculous: 'we don't know how much damage has been done to the lodge and cabins on Spirit Lake' [answer: they were obliterated and Spirit Lake has basically vanished] and 'perhaps Harry Truman was able to get into his cave and survived' [answer: he was instantly vaporized and buried under hundreds of feet of debris].

For a fascinating report on the mountain's eruption and recovery, click  here

And happy 32nd birthday to Daniel!

Wildlife Galore

I spent a wonderful week in Ithaca, New York with Bridget's family recently. Their apartment complex is full of young families, most of whom are associated in some way with Cornell University. Their building faces the local bird sanctuary so at least once a day Meme and Majd and I walked the network of trails that lace through the area.

The boggy land is pocked with scores of tiny ponds, lots of tall trees, wooden bridges to cross the marshiest areas, and at one end is a very large pond filled with ducks and geese and other water animals. There is a visitor center near the pond.

Some of the more common birds seen in the sanctuary are red-wing blackbirds, goldfinches, jays, robins, chickadees, various ducks and Canada geese, but sometimes scarlet cardinals made an appearance. One day we passed Canada geese parents swimming with their eight goslings! We see great blue herons often here in the Pac NW but not so often sitting on their nests. In the bird sanctuary were two sets of herons  nesting in adjoining tall trees.

Muskrats swim through the pond, raccoons climb the trees, and squirrels and chipmunks are everywhere. The last night of my visit as we walked at dusk, two beaver were splashing near the shore of the pond just yards from us. We crept closer as they came onto the bank to investigate their surroundings. They still hadn't spied us and we got within about 8 feet of them. Then Majd startled them and in a flash they dove back into the pond to head for deeper water. Funny that someone from Beaver-town Oregon would get a better view of beaver in NewYork than I ever do here.

Christos Voskres!! or How a Byzantine Catholic Mormon Helped the Local Lutheran Church Prepare for Easter Services

I spent an hour of Holy Saturday helping our local Lutheran Church prepare their sanctuary for Easter Sunday services. How did it come about that a Mormon got involved in the Lutheran preparations?

Steven has a voice teacher who is employed as the choir director for our local Lutheran Church. Today Craig and I went along to listen to his lesson. I got about one paragraph into the book I brought to read, and noticed the crew of women working on preparations for Easter services. It's against my nature to sit when there is work to do so I offered to help. At first they said it wasn't necessary, but then asked if I could sew, then put me to work sewing ribbons on what would become a banner, or standard, such as you would see carried in the Crusades (think Onward Christian Soldiers). The ribbons were a shiny white and on them we stapled colorful butterflies made by the children of the congregation. When the 10 foot banner was raised it was quite breath-taking--the ribbons glowed when backlit by rays of light from the 2-story windows.

So even though we won't be attending Easter services (I'll be watching LDS General Conference), and even if we were, there wouldn't be these kinds of elaborate decorations, I'll be thinking of the devoted worshipers at our local Lutheran congregation.

Dinosaur College Registration

 BYU Smith Fieldhouse--scene of some not-so-fun memories

In my first few semesters at BYU the class registration system was positively prehistoric, even by 1973-74 standards. The process was entirely hands-on, so we trudged on down to the Smith Field-house on the west end of lower campus to register on the athletic courts. The procedure went as follows:

Step 1: At home, you (student) studied the current class catalog, picking out classes required for your major, some electives, and then a few options as backups. Each class usually offered a number of sections; popular classes could have dozens of sections available (especially lower division 100s and 200s) but specialized subjects could be restricted to just a few sections. On paper you created a matrix showing how all your chosen class sections fit together time-wise, allowing breaks, and taking care you did not get stuck with any 7 a.m. classes. You took this carefully crafted schedule with you to registration.

Step 2: You trekked to the Field-house but on entering and encountering thousands of other eager students, about-faced and headed for home. No really, that wasn’t a choice. Scores of small tables were set up around the perimeter of the building, each with a sign taped to the front edge announcing which discipline it represented. So if a student wanted History 310 he found the history area, then stood in the line that displayed History 300 classes. If there were a hundred people ahead of you that was tough luck, you twiddled your thumbs for a while.

Step 3: Each table held numerous file boxes holding hundreds of 3x5 cards. Cards were divided up according to the particular course, then within that, the particular section, each card representing one student in that class. If there were 40 spots for one class section, the box held 40 cards for that section, and each time a student requested the class, a card was removed. As you told the monitor what you wanted it seemed that half the time there were no cards left for that section. Right there you had to make a quick decision on whether you could accommodate a different section of the same class, or if you just had to abandon the class altogether. Remember that carefully crafted schedule? It went right out the window. The trouble was, you didn’t know until you went to all the other tables on your list, whether you would get into those class sections, so theoretically you could spend all day going from table to table to construct a decent schedule!

Around my junior year the system changed but I don’t remember exactly how it went, except that  BYU abandoned the Field-house folly and probably switched to a mail-in system, which is still prehistoric in comparison with the sleek online registration of today.

Childhood Automobiles

Personally I don't care a lot about the car I drive, only that it isn't butt-ugly [think Citron or Studebaker] and doesn't break down on me. And I've been pretty lucky on both those points with a couple of exceptions. Here's the cars that were part of my life before I got married. Will cover the others later.

Chrysler? green. This car [see below] is one of my vague early memories. Perhaps this is the same car Dad called a Plymouth Deluxe which he bought new for $1800 in 1950. Am not sure except that car was green. Looking at this Plymouth Deluxe I saw on the internet, I would say yes, that's the car.  Only not purple and am pretty sure it did not have whitewall tires.

1956 Buick Super, gray, with those holes in the front side panels. Holes in the front side panels seems like a strange choice of decor. Dad said driving this was like driving a truck. This car could drive off a cliff and land unscathed, it was that massive. Here it is in all its bigness:

1957 Cadillac, blue. Dad bought it used for $800. It was similar to the above photo but the blue was lighter.


1961 Buick Special station wagon we bought brand new for $2500. It was white with red interior. Dad drove us from California to New York and back again in this car in 1962. No seat-belts!  The kids horsed around in the 'way back' which was cold red metal. I learned to drive in this car in 1970 and later ruined the transmission by putting it in park before it was completely stopped. Picture this in white with all 6 of us squished in it:

1962 Pontiac Tempest, creamy yellowish; bought from a VP at Lockheed where Dad worked. It was so sluggish which was annoying and possibly unsafe. Dave used to yell to Mom while she was driving, "look out, you're gonna hit that car/ person/ fire hydrant/ curb/ etc.!" [couldn't find good photo]


1964 Chevy Impala, originally gray until we painted it a sicky blue; a sea-worthy land yacht. I got hit in this car about 1971 and it hardly made a dent. To be fair I have to confess that the car was at a standstill at that moment, but was hit by someone going about 40 mph. We bought it from our friend Bob Price.

1964 Oldsmobile Ninety-Eight, light blue, bought from our friends the McCollums (Neil and Pat) who always had way nicer cars than we did. The photo below is that car parked at Mt. Pinos with me at the wheel, but don't worry I wasn't driving at age 14. I was recuperating from a nasty toboggan accident that occurred an hour before.

 


1967 Dodge Dart sedan, dark green. My favorite car because it was the closest to "cool" that we ever owned. It drove well and was responsive. It had a bad habit of getting a stuck choke so I figured out how to remove the lid to the carburetor, stick a pencil in the choke, start the engine, remove pencil, replace lid, close hood, drive away.  It helped to not be in a hurry to go anywhere. Picture this car a deep forest green:

1972 Buick Skylark light creamy tan-yellow. Bought brand new in the San Fernando Valley (from Walter Ruff dealership?) for $3900. Driving home from the dealer it balked going over Newhall Pass and we found it had a crimp in the gas line. We had a devil of a time the next day getting it back up over Newhall Pass so the dealer could repair it. This car was the most "luxurious" we ever owned.

The End

One more post on the local murder case and then I'm done with that topic.

The defendant in the previously mentioned murder case ( here and here and here ) heard the bad news yesterday morning when the jury recommended the death penalty for him. Certainly no one was surprised. The heinous nature of his acts required the worst possible punishment. Only his lawyers know his feelings about the awful prospect of years in prison, then an artificial death. Publicly he has said nothing, even though he was given that opportunity at sentencing.

When he has been escorted in and out of the courtroom the past few weeks his relaxed face has betrayed little  emotion. Yesterday was different. After the sentencing he once again donned the metal restraints, but this time he was quickly, brusquely hustled out of the courtroom by four deputies, rather than the two very casual officers employed in the past. He passed close by me and I read in his dazed face, shock, with a pinch of despair. Perhaps the reality has set in, a reality he chose himself on that November night 3 years ago.

Today I passed by the victims' house. It's a little ratty looking just coming out of the winter months. But there in the front yard a couple of bunches of smiling daffodils were bobbing in the rain and wind. I wondered if Melody had planted them. They seemed to say that hope and happiness and renewal is available for those left behind after that terrible crime.

Was It Worth It?

The defendant in the triple murder trial was found guilty on all 10 counts of aggravated murder this morning, which carries the death penalty in Oregon. 

Here are the main points the prosecution used to convict Ricardo Serrano; every one of these is circumstantial evidence, which when combined, made a more than adequate case. There was little direct evidence in this case.

1.  a paper w/ the victim's (Melody) live-in's (Mike) license number and car description was found in the defendant's (Ricardo) car
2.  Ricardo called in sick to work at 6:01 a.m. the morning after the murders (which happened about 9:35 the previous evening)
3.  Ricardo parked his truck two blocks from home when he returned home after the murders [he didn't want neighbors to be able to pinpoint a time he returned home]
4.  the murder weapon was found at Ricardo's brother's house in Beaverton
5.  Ricardo lied to police saying his brother lived in Mexico [he didn't want them to find murder weapon at brother's house]
6.  a 380 spent shell casing was found at Ricardo's house [most of the shell casings were removed from murder scene by murderer]
7.  Ricardo's shoes matched a shoe print found at the murder scene
8.  Melody's computer was found in Ricardo's garage
9.  Ricardo was seen in his vehicle w/ this computer
10.  Ricardo's cell phone was repeatedly used in the area of the murders for 10-ish minutes directly preceding the crime. Soon after the murder his cell phone was used in the vicinity of his own house (it's an 11 minute drive from Melody's house to Ricardo's house). The next morning before Mike returned from his night shift at work, Ricardo's cell phone was again repeatedly used in the area of Melody's house; also, the phone was used near Ricardo's brother's house soon before and soon after the murders (murder weapon belonged to brother). Before the murders his cell phone was also used in the area where Mike was employed

I also find it interesting that Ricardo, after calling work to say he wasn't coming in that day, spent that whole day driving around Beaverton, Cedar Hills and nearby areas, then showed up at home at 4:20 p.m., the usual time he would have come home from work. His wife thought he had been at work all day [cell phone tracing showed where his phone was used all day]--why would he have acted this way?

Ricardo did not testify in his own defense. The defense never tried to create an alibi for Ricardo. The defense's main points were that there were no fingerprints or DNA from the defendant found in the victim's house, and no blood or fibers found in Ricardo's vehicle that could tie him to the crime.

Ricardo certainly got his revenge on Mike for having an affair with his wife, and I wonder how Ricardo would answer the question, 'was it worth it?'

http://www.oregonlive.com/washingtoncounty/index.ssf/2010/02/jury_finds_ricardo_serrano_gui.html