The Ghost of Our Fathers

Leaving Anaheim we visited with a couple of friends on our way north, where Marc proceeded to blow off a lot of steam in a bottomless 40 oz. margarita glass. Friends Mike and Shelly have a wonderful outdoor party area they’ve spent lots of time developing and we enjoyed some fabulous meals with them.

From there we pulled into Bend around 6 p.m. Saturday after the all day drive from Auburn, CA and after such a long absence it was great to see Mom. 


Settling into the appropriate chairs to visit and get caught up, it hit me how weird it was not see my father over in his chair in the corner by the window, which has now become Mom’s spot. The last time I was here was right after he died on November 1, 2010. Coming in to stay at the patriarch’s homestead without him here hit like a ton of bricks to my emotions. I suddenly missed him. Time has a way of easing even the worst of hurts however, and Mom looks like she is doing much better than the last time I saw her shortly after his death. 


I took her out on a seafood buying frenzy yesterday, where fresh Ling Cod, Sockeye salmon, and razor clams awaited my attention. Marc will be busy in the coming days canning, freezing, and smoking salmon to his heart’s content, especially as I added another case of whole fish pink salmon to the mix today.

Since Marc got so screwed finishing up his last project in Irvine, we lost about two weeks of our vacation. We’re trying to figure out how to spend the short two weeks left or whether I should call my clients to cancel my August duties and extend our time. Marc won’t have to return to a new project until after Labor Day so the time off is tantalizingly tempting. We missed seeing our friends in Coos Bay and the ocean is a siren song heard all the way here into the high desert, calling us to come over and stay a spell.