Visiting Nephew

In the past, I hosted my niece and nephew at the Rainier house for a few days before taking them up to their parents’ home in Montana. I recently was able to do that again. Brandon stayed with his grandparents in southern Oregon. Then the grandparents and I met in the middle, exchanged the kid, visited Kellen and Cameron for half an hour, then came home to Rainier for a couple of days.

Brandon and I hung out and had the fun that we could. We were limited on time before it was time to drive to Montana. But the time was good.

Oh right. I was talking about Brandon.

In the past few years, a Great Blue Heron has made my pond its regular hunting ground. I was worried that it had decimated the fish population. They barely jump anymore, and I’m never sure if it’s actually fish jumping, or bullfrogs. But Brandon answered my question. He fished for hours, caught about 14 perch he said, and threw them all back.

Brandon also brought a new toy. It’s called a Razor RipStik and it’s a lot like a skateboard. You move it by swaying/twisting your hips. You can get it going from a complete stop, just by wiggling. It’s pretty cool. Rainier has a tiny skate park that is mostly empty, which is what a skater beginner likes best.

The first time we went to the skate park, we noticed smoke in the sky. It was across the river, so we went to the shore to get a look. A huge fire was engulfing the shore near the bridge. It was so reminiscent of my recent trip to Astoria, and the fire on the other side of the river that started while I was there, it was eerie.

Before going home, we drove past a viewpoint to look down onto the valley and saw giant orange flames leaping into the air. The Wayerhauser paper mill was on fire. Giant piles of woodchips had spontaneously combusted. This is a common problem here in Longview’s multiple paper mills. The flames were out of control and the scene was chilling. Brandon and I were in awe. I didn’t get a photo.

The next day we went back to check it out though.

The good news is that the fire was contained within the Wayerhauser property. It did not spread to the town.

On day two, I was still packing my house to get ready for the UHaul move. I had been looking out the window at the weeds growing taller and taller in the yard, but unable to cut them because I had different priorities. I asked Brandon if he knew how to drive a riding lawn mower. Brandon was not really interested. He explained that he had tried it once and he almost tipped over the machine, which really scared him. I get that.

I handed him the keys anyway. I paced out a small square area and asked him to mow that section. Afterward, we would talk and if he really didn’t want to mow any more, he didn’t have to.

Three hours later, he finally stopped. Ha!! Awesome!!

As evening came, it was time to move our base to Pedro’s house in Portland. It’s a whole hour closer to Montana. If we left from there, it would make our drive that much shorter. So we said goodbye to the chickens and to Racecar, and took off for Pedro’s house.

It was hot, hot that day. We all got drinks and went outside to enjoy the evening air. I had dug up one of my many hydrangeas to replace one of Pedro’s hedges that had died. He will be putting his townhouse on the market soon, and didn’t like the ugly hole left by removal of the dead hedge. Hydrangeas will do great here in the shady, regularly watered courtyard between townhouses. It should look beautiful for any prospective home buyers.

The next morning we left for Montana. I’ll post photos when I get a chance.