Loss of a Loved One

I sit here and think, what is it going to be like from now on? No longer will I get calls from Mom asking how I'm doing , or how the grandkids are. I'll miss spending time with her, even as she went overboard and tried entertaining me when I visit. No longer will I get that motherly advice that as any Son does, listening but not really going to use, even when you know that it's probably is the best you'll get. You see, Mom left us on Friday, October 31, 2008. As she was suffering from breast cancer, it was a blessing that she left peacefully in her sleep. Of course, as children, we regret that she was alone, at home and that we were not there for her. Logically we know that if we were there that we would have call the paramedics and they would have brought her back, and then put her in the hospital where she would have probably never left, and been in pain the whole time.

Mom
1933-2008
Like all people who must deal with the grief and depression of losing a loved one, I started a blog page that I hope my sister and brother will help on and will celebrate her life with memories we have of her. It called "Memories of Mom" and can be found in my friends column to the left. As I stated in Mom's blog, as long as I keep her in my memories Mom will always be with me.

Busy, Busy, Busy

Well, Its been very busy since the last time I wrote. On Sept 19th, I had my knee surgery, and things are going well. I'm doing therapy and trying to exercise between we gone on have been the renaissance fairs. We started with Shrewsbury in Oregon. It was fun and the jousting was good. Made some contacts with some people that maybe I'll see their products at my small business. After Shrewsbury we had to take a couple weeks off because of my surgery. The next fair was in Redding, CA called the Shasta Dragonwood Festival. We invited Evelyn and Tracy Cole & family and had a great time. The following week, Lori and I went Our separate ways. Lori went to Whiskeytown for a Quilting Seminar and I went to Northern California Renaissance Fair in Casa de Fruta. I stopped and picked up Jaime, Lindsey, and Westley and took them with me. We had a great time and enjoyed ourselves immensely.

As of this writing, I'm currently in Portland, Oregon where I came up to go to a wedding with Mom. Terrie, Mom and Brandon, came up to go to a wedding for Erica, a friend of Brandon's and almost like a daughter to Terrie. The wedding was beautiful, and the reception was pretty good. When it was time to fly home, Mom became dizzy and due to her health problems, they called the paramedics and she ended up in the Hospital. It's Sunday and it looks like that Mom will be here for another night. Her heart rate has been elevated and we're hoping that it comes down and stays down so she and Terrie can travel home on Monday (tomorrow.) Mom says this is the last trip she's making for a long time. Mom says "Hi" to everyone and says not to worry, she's doing find and will be home and will be her old self soon.

Mom and me in Hood River, OR

Trombone Quartet

While surfing on Youtube came across a video of one of my favorite past times. Playing trombone. Now if I could only play half as good as these girls do, I would be ecstatic. Hope you enjoy it as much as I do.

Golden Gate Renaissance Faire

Well, It was a busy weekend with Lori going to Las Vegas for Joseph's Master Degree Graduation, and me to San Francisco, to take Lindsey and her Mom to the Golden Gate Renaissance Faire. You can read about Lori's trip on her blog, (Gramie's blog) or try Joseph's & Marinda's blog. (See Friends.) We left Walnut Creek and of course couldn't find Golden Gate Park on the GPS so we put in a business that we thought would be near the park (Golden Gate Bikes.) Well, Jaime used her phone to access the website for the faire and it gave a street address and we entered that. It was a mailing address that took us to a place about 5 miles from the park. So Jaime got a map and we entered a intersection that was close to where the fair was suppose to be and it got us to the park. I remembered where it was from there. This is the second time we got lost looking for the park, so I entered the map site into my address book so next time we don't go sightseeing around the south side of town. The faire was just as good as always (our third year,) and we enjoyed ourselves. We watched the joust put on by the Knights of Avalon, saw the Queen in the Parade, and of course spent plenty of money on costume parts for Lindsey. We got her a belt, to put her purse on, then of course she need a cup and holder so she could be like mom and grandpa. So grandpa got her a wooden mug and holder and then she wanted a knife. So grandpa got ordered to make a wooden knife like the swords he makes for her costume. (Doesn't Lindsey have Grandpa wrap around her finger.) Grandpa bought Lori and himself a magic talisman necklace for protection. He ended up going back on Sunday and getting Jaime and Lindsey a necklace also. Grandpa also bought himself a green shirt and some black pants to replace the fading ones he was always wearing. Maybe next year I'll be a vendor and sell my swords and shields.

Faire season has started and Lori and I are looking forward to going to Shrewsbury Faire in Corvallis on Sept 13, then Northern California Renfaire in Gilroy, and the Shasta Dragon Faire in Redding. Next year might add a fair to the schedule with Valhalla in Lake Tahoe (which is in June.) Till next time, See Ya.

Busy Month

Well, It's been over a month since I lasted posted, and I have been very busy. Jared and Jaime came for a visit over the 4th of July weekend and we had a great time with the kids and grand kids. We watched the parade and then went to the park to see the vendors and other displays. Search and Rescue put on a demonstration of a traverse from the top of the Surf Hotel to the park. It was similar to a Zip line, but was set up so we could stop half way down and then lower a person into a boat that was sitting in the middle of the street. It worked great, and everyone was impressed. One of the things they had going on was a sidewalk chalk drawings. I added a picture of one of the ones I liked.

After the weekend, Jared left to report to his new duty station, Scholfield Barracks, Hawaii. He'll be home based there for 3 years, but could be deployed to wherever they need him.





The next thing was the Brookings Renaissance Fair, where I sold some wooden swords and shields. That was July 19th, and I share a booth with Tonya Pingree, and did pretty good for a small fair with about 12 booths total. I sold about 14 swords with holders and 2 shields. Heres a picture of my display. All the shields were painted different, each one for a different knight. The name for my store is "Skull and Bones Swords."







After the fair, it was get ready for the Elson Family Reunion 2008. We left a week early so we could leave to go to Salt Lake City, and visit with Joseph and Joel and their families. We spent Saturday, the 26th (my birthday) traveling, but stayed the night in Wendover, NV at the Peppermill Casino & Hotel. We then arrived at Joseph's the next morning. Joel came up and we visited and celebrated my birthday with cake. Luckily, someone was smart and I only had to blow out 9 candles (5 yellows - decades & 4 blue - years). That night we went to Provo where we stayed for a couple of days and I helped Joel and Julie work on their house, while Grammie did babysitting chores for Damon. We work Monday and Tuesday and with Lori helping Tuesday morning we got a total of about 33 hours.

We left Wednesday morning for Lake Tahoe, where the reunion was and had a great time. We visited with the family, the wives shopped, we swam at the pool, we went to Truckee and took a river raft trip, and of course the tradition Blackjack game Friday night, where this year Douglas was the big winner. Jamie, Lindsey, Wesley, Joel, Julie, Damon, Lori and I rented a condo and had a great time. On Friday morning, Joel, Julie, and I went down and did a para sail ride on the lake. We had great time and the para sail was perfect with a skull and crossbones on it.

ON Saturday, Jaime took Lindsey, I went along to take pictures, to go para-sailing. Lindsey was all excited until she took off. She got a little scared, but hung tough and after getting back on the boat and back to shore, later that day she wanted to go again.

It was a good trip and hopefully we will do it again in two years for another Elson reunion. Till next time, See Ya.

Semi-retired?

Should have been posted June 5th, 2008, but got behind.

I went to the doctor to see him about my knee and he has put me off of work till Oct 1, 2008 as I have torn the the mimeniscus in my knee and he thinks that if I work and have to run to an alarm or wrestle an inmate, I could damage it beyond repair. So I'm temporarily retired. Boy does it get boring sitting around the house not doing much. Lori and I have talked about making swords to sell at the Brookings Renaissance Fair, so maybe I'll make up a couple and see how they turn out. Workman's Comp is suppose to cover this but they want an expert to check out the leg first. Till then I am burning up all my vacation, sick and any other time I have on the books so I don't lose any money. When Workman's Comp says they'll cover it all my time will go back on the books. Toward the end of July, if Workman's Comp doesn't pickup the injury as work related, I may have to start a time bank to help cover my time. I'll find out if I have any friends out at the prison who'll donate time to me. Till next time, it's the boring, easy life.

International Trombone Festival 2008

Should hve been posted June 3, 2008

Posted late, but this is the piece I wrote after the Trombone Festival in Salt Lake City. Joseph (my son) and I had a real good time as we saw a lot of great trombone players doing concerts, teaching clinics, and playing in an ensemble of about 25 trombones. Then for the finale, we had a mass choir of about 100 trombones playing together. There was just so much of artists playing, that we didn't get to play that much. Joseph and I skipped a concert or two so we could prepare a number for Alice's birthday party that was on Friday. On Saturday night, Joseph, Marinda, Lori and I attend the Utah Symphony, and listen to Concerto for Trombone played by Larry Zalkind, and directed by Joey Silverstein. The concerto was written by Christopher Rouse, and considered to be the most significant piece written for the trombone. This was the 2nd festival I've attended, but unless i come into a windfall of money, I don't think I'll make it to Denmark for next years festival.

Family Visit in Utah

Should have been posted on 30 May 2008

Being on vacation has been a blast and non-stop go, go, go. It started Friday afternoon, after work, with a drive to the Bay area (San Francisco,) where we stayed overnight and spent the morning with Jaime, Jason and the grandkids. Then about 1 o’clock, we got on Bart and traveled to the airport for a flight to Salt Lake City. There we went to Joseph’s house where Jared and Joel & families had gathered to spend Memorial Day weekend together. Saturday evening we spent socializing as most of the kids were asleep. Sunday after church, we had fun with the kids and playing on the computers. We set up a links system on Joseph’s computer and we had 6 laptops all online together. We played games and Suzanne showed everyone some of the tools and things you can use on our blog pages. On Monday, we took all the kids to the Treehouse Museum where they ran around and dressed up, made crafts, went to story time, slid down the tree tunnel, and got to sit in the President’s chair in the Oval Office (replica.)

We then had a picnic lunch, with sandwiches, fruit, and drinks, with desert, being frosted animal crackers. We then loaded up the kids and took them to Hill Aerospace Museum. There the kids (and grandpa) got to see a lot of the planes that were flown by the Air Force. The highlight was seeing the SR-71 (Blackbird) spy plane. Joel, Julie, Damon, and I got our picture taken in front of a Flying Tiger plane that was flown in China prior to the start of World War II. We were told that the teeth were painted on the plane, because there were stories that Japanese pilots were afraid of being eaten by Sharks. They got the tiger name because the Japanese said in their first battle they fought like tigers. Monday’s dinner was a BBQ with steaks, corn on the cob, and hotdogs for the kids. Tuesday, Jared & Joel along with their families, left for home. Grandma stayed for the rest of the week, while Grandpa left with Joseph for the International Trombone Festival. We’ll talk about that in the next entry.

SAR -Busy Week

This week has been a very busy week with riding the bike to and from work, to being called out to a search, training and a river rescue. I joined the county Search and Rescue (SAR) team in January, to be part of the dive team. I love to Scuba dive and I thought this would be a way to get more dives in. Well instead of just being part of the dive team, I jump into the unit with both feet, doing repelling, searches, and learning about the drug culture in the local area (good info for wandering around the local hills looking for lost people.

This week started on Tuesday with a call out for a lost little girl in town. I got in the car and raced (within the speed limit) to the location of her last sighting. I got no closer than about 5 blocks when the 10-22 (cancel) call came in. On Friday night was training. We learn to put up a quad high line for transporting people and equipment over gullies, rivers, etc. On Saturday, we used Friday's training to assist CARDA (California Rescue Dog Association) in their training dogs and we hooked up about a dozen dogs and trainers, then moved them across the creek and back. This was something that the dog team had to do together to be certified by CARDA. On Sunday, I got called out twice. I was relaxing around the house in some sweatpants when we had a call for four lost youths. I quickly changed pants and even before I got my shirt on, the 10-22 call came out. The kids were located. A while later, Lori was just starting dinner, where we had invited the Evelyn, Tracy and the kids over for dinner and a dip in the hot tub, when another call out came of a boy trapped on a rock in the river. I drove up the river and we were able to get a line to the boy and he put on a PFD (personal floatation device) w/ line attached, and helmet, and we pulled him across the river. I was informed that if he was injured that I would have been sent swimming across the river to set up a high line and get the boy across. Luckily, he was just a little cold. Then it continued today. I was at Dr. Cole's getting my treatment when the pager went off. I quickly threw on my clothes and ran out the office and proceeded up Highway 199 to a car over the side, with possible injuries. I got as far as Gasquet, when the 10-22 came in. Unfortunately the driver of the vehicle was 11-44 (DAS, expired.) The car was only slightly off the road and there was was no problem with the fire department being able to to extract the victim. With the weather being like summer, it might be quite busy around here. But then I did volunteer for the SAR. (You'd think after all those years in the Marines, I would have learned to not volunteer.)

Mother's Day

The mothers in my life. Thank you to you all for all the joy you have given me in my life. My mom (at right) who did most of my raising as my Dad was in the Corps and did tours overseas, to my daughter and daughter-in-laws (above w/ wife) who have given me joyous moments from giving birth to my grandchildern to the visits together, to my wife, the mother of my childern. What would life be if we didn't have all the joyous moments these women have brought, to offset the mundane life we have to do to provide for our families. Thank you all, and though I don't tell you often enough, I love all of you.

First Post

As my first post, I thought I'd give a little background on myself. I'm a father of 4, and grandfather of 11. I love all of them and their spouses. I work for the largest department in the state criminal justice system in the state, and have for 22 years. My interests are playing trombone in the local orchestra and the community big band, riding my bicycle (road & tandem w/ wife), scuba diving, and being part of the local search & rescue team. I spent 4 years in the Marine Corps, and another 5 in the Marine Corps Reserve. SEMPER FI. I started this blog figuring if my oldest grandson can have one, it can't be that hard to do. I hope that I don't bore you to death with my dribble as I post, but if i do, leave me a comment about what you would like me to talk about, and I'll try to accommodate you. Talk you you soon.