Newport, OR - I'm in Newport, on the coast this evening. As I headed over that last hill, the temperature dropped from 97 to about 67. Literally. I went from wearing tank tops and capris, and sweating, to wearing a jacket and jeans, in about 15 minutes. Maybe I can find a "happy medium" somewhere around here. But at least the sun was shining here - a beautiful little town on a pretty little bay. A beautiful day, really. Of course I had seafood (chowder and calamari) for dinner. At Mo's. Yum!
I ate at two restaurants worth mentioning today. Mo's is on the bay in Newport (and other coastal towns) and is famous for their clam chowder (if you've been reading my blogs, by now you know that I love all kinds of seafood chowder). But I also ate at a burger joint that I want to tell you about, not only because the food was very good, but because it is a unique restaurant. I've never been to anything like it before. My "cousin" Joan (pronounced Joe Ann) and I went to lunch at Stardusters Cafe in the little town of Independence. We had gone to visit her husband at the local care center first (more about that in a minute), then she took me out to eat. Independence is 20 miles southwest of Salem. To get to Independence we drove on a meandering state highway that ran next to the Willamette River - a pretty little drive through farmland, wine country, and Christmas tree farms! There is a neighborhood in Independence that is restricted to only people who own airplanes. In addition to all the regular things the homes have, including a garage for their autos, all the houses also have LARGE garages - for their airplanes. And besides streets and sidewalks, there are runways, so people can get their airplanes to the neighborhood airport,which is right on the edge of the neighborhood!! I've never seen a neighborhood like it before. There is a house just next to the airport that has been turned into a burger-joint-type restaurant. So as I sat eating in the restaurant, I was looking out the window at planes taxi-ing by on the airport runway, and taking off!! And besides all this, the jalapeno burger I had was excellent!! As was the chowder. It had bacon in it (a standard ingredient for Oregon chowders), and even carrots (my New England friends will roll their eyes right about here) - but it was thick and delicious. If you ever have occasion to visit the Salem area, consider trying out Starbusters. You won't be disappointed.
The focus of my chronicles has been my travels, but tonight I'm going to change the focus for awhile.
Joan is a really sweet person. And she is also the essence of devotion. As I watched her lovingly wash her husband's face and shave him, as I watched her carefully move his useless legs so that she could tug and pull the splints on him that he must wear, I was impressed with her devotion to him. There just really isn't any other word. It's part of commitment - but it's more than that. She casually mentioned that she and Arvid had had both "better and worse" in their marriage, implying that this is just part of taking the bad with the good, the "whole package", so to speak. And that's true. Certainly for her, this is just part of a marriage. But its essence is love. There is no resentment, just love. And I thought thankfully about how many strong women I have been privileged to have in my life. And how often women are the caretakers for the important people in their lives - from their children, through their spouses, to their aging parents, and often others as well. Joan has been caretaker for her brother through his mental illness, her daughter through two bouts of cancer, and for her husband through his hip surgery as well as his current more serious problems. And that doesn't even count raising three girls, and all the caretaking and commitment and devotion that takes. When the tables are turned, sometimes men are just as devoted caretakers of their children, spouses, parents. But, more often than not, it's the women who bear this responsibility. Even for their in-laws. And I admire that devotion. It signifies an admirable strength of character. And a blessing. What a blessing, to have the kind of relationship in your life, where caring for his most basic needs, is an act of love.
Okay, enough of that. I promise not to do that very often. :-)
The last 2 1/2 weeks have been intense - full of family, reviewing old photos, talking about old family history, working on our family ancestry records. I enjoyed all of that. We had a little fun in there too - lunch on the Willamette Queen sternwheeler as it went down the Willamette River, dinner at a local restaurant, a walk across the Willamette River bridge on a beautiful day. I will miss the Salem contingent of my family as I head down the road. But I am ready for something new and different. Adventure!!
No comments:
Post a Comment