More on Skamokawa

When I posted the old photos of my grandfather and his family some people asked me "how do you pronounce Skamokawa?" (Skamokawa is the name of the town where my grandfather grew up and where the photos were taken.) You pronounce the town's name "ska-MOCK-away."

The town of Skamokawa is pretty interesting, actually. The photos in my earlier post were taken in 1903 or 1904, 100 years ago.

A hundred years before that Lewis & Clark spent two nights (Nov. 8th and Nov. 25th, 1805) at a small Indian village which later became the town of Skamokawa. The town reached its peak in the early 1900s with a population of 500 people in 1910. In those days there were no roads to Skamokawa - all transportation was via the water - Columbia River, Steamboat Slough and Skamokawa Creek. All homes from that era were built facing the water.

A fine hotel and schoolhouse were built and three large shingle mills operated around the clock. Sidewheelers and sternwheelers visited the town several times a day. The first road wasn't built until 1915. When river traffic dried up so did the town. One web site calls Skamokawa a semi-ghost town now. (I got some of this information from this site.)

If you want to see photos of Skamokawa today I recommend this web site. I borrowed their photo of Redmen Hall to include with this post above. These days Redmen Hall contains a small museum with artifacts from local history. I went there a couple times with my parents before my Dad passed away. We found old photos which included some family members there. My Mom also donated some old family photos to the museum.

But what is more significant about Redmen Hall is that it is a restored 1894 schoolhouse. The very schoolhouse, in fact, where my grandfather and his siblings were educated. They did a great job with the restoration and in fact we were able to see some old furniture including a child's desk from the era when my grandfather was a boy.

If anyone is trying to figure out what the sign says in the photo it's "River Life Interpretive Center." That's the name of the museum housed at Redmen Hall today.

The web site with the photos also includes excerpts from the journals of Lewis & Clark from when they visited the area. Pretty cool stuff!

Update on Mom

The good news is that the medicine is working to take care of my mom's eye infection. I think her eye is almost back to normal now. I will see her tomorrow and can make sure then.

Unfortunately her back is still quite painful and giving her fits. She is having a hard time getting around and she's still in constant pain. The pain meds aren't helping and so far neither is the physical therapy (although she has only had a couple treatments so far).

Tomorrow I take Mom to physical therapy and foot doctor appointments, then on Tuesday she goes back to her regular doctor. He's going to be on vacation for a month so I hope he can do something to make progress on the back issue for Mom. Perhaps another medication? Perhaps an MRI to see what could be causing this? I don't know. Her X-rays from a week or so ago showed no changes since 1999 so the problem does not appear to be skeletal.

We're hoping and praying for some kind of resolution for her pain soon.

Tuesday 7/31 Update: Mom had a good appointment today. She is finally reporting that the pain has lessened a bit in her back. She has a long ways to go though. Today she saw her doctor and he gave her some better pain medicine and he also gave her a shot of something like Novacain. So far the shot doesn't seem to have helped. We'll see how she feels in the next day or so. He thinks what will help the most is ongoing physical therapy. Mom's goal is to be pain free and to have me drive her to Roseburg, Oregon (southernmost area of Oregon). She knows I won't take her until her back is better. It looks like it will be some time before we can go but hopefully we will get there.

View of Elliott Bay

Sometimes I drive to work. When I do, there is a view I love of Elliott Bay just before arriving at the office building. This view is facing west on Seneca Street which is at a significant incline heading down towards the water.

What I love is the way the view of the water and whatever is going on in the water is framed between tall buildings on either side of the street.

Sometimes it's just the water I see ahead of me, and sometimes there are boats going by. The most striking variations of this view are when ferry boats or container ships (as seen in this photo) are crossing the expanse of water just in front of me. Depending on the timing there also might be a sunrise coloring the sky and reflecting off the water.

I don't know how many times I have come down that hill and been struck with the thought "wow, I wish I had my camera handy!" This morning as I headed down the hill this container ship was just coming into view and I thought about the camera. As luck would have it I happened to be the first car in line at a stoplight. The stoplight gave me plenty of time to grab the camera out of my purse, aim, and take this photo. In fact this was my favorite of three shots I was able to take.

I think it's so cool to live in a city which affords views like this one. Although I'm doing something very ordinary ("driving to work") I can watch a scene such as a container ship or a ferry boat crossing Elliott Bay unfold seemingly right in front of me. It's almost as though I could reach out and touch the vessels as they go by.

Get Your Stuff Back

Have you ever lost your cell phone? Do you worry about losing your laptop, your keys, or digital camera? The folks at Stuffbak.com have a solution.

I learned about Stuffbak from another blogger who loves the service. Basically Stuffbak sells you labels to put on all your electronic and valuable gear. You can get the labels in a wide range of sizes suitable for laptops, USB sticks, tags for key rings or luggage, etc. The labels list Stuffbak's phone number and web address and offer a reward if found. So what's the reward? Well if you lose something you can log into your Stuffbak account and offer a reward amount, but it's not required. At the very least the "finder" of a labeled item will receive $20 in label product from Stuffbak.

If you lose something and someone reports it, Stuffbak coordinates getting your stuff back to you, usually by shipping. Your personal information (address, phone number) are kept private unless you decide to share them.

There are a lot of honest people in the world who would love to return something valuable they find, but they usually don't know how to find the owner. Stuffbak boasts a 75 percent return rate and the labels are quite affordable - about $6 each. To learn all the particulars I recommend you read their FAQ page.

I have several friends who have misplaced cell phones and digital cameras. I would be pretty upset if I lost something with a lot of personal data or something that cost me a few hundred dollars. I'm going to order up some labels for Walter and me. You may want to look into it too.

My Grandfather as a Baby

I just discovered that my sister Jozi and I were each in possession of old photos taken in the same photography session. These were taken in 1903. The first photo is a close-up photo allowing you to see the people best, the second photo shows the entire house, stairs, picket fence and gate.

The baby in these photographs was my grandfather, Theodore Lee Moe. The other people are his parents and siblings. My grandfather's grandfather, Ezra Moe (not shown in the photos), was a pioneer in the town of Skamokawa, Washington in Wahkiakum County. That's a tiny place on the banks of the Columbia River in Southwest Washington. A peculiarity of the labyrinth of waterways and creeks that intersect the area funnels fog into the town and caused the original Indian inhabitants to name it Skamokawa, which means "Smoke-on-the-water."

This house is no longer standing but the people of Skamokawa still know of the Moe family history there.

Bite of Seattle

Walter and I try to make it to the Bite of Seattle every year. It's always held the third weekend in July. We didn't make it last year because of a record-breaking heat wave similar to the one we saw just a week and a half ago. But this year we had no such problem.

We made it to The Bite yesterday in the late afternoon undaunted by predictions of rain. It's not unheard of for it to rain on The Bite but it's pretty rare. The predictions came true though and we encountered a mix of showers, rain and dry periods.

The crowds were much smaller than what we were accustomed to and there was no need to wait in lines. Those who turned out managed to enjoy themselves despite the weather. I know we did!

The Bite is an opportunity to sample a wide variety foods you don't eat every day. We had a plate with yummy crab cakes, shrimp Caesar salad and garlic toast; we shared some rice and beans; and we each picked a wonderful dessert item - peach cobbler for Walter and Shishkaberries (chocolate covered strawberries on a skewer) for me.

We also enjoy the free outdoor music concerts available at the Bite. I felt a little bad for the musicians who perform like troopers and then the audience is too sparse to give them a proper round of thank you applause. The music was great though and we enjoyed performances at all 3 stages plus some smaller groups including a great Native American band performing near the Monorail.

As for the weather it turned out to be a record-setting day after all. We got .40 inches of rain and I understand the previous record for the date was .24 inches.

This slide show contains a few images from the day:



Bite of Seattle 2007

Rough Patch for Mom

Well, it seems my mom can't seem to catch a break. Her back pain is still with her and as bad as ever. She is having a difficult time getting around moving very slowly and using a combination of her walker and cane even inside her house.

On Monday we took her to her first physical therapy appointment. They did some massage which seemed to help temporarily. And they added a little to her existing stretching routine. Next she went to see someone at her doctor's office. We thought they were going to give her a shot, but it turns out the pain is moving around. Two weeks before it was on her left side, now it is on the right. Before that it was in her hip, now it is in her back. So they don't think a shot will help. They gave her some pain meds which so far have not helped. It could be she has so many contributing factors to this pain that it may be difficult to get it under control.

After the doctor appointment they sent her off to get a full set of x-rays from her hip all the way up her back. They wanted to do an MRI which would show soft tissue issues too, but they can't do that if she has metal in her body. She has an artificial hip and we're not sure if it contains metal. That's quite possible. Hopefully the x-rays will tell us more about that.

When we were getting out of the car at the doctor's office I noticed the lower lid of her right eye was especially red and quite swollen. I had the nurse practitioner look at it and explained Mom had a nasty eye infection there just a couple months ago. She wasn't sure by looking at it if Mom just had a sty or if her infection was returning. So she advised warm compresses and said if it got worse she would need to go on antibiotics. Sure enough, last night Mom reported that it was a lot worse and it "looked like someone punched her in the face!"

Since she was just seen on Monday her doctors were able to prescribe her some antibiotics (drops and pills) for the eye infection without another visit. Our dear friend Sue was kind enough to pick up the medicine and deliver it to Mom this evening.

Whew, that would be a lot for anyone to go through at once, but I feel bad that my 83 year old mother is suffering this way. I think her eye will soon be on the way to healing and I pray the same is true for her back.

Postcard from Pezenas

A few days ago I found this postcard in my mailbox. Some of you may remember I love postcards and am a fan of Postcrossing and PostcardX for trading postcards. When I first spied this postcard in my mailbox I thought perhaps someone from PostcardX had sent me something. But this was even better. It was a card from my dear long-time friend Margie!

Margie and her hubby John are on a month-long trip to France with their son Michael. John, Margie and Michael have never been to Europe before so this is quite an adventure for all of them.

They spent some time in Paris first, and then in Pezenas on the Mediterranean where they were visiting friends. The following week was to be spent in Nice and they had hopes of also visiting Monaco and Italy.

According to my calendar they are due to return to their home in Olympia today.

Thanks for the card Margie! I can't wait to hear all about your European adventures.

(Hint - if anyone else takes a trip I would love a postcard!)

Mom's Back

My mom has been having trouble with back pain for the last couple of months. It gets worse and it gets better, but it doesn't go away. She saw her doctor about it 6 weeks ago and on that day it was "better" so the hope was that the trend would continue. Of course 2 days later it was bad again.

A couple weeks ago we went back to her doctor and again on that day it seemed to be getting better. The doctor decided to prescribe physical therapy and said to come back if it gets worse or isn't getting better. It took one week to get the referral paperwork to PT and another week to make the appointment which is tomorrow. The last couple times I've talked to her she said her back was doing pretty well. But today when I called her she said she has been "crippled up" with it for the last couple days. The pain keeps moving from one spot to another and she wasn't even able to go to church today because of the pain.

Before this whole thing started a couple months ago Mom could walk around her house without her cane, only needing it when she went outside. Since the back pain started she has had to use the cane even inside. And now she is using both her cane and walker.

I think that while I'm in Olympia tomorrow for her PT appointment I will also have to call her doctor and make another appointment with him. He said if it got worse he could give her a shot (perhaps cortisone?) which might help. I think it's time.

Bit of a Heat Wave

It's been a hot few days in Seattle. Today we officially hit 97 degrees and Olympia hit 99. Those were both records for the day. Current temperature as I write this - 96.

It's days like this that I feel fortunate to work in an air-conditioned office. Unfortunately we don't have air conditioning in our apartment. Walter spent some time over at the mall today staying cool.

I hope you all are staying comfortable in the hot weather. If you need some "keep cool" tips I found some good ones in this article from Real Simple Magazine.

Tomorrow the trend should reverse and we will be back down in the mid-80's for highs. Stay cool everybody!

Pics of Niko

I just had to share a few more pictures of my new great-nephew Niko who was born on June 21st. He's a cutie! I love the one with Niko's older brother Jevandre.

Happy Birthday to Elliott

Yesterday was the first birthday of our friends Doxey and Cynthia's son Elliott. Walter and I scored an invite to his party and we had a great time. Although we got there towards the end of the evening the party was still going strong. We got to watch Elliott opening some great gifts including some new shoes (a bit too large but he will grow into them) and a beautiful rocking horse sent from his Tennessee grandparents.

This was Elliott's first birthday party so he wasn't too sure about things when the party first started. But he gradually warmed up to the festivities. Even the cake and ice cream he tried hesitantly at first but eventually became enthusiastic for it.

Even though the shoes Elliott got from friends Todd and Wendy were a bit big, his dad helped him walk around in them. Elliott doesn't walk on his own yet, but he did a pretty good job with his dad's assistance. Until he managed to step right out of the shoes...



Here you can watch Elliott enjoying his first ride on the new rocking horse assisted by mom Cynthia. Ride 'em cowboy!



If you are like me and like to replay a video multiple times, here is a tip about these videos on YouTube. When the video is done playing it switches to a smaller window. When you click "replay" it stays small. To make it big again, just click the Menu button in the lower right corner of the video window.

There are more photos and video from Elliott's party in this Webshots album.

Mrs. Pike Pigstein

My first Pigs on Parade post showed a picture of Mrs. Pike Pigstein. Hers is the first pig picture at the top of that post. She's actually a pretty intricate pig with 100 small scenes painted on her back in commemoration of the 100 years of Pike Place Market. She also has a cute wig that kids like to play with.

You will notice in the first picture that Mrs. Pike P is facing the street. Well a couple weeks ago someone turned her around so she is facing the building and now you can see that she also has a smiley face on her behind!

This morning as I was walking past the symphony hall on my way to work there was a stylish 20 something woman walking ahead of me. When she got to Mrs. P she swung her arm and gave her a nice big *smack* right on the behind and kept on walking. It was too funny! That gave me a nice big chuckle to start my day. And I'm sure Mrs. P. didn't mind a bit. She kept right on smiling...

Couldn't Resist

I was browsing the Pigs on Parade web site the other day and stumbled on this page of Pigs on Parade jokes. I just had to share it with you.

If you have little ones you may want to show it to them too. This little pig puppet is telling the pig jokes and he is hysterical. I must admit to watching some of the clips again and again. The pig's laugh kills me!

Happy Fourth!

Happy Independence Day everybody! How will you celebrate? As for me, I'm just looking forward to a nice relaxing day away from work. I have an appointment to get my hair cut first thing in the morning then Walter and I may spend some time shopping at the Ikea sale and taking care of some projects at home.

Whatever you decide to do I hope your holiday is a happy and safe one with family and/or friends.

Lull

We have had a special project at work that has been keeping from spending any time posting the last few days. I apologize for the quiet. It looks like I should be able to post next on Tuesday evening. Thanks for your patience!