A Week of Views

I just love Crater Lake. We have not gone there recently and Terry has never been there, but I just love the pictures of a lake so pristine, so absolutely stunning that I chose to post this picture. The photo reminds me of winter because of the snow surrounding this breathtaking lake. I would love to take Terry to Crater Lake at some point and let him get some inspiration to write a poem about it. If you've never been, I feel everyone should travel to this magnificent attraction at least once in their lifetime. I have to say every time I go, it still takes my breath away. Look what nature provides for us!

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Driving around for work, I was called away to make a trip to Myrtle Creek once again. Myrtle Creek is about 18.4 miles from our home in Roseburg. I love the appearance of the small town, as I have a love for all small towns. The feel, the look, and the holidays spent in our tiny towns across America intrigue me. I'm sure once you are in the gut of the town you may find it to be dull, but I love to travel to see them. 

As of 2023, Myrtle Creek has a whopping population of 3,051 residents. Let the party begin! Even Roseburg has a population of 23,861 residents and I thought of Roseburg as small. I came from Eugene, having a population of 177,899 as of 2023, and I thought that was far too many. For years Eugene sat at 123,000 plus some strays. Now it's up in number. 

Anyway, as I drove through Myrtle Creek again, I noticed a few views that were quite beautiful. I had to stop and get a couple of photos without taking too much time as I was still on the clock. 

This view is one of the more infamous when researching Myrtle Creek, Oregon. The South Umpqua River flows underneath the deck arch style bridge called the, what else? The Myrtle Creek Bridge. Unique, huh? I love this type of bridge and thought the river and bridge together were a nice view. 

Looking at the Umpqua River throughout Roseburg and basically everywhere you travel around this area is great. Especially at this time of year. The river tends to dry up horribly in the summer, leaving nothing but a skeleton of what used to be a beautiful sight. I'm always shocked by how dry this riverbed becomes. The Willamette and McKenzie rivers in Eugene and surrounding areas will get low, but I don't see them drying up as badly as this river. 

I was standing there, admiring the sight when I noticed a couple of homes sitting right on the edge of the rocky hill. Now, I'm all about sights and I could imagine the view from these homes is amazing. But I'm also about having my house remain where it is first planted. My first thought when seeing these beautiful homes is what if the rock decides to break off right there? You know, as nature does. What then? I guess your view of the river would certainly be close-up and personal. Hopefully, you haven't just stepped out of the shower when it happens. Mom always said to wear clean underwear. How about no underwear? I guess you'd most likely have a towel when you hit that icy water below. 

As I climbed back into the car, I noticed something directly across from me. Across the river sat a railroad track. Who cares, right? But on the other side of that, within the hillside wall was a hole. Of course, my mind began to wander. This is not a good thing. I wondered if the hole was actually a cave and if so, how far back did it go? Now I want to examine the area. I want to go back into the cave to see what it's like and what is in there. 

I zoomed in to see more. It does look like it goes a little way into the hillside. Hmm. Hiking gear for Christmas? Yeah. That's going to happen. I could hear my husband now ... "You want to do what?" Now he does support me in whatever I want to do, but, this is beyond the realm of possible things he would support. But wow, to explore that cave, if that's what it is, would be awesome. Snakes. I don't like snakes and this is the type of country that would have rattlesnakes, I'm sure. Explore from afar?

Although I do have experience in cave investigation. It didn't go so well. In true klutz form, I tripped over a very large rock and fell to the ground. In my defense, however, my granddaughter walked away from me and she was carrying the flashlight. 

The rock may have been the size of a Saint Bernard but I could not see anything in that dark area. I could do nothing but lie on the ground and laugh until I almost cried. Then it hit me. What if there were snakes, on the ground, in this dark ass cave where I'm lying on my back. May I reiterate, on the ground? I've never pulled myself from a flat on-my-back position to an upright, jogging out-of-dark cave position so quickly in my entire life. 

It just so happens that I was filming this on Facebook Live for family and friends to watch. Oh, they got a show alright. Me, falling on my rear. But alas, that's what happens when you're a born klutz. My fellow klutz's can understand. Can't help it. It's just me, in all my glory. 

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Terry has been well, except that he did fall while walking the dog the other night. This worries me. He doesn't seem too concerned, but you know how a lot of people are in not wanting to go in to have things checked. He's better now, but a few days ago when it happened, he said his back hurt, and his knee was fairly painful. The flashlight was still sitting in the drawer as his walk took place and it was pitch black outside. Silly man. At least his legs, feet, and especially ankles are okay. The back seems to be feeling much better too. His knee is doing better too, so we'll see. I just worry about him not wanting to go in, in relation to him actually not needing to go in. But it seems it is getting better as I said. 

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Well, the car is still in the dealership in Eugene. I'm still driving the black Sportage they gave us as a loaner. I spoke with the man in charge of our car and he reported the mechanic had torn the circuits and the boards and everything that had anything at all to do with the hybrid battery out. Nothing. Nada. Not one single indication of what could be happening. Once again, we are sitting here, about six and a half weeks out of our car being in use. It was exactly one month it sat in the service center the first time. Now it has been another two and a half weeks. 

Still not a thing out of place or anything touching something it should not be touching to short it out. They have the photo of our dashboard the day it stopped working the second time. Now there is proof the systems are not all functioning properly but still nothing found to be causing it. As the military man in War Games says, "Hell, I'd piss on a spark plug if I thought it'd help." 

So, here I am, driving the Gutless Wonder. The engine revs so high if I have to speed up on the freeway ramp to merge into traffic or if I have to pass someone. I'm scared the rubber band is going to break. The squirrel is dead in the wheel in this vehicle. I love Sportages. Don't get me wrong. I'm rather attached to the one we have but I'm losing my faith in them quickly. Although I've seen many on the roads and know they are reliable in many ways, I believe we purchased a lemon, as they say. We will have to give it extra TLC or they will have to give us another car under the "Lemon Law." 

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An earthquake hit along the California coast, causing tsunami warnings to spring up everywhere along the California and Oregon coastline. Apparently everything looked good because they canceled the warning about 45 minutes later. It was the talk of social media and of course, the newspapers and news stations all over the world. Not sure why because California rocks earthquakes all the time. Excuse the pun. The quake was a 7.0 on the Richter scale. I have heard nothing about any severe damages. In fact, I have read the California officials involved have been pleasantly surprised at how very little structural damage there was. However, there were business owners who had to replace pipes after bursting and many products were thrown from shelves. Residents had to replace windows and worry about water pipes as well. Could have been worse though. 

This map shows the aftershocks along the California coastline where the original earthquake occurred. 

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On the good side of life, my grandson and granddaughter had their baby. Her name is Sage and she is beautiful! Her sisters Elena and Spencer are loving her!

Life tends to bring us miracles in the turmoil around us. Blessings are abundant when you look at all we have and all we are. 

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Had a couple of deliveries on Friday, December 6, 2024. During those deliveries, I watched the hills surrounding the city of Roseburg and the areas around us. The fog was slowly creeping in through those hills. I knew soon the depth of vision would be gone and it would be time to give up the delivery work. 

The fog always has such an eerie way of covering the hillsides and the valley. It sneaks in like the unwelcome visitor it is. 

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Terry went into the local smoke shop for his cigar supplies and while he was in there, he found the perfect kitchen towel for our home. 

It may be "just" a kitchen towel to many, but in our home, this is what you get while you cook. 

In our home, you either see this or this:

Or garbage brought into the living room to keep our emotional support dog well, emotionally supported. He is a hot mess. 

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I am going to thank everyone for reading the blog and end this post here. We are enjoying our Saturday and still have Sunday off before heading into the work week again, as I'm sure most of you will be doing too. Our Ducks are playing Penn State today. This will be a great game. 

With the weekend left to cover, we will say goodbye until our next post. Please take care of yourself and love those in your life. Count those blessings and let your light shine! The world needs to be flooded in light right now!

Until next time, hugs to all. 

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@psychicpoet0188

Granddaughter, Zyrah wishing you all a fantastic, love-filled, joyous holiday season.