Posts Tagged ‘Autumn in Oysterville’

In Oysterville, it’s a “Medora Storm!”

Thursday, November 2nd, 2023

Elizabeth Ayer, Marie Strock, Medora Espy – 1912

I woke up a few minutes past three this morning.  The wind was huffing and puffing; the house creaking and groaning.  I wondered if we’d lose power.  I thought about all the storms this old village has withstood and I thought of my Aunt Medora’s letter written when she was 14 to her friends, Elizabeth Ayer and Marie Strock, in Olympia.

Wednesday, September 3, 1913
We are having a regular winter storm.  Do you know what a storm is?  Not an Oysterville one.  You see, we get it from both the ocean and the bay.  The wind has already knocked the remainder of our cherry tree down, the cupboard of dishes in Sue’s playhouse toppled over and consequently she will have to abandon her house till next summer; a great piece of the trimmings of our house blew off; apples and pears litter the ground.  It is a real storm!  The bay is covered with white caps, the water has covered our lower meadow, and you could almost go down the lane leading from our house to the bay in a dinghy.  To cap it all, it has rained night and day since Monday evening in regular torrents.  It is not an unusual storm.  The natives merely remark, “Sort of wet today.”

History Forum: Two Experts + A Harridan!

Wednesday, November 1st, 2023

November 2023 History Forum

Our third History Forum was a great success, if I do say so myself!  Each of the previous sessions have been fabulous, but more on the “lecture” side of things rather than like a true Forum.  So, today before I introduced our Guest Historians, I put on my old Teacher’s Hat and explained (sort of) the difference between a lecture during which you mostly listen and then leave and a Forum which requires your engagement afterwards and maybe even during.  I also explained that I wouldn’t be “moderating” so much as acting as a Harridan* to get their participation going.  (*Harridan: shrew, harpy, harpy, termagant, vixen, nag, crone.)

Maybe I’m finally getting the hang of it…

Sunday, October 29th, 2023

Black-eyed Susans in the Autumn Sun

A gorgeous day in Oysterville today!   Cool, clear, blue and gold and yellow and amber.  Autumn in all its glory!  Not a day for introspection and yet… here I was thinking (of all things!) about the people I’ve known over my lifetime that I could not sustain as friends.  And yet…

Somehow, it started with my thinking about my two biggest failures relationship-wise.  Husband #1 and Husband #2.  But my thoughts weren’t so much about my failings as what I gained from those marriages.  Besides Charlie and Marta, I mean.  They are gifts unto themselves.

Morgan, Quad (Charlie), Sydney – 1957

No.  I was thinking that had it not been for Morgan (Charlie’s dad), how long would it have taken me to learn that I could stand on my own two feet, provide for myself and my son, and actually figure out who I was and who I wanted to become.  A huge gift received at a painful price — but a gift, nonetheless.

Bill and Sydney LaRue 1961

And had it not been for Bill, (Marta’s Dad) would I have ever thought about teaching?  Would it have occurred to me to set aside my Stanford journalism degree and start over at San Francisco State?  And without that fabulous credential and introduction to the world of elementary education what would my next thirty-nine years have been?

As I murmulled through the day, I thought about others I had known  — girls and boys of my youth, men and women of my later years — people I couldn’t seem to connect with or appreciate.  And yet… I think I probably gained from each “failed” friendship or endeavor.  If not at the time, in retrospect.  The bigger question, of course, is did they?  A question that will probably never be answered, nor does it really need to be.  At least not by me.

It was an interesting day… in my head.

It was a perfect Friday Night Gathering!

Saturday, October 28th, 2023

Friday Night 10-27-23 – Photo by Tucker

I haven’t blogged about “Friday Night” here at the house for quite a while — probably for more than a year.  But when Tucker’s picture arrived this morning, it so captured the warmth and feeling of last evening’s gathering that I felt the need to put words to my thoughts.

Nyel and I conceived the idea for “Friday Nights” shortly after we moved into “the family” house in the late 1990s.  This big old “farmhouse” as Willard’s wife always called it, has been in the H.A. Espy family since 1902.  That was the year my grandparents moved in with their first two children, the third (Suzita) already on the way.  By the time my mother was born in 1911, there were six children, with little Albert already buroed and Medora destined to follow a few years hence.

Friday Night Conversation 2012

Nevertheless, with five active children, my gregarious grandfather and gracious grandmother in residence, it was the gathering place for village children of all ages as well as for neighbors, visitors from afar and for the many relatives who came and stayed sometimes for weeks on end.  Once I asked my mother which of the four upstairs bedrooms was hers and which sister did she share it with.  What a convoluted answer I got!  It all depended upon who and how many might be visiting, whether it was summer and they could set up cots on the back porch and which of the oldest sisters might be home from boarding school and might have brought a “chum” with her!

Then, in 1972 when my folks retired to Oysterville, this place became Entertainment Central for various bridge and canasta players, for cocktail hours with my mother’s infamous  hors d’oeuvres, and dinner parties with local teens acting as “servers” and kitchen help.  (At least one of those young people went on to become a chef in a southern Oregon city.)  And, of course, the house also became known for their wonderful Christmas parties.

A Friday Night in 2012

So, when Nyel and I moved in, we soon realized that the  house needed people.  Just two of us rattling around were not enough to keep it feeling like home.  We decided to ask our friends to come on Friday nights from 5:00 to 7:00 when they could — they would bring an appetizer we’d supply the beverages.  And once you’d been invited, the invitation was forever if you so chose.

Only the times Nyel was hospitalized on a Friday and, of course during Covid, did Friday Nights cease.  And, although we’ve had one or two Fridays over the years that just two or three people arrived, usually we have a dozen or more.  Last night there were thirteen of us and it was perfect — for part of the time we all talked “together” and, later (as shown in the picture) we gravitated into twos and threes, pursuing diverse subjects.

It’s one of the best traditions ever!  I’m so glad we began it.  May it long continue!

I can’t believe it’s been 20 years!

Thursday, October 26th, 2023

Cannon Salute 2011

On October 9, 2003, Nyel sent out this letter:

Dear Friends and Relatives,
Oysterville is gearing up for its 150th anniversary celebration — the Oysterville Sesquicentennial.  Events will begin on Sunday, April 11, 2004 with a reception for Oysterville resdents and participating sponsors.  The big community-wide celebration — which we hope you will come to — is scheduled for the weekend of July 31/August 1 2004.
On April 12, 1854, R. H. Espy and his partner, Isaac A. Clark, paddled up the bay for a rendezvus with Chinook Chief Nahcati.  The Chief showed them the stands of native oysters on the tide flats in front of what was to become Oysterville — and the rest is history!
Accounts of early celebrations in Oysterville often mention that R.H. Espy, dressed in “linen duster and beaver hat,” began the festivities by giving the signal for a cannon to be fired down at the bay  We have not been able to find out what happened to that cannon, but it seems fitting, in honor of the  Sesquicentennial Celebration that we try to re-enact that interesting bit of Oysterville’s history.  All we need is another cannon!
When Sydney and I visited Gettysburg last year,  I learned that a cannon and carriage can be purchased for $5,000 to $8,000.  We are going to try to raise the money for these items by forming an Honorary Oysterville Militia and selling commissions to interested friends of Oysterville.  Enlistees will receive a special certificate (suitable for framing) and all ranks above sergeant will receive an Honorary Oysterville Militia cap with appropriate logo.  Founding members of the militia will have their names inscribed on a plaque to be displayed with the cannon.  If we do not make our goal by the kick-off event on April 11, all monies will be refunded and the erstwhile Oysterville Militia disbanded,
I urge you to join now and enlist your friends and family in this worthwhile and historic enterprise!
Sincerely,
Nyel Stevens

The upshot (so to speak):  We made our goal; cannon and plaque are on display (and, in the case of the cannon, in “ceremonial use”) from May 1st through October 1st each year and for all important holidays, memorials, and other events.  At the present time, despite attrition through “loss in the line of duty” over the years, we currently have 83 active members and are still selling commissions to interested supporters.

Lieutenants Scott and Jenny Mundine, Recent THOM Enlistees

 

Just what is an “honest” mistake, anyway?

Wednesday, October 25th, 2023

I might be nit-picking a bit here, but when I read the Page 2 headline in today’s Observer —State senator says Hong Kong gun charge due to ‘honest mistake’ — I had to stop and mull that over for a bit.  It seems to me that a mistake is a mistake.  Period.  I don’t quite see how there can be an “honest” or a “dishonest” qualifier.

But then my thinking is probably skewed by the fact that the Senator’s “honesty” (or possibly his “mistake”) involved a gun.  And a handgun at that — or so I assume since it was in his carryon luggage along with his chewing gum.  So, in an effort to see if I was mistaken (either honestly or dishonestly), I looked up the word “mistake.”  According to Merriam Webster:  noun. 1. : a wrong judgment : misunderstanding. 2. : a wrong action or statement proceeding from faulty judgment, inadequate knowledge, or inattention.

So then I asked Google, “Is there a difference between an honest mistake and a dishonest mistake?”  And the answer was:  “An honest mistake of course, is understood as someone “trying” with a sincere intent and effort to do well and not make a mistake. A “dishonest mistake” would be more correctly characterized by someone taking on a project with NO intent to avoid a mistake.”

So, am I further ahead than I was when I started?  I honestly don’t have a clue.  I can’t quite wrap my head around someone packing a gun in his carryon luggage “with a sincere intent and effort to do well and not make a mistake” if the rules (or in this case, the law) says No Hand Guns In Carry On Luggage.    I must conclude that his was not a  dishonest mistake (see paragraph above) and I can’t see the “mistake” part very clearly either.   Just plain stupid, I say — no honesty, dis or otherwise, involved.  And certainly not a mistake.

I wonder what the Hong Kong courts will say…

 

They had to go clear to Estonia to find out???

Tuesday, October 24th, 2023

Oysterville Schoolhouse — Grades 1 -8, 1-10, or sometimes 1-6 — 1905-1957

This morning a friend sent me a NYT Opinion piece titled “What Most American Schools Do Wrong.”  After 39 years in elementary classrooms in California and Washington I could hardly force myself to read on.  What indeed?  I could think of dozens of things right off the bat.

But when I read a little further I wanted to scream and shout: I KNEW THAT!  I TOLD YOU SO!  I TOLD YOU SO!  So, too, would three other teachers (of the hundreds I worked with over the years) know.  Maybe more, but only four I can name for sure — Tom Davis, John Snyder, and Miki Frace.

Multigrade Classroom Ocean Park School

Said the article:  Since 2000, every three years, 15-year-olds in dozens of countries have taken the Program for International Student Assessment — a standardized test of math, reading and science skills. On the inaugural test, which focused on reading, the top country came as a big surprise: tiny Finland. Finnish students claimed victory again in 2003 (when the focus was on math) and 2006 (when it was on science),   And then, the article continued:  Just over a decade later, Europe had a new champion. Here, too, it wasn’t one of the usual suspects — not a big, wealthy country like Germany or Britain but the small underdog nation of Estonia.

Later, in a study of 7,000 classroom in North Carolina, the answer popped out as clear as clear.  It wasn’t more accomplished teachers or smarter students or a better curriculum.  It was the fact that students in the highest achieving schools spent at least two years with the same teacher.

Multigrade Baking Project

I could have told you that even if I had not spent more than half of my 39 teaching years in multigrade (1st/2nd/3rd/ grades) classrooms and, except for rare cases in which a child transferred in during 2nd or 3rd grade, I had the great good fortune of having kids all three years.  We became family.  The “elders” helped the “youngers” and vice-versa.  You can’t imagine what it does for a kid’s self esteem to show a “math trick” to an older child having a hard time.  Or to have kids request the same stories (The Nickel Plated Beauty comes to mind) year after year because they want their new classmates to hear it!

And, if my testimony isn’t enough and North Carolina’s isn’t enough, ask anyone who was lucky enough to go to six or eight grades in a one-room schoolhouse.  They learned to cooperate and to entertain new ideas and to appreciate different points of view — right along with the math and science and reading.  Everyone?  Probably not.  But enough that their test scores were higher and their self-esteem more solid.  And truly, you don’t have to go to Finland or Estonia to see how that works!  In fact, there are probably a number of people right here on the Peninsula who could give you a testimonial or two.  But in case you want to read that NYT article, here’s the link:  https://www.nytimes.com/2023/10/22/opinion/education-us-teachers-looping.html

 

Writer’s what — block? cramp? angst?

Monday, October 23rd, 2023

Samhain – Traditionally a festival of fire and feasts

Since my column in the Chinook Observer is published on the first Wednesday of each month, and since the first Wednesday of November is actually November 1st. and since that day is Samhain,  a Gaelic festival  marking the end of the harvest season and the beginning of winter or the “darker half” of the year…

I thought I had the perfect topic for my November 2023 column.  Added to all the above is my lifetime understanding that Oysterville is one of the “thin places” of this world. And, in case you don’t know what that is exactly:  Thin places are places of energy — a place where the veil between this world and the eternal world is thin. A thin place is where one can walk in two worlds – the worlds are fused together, knitted loosely where the differences can be discerned or tightly where the two worlds become one.

If you are a fan of Diana Gabaldon’s Outlander Series (the books, more than the television shows) you will know something about Samhain and how Gabaldon involves that festival with time travel and the standing stones of Scotland.  I’d love to ask her if the concept of thin places (which has not  been specifically mentioned in her first eight books) has entered her thinking at all.

9th Book in Outlander Series by Diana Gabaldon

As I noodled all this around, I thought that I had the elements of an interesting column — the perfect one to be published on November 1st!  But when I tried to make some sort of order from my thoughts, I found that I couldn’t quite write them out cohesively.  Maybe it would help if we knew for sure (or even suspected) that there were time travelers among us. Or, perhaps if we had standing stones here in Oysterville (and not fake ones like the ones in Maryhill.)  Nor do I think old pilings along the bay shore are the substitute I’m looking for.

So… I put my idea on hold for a while and filed it under “MRN — More Research Needed.”  I came up with a suitable substitute (I think).  You can let me  know what you think after next Wednesday’s paper comes out!

It’s time to celebrate — even before the holidays!

Friday, October 20th, 2023

The 3rd History Forum will meet from 10 until 12 at the Oysterville Schoolhouse on Wednesday November 1st.

Who’da thunk that I’d be looking forward to blustery old November with such excitement?  And even before the holidays begin!!  (Although I have to say that I did see some Christmas fruh-frah for sale at the Ocean Park drug store yesterday and had the uncharitable thought that maybe if I looked a little farther I’d see some Easter bunnies hopping around offering Valentines.)

But, “be that as it may” (as they say). November in Oysterville is shaping up to be a month to remember.  For starters, the History Forum meets on the first Wednesday of each month at the Oysterville Schoolhouse and in November that means November 1st!  Author Michael Lemeshko and Pacific County Historical Society President Steve Rogers will be our speakers.  The topic — “The Best Laid Plans”  will explore two of the earliest settlements in Pacific County — back in the days that we were just becoming independent of Oregon Territory!  The Forum is free and open to the public.  Hope to see you then.

Randal, Susan, Clint will be here Sunday, November 5

And hard on the heels of that Wednesday-the-1st gathering will be the House Concert here at the “White House” on Sunday, November 5th featuring internationally acclaimed Irish fiddler Randal Bays with his wife Susan Waters and their friend Clint Dye. Many of you remember Randal and Susan and their boys Willie and Owen from years of Vesper performances.

Larry Murante will be in concert here Sunday, November 19th

And, to put us right over the top here in the village, singer/songwriter Larry Murante will be here on Sunday, November 19th presenting his first House Concert in our area for a number of years.  Larry, you might remember, wrote “The Ballad of Mrs. Crouch” and so I’m wondering if she will manifest herself in any way during Larry’s performance!

If you are interested in attending either or both House Concerts, please email me at sydneyofoysterville@gmail. com.  But hurry!  Space is limited.  And, if you are like I am… I can’t wait for the fun to begin!

 

Here endeth the first lesson.

Tuesday, October 17th, 2023

Nyel’s Handicap Placard Too bad it’s expired, eh?

I’ve been thinking about this for a while.  About trying to be a little pro-active about my health and welfare.  I thought it might be a good idea now that I’m approaching 90…  (Well, not quite.  I have two years and four months to go, but today I learned that it’s a moot point, anyway…)

I’ve been thinking  that it might be a good idea to have one of those Handicap placards to hang from my automobile mirror when I need to park closer than a gazillion blocks from something.  It’s not that I can’t walk just fine.  But I don’t always feel secure.  My peripheral vision is far from perfect.  I don’t always notice curbs or buckled sidewalks My balance is okay but if someone were to bump into me (or I into them) I’d likely fall.

But mostly, it’s when I’m grocery shopping and having to schlepp my stuff up and down the rows of cars or step back and forth over the curb to get stuff out of my shopping cart into the car — that’s when I feel vulnerable.  And I don’t think i should really have to feel that way.

So I called my Primary Care person and asked if he could write me an order or a prescription or whatever for one of those Handicap placards.  “Can you walk 200 feet without difficulty?”  Well, yes.  “You don’t get short of breath like someone with emphysema might?”   Well, no.

“You don’t require a cane or other aid for walking, do you?”  Well, no.  “You can walk 200 feet without falling?”  Well,  yes.  “Sorry, the State of Washington will not issue you a Handicap placard,  You don’t fit the parameters…”  or something like that.

So there you have it.  Eat right.  Live 87 plus years without ever being overweight, breaking a bone, or needing a walking aid.  Stay active.  Take care of your eyes, your teeth, your mind.  Stay in good shape and if you get concerned that you might need a little extra support DO NOT LOOK TO THE STATE OF WASHINGTON (probably especially the DMV.)

As I said… Here endeth the first lesson.  Well, probably not the first.  Most of us over 80 know we are in the “Make-A-Fuss-Over-Then-Throw-Away” category.  The State of Washington just seems to have skipped the “Fuss Over” part.