My request for who is still in DG

Steve, good grief!!!!! I'm happy you were pulled out and are okay. 15 mins in water that cold is a long long long time. Very scary.

Sofer so the year was 1975 Chignik Alaska. Some college boys were diving from the top of a Sealand van. Needless to say they did not linger but each did it several times untill the superintendent decreed every one out of Anchorage bay .

http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&source=web&cd=1&sqi=2&ved=0CBQQFjAA&url=http%3A%2F%2Fkfsk.org%2F&ei=59plTbScI4O78gbZ15SKCw&usg=AFQjCNEtQNo8y5T7jhDIZpHx5nytLEOhIQ This is the NPR radio station that interviewed me after the event. You will find the broadcast on the left midway down the page. Petersburg News: "Man rescued etc.

This message was edited Feb 23, 2011 9:23 PM

I marvel at how this turned out. Everything and everyone in just the right place to save you. It must not be your time. God has no need of vets in heaven just now. Thankfully!

LOL Gwen - maybe there is no need for vets in heaven because ALL vets must go there. Which means I need to go to vet school and change my profession.......

Sofer -thanks, I listened to the radio broadcast - kept waiting for your name as I "know" it - LOL.

Then I was also kicked in the cranium upon hearing of Glo DeBoer Wollen- the Petersburg harbormaster. She is the daughter of my late cousin who ran a fish boat out of Petersburg. It IS a small world!!!!!!!!

Hey, if anyone knows of any fishing boats still looking for workers this summer, I have 2 sons who are looking for jobs up there.

And I have a son who is headed for France, the UK, and anywhere else he can get. He leaves March 14 and has firm plans for March 15 through the end of April. After that, he's open to ideas. His return ticket is dated July 29. That's a lot of time to fill.

Fishing is a good profession for a young man. Petersburg doesn't do the bad stuff and usually need workers. I shall keep my ears open. Usually the boats are all ready to go in early June and have their crews. The "slime line" is a humbling job and always needs workers. Mostly green carders, low pay. Though the Canneries have pick up boats and hire young men to bring in the catch. Probably a good starter job. Very full of memories and lots of work. Oh yes and lots of seafood.

Still here just waking from hibernation!! Glad to see ya all!!

Welcome to the world of the living Linda. We have missed you. What do we want to talk about? I am getting spring fever with the snowy winter we have had not much hope for an early one here. Seed starting is going to begin here soon but our plants can't go out until end of march so going to set up the lights and racks to get motivated. Will do hybrid squmpinkns (I always get squash mixed with pumpkins hybrids) this year I used sweet small pumpkins and hope they taste good.

Goold luck with your seed starting. I love pie pumpkins, but a word of warning...I planted so many a few years ago that I now have enough baked pumpkin in the freezer to bake numerous pies, and that is after giving away so many people started to run in the other direction when they saw me coming. That's in addition to doing a fundraiser with them to buy supplies for my school garden.

Pixy, I'm so happy to hear your son is soon on the way to realizing his dream of travel in France. He is bound to have lots of adventures and come home to share stories and pictures with you.

I too went to Europe for the early part of my life and it was life changing. My first trip I had no experience with the Humanities I ran into. For example I saw a bunch of people lined up to go into a building so I went in. There was this big naked guy in marble and didn't know I was looking a Michelangelo's David! Next trip I finish a college course and truly enjoyed more than the beer Europe showed me. LOL

Well that's just awesome, Steve... thanks for that thought. LOL! Andrew will be volunteering at a couple of places and is looking for other places that could use someone like him.
First, two weeks helping out here:
http://www.tyncoed-gites-pyrenees.com/

Then, three weeks at a yoga/meditation spiritual retreat where he will help build a straw bale building. I can't find the link just now.

He will then spend a couple of weeks with his French 'family', with whom he stayed during his high school trip.
I'm excited for him, but it's killing me.

Good place looks to me but those Basques are a unique group of people. They might turn him into another Hemingway! The most energetic, tough, emotional and lovable people on the earth.

Pixy, What a fantastic-sounding trip! Very cool about the straw bale bulding.

Haven't been around a lot again, glad to hear you're OK Steve! Any chance you've got "cat" in the family tree somewhere-you definitely seem to have at least nine lives, considering some of the scrapes you've gotten into.

Summerkid-Antarctica? Seriously? Wow. Would love to see a few pictures.

Okay, I found the yoga place again: http://www.moulindechaves.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=30&Itemid=51&lang=en

Countdown to liftoff. He leaves on Monday. I so wish he had destinations that were confirmed in England but I don't even know for sure when he will be there. I know he has to be out of France by June 12 since he has only 90 days there per the travel restrictions.

Steve, I think the little gites are owned by an English couple! We've been amazed at how many 'foreigners' own property in France. It's not just Johnny Depp and his ilk.

Pixy, I'm sure your son will have a wonderful time and come back with tons of great experiences to share. And, with the internet cafes everywhere, it will be easy for him to stay in touch. Hard to not worry though, I think moms are hard-wired for that...

Pix, I know your angst! A few years ago my son Ben went to Tanzania to teach, but had no idea where he would be staying. I was so worried! The day before he left the two of us went to Stinson Beach and he picked up a lot of sea glass. I kept that sea glass with me at all times until he returned - I figured that was some kind of good karma to keep him safe. Of course after 6 months he returned just fine, except for major mosquito bites and a fever that lasted for a few weeks. I was able to call him directly on his cell phone, so that was comforting. But if he didn't answer, I would panic! He did have a few close calls, once with a group of thugs that wanted his shoes, and once with an angry elephant. I didn't find out about those incidents until he returned, so I was spared more worry. It's difficult for us mothers!

Words of assurance from more experienced moms! I appreciate it very much. Portland, I always prefer to NOT know about encounters such as you describe until well after the fact. I'm not sure if I'm exactly worried about his safety. He's pretty confident in most ways, and he's a good judge of people for his tender years. It's more that I will miss him terribly. That's the worst part. He bought a Samsung Galaxy tablet computer to take with him, and we found an application through Oovoo that allows him to use it to do 'voice over internet', with the camera. It's just like Skype but will work with the android system. So he will be able to 'call' our computers anywhere he can pick up wireless internet, which is almost everywhere for the most part.
I'm having flashbacks to when my daughter went to France and arrived at CDG airport completely sleep deprived with no place to go because her 'host' family did not know she was arriving on that day and no one was there to meet her. I got a phonecall from a teary child, half a world away, alone with no place to go, and at 2:00am my time. I found myself pulling up the CDG airport map to help her find a place to rest until she could go to her 'home' away from home. She said there were no chairs in the airport. Dear God, it was horrible. I was exhausted and emotionally drained and so was she. I have spent a lot of time helping Andrew organize the first leg of his trip, just to protect myself from having to go through that again. I'm also going to make sure he is able to sleep on the airplane.

When I went to Europe when I was 17 I wrote 2 letters to home in 8 wks of travel. And I was a new diabetic. So Mom let him have an adventure and call when he has time.

Cell phones have definitely made an improvement in young people's ability to call home for support in times of duress, as hard as that may be on the mothers of the world. In 1979, my mother was peacefully oblivious to the news that I had suffered a head injury and was in a hospital in Guatemala City for a week. I called home from a payphone at the airport in Chicago after I had recuperated enough to catch a flight back to the States. Of course I did not tell her for years about the "police" search of the hotel I was staying at to rest up after the hospital... in which I and the other residents were held in the lobby at gunpopint for several hours while they searched the rooms for someone named, Colombo.

Pix, Let's hear it for trip organization and foresight!

Sofer, have you any idea the trials you have put your dear mother through with all your near death experiences????

Yes, now that she lives with me it is hard on her. Most she didn't know about. One time I took a tram to the top of the meadow below the north face of the Eiger. After spending an hour having beers with some shepherds talking vet medicine (sign language I didn't speak German) I started hiking down the mountain 15Km to my camp at the bottom of the mountain. Only trouble was I didn't bring candy bars and got low blood sugar early in the hike. I became very low with lots of distance to go and a pig joined me and walked with me down the trail. I now was tripping on hypoglycemia, and I found it funny that the pig would not leave. As I decended I fell many times along the steep trail and remember getting to my tent and candy, I ate several and fell asleep. I woke up the next day in a haze and sure enough the pig had eaten the rest of my candy bars and waiting for me to wake. I then got a big meal and loaded with candy bars took the pig back up the mountain to the shepherds. They said something in Deutch and laughed, slapping me on the back. I spent the day watching the glaciers calve off the mountain before decending.

I live in Bothell, WA but have not visited for awhile but am getting excited for spring and my daylillies and then dahlias. Hello, neighbors.

Howdy! Love those HOT colors!

Lovely lilies!
sofer, yet another near death experience involving beer. Hmmm! (Let me see if I can make that sound a little more 'motherly'.) HMMMMMM! w/hands on hips. 3

My son has plenty of adventures, with or without my 'letting' him, I want you to know. It's not his adventures I'm trying to avoid. It's my being dragged into them. He has 4 months, or until his money runs out or he is tired of traveling, to have all the 'adventuring' he can manage. Foresight and planning will not stop any of it, but the safety net it creates will allow me to sleep at night.

Holly, some things are better left unspoken for many years, if ever. My parents never did get to know many of the 'adventures' I had when traveling. Cops, men with guns, all kinds of grande times. Sometimes it's just better to leave those things in our own personal closets! :)

Pixy, I agree. Both my sons are around 30-ish and I still throw my hands up on occasion and tell them I'm just not yet ready to hear it all. Many years of dangerous living from both of them, some still to come.

I just had a flock of clowns fly in (evening grosbeak) - these guys always make me laugh.

I would love to have evening grosbeaks. They are so pretty, and I have seen them only a couple of times.

I don't know what I would do with more than one son. I know Judy had several. I don't know how she did it.

Well, he landed in France about an hour ago and has called home three times since then. (that's why I'm still up) Once to say he landed and was tagging along with a group of students who were on the plane, once to say he got through customs with no trouble , and once to say he is looking for the train station. Why? I have no idea. I swear, Soferdig, I did not twist his arm or tell him to call. I think he just wants to feel connected to home as he gets his feet on the ground there. This is a kid who used to wear hooded sweatshirts every single day, with the hood up, and hid under his desk at school. He's come a very, very long way since those days. He had a great flight, although the cookies I made got crushed. I'll just have to make them again when he gets home.

Ahhh, the adventures begin. Godspeed to your son in his travels.

Thanks! He's safely tucked into his new digs and says the family is very nice. They will teach him to ski while he is there, which is wonderful for him. He has wanted to learn. There is a Canadian family staying at the guest house and the wife is a ski instructor. The husband does search and rescue on skis. I believe this qualifies them to teach my son how to ski! LOL! Tonight I will sleep well!

Sounds fantastic.

This all sounds like such a great experience for him!

"Safe at new digs!" I like the sound of that. I am a firm believer that adventures are more fun when one has a home-away-from-home base to return to for respite now and then. Bon voyage to him!

My son also spent his early years in a hoodie sweatshirt (with hood up). One good thing about this is that he never lost his coat at school until he was in 4th grade and began to feel comfortable enough to take it off.

Ah being taught to ski by Search and rescue! Do you know that everyone I know in search and rescue in Montana spend most of their skiing in off terrain isolated slopes in the middle of nowhere. I am enjoying this memory of childhood.

God Bless Search and Rescue!!!! Your efforts mean so much to not only the person lost, but to the desperate family members. Crystal Mt. in WA state currently holds in its grasp the body and soul of a family member, Paul Melby. At this point, it is a matter of waiting for the spring thaw to bring Paul home.

Oh, {{{HUGS}}} for your family, Wannadanc. I'm sure it has been a difficult winter for you.

I'm so sorry, Wannnadanc. That is devastating news. I will hold Paul and his/your family in my thoughts and prayers.

Steve, don't scare Pixy like that! The reason they ski like that on their own is because you have to be a very, very good skier to be able to do ski patrol/search and rescue-you can't be a danger to the rescue mission... They won't be hotdogging it when they're teaching him-that's beyond irresponsible. One thing Search & Rescue folks aren't is irresponsible, at least while "on duty"--and instructing is sort of on duty- by instructing him well they will be preventing the need for a future rescue...

I'm quite sure he will be very, very well- coached in not skiing beyond his ability and how to be safe as well as (hopefully) reading the terrain and assessing riskiness. At the same time, I am sure he will get very competent instruction in how to ski and will have good skiers to watch to model his efforts on.

Wannadanc, so sorry to hear about your family member.

Wannadanc, that just makes me want to cry. I'm so sorry to hear it. My neighbor and his nephew were killed when they got lost in a blizzard on Mt. Rainier several years ago. It's just hard to bear that kind of thing.

Sue, he is just laughing behind his hand! Steve, you are such a hoot. Good thing I know you are just trying to push my "mother" buttons. I hope he does learn to ski. He's always wanted to learn and it's much better for someone with this level of experience to teach him. Considering that the last time he tried moving across the land on anything other than his own two feet he ended up with a badly broken jaw, I'm pretty sure his body remembers that accident and he'll be careful. Anyway, he'll learn if he has time and they have the inclination to teach him. We'll see how it turns out.

You will all laugh at this: the work he is doing for this family is going to be helping them build a terraced garden. It amused me very greatly when I received an email from him today with a photo of a cotoneaster, still in the pot. The text of the email was:
What type of plant is this? I know it is good for ground cover but what else should i know?

I cannot TELL you how hard I laughed when I read this email. Woo hoo!! This is the kid who never wanted to help in the garden. He was interested in my showing him in cool plants, but that's where his level of interested ended. I think he will be having to learn a lot about plants before this is over. Good thing I knew about this first plant.

By the way, the www.workaway.info site, which is where he and his hosts found each other, has loads of listings of people all over Europe and the U.K. who are looking for help with gardens, some of them historic gardens. Some of the places sound like it would be fun just to be there and have the opportunity to work in that kind of setting.

Wow, cool site, Pixy. I could have people come stay here and do work in my garden in exchange for room and board!