oregon
My niece, Gaby Beach is a nurse at the Veteran’s Hospital in Eugene, Oregon. She loves her work. Being a veteran herself, Gaby has a heart for veterans. In her work, she deals various ailments, disabilities, and emotional needs the veterans. I’m sure that any nurse could go in and take care of the needs of the bodies of the veterans in Eugene, Oregon, or any veteran’s hospital, but it occurs to me that a nurse who is also a veteran, would have a unique connection to the needs of the men and women themselves…not just their bodies. I think that is where Gaby is maybe the best nurse they could have at that hospital.
Gaby has a good heart. She loves dogs and has trained them to visit hospitals. The dogs help bring healing through those visits. It’s an emotional thing. Dogs have been known to lower blood pressure, reduce stress and anxiety, promote healing, provide comfort during tests and procedures, and provide companionship and comfort to patients and even to the staff. The thing is that these dogs must be trained to do their work. It isn’t something that comes totally naturally. Yes, the compassion is there, but the mannerisms aren’t. They must be taught how to treat a patient and how to behave in a hospital setting. That was where Gaby and others like her came in. I wonder if the Veteran’s Hospital in Eugene uses dogs as part of the therapy. If they do, it would be almost like coming full circle for Gaby. She loved those dogs. I could see it in her face when she told me about the kind of work she did with the dogs.
These days, Gaby and her husband, my nephew, Allen Beach have their own fur baby…in the form of a cute pup named Oly. Gaby and Allen love to hike and travel. They recently took a trip with Allen’s mom, Caryl Reed, and Stepdad, Mike Reed. They traveled along the Oregon coast, and really enjoyed getting to know the area they now call home. They moved to Oregon from Wyoming a little over a year ago, but when you live in a place, you don’t always do all of the touristy things. 
They did some hiking in the area, but now, they are looking forward to taking more trips to the places they visited with Allen’s parents. They are settling in well to their new home, and they are very happy there, even if Allen says they lead boring lives. I guess everyone settles into a routine, and it could seem boring, but as long as they are happy, that is all that matters. Today is Gaby’s birthday. Happy birthday Gaby!! Have a great day!! We love you!!
When things started to change for the worse at the hospital where my nephew, Allen Beach and his wife, Gaby worked, they decided to get ahead of the situation. So, they made the move to Eugene, Oregon in search of a better life for themselves. Now, a little over a year later, they are nicely settled, and loving their jobs. Gaby works at the Veteran’s Administration, working in a VA Hospital, while Allen works as a Care Management Associate for Aetna. Allen works with doctors to coordinate care plans that align with Aetna health insurance, which was acquired by CVS a few years ago. Allen works out of his home, which as we all know is a fairly new phenomenon these days, stepped up with the Covic pandemic. Nevertheless, while working from home seemed strange to many of us, it is looked upon as rather a primo kind of job these days, and Allen is totally loving it…and I’m sure their dog, Oly loves it too. 
Allen and Gaby like to take walks through a beautiful park they found along the Willamette River, and they try to get out and take Oly for walks as often as they can. Right now, they are renting, but as soon as the housing market settles down, they are planning to buy another house. They loved their house here in Casper, Wyoming, and I’m sure it was hard to go back to renting. Now that they are both settled in jobs, and they know that they like the area, they are ready for take the next step and buy a house again.
My sister, Caryl (Allen’s mom) and her husband, Mike Reed took a trip to visit Allen and Gaby in early November, and they all had a great time. Caryl and Mike took their motorhome, and they took a week to travel along the Oregon Coast. Allen and Gaby had such a great time. They are looking forward to more trips along 
the coast now that they’ve seen some of the towns with Caryl and Mike. Their trip down the coast included Crater Lake, which was a place our parents, Allen’s grandparents, Allen and Collene Spencer loved to go. I love the picture of Allen and Gaby there. I wish I had known they were there, because I would have had them take a picture like the one his grandparents took. Maybe next time they go there. I’m happy they love their new city, and glad for Caryl and Mike that it isn’t too awfully far away. I’m sure there will be lots of future visits. Today is Allen’s birthday. Happy birthday Allen!! Have a great day!! We love you!!
My husband’s aunt, Esther Hein is the middle child of her mom, Vina Hein’s children and the oldest of her dad, Walt Hein’s children. Theirs was a blended family, because Grandma Hein was divorced from her first husband. Sadly, Esther also now finds herself the last of those five siblings. The last of her siblings, Butch Hein was killed in a car accident on October 13, 2023, in Forsyth. As the middle child, I’m sure Esther never expected to be the last of the siblings alive, but now, here she is. Life has not been easy for Esther these past few years. In addition to the health problems Esther has had since Covid started, she has also been dealing with a daughter, Cindy who has been in poor health. That has probably been the hardest thing, because she couldn’t see Cindy much. Cindy’s immune system is compromised, so it is too dangerous. Many people, including me, have been praying over both of them.
Esther has always had such a soft heart. Things that happened to people Esther loved, even if they weren’t life threatening, upset her terribly. All she wants is for everyone she loves to be ok. Of course, that is what we all want for our loved ones, but Esther wears her heart on her sleeve. Sometimes, it’s hard to see or hear her be worried about the people she cares about, but then, I guess it’s hard to watch anyone be worried about someone. It is much better to see Esther when she is happy and showing her love for people in the things she makes and does for them. I will never forget how pleased my in-laws, Walt (Esther’s half brother) and Joann Schulenberg were with the things she made them. She made curtains for their bathroom, and several paintings for their living room. They didn’t get to see her very often, because she lives in Oregon, and they lived in Casper, Wyoming, but they did make trips to see her after my father-in-law retired. They visited he for a number of years, but then my mother-in-law was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s Disease, and travel wasn’t so easy anymore. I know my father-in-law missed going to see his sister, and she missed him too.
For Esther, not being able to see her brother and sister-in-law, was maybe worse that other people she didn’t 
get to see much, because as a little girl, when her brother was already married, Esther lived with them during the winter months. School was very important, and the Montana winters didn’t always make it easy to get Esther into town from the family ranch. The three of them became close, even if Ester had to be told to behave by my mother-in-law a number of times. Kids outgrow the antics of childhood eventually, and then Esther and her sister-in-law just became friends. Those were good times though. I know Esther’s help entertaining her young nieces, Marlyce Schulenberg and Debbie Cook, and maybe nephew Bob Schulenberg was nice for my mother-in-law too. Those would definitely qualify to be called the “good old days” for sure. Today is Esther’s 83rd birthday. Happy birthday Esther!! Have a great day!! We love you!!
For my sister, Caryl Reed, this past year has been filled with changes within her family. On November 12, 2022, Caryl’s son Allen and his wife Gaby left Wyoming and moved to Eugene, Oregon. They had been living in Casper, while Gaby went to nursing school. Gaby then went to work at Banner Health in Casper, while Allen was working there as a hospital administrator. It was a perfect situation for Caryl. While Caryl is happy for Allen and Gaby, she still misses them very much. She hadn’t had Allen and Gaby living near her for a long time. It was a time that Caryl will always consider herself blessed to have had.
On July 12, 2022, Caryl’s husband Mike retired. Caryl had been retired for a few years. Caryl and Mike had been planning, and preparing their ranch outside of Casper for this momentous change in their lives, for some time. Suddenly the time had come, and they were ready to make the move. It was so exciting for everyone, but it also meant that they would be leaving Caryl’s daughter, Andrea Beach and their grandson Chris Spicer; along with Mike’s daughter Amanda Reed and her partner, Sean Mortensen in Rawlins; as well as, their granddaughter, Jadyn Mortensen in Laramie, where she is going to college. That makes the move bittersweet.
Now, almost a year later, Chris Spicer is graduating from high school in Rawlins, and so he and his mom, Andrea will be moving to Casper. For Caryl, that means that once more, she will have some of her family living nearby. Of course, there will always be a tie to Rawlins, because Amanda’s family has no intention of moving, at this time anyway. Andrea has been wanting to move to Casper for some time, and wouldn’t have waited, but Chris is a senior at Rawling High School, and you just don’t move a kid in their last year of high school. Everyone agreed that it was best for him to finish there, but I know Caryl will be happy to have them in the same city again. It’s a hard thing to have your family live in a different place, especially when it is far away from you. It always nice to have at least one child close by. Thankfully, Rawlins isn’t too far away, nor is 
Laramie, so Caryl and Mike will be able to visit Amanda and her family easily. That will help too. For Caryl and Mike, family is very important, as it is for all our sisters and for our families, but we also know that sometimes our children must move elsewhere for the betterment of their families. It is just a sad reality, but they are happy, and so will we be. It always nice to have at least one child close by. Today is Caryl’s birthday. Happy birthday Caryl!! Have a great day!! We love you!!
On November 12th, 2022, my nephew, Allen Beach and his wife, Gaby “left Wyoming in the rearview mirror” on their way to Eugene, Oregon. We were all sorry to see them go. They had been here for over two years, and it was really the first time they had been so near to this side of the family…since Allen was in middle school. So much has changed in the years since Allen was a kid. He graduated from high school and joined the Navy. His tour of duty would take him to Japan, where he met his beautiful wife, while both were corpsmen stationed there. They are so well suited for each other. They are both athletic people who love hiking and traveling. Which might also be part of the draw toward Oregon. Lots of beautiful places to hike…not to mention that Gaby is originally from Oregon, and they both knew deep down that they would most likely end up there.
Their college behind them, Gaby is a nurse, and Allen has a degree in Hospital Administration. Allen was hired by Wyoming Medical Center as the department manager over the Referral and Communications Departments. Later, he also became department manager over the EMS Department, but once again, things changed, and the hospital changed hands. Allen’s job was eliminated, so he and Gaby opted for the move to Oregon. Gaby found a job as a nurse for the Veterans Administration, and she likes it very much. Allen is looking at several options there, and while he is weighing the options, he is working on getting them settled in. For now, they have decided to lease an apartment. That will give them time to become acquainted with their new city and to decide in which part of town they would like to live.
Moving to Oregon is a new adventure for them, but not their first move. Their naval careers and college days have taken them to many different locations, including the time in Japan and also time at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center in Bethesda, Maryland. They also took a trip to Bali, which was where Allen proposed to Gaby. I’m sure they will take lots of trips in the future, even if they don’t move again. Today is Allen’s birthday. Happy birthday Allen!! Have a great day!! We love you!!
“Terrible Tilly” came by her name honesty, because from the start, the lighthouse seemed to be nothing but trouble. “Terrible Tilly” is the nickname of the Tillamook Lighthouse sits on top of a sea stack of basalt, more than a mile off the banks of Oregon’s North Coast. Looking to put up a lighthouse in the area Tilly’s story began in 1878 when a solid basalt rock was selected as the location for a lighthouse off the coast of Tillamook Head. Any construction work can have its dangers, but construction a mile offshore in all kinds of weather, can be particularly dangerous. Such was the case with “Terrible Tilly” when even before the work began, a master mason surveying the location was swept out to sea, never to be seen again.
Even with the dangers and the loss, work began in 1880, and the lighthouse went into operation in 1881. In those days…the days before GPS, lighthouses were a vital part of the shipping business. The ships couldn’t see the 
dangers that lurked in the night, so knowing what was just below the surface, or even above the surface of the water was very important. As ships got closer to shore, the possibility of hitting rock or small island could be disastrous. Never was that more evident that the disaster that occurred just a few weeks before the lighthouse opened. A ship sailed too close to the shore because of low visibility, and crashed, killing all 16 crew members. The need for the lighthouse was proven once again, in a very sad way.
While you might think that making the lighthouse operation would have ended the tragic connections with “Terrible Tilly,” but that really wasn’t the case. The conditions on the lighthouse were extremely rough, and one lighthouse keeper even allegedly went insane. Being even just a mile offshore, made life very isolated. The storms beat on the lighthouse, and I’m sure they sometimes wondered if the lighthouse could take it. The howling wind can be enough to drive some people crazy. Living in Wyoming, I know that there are times when 
we wonder if the wind will ever quit. When it finally does, it is almost shockingly quiet. Not everyone can take the howling wind.
As GPS came into being, the need for lighthouses is becoming less and less. It’s rather a sad fact, because these icons of history, are fading into the past, and for me, that feels very sad. Decades after the lighthouse was decommissioned in 1957, it was turned into a columbarium, which is a storehouse for urns of cremated remains. To this day, the remains of 30 people are still stored inside the lighthouse. “Terrible Tilly” was closed down in 1957 and remains off limits to the public to this day.
My nephew, Lucas Iverson is growing up so fast. It’s hard for me to believe that he is eleven years old already. Lucas has been through a lot. He was born with Down Syndrome, and that has made his road a bit longer and more difficult, but his mom, Cassie Franklin is such a great mom, and she works tirelessly to get him the best education and the best care possible. Learning difficulties are not the only challenges Lucas has faced. He has had health issues most of his life too. A lot of his problems are in the digestive system, which can be very painful, and while I’m sure there are a plenty of tears and fussing when he doesn’t feel well, Lucas is also a real trooper during these hospital stays. He is a wonderful boy, and very, very brave.
Lucas works very hard in school. He is getting special care and help to communicate, and he is doing so well. 
His little sister, Zoey has also been very helpful in Lucas’ development. Zoey just naturally understood, from the time she was born, that her brother, while the sweetest brother ever, was not able to do all the things she could do. She took it upon herself to help Lucas to excel. One of the biggest ways Zoey helped him was in learning to walk. She never got upset with him, and never left him behind. She was patient and kind, and Lucas responded so well. They are and always will be best friends.
Recently, Lucas’ mom, Cassie Franklin; her boyfriend, William Burr; and sister, Zoey got to take a trip to Oregon. I don’t know if they knew it was there or not, but they found a whole park that was dedicated to disabled children. This park has Lucas’ communication board there in it, and they were all so excited. The communication board is the same one Lucas uses at school on his tablet. It was an amazing find. Lucas knew 
immediately what it was and what it was for. It was like finding a place where he could play without having to think about his disability. Everything they played on was for children just like Lucas, and yet it was also geared for Zoey. They could play together, and each could have a fantastic time. I was so excited for Lucas when I saw this, because he could just be a kid, and fit right in at the same time. How very cool is that. Today is Lucas’ 11th birthday. Happy birthday Lucas!! Have a great day!! We love you!!
The last two weeks of August were spend visiting our daughter, Amy Royce and her family. In my thoughts throughout the visit was the fact that their 26th wedding anniversary was just around the corner. I found myself thinking that it was amazing that they could have been married 26 years already. I also found myself thinking about just how happy and connected they are with each other. They are loving their life and their home, and it was a pleasure to watch them together. Their marriage has been blessed with two beautiful children and now the family is growing to include Caalab’s girlfriend, Chloe Foster…a beautiful girl and a great blessing to us. I love how their family gets together every week to spend quality time together. It makes their marriage and their family more and more rich in love and happiness.
When your kids get married, you hope the marriage will last, and you know that there are never any guarantees, but you want the very best for them, and that means a happy marriage. I am so thankful that these two “kids,” while young at marriage (18 and 19 years) were able to beat the odds and stay married. Not only that, but they were able to build a beautiful life together and raise two beautiful children, Shai and Caalab, 
together. They are so blessed and they are a blessing to us. We can’t imagine life without the two of them as a couple. Every year, their love grows more and more rich and beautiful.
Whenever we go to visit them, or they come to visit here, we have a wonderful time. They are fun-loving people, and yet they love being at their house, enjoying their beautiful back yard too. They have worked hard on their back yard, and every time I get new pictures, I love it even more. Amy never could get flowers to do much in Wyoming, but in Washington, her garden and flowers are stunning. Travis has always loved yard work, but like most men, prefers mowing the grass to planting flowers. Nevertheless, they have a wonderful vision for their yard, and it is so restful and peaceful. I just love sitting back there, enjoying the day. Travis loves to barbecue and their guests are, of course, the beneficiaries of his grilling abilities. They also love playing games like pool and corn hole, as well as getting the family bank together for a jam session in their recreation room. It is a wonderfully fun time listening to Travis and Caalab play, while Shai and sometimes Amy sing for us. They really make a beautiful band.
Amy and Travis love going to Ilwaco, Washington for little getaways. It is a quaint little town located across the 
bay from Astoria, Oregon. They go there a lot, much like Bob and I go to Thermopolis, here in Wyoming a lot. It is a place that is close enough for an anniversary getaway, and yet special enough for them always have a great time, and never get tired of it. Ilwaco is a little town, kind of like Thermopolis, but sometimes that is just what you need. A place with the much needed peace and quiet, far away from the stresses of daily life and the busy lifestyle you have at home. A cute little place where you can have romantic dinners and quiet walks along the shore (a river for us and the ocean for them). It’s just perfect for this happily married couple. Today is Amy and Travis’ 26th wedding anniversary. Happy anniversary to you both!! We love you very much!!
Pan American World Airways Flight 845/26, a Boeing 377 Stratocruiser, Clipper United States, N1032V departed from Seattle-Tacoma Airport (SeaTac) on March 26, 1955 at 8:15am…a Saturday morning, destined for Sydney, Australia, with stops at Portland, Oregon and Honolulu, Hawaii. Following its stop in Portland (PDX), the plane took off at 10:21am, with a crew of 8 and 15 passengers on board. It looked to be an easy flight to Hawaii, with plenty of onboard staff to make the trip enjoyable for the passengers. The plane was piloted by Captain Herman Joslyn, with First Officer Angus Gustavus Hendrick Jr; Second Officer Michael Kerwick; Flight Engineer Donald Read Fowler; and Assistant Flight Engineer Stuart Bachman. In the passenger cabin were Purser Natalie Parker, Stewardess Elizabeth Thompson, and Steward James Peppin.
The flight was proceeding as normal, until it hit 10,000 feet, at which point a severe vibration lasting 5 to 8 seconds began. The Number 3 engine, which is on the right side, on the inside, suddenly ripped away from the starboard wing. The damage to the wing caused severe shaking. At the same time, the nose pitched down and the airspeed increased rapidly. Captain Joslyn immediately reduced engine power slow the plane down some, but they were losing altitude rapidly, quickly dropping by 5,000 feet. The damage cause by the engine ripping away included damage to the engines’ electrical system, and the flight engineer was not able to increase power on the remaining three engines. Without the added power on the remaining engines, the Stratocruiser was too heavy at this early stage in the flight to maintain its altitude. She still had too much fuel onboard to compensate. The Stratocruiser was doomed, and there was nowhere to land.
The flight crew ditched the Stratocruiser into the north Pacific Ocean at 11:12am, approximately 35 miles west of the Oregon coastline. The conditions were ideal for ditching, with smooth seas and little wind, but it was a hard impact. As the plane hit the water, seats were torn loose, and several occupants were injured. Nevertheless, no one was killed and evacuation began immediately with the inflation of all three life rafts. The water temperature was 47° F, so getting out of the water was essential. Soon after the crash, a North American Aviation F-86F Sabre flown by Captain W L Parks, 142nd Fighter Interceptor Group, Oregon Air National Guard, located the scene of the ditching. When he saw the smoke flares that had been released, he was able to see the two life rafts tied together. A Lockheed Constellation also rushed to the scene from the south. After confirming that Air Force rescue aircraft were on the way, Captain Parks returned to Portland, because he was low on fuel.
Among the injured was the airliner’s purser, Natalie Parker, who had been assisting passengers with their life vests and seat belts when the airliner hit the water. Because she was standing in the aisle, she was thrown forward, knocking down five rows of seats as she hit them. She was badly bruised and suffering from shock. Nevertheless, Parker assisted the passengers in abandoning the sinking Stratocruiser. When everyone was off, she enter the water and saw that some of the injured had begun to drift away. In an amazing act of bravery and duty, and suffering from shock, Parker swam out and towed the only seriously injured passenger to the nearest raft, some 200 feet away. The Stratocruiser floated for an amazing 20 minutes before sinking. While all survived the impact, four of the 23 persons on board, passengers John Peterson, David Darrow, First Officer Hendrick, and Flight Engineer Fowler, died of injuries and exposure. The survivors were rescued after two hours by the crew of USS Bayfield (APA-33), a United States Navy attack transport.
During the Civil Aeronautics Board hearings into the accident, Vice Chairman Joseph P. Adams commended Natalie Parker, the flight’s purser, “. . . all of us feel inspired that a fellow citizen, or just a fellow human being, can rise to such an occasion in the manner in which you did. It is most commendable, Miss Parker.” The exact cause of the loss of the Stratocruiser was not fully determined, because the engine and propeller were not recovered. Th investigation assumed that the most likely cause was a fracture of a propeller blade resulting in a severely unbalanced condition, causing the violent separation of the engine from the wing. This was the fifth time that a Boeing 377 Stratocruiser had lost an engine following the failure of a hollow-steel Hamilton Standard 2J17 propeller blade. Further complicating the matter, was the flight engineer’s attempt to increase the propeller rpm on the three engines simultaneously. That caused an electrical overload occurred which opened the master circuit breaker. This prevented any engine power increase, effectively bringing down the Stratocruiser.
I never thought that I would have much interest in how a guitar was made, but my grandson, Caalab Royce is interested in building guitars, so of course, I became interested too. You do that with your children and grandchildren. Caalab showed me pictures of the guitars he wanted to make, and told me that he could buy a kit to build one, that would include all the parts. I truly believe there will come a day that he will build a guitar, and it will be beautiful, and sound beautiful. I might be 
biased, but if my grandson makes it, I know it will be perfect.
Recently, I stumbled across an article about a musical wood. That caught my attention. I wondered how wood could be musical. Of course, it couldn’t, as I already knew and went on to find out, but the Sitka Spruce tree is, nevertheless, the wood used for the vast majority of acoustic guitar, piano, violin, and other musical-instrument soundboards. That told me that the wood must have some kind of musical importance. I found out that the wood has excellent acoustic properties. The wood is light, soft, and yet, relatively strong and flexible. The Sitka Spruce is also used for general construction, ship building, and plywood.
Found mostly in Southeast Alaskan forests, the Sitka Spruce is being harvested at such a rate that the end of the instrument-quality supply is in sight. That doesn’t mean that the Sitka Spruce was becoming extinct, but it takes time to grow to some size, so the instrument-quality is becoming less available. The population of the Sitka Spruce is stable at this point, and it grows in Alaska, as well as Washington, Oregon, and California, 
meaning that there is plenty of places to re-seed this important tree. It really is just a matter of waiting for the growth, and when you are talking about a tree, it’s very different than a puppy. You are talking years for a tree. A Sitka Spruce grows to around 88 feet in height after 50 years, to 157 feet after 100 years. That means that by the time the trees grow to usable size, the guitar builders of today will be long gone, so a new generation will be the ones to use the new growth. I hope that Caalab will have a chance to build a guitar out of Sitka Spruce before the wood is no longer available.
