Salem Weekend: Silver Falls State Park

Sunday, September 1, 2019, Silver Falls State Park, Silverton, Oregon

On my weekend trip to Oregon in 2019, I took the day to go to Silver Falls State Park, and hike the Canyon Trail, also know as the Trail of 10 Falls.  This park is such a gem in the Oregon Parks System!

The park was once the site of Silver Falls City, which was located at the top of South Falls.  The community was largely a logging community, but after the land was cleared of timber, a local entrepreneur sold admissions to the falls area and hosted events where cars were pushed over the falls, and a daredevil even rode over the largest falls in a canoe in 1928.  His name was “Daredevil Al” Faussett, and yes, he survived the 177 foot drop.  That has all been cleaned up now.

In 1926, there was a campaign to give Silver Falls National Park status, but it was not approved, due to all the ugly stumps and mess left from its logging days, not to mention the carcasses of cars that were no doubt left at the base of the falls.  Instead, in 1935, Present Roosevelt named it a Recreational Demonstration Area, and the Civilian Conservation Corps moved in to build facilities, clean up debris, build trails and widen some of the trails behind the waterfalls.  Yes, the trails behind the waterfalls already existed, because the area was formed with basalt over sandstone, and the softer sandstone eroded over time, both to create the canyon, and to erode the narrow pathways behind some of the falls.

When you hike the Canyon Trail, you will pass 10 different waterfalls; you can walk behind some of the waterfalls for a stunning view!  On the 7 mile hike, you pass South Falls, Lower South Falls, Lower North Falls, Double Falls, Drake Falls, Middle North Falls, Winter Falls, Twin Falls, North Falls and Upper North Falls.  Winter Falls is at the end of a half mile spur trail off the main trail and Double Falls is on a 0.1 mile spur trail.  When I was there in early September, it was pretty dry from the summer weather; I would love to go back in the spring when the waterfalls are at their peak flow!

I was there on a Sunday, on Labor Day weekend, and the park was packed.  Next time I would go on a weekday if I could, and I would definitely camp in the campground there. I think that would be so much fun!

Unfortunately, I can’t tell you which waterfall is in which photo, but enjoy!

Book Review: I’m Glad My Mom Died

I’m Glad My Mom Died, by Jennette McCurdy

I had never heard of Jennette McCurdy, but apparently she began her child acting career in the early 2000s, and is best known as the star of a Nickelodeon TV show.  Now, I’m of the generation that watched Nick at Nite, back when it aired reruns of Leave It To Beaver, Mr. Ed, and the Donna Reed Show.  I didn’t really watch later on when they were doing their own original programming, nor did I have children who would have watched.  So I (breathes a sigh of relief) stayed blissfully in the dark.

 

Unfortunately, since the dawn of Hollywood time, there have been child stars abused by studio executives, producers, directors and worst of all, their parents.  It seems to come with the territory, the parents who will stop at nothing to make their child a star.  Jennette’s mother was one of those…

Jennette grew up with an intact family, but sadly, her dad was kind of useless, and he never stood up to her mother against the inappropriate things that were going on.  She was also home schooled, so outside her nuclear family, Jennette never really had any adults looking out for her best interest.  So, from the age of six, Jennette was pushed into an acting career, with endless lessons in acting, singing and dancing, and auditions for shows.  When she finally broke through, Jennette became the breadwinner for the family, her parents, two brothers and grandparents. 

Jennette’s mother had clear expectations for her and her career, and her treatment of Jennette was abusive.  Not only the long hours on set…  Her mother taught her at the age of eleven how to calorie restrict, so she could stay thin for the camera.  Imagine a mother teaching her own daughter how to be anorexic? Imagine parents expecting their child to pay for their bills, their mortgage, their vehicles, and their groceries.  And even worse, her mother bathed her until we was almost an adult, claiming that Jennette couldn’t be trusted to wash her hair correctly.  During these shower sessions, her mother subjected her to bizarre bodily exams, telling her she was performing cancer screenings.  Jennette grew up with this being “normal.” 

When Jennette was a young adult, her mother’s breast cancer returned and she passed away.  The narcissistic, selfish, abusive matriarch of the family was finally gone.  Years of therapy has helped Jennette come to terms with the mother that she loved, and the mother who also abused her.  The book is a raw, tragic look at the impacts of the abuse, and Jennette’s lack of ability to live a normal life.  She continues to be controlled by bulimia and other impulsive behaviors.  She tells her story candidly, although she has said how difficult it was to tell her story.

What a heartbreaking story, and how terrible to grow up in a family where the death of your own mother is a relief.

3 stars. 

Note: Quiet on Set is a five part documentary released in 2024 that explores allegations of abuse of other child actors at Nickelodeon.  I have not seen it, but I’ve heard it is very good (and by good I mean disturbing).  Although she doesn’t speak much of Nickelodeon directly, some of Jennette’s comments in this book are widely believed to be about Dan Schneider, the abuser named in the documentary. 

 

Book Review: Watchers

Watchers, by Dean Koontz

I’m sure I read this 30 years ago, but it was chosen as a book club pick for May, so I gave it a fresh read.  The thing of it is, unless I have read a book multiple times, I forget them, so it was like a brand new book! 

Travis, a well-off widower goes out hiking in hills of southern California to get himself out of his head and ease his depression.  While there, he finds a Golden Retriever, who looks lost.  The retriever seems scared, and concerned about the crashing noise in the bushes that is coming closer, so Travis hurries back to his car with the dog and they leave.

Nora is learning to reclaim her life after spending nearly all of it locked up in the home of her reclusive aunt, who instills Nora with a pressing fear of the outside world.  Her fears are proven when a TV repairman comes to the house and begins to stalk her.

A chance meeting between Travis and Nora is cemented by the dog, now named Einstein, and the two of them quickly realize that Einstein is no ordinary dog.  He is a genius.  But how?  When they learn that he has escaped from a research lab, and that another, extremely dangerous creature has escaped as well, they embark on a journey to keep themselves and Einstein safe both from the creature and the government agents who are searching for the dog.  Throw in an assassin hired by the Russians, who has become obsessed with finding them as a side project, and you have quite the thriller!

The book is formulaic and predictable, and the characters are pretty one-dimensional.  This isn’t going to be the book that wins the National Book Award or the Pulitzer.  But it held my interest with its twists and turns, and will appeal to those who like a little romance with their sci-fi thriller.  That said, it really irritated me that they kept feeding that poor dog chocolate!  You would think if the author is going to write a book about a dog, he should at least know that chocolate is poisonous to dogs.   

And no, I’m not going to give away whether the dog lives. 

3 stars. 

Retirement Diaries 2024: Back in Minnesota

After three weeks in Washington and Oregon, I’m back in Minnesota.  I had so much fun, seeing friends, visiting my favorite places, and getting in plenty of beach time. 

The weather is so much better than when I left!  Instead of lows of 7 degrees and snow on the ground, the weather has been mostly sunny and in the 50s and 60s since I got back.  Until today at least; it’s raining now and it is supposed to rain off and on until Monday.  There are worse things in life.

The grass is green from the recent rains, and once the rain stops I’m going to be getting out into the yard to work on pruning and trimming back the dead foliage.  The lilac bushes are starting to leaf out, so there will soon be the sweet smell of lilacs blooming!

Cora and Yellow were of course happy to see me, and have forgiven me for being away.  It is so nice to see how bonded they are; they regularly snuggle and sleep in the same puff, even though they have lots of options.  At the moment, I can hear Yellow snoring in the other room; they really have a good life!

Mom was kind enough to think of me when she went to the library book sale for the next town up the road, and she got me some books on the Civil War.  She’s always so thoughtful!  There is also an upcoming book sale at our town library, so I’ll be helping move books from storage next week to get ready for it.  I’ll be considered the young person with the strong back among the other volunteers I’m sure.  It reminds me of helping mom to purge her books before the move last year.  That was a lot of boxes of books!

On my way home from Washington, I spent a couple of days on the Oregon coast, camping, looking for agates and just enjoying the beach.  I did get rained on a little, but it was pretty good weather for the most part!  After I left the coast, I spent a few days getting home, doing a little bit of sightseeing on the way.  A winery along the Columbia River Gorge, and a few museums in Montana and North Dakota.  After leaving Oregon, it got too cold for camping, so I splurged on a few nights of hotels.

Along the way I had a few lovely chats with people I met on the beach, at the winery, or in the restaurant bars – I like sitting at the bar when I’m dining alone, it just invites more social interaction.

Of course, now that I’m back I’ll be able to write more regularly again.  Not much driving to interfere with my downtime!

I hope everyone is well – and enjoying spring!

Book Review: A Fever in the Heartland

A Fever in the Heartland: The Ku Klux Klan’s Plot to Take Over America, and the Woman Who Stopped Them, by Timothy Egan

Most of us probably associate the Ku Klux Klan with the years immediately after the Civil War.  And indeed, that was when the KKK was originally founded, in Tennessee, to intimidate blacks who had recently gained their freedom at the end of the Civil War.  Chapters popped up all over the south, in an attempt to suppress the black vote and intimidate blacks into not running for political office, and for a few years, it was very successful.  After President Grant came into office in 1870, laws were passed to suppress the Klan and prosecute members for their illegal activities, and Klan membership dropped.

However, in the early 1920s, the KKK experienced a resurgence, and Klan chapters were created all over the country, with a large following in the northern states.  This book is about this second wave of the KKK and one of it’s most influential leaders, D.C. Stephenson.  D.C. Stephenson was a drifter, an abuser, and a deadbeat husband, but somehow his charisma still managed to get him appointed as the Grand Dragon of the Indiana Klan and the lead recruiter for seven other states in the Midwest. 

The KKK during this period grew to a membership of between 3 and 8 million members. They gained this following by presenting themselves as a family values fraternal organization, that fought for women’s rights and sought to weed out the undesirables.  Who did they consider undesirable?  Well, in addition to Blacks, there were the Jews, the Catholics, the Communists, and any number of recent immigrant populations, including the Italians, Russians, and Lithuanians, among others.

Timothy Egan focuses this book on Stephenson’s rise to power, the corruption with which he ruled his section of the Klan, and his ultimate downfall.  Stephenson was a raging alcoholic, and as is frequently a problem with heavy drinkers, he just couldn’t control his behavior.  After a number of attempted and completed sexual assaults of women, where he was able to buy their silence, he attacked a young woman whose silence he could not buy.

Madge Oberholtzer was a young woman working for Stephenson, and after he attacked and raped her, she attempted suicide by poison while she was still his captive.  He did nothing to try to help her, and eventually dumped her back off with her family.  She didn’t die quickly though, and over the next few weeks, gave a detailed account of her time with Stephenson, and the assault.  When she died, he was charged with her murder. 

The book details all of this, from the events leading up to the assault, her suicide attempt, her lingering illness, and her eventual death.  D.C. Stephenson’s arrest and trial were widely publicized, and considered the scandal of the time.  Even so, a conviction wasn’t a sure thing.  It’s tough to call yourself a man of family values after all that. 

Egan did a great job of researching and writing his book, holding my interest throughout as he told the story of the rise, and eventual fall of Stephenson and the Klan. 

4 stars.

Book Review: The Lieutenants

The Lieutenants, by W.E.B. Griffin

What can I say about this book?  It is a bit of a challenge to describe.  It is a novel of the men in World War II, but largely it isn’t about the war.  Instead it is a series of stories, with characters who are all, at some point, Lieutenants.  They might have started out at that rank, or ended there, or they may have just been passing through their time as a Lieutenant somewhere in the book.  They got there in a myriad of ways, through West Point, or combat promotions, or the fluke promotion by a General who wanted a man for his polo team. 

The stories start out as largely disconnected from each other, of men who are fighting in the war or who join after, but eventually their stories weave together, as they know each other, or have a friend of a friend, or a commanding officer who worked with one of the others.  The reader learns that the Army can be a very small place indeed, as these happenstance connections continue to bring them together throughout the book.

There are likable characters and ones who aggravate with their bumbling.  Griffin pokes fun of the Army with the absurdity of some of the situations.  Such as 18 year old Lowell, who is promoted to Lieutenant because, as a rich kid, he learned to play polo.  His assignment is gravy until his commanding General dies on the polo field, and another commander decides to get rid of him by sending him to the battle front in post-war Greece.  The reader is privy to stories of their wives and sweethearts, and the complicated social structure that prohibits officers and their wives from fraternizing with enlisted soldiers and their spouses.  The random nature of how decisions are made is also front and center in the novel. 

It got off to a slow start, but I did begin to appreciate the characters, and the fact that most of them were trying to do the right thing, while looking out for themselves at the same time.  Others didn’t have that same set of morals, and were only in it for themselves.  Griffin does a decent job with his character development, creating a nuanced set of characters with the conflicting motivations that we all carry with us.

If you are turned off by bad language or racism, this will not be the book for you.  It is set at the end of World War II, and the fact is, racist terms that we denounce today were still in widespread use.  Anti-semitism was common, and it affects how a Jewish character is treated.  The author could have avoided this language and not addressed it at all, and some other reviewers would have preferred that.  However, the novel’s language is accurate for the time, and provides a sense of realism. 

Overall, I didn’t love or hate this book.  It held my interest, but wasn’t particularly memorable, and didn’t make me eager to pick up the next books in the series. 

3 stars. 

Retirement Diaries: A Full Cup

I’ve been in Washington nine days, and what a whirlwind they have been!

I have spent my nine days visiting the places that bring me joy and peace.  I have spent some days at the beach, and gone to visit some of my favorite nearby towns.  I have poked around in shops that I love, and gone to restaurants old and new.  I have taken walks on some of my favorite trails and in the parks, and watched the sunset over the water.

I have spent the nine days visiting friends who are dear to me, catching up, laughing, hearing stories of joy and hardships, and sharing my own.  I have reconnected with people I have missed terribly.  There is something so powerful about being able to connect in person with friends who I usually only get to talk on the phone with or text.

I do love my home state and miss it, but it is my people that I miss the most.  Seeing them has filled my cup!  I feel so blessed!