Barbecued King Salmon with Orange Butter Marinade

The Marinade:

1/4 c Orange Juice Concentrate

1/4 c Butter

1/4 c Brown Sugar

3 T Fresh Lemon Juice

1/2 Medium Red Onion, cut in half and sliced thinly

Salt and Pepper to taste

Onion Powder

Garlic Powder

In a small sauce pan, melt butter. Add brown sugar and orange juice concentrate. Stir until ingredients are melted and blended together well.

Place salmon filet on a baking sheet covered with aluminum foil. Using a pastry brush, paint the filet liberally with the marinade. Sprinkle onion and garlic powders over sauce, salt and pepper. Scatter the onion slices over the top of the filet.

Preheat barbecue to 300 degrees. Place salmon baking sheet directly onto the barbecue grate. Close lid. After about 10 minutes, slather more of the marinade on the filet and reclose the lid.

The salmon should be done within about 15-20 minutes but keep an eye on it as the thickness of the filet will determine the actual cooking time. To be sure, using a knife, cut into the thickest point of the filet and check for doneness. Paint or pour more marinade over filet just before serving.

Variations: Use lemon slices and lemonade concentrate or lime slices and limeade concentrate in the sauce.

What a Party!

Well, the BIG party was a great success. Nearly 80 folks showed up, the salmon was barbecued to perfection using my friend Rick's awesome recipe and our jazz combo played into the night as the full moon rose over Bellingham Bay and the Cascade Mountains.

The garden, after working so hard on it all summer, was at its peak and we received so many comments about how lovely it was. We scattered chairs and tables around the lawn and folks sat in the gazebo, the upper garden, the secret garden and all around the lawn. Tiki torches near the entrances lit the way into each garden sanctuary.

The only downside to the evening, which turned out not to be for us, was that everyone was gone by 9:30. What's up with people? Anyway, it was a boon for the four of us as we had the jazz combo all to ourselves for a private set on the back deck. Julian McDonough, Mike Allen and Mark, a young bassist (I didn't catch his last name) all played incredibly. We have been long time fans of Julian and Mike and go hear them wherever they play when we have the chance. It was a special priviledge to have them play just for us.

Kate and Nick loved the evening, which was the point, and we had another few days together with them before, first Nick, and then Kate had to say goodbye and fly off back to England.

It was so wonderful having them safely under our roof and to be able to talk and visit, share meals, play cribbage and Tarot, and see more of them together. It has become so apparent to us that these two special people were absolutely made for one another. It makes it all the more incredible that, growing up and living on opposite sides of the planet, they were able to find each other in the first place.

We next see them in October when we fly off to England to see them married. It is a simple ceremony, not the more lavish affair set for January, but more to satisfy the legal requirements of the British government so that Kate is legal in the UK.

We will fly in for just a week to stand up with them along with a few of their closest family and friends. Then we plan to spend a few days in Edinburgh, Scotland before flying back home.

On Their Way Home!

Kate and Nick are, at this writing, packing bags, checking passports, preparing for a sleepless night in preparation for a long flight from Bristol to New York to Seattle and finally home to Bellingham. It will be a long trip for them. It has been a long wait for Leslie and I.

Leslie will be at the airport tomorrow night waiting anxiously for her first sighting of them coming up the hallway and into the main terminal at Seatac. I'll still be at home since I have to work.

They'll head for the nearby hotel or decide to just sit, relax, play a little Cribbage and chat. . .and touch. A hour or so later Elise, Kate's maid of honor arrives from Baltimore and then they can all head for the hotel for a good night's sleep.

Even before their arrival home on Friday afternoon, they will be busy all day shopping in hopes of finding the perfect wedding dress for Kate!

The anxious feeling in our house is palpable. We have waited so long for this moment and now as the actual moment closes in it seems time has slowed to a snail's pace.

To have the entire family under our roof, knowing they sleep safely and soundly across the hall, is a feeling only a parent seperated too long from their child can know. Your heart is almost ready to burst with the joy that you somehow, even if for only a few days, have some at least some power over their safety and comfort!

I only have another day to wait and I can make it. But I wish I didn't have to.

Final Touches to Summer Garden Projects

Today was a beautiful day in the garden. The next to last day before school starts and we were blessed with a few gorgeous hours to work and to sit and enjoy our labor.

We brought in a final half yard of Alpine Green gravel to place in a few final spots and finish the graveling projects for the season. A serendipidous find at a local discount store gave us a charming addition to the yard. A few other details completed the picture for the season.

Our half yard of gravel turned out to be the wrong color. I had evidently been hauling in a different color all summer and this Alpine Green, though I love it, just doesn't match what was already being used. We spread it around trying to blend it into what we already had and we'll hope for the best. Over the years as we add gravel to the existing spots we'll bring in the Alpine since I like it better and eventually it will all look fine. In the meantime the goals were to finish off a bit of the path around the east side of the barn, create a small hint of a path at the edge of the deck and to level the new concrete bench installed recently on the stage in the Secret Garden. The rest of the gravel would be used to begin graveling the back side of the barn (actually a project for next spring) where it will act as the foundation and floor for the lean-to greenhouse that we'll install on the back of the barn.

While we were out on a shopping run and to pick up the gravel yesterday, we went into K-Mart's garden center looking for some end of season plants to replace one that had died in a planter on the front porch. They were cleaned out of plants but we stumbled across two nice looking fountains that were on a very good sale. We chose the classic Italian looking one that you would commonly find built into a stone wall. The thing weighs a ton. We couldn't begin to lift it into the truck, but after some help from a pallet lift and another guy my size, we eventually got it into the back of our truck. We didn't even consider how we'd get it out but we knew we'd have to since the gravel had to be loaded. After deciding to place it on the lower deck near the hot tub we next had to figure out how to get it out of the truck. Physics to the rescue. I found a 6 foot length of 2" X 6" and was able to lift the base of the fountain just high enough for Leslie to slip the lumber under the fountain. Another lift and another push under the fountain with the lumber and we were set. Leslie pushed the 2 X 6 towards the ground as I pulled the fountain further out on the edge of the tailgate. The fountain's center of gravity tilted just enough and the fountain came up in the air. Carefully maneuvering the fountain to keep it centered, we slide it slowly down the 2 X 6 until the base was on the ground. It was easy to tilt it upright and from there a dolly moved the fountain right where we wanted it. A few mums in some new pots surrounding the base and our new fountain looked gorgeous.

The spot where the new fountain was placed was the former home of an already exisiting fountain. I had planned to put a fountain in the Secret Garden but that was to be a project for next season. But the price for the new fountain was so good we just couldn't pass it up. So the old fountain went into the bed along the west wall of the barn right next to an exisiting electrical outlet. Perfect spot. It now happily bubbles away in its new home surrounded by flowers and plants as if it was always there. We are now a three fountain family. The gurgling of the water can be heard just about anywhere you sit in the garden now. This new location for the fountain also adds to the quiet, contemplative atmosphere of the Secret Garden while sitting on the new bench. We were able to balance the bench by adding more gravel under the legs and that has made sitting there a more secure and comfortable feeling.

With these last few touches, we were able to spend some time just sitting and enjoying all our hard work this summer. I am trying to look at the garden and enjoy how beautiful it looks now. My tendency is to look at it as a work in progress and only see what still needs doing or what my next project will be. But the truth is when I think back on what my little 1/3 of an acre of heaven looked like when we moved into our home 13 years ago, it really is quite remarkable what we have accomplished.

The Big Party!

Two weks and counting until the big party we have been planning for the past several months. The garden is about as ready as it is going to be. The menu is planned. The kids have their tickets and will soon be flying over for the celebration of their engagement.

They have already moved on to the next step long ago--the wedding. In fact part of their time spent here will be shopping for the perfect wedding dress. Shops all the way from Seattle to Bellingham have been located on the map and the plan of attack set in place. Hopefully, by the time Kate actually arrives home, after a couple of days of shopping, the dress will have been purchased. Check!



Then we can all throw ourselves into the preparation of the party on Saturday. The band, the Julian McDonough trio, who played at our 30th anniversary blow out last summer, will return at Kate and Nick's request, to play into the evening. They play the hottest jazz in the area and everyone loved their playing last year.

We have settled on the menu and at Kate's request we will have:

• Barbequed Chinook Salmon (I caught on my recent fishing trip to Canada)
• Roasted Red Northwest Potatoes
• Northwest Micro-Green Salad with Oregonzola Bleu Chees and Granny Smith Apples
• Northwest Bumbleberry Cobblers

Lots of Northwest wines and micro-brews will be on hand so the party should go splendidly.

80 of our family's closest friends have RSVP'ed and plan to help celebrate into the night.

So how do we top that? What's next?

Well, the wedding venue is settled--The Ashton Court Estate on the outskirts of Bristol. Check!

The invitations are sent, the band hired, the menu set, the wedding party all set, the checks are in the mail and plans for flying to the U.K. all done. Check!

So we wait for Kate and Nick's arrival in another week so we can have a few moments of precious time with them and we await the celebration of the biggest occasion in the life of two people who have committed their lives to one another. We are excited, anxious, nervous (mostly the father of the bride speech is causing that) and so proud. Here's to the happy couple--Cheers!

My new class!

My penultimate year of teaching begins. With a new free software called Wordle I created this document that creatively describes my class with one word descriptors including student names and events and activities students will experience in my classroom. Really cool effect. After typing in the key words (larger fonts are a result of typing in the word multiple times) you can randomize the direction of the word flow, colors and font style.

School Daze!

The start of a new school year is just around the corner and as my mind begins to crank up in anticipation of a fresh new year beginning, I look forward to the very real possibility that I am beginning the penultimate year of my teaching career, a sobering thought but also one that causes me to begin thinking about my future and what I'll do with myself. The house will be paid off later this year and my wife feels confidant that we can afford for me to retire. Ah, retirement! How quickly that point in my life has sneaked up?

Actually, to be completely honest, I have been giving my retirement from full time teaching a great deal of thought over the past few years. We have been carefully planning for this transition and I do have some very real plans.

First, I don't want to just give up teaching completely. I figure I'll substitute teach for a few years partly to make money to pay for my varied interests. I need to be able to pay for my love of golf, travel, gardening of course, technology, books, cooking, etc. All this requires a certain amount of cash and since I am still enjoying working with the kids, why not sub? What I won't miss are the committees, the meetings and the seemingly endless, mindless and meaningless reforms which the profession is so fond of foisting on teachers. Politicians, having little knowledge of education and who seem to always ask the wrong people for advice, make knee-jerk decisions that we in the trenches are left to implement with fewer and fewer dollars just so they can look like they are doing something, anything, to try and improve standardized test scores and get themselves re-elected. It is all just too frustrating. I just want to teach. Yes, I want to do it right and I am always interested in new ideas and strategies to do it better, but too many of the latest ideas are misguided and show too little thought to possibly be what's best for the kids.

So, with that kind of attitude, it is time to be thinking about heading out the door and on to new and interesting adventures, leaving the fulltime work to a fresh new generation of teachers with their pants on fire and excited about everyday they come to school. I'll continue to sub in classrooms if they'll have me and I'm sure I will enjoy it most days. The nice thing is that, at the end of the day, I will walk out the door and leave the worries teachers have for their kids with someone else. No meetings, no committees, no poorly organized inservices, just come in and work with a bunch of kids for the day and leave. If the class is poorly managed, I just won't go there again. If I'd rather play golf or garden or go out to meet buddies for breakfast, I just won't take the gig. Simple.

I thought I'd volunteer at the local Museum of Radio and Electricity, at the Literacy Council, the Senior Center, or any one of many other opportunities I haven't even explored yet. Of course, with our daughter getting married in a few months, I also really look forward to being a grandad and spoiling those grandbabies. Oh, I'll keep busy, no doubt of it. I'll also take over much of the responsibility around the house since my wife will still be working for at least several more years.

I'm really looking forward to this transition in my life. It isn't just one step closer to the grave for me. It really is just a new period of my life I hope to live and enjoy for many, many years to come. So bring it on and look out world, here I come.

But in the meantime, I still have a couple of great years left working with some terrific kids and teachers and I'm looking forward to that. One day at a time.