All in the feels

Hey there!

In case you didn’t know, we happen to live in one of the windiest areas in the Portland metro. This is mainly because we are close to Mt. Hood and the Columbia River Gorge. As a result, we have already had to replace 2 of 3 fences along our property line in the last 6 years. This year, that number became 3 of 3, so our average is about 1 fence every 2 years. The wind has been blowing so hard the last few days that it knocked our side fence over. Photos below.

Yeah, so the neighbor was on it, and he has people scheduled to come by and see what they can do.

We are already at the end of January! We had some museum passes we hadn’t used that were from our immediate area, so we took a trip to Troutdale and checked them out—photo above of the kids standing in the arch of this remarkable tree trunk, located between two of the museums.

I also took Luca to the park one afternoon, while it was super cold and windy outside. He didn’t seem to mind and loved getting outside. I took some delight in the view as I walked to this nearby park.

Later on in the week, we had a cookout. Yes, while the winds were blowing and while it was rather cold out. The charcoal flame stayed lit throughout the meal we were cooking. That isn’t common for us; typically, in the summer, it goes out within a few minutes of starting to grill. Not sure if it had to do with the winds or what.

The family also made appointments to go to the dentist to use our benefits before we lose them at the end of the month. I told the dentist about some severe sensitivity I’ve been having in these two teeth that I just had crowns put on for a few thousand. They informed me that I’ll probably need a root canal (which is what I thought and told Sky about before we arrived). It bothers me that you can pay all this money, all for them to drill through the crown, charge you thousands more to do more work, then charge you thousands more for another crown. It just bothers me. What a waste of time/energy and money. I can’t afford it now anyway, so I’ll be sitting with the pain.

On January 10th, 2026, James Pluid took his own life. I’m not sure I’ve ever mentioned him much in previous blogs. I couldn’t find any post, or any old photos. He was someone I went to school with at Cascade and one of the few that I became friends with. I would mainly hang out with Jay, Alan, and James during my first year on campus. I remember the long talks with him. We lost contact over the years, but this news shocked and saddened me. As far as I knew, he was a believer up until the end. That is the one thing from all of this that gives me some comfort.

I also mention this because just the other day, the verse of the day was Psalms 133:1- the Tri Phi verse. It appeared a few days after he took his life. I remember pledging Tri Phi with him. We were a pair.. and we were paired up as: tweedle Dee (me) and tweedle dum (him). I wish we could go back to those days – this news has really hit me in the feels.

Anyway, the verse immediately made me think of James some more. Rest in peace, my old friend. Please pray for his friends and family during this difficult time.

The fam also took a trip to the eye doctor to use our yearly benefits before they expired. I thought the photo of Ezra was kinda cute (he looks like a teacher, looking down through his glasses at the camera).

Finally, the fence is getting fixed. They are having new posts added to make it secure once again.

just Pray.