Stay Gold Ponyboy!

Seeing Mt. Hood from our town is stunning. Words and crappy cell phone pictures can never do it justice. I regularly say things like "Holy crap I live here", "Look at that thing" and probably most often "Huh" (as I can't even muster up something that matches what is stirring around in me). If you haven't had that "huh life is stinking beautiful" moment in a while I feel sorry for you. Put down the phone, leave your keys on the counter and take a walk. You might not have Mt. Hood in your backyard but there are all kinds of amazing out there.

Mt. Hood was hiding for a while but it has been showing its face again. We had all the wildfire smoke, then we had some rain and now we have that glorious bit of fall weather starting up. It is fun when an 11,000-foot chunk of rock surprises you with its presence. The tease of fall has brought fresh snow on the mountain and incredible lighting (not lightning). The lines on the mountain and in the gorge are clean, crisp and full of contrast. The clouds are puffy and magical. The hills seem to come alive with this special glow in the late afternoon here. Everywhere I look outside is basically a Bob Ross painting.

On Monday morning I was rushing out of the house to get to a work meeting. I hopped in my car (a rarity here!!) and took off. As I rounded the corner the mountain was orange/red/yellow. You know that crazy color when the sun is just blasting something early in the morning before it really climbs above the horizon. It caught me off guard enough that I wanted to take a picture (I didn't care if it was going to make me late). I drove less than two minutes, pulled off the road and got out all excited only to look up to a perfectly normal mountain minus the glorious glow of the sun. I should have just stopped in the middle of the road when I had the chance! I drove off a little bummed that I wouldn't be able to show Jordan a crappy picture on my iPod that afternoon. Instead, I just stumbled through trying to explain how awesome it was.

I'm thankful to be in a place where the seasons actually change. It is the transition that gets me. A stark reminder that there aren't many things in life that are constant. Robert Frost wrote a short poem called Nothing Gold Can Stay. I love it because it is brief (who has the time to read a sonnet these days?), playful and powerful. It is his reflection on the necessary change that is constantly happening in nature.

I try to use the changing of the seasons as a way to prevent becoming stagnant. For several years I've recognized seasons in my own life and in those that have taken the time to share their lives with me. It is always comforting when you are in a season of joy or comfort to think that those things have grown and blossomed in your life. It is also comforting when you are hunkered down in a season of darkness and storms knowing that change is just around the corner. I'm not going to lie though. There is an uneasiness that comes with the changing of the seasons. I keep coming back to the word fleeting.

Our big season seems to be just stretching out and making itself comfortable on the couch of our lives. It seems to go on forever. Occasionally I wake up at night to help Jordan to the bathroom and I'm reminded that we are still in this season. For those few groggy seconds before my feet hit the floor at 3:00AM I've managed to forget only to be reminded again and again.

Within this long season, there have been these unseasonally weird weather days though. You know that warm day in February where you stink up your winter gear from sweat and forgot for a second what bone-chilling cold feels like. We have had lots of those days. Funny days, happy days, content days and carefree days. Sometimes it isn't even a day but a brief moment. It seems like these moments come into existence and dissolve right before my eyes. A continuous change of conditions. Exactly like the wind in the gorge (you have no idea until you have stood on the shore of the Columbia River).

Our next season begins on October 19th (no farmer's almanac needed). We have an appointment with the oncology department at OHSU to discuss the results of the MRI scan Jordan will receive on October 12th.

If you are traveling with us into this next season bring a good coat, an umbrella, some comfortable shoes and hell maybe even some sunscreen. The weather is crazy here...

September 19th was talk like a pirate day. We celebrated with a pirate themed joke day.

The support keeps pouring in from all over. Jordan loves getting her mail call every afternoon.

Two of our favorite cards from the last few weeks.

The mask Jordan wore for her treatments. She got to keep it as a memento. The kids have had fun with it!

When you finish 30 radiation treatments you get all the ice cream you want.

Hustlin' for the Hassells! Our school community organized a fundraiser during our back to school night. It was a family-friendly fitness boot camp. There was a great turnout and they raised over $1700 for our family!

Just another special day with our Parkdale Family. Feeling the love.

A friend helped our kids harvest all of our mutant squash in the backyard. The kiddos made signs for the neighborhood and made $20. Mostly off their cuteness and not the quality of our squash.

Not sure if Benton is going to be an entrepreneur or a hobo one day.

Crisp and beautiful day in the valley.

We are still picking fresh blueberries. Some of them are the size of a nickel and so stinking juicy.

I accidentally held a baby the other day. We were both surprised.

Always good times and brews at Solera!

Love that our kids are growing up with such close friends!