(Robin's note: I worked in Oregon for six years of my television career and during that time got to know the Oregon branch of my family, the Petersons. What did I do when the weirdos followed me home? Went to the Petersons' for safety. Where did I go on Thanksgiving and Christmas? To the Petersons' of course. The Petersons take in us all without judgment. I even introduced my friend Ray to my cousin Beth and he went and married her and now is, annoyingly, a member of my family! This Christmas the Petersons have been divided by the snowstorm: those in Portland can't get to Devil's Lake for the big Christmas, and those in Devil's Lake can't get to Portland. So they hunker down. Here's a guest blog, first from cousin Markie in Portland, and then from my (adopted) cousin Ray in Lincoln City.)
Christmas with the Petersons in Portland, about 1.5 million years ago. My grandmother is to my left--looking young in her seventies--and from left to right, Charlotte, Sally, and Beth Peterson.
From Markie in Portland:
Hi Robin, I'm sitting here looking out at what is proving to be the 'record snowfall in Portland history' and although it is beautiful it has certainly hampered many a Christmas plan. Travel has been snarled and at times non existent at the airport, bus terminal, train station and highways. The malls and local stores go through spurts of sales when drivers can get out to shop - maybe that will teach all of us not to wait until the last minute!
Most of the Peterson family has arrived in Oregon but to different locations and due to the weather and road conditions we will not be able to all get together for Christmas day but that's ok and a new adventure. It tends to bring out the best or the worst in all of us.
Beth, Ray and family arrived from California on Sunday via Highway 101 to Lincoln City and are with Mom and Dad. Tim and Betty Ann arrived from Anchorage on Monday night at midnight to my house on the east side of Portland and near the airport. Their luggage wasn't certain it wanted to come from the land of the Midnight Sun to the land of "Snowzilla" but eventually did arrive 12 hours later. Ken and family are holed up in Scappoose with what was to be our Christmas dinner. Brian is in Salem. Charlotte, Bruce and Barb are all on the Westside of Portland and Sally is on the coast close to mom and dad. Tom may be the only smart one by making the decision to stay in Hawaii and wish us Mele Kalikimaka via AT&T. (Robin's note:I guess I should interject here that the Peterson cousins are ten, including two sets of twins, all children of my mother's sister, her genetic opposite!)
We, like many Oregonians are separated by less than 80 miles but are experiencing what many Mid-Westerners and East Coasters must feel at this time of year when the weather conditions make getting together difficult or impossible - but for us this is a new adventure and one that we haven't experienced before - Christmas rain never made getting together this difficult!
We'll make alternate plans, figure out ways to 'beat Mother Nature', give a lot of money to At&T, Verizon and T-Mobile but we'll get through this 'record snowfall' and happily enjoy the sights, sounds and yes, snow of this wonderful season.
Hope you have a very Merry Christmas and a great New Year with all that it will bring.
Martha
From Ray in Lincoln City/Devil's Lake (Robin's Note: Ray is a sportswriter so his prose must be viewed through that perculiar lens.)
Here in the badlands of the Oregon Coast, where the heat at the Safeway is intermittent and there is only one Starbucks, we are the only part of the state that isn't snowlocked.
We live vicariously through the relentless traffic and weather reports ("Nobody's moving and the weather sucks for the fifth day in a row; here's some of the same B-roll you saw an hour ago") and we await the next truck that falls off the road.
The rest of our family is in the belly of the beast, and with the east-west highways closed, our Christmas has been bifurcated into Peterson West and Peterson East. On the other hand, there is food and wine and presents and televised football, basketball and hockey, plus a one-screen theatre called (of course) the Bijou, and a six-lane bowling alley and an indoor batting cage and miniature golf course and an outlet mall, so what need have we for mundane things like family?
Of course we kid here -- we would trade the Emerald Bowl for two more Petersons and a Macey. Beyond that, though, we're not so sure. Then again, the holiday is what you make it, so we intend to be happy even if we're half as happy as we could be.
(Robin's note: What is that Emerald Bowl anyway, something to do with jewelry? Sounds great! Merry Christmat!)
(Robin's final note: My friend, Ray and my cousin Beth back when they met and before I had the chance to warn her about him. Now its too late. They have children!)
No comments:
Post a Comment