I will probably know why we moved from the Sellwood area to the Multnomah
neighborhood. I suspect the home we were living in Sellwood was a rental . I
know my parents purchase the house we moved into. The house set on a corner lot
on 32nd and Miles. My parents also purchased the lot next door. The long term
plan was to build a newer larger home on this lot. included in the parcel was an
old greenhouse , a worn down garage , several apple trees and a row of grape
vines.
Multnomah was an annexed community in Portland's Southwest hills . It was well forested , within a few blocks of our home was an area we knew as the " Forest " . The Forest was roughly one block wide and two blocks long ..it stayed that way well into my High School years , with only one notable exception. This was when part of the forest burned down after one of my homemade bombs ignited some dry brush.
Such mishaps were pretty rare in the rain drenched Northwest. While not a part of my early incendiary years , the frequent rains of the Willamette valley which produced bumper crops of beans and Strawberries , also acted as a safety buffer for the smoldering remains of my fathers purloined powder.
I am getting a few years ahead of myself here . When we moved into the house I was much too young to be stealing shotgun shells and 30 06 shells from my fathers hunting supplies. Those first years were used to adjust to a grueling kindergarten schedule and establishing myself as the " Block " leader in the Neighborhood . This was not hard at first . MY mother baked the best cupcakes in the neighborhood and they were always plentiful . The extra lot gave a leg up , providing extra off the street playing area , and within a few short years of arrival my Father had built us a really cool tree fort in the back yard as well.
And to top it all off next to the Tree Fort we had a cage filled with pet pigeons. Those early years were very good years ...but the world was spinning ,,,racing around the Sun ...summers faded to fall and fall to winter , then another spring ,,,with very little effort on my part I grew older . Kindergarten was replaced by First grade ..which in turn was replaced my Mrs Schoonover and Second Grade. big changes were coming , the question hung suspended like the setting sun over the West Hills .
Multnomah was an annexed community in Portland's Southwest hills . It was well forested , within a few blocks of our home was an area we knew as the " Forest " . The Forest was roughly one block wide and two blocks long ..it stayed that way well into my High School years , with only one notable exception. This was when part of the forest burned down after one of my homemade bombs ignited some dry brush.
Such mishaps were pretty rare in the rain drenched Northwest. While not a part of my early incendiary years , the frequent rains of the Willamette valley which produced bumper crops of beans and Strawberries , also acted as a safety buffer for the smoldering remains of my fathers purloined powder.
I am getting a few years ahead of myself here . When we moved into the house I was much too young to be stealing shotgun shells and 30 06 shells from my fathers hunting supplies. Those first years were used to adjust to a grueling kindergarten schedule and establishing myself as the " Block " leader in the Neighborhood . This was not hard at first . MY mother baked the best cupcakes in the neighborhood and they were always plentiful . The extra lot gave a leg up , providing extra off the street playing area , and within a few short years of arrival my Father had built us a really cool tree fort in the back yard as well.
And to top it all off next to the Tree Fort we had a cage filled with pet pigeons. Those early years were very good years ...but the world was spinning ,,,racing around the Sun ...summers faded to fall and fall to winter , then another spring ,,,with very little effort on my part I grew older . Kindergarten was replaced by First grade ..which in turn was replaced my Mrs Schoonover and Second Grade. big changes were coming , the question hung suspended like the setting sun over the West Hills .
The house we moved into was very small . Living room , small kitchen , and
two bedrooms . There was a Mud porch and a garage as well . My parents also
purchased the lot next door which included a worn out green house ...and a very
small apple orchard . Dad Planted to flowering Cherry trees in our front yard ,
and hijacked a few wild Rhododendrons from the Oregon Coastal range . Most of
the vacant lot was given over to a Vegetable garden . We ate a lot of Vegetables , Venison and potatoes growing up . Running along side of the house
bordering the Garden was a Clothes line most of our clothes were line dried
.
My best guess is we moved into the Multnomah Area in 1953 - 1954 at the
latest .
My father worked for Portland General electric. His principle job was
climbing into trees and cutting them away from the Power lines . He also worked
at times as a Lineman . My Mother was a " housewife " which meant she managed the home , its resources , our hygiene, health care , culinary duities , clothing repair and maintaince ...ect.
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Verse of the day 1/3/2013
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“Teach us to number our days, that we may gain a heart of wisdom.” Psalm
90:12 NIV
I don't think that means for us to try to count the days that we may have to live on this planet . I do belive it means for us to treat each day as a treasure . " THIS is the day the Lord has made , let us rejoice and be glad in it " . There are some days when Life seems so certain , that Hope seems fulfilled , these bleak and grey days of winter are not those days . But God gives them to Us , He has crafted the foggy days the dull days with as much care as the bright sunny days and the startling days of fall . Understanding why God gave us these days ..the dull ones the bright ones the ones filled with Brilliant reds and yellows ..that is how we work out our salvation , that is how we attain wisdom , being confident in this that He who began the good work in us will be faithful to complete it ...The Process of the thing becomes the thing .
I don't think that means for us to try to count the days that we may have to live on this planet . I do belive it means for us to treat each day as a treasure . " THIS is the day the Lord has made , let us rejoice and be glad in it " . There are some days when Life seems so certain , that Hope seems fulfilled , these bleak and grey days of winter are not those days . But God gives them to Us , He has crafted the foggy days the dull days with as much care as the bright sunny days and the startling days of fall . Understanding why God gave us these days ..the dull ones the bright ones the ones filled with Brilliant reds and yellows ..that is how we work out our salvation , that is how we attain wisdom , being confident in this that He who began the good work in us will be faithful to complete it ...The Process of the thing becomes the thing .
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