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December 14th ended with a "mighty wind" that left us and at least a million others in Western Washington without electricity, some even now. We were fortunate--but there was still some irony. We lost power Thursday night at approximately midnight. The following day, Friday, it came back on at almost 11 a. m. exactly. Then, at around 1:45 p. m. the lights flickered, "popped" out, then back on. I heard a strange "explosion" from outside, but only when I went to Jack-in-the-Box to get us some lunch (school had been cancelled due to power outages), did I see the cause: A tree had downed a powerline running parallel with Mottman Road in front of SPSCC. The grass was on fire and smoldering, yet people were driving by casually as if nothing whatsoever mattered. Several minutes later, while I waited in line at Jack's, I heard the blare of the sirens and finally the fire dept (which was likely already overworked) and police arrived to deal with the situation. Of course, when I returned home, power was out again--this time having gone out completely at 2 p. m.--and it stayed off until Saturday night around 9:40 p. m.

Brian was unable to finish his Christmas cookies at home, so we packed our things and went to Debb's--I, too, had a few knitted socks to finish for prezzies, and we spent the majority of the afternoon there--Brian baking and I knitting.

Around 7 p. m., we returned home to find the lights still out. We decided we would not allow our 16th anniversity plans to be thwarted, so we drove out to Shelton to Steven's and had dinner and drinks. When we returned at about 10 p. m. Brian was the first to see the traffic lights, which had been previously out, were on. We both said a "thank you" to the power company for getting our electricity returned.

One thing we've learned by this is that we are definitely products of the 20th/21st Centuries. We are addicted to "power" (aka electricity) and, although, we were not that put out by the lack of electricity for two days (like camping in the house), we would have definitely been hurting had it taken much longer.

I did make one disturbing observation. While thousands of residents were without electricity and heat, most malls, shopping areas, restaurants and megashopping centers were all light up like Christmas trees. My question is, "where did they get the power?" Were they "turn on" first? And for what purpose would they leave even the elderly stranded, without the means to keep warm, for the sake of "consumerism"? In fact, many radio stations were encouraging people to leave their homes and "see a movie" or "go shopping". Basically, spend money in the face of disaster. The message is all too clear: that any tragedy can be overcome through rampant consumerism and spending money; there is no need to reflect on what could be done to ameliorate the circumstances or to help others or to even consider our societal addiction to electricity (and thereby oil and fossil fuels). It's frustrating enough that Brian and I realized how much we depend on these "conveniences", but to have the media (presumably working on behalf of the government and large corporations) extoll the necessity of "shop-til-you-drop" in the face of disaster is way to Nero-esque to make me feel comfortable. Personally, rather than helping people deceive themselves into believing that do not live a tenuous existence on the pinnacle of "power", I think we need to acknowledge and discuss the real fact that much of how we live is precarious. Humanity lived millennia without electricity--yet, today, we behave as if it is natural and normal to always have it and the conveniences (and toys) it allows us to have. Truth be told, it is a lie. It can be removed from us as quickly and effortlessly as it was provided. And when it happens, we will only have our own wherewithal to save us.

In a real sense, we are still in the dark.

One of the adventures we took during our 4-day funfrenzy to Eugene was to hoof it down to The Oregon Vortex, home of the renown House of Mystery.
Our trip took about 3 hours, one-way, and involved many 6% gradient rises and falls on I-5, with much ear-popping and break-squealing. Yet, thankfully we had air-conditioning, and the roads were relatively sparsely populated with cars. The scenery was magnificent, full of scrub-pines, hemlock and wild grass just ready to catch fire.

There came a point when we thought we were being misled, that perhaps, the Vortex was invisible to all but those who had already been there. Determined we were to achieve our destination, however, and our preserverance paid off. Eventually, we saw the signs and were both relieved and anxious to be finally there!
Tours are provided at this "roadside attraction" and after several minutes of historical and scientific explanations we were taken to the famous and well-documented House of Mystery, which sets nearly at the center of the square acre large Vortex. From the explanations, this house was built during a gold rush of sorts in the mid-19th Century. Yet, poor construction (perhaps the result of building on the Vortex where nothing seems truly level, but more likely because it was simply a "weigh station" for gold claimers), made the building insecure and during an earthquake it was rocked off it's foundation. Apparently, although it was known that this area was somehow "different", it was when a man named Lister began to actually study the phenomenon of the house, that it began to be studied in depth. The conclusion drawn was that this place could be a kind of gravity well, warping light and the earth ley lines, thereby causing mass to change in appearance and for other anomalies to occur (such as skittish animals and vertigo).

I found it interesting that the house was build there to begin with, since the Native Americans stayed away from the area--indicating it was bad juju. I did notice that no birds sang in that area and the only creatures to enter inside the Vortex were humans. Even the insects that skirted the edge of it stayed well outside, so it seemed.

The house itself was an illusive beast. The front was lower than the rear, but by how much was difficult to tell. From the front it seemed that raising the house four feet would bring it level, but from the rear a good eight feet would be necessary. Plumb lines demonstrated that the center of gravity, or straight down, as it were was tilted by many degrees, and it is evident from some of the pictures that people seem to be leaning in order to re-establish what are bodies perceive as perpendicularity.

The broom stands on it's own, and although the straws are cut at an angle, rarely is a person able even to get a straight-cut broom to stand on its own. There was only one level place in the house, and Tim, who stood on that spot, described it as like stepping off of something (perhaps like a merry-go-round). It took time to adjust to being level. Also, looking down shifted as one faced opposite directions. I had to step out from the house after a few moments. I was feeling a sense of vertigo, perhaps due to the odd angles, but also because I did feel a strangeness in the area that I could not describe. I feel tingly, then my head started to throb right behind the sinuses, and I felt a bit light-headed. I felt such until we left the area and it seemd to vanish as quickly as it started.

These represent some of the effects of the Vortex. As was explained, the Vortex seems to not just shift light, but it compresses mass. Since we are mostly "nothing", swirling atoms with vast amounts of space in-between, it would only seem logical that if a person stood in an area of greater gravitation they would be slightly compressed. It appears pretty evident in the pictures here, although the relative difference in height between Brian and Tim counteracts some of the effects in the pictures below. The changes were very apparent with people of like height.

On our way home, we discussed our theories and questions about this area. It does seem that something happens when in the Vortex. Of course, it is a money-making attraction, so many of the features seem elaborated or exaggerated. Some questions that we raised were:

• If the Vortex is considered spherical in shape, going below the Earth as well as above, then what is below? Not just the composition of the soil and rock, but is there a lodestone or object that might be contributing to this phenomenon?
  
• If gravity is being warped or altered, than as will physical appearances and levels, time should also be warped. Has any experimentation on time changes been performed and if so, what was noticed? Obviously, time would be changed imperceptibly to a human unless very fine chronometers were used that measured time in nanoseconds. But it would be possible.
  
• Was the house originally built using plumb lines only or with levels? Since instruments are also effected by the Vortex, how can a level be trusted in the first place?
  
• Some of the older photographs we were shown clearly reveal light patterns that were swirling and throwing shadows. Although not necessarily hoaxes, could the kind of chemicals used on the paper have brought these out better than other types? Could the kind of photographic medium enhance the likelihood of getting a shot of this nature?
  
• The alien factor.
  

All in all, we had a good time. We were tired, hot and hungry after being their a few hours, and we managed to get some food at a nearby restaurant that served pretty good burgers and fries. I believe that given an opportunity, we will go again, if for no other reason than to wander around the areas permitted and to ask more pointed questions. Maybe do a little of our own experimental research.

But, then again, perhaps its the "mystery" that makes it so intriguing, and for that reason should be left alone.

Some "classic" shots of our friends Tim-and-Holly, with one of the B-man thrown in for good measure. Taken on our weekend excursion to Eugene, OR for a visit. February 17-20, 2006.

Salt Creek is one of our most fav vacation camping spots. In 2003, we had just bought a Sony Maciva digital camera with R/W CD photo disks. Of course, I hogged the camera and too massive pictures. In future visits, however, Brian got his own camera and started becoming the shutterbug I knew he would become.

The Sepia Chronicles 2003

We crawled into Eugene at about 9:00 p. m. Friday night (February 17, 2006), got unpacked and sat around chatting until about 11:30 ish.

Next morning, went to eat brunch at a little bagel shop called the Humble Bagel. Nice big American sandwiches. Later, Holly and I went to "The Knit Shop" where I found some cool threads and bought a couple of knit accoutrements--a ball of sock yarn and a yardage conversion chart. Got some goodies for dessert and dinner and came home.

Freezing is an understatement. It's beautiful weather but too cold to stay outside for long, even though the sun is shining.

Snagged a couple of pictures of everyone...Tim is difficult, won't hold still--but good for a laugh (am I being "sarcastic" again? Hmmmm, you decide!)

Will get photos up in a while. Ciao!