Silver Falls State Park. It’s called the crown jewel of the Oregon State Parks system and is only about 40 minutes outside of Salem — a relatively quick drive for us. The park features 10 waterfalls, including the famous 177-foot South Falls.
We’ve been out there a couple times this autumn. On our last trip, I brought my camera to capture the fall colors:
Aria can now hike up and down the South Falls trail, so I may need to get a yearly parks pass to save on day use fees, as we’ll be visiting more frequently. There are many more waterfalls to see and more hiking to be done in the surrounding forest.
As I wrote in the spring, I’ve taken up playing the ukulele. It started with a friend giving me an extra concert uke that he had at home. I practiced a lot of chords and found decent online tutorials, but ultimately I wanted to take formal lessons. Our mid-summer move complicated my plan, but I found an instructor at the Northwest School of Music in downtown Salem and signed up to begin in late August.
I also changed to a different instrument size. I’ve still got the Mitchell MU-70 concert ukulele, but with a trip to Hawaii and a visit to the renowned Ukulele Site in Haleiwa, I purchased a beautiful Islander AT-4 tenor uke, manufactured by Kanilea. It’s got a laminate body made of acacia, with a mahogany neck and a rosewood fretboard. It’s an entry level ukulele but of higher quality than the Mitchell. The uke went through a professional set-up, which included lowering the action, and was shipped to me a couple weeks later. The Islander is a joy to play. The strings are a little thicker because the instrument is larger than what I played before, but I’ve adjusted.
My lessons are well underway. It became clear very early that Trevor, my teacher, wasn’t going to show me a few chords and strumming techniques and then send me on my way. From the second lesson, he’s been teaching me how to finger pick. I haven’t read music since taking piano as a kid, but a lot has come back to me. He is impressed enough with my progress that he has me adding chords that don’t compete with the melody line, rather than only playing single notes. The music theory that’s involved flies over my head, but I’m learning. It’s also a bit head-spinning to discover that the same note can be played in different places on a string instrument. As a simple example, I can play the C major scale on the C string going up the fretboard, or I can play the scale low on the fretboard using the C, E and A strings.
I’m also learning how to do barre chords, move chord shapes on the fretboard, and change “standard” fingering to make chords or notes easier to play. The latter is crazy to wrap my head around. Ultimately, Trevor wants to help me master the ukulele rather than just play a few sing-along songs with easy chords low on the fretboard, and so he pushes me out of my comfort zone. It’s the early days, but I believe my tuition has been well spent.
My daughter, Aria, is the resident critic at home. She’s told me she likes the music I make and that I can play anytime. She’s also demanded peace and quiet and made it clear she doesn’t want to hear me:
Hmm. That said, I’m able to make her melt with the first complete song I’ve learned:
I’ll update this series as my lessons progress. Currently I’m working on John Lennon’s Imagine. It’s not a terribly difficult song but uses triplets and techniques, such as hammer-ons and pull-offs, which is new territory.
It’s been five years since I last ran a road race. I got tired of training runs and waking up before sunrise to participate in Portland events that were 40 minutes from the suburb where I lived. With the recent move to Salem, I found a new event last spring that looked to be fun — the Spirit of Oregon Half Marathon and 5k. The race was intriguing for a few reasons. It was an inaugural run, and it started and ended at the Oregon Capitol. Unique! It was in fall, rather than winter. It was also an opportunity to embrace the town I was unsure of moving to. My friend, Garrett, who had run in previous races with me, was interested. He also thought it would be cool to be part of something new. We both signed up in May.
The good news is that the commute to the race was quick. I still had to train, though. While I spent time running at our old neighborhood in Wilsonville, I did the bulk of my training in Salem. That’s when I started questioning my sanity. The new home is in south Salem, which is all hills, and our house sits at the top of a steep one. That’s how my runs ended each night, complemented by the requisite gasping and cursing on the final stretch. I was able to keep a decent 10-minute mile pace, which was on par with what I’d done in the past. I just felt 20 years older with the hills and slopes everywhere in my path.
Race day finally arrived October 7. The morning was chilly and the terrain mostly flat. We ran from the Capitol building, through Willamette University, and to Bush’s Pasture Park before turning around. It was the best I’ve ever felt running a race, and my personal stats are indicative of the hill training that I loathed being really helpful:
Overall Time – 26:26, Mile Pace – 8:31, Age Division Placing By Sex – 11 / 34, Placing By Overall Sex – 53 / 151, Overall Finish – 97 / 450.
Last 5k in 2013:
Overall Time – 29:55, Mile Pace – 9:38, Age Division Placing By Sex – 8 / 27, Placing By Overall Sex – 68 / 162, Overall Finish – 157 / 572.
First 5k in 2012:
Overall Time – 31:15, Mile Pace – 10:03, Age Division Placing By Sex – 14 / 21, Placing By Overall Sex – 73 / 139, Overall Finish – 140 / 493.
I don’t know how realistic it is to expect times to continue improving the older I get, but I’ll take it this year. Adrenaline surely helps. Also what I’ll take — no soreness today.
A couple pictures:
It sounds like the race is coming back in 2019. Garrett and I plan to be there! In the meantime, I’ll be on the hills in south Salem. It has kept me in great shape for soccer.
