Life in Portland Area

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Further in, they had a new building (perhaps two years old). Vinson and Anne mentioned that they had read in the paper they were having problems making their mortgage payments on the new facility (the restaurant hadn't had as good a year as they hoped for).
They also had a very pretty stupa in front. This picture doesn't have a very good perspective to get the size of the stupa, but it is probably about thirty feet tall.
They had a particularly large meditation and teaching hall which was very nicely decorated. Here is my brother looking at the images of Buddha. He asked that I take pictures of each of the separate sections which are below.
Here is where the teachings would be given from. On the way to the center, Vinson talked about finishing up his dissertation after he had already given up teaching and was working in a hi-fi store. He told a lovely tale about how finishing it was made worthwhile because of the one time he used it.... He had been helping a local classical music radio station get pieces they wanted, but was speaking with the station manager who was particularly pretentious. After he had asked for particular piece and spelled the composers name, Vinson replied 'You know, as I have a Doctorate in Musicology from Harvard, it probably isn't necessary for you to spell the name of the composers you are interested in'. So cool!
Across the driveway from Vinson's house is their garden. I recognized the spade which is there to help bury kitchen waste. That is such fun. They had lots of squash, cucumbers and tomatoes from the garden. Vinson and Anne are vegetarians and make good use of their garden making many delectable meals which we all enjoyed.
The next morning Vinson was off to the airport to pick up Catherine and her kids at the airport. He hadn't finished the mowing the afternoon before and left the mower out, so I hopped on and finished the mowing. It was great fun though not quite as fun as mowing with a real tractor like I had with cousin Martin.
I had asked Michael, my brother, to bring his hair clippers and he took this picture as well as giving me a haircut. He gave me a nice haircut though it is a little shorter than I usually get it (but I suspect it will grow out again).
Upstairs (above the garage around back), there is Vinson's computer room. Altogether Vinson has six computeres on his network. That seemed a little strange to me until the kids arrived. Five of the computers can play the computer game Diablo 2 and the kids all love to play it.
Here is Maggie, Catherine's oldest, playing Diablo 2.
This is Jacob, Catherine's youngest, and you would never guess what he was doing.
This is Catherine in the sun room putting away a puzzle left out by the kids. She is Amy's youngest daughter. Amy is my cousin and Vinson's sister. She just moved to Jacksonville, FL and is a math teacher. Her husband, Dale, is a High School swim coach and is into swimming big time. He couldn't make the reunion as they were training for a competition.