Tipping Points

I’m dredging up an old metaphor – a cliché, even. The idea that a tipping point does not usually come from a single change, but from the cumulative effect of a number of aligned small changes. Like tossing coins on the pan of a balance scale, most of the work of change causes absolutely no outward change until, suddenly, all the little changes contribute to one significant change.

It’s an interesting experience to watch a balance scale sneak up on its tipping point, when the pan has not yet tipped but you can sense  it quivering with a pent-up desire to suddenly jump into motion. My fingers get twitchy at that moment. So Exciting!!

It’s somewhat more nerve-wracking to watch one’s life at a tipping point. See, we go through them, too. Life changes and life transitions are, perhaps  surprisingly, built up of classic tipping points where a bunch of otherwise inconsequential and low-impact things all line up to create a powerful and influential body - acting either like links of a chain down taking us down into the pits of struggle, or the rungs of a ladder leading us back out to the meadows of prosperity.

We’ve all seen them both. Chains down and ladders up. Undoubtedly.

Over the last couple weeks, I’ve been having that ‘tipping point’ experience again. I’ve been watching things shift. Little things, changing and re-aligning. Things that were hard obstacles moved, rearranging themselves into avenues of progress instead of roadblocks. Each shift has been a like little bit more weight on the pan. In the past couple days, it just seems like the pan has reached the point where it’s quivering. Like we’re sneaking up on the tipping point.

Back in 1993/94, I went through an experience like this. It was as if my whole life unraveled in about six months’ time. The pan just emptied, and the scales thumped hard against my success. But then, after a period of emptiness, things started to rebuild. Fast. Scarily, eerily fast. As if I weren’t steering, even. I remember saying to a friend, “My whole life came apart in 6 months, now it’s rebuilding itself completely in about six weeks, whether I like it or not!”

I didn’t know it at the time, but I was spot-on. The stuff that happened in that six week time period set me on my new course in life that took me further and higher than before; the course that has taken me to where I am now. And I am the better for this new course. My experiences in 1993/94 were the rehearsal for what was still to come.

Which is what brings us to this blog post. See, that same cycle has been playing out in my family for the last few years. We’ve had a series of challenges to work through. Sometimes, the amount of challenge has been overwhelming. But we’ve gotten through. I remember the feeling of despair that accompanied the six months of emptiness; it’s similar to what we’ve weathered recently.

And, and-and-and… oh, i love this next part….

I feel the same sense of tension and excitement that makes my hands twitchy. The pan is starting to quiver. Back then, my life rebuilt in six weeks. This time may take a bit longer, but I '*feel* it. I feel it coming. And I am hopeful that my family and I will find ourselves embarked on a new course that takes us further and higher than before. And we will be the better for this new family course.

We’re Painting Dragonfly

Okay, so we’re working on Dragonfly. That’s the house in SW Portland, you see. Strictly speaking, it needs some new flooring and some wall paint. That’s about it. The carpet is all the original contractor-grade from 2002, so it’s time to upgrade at any rate; a surprising number of the rooms are still painted the original eggshell white dating back to construction as well. So, while we may feel overwhelmed with the work - what with everything else going on - there isn’t that much to do in the big picture.

Outside, for example, about two hours of work covers the must-do items:

• Mow the lawn a couple times over the next week to get it even and under-control
• Take out the dead ornamental tree next to the backyard tree house
• Cut the Wisteria back to size

Over the weekend, we got to following rooms under way:

• Office:  the dark colors covered with primer, ready for a lighter shade of paint
• M’s room: painted with some background colors, ready for a mural to emerge over the next few months
• R’s room: from off white to a color called ‘Glass’, which looks grey but with a hint of blue/purple
• Kitchen/Nook: the same ‘maple’ color we used in the Stark Street kitchen
• Guest Room:  prepared and taped for painting. C deliberated on the color for  a while. She finalized that today. Paint starts tomorrow

Other painting projects on the list:

• Epoxy on the garage floor
• Living Room (first time repaint)
• Stairwells
• Entry
• Dining Room
• New color in the office
• Woodwork repaint with enamel.

In other words, we knocked off 3.5 items from the 11 item list just this last weekend. That’s something like 30% complete already!

The kids helped. I taught R the basics of roller painting. M helped in her own way. Both kids did great service wiping down the woodwork and getting surfaces prepped for paint. They also got their homework done Sunday morning, leaving them at-ease for the rest of Sunday and painting.

There are a number of other things to do – mostly in the form of replacing door hardware that got changed out in a haphazard way.

Looking Back on the Blog:

One Year Ago:

• After the Mercedes got totaled in mid September, N was driving the XJ8 for the first time
• M was getting acquainted with dancing at SOBT
• R was getting familiar with the new gymnasium and a familiar coach
  
• Wreath sales were starting up for both Boy Scouts *AND* OBT

Two Years Ago:

• Paul Gulick retires from Planar
• Johnson family working with multiple contractors, rehabilitating Stark house

Three Years Ago:

• Johnson family starts house hunting to relocate to SE or NE.
• Race for the Cure
• C gets clean cancer scans
• R attends Webelos Woods event
  

Ya Abha Baha'u'llah!

It's a prayer. Ya Abha Baha'u'llah invokes the protection of the Glory of God. Other Baha'is will understand that this invocation brings the immediate support of the celesial concourse, but that's not what I'm here to write about.

For the past few weeks, I've been building my daily prayers around this invocation, praying for strength, going straight to God with requests for victories, for protection of those I love, for wisdom for those who are working on my family's behalf in whatever capacity, for the harmony and unity of my family members. I'm heartened in doing so, and glad I've been at it for a while, because today I need that strength.

C's GYN called today, informing us that the polyp is not cancerous, but qualifies for what they call 'pre-cancerous.' The presence of a pre-cancerous polyp in that region brings C's probability for future cancer up to the 20% range. Understandably, C will be going in for pre-emptive surgery mid-November.

[remember, though, I only blog about good news on the family blog!!]

   - There's no cancer there now.
   - Pre-cancer does not mean that there would EVER be any cancer in the future.
   - The docs are taking out all the parts that run a high risk of follow-on cancer.
   - Withall the high-risk parts gone, there's no place to GET cancer.

So there! It's a surgery. It's six weeks or so of recovery. We can cope with it; it's a pre-emptive strike. It's a victory to find it now, instead of when it's too late. It's a survival ticket.

Ya Abha Baha'u'llah.

Now, somehow, I must get on with my day.

... It nearly KILT Him!!

I've mentioned in passing a couple times that I was expecting a kilt. It arrived yesterday.

C acquired a black Utilikilt brand kilt. Now, this is not your traditional Scottish tartan type garment. Utilikilt positions itself as an alternative, modern, non-traditional, Americanized version of the traditional kilt. Perhaps the highest profile presence of a Utilikilt was on the body of the original Survivor, Richard Hatch, during his successful run at the million dollars (no word whether Hatch still wears his kilt in prison, thanks to his mishandling of that same million dollars).

When my kilt arrived, I found it to be made of a heavy denim-like material (some call it duck cloth, I believe). The waistband wraps around, and a double row of snaps, in a sort-of chevron pattern (think the front of a traditional sailor's pants), hold the kilt together. The belt then locks the waistband together, providing fit and security. One back pocket, and two cargo pockets on the side make for useful and ample stowage. No need for a sporran here, though one certainly could add a sporran, if one wanted...

To put it on for the first time, i found I just wrapped  it around my waist, snapped the snaps, and ran my belt through the loops. There. Done. Dressed! The waist naturally rides right above the hip bones, just below the bellybutton. The hem of the kilt hits just above the knee. I paired it with a long-sleeved white nylon pullover meant for cold weather running - going casual.  I stepped out into the living room, to show C and M, who were anxiously awaiting the first peek of Dad in a Kilt.

"That looks great!" and "Fantastic, Dad!" were the reactions that greated me.

And you know, it was quite comfortable, without seeming like I was exposed in any way. To put this in terms a man who's never worn a kilt might relate to, it's a lot like wearing a bathrobe, except that it fastens MUCH more securely than a bathrobe. It only took a couple minutes to realize I could trust the kilt to stay put much more than I could ever trust a bathrobe to keep me modest.

C's choice of a black duck cloth made the kilt extremely versatile. We found that it dresses UP well with a business-appropriate button-down oxford (with a tie, even!), and dressed DOWN nicely with athletic gear, a t-shirt, or a pullover sweatshirt for a casual look.

The moment of truth, naturally, was deciding to wear the kilt out into public. The Boy Scout troop meeting was starting in a bit... did I dare take my kilt - on its first wearing, mind you - out to a scout meeting with 20 some teenage boys? Sure, I decided. No time like the present to face the most challenging audience. Of course, I checked with R beforehand, to make sure he wouldn't be embarrassed. He took one look at the kilt on me, said, "that's cool!" and gave me the greenlight for the scout meeting. So, with the backing of all my family members, off we went to boy scouts.

The reaction at the scout meeting was almost non-existant (whew!). People noticed, but mostly said nothing. A couple of the older boys asked me about it, very casually. Invariably, each one of those boys was wearing nylon basketball shorts that reached to their knees. I just drew the parallel between what they were wearing and what I was wearing. They both had the ah-hah experience that we were really dressed very similarly and expressed their acceptance that the kilt was "pretty cool"

There you have it - buy-in from the 16 year old boy scouts. They're not going to be nice 'just because', they're going to tell it as they see it. Their buy-in is a true seal of approval.

This will be fun, I think, as we go through the Autumn. Besides around-the-house wear, I can already see how I'd want to take my kilt travelling, camping ... even use it for certain non-business dress-up events. Yep, This will be fun.

Don’t Count Your Chickens…well, maybe just a little bit of counting…

Classes are just starting at the state universities this week… the true signal of Autumn. This weekend was filled with a number of pleasant events and experiences that have the members of Typhoon Johnson feeling more up-beat, though still cautiously optimistic:

1. We had a combined birthday dinner for R and M with Grandma Gin and Grandpa Jerry last night. Spaghetti Factory, and Grandma’s homemade chocolate cake.
2. C is getting busy on her writing contract.
3. We got a serious inquiry from a party that wants to lease-option the SE Portland house.
4. The sales process for the SE Portland house continues to look stronger and stronger.
5. R and I had a great Boy Scout weekend in east county. R learned how to shoot a rifle and a shotgun. He also put in HOURS of archery practice on the archery range.
6. My project with Stuart continues to look like it will produce good results.
7. M’s ballet rehearsals continue to go well. I notice that M is increasingly identifying with ballet as a part of who she is. Last night, she used the back of the sofa as a barre and extemporaneously danced to the music on the stereo.
8. M has a new pair of converse-style tennis shoes that are rhinestone encrusted (courtesy of Patti!) They’re so absolutely M.
9. R’s big science assignment is due at the end of the month. He’s already completed it – with almost no parental hounding, and minimal help editing his writing – and is ready to turn it in. Three days early. Teachers are consistently commenting on Ryne’s increased maturity.
10. The family vegetable garden is delivering a harvest that delights the whole family. My sisters chickens are keeping us well stocked with eggs.
11. C has learned the power of ebay. She’s in the process of equipping R and herself with high-quality equipment for about 25% of the cost for new, and still 50% below the cost of new beginner-level gear. She’s shopping very wisely for good gear.

I dunno. There are glimmers of hope, glimpses of strength and of prosperity in the future.  Still, most of these fertile-looking eggs have yet to hatch. I continue to keep my cool about the emerging good news, I am hopeful that we will roll into winter with some blessings on our side. Autumn is the time of the harvest; when the bounties are put in the barn and prosperity is measured. I feel as if this very thing – a harvesting of blessings – is currently underway. I guess I’m not so much counting my chickens, as I’m budgeting room for them!

A quick photo album from the Whale Trip

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Last Saturday, the Typhoon hit the water for a trip that turned out to be MUCH more enjoyable than expected. C had always wanted to go whale watching and to get up-close-and-personal with the whales. So she took the initiative to find whale watching trips out of DePoe Bay, where ocean access is just minutes from the dock, and where the whales hang out just feet from the cliffs along the shore.

Our tour was on a Zodiak captained by a Marine Biologist Doctoral candidate from OSU who has studied the Gray Whales of the Oregon Coast for almost ten years. She’s written books on the topic, done extensive cetacean research, and taught the kids a BUNCH about Gray Whales.

It didn’t take long for our guide to figure out that – scattered amongst our family members – was an amazingly wide range of detailed knowledge about oceanography, whales, whaling and fur trading history, physics, local customs, DePoe Bay history, and fisheries. We might have looked like city slickers, but we changed that perception right away! I think our guide had as much fun with us as we had with her and her dog, Kita.

Way back when C suggested a whale watching trip, the kids and I were rather ho-hum about it. We envisioned a large boat like the Monterey Bay trip. While I knew how short a trip it is into the Ocean at DePoe Bay, I didn’t know about Zodiak tours.

Once we got there, and got comfy in the four chairs on the Zodiak, everyone got rather excited. Then, five minutes later, we were bow to nose with a gray whale barely even out of the harbor. Being that close, at water level, for an extended period of time, made all the difference for the kids. They enjoyed the experience thoroughly. So did C. Me? Yeah. I had a lot of fun too.

What I enjoyed most was watching my family spend two solid hours brimming with excitement and amazement. They were unabashed in their awe. The “cool factor” was off the charts. C scored a major victory with this particular trip; it was fun to watch her own personal triumph.

Another item checked off on C’s post-cancer bucket list. Nice!