Gardening in Seabrook

 

General Information 

Ric Seaberg

July 28, 2023

Today I met with a new drip irrigation client and in speaking with her, realized I should write down my thoughts about gardening in Seabrook, to possibly help new SB homeowners and residents who love gardening. 

Soil:

If you dig on your property to add a plant, you may find top soil first, perhaps some gravel under that, and ultimately, clay. Clay does not drain well, and we get a lot of moisture in SB during the colder months. So it is important to plant your specimens by digging a good wide, deep hole and adding a very high quality soil for the plant to root in. 

Drip Irrigation:

Even though we experience a lot of moisture during the colder months (and sometimes in the warmer months!), the spring and summer months do dry out the soil (and pots and planters!), so if you want your plants to “thrive”, rather than just “survive” (or even wither away!), get your drip working well!

Wind and Salt:

Ah! The edge of the continent! We love the Pacific! Clamming! Running our dogs on the sand! The natural raw beauty of the coast! Even stormy weather!! But both the wind and salt can wreak havoc on plants. Certain plants do better than others in our environment and exposure to the sea. For example, when Marie and I first moved to SB, in 2018, the landscaping plan for our house on the farm included a nice planting of many climbing jasmine, on the front and side of our house, (but directly exposed to the wind), a plant we love and which we had very successfully grown in Portland. We loved that idea! But alas, by the end of our first year, all 7 of them were showing that they were not going to make it! So we pulled them all out, gave several away, and two of them we replanted behind our garage (we now call this area “The Protection Section”). Today, they are thriving and climbing up trellises I made with driftwood. Even blooming! They are on the east wall of our garage! We have also had great luck with blooming daphne in the protection section. 

Plants:

Here are some plants that have proven to do well even in wind and salt. I am certain there are many others that would also do well, not included here. Try something I haven’t included!

Hydrangeas

Yarrow (yellow, pink, white)

Pine trees and shrubs 

Shasta daisies

Echinacea

Wild roses (Rosa)

Nine bark

Sedum

Blueberries

Lavender (English and Spanish)

Rosemary

Toadflax

Alstromeria

Aster

Fuschia (hardy varieties)

Rush 

Curly Wurly Rush

Oak leaf Hydrangea

Coltsfoot

Boxwood

Myrtle

Escallonia

Western Fern (native prefer shade)

Sedge

Salal

Huckleberry 

Grasses (some, not all)

New Zealand flax

Mahonia

Fireweed

Coreopsis (deer don’t like it!)

Armeria (Sea Thrift)

Euphorbia 

Primroses (best in pots)

Narcissus (daffodils)

Geum 

Dogwood (Cornus, red stick and green stick, very hardy)

Groundcover:

Wild strawberry groundcover

Creeping Jenny

Ajuga

Red blooming strawberry

Pink blooming strawberry 

Climbers:

Honeysuckle

Evergreen Clematis 

Akebia (hardy and underrated!)

Roses (best in a large well drained pot)

Trees:

Kwanzan flowering cherry (bright pink)

Yoshino flowering cherry (muted pink)

Maple

White birch

Pine

Hawthorn 

Red Alder

Tools:

An 18v drill driver with a mini auger attachment is a great way to break up clay soil when needed!

                          

Pots, planters, window boxes:

Pots are a great way to add flare and color to your north beach garden. Some folks like to keep a handful of herbs out their kitchen door in a pot. Pots help certain plants that may not benefit from the hard clay soil we often find in the north beach area, because one can control the soil in the pot. Use a high quality potting soil and fill your pot to 1”-2” from the top of the pot. Then add your plants in adequate holes you dig with your hand or a trowel. Try to leave plenty of room for each plant to grow and thrive, and be sure they are planted below the top of the pot. This will allow for any irrigation you add to pool at the top of the soil and drain to the roots of the plants, rather than cascade over the top of the soil and out the top of the pot. 

Have fun gardening!!

Ric Seaberg

503-887-0111

ricseaberg@gmail.com

The Meat Sweats

Apparently there is a known or fictional physical condition on this here mighty orb called "The Meat Sweats", which may or may not befall you after you have eaten an entire rack of baby backs, er something, maybe a whole Costco chicken which a friend of mine claims to have done on at least one occasion, or perhaps the time you slammed the Emperor's 32oz. cut of Prime Rib as outlined on the menu at John Ballzell's Prime Rib World in Duluth. Whatev. I am a meat eater by trade, and I do not believe I have ever experienced "the meat sweats". I did, however, totally crack up the first time I saw talented actress/comedian and insurance advertiser Stephanie Courtney in this Progressive Insurance commercial mention said condition. So funny.

When we moved out here to Grays Harbor County, in 2018, we didn't exactly experience culture shock, but Marie and I have both noticed some very interesting cultural stuff, which we enjoy chatting about when we see or experience something that seems to be a Grays Harbor "thing". Like, for example, take chicken gizzards.

Not one of my faves. I mean I'll eat'em. However, yeah, not big on the gizzards. But I swear to you there are what I feel is an abnormal number of restaurants out here that feature the lowly gizzard on their menu. Not feelin' the cheeseburger today? Hell! Go with the gizzards then! Cuz you may want to chew each one of them somewhere in the neighborhood of 9000 infinity. Everybody's doin' it! I guess. "Did you want some ranch or fry sauce with those?"


Another interesting offering, which I myself am so very down with, is "Prime Rib Nights", at many eateries here. So since I love me a big ol' hunk-o-rare-prime-rib, just about any night, maybe a few nights in a row, thought I would throw down a list of such places and when they are serving Prime Rib, here in Grays County, below. Since you, and I, might wanna give gettin' the blinder meat sweats a try.

So here is a list of our local prime rib joints. My goal is to have one piece of prime rib at them all, and then start over. I have them organized by days of the week. In case you want to go every day for a week.


Monday:
Emily's Restaurant at Quinault Beach Casino serves prime rib every day of the week! That's your go-to prime rib place for Mondays. 78 State Rte. 115, Ocean Shores, WA

Tuesday:
Gonna have to be Emily's again, above. Also, gamblin' with horseradish breath.

Wednesday:
The Welcome Inn, 520 23rd St., Hoquiam, WA.
The Seagate Restaurant, 4594 State Rte 109, Pacific Beach, WA.
Duffy's Restaurant, 1605 Simpson Ave, Aberdeen, WA
Emily's, above.

Thursday:
Duffy's Restaurant, 1605 Simpson Ave, Aberdeen, WA
Emily's, above.

Friday:
Duffy's Restaurant, 1605 Simpson Ave, Aberdeen, WA
The Welcome Inn, 520 23rd St., Hoquiam, WA.
The Green Lantern Pub, 2119 State Rte 109, Copalis, WA
Emily's, above
Simpson Avenue Grill, 825 Simpson Ave, Hoquiam, WA 98550
Westport Winery, Westport, Wa

Saturday:
Duffy's Restaurant, 1605 Simpson Ave, Aberdeen, WA
Emily's, above
Westport Winery, Westport, Wa


Sunday:
Emily's, above

If I have made any errors here or if you have other info please contact me at ricseaberg@gmail.com

Actual piece of prime rib I was once served in Canyonville, OR

And lastly, and perhaps not very shockingly, I once wrote and recorded a song that has prime rib in it, well, "rib-eye steak" to be exact, which is grilled prime rib, titled "Food Chain", here.

Drip Irrigation

I love to garden. Today is June 1, 2019, and our little burg of Seabrook is coming alive with beautiful lush summer greenery and flowers. This in a gorgeous beach town setting. Just. Wow. It took me a few hours to get our drip irrigation system back online, since each Fall I remove my automatic watering timers and take them in to my warmish shop for the colder, wetter months to extend their usefulness. And for the last couple of days I have been helping a neighbor repair and add some additional drip to her yard. Thought I would finally write a little piece about drip irrigation.

I became interested in drip irrigation about 35 years ago when I saw a display at a hardware store and honestly I thought, holy crap I gotta buy some stock in this! Drip Irrigation is a type of micro-irrigation system that has the potential to save water and nutrients by allowing water to drip slowly to the roots of plants, either from above the soil surface or buried below the surface. The goal is to place water directly to the root zone and minimize evaporation. No brainer! So I bought some parts (so few were available in the early days of drip!), and I have been a big proponent of drip (and drip timers!) ever since.

When I was 35, I was in full swing as a bakery retailer. During those years I operated my "Richard's Bakery" of Tualatin, Oregon, and later, "Favourites Bakery" in Portland. But having been interested in gardening since I was a child, I spent what little free time I had building a pretty yard and garden. Some folk jus' get the bug! However, rising at 3 or 4 a.m. and running a store that involves both manufacturing and sales is a big task. "Dammit!" I may have been heard to mutter as I got into my car to go to work, having noticed the drooping azaleas or bedding plants. "I didn't water again yesterday!!!" Sound familiar? So when drip irrigation came along, whereby I could set a timer to go off in the middle of the night and discreetly and accurately water all my plants, I was immediately all in! Now, for 35 years I have been adding drip to my house, my business, and since about 2005, helping other folks also get set up to enjoy this easy and effective plant watering method. Whether you have plants in the ground or even a complicated line-up of pots, window boxes or some other type of planter, there is a way to get water to them automatically and consistently. 

I won't lie to you. Drip irrigating your yard or garden can be complicated. At this point, I have the advantage of oh so many years of getting to know all the available parts. First, I read up on everything about drip. I watched videos. I spent an inordinate amount of time over the years in knee pads slithering through crocosmia and lilacs, (oh yeah get some soft lightweight knee pads!), and then, I stood in front of those little boxes full of drip parts at Home Depot and figured out how every one single of them is used. And then I used them. So glad I learned this stuff. My yards and gardens have flourished brilliantly because of it. I think I may have even gotten a little more money for my commercial building because I had gardened the hell out of it and it looked great! My best advice is to check out a bunch of YouTube videos about drip before you begin. 

                                         When we gardened our commercial building

GETTING STARTED:

First, take a look at your yard and consider where your water sources are around your home. Most homes have at least one outdoor spigot or "hose bib". Analyze how you might run a 1/2" drip tube through your yard such that it passes by your trees and shrubs. Attach your 1/2" drip hose to your drip timer as shown with a hose threaded plastic adapter. Push and rock your 1/2" drip tubing into the adapter about 3/4". 

 



The best way to get your 1/2" drip into the yard to make it useful is to start with a regular 1/2" drip
line, usually black. Weave it into the yard, and then attach it to an emitter style tube, like the tan
one here. It has built in drip emitters every 16". As you continue to weave the tan drip emitting tubing through the yard, you will likely be able to pick up some shrubs along the way as you will notice that you can weave it such that some plants will benefit from the built in emitters. When you like where you've got it, and have found place to end it, use a 1/2" "endie" to close it off at the end. Great start!


KEEP GOING!!!

Moving forward you will just want to find a way to water each and every plant in your yard or garden. Using all of the different drippers and barbs, even sprayers, run either more of your 1/2" dripper tubing, or puncture your 1/2" tubing and then add some 1/4" tubing to find your way to each plant. In time you'll get good at knowing which fittings and drippers to use. Also, sneak your way into pots and planters in a similar way. Just keep moving. You'll make some mistakes. Your best bet is to really familiarize yourself with all the available parts and what they are meant for first. I encourage you to stand in front of the drip parts at Home Depot or some larger store and get to know the parts.

1/4" barbs

1/4" and 1/2" flow regulators

"On-line" and "In-line" drippers

In-line" dripper

On-line dripper

My last piece of important advice before you go on your merry way and get this drip thing on your resume is to use a long fire lighter to slightly warm your 1/4" line before you add barbs or emitters. Way easier! Pictured above!

                                           
I am gonna stop right here because fo reals you will need to do some research beyond my tract! Type drip irrigation into your browser and give it an evening. It's so worth it. My vintage nasturtiums in that window box on my man cave are already going crazy cuz they get proper water and basically all I do is stand back and watch them get full and beautiful and hanging over the basket. It's at these times that I thank The Gods of Drip Irrigation! Happy to answer any questions. Text 503-887-0111. Ric

                                               

                                                  

   

A Tour of My Old Man Armchair

Marie suddenly burst forth into sarcastic laughter last eve as we communed by the TV, dog curled up, "Wives with Knives" or some such mindless fluff on the tube, she lying on the couch, and me all cozy and comfy with my lap quilt, sitting in my completely awesome Old Man Armchair. "Whut" says I, already vibin' that she is gonna reflect on my chair situation. "Your chair", she giggles out loud, it's a damn Old Man Chair. "That is correct", says I, all confident and comfortable and assertive, within arm's reach of the remotes, a piping hot cup of Puerh tea, pens, sharpies, fresh pencils with good erasers, my back scratcher, glucose test kit, computer, wireless headphones, a selection of baseball caps, mail and other clerical, Tums, glasses supplies, Kleenex, my cane, my purse, basically an organized sexagenarian's armada of hard candy and teeth picky things and electronic stuff, oh yeah I forgot the Bose bluetooth tune box, all ready for me to connect my iPhone and rock out to the Weepies "Hideaway". And a power strip with 2 USB ports. "You betcha Orabelle", I goes, "everything an old fart could possibly need right here by my side, quit lookin' at me". So to appease my pluperfect partner's chastisement and feminine sensibility, today I removed 5 cup hooks from the compound, which I had screwed into the door, for I had admittedly, at some point, maybe gotten a teensy bit carried away with the cup hooks. Here are some more photos. I mean of my Old Man Armchair and environs.

Is this not awesome? The chair is an official "Relax the Back" zero gravity armchair. There is a knob below the left arm that engages the electric motor which raises the front of the chair and takes me back to zero gravity nirvana.

My Old Man Armchair cabinet is a sheet music cabinet handed down to me from my step-grandfather John Edward Martin, he was a great guy, and a singer. So he had a ton of sheet music, (I still have most of the old sheet music), which at one time adorned the little flat drawers in the cabinet.

Of course, in one's Old Man Armchair cabinet, you store important stuff right next to you so you can grab it anytime, and fulfill your life long destiny of championing the concept of motion economy 

I added these little divider trays a couple years ago to keep it neat

Salt duh

Cabinet side, oh yeah there are my old ratty Bose earbuds by the hanging back scratcher. But they're still workin' fine.

Cordage

I use the bottom spot for paper recycle

Go Ducks!!

My Friend Tim Ellis

2015

My friend Tim Ellis slipped this mortal coil yesterday, having valiantly fought that damn cancer in the recent past. Tim was 60. Perhaps some of you heard of the magnificent benefit concert held in Tim’s honor last month, at Portland’s newly remodeled “Revolution Hall”. The venue was packed to the ceiling with friends and fellow musicians. The program was so great, starring Pink Martini, Art Alexakis of Everclear, Steve Hale, Aaron Meyer, Tom Grant, Patrick Lamb, Michele Van Kleef, many others, and even featured the weakening Timmy playing guitar. It was a wonderful tribute for Tim, attended by many of Timmy’s friends and acquaintances he had made over many years as Portland’s best and most sought after guitarist, oh, and all around great guy. He will be so missed by so many. I offer my condolences to Tim’s wife Susan, Tim’s family, and the many, many peeps and musicians Tim had grown close to, like Jim Walker, Jean Pierre Garau, and Aaron Meyer.

In 2001, after I had battled my own health issues, I decided to begin recording again, after many years of putting music on the back burner. I had sold my bakery, had an awesome relationship going with Marie, and all of a sudden, a few new songs started coming through. I had read an article in The Oregonian about Tim and his musical and recording prowess, so I called him and asked if he would consider playing guitar on my songs, which I had recorded at home, but which needed the attention of a quality pro guitar player. So we made a date for Tim to come over and record two songs, “Forever Marie”, which tells the story of offering my hand in marriage and professes my love for my amazing future wife, and another song, "Like Him That Way", which I had written for my also amazing step-son Blaine Deatherage-Newsom, whom I had also fallen in love with.

So Tim came over, lugging a couple guitars and his amp, and his effects pedals, and we eventually made it upstairs to my little office studio. But first Tim met Blaine, which I could tell, made a huge impression on Tim. From that day forward, it went like this: when I had prepared songs for Tim to play on, I would call Timmy and make a recording date. Tim would arrive, pet the dogs, we would drag his equipment into the foyer, and then he would make a beeline for Blaine’s room, where they would spiritedly gab and laugh for the first half hour of Tim’s visit. This happened dozens of times. Blaine would anticipate Tim’s arrival like a kid in a candy store. They would talk mostly sports, in some depth, given their mutual love and knowledge of sports. The Dodgers. Tim loved the Dodgers. Well mostly. Tim was consistently respectful, warm and kind to Blaine. Major points.

Tim and I recorded over 200 songs together, mostly written by me. On that first day of recording, I saw in person for the first time the musical genius who would become my dear friend devise and play the most amazing guitar parts on the two songs I mentioned above. I am certain that Tim was moved by our family and especially by Blaine’s attitude and bravery. But I had no idea that this inspiration would translate into such magnificent guitar work. 

Here’s how Timmy would work on my songs. First, I would give him a printed lead sheet of the songs chords. Then, with headphones on, we would listen to the song, which contained all the parts, bass, drums, vocals, and make marks on the lead sheet while it played, sometimes I would yell something at him, like “SOLO”, which he would acknowledge with a nod. Then he would tell me what he wanted to do. Like “this song needs an acoustic guitar, let’s track that first”. Or, “I brought the Telly, (Fender Telecaster), let’s try this”, as he tweaked the buttons and knobs of his amp. Maybe he would say, “Hey, play the intro please I wanna be sure I’ve got this echo timed right”. Then he would say, “ok let’s record”. And believe it or not folks, this cat could then play the song, the rhythm part, the lead part, other embellishment, first time through! On the two songs mentioned above, it was one and done for all the parts. On occasion, over the years, I would just shake my head and say, “Tim, you blow my mind, how in the living hell do you do that?”, to which he would always kindly respond, “Ric, your songs inspire me!”

So yeah, amazing musician, absolutely amazing. Entrepreneur. Chatterbox. And Tim and I had other things in common too. We both started businesses, and we both owned commercial property. We were both employers and landlords. We had plenty to talk about! I am so blessed to have even known Tim Ellis, let alone to have a catalog of over 200 songs that he played on. But the thing I am most blessed for, is that Tim was a very fine and loving friend to Blaine, for which I will be forever grateful. Tim was a great friend to me, to Marie, and especially to Blaine. The world needs more people like Tim Ellis. 

Here are some of Tim's finest performances on my songs, a couple of which he speaks on:

We Talk About Cars 2015 (In the song's outro there is a short dialog between Tim and I)

The Bill Walton Song 2002 (Check out that insane guitar solo)

300 Million Chances 2014 (small talking part for Timmy in the intro)

You Went Crazy 2004 (Tim surprised me at the end of the song by yelling "Crazy" into the pick up on his guitar)

The two songs highlighted in the text above are great examples of Tim's fine work

Tim rockin' my "Airscreamer" Epiphone guitar

My story in annoying detail:

Website: http://www.ricseaberg.com (Many more songs featuring Tim Ellis on guitars at "Music" in menu)

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ric.seaberg.5

Blog: http://www.ricseaberg.blogspot.com

CDBaby: http://www.cdbaby.com/m/artist/RicSeaberg

iTunes: https://itunes.apple.com/us/artist/ric-seaberg/id7749841

Soundcloud: https://soundcloud.com/ric-seaberg

Ric Seaberg's Killer Croutons

My diet consists mainly of high protein, low carb foods, owing to the fact that my bod doesn't process sugars as it should, and likes to tip the glucose scale right to the edge of 7, making me a perennial pre-diabetic, well, let's just say diabetic. So no ice cream. And other stuff. But I don't have a bit of trouble finding good things to eat, and whether we are cooking at home or dining out, I can always find something to enjoy.

I eat a lot of salad, maybe a chicken Ceasar, or a sliced steak salad, with olive oil, apple cider vinegar, and maybe a packet of Splenda, cuz I like my dressing sweet sometimes. And luckily there are a plethora of salad bars, really good ones, located close to home, so I like to run over there and load up. I mean really excellent, clean salad bars, greens, artichokes, shrimp, steamed and grilled asparagus tips for godsake. But one thing I seldom find to be satisfying, and lord knows I need a little starch, are the croutons! Some of the salad bar places, and restaurants, make their own decent croutons, but mostly, they suck. I had a hankering for some croutons a couple days ago, so I bought these:

Here's the ingredient statement:

Ok so maybe sometimes ya buy something to save yourself some time. I just think store bought croutons are the worst. But luckily, I know how to make croutons, since I made them for many years in my bakeries to accompany soup. Ya buy the soup, you get croutons for free at the li'l soup buffet we had set up. Man did we go through the croutons. Croutons are simple. And you can use an aging loaf of bread! I prefer french bread, or sour dough, but any kind of bread will work. And I like to slice my own bread, as shown below, so I can make'm largish:

So cut up a whole loaf of bread into crouton pieces, and put them in a bowl. Then add a half a pound of melted butter as I have done below, and 1/4 teaspoon salt, 1/4 teaspoon pepper, and 1/2 teaspoon of granulated garlic. Or season it to taste. But don't add any stupid rosemary or some other harsh spice trying to be all gourmet nshit:

Then use your hands to toss the croutons in the butter, salt pepper and garlic, cuz this way you get the butter well distributed plus also you'll recall that last Crisco party you attended in the summer of 68 in Crescent City. Of course there is no secret to making great croutons. When you add this much butter to anything, its gonna be good.

Dump on a sheet pan, I like to use some parchment paper cuz force of habit for bakers:

I sprinkled some dried parley on too for color but one could add dried parsley in the hand mixing stage.

Then I baked the croutons for about 1 hour and 20 minutes at 225 degrees, to completely dry them out, so they are nice and crunchy. Now these are killer salad croutons. Or you can eat'em by the handful as a snack. Once you start eating them, it's hard to stop! Also they freeze well so make a bunch! Enjoy!

Website: http://www.ricseaberg.com

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ric.seaberg.5

CDBaby: http://www.cdbaby.com/m/artist/RicSeaberg

iTunes: https://itunes.apple.com/us/artist/ric-seaberg/id7749841

Soundcloud: https://soundcloud.com/ric-seaberg

Christmas 2015

I have been thinking about my step-son Blaine, and Christmas, and how we will be holidaying this year without him. Kinda got a hole in my heart over here. Oh, how Blaine loved to get together with peeps and just socialize to the hilt. It has been said many times by those of us close to him, and by many others, that given his disabilities, Blaine was such a happy and smart and engaging and self confident fellow. A true inspiration to those who knew him and even those who would just meet him for the first time. Blaine brought out the best in people. If you know Blaine, first you are struck by what an amazing cat he is, and then you imagine what his life is really like, and then you remember to shut the fuck up the next time your latte is served tepid. Cuz gratitude rush.

That’s Blaine up there the year he and I raided every Goodwill in Portland for Primo Tacky Christmas Ornamentation, which we displayed proudly on the front porch of our house, much to Marie’s pleasure and marvelment. Somewhere on that table is a piece of toast someone had made into a tree ornament and then it got donated and resold to us at the Goodwill. Absolute best Christmas tree ornament ever conceived. When we do stuff like this Marie thinks we are so awesome!

The way Christmas works at our house is, my two children and their husbands and children and my sisters and their fams come to our house to visit Grandpa Ric and Grammy Marie on a weekend day before Christmas. We make merry, eat killer foods, exchange a few gifts and talk like crazy. Almost every year I am struck by the fact that the house is just abuzz with very boisterous (and loud!) conversation. And we watch football.

So the 2015 holiday party at our house is coming up soon, and well, there's an elephant in the room. And I write better than I speak, so here goes:

We all miss Blainey so much! My daughters Stacey and Amy, their hubs Tim and Gary, the grand kids, my sisters and their families, all of the Deatherage clan, Blaine’s dad’s family, and all of his many, many friends. Blaine was such a gregarious person, social to the max, loved to laugh, was always ready to follow me down some path of ridiculousness, like making Twinkies flambé. Or “Bama Bombs”. He just loved joining in on the fun. Together, we could be just a teeny bit mischievous.

But we don't miss Blaine like Marie misses Blaine. Imagine how much you miss him, and then multiply that by maybe 9000 cuz that’s my default mondo number. Blaine has been gone for almost a year, and we have passed his birthday, and we have passed other milestones, and here comes the holidays, and our family parties, while we move ahead one step at a time. And I have been watching Marie very closely every step of the way this past year.

I want to say something about Marie here as I remember Blaine and how he could just light up a room with his intelligence and conversation, his kindness, and his love. I know for sure that the reason why Blaine enjoyed life so much was because of his mom.

Marie was a great advocate for Blaine with regard to all things medical, and she and Blaine walked right past the shadow of death a few times as Blaine was growing up. Like 14 surgeries. Sheesh. But Marie was way, way more than just a medical advocate for Blaine. Marie spent countless hours as Blaine was growing up lovin' on him and teaching him things and giving him knowledge and experiences through reading and travel, getting him online at a very early age, discussing the news in depth, playing games, the litany is endless. All designed to help Blaine function and succeed in the world. Yes, Blaine came equipped with a very good ability to think, and in some areas, like math, excelled. But other behaviors that most of us take for granted were more of a challenge. Helping Blaine, especially when he was quite young, perform in school classes and stay up with classmates was challenging. Teachers were sometimes alarmed at Blaine’s lack of focus and difficulty in performing and finishing projects. I believe it was his constant companion, Marie, during those early years especially, who informed Blaine’s attitude and developed in him a thirst for knowledge and a zest for life. 

I have a couple of Marie’s keepsake boxes buried in my office closet, (my office was once Blaine’s bedroom), which I suppose have been there for over 30 years, and I have peaked into the boxes on several occasions, enjoying the trappings of Blaine’s early years, a Halloween costume (Handmade! Dinosaur with claw gloves!!), other papers and projects, dozens of “I Heart Trees” buttons, all kinds of stuff. But when I ran into the 3x5 cards, some of which I’ve pictured below, I felt like I’d found my metaphor for the depth of input Marie added to Blaine’s life. As you can see, there are several dozen of them.

During the grade school years, though most teachers and professionals were concerned and kind regarding their treatment of Blaine, and fully intended on educating him to the best of their ability, sometimes getting Blaine’s attention and keeping it could be a challenge. To them, it was alarming, and daily notes sent home with Blaine would report his daily behaviors, his achievements, or lack of focus, owing to his many disabilities.  So Marie devised a plan to help him perform better in school, as shown below on the cards. If Blaine had a good report for the day, there was a reward! And rewards designed to appeal to Blaine’s most powerful motivator, his social side! See? Brilliant. But this is just a teeny tiny surface scratch of the types of things Marie did to help him all along the way until he graduated from barely accessible Wilson High School here in Portland. While holding down a full time job, every day of her life was also filled with plans and projects and reading and rewards so that Blaine could achieve. And some kind of amazing and exceptionally deep bond was formed between Blainey and his Mom. I remain in awe when I consider the amount of input and love that this Mom displayed over all the years of Blaine’s life. And how much a mother can and will do for their children. And why my sweet wife still grieves. She still needs some more understanding and hand holding. For Christmas!

Website: http://www.ricseaberg.com

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ric.seaberg.5

CDBaby: http://www.cdbaby.com/m/artist/RicSeaberg

iTunes: https://itunes.apple.com/us/artist/ric-seaberg/id7749841

Soundcloud: https://soundcloud.com/ric-seaberg