Flat Stanley on the Oregon Coast

This is the last of a four-part review of Flat Stanley's 2003 visit to Oregon. Before Flat Stanley flew home, via USPS, to my nephew's classroom in Indiana he had a chance to visit the Oregon coast with us and our dogs. One of my favorite spots at the coast is the beautiful little city of Astoria, the oldest American settlement west of the Rockies, dating from the fur trading post set up by John Jacob Astor’s men in 1811. It reminds me of a mini-mini-mini San Francisco. There is a quite large Finnish population living there and in the surrounding area, and in past overnight trips to Astoria Mike and I have enjoyed going to the authentic Finnish steam bath on the main drag in town.

In the picture above Flat Stanley is on the balcony of our motel room overlooking the Port of Astoria. The bridge spans the Columbia River.

The following morning we went to the Astoria Column, a favorite tourist site that I never tire of climbing for the view of the Columbia flowing into the Pacific Ocean. Spectacular! This link takes you to a one-page fact sheet about the Astoria Column that is so worth the click.

At the base of the Column there's a brass interpretive plaque mounted into the hillside, where Flat Stanley got the lay of the land.




Mike bought a tiny glider made of thin wood to take to the top of the Column. We posed Flat Stanley sitting on the glider as a joke for the kids in Indiana, then removed him before flying the glider off the observation deck.






We left Astoria and drove along the coastline (nice video at link), stopping at beaches along the way. The dogs demanded numerous stops to run on the sand, and we were more than happy to comply. Flat Stanley found a most attractive sand castle, complete with crab shell centerpiece.






As usual we lingered at the coast that trip with Flat Stanley. I never want to leave the beach when I'm there. Even on day trips staying to see the sunset and dream some in the gloaming before driving home is a must-do.

Flat Stanley hangs out

The kids in our neighborhood are welcome visitors at our house. I don't remember the little girl at the top left, and the boy has moved to another part of town. The three other girls have grown up so much since these pictures were taken in 2003. One of them shared with me just last week that she'd had her first kiss.



But back then Flat Stanley was the boy they celebrated.
























The photo journal I sent to my nephew's second-grade class showed Flat Stanley doing normal household and yard activities while he was our guest. He helped Mike build a wire fence and he and I planted a new rose.














Aside from that work, it was all play.

Having Flat Stanley around actually made me concentrate on a better balance of work and play, as nuts as that sounds!



























Pyewacket, in the meantime, had a different idea...

Flat Stanley meets our pets

This three-day weekend I'm continuing yesterday's post on the trip Flat Stanley made from my nephew's second-grade classroom in Indiana to us in Oregon in 2003. When Flat Stanley arrived he, of course, met our pets. None were much excited by having a paper doll treated like it was more special than a dog or a cat.

Woofles, who passed away in 2007, is in the first photo and Bonbon, still happily with us, is next.






My most precious cat ever is the orange-and-white with the meditative paws. His name was Bleecker and he passed away at age 16 in 2006. I will definitely blog about him in the future.

Feather, now 12-years-old, is the petite white beauty in the center. She misses Bleecker to this day, but is learning to depend upon Shiva Lullaby for companionship.

After meeting the inside cats, Flat Stanley found Pyewacket lounging in the old potting shed. He was the size of a bird but just stood there and didn't smell gamy so she didn't pounce. (Now, in 2008, Pye is old, just had dental surgery, and is relishing this summer's long days in the sun.)

Flat Stanley does yoga

So far so good with my commitment to daily yoga in July. It mystifies me that I couldn't do this on my own, that it required pledging my intentions to the online yoga group. This further confirms an understanding of myself gained in the past decade or so: that I'm not necessarily a self-starter. That's not good or bad, but when I first came to grips with the fact it surprised me.


Here I am in 2003 practicing yoga with Flat Stanley, the little flat guy propped up against my leg. Parents of grammar- and middle school-age children probably recognize the name quickly. This particular version was created by my nephew, Micah, who at that time was in second grade. I opened the mail one day in May to find Flat Stanley and a letter written by his teacher describing the project. He was to stay with Mike and me for a determined amount of time and we were asked to treat him as a member of the family during that time, including him in our daily lives. Then we were asked to return him to Micah's teacher, along with a report of Flat Stanley's time with us, after which she would share all the students' Flat Stanleys adventures with the class. The whole thing so enchanted me that I decided to make a photo journal for Micah. It turned out so well that my sis said they'd keep it forever (individual projects were returned to students after class sharing and discussion).

I was sorry to learn online that The Official Flat Stanley Project is threatened now, it seems due partly to its enormous success. It's a convoluted problem and if you have the inclination you can learn more at the link.

Since I have these photos pulled from storage I might as well feature more of Flat Stanley's 2003 visit with Aunt Lydia and Uncle Mike. Check back over the three-day weekend to see what other activities we shared with the little flat guy.