Judy Borseth, 1912-2007

I'm very sorry to report that my grandmother, Judy Borseth, died yesterday at the age of 95. We've known for some time that the end was near, though we'd been surprised by her resilience in bouncing back from illness so many times in the past that it's hard to believe she won't, in fact, outlive us all.

Our attentive readers will remember Judy from her first meeting with Miles back in May. I'm really happy that they got to spend some time together. Many people remarked on the family resemblance.


We hear so much about the power of positive thinking these days, it's time to recognize the power of good old Nordic stoicism. For most of the past decade, when asked how she was doing, Grandma would simply reply, "Well, I'm still alive... " -- always letting it be understood that her feelings about that fact were rather equivocal. Still, her understated humor and good nature never deserted her, and she retained enough hints of the sparkle we all remembered from her younger days for us to wish that she yet had many more to spend with us.

A little over five years ago, I made a short movie about Judy and her 90th birthday party, which hopefully gives a little glimpse of that sparkle and the effect it had on her family. Thanks to the wonders of YouTube, you can see it here, in three convenient segments:

Part 1:



Part 2:



Part 3:



Uncle Jay has also set up a memorial blog with guest book.

Tonight we assembled some family members for dinner and later played a round of Scrabble in Judy's honor. It was her favorite game, and she never lost her mastery of it. Even when her short-term memory became somewhat challenged, and dates and chronologies a bit of a muddle, she still knew the Scrabble dictionary frontwards and backwards. But she let other players consult the dictionary freely during the game, and her version of the rules forbid any punitive deductions for attempting to play a non-existent word. "It's a learning game," she would declare. It was one of her many pithy maxims that we will always remember--now that her dancing days are truly over.

We'll miss you, Grandma.

-Dean

Miles' First Hike

We chose a gloriously sunny Fourth of July to introduce Miles to the Cascade Mountains. For a kid who had previously never been higher than the sixth floor of Swedish Hospital, Miles handled the trek up Denny Creek near Snoqualmie Pass quite well.


Miles is becoming much more observant of his surroundings. For most of the hike, he was soaking up the stimulae like a proverbial sponge.


We further tested his absorbent properties by dipping him in the river. He didn't seem to mind at all.


We didn't cover as much ground on this hike as we might have in our former days. But the lack of a view from the top of the ridge line was more than compensated for by this little sight right in front of my face:


We can't wait for the next Falvy Family mountain trek.

-Dean

Puppet Theater

We are pleased to present Miles in the world premiere of The Dance of the Muffinhead.

Weekend Warriors

Miles survived his second weekend home alone with Dad!

While Mom was on a business trip to Boulder, the boys got to break out the beer and potato chips, crank up the stereo, and take lots of walks in the Bjørn.


Fortunately, the fridge was well-stocked with all our favorite foods, and everyone lived to tell the tale.


Miles did miss his Mom though, and insisted on regular chats on the phone.

Miles Rocks

My first Father's Day as a card-carrying father turned into a celebration of the arts, starting with the culinary ones, as Lisa and Miles took me to Palisade for a delicious brunch.

Then they gave me a book! Not just any book, but a new biography of one of my old heroes, the late, great Clash frontman Joe Strummer:


In the afternoon I caught our friends the illustrious Leo and Anna Daedalus appearing live and in various recorded media in the show The Theory of Love with Portland's Liminal Performance Group down at On the Boards.


Dashing quickly up Aurora Avenue, I joined Lisa and Miles for a Zootunes concert with the Indigo Girls at the now-very-familiar Woodland Park Zoo.


It was Miles' first concert (post-partum, at least), and in fact his first live music (if you don't count an occasional guitarist at Third Place Books or the karaoke machine in the basement). Even though the Indigo Girls serve up a relatively gentle acoustic mix, Lisa left nothing to chance, crafting a pair of custom infant earplugs for Miles in case the audio threatened to overwhelm him.

We ran into about eight million friends at the concert, including Aly and Allie:


By the time Father's Day was all over, Miles was thoroughly tuckered:

As were we all.

-Dean

Chairman Miles

Zoo Station

Now, we all remember how much Miles likes giraffes. If not, here's a reminder:


On Sunday, he got to check out some real ones at the Woodland Park Zoo:


Then he met the friendly siamang:


Of course, Miles gets to go to the zoo all the time for Mommy's Stroller Strides class, but this was our first trip all together as a card-carrying Zoo Family.


Speaking of families, the gorillas looked so happy and laid back, we thought about letting them raise Miles.


But then we figured, "Nah, he's too cute. Let's take him back home to his natural habitat."