The River of Shining Light and the Halo Around the Sun

 Summer solstice camping on the Metolius River 

Camp Sherman, Oregon. 

A lovely time with an auntie, uncle, grandma, and grandpa.

   At 1 p.m. everything positively glows. The sun slants its back on me. The river is brilliant, while ripples of crystal flow downstream where insects seek nectar. My nectar is before mine eyes: every shade of green. The spectrum talks to me. Rustle of grass. Gurgle of river.

   The fly fisherman, skinny as his rod, wades in and seeks a blended immersion. Save his bright orange pole and black sunglasses. I dare say, they see his eyes glaring at them. They glare right back.

   Note to fly fisherman and women: Mid-morning, in the same pool of crystalline water, a bull trout, all 15 glorious inches of him, is landed. The husky fisherman, planted now, near the west bank, casts his shadow behind him. He is fully sea, sand, and sky. The bull trout has met his match. He agrees to a little free play on the Metolious today. Both enjoy the match immensely. Both resist. Both are released. Heading home.   

Happy Father's Day

 Into the woods we go...

Will we ever leave the Lego's at home?

Chilly mornings.

She did the whole 3.9 mile lake loop trail...and then we took a long nap.

   Friday was a slammed kind of pack day. Ever had one of those? The kind where you don't really like each other when you finally get out the door? Breathe. Drive. Arrive.

   It got better: I forgot cocoa and s'more supplies. See, I told you. Then we had the worst camp neighbors ever. I thought we were headed home Saturday morning, their speech was so awful.  I prayed all Friday night, through the night, for safety and peace. (This is why we love our rover buddies. Time in the woods, with friends, in out of the way places. Peace and quiet. Safely and sanely.)  Thankfully, we were able to relocate. Amen.

   Saturday was much much better. We took a lovely hike, had a yummy lunch with an auntie, uncle, and cousin, paddled the lake a bit, took a long nap, and enjoyed the campfire.  

   Sunday, we made it home in time to make wood fire pizzas on the Big Green Egg and eat Guinness Stout cupcakes with two grandpa's. Yum.

Happy Father's Day!

Overcoming

She's had a tough late winter and spring.

We are leaning hard into Grace.

I am SO proud of her. 

She keeps smelling the flowers and filling the vases.

Guess the materials at the Engineering Fair.

Checking out Google Glass.

She's her daddy's girl, with a bit of Jane Austen thrown in

.

She rocked the hover craft and proceeded to prune the shrubs!

Fire? Yes, she did sir.

And yes, she hit the target 3 times. Soon, she'll be using my bow.

Dreamer.

Visionary.

Weaver of intricate bits of lace, called paper.

Imaginator.

Math Maverick.

Nocturnal owlet.

Caster of words, and spinner of orbs.

Dragon Slayer.

I called her a "dragon slayer" to J the other night. His reply: "Well, she's certainly not the damsel in distress."  She's as feisty as ever. Praying this summer brings answers. Trusting.

Advent Art and Slappy Happy

Tonight, we are inspired out. After several full days, the kids were very happy to head to bed. Surely, Mary knew sleep loss in order to appreciate and birth beauty.

Last night, beauty was found in breaking bread with friends, some old and some new.

A St. Lucia Day Loaf

This morning, we crawled out from under warm covers to see the beauty of the Samurai.

A creative and warm art teacher arranged a tour of the Samurai exhibit for her kids.

Sketching.

A particularly moving sculpture of water.

Brother and a Monet

He liked the electronics, a few pictures, and the gift shop books.

Who cares if it's a Picasso? It's time for fuel.

Happy at Slappy Cakes.

Pour out the pancake batter, add toppings, heat, and eat!

Chicken Fried Bacon with Caramel Sauce. Undecided.

 

Then carolling, cookies, cocoa, and a bonfire...and now you know why it's bed time!

A Review: The Heart of Robinhood, Oregon Shakespeare Festival

Checking it all out; The Elizabethan Theatre at OSF is truly quite amazing. Brother ran laps through every single row on the main level to "experience the theatre" pre-performance. Later that night, he was awake, and on the edge of his seat the whole performance. 

Ashland is a special place to our family. We honeymooned there many years ago, and we try to get down there yearly. The kids have been to Ashland, but never for a play, until now. This past weekend, we ventured south for The Heart of Robinhood, a United States premier. Robin (and Marian) lived up to their expectations and ours. They both enjoyed the show enormously. I'm not sure whether I enjoyed the show best, or watching the changing levels of surprise on their faces. We had cheap seats, but they were down front, to the side, and very good. OSF does a great job of keeping the action to the forefront of the stage, so we were literally within spitting distance of the actors. Yes, literally!

The play was labelled kid friendly, but there were not many children present, which was sad. The scariest part for children was how nasty Prince John was, and he was nasty through and through.  During intermission, after an especially dramatic scene that displayed John's cruelty, I asked brother what he thought of Prince John. He immediately said, "Prince John does things in the name of God, that God would never do." For a kid who prefers joke and science books, soccer, rocks, and fun conversation, we were amazed how well he was able to articulate Prince John. A well done work of art, calls forth a response from us.

Overall, the play was kid friendly, and was advertised as such, but we have learned to always check. I asked an OSF volunteer and two staff in the gift shop about language and lewdness and none felt that was an issue. They did feel the be-heading which happens early in the play might be a bit scary to some kids. The beheading was fine: it was a very well dressed coconut head that went rolling, but there were a few things including a few words, that could have been left out. Those words didn't, and don't add anything to the play. We are constantly trying to balance those kinds of things while learning to appreciate the arts. One particular incident, was when one of Robinhood's men asks the priest, in jest, for forgiveness for spying through the peep hole on his neighbour's wife. Why does this need to be included? In a day and age, when the stats conclude that many struggle with pornography, why must we make a joke of something that is destroying families and marriages in our society? Let's call pornography in any form, what it is: evil.

image from OSF

In addition, while Ashland is a great town,  it can at times feel a bit non-welcoming to kids. We stayed at a small hotel with a pool that takes children (most B and B's do not), but unfortunately, a group of ladies acted like the pool should be devoid of children. The kids didn't splash or kick anyone, didn't cannon ball, and were well behaved, but still we felt there was an attitude that they weren't welcome. When do we instill a love of the arts in children, if not, while they are still children? That means inviting them into adult spaces and making them feel welcome, and better yet, asking them to thoughtfully dialogue about the plays. 

 Highlights

The Heart of Robinhood

The playground in Lithia Park

Deer on the walkway in Lithia Park

The pool

Morning Glory Cafe Bacon Belgian Waffles with Walnut Butter:

They were so good, we had them two mornings in a row!

Ashland High School Garage Sale:

New keens, books, soccer balls, and 2 sweaters: $12

Baby chicks at the Ashland Farm store

Playing on the creek while eating dinner at Thai Pepper 

A new ableskiver pan

Get thee to Ashland and take in a play. 
OSF is one of Oregon's true gems.

Mary's Peak Hike

Great things are done when men and mountains meet. 

These are not done by jostling in the street. 

~ Streams in the Desert August 25th

A foggy morning, gave way, to the warmth of the sun.

We met a Ranger who shared his love of rocks with us.

Great attitudes graced the trail for our 5 mile hike  (mostly :-)

I found muscles, I haven't used in awhile.

We ate gelato.

We watched Tom and Jerry.
I made applesauce.
We read a little.

We called it a day.  

Water Birth

When you pass through the waters,  I will be with you; and when you pass through the rivers,  they will not sweep over you. ~ Isaiah 43:2

The water beckons me come. The memory of the womb, lies deep within. The water soothes me, gently lapping at lovely memories. The water and womb, a place where my chatter and chaos meets calm.

There are barriers to be crossed for sure. But, barriers, when crossed, birth us.

The water lapping against the piers, is just now, gentle. But some days the waves rage and the land disappears. There is only the wave, but it shall not consume. Though the barrier of the bar must be crossed, hold onto that wave. Ride it out. Ride it high. Trust. He who made the wave, will take you and I to shore. A shore in which we might hold our head up, and discover a new and distant land.

Ride the wave. Ride it high. 

~ Kim

If You Want to Change YOUR World, Pick Up Your Pen and Write

Around here this summer, we are working on living Martin Luther's words. Sister and brother both submitted essays to a local water park in an attempt to earn tickets for a wet adventure; they are quite sure it will change their world in good ways! 

Brother's essay fell short of the required 500 words, but we'll extend some grace. He's just eight, and writing is definitely not his favourite thing right now. His writing style is short, sweet, and to the point. Sister, however, had lots to say! While, she did not win the four tickets they offered, they were gracious and sent her two tickets for her effort. Way to go! 

The calm before the chaos!

One day, I woke up and got out of bed and fed the sea monkeys. Then I had breakfast. Around 8:00 a.m., we left to go to Evergreen's Waterpark. When we got there, I realized that I had put the sea monkeys in the car. I took them out of the car. Somehow, they got in the water park. Luckily, a life guard caught them for me.

P.S. I think they had fun. 

 ~ by Brother

Just wait, soon it will take off with kids!

Dear Evergreen Wings and Waves Park Board,

Here is my essay. I hope you enjoy reading it. I am nine years old. I'm going to be in fifth grade next year. I have been to your Wings and Waves Waterpark one time. It was really fun. I want to tell you what I liked about the H2O Museum, the Wings and Waves Waterpark, and how I think you could improve your Waterpark and Museum.

First, what's the best the best part of the Wings and Waves Waterpark? The slides! What's so great about the slides? There are so many of them, that's what! With a great variety of slides, you never know which one to choose. Should you take the yellow one, or the orange one? Maybe go on both? It's your decision! Another great place to have fun is the wave pool. With the great waves, it easily could be the funnest part of Wings and Waves. And the way the helicopter dumps water on the little kids area, it's just as much fun! I definitely like the water park as much, if not more than the museum!

Next, there are some things in the H2O Museum that I like. The vapor machine is really cool. It is so fun to get a cloud of fog right in your face. The water damming station is perfect for even the smallest child. The Mars Rovers are super fun to play with.

Finally, I think you have room for improvements. When I went to the H20 Museum your Mars Rovers quit working because there was a problem with the battery pack. Also, I never got to use the Mars Rovers because everyone wanted a turn. Evergreen should add another Mars Rover exhibit and also encourage time limits on this exhibit. In addition, the H2O Museum doesn't have many exhibits with water. I understand why you have the Mars Rovers because I know that NASA (National Air and Space Administration) is looking for water and life on Mars. Others may not know that though, so it would probably be a good idea to put up a sign by the Mars Rovers exhibit explaining that. An improvement you could make to the water park would be having a pool with fish that you can swim with. I hope you don't mind my giving you ideas for improvements.

Truly, the Wings and Waves Waterpark is a great place. I hope you enjoyed my essay about what I like at the water park, the museum, and also my suggestions for improvements. Thank you for all the fun attractions you've made, Evergreen Staff and Volunteers. I would like to share some verses with you: Genesis 1:6, “And God said, let there be a vault between the waters to separate water from water.” Genesis 1:2b, “And the Spirit of the God was hovering over the waters.” Certainly, water is very important to life, and I think it's great, that you've created a really cool water park! 

~ Sister 

A Gluey Hot Watery Weekend

"Two are better than one, because they have a good return for their labour...." Ecclesiastes 4:9

 We had a great, hot, exhausting weekend.

Bright and early, the wood working began.

Gluey, sticky fingers, lively children, and patient teachers, make life full.

 

  When family invites, try new things.

Drill deeper.

Learn what you can accomplish together.

Do one thing at a time.

Step by step.

Remember, to rest a bit.

You will accomplish something amazing.

  Then go cool off with confidence!

Because this piece of wood is a walk in the park,

compared to the wood you just worked.

Postscript: The she child goes to sleep claiming she has boat disease. She can't close her eyes without thinking of the boat. As for brother, he fell asleep as soon as dinner was finished. A busy carpenter needs rest.