Amen

I discovered this morning that the last word in the Bible is "Amen."

I made a pledge (a "resolution"?) last year to read the Daily Text every day and also to partake in the challenge to read through the Bible in a year. Yes, I say challenge....to get up every morning and read was sometimes a challenge, but as the year went on, it became a habit. Every morning, usually around 5:30, I would wake up, put on my glasses, and read the Daily Text and the Bible reading assigned for the day before getting up. This morning I read the final chapters in the old and new testaments and felt really good when I read the AMEN. I made it through!

Now you may ask "how was the experience?" It just felt like something I had to do every day. I enjoyed reading the history section of the OT a lot, but I really got bogged down in the prophets. They all said the same things and it got kinda boring. And I have a hard time believing that God told them all the things God supposedly told them. Sorry, but I think that reading the whole Bible actually made me a non-believer about a lot of things in the Bible. Should I admit that? But that's what I came away with from this year of reading through the Bible. If we believe that God is love, how can we believe that God was directly responsible for all the violence and evil things that the writers of the Bible wrote about. I did however think the Old Testament was more interesting reading that the New, but that is probably because I am more familiar with the New and most of it was repetition of many Bible readings I have heard in worship services, etc. But I question some of those writers too. I believe God sent Jesus to show us how to live our lives and since Jesus is God and God is love, why would God be the cause of destruction and violence? I think that is just how the people of the day interpreted what was happening and believed God was the cause of everything good or bad that happened.

Anyway, when I read the last word "AMEN" in the Bible this morning, my main thought was "I finished it! I actually went through the whole year and keep my pledge to myself." Now this year I am hoping to try to get more involved in peace and justice issues. This will be hard for me as I am a private person and don't like to speak out about certain issues, but I am going to try anyway. AMEN!

Joy Journal

I read today about keeping a Joy Journal. I think that is a really cool idea so I have been thinking about what has given me joy lately. Some of those things I have thought about are:

1. Sitting by the fireplace drinking my early morning coffee on a cold day.
2. Seeing the white lights glowing on the bushes outside my window.
3. Reading Christmas cards and notes from friends far and near.
4. Singing carols and hearing the Christmas story at our Christmas Eve service.
5. Hugging my grandsons when they came over this afternoon.
6. Getting a Walmart gift card from my son.
7. Getting a snugly fleece blanket and a waffle iron from my daughter and son in law.
8. Playing with a new electronic game called "20 questions" with my family. It's a hoot!
9. Listening to a new radio station that plays only old favorite songs from the past.
10. Seeing the sun shine in my windows lighting up the kitchen and family room.

"Once you begin looking, you may be surprised to discover just how much joy your world has to offer."
Thomas Kinkade

It's Christmas Already

I have been trying to savor the Advent season the way it's done at Holden. I have been doing a fairly good job of it, but in this "outside" life, that is not easy. Well....it is easy, but it's not the norm. I have been avoiding the hustle and bustle of the shopping scene and haven't gotten stressed about it, but I also haven't prepared too well for Christmas on a personal level.

On a professional level my job has been very stressful in an intimidating way. It seems there is so much to do that I am working many extra hours just trying to keep my head above water. Maybe this isn't what I should be doing after all. I do enjoy the various aspects of the job, it's just that there are too many of them to get them all done in a day. Obviously there are deadlines....I have to have bulletins ready for each service....and they take a lot of time as each one is a huge publication in and of itself. I worked most of yesterday and today on the Christmas Eve bulletin and am still not finished. Guess what I will be doing in the morning? At the same time, I am working on Sunday's bulletin, which has really been a production as I download from an internet sight and then have to put into a publisher format. I have been feeling kind of out of sorts about it. I am supposed to get off early tomorrow and have Friday off too, but I don't know if I will be done by the time I leave tomorrow.

I finally finished the last of my Christmas cards at midnight last night and got them in the mail this morning. I sent three groups of cards out three different days so some will be on time and some will be late. I apologize to anyone who gets a late one.....but the Christmas season goes on for twelve days after the 25th, so I guess technically they won't be "late."

All those concerns aside, I am trying to keep remembering the reason for the season. I will be a communion assistant at the late Christmas Eve Service. I will be Assisting Minister on Sunday. I would also like to remember that Christmas is not over on December 26th (which is also not the norm in the "outside" world.)

Merry Christmas!

Fall in Texas

Fall in Texas comes about six weeks later than"up north." We are having a beautiful fall here this year.

I missed the fall color in Wisconsin....I was a little bit early for full color...or maybe it was a little bit late. I missed the fall color in Washington too. I saw a lot of gold color on the trees driving through Montana in late October.

Here now, we have it all, reds, golds, oranges, yellows, and greens. It is so pretty driving through town on my way to work. The weather has been really fall-like. It's been in the 50's in the daytime and down to the 30's or low 40's at night. There's lots of sunlight and I am hanging my clothes out to dry ever since I got back. No dryer for me!

It's the second Sunday in Advent today. I am trying to keep Advent everyday. It's hard here though without worship every day. However I have pledged not to rush Christmas. And not to rush out of Christmas either on December 26th. There are two things I noticed about the Dallas area when I moved here 39 years ago. The first was the fences. Everyone has privacy fences and I thought that was so strange (I still think so). The second thing that I noticed was on December 26th all the Christmas trees are out on the curbs to be picked up....and all Christmas decorations are stowed away. I try to keep Christmas going through Epiphany, but it feels kind of corny to do that here. I have renewed my resolve to keep it going this year.

Everything Old is New Again

Well, I've been home for a month now. I finally got internet installed at my house so I can "keep in touch."

So what's new? Everything and nothing!

1. I rediscovered clothes and shoes that I had left here when I went to Holden. I had forgotten about them and now they are "new" to me again.
2. Ten days after getting back home, I was offered my "old" job back. While I was planning to take it easy until after the holidays, I decided it was "meant to be" and jumped right back in. It has been kinda busy at work. Mostly there are a lot of "old" things that I have been able to fall right back into, but some that need to be relearned or remembered. (I am office administrator at my church.)
   
3. The "old" house is still falling down......nothing "new" there.
4. My cat is still around and acting his same "old" annoying self.
5. My son is still around and acting his same "old" annoying self. (That's kind of a joke. Actually we've gotten along fine for the most part.)
6. TV programs are the same "old" ones. I was surprised that most of them are still around. There are an awful lot of awful commercials still running. Now that the annoying political ads are done, we have annoying Christmas shopping ads! And even more annoying heart attack medication ads played at least every twenty minutes1
   
7. The supermarket I have gone to for 38 years is still going strong. A lot of the same "old" people work there as when I left.

I don't know what I was expecting...more changes, maybe. One thing I have noticed are sirens. It seems I hear a lot of sirens here. Luckily I have gotten over jumping up to run to the hose house! So, here I am, back in the "old" place, doing the same "old" things that I hoped would change for me. It's comfortable being back. The big question is: have I changed? I think I have in some respects, but not as much as I thought I had.

It's Thanksgiving today. I am so thankful for all of my many friends and my family. I count you all among my many blessings. Have a great day.

Bret's Poem

My newphew, Bret Norwood, wrote the following poem the day after Election Day. I think it is worth sharing so here it is:

Welcome [to Barack Obama]

Wednesday, November 5, 2008 at 2:02pm
I am undefeatably skeptical of politics, but after watching President Elect Barack Obama's speech last night, after seeing the people cry, after seeing young African Americans dancing, after seeing so many people taken by a spirit of hope, something instinctual moved in me as well. I composed this in a rough attempt toward capturing that moment in a few brief words.

Welcome

I believe history is a story
and we’ve turned a page tonight.
We’ve summoned a new spirit -
a new respect, even self-respect,
a face, a name that changes everything,
no matter what happens next.

Newborn stars snow from Heaven
and are melting at our feet.
The world is renewed in fire
and the fanfare of the band.

Thank you for letting me suspend
my disbelief, if only momentarily,
in order to believe in superstitions
two hundred and thirty-two years old.
Don’t deceive me, as one has done before;
no need to speak of values and destiny:
just tell a story well.

-BTN Nov. 4, 2008

Back in Texas

After 24 days of visiting friends and family in Wisconsin, Iowa, Washington, and Wyoming, I am finally back in Texas. I got back here on Friday night.

My first priority was to get my car inspected on Saturday as it (the inspection) was 1 1/2 years past due. It didn't pass the emissions test so my next priority was to get the catalytic converter fixed. I did that on Monday morning. I was told I needed to drive it 40 miles to reset something. Three days later I have only managed to drive 27 miles. I will need to get it on the road so I can get back to the inspector tomorrow.

My other first priority was to clean house. It needs a cleaning pretty bad after two and a half years. I spend the mornings cleaning, have lunch, take a nap and read or come to the library to get on the internet. I have discovered AT&T doesn't have DSL in my area. Cable is too expensive. So I am spending my online time at the library. In the evenings I watch TV. Not much has changed as far as TV programs. They are mostly the same as when I left in 2006. So guess what....life here is pretty boring so far. I have made some luncheon dates with friends though, so that hopefully will liven things up. Ha,ha.

I watched Obama's 30 minute infomercial last night and it was very impressive. There is sure a lot of money involved in the election process. I keep wondering if it could be put to better use!

Most of the political commercials are pretty negative and even those that aren't don't say much about the candidate's visions. Wyoming had the worst political commercials I have ever seen. But that may be because I didn't see things the way they do there. There were a lot mentioning gun control---who was going to ruin the state because he or she was for it. I just didn't think that was the most important cause in the world, but I guess it is in Wyoming.

Well, enough of that. Let's just hope that the country elects people who will get us going on more important issues.

On A Clear Day.....

you can see forever! However it was anything but clear when I left Butte this morning. The fog was so dense I had trouble seeing what was ahead of me. I drove from Butte to Bozeman (about 85 miles) in this fog. It was like being in a blinding rainstorm in Dallas or a blinding snowstorm on Stevens Pass. Needless to say, it was quite stressful.

By the time I made a rest stop in Bozeman and got back on the road, it had cleared up quite a bit. I tried to capture the scene on my camera, but it's kind of hard taking a picture while driving 70 mph down the interstate. This is the best I could do!

The rest of the drive to Sheridan was uneventful. I must say though that the drive through Montana is breathtaking. Even after the evergreens were behind me, the rolling hills and treeless mountains were so beautiful. At one point the low clouds settled below the snow capped mountain peaks making it look like they were floating in the sky. (I would have liked to have taken a picture, but I was still driving 70 mph.) I have driven this route a few times in the past and always am amazed at the beauty of the state.

Interstate 90

For the past two years I have been telling people about my plans to take a trip from Seattle to Boston on Interstate 90. I had hoped to do it when I left Holden this fall, but since I stayed an extra month and since the price of gasoline had gone sky high, and since I had a car full of belongings that I needed to move, I revised that plan. I am still going to do it, but will do it in segments. The first segment is this trip from Seattle to Sheridan, Wyoming.

I left Seattle yesterday after a week of visiting friends in Tacoma and Seattle. Speaking of a car full of stuff, I am lucky there is room for me to get in behind the steering wheel. The car is "jam packed" for the duration. The drive along I-90 through the Cascades was beautiful. This is the height of the fall color and the scenery was awesome. I drove from Seattle to Quincy, where I spent the night with Holden friend, Carolyn Giese and her daughter Serena. Serena's boyfriend was also on hand, so guess what....we played pinochle until late. What else would you expect to do at Carolyn's home? We had a real fun time. Carolyn and I won one game and Serena and Jesson won one. The highlight of the evening was when Carolyn got the bid and after I gave her my cards, she had TWO "ropes" in the trump suite. Talk about excitement.... To top it off, it came on her birthday! For a serious card player like Carolyn, it was like winning the lottery!

This morning I left Quincy and drove to Butte, Montana. The mountain range through Idaho and western Montana is absolutely gorgeous. I took this picture at Lookout Pass on the Idaho/Montana border. It just doesn't do it justice though. The colors of the larch were like gold shimmering in the sun. I never get tired of scenery like this!

Midwest Trip

Since this is the first time I've had a chance to update you on my wanderings over the past two weeks, I feel the need to catch up.

October 1 - I left my car in safekeeping with Norma in Wenatchee. After she fed me dinner she drove me to the train where I boarded and headed east.

October 3 - I arrived in La Crosse, Wisconsin, rented a car and drove to Decorah, Iowa. I met my two former roommates, Cozy and Nelda, from Luther and we all stayed at Cozy and Bruce's home just outside of Decorah. We had such a nice visit and enjoyed talking about anything and everything, getting caught up with each other. We had not been together since 1988. On Saturday we toured the Luther campus, then met Holden friend, Abbey, at Mabe's pizza for lunch. That night we went to our 45th class reunion dinner and got semi-reacquainted with former classmates.

October 5 - I left Decorah and drove to Pepin, Wisconsin, and had lunch with Will Chiles at the Harbor View Restaurant. Spent the afternoon with Stuffi at a birthday party in Stockholm. Butch Thompson, entertained at the party with a magical piano concert. That night I stayed with Stuffi and enjoyed her wonderful hospitality.

October 6 - I drove to Red Wing MN for a Feldencreis session with Lisa Walker and then on to Green Bay to visit my cousins, Sharon and Audrey. We had a scrumptious dinner and after dropping Audrey off at home, we went to Sharon's new condo (so beautiful) where we talked until quite late, catching up on each other's families, etc.

October 7 - I left Green Bay and drove to West Bend where I spent the afternoon and night with Jeanne and Jim Fellenz. Jeanne was my best friend from high school! Imagine, keeping up after 49 years. What a joy.

October 8 - Drove back to La Crosse, turned in my car, and got back on the train to return to Wenatchee.

October 10 - I arrived back in Wenatchee, picked up my car from Norma and headed for Washington's Long Beach Peninsula where I spent the next three nights alone at the Haines' beach house. This was a nice relaxing time where all I did was read, eat, sleep and take a couple walks on the beach.

Talk about hospitality! I met it coming and going on this trip. Everyone from Norma at the beginning to the Haines' at the end of this trip showed such wonderful hospitality, I was overwhelmed. As you can tell, this was a whirwind trip and if I could do it over, I would take a couple extra days. I would put some pictures here too, but I am not on my own computer and can't add them from here. More to come--check back later.

Winding Down

The busy summer schedule is over. The sun is lower in the sky and the days are getting shorter and cooler. We have changed to our winter schedule as far as meal times and worship times. There are fewer sessions on the schedule now and a lot fewer guests arriving daily at the village. Most of the summer staff are gone.

My time here is also winding down. I will be leaving Holden on Tuesday after being here almost 2 1/2 years. This has been an amazing time for me and, although I feel sadness about leaving, I know that it is time to move on. I have come to love living in the mountains and will certainly miss this place. I will miss the beautiful surroundings. I will miss the fabulous weather of the four seasons. I will miss the hustle and bustle of the busy summers and the breathtaking beauty of the quiet winters. I will miss my small room. I will miss sitting on the porch swing. I will miss not having to cook. I will miss my friends here. I will miss the daily worship services. I will miss the opportunity to attend classes and meet interesting people. I will take many fond memories (and pictures) with me as I leave.

My friend and office mate, Nancy, wrote a song many years ago about leaving Holden. It is one that has a special meaning for me and I want to share it now.

There's a place in the mountains I lived for a time
The scent of the river, the fresh air and pine
Even when I've moved on, other places to roam
I know that these mountains will always be home.

And life in the Cascades is calling me back
The place where the snow meets the sun
And the stars shine so bright in the pale moonlight
Life is only begun; I'll be there when my life is done.

There's a trail that I've hiked and a mountain I've climbed
A place on a ridge where I've sat time after time.
I don't know where I'm going or what's at the end
Maybe someday I'll see where I've been.

And life in the Cascades is calling me back
The place where the snow meets the sun
And the stars shine so bright in the pale moonlight
Life is only begun; I'll be there when my life is done.
Written by Nancy Rerucha Borges

When I leave here I will be taking a trip to Wisconsin and Iowa. I will be leaving from Wenatchee by train on October 1 and returning on the 10th. I will pick up my car and my belongings and spend a week or so on the coast before heading east again to visit family in Sheridan, Wyoming. From there I will head back to Texas. I look forward to seeing my family and friends there and make plans for my next adventure. So stay tuned!

Clothespins in My Pocket

I haven't had much to do this past week. My bookkeeping job is in good hands now and I am no longer needed in that capacity. I have finished up some research and writing for my supervisor and attended Bible Study and even vacuumed the Fireside Room one morning. So, looking for something to do (besides packing) I volunteered to hang out sheets for the laundry. I love to hang clothes outside and the weather has been absolutely perfect. When I got done hanging the sheets yesterday, I discovered I had been using the pocket of my jacket for a clothespin bag without realizing it!

Bilbo's Birthday

Ahhh, it's Bilbo Baggins' birthday again. It is an annual event here at Holden to celebrate Bilbo's birthday. If you are a fan of "The Hobbit" and "Lord of the Rings," you may remember that September 22 is this famous Hobbit's birthday. You are probably also familiar with the fact that Hobbits eat ten meals a day, everyday, not just on their birthday.

At Holden we celebrate Bilbo's birthday by, yes, by eating ten meals a day. It starts with breakfast, followed by second breakfast, third breakfast, elevensies, nuncheon, 1sies, afternoons, dinner, rounding off the corners, and last, but not least, a little something at bedtime.

Holden has a Hobbit House in the woods near the creek

On Bilbo's birthday, our own Hobbit, Dawn Coffey, served cookies for the "afternoons" meal

Bilbo's birthday is another fun day at Holden. Volunteers sign up to prepare one of the "meals." We are busy eating all day. We just finish one "meal" and it's time for another. It's hard to keep up.

It's Elementary!

This afternoon I went for a bike ride with the youngest Holden Villagers. We rode down the road to the bridge over Ten Mile Creek and hung out there for a time. (They were very nice and let me keep up with them the whole time.)

Ellie (9), Jordyn (11), Nyrie (9), and August (11) line up for pictures. They insisted on putting on their "pilgrim faces." When I asked what that meant, Nyrie explained that whenever you see a picture of pilgrims, they all look very serious. So pilgrim faces it is...except Jordyn seems to be having a little trouble with the pilgrim face. Her smile got in the way.

At the creek they took a rest from trying to splash me and let me take a picture. They were throwing rocks into the water, originally to make a dam, but then the splashing got to be more fun.

We have a great bunch of kids here at Holden. Besides these four, there is one more elementary student who is in kindergarten and there are nine students in junior/senior high. They are so blessed to have the opportunity to live here and attend this little school.

Movie Night

In 1947 MGM made a movie using Lake Chelan as the background. The movie was called "The Courage of Lassie" and starred 12 year old Elizabeth Taylor!

We had heard about this movie a lot (it's one of the historical events talked about on the boat ride up the lake). Last week during the Miner's reunion, one of their slide show pictures had Elizabeth Taylor in it along with some of the (then) Holden kids. Dawn Coffey started asking questions of those "old timers" and found out more facts about the making of the movie from them. There was a trained bear and a trained raven in the move (as well as Lassie, of course). She also found out that Elizabeth Taylor stayed in one of the chalets here.

Tonight we watched the movie. Well, what do you expect from a movie made in 1947? It was a little corny and overacted, but we had fun watching it. We even had popcorn and real old fashioned movie candy to eat during the show. And we all clapped at the happy ending!

"Golden Holden Olden"

Fifty-one years ago, the Howe Sound Mining Company closed the copper mine they had operated for 20 years in Copper Mountain. The Holden Mine was named after J H Holden, the man who discovered the mineral vein in the mountain in 1896. The Mining Company built the town of Holden Village in the 1930's and began mining copper here in 1937.

This past week, sixty-six of the miners and their families celebrated the 50th anniversary of the closing of the mine. Of course, if you do the math you will discover that this was actually the 51st anniversary. The 50th anniversary was originally scheduled for last year, 2007, but because the village had been evacuated due to a forest fire, the reunion had to be canceled. It was rescheduled and was held this year and they called it Golden Holden Olden, take 2. Many of the original miners are dead now or their health prevents them from traveling, but some of them were able to attend, along with some of the wives and many of the now 50 and 60-somethings who lived here as children as well as some of their children and grandchildren who never lived here, but have heard stories from their parents and grandparents about life here. They had some very wonderful memories of those days. It was fun to watch their slides of and see how the town looked then. Of course we are using the very same buildings today that were built back in the 1930's by the mining company. And down the road, in what was called Winston Camp, there are still remnants of the stone walls and steps the led to the over 100 homes built by the miners for their families. When the mine closed and everyone left, the homes there went to ruin and in the early 1960's the Forest Service had to burn them down as they had become a forest fire hazard.

In 1961 the Howe Sound Mining Company gave Holden Village to the Lutheran Bible Institute in Seattle. It eventually became it's own corporate entity and the story continues with the history of Holden Village as a retreat center.

Watching them this week and hearing their stories of the early mining days was so interesting. I enjoy hearing about the history of this place. I picture the life here then, which is not so different that the one now, except, of course, it was a lot noisier then with the mine in operation and the ore trucks moving up and down the road. Now we have peace and quiet and much stillness in this valley (usually).

One of the main organizers of this event is Linda Jensen, who lived here as a child. Linda continues to publish "The Miner," the town's newspaper and mails it to the former residents. She comes to Holden several times a year and is one of the main curators of the museum here that depicts the history of both the mining days and the retreat center days. She puts in many hours every year working on keeping the history alive. During the summer she also presents programs about the mining days to guests in the village. (For more on Linda, see my July 4th entry). I just admire her work here so much and she has become a good friend of mine.

It is quite a legacy that these miners and their families have left in this valley. I, for one, am very touched by their continued interest in this place and admire their memories and the fact that they still get together to share those memories after all this time.

The First Day of School

It was a beautiful fall day today; the sun was shining, the sky was the bluest blue, the temperature was perfect.

And it was the first day of school! This is quite an experience for the entire village.

In keeping with tradition, the kids were all picked up along Chalet Hill by a yellow school bus. The distance between the top of the hill and the school is less than 1/4 mile, but we have to make sure no one misses the first day. So beginning at 8:45, the bus started up the hill. Of course there were many challenges along the trip. There was the couple who cried and tried to keep their kids off the bus, there was a weaver weaving a rug in the middle of the road; there were some Roman (I think) soldiers in a fort who attacked the bus at one point. Then just beyond that, there were some laundresses blocking the road while folding blankets on a long table. At the top of the hill some people were having the last camping trip of the summer in the middle of the road with their tents set up sitting around a campfire roasting marshmallows. One of the students was dressed as a piece of pizza and had three security guards surrounding him to keep off the bears, chipmunks and hungry people gathered to watch the goings on. On the way back down the hill, the bus was stopped again by a road construction crew and had to wait until the way was cleared.

The bus was finally filled up with students, some Holden School alumni who were visiting, a few parents, the security folks (with pizza boy) and various and sundry others who happened to hop on. Then, of course, the bus driver got lost and drove the wrong way down the road, up, up the hill to the old mine portal. The bus driver claims she thought that was the school....but we knew better! Then she finally drove back down and "found" the real school where all disembarked and had group pictures taken.

The bus is stopped by some stargazers

Are these guys Roman guards or what?

This weaver was taking advantage of the beautiful weather to work outside (in the middle of the road, of course)

The Agape Security Force guarding Pizza Boy from munchers on the bus

The crazy bus driver actually thought this was the school. Very suspicious!

The kids FINALLY got to school!
Here are the 2008-2009 students in all their glory.
It was almost 10 a.m. by this time! And, yes, this is the entire student body of the Holden School.

A Journey into the Past

Just so you don't think I stay in the village all the time, I will tell you about my "out" last week. An "out" is the Holden term for leaving the village for a few days (kind of like a mini vacation.) I went to Seattle to visit my friend, Chris, and some other friends there. We went to a Mariners game one night, ate fish and chips one afternoon, bought a few groceries for me to bring back, read and enjoyed watching the boats go in and out of the Ballard locks. I even got Chris to take a couple laps in the swimming pool at her condo. It was kinda cold, but the water was warmish.

On Saturday, I took a trip up to Bellingham, the town where I lived for nine years back in the "old days." (The "old days" being the formative years from age 4 to age 13, which was more that 54 years ago.) On the trip up from Seattle, Anni, a former long termer at Holden, rode with me as she is getting ready to go back to school at Western Washington University. We exited I-5 at Chuckanut Drive, a beautiful drive of about 15-20 miles ending in Bellingham. This was my first foray into the memorys of my childhood. I remember driving along this road to go to the beach at Larabee State Park where we would have picnics and swim and where, on July 4th, my dad would shoot off fireworks. We would also listen to band concerts at a band shell in the park that I was pleased to see still exists to this day. As I was dropping Anni off at a friend's apartment, I realized it was only two blocks away from the house I used to live in. We drove past it, but couldn't see much as it is really overgrown with bushes, etc. After dropping Anni off, I then met up with Janet, one of my good friends from grade school days, and her friend, Celia, and we took a trip down memory lane. We toured the south side of Bellingham and, believe it or not, I was able to recognize many of the old places from my childhood. As we drove around, more and more memories kept coming back to us and we had a lot of fun remembering those days. We drove by the old house again and could see it better from the side road. It appeared to be in good shape and I wish I could have gone inside, but didn't. We drove past Janet's old house too, which although she lives in the town, she hadn't seen in several years. We drove past the church, the elementary and junior high schools I went to, the library I used to love to visit. We think we even recognized the shop that used to be my mom's baby shop. Although the south side, the Fairhaven area, was really upgraded and has become a touristy area with cute shops and a lot of restaurants, etc., the old buildings are still intact and I was able to pick out places I used to know. It was a really fun day for me and I did take several pictures of these memorable places.

This is a picture taken from a scenic overlook along Chuckanut Drive

This is the house in Bellingham that I grew up in


This picture is taken from the corner where I used to stand when on school crossing patrol.


Here I am with my childhood friend, Janet.

Bear With Us

These signs are posted by the US Forest Service to warn people that they are in "Bear Country." We have them posted at various places in the area we inhabit. This one is posted at the edge of the village.

Until this year I haven't seen a bear. This year the bears seem to hang around in the wooded areas around the village and come into the village at night to see what they can find to munch on. They are often seen early in the mornings. Last week there was one on the porch of one of the lodges.....because someone left a plate of food out there by mistake.

Saturday I took a short hike with friends Larry and Gundula Houff, who are here for a month. Larry was our pastor here two years ago and is now filling in for Pastor Erik for while he is on a short sabbatical. On the path up to the compost bins, we saw a bear cross the path. The compost bins seem to be another place the bears love to hunt for food and the electric fence doesn't seem to keep them out.

The bears have been a real problem this summer and the people in Operations are getting weary of chasing them away every day. It seems they have become quite comfortable here and don't get the hint that they are not wanted. Luckily so far they have not decided to eat us!

In the Cool of the Evening

I was going to title this, "A break in the weather," and it sort of is because it had been very hot here for a couple of weeks. However, a couple of weeks isn't a very long time and we have had a pretty nice summer otherwise, even though it's been really dry for a couple of months now.

It has been raining for two days straight. What a nice relief from the heat. What a nice relief from the dust that rises from the road. What a nice relief for the forest that was getting too dry for comfort. We remember the fire that made us evacuate the village a year ago. As a matter of fact we had an anniversary party the other night and watched slides of that fire. Now everything is saturated with rain and there is not much danger of that happening this year.

The rain has brought much cooler weather. The thermometer on the outside wall of the dining hall read 54 degrees at 8 o'clock last night. It probably got down in the 40's, but I won't know that until they post the temperatures later this morning. And... there was new snow on the top of Dumbell Mountain last night. It was a real welcomed sight. We get so excited about snow around here.

The village is smaller now because many of the summer staff people are leaving....however the guests are not, so that means more work for the staff that is still here. But, it's still good! The change in the weather feels good. It is refreshing and exciting and feels like fall is right around the corner. And it is!

Review: Abriendo Caminos

Abriendo Caminos week ended at 1:45 this afternoon as the guests boarded the bus to head to Lucerne to take the boat downlake. Last week I promised more about this annual event. Abriendo Caminos means "opening pathways" and it is our annual week of opening pathways between us and our Spanish speaking neighbors. Most come from towns in Washington, but many also come from California and other places. During this week all sessions, announcements and worship services are done in Spanish with English translations. We get a lot of opportunity to work on our Spanish skills.
Last night (Friday) was La Fiesta: great food, pinata bursting, music and worship, which began as a procession and ended at the ark with more music and dancing.
I took quite a few pictures and I spent several hours today figuring out how to make a movie out of them on my computer. I tried to attach it to this blog, but our satellite connection is too slow. Therefore, here are a couple of the pictures.

The decorated dining hall

We were entertained by a mariachi band

Pinata time
We had pinatas for all ages!

For some reason I have been having trouble getting this blog on. I have been working on it since Saturday. (This is Tuesday now). I wanted to put some other pictures on it, but I give up!! So this is all I can do for now. Hopefully, next time will be better.

Garbo (not Greta)

Garbo: noun: The Holden Village word for garbage.

Garbologist: noun: The Holden Village word for the person in charge of garbo.
"I am on garbo": The phrase used by Holden Village staff members when their garbo duty is imminent.

Once a month each staff member at Holden is "on garbo." Garbo is done every day except Sunday in the summer and three or four times a week in the winter. What exactly is garbo duty? Well it starts out in the basement of the hotel with breaking down cardboard boxes that have accumulated since the day before so the garbologist can put them in a huge machine that bundles them for recycling. Then the garbo team grabs yucky work gloves and goes out to the "garbo dock" at the edge of the village and sorts garbage: aluminum cans, tranlucent plastic, opaque plastic, tin cans, and clear, brown, or green glass all go into their respective recycling cans. Burnable trash goes into another, landfill goes into another. When all that is done.....we head up the hill to the compost bins. All food is composted at Holden. At the compost bins all leftover food is dumped into a large metal box and chopped up by the garbo team. When it is sufficiently chopped, it is dumped into one of the many compost bins, covered with sawdust and "cooked" compost and left to compost. This is a dirty stinky job in the summer and a freezing cold job most of the winter. I must add though that it is also quite satisfying and very educational.

The compost bins are often inhabited by little critters looking for a meal. There are usually chipmunks around and often martins are there too. Bears often find some tasty morsel in the compost bins and the electric fence put up to keep them out doesn't keep them out! The food is left to compost for a year or so and when is is done "cooking" it is used in the flower beds around the village and in the garden.

Since so many critters enjoy eating human food whenever they get the chance, we are careful not to put any leftover food anywhere but in the compost cans in the dining hall or the dishpit. (The dishpit is another story). We do have a lot of outside eating though. In the summer we have a lot of meals outside. The chipmunks around the village are very fat eating the crumbs that fall off of people's plates. They even jump up on our laps at times to get something to eat. They jump right down again though when we scream and jump up ourselves.

Tonight some of us were invited to play dominoes at the little Forest Ranger cabin that is just down the road from the village. The ranger, Barbara Budd, is a regular around here and she was really excited about having us come visit. Thus the bear adventure begins. It was after the Eucharist service and Liz and Debi had started walking down the road. I was several minutes behind them as I was cleaning up the communion ware in the dishpit (another story). Anyway I went back to my room to get my flashlight as it was already pitch dark down the road. As I got to the garbo dock I was surprised to see several people with flashlights there looking around...and even more surprised to see that Debi and Liz had not gotten any further that that. Then they told me about the bears. It seems they were walking down the road and heard a noise on the garbo dock. When Debi swung her flashlight around to see what was making the noise, she saw a bear cub clinging to a tree. Then she saw another. They ran to the the nearest building, the Hike Haus, and got on the radio and called to tell Marc, Nancy, and Aaron about the bears. They were all there looking for the bears when I arrived. It seems somehow the garbo dock had some leftover food on it and the bears found it. After helping to clean it up and since the bears were still nearby, we decided to call it a night. To make a long story short, poor Barbara never got company and is probably still wondering why we didn't show up to play dominoes. We will have to explain tomorrow!!

Preview: Abriendo Caminos

Hola,

We are preparing for Holden's sixth annual Abriendo Caminos event beginning this Sunday, August 10th. This is a week dedicated solely to the Spanish speaking community and those of us who enjoy being here for the celebration. This will be the fifth year I have had the opportunity to be here during this week. All events are presented in Spanish with translations in English. We are treated to real Mexican food all week. Yum! The week culminates on Friday night with a fiesta. I will, of course, be posting pictures of the events of the week on my blog. I'll even let you in on what Abriendo Caminos means, so keep in touch! Hasta Luego, amigos y amigas.

Sunday Outing

Wanda and I rode our bikes down to to the lake again this morning. Our third musketeer, Debi, from the last ride was working today and we had to leave her behind.

The main excitement on the way down was a bear sighting. We of course stopped to let the bear and her cub have all the room they wanted. We also took the opportunity to take pictures. Here is a picture that Wanda took of me taking a picture of the bears.


Here is the picture I was taking at the time. It was so cool because it's my first fairly close up bear sighting in the more than two years that I have been here.

If you read my last entry about our bike ride to the lake, you will remember that we only rode to the top of the switchbacks and waited for the bus to take us down those last two miles (which is about a 1000 foot drop in elevation down nine switchbacks.)

Today we rode down the whole way....more to the point we braked those last two miles. It was a little hard on the hands, but other than that it was a lot of fun. We left the village at 9:35 a.m. and got to the lake at 11:10 a.m.
Here I am at the top of the switchbacks getting my picture taken before the ride down.

At Lucerne, the boat landing, we boarded the ferry going uplake to Stehekin. Stehekin is the end of the lake going north. (Chelan is at the south end of the 55 mile long Lake Chelan.) Stehekin is mostly National Park Service land, but has about 80 year long residents. It's a popular place in the summer for visitors. The boat stays in Stehekin for an hour and a half before heading back "downlake." This was just enough time to eat a scrumptious hamburger and fries lunch, visit the craft shop and head back to board the boat. When we got back to Lucerne we got a ride back up to Holden on the bus......didn't see any bears on the way back.

Jubilee!

Many years ago I read a cartoon that I still haunts me occasionally. In the cartoon a fellow was sitting under a tree talking with his friend and said very thoughtfully, "Sometimes I just want to ask God why God allows hunger, poverty and war in the world." His friend says, "Well, why don't you?" The fellow answers, "Because I'm afraid God might ask me the same question!"

The old testament reading about Jubilee in Leviticus is the basis of the celebration here at Holden that takes place the third Thursday in July. It is a day of fun and food and joyful activities, but it is also a day of giving. The highlight of the day is an auction of items donated by staff, guests and friends of Holden. All the proceeds from the auction are given away to a worthy organization doing the work of God in the world. This year we are donating the proceeds to L'arche Tahoma Hope, a L'arche organization in Tacoma. The total numbers are not in yet, but as of this evening we raised around $6,000.

The day was punctuated by a Eucharist service on the village green. The sermon was given by one of the guest teaching staff, Ingrid Christenson. She preached on the text from Luke 4 where Jesus reads from Isaiah, "I have come to preach good news to the poor and proclaim freedom for the prisoners and free the oppressed." Ingrid works with prisoners in Cook County Jail in Chicago and had an inspirational message about that.

Holden is all about learning about peace and justice issues and this day brings a message of hope that we all need to hear as often as possible. We are challenged to learn about and discuss many related issues and we are challenged to work for these in the world.

Maybe we all need to ask the question, "Why do we allow hunger, poverty and war in the world?" And try to do something about it.

"Manna and Mercy"

Those of us who were here the first two weeks of July are still talking about the Bible Study leader who was here during that time. I have been reflecting on what to write about this experience for a few days now and I know I can't do it justice. This was probably the best and most inspirational speaker I have ever heard here--or anywhere for that matter. The Fireside room, where these sessions were held was overflowing with people wanting to hear him. They brought in extra chairs, people sat on the floor, the balcony was filled two and three deep, and some people were standing in the hall. We even closed our offices, the store and the post office for an hour so we could attend the sessions. It's hard to explain to those who weren't here what happened during those two weeks...hard because you had to experience it.

The teacher was Alan Storey who is a Methodist minister from South Africa. Several years ago he came into possession of "Manna and Mercy," a book about the Bible written by Daniel Erlander. Daniel was the village pastor many years ago and comes back to teach every year. Some of you may be familiar with Dan's books. Anyway, Alan told us that this book opened his eyes to the scripture in a new way. He has started using it as a tool to teach others. Awhile back he was teaching in Washington D.C. and Dan happened to attend his sessions. He was so impressed that he asked Alan to come to Holden and teach. Thus, we were the recipients of this wonderful gift of teaching. I can only tell you that everyone who was here was enlightened in a way we are still talking about. He has inspired a great many people to understand the Bible in a new way and to work for peace and justice in the world. What's more, Alan lives out his faith in his own life and ministry in South Africa.

Obviously I can't put 10 hours of listening and learning into this blog entry. But beginning August 15th you can listen to it on the Holden Village website, www.holdenvillage.org. All the sessions we have ever taped at Holden since 1964 will eventually be available, however this summer's sessions will be the first. Please listen to Alan's sessions if you get the chance. Use them as your own Bible study, an hour a day. It is so worth it.

Alan and Dan

Weather That Nourishes All of Creation

To all Dallasites and people in other "hot spots":

Notice my link to the Holden five day forecast at the bottom of the right hand column of this page. I wanted you to check out the weather here! It's so glorious this week. Keep checking occasionally. (The red dot on the weather map is Holden.)

Also, let me know if you are reading this blog. I'm curious.

Gail

The Foolishness of God

This is the logo for our summer theme at Holden. I think it is such a fun picture. Believe it or not, we have had some very serious discussions about the foolishness of God. I just came from a forum on the topic of war and violence. It was quite informative. We have been having sessions about all kinds of topics, from health care to energy issues; from Bible studies to dances. The Earth Ministry group from Seattle is here this week leading some sessions too.

Tonight the children of Narnia presented the vespers service along with their teachers and Pastor Eric. They also sang a song that they wrote under the guidance of one of the talented women who put it to music. I wish I could get a copy as it would be a good song for any Sunday School choir to sing.

But it's after ten and I have been going to work an hour early so I can attend the Bible study in the morning. I best call it a day.

The Buck Stops Here. . . .

. . .a couple of times a week to eat the clover in front of our lodge.

He must be used to having his picture taken because he has had it taken many times. There are usually people out with cameras when he arrives.

This is one of the perks of living in the wilderness!

Another Holden Extravaganza

Beginning with a fun run at 7:30 a.m. and ending with a talent show at 10 p.m., it was a day of busy, fun activities for our July 4th celebration. After matins we had a flag raising, a Bible study, a delicious brunch of pancakes, proclamations on the ark, and performances of American Folk Songs ranging from "Don't Fence Me In" to "If I Had a Hammer."

The parade started about 1 p.m. with various floats and costumes and, in keeping with the Holden parade tradition, after it passed by, it turned around and came back so we saw it twice. Linda Jensen, who grew up at Holden during the mining days led the band as the majorette. She is only a year older than I am and a few years ago she found she still remembered her childhood talent for twirling and has been in the Holden 4th of July parades ever since. After the parade, I practiced with her home-made baton (made from a broken pool cue, a rock, some red and blue cloth all held together with book binding tape). I discovered I remember a little about the long forgotten art of baton twirling. (I think I was about 10 when I took lessons). I practiced for awhile and it was fun. When the parade ended, we all lined up for ice cream sundaes. Yum!

At 4 p.m. we gathered by the ark again for a joke-a-thon (all in good fun) and then a picnic dinner of brats and hotdogs. I then got to rest for an hour before vespers, the band concert, the fireworks show and then, finally, the talent show. My nine year old friend, Nyrie, and I did a dramatic reading of "Green Eggs and Ham" by Dr. Seuss. It was my first foray into the talent show lineup. I figured I could be a little foolish too. Nyrie was great.

There were over 400 people in the village for the celebration today, including many children. It is such a good place for a family to come on vacation. It was so neat to hear the children playing and having a good time. It was another perfect old fashioned celebration that I have had the privilege of attending at Holden for the last three years.

Here are some pictures of the day.

The Proclamations begin!
We love a parade!

We also love a picnic!

Butterflies on the Ceiling

Paul Hinderlie, one of Holden's directors, announced the other night that he had lost his caterpillar collection. And now we have these butterflies hanging from the ceiling in the Village Center. There may be a connection here, do you think? This butterfly mobile is absolutely beautiful. We have some very creative people around who have all these good ideas and the skills to produce them. (No caterpillars were harmed, or even hatched, in the production of it.)

Holden's theme for this summer is "The Foolishness of God." We've been having fun with this theme proclaiming how God's foolishness is wiser that human wisdom (from 1 Corinthians). To prove all this we are continually acting like fools! (Not too different from any other time).

We have had some really good teaching staff the past two weeks and I have been trying to attend some of the sessions when I can find the time. The housing crunch is over for a few days. We have a lot of people coming in for Independence Day next week and that will bring another crunch time. July 4th is quite the celebration here. It will be the third year I have been here for it. But more about that next week.

Weekend in Review

This past weekend I took an "out" from the village and drove Holden friends, Larry and Gundula Houff to Seattle where we attended a graduation party for another Holden friend, Barbara Moreland. It was so good to see these former staffers again.

I spent two nights in Seattle with my friend, Chris McClure. It was such beautiful weather in the city over the weekend. It was sunny and the gardens were all blooming--it was like being in...well, like being in Seattle on a beautiful weekend.

I returned yesterday in the middle of work camp. We have hundreds of people in the village right now working on many projects, repairing, painting, moving stuff, etc. In fact we are somewhat overbooked as the board meeting starts on Friday and we don't have room for everyone. Some of the summer staff are having to move out of their rooms by Friday to make space for everyone. They will be housed with other staff or in tents. Everyone is pitching in to make this work out. It is only for six days now, but we have another crunch coming over July 4th. Holden is a real popular place this summer!

In an earlier blog entry I talked about changes. Well, my neighbor, Patty, leaves tomorrow. Her year term is up already. Wanda has already moved into one of the other rooms left vacant by the Lulay family and now Debi will be moving into Patty's room for the rest of her time here, which ends September 30. The Haines' have moved into the other rooms that the Lulays were occupying. Some of the displaced staff will be staying in the small apartment on the other end of the building, which was recently vacated by Carolyn who worked at the school this past year.

I, myself, have only a little over ten weeks left in these mountains. In six weeks I start training my replacement. I am starting to firm up my plans for doing some traveling and visiting people when I leave here. I feel very blessed to have had the opportunity to stay as long as I have and I will always cherish my time here.

A Change in the Weather

Winter is over. It is June.
Coats and sweaters are stored away.
Summer clothes have been brought out.
Too soon! Too soon!
We want our coats and sweaters back.
The temperature has dropped.
It's cold!

Yes, the temperature has dropped. The mountain tops have new snow on them and we actually had some snow flakes in the air this morning. I have to say though, I prefer it to 95 degrees.

The Last Day of School

Traditionally the first day of school at Holden happens the day after Labor Day. I was remembering how this year there were actually three first days of school. The village had been evacuated last August because of a forest fire. When it was time for school to start, there were no students or teachers and only about 20 staff members in the village. So the first first day of school was held in a building in Chelan, set aside by the Chelan school district. After about 10 days, many of the staff, including the students and teachers were allowed back in the village. Here they had the second first day of school. However not all the students were here yet. The boarding students had not arrived, nor had a couple other students who had gone to Minnesota with their mother for the duration of the evacuation. So when they arrived, we celebrated the third first day of school. This was the traditional first day celebration with all kinds of kooky costumes and scenarios happening along the road to school.

But, I digress. This story is about the last day of school. Today was officially the last day of school for the 2007-2008 school year. The day started out with many of us congregating at the school, forming a line from the elementary room to the high school room to congratulate Joseph for graduating from sixth grade. As he walked along the line, we all gave him a token gift to help him move on up to seventh grade. He was cool about it, but had a huge grin on his face the whole time as his arms filled up with the gifts.

Tomorrow is graduation day for our high school senior, John, who is one of our boarding students this year. In the state of Washington, high school seniors are required to have a senior project. John chose to study sustainable farming and as part of his project he led the kitchen staff in preparing a fabulous dinner tonight. It consisted of ham, mashed roots (potatoes, sweet potatoes, carrots), and steamed spinach. There was also a wonderful dessert with meringue, berries, and whipped cream. Most of the food came from local farms in the Chelan area. Later this evening he did a presentation of what he had learned in his research. Since the subject matter is so huge, he concentrated on talking about beef. He presented some very interesting facts he had researched about grass fed beef versus feed lot beef.

So school is out for the summer and it is time for a few of the students to leave Holden. Besides John, our other boarding student, Stephan, will be leaving, as well as Thomas and Rachel, whose family has finished their long term stay here. By the end of next week they will be off to other places and other friends in their life journeys. But the Holden experience will always be with them. It's a great place to go to school and the old adage, "it takes a village," really applies here as so many villagers help with teaching and working with the kids.
The custodian from the school district is here this weekend to close down the school for the summer. During the summer the building is turned into Narnia where our summer children's programs happen. We have some really good, caring young adults to lead this program and the miners, jr. miners program (for high school and jr. high school ages) this summer. It should be a lot of fun.

But the summer is short and by Labor Day the school will be rearranged again and we'll be ready for another first day of school.

Bike Ride

Yesterday was a perfect day for a bike ride. Debi, Wanda and I took off on our bikes about 10:15 a.m. for a ride to Lake Chelan. We rode about 9 miles to the top of the switchbacks and were picked up by the bus about 11:10 for the rest of the trip down. (The switchbacks are steep and are about 2 miles long and we didn't want to take a chance riding down them this first trip. We heard too many stories about accidents on them.) We timed it pretty well as the bus arrived just before we arrived at the spot we planned to meet it.

Once at the lake we rode over to Refrigerator Harbor Campground where we rested, ate our lunches and explored a cave. There were tents there where some Forest Rangers were headquartered for a base camp from which they led a group of volunteers to clear the trail to Domke Lake.

After lunch we rode over the the ranger cabin to see Bob and Sue, friends who are volunteering for the Forest Service for the summer. We didn't meet up with them, but met two of the volunteers who were down there taking care of three llamas. The Forest Service uses llamas to help carry supplies into the wilderness for the trail crews. We took pictures of the llamas and after a nice visit with the volunteers, we headed back to the Lucerne boat dock to be picked up by the second transport bringing folks down from the village to catch the boat. While we were waiting, we explored the shoreline. In the winter the Chelan County PUD lets about 17 feet of water out of the lake. This causes boat passengers to have to walk up or down a ramp that is at about a 45 degree angle. You can imagine how hard it is to get luggage and freight up and down the ramp. Now with the snow melt off, the lake is coming back up to normal and within a week or two will be covering what is the winter shoreline.

Anyway we explored around the shore while waiting for our ride back up the mountain. As we were getting ready to load our bikes and backpacks into the van, Wanda's backpack started moving of it's own accord. It was funny to see her scream and drop the pack on the ground. Our savior, Dave the van driver, opened it up and dumped out a chipmunk who had feasted on her leftover lunch.

We were all dead tired by the time we got back to the village about 3:30 p.m. Strangely enough the ride did good for my aching leg muscles and bum knees. They felt good the rest of the day. We are planning another outing soon. Keep in touch!

Prom Night

Clowns, elephants, a tattooed lady, bearded ladies, acrobats, jugglers, leopards, tightrope walkers, the Big Top. . . .

What do these have in common? They all escaped from the circus and turned up at the Holden High School prom on Saturday night.

In true Holdenesque fashion the theme for the prom was "Circus Escapees at a Rave" and was attended by circus performers of all kinds. At Holden the high school prom is a village-wide event - a big celebration attended by staff and guests alike. The Village Center was decorated to look like a circus tent, everyone made good use of the costume shop, and the result was a good time for all.

When was the last time you were at a high school prom? Bet it wasn't anything like this!

The Labyrinth

About a mile west of Holden Village proper lies the "Ballpark." The "ballpark" has been called the ballpark since the 1940's when Holden was a mining town. During the summer the miners played baseball there every Saturday. Sometimes they even had teams from others towns come in for a little competition. Great village picnics were held there too. The Fourth of July and Labor Day were big celebrations in those days with all the families turning out for food, games, and celebration.

Once in a great while the Holden Villagers even play ball there--except it is usually soccer, not baseball. Mostly though it is just a large open area to pass through on the way to the wilderness trail head for back country hikes to Hart Lake, Holden Lake, Lyman Lake and many other hiking areas. However several years ago some former directors built a labyrinth at one end of the ballpark. (Never fear, there is still room to play ball of any kind).

The labyrinth is a popular place for some people to go. It is a long labyrinth and takes awhile to completely walk it. The path is made out of wood chips and lined with rocks. A yellow rope outlines the perimeter of it. Right now the rope and the sticks that hold the rope are suffering from the heavy snow that laid on it all winter. The grass is barely starting to grow again and the flowers (which would be considered weeds anywhere else) are stiff and brown. During the summer wild flowers and grasses grow in the areas between the paths. By mid summer the growth is knee high in some places so you have to be at the perimeter to see the path.

Yesterday afternoon Wanda and I rode our bikes out to the ballpark and walked the path of the labyrinth. Being out of shape as I am, it was very tiring, but it was good for the soul. We then walked over to the firepit and sat and talked and rested for awhile. From this point you can see into the woods surrounding the area and hear the rushing water of Railroad Creek. I could have spent more time there but pizza was on the menu for supper, so we biked back to the village in time to partake of that.

Miscellaneous Stuff

I haven't updated my blog for awhile, so here goes....
I left the village for a week on May 14th and flew to Texas to visit family and friends. I had a nice visit there with several friends. Eileen Larsen was good enough to make two trips to DFW airport to pick me up and take me back. Thanks, Eileen.
And Chris McClure did the same for me in Seattle to Sea-Tac and back. Thanks Chris.
When I got back to Seattle, Chris and friends, Ramona, Becky, Jan and Wanda, had a luncheon at Ramona and Becky's home. It was wonderful!
I came back to a drizzly Holden Village and still haven't caught up on all the work that piled up while I was gone. But I will (hopefully) this next week.
The snow is practically all gone, the window screens are up, the flowers are blooming and the wildlife is back. It amazes me how the deer just roam the village and are not afraid of people. There have been a few bear sightings along the road too, and of course the little chipmunks are as pesty as ever.
This afternoon I am going for a bike ride. I just hope I remember how after the long winter hibernation.
Have a wonderful holiday weekend!
Gail

Downsizing

For the last seven or eight years I have been on a mission to downsize my possessions, to have a simpler existence without all the "stuff" I have in my house. At home I have garage sales usually once a year and get rid of some things I have decided I can live without. However I still find myself having more than I need. I am tempted by store displays, catalogs, garage sales, etc. I am not an obsessive consumer by any means, but little things tend to catch my eye when I am out and about.
Living at Holden for the last two years has been a lesson in how much "stuff" I don't need. I have been living in one room with a minimum of possessions and have discovered how easy it is to get along without a lot of things. I don't buy books anymore, but get them through the mail order library in Wenatchee. I have written to the catalog companies that send me catalogs, asking them to stop sending them. That way I can't be tempted, plus it helps reduce the amount of recycling that goes on here. This year I made a pledge not to buy anything new. I am finding that kind of hard though as I have bought three Holden specific items from our bookstore (souvenirs, I tell myself), one inexpensive gift, and a couple of greeting cards. (Gee, I feel like this is confession time or something.) Anyway, I have rededicated myself to not buying anything else now. I'm feeling guilty enough about those things.
This weekend I am downsizing the stuff I have in my room here. I am sending some things home, putting some in our give away room, and giving some other things away. I am already making plans to have a huge sale when I get back to Texas next Fall and really get rid of a lot. And I am looking forward to it!

Gail