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2008-05-30

a trip to hell and back  

by laura beth


My niece, Melanie, is a 13-year-old 7th grader. Her science teacher planned a 3 day field trip, but was short one female chaperon. No chaperon, no trip. My sister Melissa (Melanie's mom) would have gone, but she had to work (she's a nurse and it was too late to change her schedule). So with the sacrifice of a long-planned girls trip out of town, I said I would do it. I couldn't stand the thought of those kids missing out on a fun field trip at the end of the school year.

The trip was to Malheur Field Station and surrounding area. Michael Cummings, a professor at Portland State University and geologist, not only spearheaded the grant that enabled the kids to go, but he came with us. He organized the whole thing. Some of the main areas of study included using a GPS device, geology, and wildlife. I got on the bus around 8:30 AM. By 9:00 I was ready to go home. We met Michael in nearby Seneca for some GPS activities. During the 45 minutes we were there, the extremely patient and mild-mannered professor threatened to send the entire busload of kids back home. Twice. So started 3 days of hell.

It wasn't the typical 13-year-old kid behavior. It was the complete and total lack of disrespect and manners, the open defiance, the flippant vulgarity. They talked over the professor, turned their backs on him while he was talking, took off without telling anyone. They broke all the rules and didn't care about consequences. There is only so much you can do as a chaperon. You can talk, guide, instruct, but when the kids are indifferent, you can't beat them. And the thing was, it was actually interesting stuff. Michael talked about water systems, volcanoes, geographical changes, plant life. We visited a wildlife refuge with hundreds of amazing bird species. We explored lava flows and caves.

The kids were concerned with their cell phone service ("I only have 2 bars!") and members of the of the opposite sex, but not much else. The girls opened the windows in the dorm bathroom so the boys could watch them shower. They complained about wanting to go home from hour one, yet they drug out every activity by not showing up on time or by goofing off way too much. I am very much into kids being kids and having a good time, but come on! I have been around kids of all ages my entire life. I've been a Young Life leader and even worked with inner-city homeless youth and predatory gang members. I have never seen such terrible creatures as these kids. I am actually afraid of the adults they will become. Utter self-centeredness and manipulation.

I held it together until I got home, and then I lost it, crying for an hour. I told my mom to pull my 11-year-old sister, who will be in the 6th grade this year, out of public school solely because of the horrific peer groups at the Jr. High. I wasn't even angry so much as sad at the idea that it will take nothing short of miracles for these kids to change their altitudes and habits in order to become anything resembling endearing adults. Take it or leave it-my advice as a non-parent: Instill in your offspring, in any way you can, the basics of decency. Or don't get pregnant. Believe me, I am far from perfect, but I find the Fruit of the Holy Spirit in the Bible, Galatians 5:22 & 23 to be a great place to start. Wikipedia actually has a good explanation here. And it wouldn't hurt to throw in some lessons on mercy, grace, and wisdom to boot.

"But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law."

On the bright side I love owls and other various birds, so I was super excited to see a great horned owl in the tree above me in broad daylight. We also toured a museum of dead birds and although I dislike taxidermied (is that a word) animals, It was great to see some of my favorites close up.

2008-05-22

Andy Combs and the Moth in Pendleton  

by kenny


When we went to Portland a while back we were introduced to Andy Combs and the Moth. And they were great. Really great. They decided to do a small tour through Oregon and Washington and one of the locations was Pendleton, Oregon, a town not too far away from us. Ben drove Linnea (Lorin's mom), Laura, and I to Pendleton and we had, as expected, a great time hanging out with friends and listening to the Moth. We hung out late into the night and left early in the morning just in time to see a chicken actually crossing the road. We don't know why.


Andy Combs and the Moth "Blood Ship" music video (3:20)

2008-05-16

staying longer  

by laura beth

So we decided to saying John Day, at least for the summer. Kenny's able to work at the pizza place where he used to work and I quickly lined up several house cleaning jobs. Diesel is expensive.

2008-05-13

wedding bells and good friends  

by laura beth


Jennifer, Jennifer, Jennifer. I really love this woman. We became great friends in Jr. High. She was a cowgirl from a ranching family. We had sleepovers all the time. We were in at looking and sewing classes together. In high school we double-dated for proms, and were on homecoming court together. She was a rodeo queen and an incredible academic achiever. She got straight A's and was our class president and Valedictorian. She went to Stanford. I visited Jennifer her first year there, and she had the hugest secret crush on this guy, Nate. That was in 1997 or 1998. Now he's her husband and she's a doctor. They make a wonderful couple don't get excited for every wedding, but when it's right, it's right, and they are right. their moving from Portland to Boise, ID where Jennifer will begin her residency. I suppose we have drifted since high school, busy with our separate & different lives, but she will always be special to me.

They got married at McMenamin's Edgefield. The outdoor ceremony was short but wonderful (I started crying, which made Tyler cry), hurried by a downpour in the last few minutes. The reception was great, made even better by great food and an open bar. Jennifer, in her wonderful foresight sat 8 friends together-- Tonia, Mitch, Thadd, Jess (and baby Charlie), Tyler & his partner Frank, and Kenny & I. We had such a great time.

On our way home we stopped at Multnomah Falls along the Historic Columbia River Highway, which we take when we can. It's gorge-ous.

2008-05-12

friends in Portland  

by laura beth


While in Portland for Jennifer's wedding, we visited some other friends that live in town. I went to high school with John and Lorin Coleman, and only after Kenny and I were married and living in John Day did I get to know Steve Coleman. All three brothers live in Portland now. Their parents, Neal and Linnea, are wonderful people and live in Canyon City. John is married to Barb and they have two beautiful daughters, Frankie and Violet. Lorin and Steve live in a house with several other people, including a couple other Grant County natives I know from high school, Tom the photographer and Luke the painter. Another painter and friend, Maggie Willis, was also in town. She lives in Salt Lake City but had been traveling (Vermont to Alaska) with an art installment called Waves of Mu. I'm so glad her flight home to SLC coincided with Jennifer's wedding. I love this woman and rarely get to see her. Check her out here and here. We also got to see friend Eben, who might be the epitome of awesome.

The Coleman brothers are all very musically gifted. Lorin has been drumming with a local band, Andy Combs and the Moth, and we were able to see them play our first night in town. Quite possibly the most alive live music I've seen. The band members are individually incredibly talented, but together they create something so unique and beautiful and fun. And they have such a great time, which is what makes it such a joy to watch. After the crackerjack music we ate some crackerjack Belgian style frites at Potato Champion. Thanks, Steve, for sharing this little gem with us!

Next morning, we had an amazing brunch at John and Barbs. It was sooooo good to spend time with far away friends.

2008-05-03

Cinco De Mayo party  

by kenny


3 years ago our friend, Ben Willis, invited us to an annual Cinco de Mayo party at Don Hann and Anne Schneider's house. And so far we have gone every year since, but I think this will be our last year as hopefully we will be in another state this time next year. I love this party. I was so excited when we came back for Jennifer's wedding that we would also be able to go to the party. The house has a big yard on Canyon Creek. There is a nice fire pit, a sauna, and hammocks all over the place. Everybody brings different food dishes to share and everything is unique and good. There are drums to be played inside and various kinds of rum to be tasted. After dark the strobe lights are brought out as well as a pinata. The kids have a go at it and eventually adults bust it open. Out flys candy and airplane bottles of booze. The kids can't have them, so you have to be quick to offer them candy for booze before someone else gets to them. I ended up with 3 bottles and a little candy left over. It is just a great night and I hope whenever we stop moving we will have our own Cinco de Mayo celebration.

Cinco de Mayo is also my dad's birthday and my brother-in-law Tim's. So happy birthday Dad and Tim.

Oh, and earlier today we went to a festival celebrating the local Chinese history and the Kam Wah Chung museum re-opening. A multi-cultural day for us.