Fun Saturday

Today we took a hike up Mineral Ridge. It was a beautiful 3.3 mile hike.

Tanzy

After her day at the doggie salon! I love her ribbon!

Before her haircut (notice she still looks a bit terrified)

Tanzy is afraid of the camera, which is why there are never any pictures of her. Well I turned off the sound on the camera and managed to get a couple of pics.

Ethan's ISAT's

Ethan has spent the last two day doing his ISAT's. He passed in Language Usage, Science, and Reading. He missed Math by one point. These are preliminary scores so there is a possibility that he could still pass Math. He was really bummed because he doesn't want to have to take the Math again next year. I am really proud of him though. He hasn't tested in two years and tends to sike himself out. He did great!!!

Games

Tucker has had two games so far. They played Cd'A on Saturday and lost. They were a very good team and had some fast pitchers. Wednesday they played Lakeland Royals and lost by one, but played a good game. Tucker had 4 hits (WOOHOO), an out on 3rd and pitched well. Tonight is against Lakeland A's.

The recording is of Tory and her friend. It was from my cell phone so not the best quality, but... It was so fun to see Tory. It has been several years since I have seen her.

Opening Day for Lakeland Little League

Now Pics

That was the recap from the instructor, Tim. The pictures won't post that way so here are some.

Pics from Ethan's Teen Wilderness Camp

Hello Parents & Teens!

Well, we had quite the adventure on the Teen Walkabout at Moses Lake Sand Dunes as you have probably heard. We missed our regular routine of a parent sharing circle, but we really wanted to share with you a bit of the experience.

We wound up with just seven people total on the trip, a really nice intimate experience. There was Godwin & Matthew Peck, Ethan Bradbury, Ethan Schlusler and Finan Adamson. Josh and I were the instructors.

Here is a short story of our experience (I'll try to keep this brief, but we experienced a LOT during that weekend!)

Friday, we met up at the rest area and drove into our base camp. We were just south of Moses Lake, in state land associated with Potholes State Park. Imagine a beautiful sagebrush desert with a 3" thick layer of volcanic ash still present from the '81 eruption of Mount Saint Helens. At points, where the desert meets creeks or the Potholes reservoir, life abounds - a diversity of plants, trees, birds, mammals and more all converge at the waters edge. This is where we started, with our base camp along a creek, being serenaded by the Pacific Tree Frogs...

By the time we had base camp setup, it was well into the evening. We gathered the boys together and laid out the expectations for the weekend - we set a high bar for conduct, and they all agreed to that. We spoke of hazards (rattlesnakes, dehydration...) and the mystery of this beautiful place. We didn't tell them much about the actual Walkabout, other than the fact they we would be starting it "soon". The rest of that night was spent making traditional pemmican (a mix of dried meat, fat, dried berries, honey & nuts, a very old trail food used by native Americans for a long time) and longmatches (fancy tinder bundles capable of carrying a lit ember for a long period of time), all in preparation for our walkabout. We then wrapped up just a few gear items (knife, extra cloths) in a wool blanket using duct tape as lashings and shoulder straps, and the boys were a bit jittery that they were bringing so little gear on the Walkabout. Then we went to sleep.

Saturday morning, we awoke in silence and quietly organized ourselves. Beyond the blanket packs, they each had their longmatch and an empty cup. We also brought 2 sleeping bags and 2 gallons of water and that was it for our whole group, aside from emergency provisions that Josh & I carried. We set out. For the next 10 hours, we hiked and hiked and hiked, traversing most of the state land in that area. Most of the time we were in the sagebrush desert and sand dunes, and occasionally paralleled some water. We encountered desert flowers, giant sand dunes, deer,an amazing lizard with little spikes, an occasional cow, tracks in the sand, cattail fluff to add to the longmatches, milkweed stalks that we turned into strong cordage, lava rocks, an occasional stray cow, kill sites, dens, trails, eagles dancing in the sky, and much, much more. All the while they each managed to keep their longmatch lit, have to refuel it constantly, begin more and more creative in their choice of fuel, at one point Ethan B. had his longmatch transferred into an old deer skull, and then for a while Godwin and Ethan had theirs transferred to old dried up cow patties!! Several of them kept their longmatches lit in their original condition the entire time. It was an amazing journey of over 10 miles. The boys did amazing. It was truly an experience where the were stretched to their physical limits, and then kept going. In their own way, they each found resources and capabilities within that they had not known before.

By the time we got to the final stretch of the journey, two of them spoke up and asked for a break. In many circles, this might be seen as a sign of weakness, yet we created something different, something more human. We honored those that spoke up for their courage to do so, and found a way to meet their needs. In doing so, magically, their state of being changed. Somehow they found a deep well of renewed energy, and more than once the very person who had just asked for a break was now leading the group. It seemed that by the individual having the courage to speak up for their own needs, then the group being willing to honor them for doing so, the real need had been met. They felt heard and acknowledged, and their bodies responded. It was quite something to witness.

Before long, we made it to our destination, named "Paradise Falls" by our youngest member! An amazing campsite complete with waterfalls (that's right, two!), a natural spring, an amazing campsite right on the creek, an abundance of phragmite reeds for both shelter and food, it was truly an oasis in the desert. First off, we discovered the spring and just drank and drank and drank of the fresh, clean water coming right from the Earth. What a sight to behold. Some had never drank clean water directly from the Earth before. It was primal. We made a fast fire with the longmatches, then we quickly went to task gathering reeds for our shelter. The group decided to weave a giant reed mat using flexible willows as our cordage! It took an hour or two, but we did it. We kept rehydrating, and had our simple shelter complete in no time. At this point of course the boys were starving. All they had eaten all day was a handful of pemmican, and although it is quite nourishing, they were hungry! Well, I took pity on them and brought out an elk roast which they devoured so fast I don't think they even remember what happened!!! Talk about hungry! We stayed up and read a story of Grandfather Stalking Wolf, the Apache elder who taught Tom Brown Jr. who taught many of the Twin Eagles instructors. It was a story of how he spent several weeks walking through Death Valley and the teachings the desert brought him. The boys went to sleep in their very primitive yet warm shelter with dreams of the ancients who have taken this journey since the dawn of time...

We awoke warm and happy, and hungry (again). We spent the morning celebrating, still amazed at our phenomenal campsite and what felt like luxurious accommodations, and then they had a lesson in eating the shoots of the phragmites, roasted in the coals of last nights fire. We drank a ton more water, and then proceeded to disappear our campsite and pick up trash left behind by previous visitors. It felt right to leave this place cleaner than we found it.

It was a quick hike back to our original base camp, and we didn't waste any time getting our feast together. We ate like kings... one, two, three big servings, we just couldn't stop eating! The weekend was drawing close to an end, so we got our gear put away swiftly and were ready for our closing circle.

The closing circle was quite powerful. Josh and I really asked them to stretch themselves again, but this time on the inside. They stretched to find meaning in their experience, beyond just pushing their physical edges. What did they learn, really? I read part of that chapter again about Stalking Wolf and his journey through Death Valley so long ago. It sparked the boys to discover their own truth, and some powerful comments emerged:

(some paraphrasing here, but I'll do my best to share what they said clearly:)

On the longmatch:

"I learned to have faith with my longmatch. There were times when I wasn't sure if it was still burning or not, but I had to have faith. It worked out in the end. Its the same with my passions in life. I realize that I must have faith that things will work out if I follow my passions, even when I'm not sure..."

"Follow what you believe in, and trust that is right"

"I found total determination no matter how long it took. I can use that determination in the rest of my life"

"I couldn't be too attached to anything with the longmatch. I had to keep letting go of my old approaches and try a new one. Life is like that. I can't be too attached to any particular way of doing something. I need to stay flexible and able to adapt to the moment, able to find another way of accomplishing the same goal"

"Tending a longmatch is like tending my passions. If you don't tend it, it will burn out."

On thirst:

"I found that by accepting my thirst it stopped dragging me down and became my friend - it helped me to actually find water"

"The thirst heightened my awareness, it actually helps you to notice more. There is no way I would have paid so much attention to every drop of water around me if I hadn't been thirsty"

"I learned faith from thirst. Faith that everything will work out, even when I'm doubting that the most"

"The thirst was real. We love everything that is real. That spring was real"

"I think that after this weekend I will look at everything different"

It was so good to witness these teens finding deep meaning in their experience, it truly gave me hope.

So a big thanks to everyone for supporting this expedition and making it possible!!