Lessons learned from canoeing

Lesson #1. Do not take a new and inexperienced exchange student out on a canoe with a loose camera in the boat.

Lesson #2. Give longer canoe sailing lessons to said exchange student before handing him the sail controls during wind gusts.

Lesson #3. Wear whatchamacallem thingies to secure glasses to face when taking a supposed fun and easy canoe trip down a higher than usual (almost freezing cold) river while camping.

Lesson #4. Do not hit rock after successfully negotiating shallow rapids (we were informed they were a "low 2" on a scale of 1 (calm pond) to 6 (certain death) on white water difficulty ratings--see #7). Note: said exchange student present, but not to blame.

Lesson #5. Stay out of range of other club wielders, er, paddlers when trying to beach canoe.

Lesson #6. Associated with #4 and #5, learn teamwork with other members of the crew.

Lesson #7. Do not tell other passing canoers about your woes while you are still dripping, ESPECIALLY writers of canoeing and kayaking columns for over ten years.

Lesson #8. Make sure roads to pick up point have not been closed.

Lesson #9. Do not pass by daughter waiting dutifully to pick us up where she said she would because we didn't recognize her without glasses.

Total damage: camera, watch, two pairs of glasses and one pair sunglasses, painful bruise over left eye, severely damaged dignity, sore shoulders from carrying canoe half a mile, confirmation of Julie's unstated thoughts that her mother (responsible for all except #2) really belongs on slapstick comedy team.

Gains: Wisdom (maybe), experience, recovered paddles and shoes, dry camera (foresightedly (amazing) sealed in a ziplock bag) with partial visual record, basic paddling lesson from experts, experience taking apart and drying out cell phone (HaHa benefited most from this).

It might also be said that we saw spectacular vistas of Mount Rainier and flower bursting alpine meadows, deep silent woods, and sunshine lighting the leaf tips and sparkling the waters on several hikes. Eric and Bruce had a lovely 20 mile, uneventful but spectacular overnight hike from near Paradise down to Silver Falls, while we spent 1.5 hours trying to start a campfire with damp wood so we could eat something. We also learned that vegetarian hot dogs taste horrible, and that vegetarian patties have egg in them, and that our poor Hindu (non-meat and non-egg eating) exchange student from India is a good sport about all that. We returned home grubby, ready for real food, eager to sleep comfortably, and most importantly--alive! Most unforgettable lesson learned--respect Mother Nature!

She's not a toddler anymore....

A couple of weeks ago we went camping with Julie. Just for a day or two while she went to a printmaking workshop at a museum in the vicinity. Nowadays I mostly see her as a sensible, hardworking, creative person, and a good teacher, but every once in a while the old saucy twinkle still appears in her eyes as she shares a joke or plays a trick on us. She comes up with the funnest ideas for Christmas--the silly
string in our stockings last year
was a blast and added a lot to
the enjoyment of the holiday
(and then there's the boxing
gloves...)

Although, it wasn't actually Julie's idea to pose with the statue--she is just graciously humoring one of her mother's inexplicable whims.




She has always been interested in sports
and taking care of her body, having lately
taken up preparing for and participating
in triathalons. She has even managed to
envigle her non-sports participating
brother into joining her when she goes
biking. Several of the blogs I read are
written by moms with little guys at home,
and I remember those days well, but I
marvel almost every time I see her what
a competent, good, and (mostly) together (nobody's perfect) adult this scrappy
toddler has become.



I always used to get a little upset
when my mother still saw the little
girl in me, but now, realizing how
much I still enjoy the glimpses of the
Julie-that-used-to-be, maybe I'll cut
my own mother some slack! Recalling
the little Julie in no way diminshes the
pleasure I feel in knowing that I had
some small part in helping her become
the amazing woman she is.

If it wasn't so sad, I'd be funny....

Anyone who knows me knows I am pretty committed to exchange students, and to learning from and enjoying the differences between us. These are wonderful kids and being able to host them for a year (if we can) is an amazing opportunity. They are not perfect by any means, but who is?

So I was really burned recently when I heard of a family, after saying they would, changing their minds and dumping a student--because he was Muslim and might do something scary. This is not to say there are no scary Muslims--but the vast majority of them are as appalled by the scary ones as we are appalled by, say, skinheads, the KKK, or, more historically, the Inquisition (all of whom could be considered Christians by people who are unfamiliar with us).

Having hung around with a lot of Muslims lately, I just had to laugh when I thought of some of the scary things I've seen them do......

Develop secret weapons--explosives, I think.

Target practice.

Mingle inconspicuously with the natives so they can become entrenched in our society. (Guess which ones are Muslim).

Spy out the weaknesses of our power grid.

These guys seem to be the ringleaders. Code names are Larry, Curly, and Mo.

Probably anyone who reads this blog is already a generous and understanding person, but I just had to vent!!!