OHANA GOES NORTH

Look who came to visit!

2009-08-04T10:47:00.000-07:00

Summer in Oregon brings so many pleasures and surprises, including a visit from Baby Ruby and her family! Pamela's cousin in Portland was getting married and Jer and Pamela had some time after the wedding and before the flight home to Berkeley. So Courtney, Aaron and I spent the day with them at McMenamins Edgefield Inn outside of Portland. (Very cool spot--I would definitely recommend it.)

It was much too brief a visit--only half a day--but great to keep that connection going with Ruby and see her progress and development in person. As always she kept everyone entertained and amazed. And it's very wonderful watching Pamela and Jer in their parenting roles.

Here's the whole gang, minus Aunt Hat who was behind the camera. That's Pamela's mom Doris on the left and her dad John on the right. What a sweet and very fun family.

Speaking of sweet and fun, our first house-guest of the season, Mabelle arrived on 4th of July weekend in her self-contained bed and breakfast. All she needed was a flat place to park and a bathroom. She's got a solar panel she plops up on top during the day and that gives her the juice she needs for a reading light and fan for the night.

Most the time we had spent with Mabelle in Monterey was at films or talks or on marches. We had a great time while she was here getting to know each other better, exchanging stories and finding so much that we had in common.

It was hot and sunny and we made a trip downtown to the farmer's market and a walk along the river, and Courtney took Mabelle for a tour around campus, but mostly we spent time in the haven of our backyard--sitting at the picnic table, eating and talking. Heaven.

Then two weeks later it was daVinci Days and we were blessed with more great company-- Helen came from Monterey and Peter and Lee came from Portland. As happened when Helen visited the first summer we lived in Corvallis, the temp went to 100+ and so much of our focus was on how to stay in the shade and keep cool and hydrated.

As always daVinci Days was wildly creative and entertaining. Below is the "Friendly Giraffe"--a one-man effort. But, as you'll see below, most of the machines have more than one pilot, as they're called, plus a pit crew.

The criteria is that the "kinetic sculptures" must be human-powered and be able to complete a race on the ground, up and over a sand dune, through a mud bog and down the river.

Lots of puppets and pagentry, and most of all, incredibly creativity and fun. Helen was game for everything, despite the awful heat, including a night-time concert by Ladysmith Black Mambazo, and then a hot and sunny viewing of the bog race the next day.

It was great to share the fun with our friends Peter and Lee from Portland. As was the case with Mabelle, we knew Peter and Lee from political work, specifically Palestinian solidarity, and this was the first chance we'd gotten to know each other more as friends. The five of us share a passion for Palestinian human rights work, but we also just plain enjoyed each other, so it made for a really great weekend.

When it was just the two of us Helen and I mainly spent our precious time together on the back deck--an especially nice place for our breakfasts and dinners. We created wonderful salads together and enjoying them over tall glasses of iced tea and long talks.

Just like last year Courtney and I went to the Peoria Gardens' big summer sale twice--filled the back of the Honda not once but twice--and then I had to re-pot all those danged plants. And then, just like last year, we had company (last time Frank and Margaret, this time Helen) who had to watch me pot and pot and pot some more. Luckily I can talk and dig in the dirt at the same time. Below is just a fraction of the fun flowers and herbs I scored...

...and here they are below after finding new homes, mostly around the deck in the backyard.

The front yard is more Courtney's domain. He's got the espaliered fruit trees growing up and along the fence, hardy kiwi, four types of blueberries, a Ukranian persimmon tree, nasturtiums...

...and snow peas, winter squash, wildflowers, lavenders and sages.

We're very inspired, and blessed, by our neighbor Jerry who invited us to pick cherries, and then more cherries, and then more. Big beautiful black cherries. And then he presented us with this incredible bouquet of sunflowers from his garden. His sunflower patch is about the size of our house--pretty stunning. He just broadcasts sunflower bird seed and let's 'em grow!

And speaking of growing, Aaron turned 14 at the end of July. Last year we had a big party for him and I invited neighbors and friends of mine and Courtney's, to help Aaron meet more people in Corvallis. I wanted him to feel part of our community. He of course spent most of his time with his cousin Matt (that's to be expected) and being a teenager he didn't hobnob and meet a bunch of new friends. Oh well, it was a good party and I don't regret it at all.

But this year his one request pertaining to his party was that there only invite people who he knows. Hummm, how weird. But I respected his request and it was an intimate gathering--Maya, Eder, my mom, Courtney, Aaron and me. (Ben was off doing his own thing.)

Here he is, the handsome dude. One of his birthday gifts from me was a photo album of his life. I'd been working on it for several years, but each year when his birthday would come around I wouldn't have it finished. So this year I stayed with it and got it done in time. We all had fun after dinner looking at the photos of his childhood together--laughing and reminiscing.

Aaron's other birthday gift was a week's trip to Monterey to stay with his buddy Robert and Robert's family. I love that Aaron and Robert have been friends since second grade, and Robert's mom Patty and I do our best to help the boys maintain their friendship. Robert was here last winter break and hopefully he'll be back this year.

The other handsome boy in my life, Courtney, is seen above and below doing his early morning watering in his garden along the south side of our house. I especially love the romano beans growing up the bamboo structure that Courtney built for them. During the two week period of hot hot weather Courtney was up and in the garden early each day trying to keep all his plants from frying. Here and there was a burnt leaf or two, but for the most part everything survive thanks to his care and diligence. Every household and garden should be so lucky as to have a Courtney in it.

Well, that's been our summer, more or less. I'm hoping to be more regular about blogging when winter comes. Too much keeps me away from the computer during the summer months--precious guests and family, the pleasure of being in the garden and among my flowers, and the total luxury of reading under the great shade trees in our backyard.

But so many things that I'd like to include in this blog get lost in my miniature memory bank. "Must not have been that important" goes the old saying, but I don't think that's true. So I'm praying for a long rainy winter in which to type away at the computer hour after hour with no regrets of missing time outdoors.

In the meanwhile, I'd better get back out there--before Ben's builds another tower without me!

Thanks for reading this and I hope your summer is warm, sunny, restful and rejuvenating.

Til next time, much love,

Valori

The Beatles, a baby, a birthday and a close brush with death

2009-06-11T18:19:00.000-07:00

Hmmm, what can I say about May other than it was a very intense month and not at all what I had planned. Tom Nelson's event on May 3rd went well--a good crowd at the Library, dinner afterward with friends, including Josh, who was leaving for Damascus the next day to continue his Arabic studies. Information was spread about the Free Gaza Movement and we might have someone locally who'll go on one of the Free Gaza boats this summer, which would certainly make the time invested in Tom's event well worth it.

I had only one other event that I was part of the planning for: on May 17th emma's revolution, a two-woman band from Washington, DC, was playing in Corvallis as a fundraiser for Benji Lewis, a young man refusing to go to Iraq for the third time.

Benji had joined the Marines at age 18, went to Iraq twice, was part of the assault on Fallujah, and promised himself he would not be part of anything like that again. He served his time, was honorably discharged, moved to Corvallis, got a job, started school, fell in love, and then last October got notice of involuntary reactivation (not the same as stop-loss, but similar).

Anyway, a group formed to support Benji and before you know it he's on a speaking tour of the Pacific Northwest, he and his girlfriend Marci have developed amazing organizing skills, and then suddenly his reactivation got cancelled. For the full story go to www.couragetoresist.org and click on Benji Lewis.

All this is to say that after Benji's event there was nothing else on my horizon, until....but that story is later.

Meanwhile May started out mild enough, with The Beatles At OSU. This was the fourth year in a row that these OSU students (some new each year and some the same all four years) performed a Beatles album as a fundraiser for CARDV (Center Against Rape and Domestic Violence). It's not that they sound like the Beatles, it's that they sound exactly like The Beatles.

Each year it's been a fabulous show. The tickets are $5, the cause is a great one, the energy that the musicians put out is really wonderful. Last year we took Aaron and he liked it, so this year he said yes to going with us again and he brought his friend Simon too.

It just so happened that it was also the weekend that Aaron had to have his "baby" with him continuously for 48 hours for his sex education class. It's not like he hasn't been around Ben enough to see that a baby takes alot of energy, but I don't think he was prepared for how much impact his "baby" was going to have on him.

Simon was such a great sport and actually alot of help since he'd had his baby the previous semester and so knew the tricks for keeping the baby happy. It was a very sophisticated baby and made a certain cry when it was hungry, a different sound when full, and another cry when it needed to be burped, and yet another for a diaper change. And, yes, it woke up several times during the night and could not be easily comforted. Dang!

Anyway, everywhere that Aaron and Simon went the baby was sure to go--on a walk around town, to Willamette Park, to dinner before the Beatles concert, and to the concert itself. I can see how it would be much better to have two daddys than one--nothing like a good support system to make life easier...and more fun.

In the end I was proud of how responsible Aaron and Simon were with the baby. It seems to me that the school was right on in its timing. Last year it would have been a disaster--this year they just did it and with surprisingly little complaint.

As Aaron heads towards his 14th birthday I'm increasingly aware of how little preparation kids in our culture get for taking care of themselves. If life only required that we be able to operate electronics, download into our computers, upload into our ipods, etc, then no problem. It's those other pesky details of self-care that are missing and so I determined in my devious little mind that this summer would be all about building skills.

Courtney brilliantly offered Aaron an easy way to make $5 just clipping his hair (I'm a real weanie and won't use those clippers) before either Courtney or I finish off the haircut with scissors. Aaron's first try was a success and so he built some confidence and made some cash.

Meanwhile little Ben was moving into a next stage of his own. Below are photos of his 3rd birthday party. Here he is with his two buddies Ella and Keaton.

His aunt Aunt Mindy and cousin Jakob came from Monterey to help celebrate his birthday...

...along with his Aunt Kenya and his cousin Nicholas.

Below, Ben and Keaton were of course very interested in the cake that Sierra, Maya's friend and co-worker, made. Too bad the photo doesn't show the great play structure that Ben got from the family. Eder, Maya, Courtney, their friend Jay and my mom all spent many hours putting the structure together in time to surprise Ben on his birthday. (Never believe the box instructions that say 4-8 hour assembly time.) Anyway it's a work of art and should keep Ben busy until middle school.

Ben had his first experience wacking a pinata--with Eder in the background working the "controls".

After all the hard work was over Eder and Daddy Jay, as Ben calls him, got to kick back by the fire pit and enjoy some brews in celebration of Ben turning three.

And here's the rest of the story of May 2009: Shortly after 12:30 on the 5th a phone call came to the Co-op from medics in an ambulance saying that our buddy and deli co-worker Carolyn was on her way to the hospital after having been hit by an SUV while riding her bike to work. Not only hit, but also dragged 20 ft and then pinned under the rear tire until the firemen and medics arrived and rescued her. Yes, Carolyn instructed the medic to call her work and say she wouldn't be there--ever the responsible worker that she is.

I won't go into the details of her injuries--just suffice to say they were numerous and extensive. Carolyn's a 62-year-old grandmother and peace activist (probably a pacifist, but in no way passive), who was luckily in great physical shape and with a determined will as tough as steel. She was quoted as saying "Get this ****ing SUV off me! This is a stupid way to die!" She's got alot of people close to her, but especially her grandson Calder she was not ready to leave.

Anyway, as workers at the Co-op continued to hear more details about Carolyn's situation--that the SUV driver was uninsured, that Carolyn wouldn't be able to work for at least 4-6 months, etc--the energy started to build to do a fundraiser for her. A group of us got together and brainstormed and came up with.... CASH FOR CAROLYN!

We planned an all-day event for June 6th, and what sounded like a fairly straight-forward and simple event grew and grew until it was quite the extravaganza. But with each growth spurt we could see the potential for making more money for Carolyn, so we continuously said yes to whatever came along and in the end it all payed off.

That morning Carolyn arrived, a bonus we couldn't have predicted would be possible, by pedicab driven by our friend Dan Crall and was greeted by Sally with a gift of a new pair of shoes from FootWise. The police were only able to find one of Carolyn's Keens after the accident and she had been mourning the loss of her favorite pair of shoes. Here was a replacement.

The event was taking place in two locations next door to each other. A giant rummage sale was set up in the parking lot behind Fireworks Restaurant, along with a stage for live music. Then at the Co-op a silent auction and cake raffle were set up in the Community Meeting Room.

She was also greeted by her old troublemaking buddies, the Raging Grannies, who Carolyn used to sing with before she started working at the Co-op.

There's Raging Grannies in lots of towns and cities these days and they all share the funny and political lyrics they've written to popular tunes that everyone knows. Another trademark they share is the big wild hats and funny aprons they wear. Makes them hard to miss.

The Grannies were just the right way to kick off the day, and the energy just kept growing from there--one great musical act after another made it really fun to be there (and many of the musicians were Co-op staff members). The morning mist and clouds and wind finally cleared in the afternoon just as Future Roots took the stage and put on a great show.

Meanwhile people were shopping the rummage sale like crazy and making donations beyond what they purchased, including those who hadn't heard about Carolyn before but were so impressed by her and by the support they were seeing and feeling all around her.

I'm sorry that we didn't take any photos of the action in the Meeting Room. There were over 60 silent auction items--many of them donated by Co-op staff members--artwork, jewelry, pottery, massages, rafting trips and on and on. And the cakes and desserts in the cake raffle were amazing and beautiful and so danged creative.

Below is the lovely Jeannie Holiday, the mistess of ceremony and wonderful hostess/comedian/performer of the day. Without her humor and bright energy the day would not have been nearly so fun.

And with his back to us is Aaron, who won the award (in my book) for best volunteer. We had lots and lots of people working all the aspects of the event, but none out-did Aaron for continuous hard-work and cheerful attitude. He was my hero and Carolyn's.

My other hero was Courtney who throws himself behind me in whatever I take on. In this particular event he worked long and hard with gout in his foot and so many hours of pain and agony and still he was there to the very end.

Below is the last act of the day, the zombie surf rock band, They Won't Stay Dead. The lead guitarist Craig had OK'd it with Carolyn ahead of time that he was wearing a smashed up helmet and tire tracks across his torso. She had already made jokes about tatooing No Parking Zone across her abdomen, so she was fine with his dark humor.

Something none of us planned, or even could have imagined, was that Carolyn was able to stand up, with no help but her back brace and cane, and thank everyone publicly. No dry eyes in the crowd right then.

Carolyn swears that this event--with all the love and support it generated--has knitted her broken bones back together in rapid time.

And we raised buckets of money for her--more than we ever could have imagined. Thank goodness for good strong community. Life would not be nearly so rich without it.

Thanks to Chris Johnson for some of these photos of Carolyn's event and to Courtney for the others. And thanks to anyone who made it all the way through this very long blog,

Valori

Domesticity on Crystal Lake Dr

2009-04-30T15:42:00.000-07:00

Springtime this year has been a mixture of "ahhhhh, finally" and "what, already?!" Too many things happening in too many directions and then weather does it's part to confuse us, fluctuating between cold-wet-rainy and warm-sunny-beautiful.

The defining point, that proves we've moved from winter into glorious spring, is that we've moved our base of operation outside. Clean-up of the long-neglected deck has begun. The laundry is drying outside on racks, instead of inside by the woodstove.

I took down the very faded Tibetan prayer flags from the deck and Aaron and I strung them on long poles of bamboo and sunk them in the ground near Courtney's gardens.

My plan is to put up new strands of prayer flags each year and, as they fade, then move them to bamboo poles and eventually have a field of flags.

The idea is that as the wind blows the flags, prayers fly to the heavens. Please excuse this brief commercial for ICT, but if you make even a modest contribution to the International Campaign for Tibet, they'll send you a beautiful little strand of prayer flags--just the right size for a window or doorway. 888-Tibet-Now www.savetibet.org

As for what else is happening in the garden, here's my handsome Master Gardener cooking up the last of his winter harvest of arugala that he loves to put in his pastas.

But to back up in the story a moment: earlier in the spring we hired our neighbor Paul to trim the giant tree in our yard in hopes of keeping the trees happier, avoiding dead branches dropping on our heads, and letting in a little more light.

Paul was fairly fearless, though cautious, and Courtney assisted from the ground (the danger zone) and all went smoothly and it felt like one more step of spring cleaning and getting ready for life outdoors this summer.

Our enormous maple tree in the front yard hangs over the pathway next to our fence. The pathway is a very busy thoroughfare of walkers, bikers and joggers, and the maple makes a beautiful shady respite from the summer sun and heat.

Here's a close-up of what it looks like this time of year.

If you've been reading our blog for a while you may remember the story of a woman who fell from her roof and died--a woman I didn't know, but wished I had after reading the many obits written about her. She died before we moved to this neighborhood, but her straw bale house is just down the street from us and her partner Peace John still lives there.

The whirley-gig frog above is always fun to see--it's wheels whirl around with the wind. And the peace sign below is across the driveway from the frog and right next to...

...the pump house that sports these dancing pigs and, this time of year, a big show of daffodils and tulips.

Meanwhile, back at the farmstead, we hired the expert help of our neighbor Tal (on the ground working) to build a fence around the front yard. He's getting assistance and encouragement here from Courtney and another neighbor, Jerry.

The reason for the fence is, for one, to keep Ben in so we can all be out in the yard and not constantly worry that he'll bolt for the street.

Another reason is that Courtney is planting espalier trees all along the fence and they'll grow up some but mostly sideways. Already he's planted a Bosc pear, asian pear and fig tree along with a hardy kiwi and smaller things like peas.

Slowly but surely the grassy lawn in the front is being replaced by edible garden. There are four blueberry bushes and a persimmon tree and little garden strips inside the fence dug and ready for planting.

All this is to say that we're working on our little plot of sanity in the midst of a world that seems less than sane. My heart continues to feel heavy from the suffering in Gaza and the West Bank. Our friend Josh is preparing to return to Damascus to study Arabic again before he returns to the South Hebron Hills to continue his work with Christian Peacemaker Teams.

Much of my time is spent preparing for a guest speaker we are hosting from the Portland area--Tom Nelson, a lawyer who specializes in international law--who will be speaking on his investigations into war crimes committed in Gaza during the attacks in Dec and Jan.

Also Tom was on board one of the Free Gaza boats that made it to the Gaza port last August--breaking a 41-year blockade of Gaza from the sea. His stories should be interesting.

On a happier note: Ben's heading towards his third birthday, Aaron's getting ready to graduate from middle school, and Maya's loving her new job. Everyone appears to be happy and healthy and somewhat sane, so what more can you ask for!?!

Thanks for reading this, and I hope your lives and hearts are full of spring energy!

With love,

Valori

Gaza Mourning Tent

2009-04-07T09:22:00.000-07:00

March 30th is Land Day for Palestinians. What, you might ask, do Palestinians--who are losing their land at a breakneck speed--do on Land Day? True to the spirit of Palestinians, they celebrate what land they have left and protest that which they've lost.

Since February our Palestine Action Group had been planning a Mourning Tent for the victims of the Gaza massacre in December and January. Originally it was to be on March 16th, the anniversary of Rachel Corrie's death in 2003. Rachel, shown in the photo below, was a 23-year-old student at Evergreen College in Olympia, WA, and a peace activist. She was a volunteer in Gaza with ISM (International Solidarity Movement), trying to stop the demolition of Palestinian homes, when Israeli soldiers crushed and killed her with a D-9 Caterpillar bulldozer.

Each year there are memorials around the world for Rachel on the day of her death. It seemed like a fitting day for our Gaza Mourning Tent, but the weather would not cooperate. So at the last minute we rescheduled to March 30th, and joined in the global solidarity effort with Palestinians in observing Land Day.

Our student member Lia, along with other student friends on campus, reserved a space for us on the Quad (the hub of student traffic--kind of the crossroads of the campus) and we set up there in the morning and stayed until 3pm. We caught the student traffic between classes and especially at lunch.

Inside the tent we had flowers and candles and photos--of the dead and of mourners in Gaza. That was by far the hardest part of this whole project--looking at one gruesome and awful photo after another and trying to find ones that conveyed the tragedy and horror and loss, without scaring people away. In those photos there were so many terrible images that I hope some day will leave the recesses of my mind.

In the end I think we did an excellent job of finding photos that were respectful and dignified and gave the message that this was about mourning the deaths of innocent people and the destruction of their homes and neighborhoods.

Along side the tent was a table with information about the seige on Gaza and about Rachel, two tri-fold boards with photos and quotes, and postcards for people to sign: one asking Obama to end military aid to Israel, one showing the loss of Palestinian land over the last 60 years, and one to Caterpillar about stopping the sale of bulldozers to Israel (beefed up by the military and used to demolish homes, uproot olive trees, destroy farms and gardens, and flatten refugee camps).

Below in the Mourning Tent are hanging some posters of Rachel and the Palestinian flag. As soon as we hung up the flag a young woman stopped and said "I recognize that flag! It's Palestinian!" Turns out she had taught at the American School in Jordan, knew all too well the situation in Palestine, and was so happy we were doing what we were doing. It was a good start.

Our statement on the table read:

We Mourn the Dead in Gaza

December 27, 2008-January 21,2009

1,417 Palestinians killed
including 926 civilians
of whom 431 were children
and 116 were women
5,450 seriously wounded, mostly civilians
of whom 1,872 were children
and 735 were women

255 civil police officers killed
16 healthcare workers/medics killed
and 22 injured
13 Israelis killed
including 3 civilians
and 4 soldiers accidentally killed
by Israeli forces

Statistics according to CARE International UK, Amnesty International,
World Health Organization (WHO), International Medical Corps and
Palestinian Centre for Human Rights (PCHR)

The photo front and left was the one that most touched me. It is of the bodies of three little brothers being carried to their funeral. They look smaller than Ben. There's so much tragedy in that one picture: the tiny bodies wrapped in white shrouds, the looks of grief on the faces of the men carrying them, and on the far left is a young boy, his face covered with his hands, but obviously crying.

Different friends stopped by during the day to stand with us, talk with students and help pass out information. Most people were very respectful, and especially the middle eastern students were very appreciative that we were doing this. But as always there were those who were angry, didn't come too close, but shouted something as they passed by.

We all, especially Gretchen and Jeanne, got our practice talking with people who see things quite differently than we do. But we had an unfair advantage because our friend Josh, who just returned from months in the West Bank working with Christian Peacemaker Teams, was there with us all day. We could pull him into a conversation if we needed to, but we each tried to hold our own and not rely on him.

Then in the evening we moved the tables, photos, candles and flowers, plus information boards and postcards, downtown to the daily vigil in front of the Courthouse. Among the people at the vigil was Charlie, who is involved with the Peace Action Committee at the Unitarian Church. He was quite affected by the photos and by the map on the Loss of Land postcards, shown below, and invited us to bring all of this to their church, which we did the following Sunday.

The Mourning Tent was the second event our Palestine Action Group put on. (The first was the Celebration of Palestinian Culture evening in February.) As I've said before, I love this little group. We work so well together--it's a tight little operation. Below are two wonderful members--Emmet and Alison. (Emmet consistently puts out the message "It will be great!" and so far he's been absolutely right.) What's up next on our plate? That's yet to be determined, but as Emmet says, it will be great.

Our cultural celebration in February was a fundraiser for MECA, Middle East Children's Alliance in Berkeley. On March 26th MECA hosted a talk by Ali Abunimah, a Palestinian-American author and activist, my favorite speaker on the subject, who gives a very clear analysis of the Middle East conflict, including solutions. Ali Abunimah's talk is well worth the time to listen.

Meanwhile, spring is coming to Corvallis. The trees are budding and blooming. Winter is fading from our memory and life is renewing itself. The talk is all of what's been planted, what will be planted, etc. Hooray for all that spring brings.

One change in our lives is how infrequently Aaron comes to Corvallis. More and more he has plans with his friends on the weekends, and that's to be expected. How fun are we compared to friends?!? But I miss him and would rather see him more often.

As he heads towards his 14th birthday I'm reminded how little we teach our children in this culture about how to survive in daily life. So each time he's here I try to help him learn a new skill. (Maybe that's why he stays in Eugene!)

On Saturday nights now he's responsible for cooking dinner. Above and below you see the fruits of his labor--mushroom and black olive pizza. He did it all--from rolling out the pizza dough to serving it up.

One last thing: the literary tip you've been waiting for. My two new favorite books were written by Alison Clement (yes, the Alison in our Palestine Action Group!) The first is Pretty Is As Pretty Does. Anyone who has ever lived in a small town, or ever been a woman, or ever felt oppressed by the circumstances of your life, or ever felt frustrated by the confines of our society, etc, etc, will love this book. Shortly after I started this book I sent Alison an email with the subject line "I curse you, Alison Clement" and complained to her how tired I was at work after staying up all night reading her darned book!

Then the second one was just as great! The title is Twenty Questions and that's all I'm going to tell you. Go straight to the library and get them both. The sad news is that they are the only two books Alison has written. But the good news is she's working on one right now.

I'll leave you with that good news, and hopes for a beautiful beginning of spring for each and every one of you,

Valori

The Tales of Mary and Maya

2009-03-28T16:41:00.000-07:00

Some friends you don't see for months, or even years, at a time but when you do it's as if no time had passed. Mary is that kind of friend. She lives in Hawaii, so how often do we get to see each other?!? But it doesn't matter.

Mary's dad lives on the Oregon Coast, not far from here. His nine children were plotting to surprise him on his 80th birthday. So Mary flew from Hawaii to Portland, and her siblings were coming from all over, but mostly California.

We were the first leg of Mary's two weeks on the mainland. The weather was not bitter cold--like it could have been--but she was a bit chilled at first, and then acclimated. In fact, it snowed two days before Mary arrived, but the whole time she was here, it was mild and sunny. As soon as she left the temperature dropped and the rains came back. Hmmm, could we pay her to stick around?!?

When Mary first called to say her trip was planned for March I warned her that March was a busy time--with several events back-to-back--and that I would put her to work. Mary is an event organizer extraordinaire, so she wasn't put off in the least.

The first day that Mary was here we picked up Ben in the afternoon from Inez, his other grandmother. It took Ben about 5 minutes or less to warm up to Mary. She's got quite the way with kids. Could be why she's got the job she's got.

Mary's work-a-day life in Hawaii consists of driving around the island in a Head Start van and setting up her mobile classroom wherever she finds homeless kids that aren't going to school. Sometimes it's on the beach, or in a park, or the week before she'd taught in an alleyway. Most of her students are from Micronesia, so her work is cross-cross-cultural. I just bet Mary is the teacher we all wish we'd had when we were kids.

Below's a shot of Ben playing with us, but you won't see Mary in any of these photos. She likes getting her photo taken about as much as I do. But I'll tell you she's a beautiful woman--inside and out. When she's at home in Hawaii, most mornings she watches the sun come up from her surfboard, riding along on the waves of the Pacific. She says that's her early morning meditation.

That first day Maya came over after work and spent the evening with us. She and Mary have been buds ever since Maya was a kid and Mary taught her how to hitchhike. One of Mary's jobs in the summers in Jackson, WY--where we met--was moving cars for rafters on the Snake River. After she'd drop the rafters' car at the end point, she'd hitchhike back to her own car at the starting point. While I'd be working the lunch shift at the Sweetwater Restaurant ( in downtown Jackson) Maya would be out on the road with her thumb out, alongside Mary. I guess Mary's always been an "educator."

The second day Mary was here we went to Eugene. Originally the plan was that we'd pick Aaron up after school and bring him back with us for the weekend. He had a three-day weekend because of "grading day."

But at the last minute plans changed because Aaron got a better offer. His friend Buck invited him to go with his family to Sun River Resort, by Bend. So Mary and I, being our flexible selves, adapted to the new plan, went to Eugene and took Aaron for a shopping stop at Buffalo Exchange and then out to dinner.

It had been a long time since Aaron and Mary had seen each other, but it didn't matter. We had lots of laughs over dinner and it was a fun time for the three of us. Mary capped off the evening teaching me and Aaron an exercise to prepare for surfing--and you can do it on your own living room carpet!

Much of the time that Mary was here was spent hanging fliers for upcoming events. After a couple of days she knew her way around Corvallis, from one bulletin board to the next. (Poor girl--but I warned her.) The day after she left was a Second Saturday benefit concert for Iraq Veterans Against the War (IVAW). Two days after that was to be our Palestine Action Group's "Gaza Mourning Tent" on the OSU Quad in front of the Memorial Union Bldg. (That got canceled the day prior because of wind and rain.) Then later in the week, on March 19th, was the 6th anniversary of the bombing of Baghdad and the beginning of the Iraq War.

Below is our contingency of 50 who marched single file through the campus, many of us carrying signs saying "Occupation: Wrong in Iraq, Wrong in Palestine." We had a die-in on the Quad, in the center of campus. It was important to do, we made the front page of the local paper, people stopped and watched us go by. But somehow it didn't feel like nearly enough of a statement. It feels like the Iraq War is invisible--in the US, at least.

Well, one last story about Mary's time here was that we went on a tour of Maya's new job. She's working on the OSU campus in Conference Services as an event coordinator. It's a fabulous job in lots of ways--great people to work with, interesting and creative work, good pay, outstanding benefits--and I'm pretty danged proud of her, as you can imagine.

Meanwhile, the man of my dreams, Courtney Childs, is now officially a farmer. He owns a pair of overalls (that was my first clue) and he's recently graduated from his Master Gardeners course.
So he doesn't have class all day on Wednesdays anymore, but that doesn't mean he's not taking a pruning, or composting, or duck raising workshop every chance he gets. Immersion, they call it.

Anyway, I'm very grateful that he's investing his time and money into learning food production. As he explained to me and Aaron the other night at dinner, he's not doing all this just because he likes to garden. It's more that he's doing this for the family--so that we'll always have food. He plans to teach me and Aaron what he's learned so we'll be more self-sufficient too.

Pictured below and above is a little starter garden that sits on Courtney's window sill above his computer. Something growing everywhere. And it's not even completely spring yet.

One last thing, earlier I promised to tell all about Alison Clement's two novels that I love so much. But I'm going to wait until the next time, because it'll fit with that story better. So tune in again shortly.

Happy spring, and with much love,

Valori

The best danged trip

2009-02-28T17:23:00.001-08:00

I have found the best excuse for going to California twice a year--Rosen Movement Intensives so I can get certified to teach. What a fabulous coincidence that the Rosen Center that I'm getting certified through is in Pacific Grove.

Courtney had already planned to be in Berkeley for Ruby's first birthday, so when the Intensive was scheduled oh so close to her birthday, viola! We had a trip in the making.

For days before take-off we watched the weather forecasts and then finally broke down and bought chains. For a man who loves warm weather and sunshine and fears and loathes the cold and snow, you can imagine how excited Courtney was about driving over mountain passes during a snow storm. But he did it!! Here he is on the first leg of the trip negotiating his way back from the rest stop bathroom through the snow and ice.

We have a great little routine we follow on our trips to California--a certain place we like to stay in Red Bluff, our favorite Thai restaurant, espresso stops at Pete's Coffee. So once we made it through the pouring blinding snow on the passes, and then the pounding rain in Northern California, the rest of the drive was a breeze.

One of my favorite places on the planet, as I have said previously, is the home of our dear buddies Margot and Allen, and by proxy our buddy Kerry.

Staying there is like one big slumber party. Allen's up early making coffee for the gang and reading the paper. Kerry's there for breakfast with us.

Here's the view from the kitchen windows looking out into the backyard....

and a close-up with the bird feeders....

and from the backyard looking toward the kitchen.

One of the big treats of this trip (and there were many) was that Maya and Ben and Maya's partner-in-crime Sarah were in Monterey at the same time as we were. Maya had finished her job at the Hilton Garden Inn (more on that later!) and had vacation time to spend before her new job started (aren't you dying to know what the new job's about?!?).

Sarah had never seen Monterey before and Maya hadn't been there since she was pregnant (3 years ago), so here was another trip destined to be. They loaded up Ben, the dvd player and his favorite movies and headed south just a couple of days ahead of us.

When Maya figured out that they could be on the Monterey Peninsula at the same time as us she asked for a time to get together with old friends of mine who had been in her life since she was Ben's age--Margot and Allen, Kerry, Pamela and Caren. Margot offered their house and everyone brought food and flowers and gifts--and most of all, their love.

It was such a precious time with Maya getting to catch up with my old buddies and share the news of her new life. These are friends that we didn't just know since Maya was a toddler, but that we lived with at times--in their driveway in our old Volvo wagon, in their yards in our school bus. And more recently they helped with Maya and Eder's wedding. Good friends.

Ben was just as happy as a clam--lots of attention and Margot had the best grandchildren toys, plus...

....cute little Annie who was such a sport. Yes, she's been raised around lots of children.

Here's the gang, below, including other significant members in our lives, Helen and David. Courtney was missing, though, because he'd gone south with his brother Steve to see their sister Nancy and her husband Sarge in Arroyo Grande. (Just to make their roadtrip even more special they came back by way of the Big Sur coast.)

A couple weeks before our trip, Helen (on the left) proposed a potluck dinner as a way to see our peace friends while we were in town. She suggested the new Peace Resource Center for the place to gather and we started emailing each other back and forth about the guest list. At some point our emails and phone calls crossed paths as we both proposed that the dinner be turned into a much-needed fundraiser for the Center. Helen dubbed it the Founders Day Dinner and put out the invitation!

When we started the Monterey Peace and Justice Center in 2004, it was housed in a tiny space in Pacific Grove. It was a sweet little upstairs location with a view of the bay and dirt cheap rent. We had a spill-over space next to us that we could rent for events, but the Center itself could only hold about 9 or 10 people at once.

After a couple of years we moved to a new location, in Monterey, in a downstairs space but still tiny and with a tiny rent. It was one step better but still not what we needed. Everyone's desire was to have a large enough Peace Center to have big events in--speakers, films, dinners, teach-ins, productions and fundraisers.

Last year it happened! Janet, on the Board of the Center, found a location in Seaside with storefront windows, a great big space for large gatherings, plus office space. It's fabulous and is being put to very good use. The only downside is the high monthly overhead. Dang!

Not surprisingly, the first thing I did when we got to the Center was cry. All I could think of was the Sonoma County Peace & Justice Center that I had so coveted over the years, and here it was! Just as big and beautiful, and full of people I love!

It was a wonderful wonderful evening, one of those I'll probably always remember. I only wish that I'd had much more time to talk with each person there. (The time flew by and I left wishing for more, but it was great.)

Courtney and I stood up and talked about what our lives are like in Corvallis and what we're involved in now. I made a pitch for people to financially support this precious entity they have in their midst and to constantly nurture it.

Then the director Karen took over and listed one by one the accomplishments of the Center over the last year. (When I was director we had three service learning students each year from CSUMB working with us. This year they have 14. And on and on like that. The Center and its influence has grown exponentially.)

The long and short of it is that we raised $1500 that evening--and had a great time doing it!

If anyone ever wants to make a contribution in my honor, please make it to the Peace Resource Center in Seaside, California. (Is it fair to be soliciting like that in my blog?!?)

Meanwhile, as I was busy learning anatomy and movement each day, Courtney was busy visiting dear friends. Two of them, Rosanna and Tasha, live in Carmel, so that's where he started.

Tasha has a fabulous little house in the Highlands where she spends a good deal of time in her gardens and, as you can see, it certainly pays off.

Courtney used to house-sit for Tasha when she was out of town and I got to stay there once. It's a sweet sweet place...

...and she's a very dear friend.

One significant piece of the trip plans was that Jer, Pamela and Ruby were coming to Carmel for the weekend to celebrate Ruby's birthday with us and Pamela's parents and Jer's mom. At the last minute the plans changed and we decided to go to Berkeley instead. (On Friday, I went to my Intensive class reluctant to ask my teacher Jane if I could skip class the next day to go see Ruby. It just so happened that Jane had just become a grandmother for the first time the night before, so....!)

On our way to Jer and Pamela's we stopped at the Emeryville Marketplace for lunch. If you haven't been you must go!! Ohmygosh, it's an enormous food court with aisles and aisles of vendors selling every kind of food you can imagine--Cajun, Soul Food, Crepes, Lebanese, Afghani, Sushi, Hawaiian, and on and on. We chose yummy Thai food and sat and watched the streams of customers from around the world. We're not in Corvallis any more, Toto.

Next stop was the palace of Ruby Alice. You can tell by this first picture that it takes her a few minutes to eye the situation and determine just how chummy she wants to get. (Also she's been well trained because of Jer's practice of Ruby-a-day photos and holds her pose until the camera clicks.)

But it doesn't take long for her to warm up to us and soon she set to work on the important stuff--a big bag full of colored tissue paper and other fun stuff.

Ruby's quite the independent and organized one-year-old. She pulled out one thing at a time--checked it out thoroughly, played with it, read it, looked it over, and then went in for the next.

I'm sorry that the other pictures from this series were too blurry to use. They showed a world of colored tissues covering the floor with their big black dog Hoyt laying in the middle of it all and Ruby methodically going for more. But this gives you an idea....

One thing we can safely say about Ruby is that not much gets past her. As soon as Pamela fired up the mixer Ruby wanted to see what was up.

Hmmmm? What can this mean?.....

....and an hour later here came the answer.

Don't we all wish we had a mom who would put a piece of warm, moist chocolate cake with chocolate frosting in front of us and just let us at it!?! Ruby was not much interested in eating the cake. Jer and Pamela tried putting little bits in her mouth, but she acted like Hey, you're messing with my art project! The dogs dutifully waited under the highchair for cake to fall their way and caught the pieces in mid-air. Total fun with very little clean-up involved.

An afternoon of playing with Ruby and visiting with Jer and Pamela, coffee with Frank and Margaret, tea with Caren, dinner with Lisa and Jerry, watching the Amgen Tour of California with Kerry and seeing her brand new office in downtown PG, visiting with Linda at Alpha Stationers, traditional dinner with Helen at Turtle Bay Taqueria, Thai dinner with Margot, Allen and Kerry, breakfast with Courtney's extended family in Berkeley--each one of these meetings with dear friends was so precious--and much too brief.

I hope my mind stays intact enough that I can always remember this trip and every detail of it. (Is that too much to ask?!?) It's safe to say it was one of the best times of my life. Kind of a week-long love fest. And then the fun of the road...

On the way down, in the snow storm (remember back then?) we couldn't see Mt Shasta at all, so on the way home I snapped dozens of photos--mostly from the moving car so they didn't turn out all that clear. But here's a few. That's not clouds hovering over the trees in the middle, but Mt Shasta.

And here's our favorite little town, Mt Shasta City, and you can see how close they are to the mountain. It literally looms over the town.

We love to stop there for breakfast at Lilly's and then go next door to Seven Suns for espresso before hitting the road again. Besides the great food, Lilly's gives you the real feeling of being in a small mountain town--big windows looking over the snow, the locals all know each other. And Seven Suns is owned and run by two Middle Eastern couples, best friends, who between them have seven sons.

A few years ago, when they first bought the place, we were passing through and met them while they were learning how to operate the espresso machine. So it was great to see the place full of locals and hopefully thriving. (Sevens Suns is the place I've mentioned before with the sign that says "Unsupervised children will be given an espresso....and a puppy.")

Back on the road again, heading north, and watching Mt Shasta in the rear-view mirror.

This very northern part of California is always fascinating to me and Courtney. It's wide wide open with just a tree here or there, cows here or there, a lonely farmhouse once every great while. Sparse in every way.

But there's also these signs of history and what might have been, like this barn shown below.

There was a movement long ago to secede from California. The people of that area (mostly ranchers and farmers) got nearly no help from Sacramento (and they were too far from Salem) as far as roads and services go. They decided to break away and form the State of Jefferson. They were stopping people on the highway and passing out pamphlets on their proposal. The day before they were supposed to put something into effect legally, the attack on Pearl Harbor happened. They scrapped their plans, declaring that the state of the Union was more important than roads.

So our last stop in California was at a rest stop by the Klamath River and there they had a great little information center, with stories about the State of Jefferson. The woman staffing the Center that day had grown up right in that area and she had great stories to tell. It made for the perfect ending of a fabulous trip.

So we end just as we started out: with Courtney making his way back from the rest stop bathroom, but this time under these enormous trees and without the snow.

Even though the Rosen Intensive was the impetus for this trip, you don't really see what a major component it was by these photos. (That's a whole 'nother story of love and blessings.)

Between the days of Rosen classes were all these precious little moments that I hope to hang onto--early morning coffee with Allen, a walk to Lover's Point with Margot, snuggling on Kerry's sofa to watch the bike race. Everything was a bit of a blur and a rush, to fit so much in to such a short time frame. But I need to be content with all the pleasure I had. (This seems to be a reoccuring theme in my life--I've been given enormous blessings, but"enough time" is not one of them.)

This trip reminded me that no matter how much I love my life in Corvallis--and I truly truly do--I also miss you old friends and organizing buddies in Monterey very much. So many thanks to Jane, my esteemed Rosen teacher, for creating a Rosen Center in Pacific Grove and offering the perfect excuse for another trip to California!

And thanks to everyone who made it all the way through this very long entry. You'll have to tune in again for the next installment--Maya and her new job, and Alison and her two great novels!

With love,

Valori

At any moment, life takes a turn

2009-02-15T18:48:00.000-08:00

Life is so precarious. Even Aaron recognizes that at age 13. I picked him up from Eugene the other day and as we were driving to Corvallis we passed an horrible car wreck that had just happened. It shook us both up and we rode in silence for a while. Then Aaron said something about how we take it for granted but life is so fragile and we have no control over how it goes. (Not exactly his words, but essentially his sentiments.)

It immediately brought tears to my eyes. What happened to those youthful feelings of immortality? Of that carefree confidence in life? I think, because Aaron has older parents, he's always been a little worried about how long we were going to stick around. Maybe he's more tuned in to impermanence than other kids because of that. Maybe it's because of the Buddhist influence in his life. Buddhists like to keep in mind this isn't an endless journey.

Anyway, right after Christmas, Aaron's oldest best friend Robert came from Monterey for a week's visit. It was great fun having two boys in the house--they can quibble and jostle endlessly. They went out and about around town when forced to, but were oh so happy just playing on the computer, watching movies, playing board games, listening to ipods while reading--it was days of flopping.

Aaron's buddy Simon from Eugene came over for one night and then it was the Three Musketeers. I pushed them out onto the tough downtown streets of Corvallis and they put up the hoods of their hoodies and cruised. It was a good time. But my mind was split between enjoying the boys and reading online the horrific disaster that was unfolding in Gaza.

At 11am on Saturday, December 27th, the Israeli military attacked Gaza just as children were getting out of school. It was a market day and the streets were full of people. 220 people died that first day. A population taken by surprise, even though they are constantly under attack, and locked in from every direction. I think on everyone's minds who watches that part of the world was the memory of Israel's attack on Southern Lebanon in August of 2006. They only stopped after they'd effectively destroyed the civilian infrastructure and left behind millions of cluster bomblets--which keep on killing even after battles are over.

So, true to form, the Israeli military bombed and destroyed and killed and maimed for 23 days, while the world watched in horror, and the US Congress issued a statement of support and sent back-up shipments of weapons of mass destruction. Never have I been so ashamed and horrified. Or as vocal. Many a congressional staffperson listened politely.

Every day was so frustrating. On the one hand I felt like we all should be out on the streets shutting down business as usual until the killing stopped. On the other hand I went faithfully to work every day, until the day I got a call from an Egyptian woman with Palestinian cousins. She wanted to know what the people of Corvallis were doing in response to the daily massacres in Gaza. I told her I couldn't meet with her for a couple of days, until my next day off from work. Hummmm, she said, over 100 children were injured today in Gaza. How many more before your day off?

She was right. It jolted me upright and I called in sick. Meanwhile she called me back to say a demonstration had been called for Friday on campus by the Middle Eastern Club. So I set to work on the phone and computer. Two days later Courtney and I set up our table of information and held up our signs on the Quad with a wonderful group of students from Palestine, Egypt, Syria, Iraq and Tunisia. We were joined by faculty members and one of our city councilmen. The woman who had contacted me brought her grandsons and they passed out information to lots and lots of people. They were precious little boys and who could tell them no?!

One of the first people to stop and talk with us was a young woman who rode her bike up and gave a very heartfelt thanks to all of us. She said "I'm Jewish and I'm so horrified at what Israel is doing." I could tell the Muslim students were really grateful for her words. It was as if we all gave a collective sigh of relief and determination. Some people said some pretty stupid things as they passed by that day, and the students saw they had their work cut out educating others as to what's happening in Israel/Palestine. But for the most part people were respectful, and we all felt better for having done something.

Just days before the demonstration our Friends of Middle East Peace group had hosted a really fabulous activist from Portland, Peter Miller, to speak on grassroots organizing. His talk had been planned for a while, and with the events in Gaza overshadowing everything else, he shifted his focus to that. We had an usually good crowd, with lots of new faces, due to the events in Gaza. There was a general feeling of urgency and outrage, and the upshot of that day was that a new group of us formed, specifically focused on action.

The six of us met a few days later, not sure what we were going to do, but with the need to do something. After a couple of meetings and online discussions, we named ourselves the Palestine Action Group, and set to work planning a series of events. (All I can say is I love this group.)

I don't know exactly how it evolved that our first event was cultural and fundraising, but we wanted to bring in people who would not usually come to a political event ( a speaker or a film). We wanted to reach a larger audience. We also wanted to raise money for humanitarian aid for Gaza. After some research we decided on Middle East Children's Alliance (MECA) as the beneficiary--very exciting for me because I also love that organization.

It took us a little time to formulate exactly what we wanted to do and when and where. By then we had two weeks to work out all the details and publicize it. Below are photos of our Celebration of Palestinian Culture Night on February 7th at the Corvallis Multicultural Literacy Center.

The Multicultural Center is an amazing place in so many ways--warm and welcoming, beautifully decorated, right on the corner of campus, and free to us because of the generosity of the Board of Directors. They, along with the director Dee Curwin, really supported what we were doing and so charged us nothing.

It's a lovely two-story Victorian with high ceilings and large windows. The kitchen is especially wonderful with shelves full of yummy things from all over the world. Everything is there to use--not just to be beautiful.

All the week before our event, the Center had been used for a Chinese New Year's celebration. On the day of our event Dee put away all the Chinese decorations and brought out everything she could find that looked Middle Eastern. All the little touches added up to a perfect stage for the evening.

Many many people have donated things to the Center from their faraway travels or things they've collected, like this collection of dolls (pictured below) from around the world. Every inch of the Center is fun fun fun to look at, something interesting everywhere.

Our event was from 5-7pm on a Saturday evening. Our plan was to let enough people arrive to have a good audience and then start with the poetry of Mahmoud Darwish, the man considered to be the voice of the Palestinian people, and who died last year. It took no time at all for the fifty seats we'd set up in the living room to fill and more and more people kept coming. Then people started standing in any available space and filling the doorways.

A brilliant move, on the part of our Palestinian friends, was the setting up of a table in the entrance way to sell handmade crafts, baklava and Arabic coffee and staffed by the perfect hostess and saleswoman.

Now if you've never had Arabic coffee, I'll just tell you that it's very strong, intense in fact, sweet and flavorful--and does it work!? As people came in the front door they stopped to buy baklava and coffee, and by 6pm the place was collectively buzzing. Aaron and I shared one Arabic coffee (they're tiny in those tiny cups), drank only half of it, and still we were up at midnight yakking away. If you ever want an energetic and enthusiastic crowd, this is the stuff to serve!

Below is Karim, an OSU professor from Tunisia, who interjected a few lines of poetry as well as added his grace and warm smile to the overall good feeling of the evening. And standing with him is Alison, from our Palestine Action Group, who acted as mistress of ceremonies. (The two books she's written will be the subject of another entry!)

As much as possible I try to make these events family affairs. Aaron in paid by the hour or the event for his work, plus the added bonus of sweets. His jobs that night ranged from watching a couple young kids in the children's library and playroom (pictured below), hauling chairs and boxes and bags full of supplies in and out, washing dishes and cleaning up. It was great to have him be part of the evening, even when he appeared not to be paying any attention, as in this picture. Still he learns alot and contributes well.

After the Darwish's poetry, read by our friend Roger, and then the original poetry of an Iraqi man named Lafi, we took a break to eat.

The food was amazing. When I had first called our friend Rimah and told her what we wanted to do, she'd immediately started planning the menu. She knew other friends who would also be willing to cook and bake and serve. She enlisted her whole family, including her terrific husband Sameer, to help. She, and her friend Mirvana, and others put together an amazing spread. People were so happy.

We fed over 100 people, plus sold containers of hummus and falafel and baklava for take home.

Here's Rimah in all her beauty and glory. A consummate hostess, besides a fabulous cook.

After everyone had eaten, Rimah's son Shady and two of his friends from OSU played traditional Palestinian music and Shady recited some of his own poetry--sharp and sad and beautiful and highly charged. It was very emotional--I was so glad that this was what we were doing. Right at that moment celebrating Palestinian culture was exactly the right thing to do. As well as raising money for Gaza relief efforts.

We raised over $1800 that evening, had basically no overhead, and had a packed Multicultural Center, with a very engaged audience. (For days afterwards people called to ask how they could contribute to MECA, so the total raised we'll never know.) It was a success all the way around.

Well, there's lots more to tell. Life is rich and full, but I've run out of steam, and must stop writing. I appreciate that you've read all this.

Just one more reminder of how precious life is:

Ben's got such a great sense of humor and is oh so playful. One of his favorite tricks is pretending to be asleep--and any piece of furniture will work as his stage. He and his humor bring us lots of joy. We're so lucky to live close by and see him often.

Hope you are feeling lucky! Thanks for reading this. There'll be more soon. Next up: a trip to California! Maya starts a new job! And Alison Clement writes two fabulous novels!

With love,

Valori

Next Visitor--Just as cute as the last ones

2008-11-30T18:28:00.000-08:00

There are few things as precious as a friend for life. That's how I feel about my buddy Valorie (also known as Vinnie in private circles). If you were to look way back in the archives of Ohana Goes North, to May 2006, less than a week after we moved to Corvallis, you'd see stories of Valorie's last trip. As a housewarming gift she made our first garden plot (in which everything grew fully and happily) and bought us a half-wine barrel and planted it with lettuces and greens.

The timing for Valorie's last trip was great for our garden (and to help us make that transition from one world to the next) but poopy for her getting to know Ben. (He was born one week after she left.) So for the last couple years she's been saying I've got to get up there and see Ben before he graduates from high school! Also she hadn't seen our new home and neighborhood and I really wanted her to see if before all the leaves had dropped and we move into that stark look of winter. Hooray, she did it and it was great!

[Also I'll back up and say that when Courtney and I went to CA in August and stayed with Valorie and her family before going to Jer's and Pamela's wedding, Valorie sent a couple of boxes of stuff for Ben home with us. One big box was books for his age now and older. The other was filled with train parts and train tracks. And was that a hit!?! From that time on, if Maya was having any problem trying to get Ben to get in his car-seat to go home (sometimes a struggle), all she had to say was train set and he was hopping in that seat, ready to go. It was a toss-up between Ben and Eder for who loved the train set the most, but suffice to say, it was a hit.]

So the night that Valorie arrived she was unpacking her things in Aaron's room and came to get me. You've got to see this, she said, as she opened her suitcase and unfolded out of it the PlayHut below! It was fairly miraculous, but she did it! It had been, like the train set, a favorite of her kids (Forrest and Mirandi) for many years. And the next morning we were assured that it now had a new happy home, because Ben was pretty darned excited when he got inside there.

As you'll see in all three photos Ben is just a blur--he could not stop moving. He made us all go in, through, out, in, through, out--laughing the whole time. Poor guy has a bunch of old people for playmates but we did our best.

The PlayHut now lives in Ben's room, filled with stuffed animals and whatever else Ben can drag through the openings.

The night after Valorie arrived was Aaron's debut on stage as a Shakespearean actor. One of his electives was a class on Shakespeare and that night his class was performing "Love's Labor's Lost". Aaron's role was Dumaine, a lord for King Ferdinand of England. If you were to ask Aaron what's your five favorite things in life, acting on stage would not be one of them. It wouldn't even make it onto his top 100 favorite things list. But he totally rose to the occasion, learned his lines well, delivered them well--a true lord. Needless to say we were all pretty darned proud!

When Maya found out that Valorie and Courtney and I were going to Eugene to see her brother's debut she was not to be left out. So it was the four of us. We went to our favorite spot in Eugene for dinner, Laughing Planet, for burritos and then across the street to Sweet Life for the best treats and coffee. Then off to the theatre!!

Aaron's dad Eric, his new wife Susan, and her son Alex were there too so everyone got to meet and oooooohhh and aaaaaahhhh together over what a great job Aaron did. It's great to know he can always fall back to acting if his other careers fall through.

On the back page of the program was this wonderful note from the director (Judy Wenger, teacher of Aaron's 3rd period Shakespeare class): "The unique thing about this particular class is that some of them did not actually select this class. Having no other option, they toughed it out and I am proud of them. As is often the case in theatre, these students gained much more than simply stage experience. They helped each other learn not only lines but how to cope with deadlines and stress. They gained an appreciation for the hard work it takes to memorize and the courage it takes to be vulnerable among your peers. I thank you for sharing this experience. Please encourage them by laughing and having fun."

Now I don't know about you, but I don't remember any of my 8th grade teachers ever talking to us about being "vulnerable." Anyway, I included that note just to give you a flavor of Aaron's middle school. (Once again I want to thank Eric for his wisdom and generosity in moving from Monterey to Eugene and giving me the gift of seeing Aaron most every weekend. Plus the long hard work he went through to find housing in the right zone so that Aaron could go to that particular school.)

We brought Aaron back to Corvallis with us after the play. So it was the second weekend in a row that I spent much of the time blissed out, with our home full of family and friend. On Sunday night Maya had us all over to her house for dinner. Eder's parents came too, so it felt very celebratory.

The weather held for us, some leaves stayed on the trees, and even though it was cold, it wasn't terribly cold. Valorie and Maya and I were able to take a long walk around campus one day. Another day Valorie and I walked down to the Willamette, along the river and back through our neighborhood. We looked at gardens and talked about ideas, and had lots of down time by the wood-stove. Below is a photo of Courtney's winter garden in the first stages of getting a cover.

But just in case Valorie thought that vacations were all about rest and relaxation, I dragged her off to the Second Saturday benefit concert and put her to work--moving tables and chairs, and collecting money. Almost all of our concerts have been amazing and very rewarding to put on. But this one was especially important to me because the beneficiary was our friend Josh, who works in the South Hebron Hill in the West Bank village of at-Tuwani.

There's lots of ways I could say that night was a success. For one thing the place was packed. We brought in every chair that Sunnyside Up had to offer, and then we brought in the lawn chairs from outside. And still there was always 10-20 people standing in the doorway watching. I gave a very impassioned plea for people to give more money than they were comfortable with and to stuff that donation can while it was being passed around. We raised almost twice as much as any other of our concerts. Josh has strong community support and his community turned out in force.

But a big way in which it was a success was the combination of the two musical acts. During the welcome and introductions, I said that what we were doing that night is exactly the kind of thing we wish to see happen in the Middle East. We had traditional Jewish music (beautiful flute, drum and guitar music, lyrics sung in Hebrew) along with traditional Arabic music (performed by two young Palestinian students at OSU) and very passionate, political poetry written and performed by one of the students, Shady. Both musical groups performed so completely from the heart. There was such a good feeling in the room. So much appreciation for the music and musicians, and strong support for the very dangerous and courageous work Josh is doing in the West Bank.

It was great to have Valorie there that night at the Second Saturday concert--to share the experience with her and to have her included in something that is so important to me. All in all it was a wonderful weekend and full of memories I'll hold onto for a very long time.

Meanwhile, as we head towards the darkest part of the year, remember to light a candle to dispel the darkness. Stay warm and dry and enjoy the winter season. It'll be over before we know it!

Valori

Visiting Baby Steals Heart from "Heart of the Valley"

2008-11-19T12:29:00.000-08:00

Yes, indeed. Cor-vallis means "Heart of the Valley" and Ruby Alice came to town and stole the hearts of all that met her. And here's the cutest-ever little baby signaling that dinner is nearing an end. One foot on the table means "almost done" and two feet up there means "all done". She's an excellent communicator, besides being a talented stealer of hearts.

Immediately there goes Poppi's heart...

...and Mimi's. And Ruby melted Aaron right away by giving him the big doe-eyed look and then a toothy grin of approval. That's all it took. He was there the minute that Ruby put out the call for anything. He was a splendid uncle and was willing to help with everything, short of changing diapers. Well, there's only so much that you can expect from a 13-year-old.

It's a good thing that Ruby works her magic so quickly because we didn't have much time with them. Jer, Pamela and Ruby arrived on Friday evening and left on Sunday morning. Boooo hoooo! Way too short. But they are major football fans (Ruby's already been to four games and has the complete Cal cheerleader outfit) and Berkeley was playing OSU, so that was the perfect excuse for them to come visit for the weekend.

Aaron and Jer and Pamela instantly bonded through their shared love of music and electronics. Below Aaron and Jer are comparing and contrasting Aaron's new cell phone with Jer's Google phone (he works for Google).

Saturday morning before the game was lots of fun. The deeply communal side of me is so blissed out when there's a house full of guests, especially ones as fun and easy as these guys. We spent so much time telling stories and laughing. And of course Ruby provided endless entertainment.

Many times during this busy and fun-filled weekend I thought about what a lucky girl Ruby is. She's landed in a family I would wish for every child to have. So much love and attention and laughter and creativity and just pure joy. If every child had this for a childhood, what a different world we'd live in.

Ruby's only 8&1/2 months old, and only 15 lbs, but that's not slowing her down at all. She's trying to walk (and doing quite well at it), wants to check out everything, watches and listens intently, and verbally communicates and makes herself understood. It's not all because of her own brilliance (of which there is plenty), but also because of the encouragement and stimulation she gets from Jer and Pamela. She sees that life is interesting.

Below is Pamela on Saturday morning busy whipping up breakfast for the gang before they headed off to the game. One small glitch in the weekend was that they couldn't get tickets to the game. Dang! Never did we think to mention to them ahead of time that this was Dad's Weekend at OSU. That means that everything about the weekend--hotel rooms, restaurant reservations, football tickets--were already nabbed by dads coming to spend it with their college student. The game was a sell-out--all 45,000 seats were taken! (As someone who organizes events and fundraisers regularly, I always wonder, what would it take to get 45,000 people to show up?!)

So that sounds like a disaster, huh!? They've come all the way from Berkeley for the game and can't get in. But, taaa daaa--Maya to the rescue!

It just so happens that her place of employment, the Hilton Garden Inn, is right across the street from the stadium and actually on the OSU campus. And for games they have widescreen TVs in the bar and restaurant, plus VIP passes for beer and hotdogs.

So Maya set them (Jer, Pamela and Aaron) up with a front row seat in the restaurant, made sure they got excellent service and all they could eat and drink. Meanwhile Courtney and I drove around with Ruby until she dropped off for a nap and then we parked and read and napped ourselves. Everyone was happy (except that Cal lost, but nothing we could do about that).

That night we had my mom, Maya, Eder and Ben over for dinner. It was admittedly tough on Ben to be so suddenly displaced as the object of all our attention--and by an out-of-towner at that! But he too loved Ruby and played sweetly with her--even shared his toys.

This was the first time my family had met Jer and his family, so it was really special. Everyone enjoyed each other so much and, though it was too brief, it was really good.

Then off they went on Sunday morning, and along with them went...you guessed it, our hearts.

Stay tuned. There'll be more soon,

Valori

What planet is this?

2008-11-08T17:17:00.000-08:00

After the past month it feels like I've just recently returned to Planet Earth, having survived the life-absorbing world of Election Year 2008. For the entire month of October, every time I thought "I'd like to blog--just for a little while--or I'd like to...whatever," November 4th would loom large in my mind. Must...keep...going. Must...do...something...to...help...Obama's...campaign.

I guess it worked because millions felt that same way, and acted on it. But I must admit that it wasn't just Obama that inspired me to get involved. It was also Bush and Cheney and McCain and Palin. All in all, a very inspiring bunch.

[I have to take a moment here to say that way back in the spring, before Obama had even won the nomination, Aaron was adamant that Obama was going to be the next president. No, son, I said, this country isn't ready for a black man to be president. So...who's my new political guru?!]

Now it feels like we can take a tiny break, a little breather, and then jump in again. All the pieces of my life that I relegated to "after the elections" are now staring me in the face. So in order to avoid them a little longer, here I am back at Courtney's computer...blogging.

While I sat hunched over my laptop, furiously sending out emails and letters to the editor, donating to moveon.org and Brave New Films, reading Michael Moore's letters and who-knows-what-else, Courtney had the good sense to take his camera, get out on his bike, and document the gorgeous autumn happening all around us. Above's our little lane changing colors.

Everywhere there's such an explosion of color and daily change. Below is the last of our wonderful Romano beans that Courtney planted for three years in a row. I love picking them, the way they grow and how beautiful they look, how yummy they taste dipped in mayo (very healthy!) and the enormous amount of beans produced in a small space. Very efficient food.

Now our yard is a totally different color than it was a month ago. The former carpet of green grass is now red with oak leaves in the back and golden with maple leaves in the front.

Courtney's raking them into piles and using them for mulch on the new garden plots, right on top of the horse manure. Biomass, they call it. I love the idea of nothing being wasted in nature and everything having its use, in each different stage. And I love that Courtney's reading and learning and thinking about how to use what and where. Getting our little homestead in order.

On the right of the picture above is our side yard fence. This is the little path/neighborhood park that goes from Bell St (in the distance) to our street, Crystal Lake Dr. Lots of people in the 'hood use it for walking and biking. Our maple tree shades it in the summer and now provides it with a soft leafy ground covering.

We are fervently praying that at least some leaves stay on the trees for Jer and Pamela and Ruby, who will be here next weekend for the Cal/OSU football game. This will be their first trip to Corvallis and I oh so wish that they could see it with the fabulous colors of fall, rather than the less-fabulous gray of winter.

Speaking of visitors!! Below's a series of photos of a very scary visitor we had on Halloween night. EEEEEEEEEEE!!! A dinosaur at our door! And rapidly the dinosaur stormed into our house and pulled out our toy box and went to work.

How danged frightening can in get on Halloween?!?

Maya and Eder got this costume for Ben the day before and I think he kept it on for two days straight (all except the adorable hood that he'd have nothing to do with).

That couldn't be comfortable dragging that heavy tail around, but he didn't seem to mind one bit. He was one happy prehistoric creature.

Two days after Halloween comes another, much more interesting holiday, in my opinion: the Day of the Dead (El Dia de los Muertos) in Mexico. The belief is that this is the time of year when the veil between the world of the living and the world of the dead is the thinnest. People in Mexico, especially the indigenous in southern Mexico, spend all night in the cemeteries, Christmas lights strung everywhere, making alters for their dead ancestors and adorning them with food, liquor, flowers, candies, whatever the ancestors would want.

It just so happens that my birthday is the same day as the Day of the Dead (but that has nothing to do with why I'm so partial to it) and I've always wanted to be in Mexico for my birthday.

Alas, I still wasn't this year, but we did the next best thing. We had a Day of the Dead party at our house and invited friends from different segments of our lives--work at the Co-op, the neighborhood, and political circles. People didn't necessarily know each other at the start, but they met and mixed and all seemed to have a very good time. I know I did. (It was fun to see people exchanging email addresses and phone numbers as they hugged and said goodbye. A great bunch of networkers.)

I tried to make my birthday party more of a multi-cultural event than just a Swedish mutt celebrating a Mexican holiday. So I added to the mix that the party was also a fundraiser for the orphanage of Tibetan refugee children in northeast India, where Lobsang Dolma lives (remember her from the Dec 23, 2007 entry? And there's a great Prayer For Peace at the end of that entry, that's worth re-reading.)

So once everyone got here and had a beer or wine, relaxed, got hungry, I took advantage of a captive audience (plus they thought they had to be nice to me since it was my birthday) and got up on my soapbox, and gave a pitch for donations...

...with the faithful, hungry crowd dutifully listening (in the photo below, there's Ben and my mom on the right).

They were cheerful and generous (we raised $185!), and obediently poured into our living room for a group photo, which I'm sending to the orphanage, along with a card and a check.

Too bad that by the time we got it together for the photo Ben had already melted down and Maya, Eder and my mom had escorted him home, where he could recuperate in the privacy of his own home from a long night of partying.

So, November has so far been a fairly exquisite month. First my birthday, then the elections. Then on Thursday night I had the privilege of hearing Kathy Kelly speak. She's a three-time Nobel Peace Prize nominee, a teacher, author, peace activist/organizer who helped initiate a campaign to end the UN/US sanctions against Iraq. She's organized and participated in nonviolent direct actions and humanitarian efforts in Haiti, Bosnia, Jordan, the West Bank and Iraq. She's also served many months in prison for acts of civil disobedience.

Kathy's a petite, attractive Irish-American lass with a talent for story-telling. She had us all under her spell, telling stories of her 26 or 27 times in Iraq, or in front of a judge in Ireland, or walking from Chicago to Minneapolis in time for the RNC this August. (My feet finally quit hurting about four days ago, she said.) Her most recent book is titled "Other Lands Have Dreams: From Baghdad to Pekin Prison."

Throughout her talk Kathy had two re-occurring themes. One was "what will rise us up?" (said with her lovely Irish accent). In other words, what will fire us up? What story of suffering will make us say "Enough!" and compel us to work harder to end the suffering? She was speaking specifically about the suffering of the Iraqi people, and more specifically, the children.

The other theme was: Live simply, share resources, and always choose service over dominance. By living in that way, we cause less harm, less suffering, and we make ourselves available as part of the solution, rather than part of the problem. What a fabulous post-birthday gift, to hear Kathy Kelly speak, to feel her commitment, to be inspired and bouyed by her words. Now to take her advice....

Last but not least I have read so many wonderful books, late at night while worrying about the election being stolen, etc, and trying to put myself to sleep. One is "Original Instructions: Indigenous Teachings for a Sustainable Future", edited by Melissa Nelson, with contributions by Chief Oren Lyons, John Mohawk, Katsi Cook, Winona LaDuke, and Tom Goldtooth.

Another is "The Way We Will Be 50 Years From Today: 60 of the World's Greatest Minds Share Their Vision of the Next Half Century," edited by Mike Wallace, with contributions from Jody Williams, Kim Dae-jung, Richard Clarke, Lee H. Hamilton, Marian Wright Edelman, Leon Panetta, Carl Pope and Carol Bellamy.

Another great read is The Sun, a monthly literary magazine from North Carolina. All I'm going to say is check out their website www.thesunmagazine.org. and give them a try. Great stories and photos. Stuff to make you weep and laugh and appreciate life so much.

Also my friends and family make me appreciate life. That's you! Thanks for reading this very long piece. You'll be hearing more from me in this post-election world, and that's a threat,

Valori

September brings birthdays and travels

2008-10-05T21:06:00.000-07:00

At the beginning of September there's a string of manly birthdays in our family. Sept 2nd is Eder's, the 4th is my dad's (he would have been 78 this year), and Courtney's is the 6th. On the 2nd we had a family birthday party for Eder in their backyard. Eder's dad Arnoldo barbecued meats and we all brought yummy stuff and it was a good time. We made it Courtney's party too because I was going to be in CA on the 6th.

What!?! you say. Didn't you just get back from CA?!? Well, yes, but it wasn't my fault that I had to take two vacations, one right after another. My Rosen teacher made me do it!

Jane Malek, who travels the world teaching people how to teach Rosen Movement classes (my post from Feb 24th explains everything, if you've forgot what Rosen is all about), opened a Rosen Center in PG this year. In order to become a certified Rosen Movement teacher I have to take five intensives, and so I went for my second of five. It just happened to be scheduled right after we'd already made a trip to CA and started right on Courtney's birthday.

Oh well, I love traveling so much that it worked fine for me to hop on that shuttle, then the plane, then another shuttle and voila!! I was back in my old "hometown" of Pacific Grove! And where I get to stay plays a big part of why I'm so willing to do these intensives: one of my favorite places on the planet is my friends Margot and Allen's house.

There's something so cozy and yummy and wonderful about being in their home. And part of it is that our friend Kerry lives in the studio apartment attached to their house. So there's always a bit of a slumber party feeling to being there. Plus Margot is the one who got me started on Rosen, and we take the intensives together, which makes them doubly fun.

The photo above shows our fearless leader Jane on the left of "our class guest" and Kate to the right. Kate is a Rosen Movement teacher and physical therapist in a small town just south of the Bay Area.

And below are our classmates and dance partners minus Robin from Watsonville and myself.

The intensives are taught in a beautiful, as you can see, dance studio called "Shall We Dance" in downtown PG. It's upstairs, has high ceilings, tall windows looking out to the Monterey Bay, rich colors on the walls, elegant but comfortable. It's a pretty fabulous place to spend five days, stretching and dancing and learning.

Have you ever seen a cuter bunch?!? Over our five days together I grew to love these women and really value my time with them. And after five days of doing Rosen my body felt very different, in a way that made me want to be consistent with my Rosen practice. I also felt reassured that I want to teach Rosen Movement and thought of new and exciting venues for my classes.

Besides all the amazing things I learned about the body and how it moves and responds, all kinds of little miracles accompanied our classes. Just one I'll share. The first day Jane announced that she'd met this very gifted woman who plays over a hundred different kinds of flutes from all over the world--many made and used by indigenous people, and especially healers. She's an intuitive and plays what she feels people are unconsciously inviting in or asking for. Her name is Maria and Jane invited her to play for us and we could move to her music or just relax and listen.

After Maria finished playing I suddenly realized that I had heard her music before. I asked if she had put flowers at a gazebo last Memorial Day weekend for a man whose ashes were scattered there. (It was my sister's idea to ask a friend to do that.) Maria was of course stunned, but replied yes, that she was at a gathering with her friend Kerry that evening. Kerry had mentioned that she needed to get to the gazebo to put flowers there for a friend in memory of her father before it got dark. Maria had volunteered to take the flowers for her. Maria asked "You're Kerry's friend?!" Yep. It's that small world thing.

So then Maria told us all how she had swung by her house on the way to the gazebo and picked up a flute and her recorder. She recorded the words she said in Dad's honor--that what she knew of him was that he was loved by his family and remembered--and then played her hauntingly beautiful flute music and left flowers from Kerry's garden. She then emailed the recording to Kerry who forwarded it to me.

That's how my Rosen Intensive began.

Meanwhile, when class would end each day, Margot and I would head home, rest, then pop that beer, start dinner and launch into intense discussion about, not Rosen, but...Sarah Palin! Everyone in the household was so traumatized by what she stands for that and the sensation she had become, try as we may, we couldn't stray far from the topic. She had us by the throat!

But Margot and Allen turned me on to Jon Stewart, and humor heals. No matter how much of a twitter we worked ourselves into, Jon made us laugh, and then off we went to sleep. Hooray for TV (did I really say that!?!) and especially for Jon Stewart.

In these treacherous election campaigning times, when emotions are running high and fear and loathing of "the other" has too many of us engaged, the poetry of Hafiz, the great Sufi master, is grounding and very helpful. (I'm saying this more to myself than anyone else. My emotions can get maxed out these days and I'm often having to calm and re-focus myself.)

Hafiz, the great Sufi master, says:

If God invited you to a party and said,
"Everyone in the ballroom tonight will be my special guest,"
How would you then treat them when you arrived?
Indeed! indeed!
And Hafiz knows there is no one in this world
Who is not upon His jeweled dance floor.

With that in mind--thank you, Hafiz--goodnight and blessings to you all,

Valori

End of summer--what summer?!?

2008-09-29T08:40:00.000-07:00

The first year we were here it was a sweltering hot summer. Not all the time, but at times. Our poor little been-in-Monterey-too-long constitutions were no match for temps over 100. Then last summer was milder--still some spikes over 100, but only for a few days at a time and then back down to the merciful 80's. This summer was easy easy. Being in our new house, with its great insulation and big shade trees helped. But mainly it was the mild temps and occasional showers that made it not even feel like summer. And then suddenly it was September. We made it! No heat stroke! And every day I worked I rode my bike. I'm so danged proud.

Towards the end of August Aaron's friend Simon (from Eugene) came to spend the night.

That was a very good thing. Simon is a very cool kid--great to have around and good buddy for Aaron. They are a matched pair (of what, I don't know) and have lots of laughs together.

Aaron tends to spend alot of time in front of the computer, emailing his friends and playing games, and watching seasons of Friends or Seinfeld or Scrubs or Simpsons...you see why I was glad to have a live friend here for him.

Speaking of friends, Courtney and I went to the coast to see his ever-since-college friend Phil and his family, as we'd done the last two years. They are only in Oregon for the month of August, so we have to take advantage of the time when they're nearby.

Here we are on a hike with them, through a forest of old growth trees, and then out to the cliffs, with a view of forever. It was so so beautiful and a wonderfully comfortable day. Just perfect for a long walk and talk with friends.

Then back to their house, also with an amazing view, for a long leisurely meal out on the deck. Just enough sun and just enough breeze to be comfortable. Wonderful food, good stories, stimulating conversation.

Phil's father-in-law, Gunter, was visiting from Germany and he's a very charming man, intelligent with a great sense of humor, and a twinkle in his eyes. The conversation, sometimes needing translation and other times not, was especially lively because Sarah Palin had just arrived on the national scene as John McCain's running mate. There was no lack of speculation (and fear) as to what this nomination means. (Especially with the recent circulation of Sinclair Lewis' quote, "When fascism comes to America, it will be wrapped in a flag and wearing a cross.")

Gunter told us about Obama's trip to Germany this summer. Since I don't know the German landmarks he was referring to I couldn't quite imagine the magnitude, but he took great pains to explain just how enormous the crowd was (200,000 people) that turned out to see Obama speak. The crowd stretched from there to there and back to there, and the most astonishing note to it all was that there was little or no visible security. Just thousands of people cheering and waiving American flags.

On the other hand, Gunter told us, when George Bush visited Germany the security was so tight, there was so much secrecy, the police were out in full riot gear, concrete barriers were erected everywhere he was to go, and the German people were so angered by it all. I thought about trying to explain to him how some people here, especially on the Left, feel that there's no difference (or very little) between Obama and McCain, but abandoned that idea. Too much to translate and I didn't want to spoil his good story.

Meanwhile, I was reading a book that was scaring the beejesus out of me, The Fifth Sacred Thing, by Starhawk. It's the story of California in 2048, twenty years since San Francisco's Uprising, a rebellion sparked by women when the corrupt government, doing the bidding of corrupt corporations, canceled elections and declared martial law. It tells the parallel stories of the best and the worst possible futures as they are poised to clash. Needless to say, my sleep patterns were greatly disrupted while reading this book, and yet I'd still recommend it.

That was August, and there's more just around the corner. Thanks for reading and hope you're out there registering those young voters, as one activist here says, 'til you walk your sox off. This is not a time for complacency. Every day I feel more urgently that we all need to be doing all we can. If not for ourselves, then for our kids and their kids.

On that happy note, I'll say good night,

Valori

Post-wedding: the cousins re-unite

2008-09-28T08:40:00.000-07:00

Several years ago, Courtney and his cousins (on his dad's side) realized they only saw each other at funerals and decided they wanted to get together in happier circumstances. They made the commitment to gather each year--changing locations so that nobody had to travel farther every time. This year Brother Steve offered his house in San Mateo since half of them were already coming for Jer's and Pamela's wedding.

I wish we'd gotten a photo of the view from Steve's deck--overlooking the San Francisco Bay. Quite breathtaking! It made for a grand setting for the Cousins' Reunion. And good food and wine helped too.

Before Jer's wedding, while four siblings were staying at the Faculty Club, Steve brought boxes and boxes of old photos and letters they'd inherited from their dad's house after his death. Some sorting had happened pre-wedding and the rest was done during the reunion. (Courtney and I have differing opinions of what's precious and should be saved--as opposed to recycled. I waited until he went back outside and then took this photo and that and this one and.....)

Above, Courtney's sister Nancy is oooohing and aaaahing over a young and handsome Steve.

Courtney's brother Tom's daughter Sara is quite the cutie. She gleefully put stickers on her own face and then on everyone else's (like Emi and Kevin).....

...and Matt and Melissa.

At the end of the day, the cousins gathered out front for a photo shoot. We'd been hounding them like the paparazzi. Here's one side of them....

...and another...

...with spouses, partners and Tom's family.

We all said our goodbyes, make claims and promises about next time, and loaded up to go. Below are Tom and Fon (with kids in the back) taking off for more travels along the West Coast before returning to Thailand.

Recognizing how hard it is to get families together in these busy and modern times, I really admire that Courtney and his cousins succeed in making it happen. They've all lost their parents now and ascended to that position of oldest generation in their family. They're setting a great example for their kids, and seem to be having a wonderful time doing it. I was honored to be part of it all.

Valori

The magic of a wedding

2008-09-19T08:40:00.005-07:00

What can I say--it was a perfect day. Warm , but not too warm. Cool, but not too cool. And what an incredible setting. Here's the wedding crowd gathering in the Faculty Glade, with the Faculty Club in the background.

Below is Jer's mom Sally and her friend Maryanne and Sally's brother Don. Behind Maryanne is Pamela's Aunt Hat who I bonded with by ironing the wedding gown with her. A little stressful, but a good bonding experience.

And here's Steve with his girlfriend Vicky. Aren't they a cute pair!?

Ruby was doing her part by sleeping through the whole ceremony in her Grandma Doris' arms.

Pamela's niece, Emeline (Emmie), was a stunning flower girl...

...and here's the bride! Talk about stunning! It was one of those magical moments--to turn around and see how beautiful Pamela looked. There's something so sweet about a bride and her father as they're heading towards the alter. In this case the "alter" was the ancient spreading oak tree they stood under.

Presiding over the ceremony was a friend of theirs from the Acme Bar (their Berkeley version of a neighborhood "Cheers"-type bar), who also happens to be an Episcopal priest...

...and who helped Jer cheat a little and read the vows he couldn't remember...

...and who had a great sense of humor. Very important when marrying these two. Neither of them is the serious and somber type. The entire wedding was a beautiful blend of so touching and sweet mixed with so fun and lively. I think it bodes well for their future together.

They seem pretty darned happy so far.

Don't they look like the royal family--king, queen and baby princess?!

And who the heck is this handsome guy momentarily in charge of the bride's bouquet?!

Below is Pamela's family. Her sister and brother-in-law and their two children live in Switzerland and her parents live in Michigan, as do her aunt and uncle and cousins. Jer's family all pretty much live in California except for us and Courtney's brother Tom and his family who came from Thailand.

The reception included sit-down dinner in the Grand Hall. The food was yummy, the wine was flowing, and the highlight (in my opinion) was Courtney's toast. He of course was nervous about it ahead of time, but it turned out great. He really spoke from his heart, and lots of us had moist eyes afterwards. Go, Courtney!

Gorgeous wedding cake, but not wheat-free, dairy-free and sugar-free so I can't personally attest to its yummy-ness, but everyone seemed quite pleased with it. I think, like everything else that night, it was a winner.

And the royal family looked bright and beautiful to the very end. They too were staying the night in the Faculty Club so only had to stumble upstairs and into bed.

A very good time was had by all, and it was such a blessing to be there and be part of it all. Congratulations to the bride and groom. They're so lucky to have each other, and we're so lucky to have them, and their precious baby, in our lives.

Valori

Build-up to the big event

2008-09-17T08:40:00.000-07:00

Jer may appear calm and composed but....

here's the real Jer!!

It was fun because he came to our room to get ready for the wedding. A precious father and son time and I'm glad to have caught a bit of it with Courtney's camera.

All the family was staying at the Faculty Club on the Berkeley campus. Great old building (about 120 years old, I think) by Julia Morgan. Reminded me of being at Asilomar or Yosemite. The guest rooms were upstairs and downstairs there were sitting areas like this one below...

and big beautiful dining rooms like this one where we had the reception.

There were two weddings at the Faculty Club that day, but we had the "Grand Hall" for our reception and they had a smaller hall with outdoor patio attached for theirs. So Courtney and I immediately named theirs the "Lesser Wedding". Snobs?!? Who, us!?!

Just outside these windows pictured above is the Faculty Glade, where the wedding took place. Sooooo lovely. Lush green grassy lawn with big old spreading trees. Beautiful, simple, natural and elegant.

I guess this is as much drum roll as I can get away with. Next comes the pics of the wedding,

Valori

Getting to know each other

2008-09-15T08:40:00.001-07:00

Usually the rehearsal dinner is a smallish affair, just the stars and supporting cast of the wedding. Or at least that's how I always thought of it. But Jer and Pamela are very social beings (which bodes well for Ruby's social skills) and they wanted more than a skeleton crew at their rehearsal dinner. It was held in the upstairs of the Pyramid Brewery--quite the happening spot, with good food and of course great beer. Very conducive for people to meet and talk.

It was a brilliant move on their part, because the two families, along with close friends from each side, actually had two opportunities to get to know each other--not just at the wedding reception.

For example, below is Courtney's niece Laurie and most of her crew (one daughter missing), who I've met before but didn't really know at all. Between the rehearsal dinner and the wedding reception we had several chances to really talk. It was great to find out about her life in the small mountain town of Quincy and tell her about mine.

Courtney's brother Steve is an understandably proud grandfather to Kentaro. (They have three generations living in their house: Steve, his son Matt and Matt's girlfriend Melissa living upstairs and downstairs is his other son Kevin, his wife Emi and their precious boy Kentaro. So Steve is not an occasional grandfather.)

Here's handsome Uncle Matt taking his turn with Ken.

Courtney's other brother Tom lives in Thailand with his family pictured below. His wife Fon, her son Ou, and their daughter Sara, with the ubiquitous Kentaro.

Here they are, two good-looking Hawaiian brothers, though this photo does not do either of them justice. But they're still cute, even in a mediocre picture.

Kentaro was entertaining the crowd with his new skills of hand clapping...

...and walking!!

That's it for now. Next stop: the wedding!

Valori

Cutest girl baby on planet

2008-09-15T08:40:00.000-07:00

Next stop on our tour de California: Berkeley! We arrived the day before the wedding. A whirlwind of activity and excitement, but we found Jer and Ruby cool and calm as ever.

Yes, go ahead and say it. She is incredibly cute. Looks you right in the eye. Doesn't miss a thing. Totally in charge of her world.

We brought a bag of gifts for her and she (undaunted by the fact that she's only 5 & 1/2 months old) wanted to open it herself and haul those gifts out.

Luckily she approved of the panda bear design on the outfit we got her. She's quite the fashionable girl as you'll see in the wedding photos.

More Ruby story and pics coming right up,

Valori

A Trip to the Farm

2008-09-14T08:40:00.000-07:00

First stop on our trip to California: Bloomfield! Where, you ask?!? Half way between Sebastopol and Tomales, in Sonoma County, is a sweet little community of 500 and that's where our friends live on their 3-acre farm.

When Maya was eleven we moved to Bloomfield, shortly after my dearest buddy Valorie and her husband Eric (also a dear buddy) bought their farm. That was before they had their twins Forrest and Mirandi (also known as Bubbie and Roro), their three dogs (Natalie, Fireball and Georgie), a chicken coop full of chickens, etc, etc, etc.

Maya and I lived there for her 5th grade school year, in our yellow school bus, which we painted sky blue on the top and pine green on the sides in hopes of blending in with our surroundings. We shared a kitchen and meals with Valorie and Eric, planted and re-planted bearded irises around the property, and for the most part (not always, but almost always) had a good life together on their little farm. And so I have very fond memories of Bloomfield and consider it a home away from home.

Below are Valorie and Mirandi out on the deck, where we spent alot of our time, soaking up the California sun and just generally relaxing.

We stayed over two nights and on the last morning I took Courtney's camera around and found so many beautiful touches, not all of which I'll share with you because of space, but here's a few.

Valorie and Eric have the amazing talent of creating beauty together. Everywhere I looked around the farm there were signs of their creativity and hard work. Below is the chicken coop...

...and beside it is the pond, a sandy beach area, flower and herb gardens, an orchard.

Their farm is on a hillside, overlooking Bloomfield, with black and white cows as their neighbors on two sides. It's quite and peaceful and private. What better way to start our trip.

And if all that wasn't enough, our also dear buddy, Kerry, came up from Pacific Grove to be with us. And on top of that she cooked for us!

Here's just one of her masterpieces.

Also Mirandi, an up and coming great cook, made a vegie saute from the vegetables in their garden and shows off her culinary success below, with her proud dad beside her.

Their home was originally a barn and after they moved to the farm a good long time was spent finishing out the interior--alot of which they did themselves. (Smart cookies that they are.) Below is a shot, taken from the upstairs landing, of Forrest and Mirandi playing cards.

Valorie has an amazing eye for color, as you see in the kids' room below.

And in her new paint job in the upstairs bathroom.

I've always loved taking showers in this bathroom. It's got an open shower, with glass bricks on one side, plants and shells at the end, and skylights with a view of the pine tree tops.

Now, enough about humans and decor. Here's the real stars: Natalie...

...Fireball...

...and Georgie. They live the good life too.

Below is a shot from the deck, looking down on another great spot to lounge--among the raspberry vines, though I couldn't stop picking long enough to sit down.

So that was our mini-vacation in Sonoma County in mid-August. We relished every peaceful, relaxing and regenerating moment of it, knowing that we'd be heading into Berkeley next. Jer and Pamela's wedding was sure to be fabulous, but peaceful and relaxing...probably not.

More soon,

Valori

The stories of August--Part 1

2008-09-12T08:40:00.000-07:00

As you can tell by my recent silence, life has been a bit too hectic to blog. So I'll back up to the beginning of August and go from there. Luckily for you I have such a bad memory that even just a month ago is ancient history, so not too terribly many details will be included.

Below on the right is my nephew Lucas sitting on our back deck with his girlfriend Kristen and their friend Joe. They were on a road trip from Texas, by way of Las Vegas, and heading for the California Coast (esp. Monterey and Big Sur, Lucas' old stomping grounds), then to New Mexico and finally back to Texas in time for the next semester of school to start.

While they were here we did what we all do best--sit around drinking beer, telling old stories and eating good food. Meanwhile, Ben's other grandparents, the brave ones, had taken him off onto their own road trip, also to Monterey, where they moved here from. It was a chance for Ben to meet the rest of the family and to see his cousin Jakob. It was a chance for Maya and Eder to do whatever the heck they wanted, which included not watching Sponge Bob for an entire week.

Lucas, Joe and Kristen had spent the day playing frisbee golf at the Willamette Park, just around the corner from our house. And the day before they had gone up the coast, just west of Portland, and surfed all day. So they were tired bunnies.

And Maya has spent her days giving 65 employees her undivided attention, so for some reason, she was tired too. Go figure.

I love so much the big shaded comfort of our backyard. I love having space to have everyone over. It's wonderful having company drop in and share our lives for a while. Just about the same time that Lucas, Kristen and Joe were heading out, Courtney and I took to the road ourselves--off to California for his son Jer's wedding and a trip to Bloomfield. That story next,

Valori

I love my garden soooooo much

2008-08-09T09:45:00.000-07:00

A couple of weeks ago I went to my naturopathic doctor, Beth Laurenson. She is one amazing woman. I wish so much that everyone could have a doc like her. Anyway, she advised me to stay away from stressful, highly-charged, frightening political stuff like I'm proned to read. She mentioned that she's reading The Fifth Sacred Thing, by Starhawk. All I can say is get the book and read it right away. I am.

Anyway, that's only part of the story. Another part is that recently I can see the effect on my body of reading articles online, answering endless emails (not the fun personal kind), spending too much time on the computer. The antidote....

Taaaa daaaa! Time in the garden!

While Frank and Margaret were here I had all those flowers I'd bought from Peoria Gardens that I wanted to get potted before Aaron's party. So much of the time while we were all outside visiting, I was also potting. Too much fun.

Courtney found the perfect place for the potting table he made me long ago. He hooked up the faucet so now I've got running water where I do my potting. The water drains out into a five gallon bucket and I use it again to water my plants.

I love finding combos of plants that look good together. I know I should be putting things in the ground and not into pots, which require much more watering. Next year I'll take time to work the soil and do it right. But this year I just wanted to get 'em growing and putting them in pots was the quick and easy way to do it.

And they look great around the deck.

Here's my partner in crime. We spend alot of time looking at gardens in our neighborhood, and reading books about plants and gardening. Courtney's reading books about bamboo right now. It's fun to plan and scheme together about what we're going to do with our yard space, the front porch, the gardens. Gates and trellises we like. What kind of food are we going to raise in the front yard in place of the grass lawn.

Isn't he a handsome dude?! I feel mighty darned lucky--all the way around.

Two more reading recommendations (actually they're picture books): The first is (un)FASHION, by Tibor and Maira Kalman. The second is Natural Fashion: Tribal Decoration from Africa, by Hans Silvester. We were lucky enough to get them from the Corvallis Library. They are books worth looking at. That's all I'm going to say.

Hope you are enjoying summer, and thanks again for reading this,

Valori

Back-to-back weekend--wedding and birthday

2008-08-05T09:59:00.000-07:00

The last weekend of July started off with my co-worker Jennifer's wedding. Her birthday is July 27th--the same as Aaron's--so she planned her wedding for the 26th, the last day before she turned 30. Below are some of the deli folks from the Co-op being their beautiful selves.

Our deli manager, Jeanette, is giving some last minute advice to the bride...

and to Vy, the groom.

Their wedding was in the Rose Garden of Avery Park. It was a beautiful ceremony--very heartfelt and really an expression of who Jennifer and Vy are. (Their wedding invitation opened out to show a pic of the Willamette River that Jen grew up near in Eugene and the Mekong River of Vy's country of origin, Viet Nam. The invitation ended with the Chinese quote "The rivers of our soul spring from the same well." A card was enclosed asking that people donate to Medical Teams International, their favorite cause, rather than give gifts. That's Jen and Vy.)

After the ceremony we walked through the park to a sheltered picnic area for a potluck and barbeque. Below are a couple of photos of the table decorations that I was so impressed with.

How danged cute and natural is that?!?

And take a look at the table! One continuous piece of wood. It was really cool when everyone was sitting down together.

Jennifer's aunt was going around during the reception asking groups of Jen's and Vy's family and friends to pose together and she'd take a Polaroid photo of them. Then she'd mount it in a big scrapbook and give them colored pens to write notes around the photos. Below is the deli crowd writing in the book. What a great idea.

Instead of a wedding cake they served a big assortment of pies from their favorite bakery in Eugene. The pies were accompanied by champagne and some very sweet toasts from Vy's best man and brothers. Then the happy couple squared off for their first dance as a married couple
and that was the end of the show for me and Courtney.

Back at the ranch, or more accurately, back at Maya and Eder's, my sister Kissy and her husband Paul and their son Matt had arrived from Maryland. They timed their Oregon vacation to be here for Aaron's 13th birthday celebration.

Here's my sister below, sitting in our backyard and waiting for birthday party guests to arrive.

And here's Paul and Kissy as the crowd gathers.

It was a very sweet and fun party. This is Charlee and Jessi, buds from work. We had about 20 people there. It was a gorgeous afternoon and we all just hung out in the backyard and talked and sipped drinks and ate good food. Several people, when reading "no gifts" on the invitation, had asked what Aaron likes in food. My answer, of course, was chocolate. So we had more than enough chocolate at the party as well as two fabulous chocolate buttermilk cakes from the Co-op bakery.

Everyone brought really fabulous food. I wish we'd taken pictures of the spread on our dining room table. It was quite impressive. Goat brie, a huge bowl of blueberries, deviled eggs, marionberry cobbler, breads, salads...and more and more. Ben ate his weight in blueberries. He even took a moment out of playing hard to sit with his Poppi.

OK! Times up and he's back on his feet!

We brought out the bucket of Ben's toys, which he did slow down enough occasionally to play with, but mostly he was kicking the soccer ball, pulling his little wagon around full of stuff, and just generally keeping a move on. Aaron and Matt, though, had more fun with Ben's toys than Ben did. (That's OK. Whatever keeps them out of trouble.)

They're two cute guys. And both lots of fun. I think everyone had a good time at the party.

I really wanted Aaron to feel welcomed into our Corvallis community of friends, as a good way to celebrate his entry into the teen years. Seems like kids really need to feel the love and support of more than just their immediate family--they need a community behind them. There were others, that I really wanted Aaron to meet or get to know better, who couldn't make it, so I think we'll have more potlucks in the backyard until the weather gets too cold. Then we'll move inside.

A couple days after the party my sister and her family took Aaron and they went on a three-day trip to Crater Lake, Diamond Lake and the sand dunes along the southern Oregon coast. That was a great trip for Aaron--he got to see more of Oregon and see some really amazing things, especially Crater Lake. So his teen years are good so far. But good luck to us all.

Thanks for continuing to read our blog. Happy summer, more later,

Valori

Ya know it's summer when there's a tent in the yard

2008-07-28T19:59:00.000-07:00

In early July Peoria Gardens, a wholesale nursery outside of town, opens to the public for a limited time. The first hour of the first day they were open we were there. So were a million other people. It was quite the buying extravaganza. Everything was so cheap and so beautiful that what's a person to do but buy?!?

I returned a second time at the end of the day when it was nice and quiet--and bought more. I used the excuse that I wanted our backyard and deck to be beautiful for Aaron's birthday party coming up at the end of the month. I needed an instant garden. (I was hoping that Aaron would understand that there was no money left over for a birthday cake--it had all been invested in flowers. What 13-year-old wouldn't understand that?!?)

Yes, the Honda was full and I was happy. Courtney was--hummmmmm--very tolerant and helpful. Even supportive.

Well, there will be more later about the results of all that, but meanwhile our friends Frank and Margaret from Pacific Grove came to visit. I think we can safely call it a tradition. This is the third summer in a row that they've come to see us and camped in our backyard.

At the old house they had to camp on the side yard to be as far away as possible from the road noise of 53rd St. But in our new yard it's nice and quiet in that way. Noisy in other ways. Like the rooster across from us and the sheep at the end of the street. And bicyclists and walkers talking as they take the path just on the other side of our fence.

In the photo above we're on the back patio of our favorite restaurant, Nearly Normals. Out for a leisurely dinner and good conversation. It's always wonderful to have Frank and Margaret here. We've got plenty, plenty to talk about and share.

We relaxed alot in the backyard and around the house. But it was also the Da Vinci Days weekend so we made a trip downtown to see the Kinetic Sculpture Parade on Saturday morning and then Frank and Margaret spent the rest of the day at the Da Vinci Days Festival. Live music, information on alternative everything, plus the races and sculptures. Aaron took lots of great pictures of the parade with my cell phone, but I'm not quite advanced enough to know how to get them from the phone to the blog. Maybe later......

Meanwhile, looking out into our backyard and seeing their tent, sitting around drinking coffee and yakking, showing them the Co-op. It was all fun and gave me the feeling of summer. Vacation, camping, leisure time. Ahhhhhhh....how good.

Only days after they left the next round of company was due here, so no rest for the wicked. More fun to come, stay tuned,

Valori

Look at our little girl now

2008-07-23T20:08:00.001-07:00

Maya was one danged cute baby--right from the start. But who would have imagined that she'd someday be a high-powered, successful business woman.

Here she is with her mama and Aunt Kissy in her grandparents' home in Carmel. Their house was called the Rose Cottage and it was their living quarters while they were innkeepers at Happy Landing Inn in downtown Carmel-By-The-Sea. So Maya grew up in the motel biz and actually played desk clerk with her grandmother starting at the age of five.

In the summers I used to work for my friend Brad at his restaurant, The Sweetwater, in Jackson Hole. When Maya was 12 Brad bought The Smilin' S in Bondurant (which happens to be in the middle of nowhere in the least populated county in the least populated state in the US). It was a series of log cabins for rent overnight plus RV hook-ups and tent camping. The summer of 1994 Maya lived at the Smilin' S and rented and cleaned the cabins, plus did all the laundry. Yes, folks, Maya and I washed the motel's sheets and towels on two ringer washers and hung it all out to dry on clotheslines. Just like a couple of prairie women. Maya's got the motel biz in her veins.

Now since those days she's been busy doing many other things, including marrying Eder and having Baby Ben.

And it's clear that she loves and enjoys them both. (This is a really old pic of Ben. He's 20 times that size now!)

In 2003, shortly after the marrying and long before the birthing, they moved from Monterey to Corvallis. After a year of living in Corvallis Maya went to work at the Hilton Garden Inn, on the OSU campus (strategically located across from the football stadium). She started out at the front desk, and they quickly made her a supervisor. Then they sent her on several trainings around the country--to Dallas, and Tennessee, and Washington State. Then she became the Front End manager, and soon took on accounting responsibilities and human resources projects.

I know you are all wondering "Where is this going?" Well, let's all give a big round of applause for the Hilton Garden Inn's new Assistant General Manager, Maya Perez! You heard it here first! Straight from the mouth of her proud mom.

Well, I gotta go now and blow my nose. I get a little teary every time I brag.

Hope I didn't embarrass you too much, Maya. And thanks to everyone else for caring about our lives and taking time to read our blog,

Valori

Tour de 'hood continues

2008-07-20T14:53:00.000-07:00

Here's a few more pics to give you a flavor of our new surroundings. This is Gene and Nancy's house, three doors down. The first time they saw us out front they stopped their walk with their dogs to welcome us to the neighborhood and to say they liked our bumperstickers.

A few more houses past Gene and Nancy's is this beautiful newly-constructed strawbale house, built by my new yoga teacher Laura and her husband. The front is the yoga studio and the rest is their home. So that's pretty darned convenient to walk to yoga classes. And Laura is a wonderful teacher.

On the street behind us is this cute place with the hand-built bus stop. The photo doesn't show the big sign on the side of the house that says "Stay Left" and the sweet gardens and dining table under the trees. The woman who lives there shops at the Co-op and has offered a tour, so...

I love the colors of this house below. It belongs to someone that Courtney knows and I guess it's a party house for progressives, so hopefully more later.

Lastly here's the fence beside our friends Cassandra and James' house. A cute little piece of artwork and creativity. One of many around here. We're very lucky. So much to look at--it makes our evening bike rides so entertaining (plus we get lots of good ideas).

And speaking of creativity, a parade of alternative transportation goes by our house every day. Including the Mayor's electric car, dubbed the Mayor Mobile. My favorite is the young mom who rides her skateboard while pushing a double jogging stroller with toddler and baby inside, with her black lab leashed and running alongside her.

More and more Courtney and I are figuring out ways not to use our car. Or if we do, then we try to pack in as many errands in each trip as we can. It just feels so much better to jump on our bikes and go somewhere. Better for our health. Better for the planet.

Well, there's more to come, but I'm out of time for now. Thanks for reading our blog,

Valori

A view of the 'hood

2008-07-17T14:38:00.000-07:00

Here's a little tour around our neighborhood. These photos were taken at the end of June and beginning of July, before the dry season when the grass turns brown and things aren't quite as lush. Usually in September the rains will start back slowly, but enough to green the grass. Anyway, I am not getting attached to all the grass around our house because it will, over time, be turned to garden and that's a good thing.

Below is the path next to our house and yard that leads to Bell St (to the south side of us). It's a short-cut that many people use on foot and bike to get from the rest of the neighborhood to Willamette Park. People have planted along the path and so it's a bit of a community garden. Our big maple tree gives it good shade.

On the other side of the fence is our house and yard. Someone put this bench along the path and Courtney has planted grapevines on that side of the fence.

A bit more of the path...

About three or four houses north of us, my co-worker Karen has the most inspiring gardens all around her house--front, side and back. Every time I go by it gives me ideas for our front yard. She's created a boundary between the street and her home, but it's also open and inviting. A very good balance. Right now are yard and the front of our house is very open to the street and feels like we live in a fishbowl. There's work to be done, but no hurry.

When we decided to move to Corvallis I told my doctor, Adelheid Ebenhoech in Prunedale, and she told me about her brother Otmar who had recently moved to Corvallis from the Bay Area. He invents and makes parts for electric cars. She said we'd be able to find him easily because he also makes stretch Volkswagen vans, shops at the Co-op alot and looks like Luke Skywalker in his 40's. Well, she was right on all accounts and he's a real sweetheart--just like she is.

So that's the beginning of the tour. Stay tuned for more very soon. Happy summertime and lots of love,

Valori

Towards a lighter carbon footprint

2008-06-30T18:29:00.000-07:00

I am not exagerating (though that is something I'm certainly capable of) when I say that moving to our new home has enormously improved my quality of life. (And I wasn't even aware that it needed improving.)

Just the addition of shade in our lives has made such an impact. Cool breezes, especially in the late afternoon, keep us oh so comfortable. Evening rides around the neighborhood on our bikes (Aaron on his skateboard) are one of my favorite pastimes now. All this is made possible by the cooling influence of the river nearby and lots of big shade trees.

Living close to the Co-op means I now bike to work every day. Even in the heat we've had lately the ride is easy enough, because it's flat here. Perfect for cruising. I can feel that this is the aerobic exercise that I've needed for my health. Riding my bike gets my heart pumping and it feels so good. Plus it's really fun to ride through our new neighborhood and see everyone's gardens and art. Below is a peek at our backyard and some of the many prayer flags going up.

Soon after we moved in our neighbors Katie and Josh came over to meet us and asked if we'd be interested in sharing garbage service. They don't generate enough garbage for a weekly pick-up and neither do we, so that was a good solution. And right away Courtney strung clotheslines in the backyard, so nothing but solar and wind power drying our clothes. For the winter we've got a drying rack to use near the woodstove we just had installed.

This first year we're watching to see where we want to plant things in the future, but in the meanwhile Courtney got these two beds started on the south side of the property. Next to the house he planted romano beans and made a trellis for them to climb. And he put tomato starts in the ground, as well as zucchini and peppers and arugula. From our old house we brought over our hops, black currant bush, lavenders, sages and mints.

One thing nice about having more room is being able to have guests more easily. In mid-June our friend Paola, from Carmel Valley, came to visit while in Oregon to see her family. The second night she was here we had a potluck dinner on our back deck--about 10 from our Friends of Middle East Peace group. It was a beautiful evening--full of good food and lively conversation and good company--and great to have Paola there.

The day that Paola left, the Pastors For Peace Caravan, that goes to Cuba every year with material aid, passed through town. Courtney offered to put one of the caravanistas up and we got Alison overnight, and Thomas and Andrew used our backyard as a place to relax and catch up the next day before they took off heading south.

Courtney is reading Fidel Castro: My Life, a spoken autobiography, which was recommended to him by our friend Juanita, who sometimes goes on the Pastors For Peace caravans and who has relatives in Cuba. He's really enjoying it and reads parts out loud to me.

So you see our lives are good. Despite the big scary tragic world out there, I'm quite grateful for the little piece of paradise we've been given. And there's so much work to been done (around the house and out in the world). Please call or write your congressional reps and urge them to take leadership roles in bringing about impeachment proceedings against Bush and Cheney. This may well be the greatest deterrent to a war on Iran.

On that happy note, happy summer, and thanks for reading our blog,

Valori

Home Is Where The Heart Is

2008-06-13T13:31:00.001-07:00

Well, you may wonder what the heck Courtney and I've been doing for the past month. Packing, moving, unpacking, unpacking, unpacking some more, moving it over here, no--over here, hanging it here, no--over here. That's what we've been doing. But I'm happy to say that we both pretty much feel at home now. (The garage will have to wait patiently for our attention. Until then, anything we don't want to deal with gets thrown that way.)

For the most part our furniture perfectly fills the spaces of our new home. Except that I inherited Courtney's computer desk, so we got a new desk for him. And last weekend Courtney found a great computer desk and chair for Aaron at a garage sale in the neighborhood. After that the only thing missing was a comfortable reading chair for the living room.

Yesterday morning Courtney found a chair on Craigslist described as "totally groovy--straight out of the 70's--Sears & Roebuck pleatherette chair--clean and comfortable. You'll love the brass accents." And sure enough we did.

Here it is after we've lovingly stuffed it into the Honda as far as it would go. You've heard of over-stuffed chairs before? Well, this was an over-stuffed Honda. (I'll venture to say that we probably didn't get our average 41mpg on this little trip across town with a honking big chair hanging out the rear end, but that's not how we normally travel, so....)

We brought it home to our happy little prayer-flag-strewn house and, as you can see below, it is the perfect addition to our living room. So we can now stop making purchases and stay home and enjoy our new paradise.

Here's what first attracted me to this house, and what makes me so happy every time I look out our many windows: enormous shade trees in every direction. The whole neighborhood is full of big old trees. At odds with this is Courtney's desire to grow food--which needs sunlight. So we are watching the sun patterns at different times of day to see where plots of garden will work.

First thing this morning we sat under the trees in the backyard and had our coffee--enjoying the sounds of birds, a chainsaw in the distance, people talking as they biked by. Total ecstacy. After that we took a short bike ride to the park and frisbee golf course and around the neighborhood, peeking in gardens and getting ideas.

Yesterday evening we had five friends from my work over for dinner. It was the first warm day we've had in a while. Just in time so we could eat out on the deck. There was just a light breeze, but it was comfortable enough for us to sit out there until it got pitch dark. It's very fun to have space enough to have friends over. We actually have space for many people in our backyard but they would need to ride their bikes over (and 3 out of 5 did ride their bikes here last night) because we have only the driveway to park in. There's no curbs or roadside on this street, so no on-street parking. For really big parties we could offer valet bike parking. (Just kidding, Courtney, don't panic! We won't have any really big parties!)

One very lovely touch to the inside of the house is the color that our bedroom is painted. It's called "Melted Butter" and it changes colors as the light comes and goes. Everything looks beautiful next to it. Lots of fun for decorating.

Below is the view from one of the three windows in Aaron's room. They all look out to trees. Not that I think Aaron has noticed that. But if he someday looks up from his DVD's or ipod or computer, hopefully he'll see them and it will register that there's more on the planet than electronics. I have set myself a challenge to get the boy outside this summer and keep him there. How, I'm not sure. But I bet bribes will play a part. And maybe threats and blackmail. I'll feel free to use all tricks at a mother's disposal.

One very great thing about having all the space we do in our new home is just having a place for the little things I love. Like Buddhas and shells. Candles and postcards. Collages and polished rocks and houseplants and family photos.

AND, last but certainly not least, we have a big old double-wide fridge and you see what that means: room for more photos and magnets. I'm just like a dog that marks his new territory. Except instead of peeing around the perimeter I cover the fridge with pictures of our loved ones.

Well, part of my devious plan for getting Aaron outdoors is to get myself off the computer before he gets here on the weekends, and be available to cruise. He brings his skateboard and we check out new paths around the neighborhood together. It's always fun, but it takes a certain amount of effort on my part to make it happen. One thing that will make all this easier is when he makes his first friend in the 'hood. Wish us luck!

As you can tell, this move has brought enormous blessings for us. I feel quite grateful. Hope you are feeling the same in your life. Thanks for reading this, take good care, enjoy the summer,

Valori

Big Changes

2008-05-25T11:19:00.000-07:00

This latest chapter in our lives started on March 22nd. We were setting up for the rally after the 5th anniversary of the war march and our friend Joan mentioned that a house down the street from hers had just gone on the market the day before. Someone asked if it would be a good house for installing solar on the roof and she said no, it has too many big old shade trees in the yard. For some reason my ears perked up and I asked for the address.

Well, that was on Saturday. On Sunday we saw the house with a realtor, on Monday we made an offer, and on Tuesday the sellers accepted. On Wednesday we went into shock. What are we doing?!? We loved our little house on the edge of town. But there were things about it that had made us think that we should keep an eye out for the more perfect house, and especially in a more perfect neighborhood.

But before I tell anything about our new digs, I first want to pay tribute to our sweet little home of the last two years--our first years in Corvallis. It was a good little nest for us to land in.

And now the fruits of our labor are showing themselves. Like this Cecile Brunner climbing rose that's covering the arch we made as an entrance to the patio and front door.

Just below the arch are the tulips from bulbs that Courtney's sister Nancy gave us.

Last year we bought a couple of apple trees from our friend Delbert and Courtney built a beautiful wood and wire trellis for them and began training them to grow espallier-style.

We'll both miss the wonderful kitchen, with its great view of the yard and garden, and the breakfast bar--a favored spot for eating, talking and working on my laptop.

So stay tuned for Part II: Ohana Moves To South Town

More coming up soon, with much love,

Valori

April as Earth Month

2008-04-26T08:54:00.001-07:00

Looking back over any period of time there's lots of ways to evaluate it. But any way we look at it April has been a pretty glorious month for us. The biggest news of the month I'm not ready to reveal yet. But the rest I'll tell....

Mid-April brought the return of Saturday farmers markets in downtown Corvallis, along the riverfront. Courtney worked the HOUR Exchange booth at the Earth Fair, which was happening alongside the first market. Our dear dear buddies, Margot and Allen, were visiting from Pacific Grove. Luckily they had already been in Bend, OR, for a couple of weeks and toughened up. Because this was not the weather of the Monterey farmers market.

As soon as we got there it started to rain, then rain harder, then hail, then hail harder and the wind started blowing....and then the sun came out. That weather pattern continued for a while, and I was sure Margot and Allen would be ready to flee, but no! They were game for ducking under canopies and waiting out the storm and then strolling some more.

About the time we were thinking it was time to go, here came the Procession of the Species. Since the 90's I've heard of different towns having a Procession of the Species around Earth Day, but this is the first one I've ever seen.

I remember that there's three rules: no live pets, no motorized vehicles, and no amplified sound, but other than that it's pretty free-wheeling and so darned cute.

Meanwhile Courtney attended a Sustainability Town Hall meeting that drew 600+ people. You gotta love a town where more than 600 people show up to give their input about how the community can move towards sustainability. People divided up into groups around specific topics--energy, transportation, water, neighborhood organizing, economic vitality. Lo and behold, Courtney joined up with the economic vitality committee and is now immersed in a whole new topic of study.

At Aaron's school in Eugene they had both Green Week and Walk & Roll Week. Instead of just celebrating Earth Day, they had a three day mini green festival, which included human-powered smoothies (bike blended!), workshops, info tables and discussions, a bicycle obstacle course, skateboard clinic and a helmet fitting booth with low-cost helmets! In the school paper they reminded the kids that "you get more miles per burrito (MPB) by choosing human power. So as the gas prices go up, remember to keep your carbon footprint low and come to school under your own steam." God bless 'em! (And I'm happy to say that Aaron gets to school by skateboard and home by city bus.)

I'll end with something that Courtney's brother Steve sent us. It pretty much says it all.

In celebration of Earth Day week: If the Earth were only a few feet in diameter, floating a few feet above a field somewhere, people would come from everywhere to marvel at it. People would walk around it, marveling at its big pools of water, or little pools and the water flowing between the pools. People would marvel at the bumps on it, and the holes in it, and they would marvel at the very thin layer of gas surrounding it and the water suspended in the gas. The people would marvel at the creatures walking around the surface of the ball, and at the creatures in the water.

The people would declare it as sacred because it was the only one, and they would protect it so that it would not be hurt. The ball would be the greatest wonder known, and people would come to pray to it, to be healed, to gain knowledge, to know beauty and to wonder how it could be. People would love it, and defend it with their lives because they would somehow know that their lives, their own roundness, could be nothing without it. If the Earth were only a few feet in diameter.

Let's all take that little bit of Earth worship with us wherever we go--keep it in our hearts and try to live by it.

Happy Earth Month, and may Spring bring you a renewed joy of life,

Valori

Grandpa meets Ruby Alice face-to-face

2008-04-20T10:17:00.000-07:00

OK, you can go ahead and say it...she's the cutest darned baby! How could she not be? She's got a couple of very cute parents, and of course the cutest Grandpa.

Courtney headed south to Berkeley to check her out in person. To make sure she was as adorable as her dad (Jer, aka Spudde) says she is. And sure enough, the rumors were true!

Of course Courtney fell madly in love right away. Before he knew it he'd volunteered to take care of Ruby while Jer and Pamela went out for a much-deserved new-parent break together. Off they went to the beach, to run the dogs, without their little bundle of love to distract them.
Everyone survived, even Grandpa.

Ruby is definitely a baby girl who won't lack for love and attention. Looks like she's already got a fully-entertaining and engaged life.

And a great connection with her dad. There's no shots here of Pamela and Ruby because they all contained more breasts-full-of-milk exposure than Pamela may feel comfortable showing our blog readers, but suffice to say, she and Ruby are connected--literally and lovingly.

And hereeeeeeee's Grandpa! Doing his let's-take-a-nap thing very well.

I see more trips to Berkeley in the future. And hopefully the Berkeley family will make it north to see us while Ruby is still in that easy-to-contain stage.

And here's another reason for Courtney to travel to CA. Kentaro is the son of his nephew Kevin and his wife Emi, so he is the grandson of Courtney's brother Steve. They live is San Mateo, and this was the first time that Courtney got to meet Kentaro, who unfortunately had a bad cold, and so the two of them didn't spend any cozy time together. But at least they got to meet and check each other out. That's a start.

And Courtney got to see his San Mateo family which includes Steve's other son Matt and his girlfriend Melissa. The three generations all live in the same house ( a very cool thing, in my opinion).

Courtney was gone for a week altogether, which included a trip that he and Steve took down to Morro Bay and Arroyo Grande to see their dad's wife Kay and then stay the night with their sister Nancy. Being a home boy, this was alot of traveling for Courtney, but as you can imagine, well worth it. He's got lots of heart connections down there in CA, not to mention friends in Monterey, but that's another story.

Meanwhile, here on the home front, there's BIG changes, but that's another story too.

Stay tuned, for more....and happy springtime, and thanks for reading this,

Valori

a follow-up to the previous posting

2008-04-11T20:24:00.000-07:00

The local paper's total lack of coverage on our march and rally on March 22nd has lead to a seemingly endless mix of pro-peace vs not-so-peaceful letters to the editor. It's actually quite telling about how the two sides in this community (and maybe, by extension, the whole country) view one another.

Anyway, the mother of the singing girls (the young stars of the rally) wrote the letter below in response to an earlier letter accusing the anti-war/pro-peace community of being a bunch of whiners that want attention. I declare Tara's letter to be the definitive word in the whole matter because of all that she and her family have been through.

That's all for now, folks! Valori

TARA PUCKETT'S letter to the editor published in the Corvallis
Gazette Times on April 7, 2008:

We Owe Thanks to Anti-War Activists

I am unable to understand what benefit a person could believe is derived by anti-war activists from the selfless giving of their time in defense of our troops.

America's military men and women are being forced to serve repeatedly in an illegal occupation of Iraq.

One does not need to be a liberal to recognize that we were lied to by our own elected leaders and our media. Saddam Hussein had no connection to the events of Sept. 11, 2001, nor to al-Qaida. Iraq did not possess weapons of mass destruction.

The perpetrators of those lies have mostly acknowledged the truth, yet five years and 4,000 dead Americans later we maintain our presence in Iraq.

My husband is an Oregon National Guardsman. He has already served and been injured in one 15-month-long tour in Iraq, yet he faces the prospect of another.

I appreciate Dianne Safford ("Ignored Marchers Insulted by Column," As I See It, March 28) and her fellow activists. Our military family has felt great support and generosity from the Corvallis anti-war community. We value the time and sacrifice that has been made in their effort to keep my husband home and safe.

We would like to extend our thanks to Corvallis Alternatives to War, Veterans For Peace, Military Families Speak Out, and to all of the Dianne Saffords within this community.

Tara Puckett
Corvallis

Five Years Too Many

2008-04-02T20:06:00.000-07:00

Corvallis Alternatives To War, Veterans For Peace Chapter 132, Albany Peaceseekers, and assorted social concerns committees from the progressive churches in town came together for our Five Years Too Many march and rally on Saturday, March 22nd. It was the first sunny, non-rainy day in goodness knows how long. We figured right then and there that the universe is on our side. How wonderful to be getting ready for the rally--setting up the stage, hauling tables and folding chairs, putting out literature, starting up the soup--all on a beautiful day, rather than in a deluge of rain. Of course I had my handy sidekick Aaron there to help--being paid in cash and promises of desserts makes him willing to do whatever.

Our (the planning committee's) vision was to have the march start at the park by the river, march through downtown, end up at the rally in front of the courthouse, and serve food and drinks to keep the crowd from drifting away. On all fronts we were successful.

Joe brought from home this beautifully self-contained set-up, fired it up, got the water boiling and the veggies all cut up and voila! Fifteen gallons of vegan lentil and split pea soup! Since Joe was the one who planned the route and was to lead the march with his drum (along with about 50 other drummers), he put me in charge of stirring the soup and off he went.

To go with the soup we had about 12-14 loaves of bread donated by Big River, assorted chips, dips and roll-ups brought by community members, along with homemade brownies and cookies, and a big jug of water. We served everything Food Not Bombs style (no charge)--it felt really good to give away food, much more fun than selling it. People were so appreciative and readily dropped money in the donation jars. (The Co-op donated sugarcane, compostable soup bowls and we set up recycling buckets, compost buckets and garbage cans. When we cleaned up at the end of the day it was gratifying to see how little garbage 450 people had made. Joe took home the compost, and we took home the plastic to wash and re-use. Hooray! We're learning how to have a lower impact on our environment even when we gather in large numbers.)

No, Aaron is not that short. Trevor (on the left) is just that tall. Trevor, Joe, Leah and Bart are heading off to the riverside park to greet the marchers and start the march to the Courthouse.

(The night before some of Aaron's friends had gone straight from school to wait in line to see Obama speak in Eugene. There is a strong feeling of Obama-mania at his school, so somehow I think that makes it easier on him to be seen at things like peace marches. Or maybe it's just resignation after all these years. Whatever it is, he seems more engaged and more comfortable with our friends, who are all politically-involved.)

Courtney took this from the top steps of the Courthouse as the marchers were starting to arrive and fill the space. The count once everyone arrived was 475, which filled the Courthouse lawn quite nicely.

Above in the green t-shirt is Cassandra Robertson, who was our headliner entertainment and playing the banjo is her husband (and sound man) James. Cassandra bills herself as a modern-day troubadour. Her songs are all original--and really great. You can check out her music at www.cassandrarobertson.com and James is Mr. Solar and you can check out his work at www.abundantsolar.com

To the left of them is Aaron, with his 5-gallon bucket/drum. What a danged cute boy.

If you've never heard a Raging Grannies group sing, you've missed something! Ohmygosh, they are soooooooo clever, irreverent, and so right-on. They take songs that everyone knows and change the words around to poke fun at what's going on. I can only remember one right now: to the tune of "When The Saints....Come Marching" they sing their song,"When Everyone....Has Human Rights". All the Raging Grannies groups around the country share their lyrics, so it's really the best of what many uppity, outrageous and talented women have cooked up. Our Corvallis group, I think, is particularly active and well-known. They've performed in Portland, Salem (at state senate hearings), Eugene, and lots of time in Corvallis.

Then a new generation of songwriters and performers took the stage (not scheduled, but they stole the show). These three girls--two sisters and a friend--sang a couple of original songs, very political and very funny. The sisters' dad is a veteran of the Iraq war and the whole family is working actively to end the war. The girls have been to Salem to testify in front of the state legislature. Last summer they were at the Farmers Market every Saturday passing out Kucinich literature. They've held IMPEACH signs with us during football season. I like these kids. They are always on the front lines and full of energy--great family to have in the community.

Leah, the founder of the local Veterans For Peace chapter, spoke about the Winter Soldier hearings she had just returned from. They were held in Silver Springs, MD, on March 13 to 16. I could say lots about Leah's speech--she's passionate and articulate and cares deeply about people--but the most poignant was when she started to cry and had to stop speaking. It felt like we all joined her at that moment, in feeling the suffering and tragedy that we all want to stop.

(Some background: On January 31, 1971, more than 125 Vietnam veterans representing every major combat unit to see action in the war gathered at a Howard Johnson's hotel in Detroit to heal a nation and themselves. They risked everything--their careers, their friendships, their families--to talk about the atrocities they had committed or witnessed in Vietnam. These veterans saw themselves as winter soldiers battling against the wrongs of the war and the brutal training that had made them capable of unthinkable violence.

The Winter Soldier II hearings were organized by the Iraq Veterans Against the War, but also included veterans from the war in Afghanistan. I tried to listen to some of the hearings as they were happening, but had to turn the radio off because I couldn't hear over the sound of my own sobbing. I couldn't imagine how Leah sat through it for days. When I asked, she said she had to be escorted out at one point because she was hysterical. At least they were better organized this time around and had counselors available for help.)

There was no mainstream media coverage of the hearings. They were streamed live on various websites and could be heard on Pacifica radio stations and on Democracy Now! but most Americans had no idea they were happening. So we were lucky to hear directly from someone who had been there. Thanks, Leah.

All in all we counted the day a big success, even though the poor people of Iraq are still no better off. Nor are the US soldiers caught in the middle of this mire. But it's not just about wanting to stop the war. It's also about creating the kind of community we want, the kind of world we want. That was the message of our keynote speaker, Dr Joseph Orozco, the head of Peace Studies at OSU, and that seemed to strike a note of truth with the crowd. The people who marched in the march and came to the rally were, to my eyes, people engaged in their community and in the world, and working to make both better.

But there was no coverage from the local paper and boy oh boy they are hearing about that. Whenever we complain ("we" meaning peace people) that they aren't covering what's happening in Israel/Palestine or Iraq or Afghanistan, they counter that they are a local paper and that's their focus. Well,.........then where the heck were they when 475 local people were marching noisily through downtown and then rallying for hours in front of the County Courthouse, with local performers and speakers?!? Well, that opened up a whole conversation, through letters to the editor and a formal apology from the paper, etc. So....I bet they'll be there next time.

Other exciting things came out of the rally that day, but that's a story for another time.

Thanks for reading this, and keep checking back. There'll be more soon,

Valori

Eighty March In Silence

2008-03-20T15:39:00.000-07:00

Yesterday was the 5th anniversary of the war and occupation of Iraq. A group of us, connected with the Corvallis Alternatives To War, along with a sponsoring student group, organized a silent march and die-in. We started along the northeast edge of the OSU campus, marched past the campus business zone and onto the Quad in front of the Memorial Union (the MU). We had 80 people marching, most were dressed in black, many carried signs.

Our intention was to look and feel like a funeral march. We wanted to march slowly, solemnly and deliberately. So Joe lead us with a slow, single beat of his drum. Kris and Rich followed with the banner they made in 2004 and have used for the marches each year since then.

I love this Abbey Road/Peace March photo of Courtney's.

As we were marching I was remembering when Medea Benjamin, founder of Code Pink, spoke at the Corvallis Library recently. She said only in the U.S. is marching in the streets considered old-fashioned, something from the 60's. In the rest of the world it's how they effect social change--they pour out in the streets and stay there until something shifts. Americans sit at their TVs or computers and think things are going to change, and become disheartened when they don't. I have to say I agree with Medea. Probably nothing is going to happen until there's a critical mass out there saying NO.

As we gathered in front of the MU, a student named Alia read our statement of purpose:

On 19 March 2003 the U.S. attacked and invaded the sovereign nation of Iraq.
We stand in silent protest of the despicable Iraq war and occupation.
We grieve for the hundreds of thousands of lives needlessly taken.
We object to the hundreds of billions of dollars spent to kill and destroy.
We deplore the arrogant indifference of the Bush administration to international law and human rights.
We refuse to succumb to the fear propaganda perpetuated by our government.
We call for an immediate end to the occupation of Iraq.
Join us.

With that Joe struck a couple of beats and everyone laid down on the sidewalk at the entrance of the MU. A couple of us stayed standing and handed out copies of our statement of purpose and answered questions as people walked up.

At first I thought it would be too long to have people lying there for 15 minutes. That concrete is mighty cold this time of year. But it actually turned out to be just the right amount of time. From talking to Courtney and others later, I can see that we all settled into the parts we were playing. After a bit of time my mind quietened and I felt a hint of what it must be like to have your family or your village dead or dying all around you. It especially hit me when I saw Courtney lying there next to my friend Laurie and her husband John. (Just before I left yesterday for the march, I read an article about a recent tragedy when an Iraqi family of 16 were all killed.)

After 15 minutes Joe struck his drum twice and everyone got up. We formed our line single-file and resumed our march through campus, past the library and dorms, and back to our starting point. One woman suggested we form a circle and have a moment of silence together, which we did, before we disbanded. As I looked around that circle I saw so much heart, compassion, sadness, strength and determination. I felt really proud to stand with these people.

This is our community and people I have come to love and appreciate. Every town has people like these--ones who care passionately about life and others, ones with hope and vision, ones who get out there and speak out and do whatever they can, even though it's never enough. But this is our town and our people and I feel quite lucky to have landed here.

This morning the local paper, the Gazette-Times, put us "above the fold"--two big color pictures on the front page--one of Joe leading the march and one of the die-in. And a good long article, and a sidebar about our upcoming community march on Saturday. That in itself feels like a little victory--whenever we get that kind of coverage in the mainstream press we've got to jump with joy.

Now let's see what we can do about ending the war! See you in the streets,

Valori

Ben, Monkeys, Sasha and Joanna

2008-03-14T21:14:00.000-07:00

How danged cute can a kid be? I know you are asking yourself that because that's what I say every time I see him.

We have a routine whenever Ben's here with us at night. It includes a bath (a word we can't say until it's time, or we'll hear "agua, agua, agua" again and again). This boy likes his baths. He must get it from me. I always loved baths, even had a baby in one. But that's another story.

By now you are seeing that there's a family theme to this posting. My mom is nearing the 300 mark on the number of sock monkeys that she's made. In 1999 she and my dad moved from Pacific Grove to Fredericksburg, TX, and the next year she started making monkeys. She's sold some but mainly she gives them to family shelters, people with new babies or sick children, and any child who inspires her to ask "Would you like a sock monkey?"

She also knits children's caps, so then the monkeys get matching caps. You would think she'd have a house full of monkeys, but all she's got left are the ones in these photos. The rest are spread around the world--hopefully all in loving homes.

And who you may ask is that--burrowed into our comforter?! Surely not the cat we said would never sleep with us. Yes, the cat for whom Courtney and I both act as cat butler. It's almost a full-time position--opening and closing the sliding glass door every few minutes until she tires of that game and takes a nap. When she's outside and wants in she raises her little paw and taps urgently on the glass, meanwhile glancing nervously over her shoulder. It's dark woods and danger out there. So we open the door and she leaps in quickly, makes a dash to the food bowl, wolfs down some grub and returns to the door--ready for more adventure.

All around us there are continuing signs of early spring. So much to be grateful for, and at the same time, so much suffering and sadness in the world. The other day at work several of us were talking over lunch about building strawbale homes. A couple of people talked about their neighbor who had been working on her house for years. A day or two later we learned that she had just died--fell off while working on the roof of her house.

When I read her obituary I wished that I had known her. I was so impressed with how she lived her life, that I'm sharing this description of her, a total stranger to me, but a woman loved by many mutual friends:

Joanna Karl was born in Cleveland, Ohio, on August 18, 1951. She received a degree in mechanical engineering at UC Santa Barbara.

In 1986, Joanna moved to Portland, Oregon, to work at Metro (Portland area’s regional government). She completed a master’s degree in environmental engineering in 1993.

An accomplished woodworker, she built harps, banjos, and hammered dulcimers, among much else. She also made clothing, outdoor gear and beautiful quilts, most of which she gave away as gifts to friends and family. She enjoyed photography, collage, and other graphic arts, most of which, again, she gave away. Gifts were wrapped in beautiful used fabric.

Joanna loved outdoor activities such as hiking and cross-country skiing and frequently took backpacking trips with her friends and loved contra dancing.

In an autobiographical sketch written in 1993, Joanna wrote, “I try to live simply, respect life, and to impact the natural environment as little as possible. I attempt to be consistent between my personal belief system and my lifestyle choices, [including] vegetarianism, bicycle commuting, and war tax resistance…I am also an activist…(hopefully) teaching by example…It feels good when someone seeks me out for information or to excitedly report on their own lifestyle changes.”

To a rare degree, Joanna truly did walk her talk. And she did it with a big smile!

In 2001, Joanna and her friend, Peace [John] Helm, purchased a dilapidated house in south Corvallis. Their plan for rebuilding the house included strawbale insulation, earthen plaster, sustainably harvested lumber, recycled metal roofing, and an adobe floor with radiant heating. Friends and neighbors joined in the project at a number of work parties. Joanna died on Friday, February 29, when she fell while working on her house.

Joanna is remembered as an exceptionally warm, generous and loving friend to many. Joanna’s loving heart, wide smile, and outspoken concern for the earth will be greatly missed.

Because Joanna was so widely known and loved, many different memorial celebrations are being held. Among them:

On Saturday, March 8, a tree planting in Joanna’s memory will be held at Kings Valley Gardens anytime after 10:30 a.m. They plan to plant 300 trees for habitat, clean air and beauty. Bring a shovel and memories to share.

A celebration of Joanna’s life will be held at the First Congregational Church on Sunday, March 9, at 5:00pm, with a vegetarian potluck at 6:00 p.m. A special memorial contra dance will begin at 7:30 p.m. If at all possible, please ride your bicycle. If not, please carpool.

A simultaneous celebration of Joanna’s life will be held on top of Mt. Tabor in Portland. Donations of money or time in Joanna’s name may be made to the War Resisters League (www.warresisters.org), or to any organization which supports peace, social justice, or a healthy environment.

But the very best way to honor Joanna’s memory is to be generous and kind, ride your bicycle...and smile!

Well, thanks be for Joanna's life. I feel grateful just to know this much about her through these memories. And I'm setting my intention to follow that good advice and honor Joanna's memory.

Happy beginning of spring,

Valori

The Wheels Of Justice Rolled Through Corvallis

2008-03-08T13:08:00.000-08:00

Long, long ago--maybe in 2003 or 2004--the Wheels Of Justice bus tour came through Monterey, and Courtney and I were part of the organizing effort to get them there. It was lots of work, arranging their public appearances and all the details of food, housing, etc, for the people on tour. But well worth the time and effort. It was a great experience, and so I have this fondness for the Wheels Of Justice. That's the only way I can explain my temporary loss of good judgment and volunteering to arrange their time in Corvallis, with only two weeks notice.

But at least it all worked. They arrived in Corvallis on Wednesday morning, having spent a couple of days in Eugene, and before that four days in Portland. The tour has been on the road-- visiting US towns and cities, campuses and faith communities--for eight years now, with different speakers coming and going. But they always have on board a speaker who has recently been to Iraq and one recently back from Palestine.

Here we are at their first stop, the Corvallis Multicultural Literacy Center. (I'd love to do an entire blog entry on the CMLC. It's a beautiful and amazing place and, at no charge, we can use their living room and kitchen for events like we did Wednesday noon.) Closest to me is Mike Miles, from Luck, Wisconsin, a Catholic Worker and long-time peace activist. He ran for Congress on the Green Party ticket in 2004 and 2006, and fared the best of any third party candidate in the country. He founded the Anathoth Community Farm, a center for the study of nonviolence, community and sustainable living. He's been to Iraq three times in the last decade and to Israel/Palestine recently. He's been doing anti-war and anti-occupation work for a long time, got his facts together, immediately connects with people, listens well and enjoys conversation.

In the red sweater is Mazin Qumsiyeh, a Palestinian-American, born in the Shepherd's Field, near Bethlehem, to Christian parents. He splits his time between the US and Palestine. He's been on the faculty of Duke and Yale. And served on the Executive Committees of almost every organization dealing with Palestinian human rights. His third book, which we bought a copy of and I highly recommend, is titled "Sharing the Land of Canaan: Human Rights and the Israeli/Palestinian Struggle."

The human rights work is Mazin's passion, but his other work is as a medical geneticist. Before their presentation at CMLC, Mazin was anxious to get online and check his emails. He was waiting for a man's test results and needed to respond asap. The man did indeed have terminal cancer and a very poor prognosis, and that was weighing on Mazin as he prepared to talk about the realities of living under occupation in Palestine--what that has meant for his family, his village, his people. But to meet him and talk with him you would never suspect what hangs on his shoulders--he's completely warm, open and kind, and extremely focused and intelligent.

After their noon presentation, which was more of an informal conversation with the fifteen of us there, we moved the bus onto the Brick Mall next to the Memorial Union Quad. For the next couple hours Mike and Mazin, along with the bus driver Bill, talked with OSU student and faculty and staff. Mazin was especially skilled at flagging down the students, starting up a conversation, and then giving them a flier to their evening event. I think the students were drawn to his smile and his open attitude--very few ignored his invitation to talk.

From campus, the bus moved to downtown Corvallis and in front of the Benton County Courthouse. This, of course, is the site of the daily vigil that has taken place EVERY day since the war in Afghanistan started in October 2001. Never has a day been missed in 7&1/2 years. Mike and Mazin were quite impressed with that and agreed that it's probably the only daily vigil in the US. At least of that longevity.

That night they spoke at the Odd Fellows Hall, another great place we have free access to for peace-related events. Mike reminded us that, though we, like many other communities across the country, are preparing for the 5 Years Too Many marches and protests coming up soon, the war in Iraq actually started 17 years ago. In 1991, after 42 days of assault, the US military had effectively rendered Iraq to a pre-industrial state. Then with 12 years of sanctions (seige- warfare, he called it, nothing goes in and nothing goes out, and eventually the people succumb), over a million Iraqis were killed in the eight years that Clinton was in office.

Mazin gave an impressive slide show, starting with a slide of a young Iraqi girl crouched down and crying, covered in blood. He asked how many people had seen this photo and knew her story. No one in the room raised their hand, and this was a well-read crowd. This, Mazin said, is the power of media, to give the news or withhold the news. The story of that little girl is well-known all over the world, and especially in the Arab world, as is her picture. Her parents were on either side of her, in their car, when American soldiers opened fire and killed them both. After discovering their mistake, the soldiers apologized to her uncle.

Mazin went on to show covers of Newsweek magazine and other publications, on one side the US version and on the other side the international version. Over and over, the news of Iraq disasters or the tragedies of Palestinians living under occupation were omitted from the US version. What the rest of the world sees and what Americans see is quite different. And it seems quite well orchestrated.

But Mazin said what he sees, as they travel around the country, is people everywhere building community--in the midst of economic decline, climate change, prices and military spending up, employment and social structure funds down, home mortgage and healthcare crises growing --and people are organizing in their communities.

At the end of his presentation, which mainly focused on human rights abuses against the civilian population of the Palestinian Territories, Mazin asked why is the US sending $11 million per day to Israel, an affluent country? Is this the best use of our tax dollars and resources? He has an excellent website, www.qumsiyeh.org, which includes an activist training manual. Check it out.

And yes, that's the bus parked at our little casa. Bill the bus driver, a Vietnam Veteran and full-time, long-time peace activist (getting arrested the first day of the Gulf War, driving a bus regularly for the Pastors For Peace convoys to Cuba, etc) stayed the night with us. Brightened up the neighborhood a bit.

But they are truly rolling stones, gathering no moss, and were up and off early early Thursday morning to give presentations at the high school continuously from 7:40am to 3:40pm. These guys are danged saints (or maniacs, or both). They wanted to talk with students, and they got a chance to do that in Corvallis, so that feels like a little success in the big sea of work to be done.

In the morning, after they had left, I heard the geese and got to our bedroom window just in time to see a sky full of flocks heading west. I hurried to the other side of the house (luckily a short distance) and, through the bathroom window, watched as they continued their flight westward. It gave me great pleasure to see the natural world still operating by wisdom, in spite of us humans.

Good luck to us all, large and small creatures,

Valori

Ruby's Here! Hooray!

2008-03-01T13:02:00.000-08:00

Courtney's son Jer has long been known to his friends as Spudde (long story). So it was only natural that when he and his fiance Pamela found out Pamela was pregnant, they started calling their baby "Tater Tot". But as the birth time drew nearer, Tater Tot became Ruby Alice.

Here she is shortly after 1:33 Sunday afternoon, February 24, weighing in at 7 lbs, 11 oz. She was born in Berkeley, CA, where they live. Ruby refused to come out on her own, and had to be helped out (by C-section). Already a little spitfire and troublemaker, she had wrapped the umbilical cord around her neck. Watch out, Jer and Pamela, it's only the beginning!

You can see that from the beginning Ruby was in good hands.

And beautiful from the start.

Lucky Ruby, she's been born into a family with lots of love. She'll be well cared for.

Plus she's got a sturdy dad. Jer figures that if the number of hours he's slept plus the number of cups of coffee he's had add up to eight, then he's fine. With an attitude like that, how can he go wrong?

Courtney's going to CA soon to see Ruby in person, so watch for more pics. The next ones will be of Ruby charming her granddad Courtney (aka Poppi). And hopefully some of Jer and Pamela getting to take a nap. Or sitting down to eat together without holding a baby. Or......(Stay tuned and see!)

Welcome to the world, little Ruby! We're glad you're here!

Valori

Off on An Adventure and Home Again

2008-02-24T10:25:00.001-08:00

Below is a picture of me, warming my hands on a pot of tea in the Wildwood Cafe in McMinnville, on the way to the Portland Airport. Why, you may ask, were we one the way to the Portland Airport? I was flying to California for a week's stay.

As you can see, the ceiling is covered in whisks and egg-beaters and potato-mashers. It's the cutest danged place, with the best breakfast, best hometown atmosphere and friendliest waitresses. So, rather than take the flatlands route of I-5, we like to meander up Hwy 99 W (west of the Willamette River) and stop at the Wildwood Cafe for a good time.

Now, back to the story of why we were heading to the airport. Sometime in January my dear friend Margot told me about a Rosen Movement Intensive she and her husband Allen would be taking in February. What, you may ask, is Rosen Movement? Good question. (But first I'll say: you know how, when you hear about something and it's absolutely the thing for you, you know it in your bones right then? Well, that's how I felt when Margot told me about the Intensive. I knew I should go...and I did.)

Rosen Movement was developed by Marion Rosen, an internationally-known 90+ years-old woman, who is still traveling the world and teaching her method of movement plus hands-on healing bodywork. She worked as a physical therapist for many years before she decided to create a program of exercises that anyone could practice in order to keep them loose and limber, prevent deterioration and breakdown, and therefore never need the help of a physical therapist. In an hour-long session, you move every joint, and so every muscle, in a fun, easy, relaxed way, to great music. Don't really have to break a sweat, but over time, the change is profound. At least it was for Margot, and then she turned me on to it and it was for me too.

So.......I flew to CA, stayed with Margot and Allen, participated in the Rosen Intensive (which was a stunning experience), had wonderful (but brief) times with my buddies Helen, Pamela and Caren. Kerry and I went to Santa Cruz one day and met up with Valorie, who drove down from Sonoma County. Helen had a grand dinner for me at her house, with friends from the peace community. And there were friends I didn't get to see. It was a bit of a whirlwind trip, because the Intensive was such a big part of it. But oh so worth it. I look forward to the next one. It's definitely on my path. Everyone could use the benefits of it, so it's a wonderful thing to share, but also I need it personally for my health and well-being.

While at Margot and Allen's house I read an interesting article in the February 11th issue of Time Magazine. In it they referred to a poll taken of 18 to 29-year-olds. What percentage in that age group were paying attention to the presidential campaigns in 2000? 13%. In 2004? 42%. In 2008? 74%. When asked how interested they were in the current campaigns, 71% said interested, 27% said bored. When asked what they worried about "a great deal" the answers were, in this order: affordable healthcare, the war in Iraq, finding a stable and well-paying job, future terrorist attacks in the US, legality of abortion, and illegal immigrants.

Among the many things I read while in California were hopeful pieces about Barak Obama. They made me think how enormously it could repair our tarnished image around the work if the US citizenry elected a black man with a Muslim name to be our next president. But then the fear and reality sets in when I remember that there is only one white man running for president now, and there are still more than enough Americans that would vote for nothing else. Hmmm...I think I'll drop this subject before it gets any bleaker, and finish with a high note.

The crocus are blooming! There is hope! Spring is on its way!

Let's stop while we're ahead,

Valori

Sisters of Perpetual Organizing

2008-01-22T16:42:00.000-08:00

One of Maya's birthday gifts from me (she turned 26 on December 5th) was a day trip of her choice. Only stipulation was she had to take it with me. She decided she wanted to go to the coast. We have a favorite little breakfast cafe in Newport (one hour due west) that's right across from the harbor and serves yummy fruit crepes.

Well, we took Maya's birthday trip a couple of weeks ago and, wouldn't you know it, the favorite cafe was closed. So we decided to go to Nye Beach, at the other end of Newport and the harbor, and found this cute little place named Cafe Stephanie. Since my sister Kissy's real name is Stephanie, we figured that was a sign from God and we should eat there. And lo and behold they had fruit crepes. Life is good.

We walked around Nye Beach after we ate and down to the water. We could see the Lighthouse just north of us and decided to head over there and look for shells on the beach beneath the Lighthouse. But by the time we drove there the next dose of winter rains and wind had hit and so we sat and watched the storm from the cozy comfort of Maya's Jeep.

And then drove north to Depoe Bay in search of chai. Turns out that there was no chai in Depoe Bay. Lots of places were closed because of winter storms and no business. But we found a couple of fun gifts for Maya (and one for me), headed south for Newport and a Starbucks, then home to Corvallis. A fun time was had by all. I don't think we stopped talking once all day. I'm in the process of writing stories from my life, and of course Maya's memory is better than mine, so there were lots of episodes she reminded me of ("remember my babysitter who used to wear a loin cloth? remember when I was 12 and you taught me how to drive in the campground in Wyoming?" and on and on).

That day began a busy week for us. On Thursday Courtney went to a Town Hall Meeting called by Senator Ron Wyden. And you know how handsome and photogenic he is (Courtney, not Ron), plus he was sitting on the front row, so his picture appeared the next day in the local paper, the Gazette-Times.

Then on Friday, January 11th, protests were staged all over the country (and maybe around the world) marking the anniversary of the first prisoners arriving at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. So Courtney attended the local protest which was staged at the "Quad" on campus. The sentiments of all sane people, respectful of human rights, could be summed up in the simple statement from UN Human Rights Commission: "Immediately close the detention center at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, and either release its inmates or bring them before an impartial tribunal."

And then on Saturday, January 12th, the small group of us (all women) who have been organizing the Second Saturday benefit concerts celebrated our one year anniversary. I named our group the Sisters of Perpetual Organizing. Hence the title of this blog entry. These are women who, if you needed something righteous done, they're the ones you'd call. I'm oh so happy to have landed in this gang.

We are a smooth running little operation, with no overhead. Laurie and Bobbi have the connections with the musicians, who donate their time. The Sunnyside Up Cafe donates the use of their great space. Troubadour Music provides the sound equipment at no charge. Leah creates the fliers and prints them off. Bobbi's husband photographs the musicians for the paper and Bobbi makes the publicity happen. Gretchen and I send out emails, post fliers and staff the table.

By the end of the night of the 12th we had raised $835 for the Oregon PeaceWorks of Salem (and their paper, the PeaceWorker, which gets distributed all over Oregon). Hooray! It's a win-win-win-win situation. We raise money for a good cause (a different one each month); we have a full house of happy people listening to great music for $5/person and supporting a good cause; the restaurant does a booming business and the musicians get publicity, adoration and new fans.

Speaking of fans, here's one of mine and I'm certainly one of his. It just gets more and more fun with this guy. Maya called me the other day when it was snowing and said that Ben was searching all over their house for something. Finally he found it--Maya's cell phone--and brought it to her and said "Mimi--no!" while pointing outside. He wanted her to call me and tell me it was snowing! He knows I love the snow. (Notice he did not want to call Courtney and talk about the snow--Courtney does not have the same enthusiasm that I do about snow.)

Speaking of Courtney, here's a photo of the last of Courtney's winter squash crop. It got us half way through January. Not bad. And they have been great tasting and very beautiful squashes. Before we know it spring will be here and we'll be starting another garden. Hard to think that's ever going to happen during these rainy/snowy/icy weeks, but.....

Here's proof that we do have some sun, even in the winter. I caught 30 minutes of Vitamin D the other day before the sun set over the hills and it felt glorious.

And here's one of Sasha kitty and her cat butler Courtney. This girl likes to go in and out the sliding glass door more times than you would believe. Courtney has to stay pretty close to home
just to let her in and out, in and out. But you see here that she lets him get some rest by the wood stove. Winter is not all bad.

One last thing, I'll give a quick book report. Just finished reading Overcoming Zionism: Creating A Single Democratic State in Israel/Palestine, by Joel Kovel. The dedication of the book is to "Rachel Corrie, may her name live in glory". Kovel is Jewish-American, was a candidate for the Green Party nominee for US President in 2000, and is currently the editor-in-chief of Capitalism Nature Socialism.

I think of all the books I've read in the past couple of years, trying to understand the Middle East conflict, this has been the most helpful so far. It's extremely fascinating on many levels, but Kovel's humor certainly adds to the readability. Some of my favorite chapter titles: The Unnatural History of a Bad Idea, Facts On the Ground: Making the Desert Desolate, and Palesreal: A Secular and Universal Democracy for Israel/Palestine. All I can say is: read it.

That's it for now. More soon. Thanks for reading this and taking an interest in our lives here in Corvallis. Please write us, stay in touch, and enjoy whatever winter you are in,

Valori

Why Twinkly Lights Make Sense In Winter

2008-01-10T15:34:00.000-08:00

I finally get it...why people around the world think up reasons to string pretty lights and give fun gifts during the darkest part of the year. It really helps. I get so so sad when I think about taking down our Christmas lights. But luckily Maya and Eder gave me a string of red chili pepper lights, so soon down come the Xmas lights and up go the chili peppers. (By soon I mean before Valentines Day.)

Below is a Christmas morning photo of my cute and goofy family, minus Courtney, who was
the photographer. Half of us were in our pj's and hadn't showered, but my mom wanted a
picture of us all together and this is the only one that happened all day.

Christmas Eve we spent at Eder's family's house. His dad is a chef, so dinner was plentiful and all very yummy. Their home is spacious and comfortable--great for alot of company plus two little guys (Eder's nephew, Jakob, who is guarded and cautious, and Ben, who is not.)
It's lots of fun to have two toddlers to entertain us.

Aaron left on Christmas afternoon with his dad, headed north to Whidbey Island to see his other grandmother and his aunt. It's about a 6 hour trip, between driving time and time on the ferry boat across Puget Sound. So he did double-duty on Christmas. (Poor guy--forced to open gifts at two locations.)

They were gone four days, and Aaron arrived back here late on the night of the 28th. The morning of the 29th he flew from Portland to San Jose and spent a week with his Monterey friends. What made that all possible was his best buddy Robert's family, who shuttled him from airport to friends' homes and back to airport, and took good care of him all along the way. Aaron has been such a sport about leaving his home and all his friends in Monterey, uprooting and starting over in Eugene. So it was a good thing for him to see his buddies and romp and play for a week....without the watchful eye of either his mom or dad.

Then the day after he got back, it snowed (a welcome home gift for him). It was the first or second time that our kitty Sasha had walked--very gingerly!--in snow.

Courtney and I let very little time lapse between us saying how grateful we are for our little wood stove (and our compact house, which warms up pretty easily and holds the heat well). I enjoy the cold and snow (of course I stay inside more and see it through the windows, Courtney is outside splitting wood and hauling it indoors), but Courtney is holding his breath until the first buds pop out and spring is on the way. He's not much of a winter-type guy and with this being the first holiday season without his dad, he is understandably feeling low at times. But he also has a basic attitude of gratefulness and appreciation, and so bounces back.

Helps to have precious family around! Like these two cuties.

While we don't see Ben on a regular basis like we used to, he comes over when Maya and Eder want to go out for the night or when their work overlaps and they need us to fill in. He's pretty darned entertaining. He's entered the stage of "What's that?" and "Why?" No, he doesn't ask those questions once in a while or one at a time, but constantly and repetitively. He's quite focused and determined, and as most toddlers, very frustrated when he can't make himself understood. Luckily he's using some of his baby sign language and other creative ways to make himself clear. Anyway, we're so lucky to be part of his growing up.

Other things that help stave off the winter-time blues: hoppin' music at the Co-op (my work) is one. During a shift last week I noticed that I was feeling especially good. Then realized it had something to do with the Troggs singing "Wild Thing, you make my heart sing, you make everything groovy." Followed by Donna Summers singing "Don't leave me this way...." and then someone singing "Bird bird bird. The bird is the word." Well, you get the idea...it was a fun day.

And if all else fails us, we have our own little remedy for bleak winter days. Courtney's computer is in our bedroom and when sitting up in bed we are facing the monitor. He has downloaded from Webshots somewhere between 100 and 150 screen savers--all parts and pieces of nature from around the world. Waterfalls in Brazil and Oregon, families of penguins and all sorts of adorable baby animals, closeups of insects on flowers, canyons, mountains reflected in lakes, sunsets and lighning storms, and lots of giant surfs and warm tropical scenes. We take a little tour of the planet first thing in the morning while I drink my green tea (trying to come to life) and Courtney eats his breakfast. Not a bad way to start the day. I recommend it.

But it all goes to hell in a handbasket when we move from our blissful tour de earth, online to the world of "news". Personally I'm feeling irritated at how the distraction of partisan politics and lousy elections pulls most everyone's attention away from the threats of war with Iran and the dire need to hold impeachment hearings (possibly the only thing that will derail the next war before it starts). I am in the process of trying to prioritize how I spend my available hours (when not working or sleeping) and adding my energy to the impeachment movement is near the top. My new hero is Representative Robert Wexler from Florida. He's using the "I" word loud and clear.

I guess one last thing I want to tell about is our friend Josh's presentation last Sunday. He's just back from working in the hills south of Hebron, in the West Bank, for three months with Christian Peacemaker Teams. The work is focused on supporting peacemakers on both sides, Israeli and Palestinian, as well as escorting Palestinian villagers--children walking past hostile settlers on their one-hour trek to school, or shepherds trying to graze their animals on land that has belonged to their families for generations but that recently arrived settlers now claim. Some very scary and dangerous work.

Josh was showing his slides and telling his stories to a room filled to capacity with people who know Josh and want to support his work. At the end of this month he will return to Damascus to continue the schooling in Arabic that he stated last spring. From there he'll return to the West Bank. At age 30 (appox.) Josh is seeing that human rights work is what he wants to do, and the struggle in Israel and Palestine for justice and peace is where he wants to put his efforts. It's not cheap to wage peace, but as Josh says, it's lots cheaper than war. We collected a healthy amount of money to help Josh along his path, and once again, I felt grateful for the support that I see this community give its activists.

That's all for now, thanks for reading this, support a local activist whenever you can, stay warm and well-fed, and enjoy the winter,

Valori

Who Is Lobsang Dolma?

2007-12-23T19:04:00.000-08:00

This precious little girl with the cute ears and sweet smile is Lobsang Dolma. She came into our lives by way of a Tibetan store opening in downtown Corvallis. This is how it happened:

I recently read the book Kundun, the biography of the Dalai Lama and his four brothers and two sisters, all of whom have been engaged in the movement for Tibetan independence since the Chinese occupation of Tibet began in 1959. The hope I saw for the Tibetans—a people whose culture is on the verge of extinction--is in the children, living in exile but being raised in the traditional Tibetan way. How, I wondered, could I support that in happening?

Then, quite miraculously, the Corvallis Gazette-Times ran a story ("Tibetan Store Opens for the Holidays") about a store in downtown Corvallis whose purpose is to raise money for a non-profit called Tibetan Living Communities (TLC). Among other things, TLC funds projects at the Manjushree Vidyapith Orphanage in Northeast India.

TLC is one of those wonderful examples of what a small group of dedicated and passionate people can do. Nancy Fireman of Napa, CA, is the founder along with two Tibetan monks. Her sister, Sylvia Fireman of Sweet Home, and Sylvia’s daughters Shauna Gray and Lisa Rennie of Eugene volunteered their time to staff the store for the month it was open. They had a beautiful inventory of handmade paper and journals, jewelry and scarves, prayer flags, CD's of Tibetan chants and music.

On one wall of the store they had photos of and information about children at the orphanage who needed sponsors to pay for their food, clothing, and schooling. The first time I looked at the photos there was a sweet little 7-year-old boy who caught my eye, but then I spotted Lobsang Dolma, and BAM!, I fell in love. Five of us in the family decided to go in together on the sponsorship, which makes it quite affordable, $72 a year from each of us. I love the personal connection, i.e. I'm emailing with the founder of TLC and she answers all my questions plus more. We are encouraged to write to the child we sponsor and send photos of our family, and twice a year we'll get their report cards and responses from them, translated into English by Lama Thupten, the founder and director of the orphanage.

The more I learn about the orphanage the more hope I have for the cultural and spiritual survival of the Tibetan people, through the support and education of the younger generation. And seeing what the Fireman family has created gives me hope for us humans!

In the foreground of the photo above is the orphanage's classroom building and in the background is the dormitory (ground floor is girls' and top floor is boys'). On the roof of the dormitory are solar panels, installation funded by TLC. Before the solar hot water system was installed, none of the children had ever had the luxury of a hot shower!

Lama Thupten Phuntsok, after receiving a Ph.D. in Buddhist Philosophy from Gyumed Monastic University, taught at an Indian government school before founding the orphanage in 1998.

Here's a view of the girls' dormitory. I love looking at it and thinking about Lobsang Dolma living there. All the children who live there are Tibetan Buddhists. They are provided a modern education, but paramount importance is given to the growth of compassion and a kind heart.

Presently there are 108 orphans, including 10 physically disabled children, taught by a staff of eight. Part of the orphanage's mission is to provide for children with disabilities who would otherwise not receive an education in their remote region of India. Lama Thupten hopes to expand the facilities and staff over the next few years so as to accommodate at least 200 children. If you are interested, they have two wonderful websites with sooooo many photos: TibetanLivingCommunities.org and ManjushreeOrphanage.org.

As my sister and I were talking this morning about Lobsang Dolma, I realized that adding her to our lives has already brought us joy. There was already so much for us to be grateful for, and now there's more.

Happy holidays, and a poem below, titled Pray For Peace, by Ellen Bass, is my holiday gift to you. Thanks for reading this, and for being part of our lives,

Valori

Pray for Peace

Pray to whomever you kneel down to:
Jesus nailed to his wooden or plastic cross,
his suffering face bent to kiss you,
Buddha still under the bo tree in scorching heat,
Adonai, Allah. Raise your arms to Mary
that she may lay her palm on our brows,
to Shekhina, Queen of Heaven and Earth,
to Inanna in her stripped descent.

Then pray to the bus driver who takes you to work.
On the bus, pray for everyone riding that bus,
for everyone riding buses all over the world.
Drop some silver and pray.

Waiting in line for the movies, for the ATM,
for your latte and croissant, offer your plea.
Make your eating and drinking a supplication.
Make your slicing of carrots a holy act,
each translucent layer of the onion, a deeper prayer.

To Hawk or Wolf, or the Great Whale, pray.
Bow down to terriers and shepherds and Siamese cats.
Fields of artichokes and elegant strawberries.

Make the brushing of your hair
a prayer, every strand its own voice,
singing in the choir on your head.
As you wash your face, the water slipping
through your fingers, a prayer: Water,
softest thing on earth, gentleness
that wears away rock.

Making love, of course, is already prayer.
Skin, and open mouths worshipping that skin,
the fragile cases we are poured into.

If you're hungry, pray. If you're tired.
Pray to Gandhi and Dorothy Day.
Shakespeare. Sappho. Sojourner Truth.

When you walk to your car, to the mailbox,
to the video store, let each step
be a prayer that we all keep our legs,
that we do not blow off anyone else's legs.
Or crush their skulls.
And if you are riding on a bicycle
or a skateboard, in a wheelchair, each revolution
of the wheels a prayer as the earth revolves:
less harm, less harm, less harm.

And as you work, typing with a new manicure,
a tiny palm tree painted on one pearlescent nail
or delivering soda or drawing good blood
into rubber-capped vials, writing on a blackboard
with yellow chalk, twirling pizzas--

With each breath in, take in the faith of those
who have believed when belief seemed foolish,
who persevered. With each breath out, cherish.

Pull weeds for peace, turn over in your sleep for peace,
feed the birds, each shiny seed
that spills onto the earth, another second of peace.
Wash your dishes, call your mother, drink wine.

Shovel leaves or snow or trash from your sidewalk.
Make a path. Fold a photo of a dead child
around your VISA card. Scoop your holy water
from the gutter. Gnaw your crust.
Mumble along like a crazy person, stumbling
your prayer through the streets.

http://www.ellenbass.com/pray_for_peace.php

If ya gotta turn 50, this is the way to do it

2007-12-15T16:33:00.001-08:00

Here's my whole family (minus Courtney, home guarding the cat or vice versa, and my dad who died in 2003). Starting from the left: nephew Justin, me, nephew Lucas, Maya, Ben, Eder, Aaron, nephew Matt, mom Jeannine, sister Kissy and her husband Paul. Kissy had her birthday party at this beautiful old mansion that is now the African American Museum of Art and Culture. The photo below was taken of us forming a receiving line, about to start greeting the party guests as they arrived. As we all know how hard it is to get families together these days, spread as we are across the country, you can imagine how precious this picture is to me.

Here's the funny I mentioned earlier. Kissy meets herself in duplicate.

You can see by her expression and body language how much she loved this little joke. (That's her on the far right in the elegant black dancing dress.)

And below is the Life of Kissy collage. It was such a gift of love and so much fun to make. Took forever, plus lots of help from Courtney, because I scanned in a bunch of old family photos, plus ones from Kissy's blog, and then dug through all my old photo albums. I highly recommend that everyone scan their old family photos into their computer, before the pictures have faded and disintegrated. Great way to preserve them, and impetus to start using them.

Kissy gave a beautiful speech at her party, paying tribute to all her family members and many of her dear friends. I followed her speech with a toast--"To Kissy...." and read the story below that came from her blog. I said, to me this screamed Kissy/Stephanie/Doojie (people know her by different names). She doesn't just enjoy the Cheesecake of Life, she IS our little cheesecake.

Looking back over it, I have to say that my sis put on a great birthday celebration. She insisted that we all be there--no flimsy excuses allowed--and so brought our family together for a very precious time. Plus she got all her friends together, in a beautiful setting, and gave them lots to eat and drink. She and Paul had made a fabulous CD of music from the span of her life--music that really meant something to her and brought back memories--and it was great for dancing. All her hard work and planning payed off. We all had lots of fun and it was so wonderful to celebrate and honor her. Thank you, Kissy!

That's it for all the travel to Maryland stories. (I should have told the one about my sis almost getting arrested at the airport by Officer Doody Head, as she called him. Or the one about Eder and Lucas walking from their hotel room two miles to a Safeway for diapers and being turned away at the door because it was 10pm and they were closing.) But suffice to say, our travels were not without adventures.

Thanks for taking the time to read this. I hope you enjoyed it anywhere near as much as I enjoyed sharing it,

Valori

Hooray! Maryland photos arrive!

2007-12-15T16:25:00.000-08:00

Just as I had given up, I looked on my sister's blog (www.doojies.blogspot.com) and, lo and behold, there's photos from our trip. Here's Maya, cooking up a storm, for my birthday dinner at Kissy's. Two good friends of my sister's have the same birthday as mine, so Kissy and Paul threw a dinner party for 20. It was a mixture of their friends and our family.

Standing at the left is my nephew Justin and to the right is Eder. To the left of me is Anne Marie, mother of the other birthday girl, Glennis. On the other side is my mom Jeannine.

I won't even re-hash how sick and grumpy Ben was the entire trip. Below you can see how cute he is even when he feels like poo-poo.

When Kissy took us to the inner harbor in Baltimore, we started along the walkway next to the water and right off we saw this comedian/magician about to begin his act. He literally was grabbing people as they walked by and dragging them over to watch his show. I think he liked us because we sat down voluntarily. Anyway, we asked him to come over and take our picture and this is what we got instead. A steady stream of abuse from him. Lucky he was cute, and oh so funny. We all laughed so hard through his whole show--it totally made the trip a success.

As I mentioned before, Kissy's best buddy Janine (who, by the way, has the same birthday as Kissy's!) had loaned her SUV so that we could all get around together. The night before we left was the night of Kissy's birthday bash and we had put two great big stereo speakers in the back of the SUV. Then after the party it was raining so hard that we decided to unload them later. But then the next morning my sis had to take her son Lucas to the airport and, running a little late, taking the speakers out got postponed again. Then as Kissy was careening towards home to load all of us up for the next trip to the airport, one of the speakers crashed into the back side window. In case you are lucky enough not to know, tempered glass shatters into a million pieces. Two million, if it's a big window like this was.

Soooooooo....Kissy and I took about three deep breaths, and then went to work making a cardboard cover for the inside of the window and another for the outside. As we duct-taped, we reminded each other that this is not a brain tumor. It will get fixed. It's just money, etc. Below is a testimony to our combined artistic talent.

Then, lickity split, we were off to the airport and on our way home. Slowly, though, because airplanes don't fly on time anymore. Or at least not when you're traveling with a sick baby. But I vowed not to mention that anymore, so...

Stay tuned. There's more coming,

Valori

John and Yoko, amaryliss bulb & hunkering down

2007-12-10T19:39:00.000-08:00

Last Wednesday, the 5th, was Maya's birthday. Happy birthday, Maya, big number 26! I could reminisce about how many hours I was in labor, etc, but after 26 years I guess it's time to let that go. She's totally worth the many hours of excruciatingly painful labor.

Poor girl, though, it was a less-than-glamorous celebration that night. She got stuck in an important meeting at work ("How important?" we asked) just when we were supposed to meet for dinner at her favorite Thai restaurant. When she finally got there, it was raining so hard she couldn't see that she was stepping out of her car right into a huge puddle, so that one shoe, sock and lower pant leg were soaked. Then, welcome to dinner with a tired and cranky baby boy named Ben, who was not particularly interested in sitting sweetly in a highchair. Basically my mom, Courtney, Eder, Maya and I shoveled down our pad thai and hit the road, before Ben totally melted down.

But luckily there's a happy ending to the story. Saturday evening we all met at Maya and Eder's for birthday cake and ice cream. Then Aaron, Courtney, Mom and I took Benny off to look at Christmas lights and stay the night at our house, while Maya and Eder went out with their friends to party. The End.

December 8th was Courtney's brother Steve's birthday. Happy birthday, Steve! (Steve has a little bitty grandbaby living with him, so his birthday may have been hijacked by a baby too.) But it was also the 28th anniversary of John Lennon's death. Only this year did I learn that the FBI had hounded John Lennon towards the end his life, threatening him with deportation, because of his anti-war activism.

Being exactly the right age to be a Beatlemaniac, my girlfriends and I each had a Beatle that was our favorite, and mine was John. I was always crazy about him. But in December of 1980 I was on a slightly different planet (Skykomish, WA) and had limited contact with the outside world and so John's death didn't have the impact on me it might have at another time. Now it seems like an incredible loss.

Speaking of remembrances, my sis sent this beautiful amaryliss to Courtney after his dad died. It is making quite the show in our kitchen these days.

It is the season when, of course, Courtney becomes quite animal-like: busy beaver, squirreling away wood--you get the picture. Anyway, it is a wondrous thing. Courtney keeps the hearth fire burning, bakes the squashes he grew in our garden, hangs the laundry on the clothesline by the wood stove to keep humidity in the house. It all makes our little scene really work well for us.

As soon as we moved to Corvallis we joined the Hour Exchange, the local currency system, which also turns out to be a community. Through the Hour Exchange Courtney met someone who cuts wood, and so....TAAA DAAA! A beautiful cord of maple delivered to our doorstep, and artfully stacked by Courtney.

The plants have all come indoors for the winter now. So much so that we had to give away our sofa to make room for the giant jade trees we brought from California. Anyway, we had bought a two-person bean bag chair (called a love sack) at a garage sale and didn't really have room for it and a sofa. So now we have the papasan on one side of the wood stove and the love sack on the other. Suffice to say that it is deadly if you sit in that bean bag when you are tired--there is no getting up. From the bean bag I can watch Courtney cooking dinner (God bless him!) and the geese flying overhead (as seen from our skylight in the kitchen or through the sliding glass door) and the fire roaring in the stove. And I'm really in heaven when you add my laptop to that picture. What a life.

No, this is not the cover of a famous cookbook. This is Courtney holding a bowl of his fabulous chicken soup, made with squash and parsley from the garden. I couldn't resist a shot of these vivid colors and great presentation. You too could enjoy such delicacies if you come to visit.

Happy winter, and I hope all who are reading this are enjoying good health and great happiness,

Valori

Part II of Travel Story--Tribute to Kissy

2007-12-04T12:59:00.000-08:00

Alas! No more travel photos have come my way--none of Kissy's birthday bash or of her fabulous home. So I've decided to improvise. One of my birthday gifts to Kissy was a big black tri-fold poster-board collage of her life. I started out on the top left with her baby photos and moved across her life to the bottom right corner of these modern times. Below is one of our annual Easter photos. Good thing we have this documentation because, otherwise, who would have believed how our mother dressed us (and then had the nerve to take us out in public, and to church, no less). Not much else to do in San Angelo, Texas, in the 50's. Dear goodness.

Kissy's husband Paul had heard of a very cute idea and decided to do it for Kissy's birthday party, which was to make about 30 copies of the photo below (Kissy as a junior in high school) and and had them mounted on paint stir-sticks. While I spirited Kissy out of the room, Paul passed them out to everyone and, when she came back, they were all holding her face in front of theirs. It's hard to explain how fun that was--I wish we had the photos of everyone standing there with Kissy's face on their body. You'll have to take my word for it that it was very funny. Try it sometime.

Below is Kissy on some beach around PG or Carmel, with her son Lucas, who will be turning 24 on Dec 14th. What a beautiful pair.

Since mine and Kissy's birthdays are only three days apart we have had many joint birthday parties as adults. Well, I don't know if adults is the right word, but below is a photo of us cutting our cake together at a party in Carmel Valley and that's her son Justin between us. He's now 21 years old.

And here's the sisters with our mom and dad at Maya and Eder's wedding reception in May of 2003. That's Eder in the background all the way on the left.

So that's a little touch of what was on the collage board. I think there were about 70 photos all together. They certainly didn't tell the whole story of Kissy's life (that would have taken several more tri-folds) but there were some fun shots on there and lots of good memories. And the more I look back on it, the happier I am that all of us were able to share in the memory of her 50th birthday and that we made the cross-country journey.

At times, though, I was suffering from a critical mind and my own harsh judgments of how Americans live. It all seemed much more evident on the fast-paced, high-priced, crowded East Coast. (My sis would agree-she's wanting to move to Nebraska, to a slower and saner tempo.)

Luckily I had taken a wonderful book with me, titled The Best of Buddhist Writings 2004. So I was able to maintain some level of Buddhist perspective of impermanence. We're all here for such a brief moment called life. Everything is in a constant state of change and decay and rebirth. You can't really attach to any of it. That helped my critical mind relax and enjoy.

But it did give me time to think about values while out there in "America" and away from the safety of Corvallis, OR. I was danged happy to get back to our little home and go back to the sanity of my simple, sweet job. As Maya and I were entering the Portland Airport (after the trip from hell, trying to get home and being thwarted at every turn), we saw Powell's Books. And in front of the store was an impressive recycling set-up, which included a food composting bin. We looked at each other and said "Ahhhhh! Back on Planet Oregon!"

And, almost as a welcome home gift to me, right after I returned, Courtney and I canceled our garbage service. It turns out that between recycling and composting, we don't make enough trash to warrant a weekly pick-up (or even bi-weekly). Somehow that gave me so much joy. Lightening our footsteps here, bit by bit. Really without planning or intending to do so, when we moved to Oregon, we started to eat what's in season. Shopping at the Co-op and at the Farmers Market supports that and makes it easy. We share our one little gas-efficient Hondita and try to be thrifty with our driving. We've got a ways to go to zero-emission, but we're heading in the right direction.

Thanks as always for reading this, and stay tuned because I have more coming down the pipeline soon,

Valori

Adventures in a Far-Away Land

2007-11-21T15:07:00.000-08:00

On November 1st, my mom, Maya, Eder, Ben, Aaron and I flew to Maryland for my sister's 50th birthday celebration and my 55th. Looking back on it, we were such babes in the woods, no idea what lay ahead of us. Had any of us known that Ben was going to be sick the entire time and never want to be set down, would we have done anything differently? Would we have brought along tranquilizers (for ourselves)? Had we known how grueling it is to travel by airplane these days, would we have stayed home? (No!) Well, we didn't know any better and we jumped on that plane and flew and flew and flew. It's a danged long ways from Oregon to Maryland. No wonder my sister balks when we ask her to come visit us.

Many months ago my sis, known to the family as Kissy, announced that we would all be joining her for a big hoe-down on her 50th--no regrets permitted--just be there. It had been a long time since our family, small as it is, had all been together. Not since Maya and Eder's wedding in May of 2003. So this was the closest to a family reunion as we were likely to ever have. Courtney has been making the trek back and forth to Morro Bay so much lately that he opted out of this trip and stayed home with Sasha cat and the blue jays and squirrels. (Someone had to defend the fort.)

My sister, her husband Paul, and their son Matthew live in Columbia, MD, between Baltimore and Washington, DC. Paul's dad Art lives in the downstairs of their house. Kissy's son Justin lives in Baltimore. Lucas, Kissy's oldest son, pictured above, presenting me with the collage he made for my birthday, flew in from College Station, Texas. That's our family.

We arrived on Thursday and on Friday night my sister put on dinner party for 20. It was my birthday and the birthday of two of her close friends. What struck me the most that night was that my sis has a full and rich life. I have been following her blog and hearing her stories for years about the community of friends she and Paul have built around themselves in the 10 years they've lived in Maryland. That Friday night was an opportunity to peek into that close-knit community.

On Saturday Paul took Maya and Eder, Aaron and Matthew, and Lucas and Justin into Washington, DC, for a tour of the capitol. (In photo above is Justin, Matt and Paul.) I have my total attitude about Wash, DC, so didn't feel a need to go. But more importantly it was a chance for the guys (and Maya) to get out together and do something fun. Mom, Kissy and I took care of Ben--as best we could. He would only let me hold him and I had to keep moving, jiggling and consoling. He would drift off from time to time and I could sit down and hold him while he slept. Then, usually because he was so congested and trying to breathe, he'd wake himself up and we'd start pacing and jiggling again. Poor Benny, poor my back, poor Kissy, who so desperately wanted to be able to hold Benny and love on him, but he was not having any of that!

Meanwhile, here's the Gang of Four at the site of oh so many protests. Lucky lucky lucky we were that the weather was beautiful the whole time, and the next day my sis loaded up me, Mom, Maya and Ben, Aaron and Matt and off we went to the Inner Harbor of Baltimore. Kissy's best buddy and business partner Janine had loaned her giant SUV (fondly named The Global Warmer) to Kissy. So she packed us in there like the Brady Bunch, complete with carseat and stroller--we were in the lap of luxury. (Sorry, Earth!)

Monday night, before we flew out Tuesday afternoon, was Kissy's birthday party. I'm still waiting and hoping for photos of it. We had a couple of oooops--forgot to take Maya's camera to the party and Kissy's didn't work. Hopefully Kissy's friend Hope, who so wisely brought her camera to the party, will be able to supply us with some good shots and I'll blog again to finish this story.

Until then, I'll just say that being in my sister's house is like a trip to a faraway land, full of fancy and fantasy and memories. I don't know how to describe it, and I'm still waiting for more of my photos (taken on Maya's camera) to make their way into my computer. So that will be yet another blog story. Suffice to say, wherever you look in Kissy's house, there's something to see--not something boring, but something unique, creative, fun. In the little room I stayed in, my favorite little companion was this one below. Sorry she's a little blurry (in real life she's not). Anyway, hopefully the rest of Kissy House photos will be in focus and somehow help me

give an accurate portrayal.

But, until then, I want to post this as the first of a series on our Travels in a Far-Away Land. As photos allow I'll hopefully finish this story before it's so far in the past that my memory fails me. That doesn't take long these days.

Happy trails until then,

Valori

A Tribute To Clancy

2007-11-14T15:55:00.000-08:00

On October 20th Courtney's dad Clancy passed away. He was 94 years old, which says alot right there. As John Robbins said in his book Healthy At 100, people who live to a ripe old age are generally pretty healthy. Clancy was far more than that--he was vital, energetic, enthused about life. At 92 he gave up golfing (and driving his golf cart over to the club for 18 holes and a couple of beers) and took up gardening. He had a flower bed put in on the top of a retaining wall so he didn't have to stoop over to garden. He was passionate about it, and would only come inside to rest a while and catch his breath. Then he was back out to his garden.

Clancy is pictured below with his wife Kay in their home in Morro Bay, CA. What a handsome couple. They married when Clancy was 79.

I think it was about the same time that he gave up golfing when he also quit driving his car and took up riding around on the scooter pictured below. Originally it was going to be used for him to go to the bottom of their driveway and get the mail. Next thing we heard he was riding it down to the bank and grocery store. A couple of times he admitted to Courtney that he'd taken a direct route off the curb and onto the street, but never injured himself and seems undaunted by near-misses. He was quite the guy.

Below, the picture of the three of us, was taken from in front of their house. You can see what a fabulous view they had of the bay. The town of Morro Bay is a designated bird sanctuary, and one of Clancy and Kay's favorite past-times was watching birds, including the many that came to Clancy's bird feeders.

Clancy was one of those people who's quick with a smile and a story and a joke. He loved people. He enjoyed life. It doesn't get much better than that. He was just almost fully-functioning until about 10 days before he died. Then he told Courtney's sister Nancy that he was tired and just wanted to sleep. Hearing that, she went into action and alerted the siblings that it was time to come tell their dad good-bye. Courtney took the train down and spent a few precious days with his dad and then came home. His dad died a day after he left.

To the very end Clancy retained his joie-de-vivre and his great sense of humor. He even confided in Courtney that he was a little excited about seeing what's waiting on the other side.

Courtney knows what a good role model he's had in this life. And I think many of us who knew Clancy feel inspired to live our lives more fully, appreciate and enjoy our lives more, because of the example Clancy set for us.

As George Sand said, "There is only one happiness in life, to love and be loved." Clancy had a happy life in that way and will be missed.

Valori

"Time flies like an arrow...

2007-10-16T16:23:00.000-07:00

... fruit flies like a banana," as my old buddy Glenn used to say. But how is it that time flies so fast?! Seems like my biggest struggle with life has always been over the insufficient number of hours in a day. I don't know if others go to bed at night with the satisfied feeling that they've done all they wanted to in that day, but not me.

Take for instance this blog. It's been a month since my last entry. So many times I have thought "I'll include that next time I blog". What the heck were those things I was going to write about? In a perfect world I would blog several times a week, like my prolific and talented sister Stephanie. If you want to read a truly fun and entertaining blog, forget me and go to www.doojies.blogspot.com. Or if you want to catch up on news here, and then read Stephanie's, I'll reach back into my memory bank and try to pull up the past month.

The third weekend in September Courtney and his siblings and cousins had their yearly reunion. This time it was at Black Butte Ranch outside of Bend, OR. The photo above is of Courtney's sister Nancy, her husband Sarge, and their Toby at the Ranch. They gave Courtney a ride to the reunion. Then he rode home with his brother Steve, Steve's girlfriend Vicky and their late cousin Dave's girlfriend Cheryl. They're pictured below in front of our house.

A cute bunch, huh? I feel very very lucky. I like Courtney's family so much. I have a wonderful family and we're very close. But it's fun having a second family. And I love that his cousins have made the effort to reconnect at this time in their lives. I think it came about because their parents were dying and they decided that they wanted to know each other in a deeper way than just seeing one another at family funerals. In 2003, when Courtney's dad turned 90, the cousins got together in Morro Bay to celebrate the big birthday and I got meet them all then. Good extended family.

So with them coming to Oregon for this reunion, it was fun to show these guys our little ballywick in its autumn glory. Courtney's grapevines have flourished in their first year. No grapes yet but tons of foliage, which gave shade to the car and privacy from the road.

We've enjoyed the end of some things in the garden, getting ideas of what to plant next year. The Romano beans were so yummy and prolific. The acorn squash and spaghetti squash are stored in the garage and still giving us pleasure. Courtney's tomatoes were fabulous. There's just something so rich and satisfying about the fall harvest foods.

It's also the time of year when Courtney keeps his camera with him whether he's driving or riding his bike. The stunning change of colors and the falling of leaves is so dramatic. We're like people driving around gawking at Christmas lights, but we're gawking at the rich color combos of bright gold and deep red and oranges and greens. The university campus is an especially colorful place right now with all the huge old trees there.

Meanwhile our family has thinned out. Just about the time we were feeling like "What have we done?! Four cats!!" then everything started shifting. We decided to give up the third kitten, C.J., who we never really intended to keep. It's just that we never found a good home for him and so he stayed around. We took him to the humane society here, which seems to me like an exceptionally humane society, and paid to get him neutered, etc, so he'd be ready to be given away. Then Charlie, my favorite, disappeared the night before we had an appointment to get him neutered. Nighttime around here it's a wild neighborhood for cats. We're figuring something got him. That was a sad, sad realization after days of continuing to call him.

Then the momma cat Kinky turned on the remaining kitten Sasha and kept growling at her and making me nervous. So we sent her across the driveway to her other family, Bill and Betty. Suddenly we're down to one cat. A good lesson in "Watch what you wish for!"

In many ways it feels like we are hunkering down and getting ready for winter. Courtney is doing his organize the firewood thing. Thank you, thank you. Many of the outdoor plants have come inside. The wood stove is fired up. A few low temperatures at night, but mostly the days have still been so beautiful. Rumors are flying about a very wet winter, so stay tuned.

There's lots lots more to say, but I think I'll stop, just for the sake of publishing sooner than later. And try to be more diligent, so that the things I want to share won't slip through the cracks of my brain.

Til next time,

Valori

End of Summer Number 2

2007-09-19T07:46:00.000-07:00

We survived a second summer. Actually it was easy. We probably only had half a dozen spells of real heat. The rest of the time it was lovely--in the 80's, sunny and mild. We know all summers in Corvallis won't be like this one, but we were lucky this year.

Perched and draped around the house and yard are the kitties. They're more than four months old now. Big eaters, roamers, hunters, but still frisky, playful, entertaining kittens. Pre-teens,
I guess you'd call them.

We are enjoying the last days where the doors and windows can be left open, the temperature being just perfect during the day, but cold at night. It's that wonderful time when you can feel the seasons changing. I love the fall, maybe because it's my birthday time. My sister and I have birthdays three days apart, November 2nd and 5th. We're planning to celebrate them together this year at her home in Maryland. Big trip, big party, big fun.

Speaking of fun, Courtney yelled from the garden the other day "Hey, we've got cucumbers in here!" Funny the things you forget you planted. The garden is so dense, who knows what else is ripening in there. Anyway, we've been regaling our friends with zucchinis, tomatoes, romano beans, and now cucumbers. The other night I tried to give a woman some zucchini and she gave me a zucchini soup recipe instead. Guess that's only fair.

Aaron and Eric, his dad, are now in their apartment in Eugene. They're close to his school (within walking distance), the university and downtown. In a huge old house that's divided into 5 apartments. They're on the 2nd story, with French doors opening out onto a long balcony. Looks like a fun place to live. I hope it's a good home for them.

Aaron started Roosevelt Middle School right after Labor Day. It's a much bigger school than he's used to, but he seems to be adjusting fine, liking his classes, making friends. His teachers seem super--lots of creative and caring energy--and his classes are out of the ordinary (like Run and Eat, where they spend half their time on fitness and the other half on cooking and nutrition).

It's wonderful for the kitties that Aaron is here every weekend. And wonderful for me too. We added an enormous bean bag chair (the Love Sack) to our living room decor, and just in time, because Aaron and I can no longer squeeze into the papasan together.

Meanwhile my mom just took off on her first ever cruise. She went north to Alaska with her cousin Richard, his wife Alma, and Alma's relatives. A further report next time I blog.

Speaking of my mom, the dedicated football fan that she is, it's football season and there is no forgetting it here in Beaver Land. The orange and black flags flapping on the sides of giant SUV's serve as a constant reminder, and, believe it or not, people around here wear orange and black all during football season. It's a fashion nightmare, if you ask me.

But, lo and behold, the home games provide a fabulous venue for our Alternatives To War group. There's gawd awful amounts of traffic all through town on game days. So last Saturday we gathered at a main intersection, where cars are coming into town on two crossing state highways, and held our Burma Shave signs that spell out IMPEACH. We were of course a little apprehensive--how's the football crowd going to like that message? But we were all amazed at what positive response we got. There were the few one-finger peace signs and the occasional advice shouted at us from Cadillac windows. But for the most part we got lots of cheers, thumbs up and big smiles. So it was time well spent and we'll be out there next time.

On another front, our friend Josh, is now back in the West Bank, working with Christian Peacemaker Teams. On September 1st we threw him a goodbye party. Actually it was a fund-raiser to help support him during his three months there doing fairly dangerous work.

We served an incredible Middle Eastern meal to about 75-80 people at the Friends Meeting House and Josh gave a very moving power point presentation on the village where he'll be--At-Tuwani, in the South Hebron Hills. Anyone who pays close attention to what is happening in Israel/Palestine knows that the Hebron area is especially volatile and dangerous. That's because in Hebron there are about 500 of the most radical and aggressive idealogical Jewish settlers (many from the Bronx, NY) along with several thousand Israeli soldiers to protect them.

Needless to say, life for the Palestinians of Hebron is hellish. And the tension and danger overflow into the surrounding hills and villages. Please keep Josh in your thoughts these next three months. My hope is that his training in nonviolence, along with his deep spiritual faith and his intelligence and natural composure, will take him safely through whatever comes his way.

There's always more to say, but thinking about Josh and what he's up against puts me in a more contemplative, rather than communicative, state. So I think I'll wish you all a happy fall equinox and thank you as usual for reading our blog,

Valori