Silver Valley Stories

10/11/08

Wildcats Are #2!!

Kiki Aru and her friend AA hold the trophy they won today at the 7th grade tournament at St. Maries. They earned second place today. Kiki Aru had a great day, and did some great serving. This is her first year playing, and she is really enjoying learning to play, and I'm enjoying watching her.

We also enjoyed traveling to Spokane today to watch Z2 run in a Cross Country meet at Finch Arboretum. She ran in the 2 mile freshman race. She ran a great race, with a time of 14:50. And what a beautiful day it was today.

I had good intentions of having some pics of Z2 at the meet today, but my battery died in my camera. I'll try and get some pics next week.

10/8/08

Things I Like About This Election

I got a new Norah Jones not too late CD, (which is awesome by the way) and she has a song on it called "My Dear Country". It is a very good song, and it made me start thinking about this election. I don't think the election brings fear to me, as this song suggests. And, with less than 30 days to go before the election, lots of fear it being communicated. Well, I'm going to break the mold.

I think this election brought many positive things.

Ten Things I Have Enjoyed About This Election:

1. I have been more interested in finding out how the candidates stand on issues than ever before.
2. I have enjoyed watching the country finally break some barriers in the nomination process.
3. I have seen young people become more interested in voting in this election.
4. My oldest daughter gets to vote in her first election this year.
5. I enjoyed the Vice Presidential debate. (And I enjoyed the SNL parody of it as well. I'm glad we've enjoyed some good humor moments through this election process as well.)

6. I like close elections. It is much more interesting when you know it isn't going to be a landslide. I like that at this point, it could go either way.

7. I like that, after thoughtful consideration, I have looked a both candidates and their views, and decided to support the Obama-Biden ticket. A big determining factor was their education plan. I like their's better.

8. I enjoy reading about the candidates from various points of view. I receive both conservative, liberal and moderate information about the candidate, and, depending on what you read, sometimes it seems like there are three different Obamas and three different McCain's running for office. It just depends on your persepective.

9. I like the fact that domestic and foriegn policy issues may finally wake some people up and they make take the time to vote on November 4th.

10. And, just as Norah Jones ends her song with these words, I love the things that you've given me, And most of all that I am free, To have a song that I can sing, On election day, I'm glad I live in the United States, where I am free and can "sing my song" or cast my votes on election day. And I hope you exercise that right as well.

You can listen to Norah Jones song below.

10/7/08

10/5/08

The Way We Were

Inland Empire Girl continues to keep us on track with Sibling Assignments. Her current assignment is this:

"Think of a movie theme song that stayed with you long after you saw the film. Share an experience about that movie or the theme." Here is Inland Empire's story, and Raymond Pert's is here.

Well, I think I am going about this a bit backward. I think I actually knew the theme song to the movie "The Way We Were" long before I actually saw the movie. Being a huge Barbra Streisand fan, I purchased many of her albums at a young age, and listened to this song quite a bit.

One memory this song conjures up is being in college at the University of Idaho with PKR. When I started as a freshman in college, PKR was attending college at Western Montana College in Dillon. The following summer we met, (officially, that is, but that is a whole other story), and at the end of the summer, I returned to Moscow to college, and he returned to Dillon. The next fall, he was enrolled at the University of Idaho.

My senior year, two of Paul's siblings, DR and LR were also enrolled as students at the University of Idaho. PKR, LR and I enrolled in a class together together called "Professional Presentation Techniques". We were a team most of the semester, and our assignment was to take a company and make three different types of presentations based on this company. We chose Hewlitt Packard, because my sister's best friend from college had worked there and had some connections.

I don't remember what our first product we presented was about, but I do remember we started out with PKR singing, "The Way We Were". Our next product we presented were HP defibrillators, and, believe it or not, back in 1984, HP was just coming out with the first laptop computer. And that was our final product we presented.

HP-110: HP’s first laptop computer, 1984
An industry breakthrough, the HP-110 weighed only 8.5 pounds and had a 16-bit IBM PC-compatible processor. With 384K ROM and 272K RAM, it had the largest amount of memory available in a portable computer at the time. Unlike previous machines, the computer was aimed at a less technical audience.

I remember we ended our presentation with LR having a briefcase, and opening it up, as if she was going to unveil this production, and she exclaimed, "Oh, it is so light, I must have forgotten it at home!" or something like that.

We were a great team, and got an A in that class.

So "The Way We Were" doesn't bring to mind Robert Redford and Barbara Streisand trying to make their relationship work in this film. Instead, it takes me back to those days at the University of Idaho when PKR and I were falling in love.

Fortunately, we have a much better relationship than Katie and Hubbell could ever manage to have in the movie.

9/30/08

All Good Gifts

As summer turns to autumn each year, I think about the song "All Good Gifts" from the musical "Godspell". I am especially thinking about it this year, since I am in rehearsals for "Godspell" right now, and will be performing it on stage in November.

As I harvested my garden this week, and walked around my yard taking pictures, this song came to mind, and I felt it was a fitting song to accompany the pictures of my September Gardens.

Enjoy!!

9/28/08

Seeds of Literary Analysis Planted at KHS

I gave this week's sibling assignment. I asked my siblings to think of a time in one of their Kellogg High School classes that really made an impression on them, and write about it.

One of my English teachers while at KHS was named Dale Bachman. When I was in high school, the English classes were set up when you could choose a different class each nine weeks. One nine weeks I chose to study Poetry. Mr. Bachman was my teacher.

One of the assignments we did was to bring a song we liked, and share the lyrics, showing how song lyrics were actually a type of poetry.

As an example, Mr. Bachman shared one of his favorite songs, "The Devil Went Down To Georgia". He talked about the song, and explained how this was a kind of story poem.

I chose a song from "A Chorus Line", titled " At The Ballet". This is a song about three girls and their troubles growing up, and how the ballet helped them out. I chose this version because Kelly Bishop from "The Gilmore Girls" sings it, and it sounds really good. Thesethree originated the roles on Broadway. If I remember correctly, we brought in the lyrics, and talked about what they meant, and analyzed them in front of the class.

This lesson has always stuck with me, and I still remember Mr. Bachman jumping around the room, acting out "The Devil Went Down To Georgia". I think it stuck with me, because my teacher was excited about what he was doing, and really got into this lesson.

I still love analyzing literature, whether it is poetry, essays, short stories or novels.

I love it and believe the seeds were planted right here in this class at KHS.

9/27/08

A Day of Rest

Today was a day that doesn't come around very often. I had nowhere I had to be. I didn't have to leave the house. I could stay home all day and be LAZY.

What a wonderful feeling. I slept in until 10 a.m. I read some of my book. I worked on some little things. But I did all this while laying in my bed. Then I slept some more. Then I did some things on the computer.

Then I slept some more. Then PKR and I watched the season premire of "Criminal Minds". Now we are enjoying a snack, and watching a show on DVD.

What a wonderful feeling to just have a day of rest. My cold was still holding on, so I think I'm feeling much better now after taking it easy all day.

So, this blog post is tiring me out. Time to get some rest. Until later....

9/26/08

Singing for Navy Veterans

USS Bennion (DD-662) was a Fletcher-class destroyer of the United States Navy, named for Captain Mervyn S. Bennion (1887–1941).

Bennion was launched 4 July 1943 by Boston Navy Yard, sponsored by Mrs. M. S. Bennion, Captain Bennion's widow; and commissioned 14 December 1943, Commander J. W. Cooper in command.
Bennion departed Philadelphia, Pa. 3 March 1944 escorting Bataan (CVL-29) to the Pacific. Arriving at Pearl Harbor 22 March, she trained and patrolled in Hawaiian waters until 29 May 1944. Moving westward she served as a fighter director and radar picket ship during
the Saipan seizure (15 June–24 July 1944);
Tinian occupation (24 July–2 August),
Palaus occupation (2–29 September);
Leyte invasion (18 October–18 November) during which she was slightly damaged by a shore battery;
Mindoro landings (13–17 December);
Lingayen Gulf landings (7–20 January 1945),
Iwo Jima invasion (18 February–12 March),
Okinawa seizure (26 March–8 June) during which the near miss of a kamikaze suicide plane caused slight damage;
and the 3rd Fleet raids against Japan (18–29 July).
Bennion returned to Puget Sound Navy Yard 27 October 1945 and went out of commission in reserve at Long Beach, Calif., 20 June 1946.

Tonight I had the wonderful opportunity to perform for a group of World War Two Navy Veterans. They made me cry.

Rick Shaffer, who manages the Wallace Inn in Wallace, was going to host the reunion of the USS Bennion at the hotel, and wanted some entertainment for the participants. Rick's father was one of the men who served on the USS Bennion.

So those of us who performed in the August show this past summer decided to come together again and perform our Kelly's Alley Review for the evening. What a delightful time it was.

I do confess, I wasn't that thrilled Friday afternoon to do it. It had been a very long week, and I had been working with 8th graders all day, and I was very tired.

But, by the time we got to the hotel, and had rehearsed a bit before things got started, I was getting excited to perform the show again.

The reunion included men who had served on the USS Bennion, as well as family members. There was probably around 30 in the room.

All summer long we would end the review with a patriotic medley, and the last song we sang was "God Bless The USA". PKR would always invite the veterans in the audience to stand so we could honor them as we sang through the chorus one more time. I never lost it once all summer. I came close, but was always able to keep it together.

But there was something about being in a room with about 15 World War II Navy veterans who stood during the final number, as family members were crying and hugging their fathers and I was singing that last verse with quivering lips and tears coming from my eyes.

Boy, that is a good feeling. It makes all you do feel like it was for a purpose, to honor these gentlemen who risked their lives for our country.

9/24/08

Bonus Trip to Boise

Last Wednesday evening I flew to Boise to attend my fall Gear Up training I am required to do for my job.

My friend AK picked me up at the airport, and we had a nice visit after she dropped me off at my hotel.

Thursday morning Gear Up Site Coordinators from around the state descended upon Northwest Nazarene University in Nampa for a morning of "Challenge Course" exercises. What a great way to begin our training. We were out in the beautiful, (sometimes way too hot) sun, and learned about one another, learned to work together as a team, and learned to think outside the box. It was really great.

I gave a couple of presentations about some of the sessions I attended at our national conference in DC last summer, and another program we do with our students called Dependable Strengths. Everyone did a wonderful job of presenting great information.

The next day we spend at Boise State University having more meetings, and getting a tour of the campus. It is a really great college, but I found it interesting that, as other coordinators shopped in the BSU Bookstore for shirts and sweatshirts for family members, I could not buy anything that was blue and orange with a bronco placed on it. Sorry, but I guess my U of I Vandal roots go stronger than I thought.

As a sidenote, The Princess was talking about what school she would eventually tranfer to after she was done at NIC, and she likes Boise, since that is where she lived until she was 10, and said she was considering BSU. I jokingly told her that would be just fine, as long as she knew she would pay for it herself!! (Okay, maybe I wasn't joking after all!!)

Then came the bonus part of the trip. I decided to stay in Boise through Sunday and spend some time with friends.

My sister-in-law Laurie picked me up after our day at BSU, and we went to eat, then were joined by my wonderful friend Nita Jo. (You can find out more about Laurie here, and you can find Nita Jo's beautiful writings on her blog here.)

Laurie shared with me some of her writings, and we talked about them, and then watched Season One of "Slings and Arrows". Well, we got through 3 episodes Friday night, and finished the rest on Saturday morning. What a wonderful program. More topics were discussed, and it came to an end all too soon.

That evening, I went out with my friend ML for dinner, then we were joined later by AK. We had dessert and got caught up on life, and the interesting places in our lives. ML had my favorite quote of the weekend:

"You know, I thought life would get easier once my kids graduated from high school and were on their own, but that is when it started getting hard."

AK is experiencing "empty nest syndrome" for the first time, with all three kids now out of the house. Her daughter still lives in Boise, while her two sons have headed off to college this fall, one in Oregon and one at University of Idaho. So, you can only imagine how hard of an adjustment that has been.

ML, AK and myself are all the same age. In 1993, the year we all turned 30 years old, we decided to start taking each other out for our birthdays, and do a little shopping along the way. I kind of messed things up by moving up to Kellogg 8 years ago, but we still can get together and share our lives, and pray for one another, and lean on one another when needed.

On Sunday morning I attended church at Meridian Gospel Tabernacle where we attended when we lived down there. I briefly saw more family, old friends, and our former pastors who are now pastors at this church. It was a really great service, and a special time.

The only downfall of the whole weekend was the cold that progressively got worse while I was there. PKR and The Princess picked me up at the airport and we stopped at the store to get some supplies for The Princess, a I bought some Zicam nasal spray gel after having it highly recommended to me my one of the other site coordinators. I must admit, it did wonders stopping my congestion.

But the cold bug has taken its toll on this household. PKR used some Zicam swabs to stop his cold, and I think it is working. Z2 is still suffering. The Princess has been hit the worse. Our phone rang at 5 a.m. this morning with a tearful daughter on the phone who hadn't slept all night, was stuffed up, and her ears were aching, and she was miserable. PKR and I prayed with her, told her we would see what we could do, and called her back to let her know Dad was on the way to get her. I think a day at home will get her rested up and over her cold faster than alone in her dorm room. In fact, I think she was out the moment she hit the pillow. Ah...the adjustments of the college freshman.

As I reflect upon my time in Boise, I marvel at the incredible women I have in my life. The majority of site coordinators (all but one actually) are women, and I was able to renew old friendships with many, and make new friendships with new coordinators, and gain valuable information from many to help me serve the students better at my job.

Then my friends I spent time with over the weekend was such a blessing. There were things I needed to voice my opinion on and get out, there were other times I needed to just sit and listen. But I came away renewed.

One more kind of fun note from the trip. As the plane landing, and we were getting ready to get off the plane in Spokane, the woman in front of me said something about living in Pine Creek (an area here in the Silver Valley). I kept looking at her, and realized I had been sitting behind one of my very good friends who I had worked with at the newspaper, and have know for years. We got a big laugh out of that one. Then, as I stood up and look behind me, PKR's cousins were sitting in the seats behind me. So I exclaimed, "Well, I guess I know the people sitting behind me as well."

PKR had two cousins on both sides of his family who married one another. One is a first cousin on his mom's side, and one is something like a fifth cousin on his dad's side. They live in Boise, and were traveling to watch their daughter play in a golf match in Missoula. She is on the University of Montana golf team. So it was nice seeing them for a moment, and PKR enjoyed saying hello to them in the airport.

Well, my Bonus Trip To Boise was very enjoyable. And being with people you love and care about is what life is all about.

The Beauty of Central Idaho in the Fall

Our latest sibling assignment posed to us by Inland Empire Girl is this:

As autumn approaches think of a perfect fall day you have experienced. Using words and pictures recapture that day.

For this assignment, I'm going to focus on, not only a day, but a perfect fall three day trip PKR and I took about 10 years ago.

I think it was one of those times where life was getting a bit overwhelming, and we decided it was time to get away by ourselves for a few days. It was in October, I believe, and we had relatives who could take care of the girls, so we headed toward unchartered territory...central Idaho.

The first night, on Thursday, we drove to Gooding, Idaho, a small town about 1 1/2 hours from Meridian. You take Interstate 84 east to Bliss, then go east on US26/US30 to Gooding. We stayed in a little home owned motel, and it was delightful.

Our theme for the trip was, "let's go wherever the road takes us". We made not plans, no reservations, no anything. If something looked interesting, we explored it.

Waking up Friday morning, we started on our journey. One sign we saw said "Little City of Rocks" so we turned down the road and visited an area with strange rock formations.

Another road we went down provided us with an up close and personal view of a family of bighorn sheep.

We eventually ended up in Challis, Idaho for the night. There was one important thing I remembered about Challis, Idaho. Challis got a bit of a shake up on October 28, 1983 when the Challis area was the epicenter for a 7.3 magnitude earthquake, which raised Mt. Borah 7 feet higher. I was a student at the University of Idaho at the time, and I still remember being in bed on the top bunk on the sleeping porch at the Tri-Delt house, and one of my sorority sisters, who was from California and familiar with these things, comes running onto the porch yelling, "It's an earthquake, everyone get out!!"

I remember when it began, I was half dreaming, thinking there were people outside the sorority building trying to move it back and forth.

PKR, who was across campus in Upham Hall, one of the men's dorms, slept through all the excitement. With his bed moving back and forth, and banging up against the wall, he just thought someone was knocking on his door. It was too early to get up, so he just put the pillow over his head, and fell back to sleep.

So, now we were in a motel room in Challis. As I recall, it was a bit of a dive, and it seemed like there were big cracks in the walls, almost as if they were cracked during the earthquake, but never quite repaired correctly.

When we left Challis, we traveled to Mt. Borah, and saw for ourselves how the highest peak in Idaho actually gained 7 more feet because of the earthquake. It was very interesting.

Our last night was spent in Salmon, Idaho. What a beautiful town in the middle of nowhere. I remember we traveled along the north fork of the Salmon River to Shoup. As I recall we picked up some kid who had been fishing and needed a ride back to town.

I also remember driving through Mackay. I always wondered about this town, because my friend TM worked there one summer for the CCC. We also visited some old mining areas around Salmon, and enjoyed beautiful weather, fall foilage, and a relaxing time.

I remember one of the other fun things we did on that trip was go to the Boise Coop, a grocery store in Boise that had fabulous wine and cheese, and we purchased many different kinds of cheeses to eat on our trip, and some wonderful bread.

One particular type of cheese we purchased was called Manchego. We actually bought two kinds; one was about 3 years old, and the other kind was 25 years old. Manchego is a sheep's milk cheese made in the La Mancha region of Spain.

I know I have pictures from this trip, and, if I can find them, I will add them to this post.

On the drive home, we traveled up through the Sawtooth Mountains, through Stanley, to Lowman, and into Garden Valley, then on toward Meridian. I remember stopping at the natural hot springs along the river, and enjoying a dip. We decided not to stop at the same hot springs where the naked men were enjoying their dip in the water. I remember on the road around Lowman there were signs telling the story of a forest fire that went through there. It was fascinating reading about the fire.

This trip was a definate highlight in my life. It was so enjoyable traveling alone with PKR, having no plans or agenda, and enjoying the beauty of Idaho during my favorite time of the year, fall.

I'll keep look for those pictures, and hopefully add some soon.

9/23/08

Absurdities of War

What is absurd and monstrous about war is that men who have no personal quarrel should be trained to murder one another in cold blood. ~Aldous Huxley

I didn't really set out to make it World War I weekend, but that is what it turned out to be.

I had been reading a book called "Passchendaele", a book based on a screenplay written by Paul Gross about a battle during World War I.

The germination of the story came from a tale Gross heard his grandfather tell him on a fishing trip when he was 14 years old. His grandfather told him about being in Belgium and fighting in World War I for Canada, and taking his bayonet and stabbing a young German soldier. The image haunted his grandfather his whole life. And the story changed Gross' life.

This book, and eventually the movie, that opens up next month in Canada, shared about the battle of Paschendaele, and the conditions the men fought in while in this battle. They lived in a muddy, cratered landscape, where the soil and water were filled with dead, bloated bodies, and chemicals from the gas warfare the German's used. It was amazing men survived in such conditions.

I vividly remember learning about World War II in high school, but don't remember being taught about World War I. My latest rememberance of learning a bit about the effects of this war was reading Madeliene L'Engle's memoirs, and she wrote about her father who had respirtory difficulties because of being gassed in the war.

The movie I watched was called "Gallipoli". This was a story based on a battle the Australian army fought against the Turks. The ending battle scene shows the men basically leaving their trenches with no possible way of surviving. They knew they were going to die. And it was because of an error made by the commanding officers who were not even in the vicinity. It was such a sad story.

I remember one of the things that struck me when I visited Washington D.C. for the first time, and visiting all the memorials was the feeling that war was absurd. And as you read the quotes from the American Revolution, to the War of 1812, to the Civil War, World War I, World War II, the Korean War and Vietnam, see the memorials dedicated to many of these conflicts, it seems like we just don't learn from history.

I love my country. I am proud of the men and women who make the choice to defend our country. But I often wonder if the price it too high?

To me, the Korean War Memorial is the most hauntingly beautiful memorial that I saw. As you look at the faces on the men portrayed in the statues, you see their pain, and struggles. And the quote that is next to the memorial is so true..."Freedom Is Not Free".

I pray for the men and women at war. I pray for their families. I pray for peace.

9/16/08

Sting--Sing To Me a Lullaby

I love hearing Sting sing this song. It is just like a lullaby.

I was searching for a song on ITunes tonight, and came across "Fields of Gold". So beautiful. Enjoy.

9/14/08

Book Binge

"Books can speak to us like God, like men, or like the noise of the city.... They speak to us like God when they bring us light and peace and fill us with silence...when we desire never to leave them. They speak to us like men when we desire to hear them again. They speak to us like the noise of the city when they hold us captive by a weariness that tells us nothing, gives us no peace, and no support, nothing to remember, and yet will not let us escape." - Thomas Merton (1915 - 1968)

I've been on a bit of a "book binge" lately, and absolutely loving it. I seem to go in cycles with reading, and I am definately on the upswing now in reading books. Here are some books I have read recently:

"The Shack" by William P. Young. A bestselling Christian fiction book that has you take a look at who God, Jesus and the Holy Spirit really can be. Has been scrutinized by some Christian evangelicals because of theological differences, but my response is, it is a book of FICTION, and wasn't written as a theological dissertation. I think it if gets people to think about their relationship with God in a new and different way, then so be it. I highly recommend this book.

"A Year By The Sea: Thoughts of an Unfinished Woman" by Joan Anderson. This tells the story of a woman who goes and lives by the sea at Cape Code for a year, and learns about herself. Her time alone not only strengthened herself, but strengthened her marriage as well. A wonderful book about learning to take time for yourself, and learning to take risks.

"Tuesdays With Morrie: An Old Man, a Young Man, and Life's Greatest Lesson " by Mitch Albom. This is one of those books I have wanted to read for years, because I wanted to watch the movie they made based on the book. But I refused to watch the movie until I read the book. What a delightful book showing a wonderful perspective on life. Someday I'll have to do a blog post on some of the things Morrie shared with Mitch. A book everyone should take time to read.

"Shoofly Pie" (Bugman Series #1) by Tim Downs. I heard Tim Downs interviewed on a Christian radio program this summer, and he was talking about these books he had written, where the main character was a forensic entomologist. The main character, Dr. Nick Polchack, studies bugs on corpses to find out about their death. It was a pretty good read. A little predictable, but a fun read. The forensic entomology part was very interesting to learn about, and he goes into pretty good detail about those proceedures throughout the book.

My personal reading patterns tend to go in cycles, and I'm glad I am on the upswing these days. I can't wait to dive into the next book, based on a the screenplay of a Canadian film opening next month called "Passchendaele". To find out more about the upcoming movie, go here.

And I'm still making my way through all the used books I purchased this summer.

So many books...so little time

9/11/08

Cool Things We've Taught Our Kids

While having conversations with my daughters over the summer, I enjoy discovering things they have learned along the way that PKR and I haven't intentionally sat down and wanted to teach them, but they have learned anyway. Here are a few of those discoveries.

* The Princess shared with the girls in her cabin at church camp that the people she knew that were the most in love were her parents. She said she had never seen us fight, either. Then she a bit taken back when her counselor said that we probably fight behind closed doors. I hate to break it to the counselor, but no, we don't fight, behind closed doors or otherwise. Sure, we disagree, and I can give the silent treatment for a while, but we really don't have fights.

* Z2's friends are amazed at some of the cultural things she knows. They couldn't believe she knew the words to the song "Consider Yourself" from the musical "Oliver". Or that she loves to listen to and watch musicals, for that matter. I was also proud that she was one of the only people in her choir class of over 50 kids who knew what the term "give me some skin" meant.

* Today, Kiki Aru's Language Arts teachers was telling me how much she enjoyed having Kiki in class, and how she is understanding some of the more subtle things from the text of "Tom Sawyer". Of my three girls, Kiki is the one who reads the least, and I told her she needs to start reading some good books. I'm so glad they are reading "Tom Sawyer", and that she is enjoying the book.

Loving parents, musical lyrics and literature...to some it may seem trivial, but I think it is pretty cool.

But then, we have three pretty cool daughters.

9/10/08

Delicious Autumn!

Delicious autumn! My very soul is wedded to it, and if I were a bird I would fly about the earth seeking the successive autumns.
~George Eliot

Autumn is soon officially upon us..my favorite season of the year. We have had some beautiful fall days, and I look forward to many more.

The school year has started off quite well this year. Everyone is busy going many different directions, but what is new?

Kiki Aru just turned 13 last Friday, and is now officially a teenager. She had a fun birthday party on Saturday with about 15 friends. It is now official. We now have three teenage daughters. I'm actually rather enjoying it. Kiki tried out for the volleyball team, a new experience for her. She was excited to be chosen for the "A" team. I look forward to attending volleyball matches and watching her in a new sport.

Z2 started high school, and is now a freshman at Kellogg High School. She seems to be fitting into things quite nicely at KHS. She is running Cross Country this fall, which is an adjustment. In middle school they run 1.5 miles, and in high school, they run 3.1 miles, so it takes some getting used to. But she is doing well. Lots of sore leg muscles, though. She is also busy with pep band, and will start marching band soon, as well as singing in choir, and taking drama. Even though Z2 is an introvert, she sure enjoys performing (not unlike her father).

The Princess is really enjoying NIC and is making new friends and enjoying her classes. She tried out for a play. She didn't get a part, but thought is was a really fun and positive experience, and received very positive feedback from the director, which made her feel good. I'm also adjusting to not having her here, and am very excited she is enjoying her new college life.

PKR's drama program at KHS had grown like crazy this year. Last year he had one section with about 30 kids. This year, he has two sections, with about 55 drama kids. He just had tryouts for his fall production, and will also be performing in "Godspell" at the Sixth Street Theater. Yes, he realizes he is nuts, but such is the crazy life of the introverted thespian.

I am still at Kellogg Middle School with the Gear Up program, and am also at KHS with my program as well. I'm also in "Godspell". We started rehearsals this week, and I can't wait to put this production on the stage. This is the first musical I saw on the stage, when I was in junior high. Raymond Pert's first wife took me to a production of it at Whitworth College in Spokane, and I have loved it ever since. I have had the soundtrack since junior high, and know every song on the album by heart. (This is sure coming in handy as we learn the music!!)

PKR and I have always been involved on the worship team at our church. But, because of some changes at church, we are now the worship leaders. Actually, the whole family is involved. PKR does lead vocals, and hopes to get back on the drums occasionally. The Princess does vocals when she is home on the weekends. Z2 plays keyboard and vocals. Kiki Aru does keyboard, drums and vocals. And I do vocals and occasionally pull out my flute to play. What a blessing as a family to have us all helping our church worship the Lord.

That is the news from the homefront here in the Silver Valley. Even though computer problems continue to persist at our house, I hope to be a bit more consistent with my blog posts.

9/1/08

The Relevance of the Essay

Inland Empire Girls has been keeping us on track this summer with our sibling assignments. This week she posed this assignment:

"As we near the start of the school year here is the assignment. Write about a school experience that was significant to your school life. Describe the experience and why it was significant."

Entering college was a wakeup call when it came to learning to write compositions. I remember entering English 103 at the University of Idaho and finding out exactly what the term essay meant, and what my teacher's expectations were in writing an essay.

Unfortunately, what I was taught in high school didn't resemble this form of writing. English 103 at the University of Idaho focused a lot on learning how to write an introductory paragraph and learning the form and basics of essay writing.

I passed English 103, and entered English 104. This class provided me one of those "Ah-ha" moments as a student.

I don't remember the teaching assistant's name that taught the class, but I do remember the day he brought in the Rolling Stones Magazine. He was kind of a hippie looking guy, and it didn't surprise me that he would bring in this magazine to share with the students in class.

But, what he did next was share some writing from the magazine, and, in doing so, he gave us a really good example of what essay writing was all about.

I was blown away.

I'm not sure it was ever explained to me in any of my English classes that essay writing was a type of writing, and that there were people who actually wrote essays on purpose.

This is the definition of an essay: a short literary composition on a particular theme or subject, usually in prose and generally analytic, speculative, or interpretative.

Essay writing had a purpose. It was not a writing exercise students were forced to repeat over and over again with much repetition. People actually wrote essays and earned money for doing this writing feat.

I wish I could go back and find this TA and thank him for this revelation. I would like to thank him for the wisdom he showed to this group of freshmen writers who needed to give their writing a bit of purpose, a bit of relevance.

I can even recommend a couple books if you would like to explore the genre of essay writing. Two of my favorites are "Having Everything Right: Essays of Place" by Kim Stafford, a collection of essays which revolves around the history, folklore, and physical beauty of the Pacific Northwest. Kim Stafford writes poetic and evocative prose as he reflects on such subjects as Indian place names, bears, and local eccentrics. (As described on amazon.com)

Another recommendation is Barbara Kingsolver's book of essays titled "High Tide in Tucson"."

Displaying a diverse background and multiple interests, Kingsolver has written about subjects as varied as the biological clock of hermit crabs, tourist wanderings in Benin, and visiting an obsolete Titan missile site. The recurring themes here are the wonder and excitement of parenting; the respect for all creatures, religions, and points of view; and the importance of the natural world in our lives. She weaves these themes throughout her essays and presents readers with a vision of beliefs too often undervalued in our modern world. The author, a skilled observer of both people and nature, claims "to want to know and to write, about the places where disparate points of view rub together?the spaces between." These essays are her attempts to open the doors for her readers to see into those spaces.

Penny Stevens, Fairfax County Public Library, VA

If you have never read really good essays, because you still remember having to write those essays back in school, I encourage you to try either of these essayists books, or search for some of your own.

Then you, like myself, will realize that essays do have a purpose, and are very relevent.

To read more on this sibling post, here is Inland Empire Girl's post about becoming a poet, here, and Raymond Pert's post will one day be here.

8/31/08

Spokane Memories Surface on Sibling Day

Traveling to Spokane with my siblings always brings to mind memories of the many times we spent at Grandma Woolum's house when we were growing up in the Silver Valley. Grandma lived in Spokane, and we visited her home quite often, and I was very fortunate to have such a sweet and loving grandma who lived so close.

On Friday, Raymond Pert, Inland Empire Girl and myself got together in Spokane to spend the day together.

The Silver Valley Siblings on Easter Sunday in the early 1960's in their Silver Valley home.

And here we are today.

Part of our Spokane adventure included driving down Bridgeport, the street Grandma lived on when we were growing up. The area grandma lived has gone through some changes, and for a while was pretty run down. But it was nice to see a nice picket fence in front of her old house, and a swing on the porch. It looks like the residents are giving the house some TLC.

Here we are at Grandma's house in Spokane.

Here I am, Silver Valley Girl, posing with a peony in Grandma's backyard.

I kind of look like a flower stem in the groovy green outfit.

Here is Grandma Woolum with her three children on the porch at the house on Bridgeport. Pictured are Aunt Ruth, Grandma, Uncle Harry and Dad.

Uncle Harry is the only one still with us.And here they are all, one of the last times all four of them were together. I miss them all.

We took a trip to Fairmont, the cemetery where Grandma is buried. It is a beautiful place.

Here is her marker. I can't believe she has been gone for almost 17 years.

The marker next to Grandma's is my Great Aunt Esta and Great Uncle Tom.

Esta and Grandma were sisters.

Here is a picture of Aunt Esta, Grandma and Aunt Ethel in Grandma's backyard in Spokane. Esta and Ethel were twins. Esta also lived in Spokane, and Ethel lived in Salem, Oregon.

Here is the marker for the controversial plot next to Grandma's.

But that is another story for another time.Inland Empire Girl knew right where to find Grandma's plot because it is right by this beautiful praying hands monument. What a comforting message to watch over Grandma.

Here is the view over the hillside behind where Grandma is buried. It is very beautiful. Spokane is a beautiful city.

Here is another beautiful view of the Spokane area, high atop the Greenbluff area northeast of Spokane. This is an area where you can visit various farms and stands and buy from their bountiful harvest.We arrived at the beginning of the Peach Festival, and I just couldn't resist bringing home a box of Flaming Fury peaches I purchased from Harvest House. Yum! Yum!

I also picked up a unique squash called Lebanese squash sold here at the Strawberry Hills Farm, as well as some garlic.It is a real blessing to have two such wonderful siblings to go away with for a day and simply enjoy each other's company, get to know one another better, and discuss current events, blogging news, recall Spokane memories, and laugh with one another.

Our brothers and sisters are there with us from the dawn of our personal stories to the inevitable dusk.

~Susan Scarf Merrell

8/25/08

The Princess Begins College

Yesterday the family moved The Princess into her dorm room at North Idaho College, about 40 miles away in Coeur d'Alene. With the anticipation of this event, I posed this sibling assignment:

Here she is, opening the door to her dorm room.

"Since The Princess will be moving into her dorm room at NIC on Sunday, August 24th, let's post some advice, memories, information that could help her as she begins her first semester of college."

You will find Inland Empire Girl's top ten list here and Raymond Pert's advice on flipping things around here.

Princess, here are some random thoughts and advice from your mother. I hope they help!!

Mom is feeling mixed emotions...is she sad...excited....oh, I think a bit of both!!

Don’t wait for the action to come to you…you need to plan fun things and invite people to come with you.

Balance things. Meet people, have fun. But remember why you are there…to study and learn.

Try new experiences.

Here is The Princess eating her first meal in her room.

Don’t ever not ask a question because you think it will make you look stupid. So what? There are probably other people who want to know the same answer.

There is more to life than watching “Buffy the Vampire Slayer” on your computer.

Her sisters are going to miss her....goodbye Princess!!!

Be organized and plan ahead a bit. Then you won’t be frantic because you can’t find something, and you will be on time for things.

Figure out ways to do things for others…everyone is a little nervous…how can you help encourage others to make their time a little easier?

Take advantage of tutoring. It really can help you.

Don’t do assignments the night before or the last minute. Take your time to do it right.

Don’t sell yourself short. You know what your strengths are, and you’ll probably discover even more. You can do more than you can imagine or think.

Okay, I'm moved in...now what do I do?

Attend classes. You can always nap later.

Read your Bible every day. God’s word will strengthen you. And it will give you the wisdom you need to help others.

Open and up and let people get to know you. You are a beautiful person, and you have a lot to share and a lot of ways to help others.

It is okay to make mistakes. It doesn’t make you a failure. It is how you handle the mistakes that shows your true character.

Yikes, am I really ready to start classes tomorrow?

Take advantage of being at a college, and a town with a beautiful beach, good restaurants, and shopping.

Don’t stay in your room. Go to the SUB. Go to the beach. Get out and experience life!!

Start a journal. Write about your triumphs and tragedies. It is fun to look back on your experiences during college and see how you have grown.

Take risks.

Eat three meals a day!!

Goodbye Daddy....your Princess is going to be all right....I THINK!!!

Know that, no matter what happens, we love you.

8/18/08

CDA Bookshelves and Mamma Mia! Get Thumbs Up

IEG and I spend a sister day together. We drove to Coeur d'Alene and had Mexican Mochas and Blueberry Lemon scones at Calypso Coffee. Then we shopped in Coeur d'Alene at local thrift and used books stores for books. What a better way to spend a morning than thumbing through shelves and shelves of books. And I found some great finds...some for pleasure, some for book research, and some are books I have read but I don't have in my own collection.

Here is a rundown on my book purchases:

Two dog books, one on Keeshonds and one on Pomeranians.

"The Complete Book of Herbal Teas" a book on growing, harvesting and brewing herbal teas by Marietta Marshall Marcin.

Three books I found for research for my book:

"Roses of the West" and "Soiled Doves: Prostitution In The Early West" both by Anne Seagraves, and "The Writer's Guide To Everyday Life in the 1800's" by Marc McCutcheon.

Five books I have wanted to read, but never have:

"tuesdays wth Morrie" by Mitch Albom, "The Poisonwood Bible" by Barbara Kingsolver, "Cold Mountain" by Charles Frazier, "Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood" by Rebecca Wells, and "Heartburn" by Nora Ephron.

A book IEG recommended that I had never heard of:

"A Year by the Sea: Thoughts of an Unfinished Woman" by Joan Anderson.

A book that just looked interesting:

"The Clothes They Stood Up In and The Lady in the Van" by Alan Bennett.

And my top four finds include:

"Les Miserable" by Victor Hugo. My youngest daughter is named after the character Cosette. It is one of the best books I have ever read.

"Gift from the Sea" by Anne Morrow Lindbergh. This is a classic that should be in everyone's library.

"Dream West" by David Nevin, the book that made me fall in love with historical fiction. I read this 20 years ago and I loved how it brought the story of John Charles Fremont alive to me.

"Seasons of My Heart" by Barbara Peretti. This is a special book because it was written by my friend Barbara, and illustrated by another friend, Carrie Parks. This book is out of print, so it was a great find.

We then ate lunch at Sunshine Traders and recovered from book shopping overload. I enjoyed The Hobbit sandwich, with some yummy Market Spice iced tea.

Then off to stock up on liquid hand soaps for the year at Bath and Body Works, and a stop at T.J. Maxx. Then we each enjoyed a lemonade drink at Starbucks while we waited to attend the movie.

Mamma Mia! was such a fun movie. I laughed, I cried, I sang along to the songs, and thoroughly enjoyed watching Meryl Streep, Christine Baranski and Julie Walters, three 50ish actresses steal the show playing fun, sexy and desirable women. I loved it!! If you enjoy big musical production numbers and ABBA songs, you should enjoy it too.

After the movie we drove to Post Falls to eat at The White House, a restaurant famous for the Mediterranean cuisine which is very heavy on the garlic...yum, yum. I enjoyed a Gyro and some pasta salad. And Baklava to go!!

It was a great time spending a day with my older sister, making memories.

8/15/08

Wacky Weather Makes For Memorable Trip

Sometime during the summer, Inland Empire Girl gave us this sibling assignment.

Share a memorable family vacation memory that involved all three of us.

In my quest to complete my sibling assignments, mine is below. You can find IEG’s here, and RP’s here.

One of my memories is of a trip IEG, PKR and I took to Eugene on our way to the Oregon Shakespeare Festival in Ashland. This would have been in the summer of 1987 or 1988, I think.

PKR and I were living in Glendive, Montana, but were in Kellogg for the month of July since that was my vacation month.

IEG lived in Kennewick, Washington. RP lived in Eugene. RP had attended the Ashland Festival many times, and we were very interested in attending.

It was toward the end of July, as we traveled from the Tri-Cities area of Washington to Eugene, the temperature was near 100 degrees. IEG’s car had no air conditioning, so it was very unpleasant.

We arrived in Eugene to spend the night at RP’s apartment. I remember walking to a Chinese restaurant, and they had had some problems that day, so no air conditioning, and no ice for the water.

RP’s apartment was very warm that evening as well.

Actually, RP’s part in this trip is very small, unfortunately, because he didn’t go to Ashland with us. I think he had been down earlier in the summer, so IEG, PKR and I got in the car and headed south of Eugene toward Ashland. Temperature reading: 103 degrees. No air conditioning. Vinyl seats.

We had never been in this part of Oregon before, so it was an adventure for us. We stopped and drove through a Safari place to look at animals, but they were a bit lethargic in the heat. I think we did have some ostriches peck at our car window, though.

At one point, we stopped at a rest area to put water on our faces so we wouldn’t pass out from the heat.

For those of you familiar with my sister and I, the fact we did a lot of visiting in the car will not surprise you; and PKR sat in the backseat, not saying a whole lot.

This changed when we arrived in Ashland. It had been a long, hot drive. We were about to pass out. As we approached the town, IEG gave us the option of heading straight for the exit where our motel was, that had a pool, or we could take the first exit and drive through town and see what the town looked like.

At this suggestion, my wonderful husband did have something to say.

“Let’s just go to the motel.”

As he saw it, that was the most logical course to take. Why remain in the hot, sweaty car longer than necessary when we could be in the motel pool in less than 10 minutes. So to the motel we went.

The weather made our trip very interesting. We saw a production of “Macbeth” in the outdoor theater one evening, and bats were flying around the stage, and there was thunder and lightening during the production. That night the lightening set off fires throughout the area, so we woke up to smoke.

As we left Ashland, we decided, again, to be adventurous and drive home via Crater Lake. We thought it would be a beautiful side trip to take to look at the lake.

Well, that didn’t happen. Now, just to refresh your memory, we had been in over 100 degree weather days earlier. Then we experienced thunder and lightening storms, and forest fires. It was the end of July.

When we arrived at Crater Lake, we were unable to see the lake because the visibility was so bad because it was SNOWING so hard. I kid you not.

It was a crazy trip, but very enjoyable. Someday PKR and I hope to return to Ashland to see some plays again.

HEAT

At the beginning of the summer, Raymond Pert gave us the assignment of creating a slide show with the theme HEAT.

Today was a perfect day to go outside and show how the heat has effected my yard and animals.

I hope you stay cool and enjoy....HEAT

8/13/08

Songs I Know from the Top 100 Hits List of 1971

Since I have been very delinquent in my sibling assignment’s this summer, Inland Empire Girl has tried to keep us all on track. Her latest for Sibling Assignment #71 is:

In honor of our 71st post.... use the theme of 71.

I found a list of the top 100 hits from 1971. Below are the ones I know. This is pretty amazing since I turned 8 years old in 1971. My criteria for keeping the songs from the list was looking at the title, and being able to sing a few lines from the song. How many do you remember?

1. Joy To The World, Three Dog Night
2. Maggie May/(Find A) Reason To Believe, Rod Stewart
3. It's Too Late/I Feel The Earth Move, Carole King
4. One Bad Apple, Osmonds
5. How Can You Mend A Broken Heart, Bee Gees
7. Go Away Little Girl, Donny Osmond
8. Take Me Home, Country Roads, John Denver
9. Just My Imagination (Running Away With Me), Temptations
10. Knock Three Times, Pawn
11. Me And Bobby Mcgee, Janis Joplin
16. You've Got A Friend, James Taylor
18. Brown Sugar, Rolling Stones
20. The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down, Joan Baez
21. What's Going On, Marvin Gaye
22. Uncle Albert-Admiral Halsey, Paul McCartney
23. Aint No Sunshine, Bill Withers
25. She's A Lady, Tom Jones
30. Superstar, Carpenters
31. My Sweet Lord/Isn't It A Pity, George Harrison
32. Sweet And Innocent, Donny Osmond
33. Put Your Hand In The Hand, Ocean
35. For All We Know, Carpenters
36. Help Me Make It Through The Night, Sammi Smith
37. Rainy Days And Mondays, Carpenters
38. If You Could Read My Mind, Gordon Lightfoot
39. Gypsy, Tramps And Thieves, Cher
40. Never Can Say Goodbye, Jackson 5
41. Rose Garden, Lynn Anderson
42. Don't Pull Your Love, Hamilton, Joe Frank and Reynolds
43. It Don't Come Easy, Ringo Starr
44. Mr. Bojangles, Nitty Gritty Dirt Band
47. That's The Way I've Always Heard It Should Be, Carly Simon
48. If You Really Love Me, Stevie Wonder
49. Spanish Harlem, Aretha Franklin
50. I Don't Know How To Love Him, Helen Reddy
51. Yo-yo, Osmonds
52. Bridge Over Troubled Water, Aretha Franklin
53. Doesn't Somebody Want To Be Wanted, Partridge Family
55. Proud Mary, Ike and Tina Turner
56. Beginnings/Color My World, Chicago
58. Sweet City Woman, Stampeders
59. Me And You And A Dog Named Boo, Lobo
60. Another Day/Oh Woman, Oh Why, Paul McCartney
61. If, Bread
63. One Toke Over The Line, Brewer and Shipley
66. I Just Want To Celebrate, Rare Earth
72. Love Story (Where Do I Begin), Andy Williams
73. Wild World, Cat Stevens
76. If Not For You, Olivia Newton-John
80. Amazing Grace, Judy Collins
82. Lonely Days, Bee Gees
83. Here Comes That Rainy Day Feeling Again, Fortunes
88. I Woke Up In Love This Morning, Partridge Family
89. Theme From "Shaft", Isaac Hayes
90. If I Were Your Woman, Gladys Knight and The Pips
92. Wedding Song (There Is Love), Paul Stookey
95. Here Comes The Sun, Richie Havens
98. One Less Bell To Answer, Fifth Dimension
99. Riders On The Storm, The Doors
100. It's Impossible, Perry Como

8/6/08

Phantoms of the Melodrama

I realized I hadn't shared about the one thing that has really kept me away from blogging much this summer. It is performing in the Sixth Street Theater's production of "Phantom's of the Melodrama."

We have performed five shows, and have 15 more to go. We perform Wednesday through Saturday evenings at 7:30 p.m., and Sunday afternoons at 2 p.m.

I directed the melodrama, am playing the villian, and perform in the musical review. PKR is also in the melodrama, and he directs the review and also performs in the review.

To reserve you tickets, call locally 752-8871 or toll free 1-877-SIXTHST. Tickets are $10 for students and seniors 55 and older, or $12 for adults.

Our last show is August 24.

I guarantee you will have a wonderful evening of feel good entertainment.

See you on stage!!!

8/5/08

Retreating Away

I am on retreat for a few days. About three or four years ago, I started writing a historical fiction novel about the Silver Valley. I worked a lot on it for a year. Then I got sidetracked by new jobs, family, moving to a new house, and life in general.

This summer I marked some days on the calendar to go away for a few days on retreat to work on my book.

My friends have a little loft above their shop up in the hills of the Silver Valley, and have graciously let me come live here for a few days this week to work on my book.

Today I wrote the first four chapters. My goal is to at least get the story written out, all 14 chapters, so I will have something to work with and revise.

It is fun to become acquainted again with Elizabeth, Joseph and Antonio, the three main characters of my book. I' ve been away from them for far too long.