Oregon - Washington Road Trip

NORTHBOUND

Day 1

The kids and I left Monday the 23rd for Washington; Mick would fly up and meet us at Sea-Tac a week later. Our first stop was just outside of Grants Pass at this little museum, focusing on Oregon's historic Applegate Trail and the trials early settlers faced as they forged an alternative route to the Oregon Trail.

And of course we had to make our favorite stop at Wildlife Safari to see who was out. This is our first visit where both rhinos were up close and personal.

The hippo was fully out. Usually we just see his mouth sticking up out of the water.

I call this Still Life with Hippo Butt.

First ride ever on a camel.

Dane hooks Teddy up with one of his kind.

GREAT WOLF SURPRISE
Day 2

After an overnight in Albany and a stop at my writer pal Ellen's in Portland, I told the kids we were meeting my friend Michelle and two of her kids at Great Wolf Lodge. They'd barely even heard of the place, but I'd heard enough friends report that it was a super fun family outing that I jumped at the chance for a spiffy little staycation.

Here's Dane with Kyle, who reminds me SO much of his dad, Brian, who was one of my good pals through junior high, high school, and college.

Here's Aubrey with Jessica, who's a fun little combination of Michelle and Brian. I'm not sure where all the pictures went that Michelle and I took of ourselves in our bathing suits. We took scads of them, of course.

Days 5-12

A BUNCH OF STUFF THAT HAPPENED,
BUT I COULDN'T FIND MY CAMERA
(which was in the towel and goggle bag)

As soon as we left Great Wolf Lodge, we went to my parents house in Puyallup for two nights, where we played trap ball and watched sports and cartoons on TV.

After that, we went to Mick's parents' home in University Place. I dropped the kids off early and drove to Seattle to see my cousin Dani and my grad school pal Robyn, and spend movie night at my best pal Karen's. The next day, I met up with my college roomies ("The Garden Girls") for an impromptu night at Chara's in Seattle. We couldn't believe all six of us -- Maureen and Shelby from Bellingham, Chara in Seattle, and Michael and Jenny from Olympia) could clear our schedules on the spur of the moment to sit around and catch up for a twelve-hour overnight party.


On Sunday, Karen and I saw the interesting movie Scott Pilgrim vs. The World and then I met up with the kids in University Place.

Aubrey had a raging earache there that night, so I took her in to a clinic in the morning - to discover she had an inner and and outer ear infection. Solution? Antibiotics and ear drops for four days.

And no water.

Which I forgot.

But it's okay, because my girl got to WAKEBOARD when we went out with the Lanes - which never would have happened had I remembered!

Here's Dane with Cole, getting jazzed to try wakeboarding on a choppy but sunny Friday night.

Receiving exceptional coaching from Dad (aka Jeffy).

And encouragement from the Lane kids!

Aubs is ready to give it a go now.

And she's up, too!

Cheryl and Kai huddled up on the boat.
That's Dane behind them.

And Aubrey.
Blue but not blue on blue.

Oh! And somewhere in this week, Karen and I took the kids to an M's game. (And I can't believe I didn't get a shot with Karen in it!)


Am realizing as I post this that I don't have a full family picture and I don't have any pictures of Mick! The next post will have to remedy that - especially because we also spent time in Bellingham with the Camandona-Beans and the Friesens for a big 43rd birthday dinner for Mick, and had a blast.

Wait. Here's one. Mick and Dave after a motorcycle ride. (Mick borrowed our friend Andrew's.) Mick's big huge amazing purchase this decade is going to be his own dirt bike. Coming this Fall.

Yes, those are star pants. 'Nuff said.

Washington and Wakey-Wakey

We'll see you in a week, Pops!

Tomorrow the kids and I head up to Washington for a week of family and friends: Great Wolf Lodge with my friend Michelle and two of her kids, overnights with my parents, overnights with Mick's parents, and a Mariners game with Karen. (Somewhere in there I get an overnight hike with my pal Maureen into the alpine.)

Mick'll fly up to meet us in Seattle on the 31st, where he'll spend his birthday week with us and various good friends. Dinner with some amigos in Bellingham, and, weather-permitting, some wakey-wakey with the Lanes on Lake Sammamish.

Can't wait!

anCay ouYay eepKay aAy ecretSay?

extNay uesdayTay: eatGray olfWay odgeLay ithway ymay idskay.

OoWay OoHay!

*In other news: I ran 27 minutes this morning; I also found out my Flash Fiction short story submission will be judged by September 13th, which means I can forget about it for a while!

Look What Dane's Group Made on Day 2 of his ScienceWorks "Animate It" Camp

A Second-Guesser Gets Philosophical

I keep thinking about the 987-word submission I made to the NYC Midnight Flash Fiction Challenge on Sunday.

I keep thinking of it because that's what writers do: a) they obsess about stuff they've sent out, and b) they second-guess the quality of what they sent out.

That said, I re-read my piece this morning and, honestly, I highly, highly doubt that it sustains itself well enough to be considered a "Comedy."

I also doubt that my one-line synopsis does anything very tantalizing.

This is where I get philosophical, though:

*In order to figure out what works, you have to be willing to do some stuff that doesn't work.

And

*You have to be willing to see what you did get out of the work you completed (or drafted).

In my case, I now have a better sense of some elements of comedy: exaggeration, deception, misunderstanding, contrast... very few of which I successfully used.

I also wrote an entire story (which might belong in another genre!) that I can now revise, polish and possibly submit somewhere. At the rate I'm writing this summer, I wouldn't have had that at all otherwise.

Final lesson?

*Play and Learn.

Enterpreneurs

The kids are into setting up shop on the sidewalk across the street these days. They've got a big beach umbrella over their heads, an old bench from the front yard as their table, and a stool and a high chair for their seats.

Dane's at "Animate It" camp at ScienceWorks today 'til 1, but Aubrey and Kimmi (neighbor) are selling ears of corn and frozen Otter Pops.

Yesterday it was 95 degrees out and all the neighborhood kids were at the table with Dane and Aubrey, knitting scarves to sell with the warm lemonade.

NYC Midnight Flash Fiction Competition

Genre: A comedy.
Location: A dance club.
Object: A motorcycle.

Twenty-one other writers in my group had the same assignment: to write a story 1,000 words or less using the above guidelines.

There were nineteen other groups,about 450 writers total, each group with a different assignment. Genres ranged from Sci-Fi to Political Satire to Romance to Fantasy to Horror, etc. Locations and Objects ranged from a bakery and a ladder, to a well and a baby carriage, to a typing class and an eyedropper, etc.

We all had exactly 48 hours to write and complete our short stories. This was Round Number 1.

Stories will now be judged and given points within their groups. See How It Works for details.

I have no idea how my story will be judged. It's a little scary to claim you're being funny; there's always the chance you'll flop. And as for plot, characterization, and setting: let's just hope I at least showed up for the right assignment!

I can't post my story here, but if it goes live on their website, I'll provide the link. For now, I'll tell you the title and synopsis I submitted:

"Still Wet" - An unpopular local earns a new reputation.

Oh boy...

P.S. In writing this story, I re-discovered the infinite number of ways there are to write a terrible, no-good, lame-o story.

But it's really fun to write for an audience with an assignment and a deadline. And it's going to be exciting to be given feedback from judges, as well as to read all the other entries. Play and learn.

P.P.S. Leave a comment and tell me: What would you have done with my prompt?

Taking the Siskiyou Challenge

OhmygoshOhmygoshOhmygosh!

It's been six years since I ran my last marathon, a couple since I've jogged religiously, but guess who's running an 11K in six weeks???

That's right. Yours truly.

The Siskiyou Challenge is hitting the town and I'm on a team.

In fact, I'm on a team with some of my favorite people. Mick is riding the road race leg, his bro Kai is running the 5 K leg (and sponsoring it through his Endo practice!) and Kai's bro-in-law Garth is paddling the kayak leg. And a new friend, Mike Jack, is riding the mountain bike leg.

Because Kai's Endo practice is sponsoring the team, I think our logo should be ROOT FOR US! (C'mon, tell me you like that in the comment section.)

So far in my first week of training, I've run 10 minutes, 8 minutes + 17 minutes (one day), 12 minutes, and today, drumroll please... 20 minutes.

I've only got about 45 more minutes to tag on to that last time until I'm at 11k.

Obviously, I've got my work cut out for me!

But I'm hopeful. Training for marathons, into week 4 or so I was up to 7 miles. I'll follow that schedule now.

So come September 25, ROOT FOR US!

**
Oh, and root for Farm to Schools. The $ raised here supports local farmers getting their fresh foods to school lunch rooms. Better for everybody.

A Year In Books

For the past fifteen years I've kept a journal of books I've read. Today I just picked it up to see what I've read in the past twelve months. Here's the list:

9/09 The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, Steig Larsson - a gripping, page-turning, brutal but well-written murder mystery suspense novel published posthumously. Two more in the series have been released by this smart Scandinavian novelist. Note: this book is not for everyone, nor is the movie. However, I'll say that the movie is one of those rareties, in the sense that it follows the book amazingly well.

10/09 Three Cups of Tea, Greg Mortenson. This is excellent, inspiring nonfiction. Read it.

10/09 Cannery Row, John Steinbeck. Such good writing, such a good story. Steinbeck was a master.

11/09 The Pilot's Wife, Anita Shreve. Oprah's Book Club stuff. I read it in a day. A page-turner, but not necessarily satiating.

11/09 The Left Hand of Darkness, Ursula LeGuin. Science Fiction. A book club selection. Ursula LeGuin's so prolific and smart. I'm glad I read this, even if I didn't just love it.

11/09 Gods Behaving Badly. Can't even drum up the writer's name. Awful. Couldn't stand it. A book club selection. A story of modern gods living in London. Blah, blah, blah.

12/09 Ada Blackjack: A True Story of Surival in the Arctic, Jennifer Niven. I think I wrote about this on an earlier post. Fascinating story, decent nonfiction writing, brought about plenty of discussion at book club.

1/10 The Yiddish Policemen's Union, Michael Chabon. I love Michael Chabon. Not everyone will agree with me, but: He can do no wrong. He's the master of descriptive writing.

1/10 The Invention of Hugo Cabret, Brian Selznick. Graphic novel for YA or middle grade. This was a wonder-filled book. Loved it.

2/10 Shiloh, Phyllis Reynolds Naylor. Dane's class read this, so I did, too. Lovely story about a boy who saves a dog from an abusive owner. Set in 50's/60's south.

4/10 The Daykeeper's Grimoire, Christy Raedeke. I wrote about this in an earlier post; my friend Christy's debut YA novel. Read it!

5/10 Northanger Abbey, Jane Austen. I can't recall a thing about this. Not even a main character. Wait... Oh. The 16-year-old girl traveling to Bath with chaperones. Meets good boy, pursued by bad boy. Etc. Still not in love with Jane Austen. I'd like to be. Will keep reading her works.

5/10 The Lightning Thief, Rick Riordan. The first in the series of five. Excellent middle grade reading.

5/10 Cheaper By The Dozen, Frank B. Gilbreth. Wrote about this on an earlier post. Didn't do much for me, in the long run, but it's a decent read. Besides, I had to read it for book club AND I was waiting for book 2 in Rick Riordan's series, since Dane and Aubrey and Mick were reading the only copy we own!

6/10 The Sea of Monsters, Rick Riordan. Book 2. Fabulous.

6/10 The Titan's Curse, Rick Riordan. Book 3. Fabulous.

6/10 The Battle of the Labyrinth, Rick Riordan. Book 4. Fabulous.

6/10 The Last Olympian, Rick Riordan. Book 5. Fabulous.

7/10 The Reader, Bernard Schlenk. I've wanted to read this since I saw a poster for the movie, starring Kate Winslet and Ralph Fiennes. Set post-Holocaust, and taking on difficult themes, this book was excellent. I read it in a day. I'd see the movie.

7/10 The Girl Who Played with Fire, Steig Larsson. Book 2 of 3. Brutal, but good writing. And I'll read the third.

7/10 Thirteen Reasons Why, Jay Asher. Young Adult literature. The premise caught my attention. A boy gets a box of cassette tapes after a girl's suicide, and listens to the 13 reasons she killed herself. Great premise, and the teens that read it probably love it. I just thought the girl felt objectified a few too many times. Possible - and even probable - in real life, but the way it was written made me not want to believe she had to see things the way she did. Which, of course, is part of the brilliant premise of it, right? We're supposed to believe suicidal cases -- the signs are there, and the reasons are real to the victim. (Anybody else read this and had thoughts about it???)

So that's all for my year. Twenty-one books. Looks like I read a lot of YA and Middle Grade novels this year. Some book club selections, too (which didn't always move me). Oh, and I read these three books all year long, whenever I felt like it: The Fourth Genre, Writing Life Stories, and The Eleventh Draft, among other essay and short story collections.

Upon reflection, I didn't really seek out good literature in the past twelve months the way I usually do. I think that'll be my goal in the next twelve: Keep something on hand at all times that I really want to sink my teeth into. (Help me out with that? Suggestions welcome.)

MICK
He's not here to put this together, but I'll throw in that Mick read the Lightning Thief series, too, some Michael Chabon, the Girl with the... series, and lots of David Foster Wallace (his new hero -- Mick loved the 3-inch thick novel, Infinite Jest).

DANE AND AUBREY
These two cats LOVE the Lightning Thief series (wait, they call it the Percy Jackson series). Dane's read it four times this summer -- yup, that's about 1500 pages each time, so 6000 pages total. Aubrey's on book 4 of her second reading. These guys can't get enough of Percy Jackson and Greek mythology.

They've also listened to books 1-5 on CD of The Ranger's Apprentice series. We're waiting for the audio CD of book 6, reserved at the library. I think we're hold 2 of 6...

**
Got a good book suggestion for me? Leave me a comment!

Our Lady of the Lake of the Woods

Me and my girl at our new favorite place. She and Dane and I have been there 5x in the last month. When it's too hot in Ashland (95ish) it's perfect at Lake of the Woods (85ish). We went there with my parents on Thursday and floated around on air mattresses and pedaled against some afternoon wind on a sparkly red paddle boat.

Now Dane's in Washington. My parents drove him north to stay with his other grandparents. He called today in the middle of a ping-pong tournament with Grand-dad.

Have fun, Dane-o. Smooches from all of us. xoxoxo

**
What did YOU love about summer as a kid?

Up and at 'em

I have to write this up, because, as most of you know: I don't like to over-book. I like to have lots of interesting things to do and think about, but I don't like every hour of every day to be accounted for. However, last week turned out to be the exciting exception.

Last week went like this:

8-12:30 ScienceWorks Mammal Camp (daily)
*I taught 4-6 year-olds key character traits of mammals with lots of charades, stories, and activities. Dane and Aubrey came along daily as my helpers/students.
*Two of those days, nieces and nephews (Jude and Barrit, Indi) came and gave awesome demonstrations about guinea pigs and rabbits!
*Hence, two of those days, I rewarded them with yummies at Yogurt Hut for a half hour before dropping Aubrey off at...

1 - 4 Gym N Swim at the Y (daily)
*Aubs Gymmed and Swimmed her heart out
*During this time, I planned the next day's class, cleaned the house, made dinner, and walked the dog.
*Two of those days, Aubs followed her already long day with...

4:15-5:30 Hot Shots Gymnastics Class (Tues, Thurs)
*A certain someone can now do kick-overs (back walk-overs)! And lots of 'em. In a row.

5:30 - 11
*On Monday, a pool party with my writing group
*On Tuesday, a Styx concert for Mick and me at Britt Fest / another pool party for the kids with Jennie (until 11pm -- thanks, Jennie!)
*On Wednesday, Big Bad Voo Doo Daddy at Britt Fest with the kids, including lots of swing dancing on the hillside
*On Friday, a party at my friend Davis's 250 acre home in the woods -- with trampoline and band!

So, that was just Monday thru Friday.

Friday night, my cousin's wife Peggy and her two boys, Nic (12) and Zac (9), showed up at midnight to spend the weekend at our house to see Oregon Shakespeare Festival plays (four total!). While Peggy saw "Ruined" at 2 on Saturday (not necessarily kid-appropriate), I took all the kids swimming at the Daniel Meyer pool. Before that, though, we had lunch here -- and our friends Matthew and Bethany Nielson from Dental School stopped by on their way south with their two kids!

Sunday, while Peggy and the boys were seeing Hamlet, we were invited to a BBQ/Pool party with new friends here in Ashland. (Amazing water slide at this one. Sheesh!)

If you've read this carefully, you might notice that the real trooper here is Aubrey -- for at least two of those days, she was up and at 'em from 7am to 11pm, with a lot of activity already in her day.

This week, we're gearing up to have my parents come to town (tonight) for a long weekend. I hope to take them to Lake of the Woods to float around in the hot sun with us, and we're scheduled to do the Hellgate Jet Boat Brunch Tour, to get our stomachs satiated and our bodies soaked!

In the meantime, on Monday Dane and I took eight hours and completely emptied out (and then re-filled) his and Aubrey's room (Aubrey was at her new pal Mia's all day) and I got out this:


And their room went from two tall lofts head-to-head (you can kind of see here how both lofts were tall enough to walk under, if you're under age 9):


To one tall loft and a shorter loft tucked underneath the tall one.

[woops, can't find the camera; will post photo here when I find it]

So cool, we can hardly handle it.

I can't believe it took me 39 years to discover the joy of using a Sawzall.

Britt Fest '10

Back in June, it was The Black Crowes with our friends Marigny and Goody. We sat up on the grassy hill at Britt Fest and listened to a bunch of songs we didn't know (but liked) and "She Talks To Angels," which is always excellent.

Then last week, we headed to hear the group Swell Season with Kai and Dana. Swell Season was outstanding. If you've never seen the movie "Once," go out and rent it. Then, imagine the two of them singing in concert. Marketa in her totally understated, sedate, Czech manner; Glen in his passionate, energetic, urgent, and sometimes even soft, Irish manner, who happens to be one of the most inspired performers I've ever seen. Singing songs like "Leave" and "When Your Mind's Made Up," and even Michelle Shocked's "Fogtown." It was breath-taking.

This week, Mick and I are headed to see the old rock band, Styx, on Wednesday night. And then Thursday night, we're taking the kids with us to see Big Bad Voo Doo Daddy, a swinging singing band that the kids love. They have a big band sound and sing great stuff like "The King of Swing."

In case you don't know, Britt Fest is this amazing, outdoor music venue in Jacksonville, Oregon. There's lawn seating right in front of the band, which costs extra, then there's a slew of seating in rows, and then there's a big grassy hill to spread a blanket and dinner on. There are also food and drink stands open at Britt Fest for the first 2/3 of the show if you want to buy there. But the best thing about Britt is its intimacy if you're in the very front row. Oh, and the gorgeous treed hills surrounding the whole arena. Yeah, it's gorgeous.

Best House Guest Yet

Look who came to town!

Back in June, we were lucky enough to have Mimi, Mick's 94-year-old grandmother, visit us here in Ashland. She flew out from Newark, Delaware, with Mick's parents on their return from a Revolutionary War trip.

When Mimi arrived, she first stayed at Kai and Dana's (as did Mike and Jan), where she spent an afternoon at OSF's production of "Cat on a Hot Tin Roof" with me, and then attended two days of birthday parties with verve and grace. (Indi turned 9; Jude turned 6.)

Everything about Mimi is balanced: she has a tremendous amount of energy and wit; she also can relax and chill without a lot of fuss. Case in point: she let me take this picture of her lounging on the couch one evening, even when I said I hoped to use it on the blog. No problem, she says. I love a woman like that.

After a long weekend at Kai and Dana's, she went with Mick and the kids and me, as well as Mike and Jan, up to Crater Lake for a night in the Crater Lake Lodge. When we got there, IT WAS SNOWING.

After a fancy dinner and a night in the lodge, though, it was gorgeous and clear the next day.

Mick left that morning at 4:45 (yeah, 4:45 AM, folks) so he could head to Bend for a couple days of company training sessions. So Mike and Jan and the kids and Mimi and I drove around a portion of Crater Lake looking for the campground Mimi had taken her boys to fifty years ago (we never found it) and checking out the amazing Crater Lake Naturalist Center. There, they had awesome displays and videos revealing exactly how Crater Lake was formed and just what the chances are of another volcanic eruption in the chain.

From there, we drove to Bend (Redmond, actually) where Mick's company put us up in a condo at a resort. Mike and Mimi drove to see Mt. Bachelor one day (and they saw it from many sides!) while Jan and the kids and I hung out at the resort and swam. (Mick was in class.)

After a couple nights there, we all headed back to Ashland. Mike and Jan and Mimi and Dane drove together and went to the High Desert Museum outside of Bend. Aubrey and Mick and I hit the Newberry Volcanic Monument.




And Mick finally passed the kidney stone he'd been working on the past couple of days.

The next day was Father's Day. Mick and Kai and Mike (and Garth!) took in a Britt Fest concert, featuring Steve Martin's Blue Grass band.

Other than that, we just sat around having fun. We played cards with Mimi (a serious Rite of Passage for a Reynolds kid)...

Lounged on the hammock with the cousins...

Sat in the living room and played pink guitars...

And got a lotta love.

Cowboy Clunkies

Here's what the cowpokes were singing (and it might help to tell you to sing it using only two or three different notes, kind of speak-singing):

In the wild west, there were cowboys who rode on horses.
On the prairie, they roasted hot dogs -- and marshmallows too-oo-oo.
In the wild west, there were cowboys who rode on horses.
On the prairie, the cowboys fought all night -- and all day.
In the wild west, in the wild west, in the wild, wild, wild, wi-i-i-ld west.

French Braids and Our Aunt's Pajamas

Uh-Oh on the July Goal - Another Love Letter

The Nashville Review just kindly rejected "Write in the Attic," a short-short I submitted back in May. Now I have nine other submissions out there, including a few I have to admit may have been forgotten by their recipients, but I'm hoping one of them is accepted to help me meet my monthly publishing goal. (So far, I'm six for six as of June...)

I've still got another week to go to get creative with the July aim. I'll keep you posted.

In other news, I spent the morning uploading 215 photos. I'm looking forward to providing an update or two about Mimi's visit, back yard progress, a writing shed, the M's game, and general summertime bliss.

Sunshine and Science

Liauids, Solids, and Other Messy Materials is going well at ScienceWorks this week. Dane and Aubrey are attending camp with 18 other 7-10 year-olds, doing projects like "Frankenstein's Hand," "Turning Milk Into Stone," and "Watercolor Holding the Brush in Your Mouth," and having loads of messy fun.

They're having a blast, but that didn't stop Dane from skipping Wednesday's class to go with my friend Jennie and her kids for a swim. (You can do that when your mom's the instructor and camp is free!) Dane swam his heart out and caught frogs from a pond with Dominic and Rees. Jennie says there was some serious boy joy there.

The day before, Dane and Aubrey had gone home from camp with their friends Ruby and Chad for a couple hours of swimming. And tonight, Aubrey's pal Sienna is spending the night: so far the girls and Dane have made fortresses for stuffed animals and cross dressed.

Who could ask for anything more from summer?