OuR LIVES REVOLVE AROUND OUR INTERNET ACCESS, AND OUR PHONE. AN OURS HAS BEEN WORKING VERY SPORADICALLY FOR A WEEK AND A HALF. WE HAVE NO IDEA WHY. IN ANOTHER WEEK WE WILL HAVE A NEW PROVIDER. BUT I FEEL SO LOST AND UNCONNECTED.
IN OTHER NEWS THE ELEMENTARY SCHOOL JOG-A-THON (MY SECOND YEAR BEING IN CHARGE) IS FINALLY OVER!! HALLELUJAH!!! I AM SOOOO TIRED. ALL AROUND IT WAS A TRYING DAY. JUST ANOTHER BUNCH OF TRIGGERS TO REMIND ME HOW MUCH I WISH ELSA WAS STILL HERE. LOTS OF MEMORIES FROM LAST YEAR, WHEN I WAS STARTING TO IMAGINE WHAT IT WOULD BE LIKE TO HAVE A BABY GIRL. IT HAS BEEN A FAITH DAY.
SO, HOPEFULLY I'LL BE BACK SOON POSTING MORE STUFF...MAYBE SO, MAYBE NOT. IT DEPENDS ON HOW MANY OF THESE FAITH DAYS I WANT TO SHARE.
(I CAN'T UNDERSTAND MY IPOD...WHY ALL CAPS?)
Elsa was born today, 9 months ago. Her spirit has been gone from her body longer than it was with us. And I have to say that I'm truly glad that she was here, despite the pain that it has caused. My life is richer. My boys are more precious. The current flutterings in my belly are priceless. The world is more beautiful. And sad. And real. The time I spend everyday pondering life's mysteries and God's mysteries, seeking answers and peace...those times have become priceless...and I am truly grateful for them. Sadness comes and sadness goes. Happiness is here to stay. Elsa's spirit is here to stay.
Let children walk with nature, let them see the beautiful blendings and communion of death and life, their joyous inseparable unity, as taught in woods and meadows, plains and mountains and streams of our blessed star, and they will learn that death is stingless indeed, and as beautiful as life.
JOHN MUIR
The first year we moved to Oregon, we attended the Willamette River Lockfest. We were just starting to explore our new surroundings and we were intrigued by the locks on the river which bring boats safe passage around Willamette Falls. We decided that (since we are absolutely surrounded by rivers) we were going to purchase a canoe and paddle through the locks during lockfest the next year. Well, that was three years ago...and the locks have been closed for the past two years for renovations. So this year they are finally open again! We planned about an 8 mile trip from Willamette Park in West Linn, through the locks, up to the bottom of the falls, and then downriver from there to the Cedaroak boat ramp. It was an amazing trip of a lifetime! We were so glad to reach one of our Oregon goals.
Setting out from our launch point, we see a Great Blue Heron REALLY close:
Beautiful day...perfect weather...taking in the sights on the river
coming up on the top of the waterfall to the right and the locks on the left
Now inside the canal leading up to the locks
When we were paddling past the Great Blue Heron we saw a GREAT BIG canoe and a great big group of people who were also heading for the locks:
It turns out they were a group from the Confederated Tribes of the Grand Ronde Indian Reservation in Oregon (which is basically where they sent most of the tribes to West of the Cascade Range). And they were riding in a replica canoe that they hand crafted on the Res! Pretty cool. And these falls are some of their original Native fishing grounds! I have a great fondness for Native Peoples...having worked for Indian Heath Services before Joshua came along.
Here we are waiting with the floatilla to get in the locks:
When we first got to the top of the locks, we were told that we would have to wait 2 hours to get through! Thankfully the group of Indians came up right after us and told us to hold tight...apparently they have special privileges here and they were hoping they could get us all in sooner. :-)
Sure enough their group was told that we'd only have to wait 10-15 minutes.
However...that 10-15 minutes ended up REALLY being about 1 to 1 and a half hours.
Oh well...we had fun chilling out, meeting other boaters, talking to the Tribal folk and canoing around the canal.
waiting...
and waiting...
and chilling in the sunshine...
Until...Toby had to take a potty break, so we paddled up the canal to a secluded shore away from the group. Toby went potty...and then...and then we saw that the locks were FINALLY being opened!! And after waiting and waiting, we weren't there!!! AHHHH!!
We hollered for them to PLEASE wait for us, and we paddled like crazy down the canal and...
WE MADE IT!
Inside the first lock:
we sat and watched as the fern on the wall slooowly got higher and higher and the water level dropped.
Then we paddled through...and passed the Willamette Sternwheeler Rose
Then we entered the next lock chamber as the festival goers looked on from above:
They close the gate behind us and the water level drops.
There we are, much lower now...below the festival goers and the bridge.
And here are the Tribal Folk (which by the way, I asked them if it was ok to take pictures and they said yes)...as the water drops lower still...
...and lower still.
and the boys stayed occupied with a pair of binoculars.
and THERE...now the Oregon City to West Linn bridge is visible.
This is, I believe the final lock passage before we are let out into the lower Willamette...
...and this one was the BIGGEST gusher!
Paddling further down the passage:
Self portrait:
I REALLY wanted to hand our camera to another boat to take our picture...but then I imagined our new $$$ camera (which was secured around my neck) slipping away into the depths of the canal. No go.
The very lowest water level...
And we're out into the open river:
And that tugboat/barge to the right there...we were going to have to wait for them to go through before we went...but because of the Tribal People and their priority, the barge waited for us instead. Nice.
Then several of the boaters from our floatilla party paddled our way a mile back to the bottom of the Falls.
And sadly, because of the intensity of the ride...there are not very many pictures where Brent could turn around. He had to keep paddling. I was able to take quick breaks to snap pictures.
We pulled over to the side of the river next to some cliffs where we were able to snap some shots
(and of course the best one turned out blurry! Ug!)
These are some intense falls! This is as close as we dared to get in our small vessel.
Self portraits
After taking a few pictures, Toby did a CRAZY thing...he was jumping for the tops of some rocks, and he jumped right out of the canoe and into the water! Thankfully his life jacket worked and he floated between our canoe and the rocks. I pulled him back in and he was happy that he got to cool off a little. But YUCK! Yeah, a yucky place to go for a swim...but it couldn't be too bad because we saw two sea lions swimming in the current barking at each other just a few feet off from our canoe.
On our way back down the river:
We paddled down stream 4 more miles...
...through some more serene side channels, past some McMansions, maneuvering around a plethora of fishing boats (does anyone actually EAT fish caught in this river??)...
...until we reached our final destination where we had stashed our other car (so we only had to paddle downriver). And since Toby was already wet...we figured, what the heck! And let them play in the water for a little bit.
And then...home for a THOROUGH scrubbing off for all of us!
Lunch and carnival rides, as promised to the boys, afterward.
I finally finished some projects that I've been working on for quite a while...
These are the curtains that I've been concocting for a couple of months...I somewhat follow the tutorial from
this "make it and love it" blog entry.
This is the coffee table that I picked up from a yard sale a couple of years ago. It had glass in the middle, until it got broken when a small wooden horse tipped over...it broke so easily that I thought NO WAY I want glass in that table again...someone (like little bitty Toby) could've gotten really hurt! So it has sat in my living room for an embarrassing amount of time with nothing in the middle...not a very functional table. I painted the table green and had a friend cut the wood for the middle. Then another friend helped me staple that blue fabric to the board, and I put a coat of mod podge over it all. Lovely. I still plan on doing a few more coats of mod podge to get a really finished surface.
The {almost} finished room
And NOW for the backyard (which we've been working on for three years!):
We started with a lot full of weeds and mature trees...
We added some pavers, a patio cover, a walkway, lots of bark...
some fruit trees and berry bushes, some playground equipment (including a nice recycled one)
we're still working on adding more foliage
a quaint path to take a stroll on/jog on/ride a scooter on...
some raised garden beds
...a lovely place to relax in the spring/summer/fall!
Ah! I love backyard time.
AND! I just noticed that my baby count down ticker says that I only have 99 more days until my due date (hopefully less :-). Wow! Less than 100!! I'll be so happy to be holding this baby safely in my arms...
