Sub-blog: Wayfaring Ways

We like to wander and travel. As we explore the areas in and around Spokane and the surrounding areas, we will post our exploits here.

Canadian or American

Jaspenelle
by Jaspenelle
Wed
21
Oct
2009
11:58am
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2 Comments

Autumn Colors
This morning I realized that I have lived in Spokane, WA longer then I have lived anywhere else in my life, over 5 years now. My passport tells me that I am Canadian. I was born there and lived there for about 3 years. My mother and most of her family lives there but beyond loving Nanaimo bars and butter tarts (and really, who doesn’t?) I do not consider myself Canadian.

After my family left Canada we lived in Raleigh, North Carolina until I was 8, Poissy, France until I was 13, Indianapolis, Indiana until I was 14 and Sitges, Spain until I was 18. We always moved in the summer as not to mess with my brother and my school year. We spent most summers visiting my Grandma Mason in Canada we never had much to do with the actual packing, house hunting and moving though. While I don’t regret how much we moved, I always missed loosing all the friends I had struggled to make.

I left home a week or two after I turned 18 and lived in Indianapolis again for about 8 months before moving here to Spokane, WA. I’ve been here since September 11th, 2004, just over 5 years now. I think I have lived here the longest, give or take a couple months. I have most certainly lived in the United States for the largest portion of my life, about 12 years, (I lived in Europe for about 8,) so if anything I am more American then Canadian, even more European than Canadian. I don’t think I could even vote in the Canadian federal elections as I did not live there long enough, certainly not the provincial ones as I do not have a permanent residence in Canada. It doesn’t both me, if anything I considered myself a Washingtonian, which by default makes me an American in all but legal status. I fully intend on getting US citizenship when I am able.

Sometimes people are baffled or downright opposed to me becoming an American but I don’t think they realize how much I have invested in this country. My husband and my son are Americans, my daughter will be and in all likelihood any other children I have will also be. I am deeply proud of the diversity found in the United States and care about the issues of this country more then any other and yet as a permanent resident I do not have a say as I cannot vote. (I can’t vote anywhere, that just isn’t fair!) I cannot even legally sign a petition here.

Anyhow, I just wanted to share my realization more then anything. I remember someone telling me when I moved here I would be bored within a couple years and itch to leave, but after more than twice that time I still have no urge whatsoever to move. I love Spokane, I love the United States, and while I am for the most part grateful for the opportunities I had moving so much as a child, I am beyond happy to have found a place that I love so much to settle in and raise my family.

Blessed Autumn Equinox!

Jaspenelle
by Jaspenelle
Tue
22
Sep
2009
3:43pm
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harvest-festival
I thought that recaping our trip to the Harvest Festival this weekend would be a nice post for today, the Autumn Equinox. If you would like to read more about what this day means to me and how we celebrate it as a family I posted extensively about it last year.Damian

This past Sunday we went out to Beck’s Harvest House in Greenbluff, as is our tradition, to pick apples as well as buy fresh pressed cider and some wine. This year we threw a pumpkin into the mix, for Damian’s benefit. (It is in his blog here.)

Last year Damian was only 3 1/2 months old and slept threw most of the trip. This year he is 15 1/2 months old and is walking, running, pointing and babbling. (They grow up fast don’t they?) He did not sleep a wink for the entire trip, though he rode around in his wagon for most of the time eating apples. Of course he had to pick some too, which proved a little tricker then he initially thought. Yanking them off the tree was no hard, but keeping his balance after the yank was! He face planted into the ground right after this photo was taken:
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Official 2009 Pumpkin Picker

Damian
by Damian
Mon
21
Sep
2009
6:54am
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Picking the Pumpkin #1
This year I was the official pumpkin picker of the family, so while we were at the Harvest Festival I (gleefully) accepted my duty and set about choosing the perfect one that will grace our porch this Samhain.

Picking the Pumpkin #2
Each pumpkin must be careful considered you know. Color, size, rollability and, of course, taste are all very important. I was undecided between two for the longest time but eventually I found one to be slightly easier to tip over then the other.

Picking the Pumpkin #3
I promptly confirmed my choice with Daddy.

Picking the Pumpkin #4
Since, you know, he is big and strong and has the wallet and stuff…

My Pumpkins!
I tried to pick more pumpkins later but they were for “display only” what is the point of that!? I still enjoyed browsing their selection though!

Camping Recap

Jaspenelle
by Jaspenelle
Tue
15
Sep
2009
3:56pm
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sun rays
This weekend we had our second annual trip with friends up to South Skookum Lake. True to form (we will see if this repeats next year!) we had a small hiccup early on[1] that caused our plans to shift somewhat. When we arrived at South Skookum Lake on Friday evening, it should have been closed, it was not. The camp host was still on the grounds and she insisted that we could not camp there. This is not technically true since you can always camp in National Forest campgrounds, whether the road to them is open or not. This is why we camp there, we have the place basically to ourselves and the only cost is having to hike in our stuff. As we spoke to her the truth of why she did not want us there came out, it was her birthday and she had friends in the grounds for a party. At this point we were tired of arguing (and I for one did not want to be kept up all night by some drunken birthday party) so we left. Next year we are going to see about obtaining permission directly from the forest service so that that does not happen again.
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Geocaching

Jaspenelle
by Jaspenelle
Fri
4
Sep
2009
9:20pm
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Upriver Drive Cache
On Wednesday after the we went to the Farmers Market we decided to go geocaching.

For those who are wondering, geocaching is a kind of treasure hunting game. A geocacher hides a cache pretty much anywhere in the world and then shares it’s existence and location online using GPS coordinates. After that anyone with a GPS unit can try to find the geocache.

Most of the caches in the city of Spokane are microcaches (no bigger then a film canister) but the one we looked for on Wednesday was larger. It is shown above. I cannot say exactly where we found it, as not to wreck it for other geocachers, but it was a nice little challenge.
geocaching
And besides that, the area was beautiful. The Upriver cache is right beside the Spokane River. Damian and Michael had fun wandering by the water’s edge too.