This weekend Michael and I went on a date (our wonderful friend Andrea watched the kidlets, and survived it too!) While we debated going to a movie, we ended up doing just what we did last date, geocaching. We only managed to get to two caches, mostly because the second was down a road closed for repair, so we hiked in. As the cache was along the Spokane River and in a state park, I have no grounds to complain at all, it was a beautiful walk. We also found a really awesome travel bug in that cache (in the photo.) Someone obviously put some time into putting the little Magellan together, I hope he gets far! He wouldn’t be getting out again till our next date so we are going to pass him off to my brother-in-law this weekend before he goes home (110 miles south of Spokane!)

I admit though, as much as I love geocaching, I have motives beyond the hobby for doing it. It is an opportunity to photograph wildflowers. Too early for wildflowers you say? Certainly not! I found buttercups:

And Draba verna (also called Shadflower or Whitlow Grass.) Just millimeters high, it is quite possibly the smallest wildflower I’ve ever seen. I thought the moss was flowering at first.

Most of all though, I love geocaching because Michael and I can spend uninterrupted time together, and that is not only rare and special, but necessary for maintaining our relationship.

Do you have a hobby that you share with you significant other? Do you geocache?

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.

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.

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:


He might have managed to stay upright if he hadn’t of tried to grab the apple beside it also. Not that tipping over bothered him. He scrabbled back up quite triumphantly holding both apples! We picked galas, valstars, liberties and a few other varieties who’s names I never remember. We filled a bushel for ourselves (30lbs of apples!) and some for Shannon and Rachel too. Peter and Andrea came but they just helped us pick and frolic through the orchard of course. Actually Andrea had my camera for about half the time we were out there so I am not sure who took what photo anymore!

Just because you hide behind the camera my dear doesn’t mean that the camera’s owner (me!) does nab it back a few times to get a photo of you though. You’re beautiful. (Andrea is planning my blessingway for this pregnancy for the record, making her even more dear to my heart!)

This is my favorite photo of the day. Granted, I might be bias but I think these are most handsome guys in the world.

Other then picking apples and Damian’s pumpkin we also had lunch while we were there. A dozen pumpkin donuts, a caramel apple and a cinnamon bun count as lunch right? We thought so. We also browsed the country store and picked up 4 gallons of fresh cider (three of which are in the freezer) and a bottle of wine. Maybe we will still have the wine by Winter Solstice. Assuming Ivy has arrived by then, I’ll even be able to have some! (She better have, her due date is December 2nd!) I think she will be born on November 27th, but that is just me.

This past year has gone so fast, even the festival this year seemed to fly by. Thanks to all our friends who came out with us (and we missed all you who couldn’t make it this year.) This time next year Damian will be over 2 years old and Ivy over 6 months. Whew, that makes me appreciate the three seasons and seven sabbats that will come between now and then!

Anyhow now to go start peeling and slicing a bushel of apples and start on dinner. Blessed Autumn Equinox everyone! (More photos from the day can be found on our flickr page.)

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.

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.

I promptly confirmed my choice with Daddy.

Since, you know, he is big and strong and has the wallet and stuff…

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!

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.

We ended up drove a couple miles up the road to North Skookum Lake, which, while it is private land, also has a campground. The group campsite had been reserved but the party who wanted it had bailed at the last minute so we were able to get it (luck or fate?) and it was quite lovely. We set up camp, lit a fire and Andrea made everyone tomato soup and grilled cheese sandwiches. On the first night we had four groups up there, Michael, Damian and myself; Andrea and Peter; Shannon and Rachelle; and Issac and Mireille. Mireille is Rachelle’s friend and Issac is her older brother (I think he is 12?) They rode up with Shannon and Rachelle.

On Saturday I awoke to squirrels pelting our tent with pine cones and more importantly with the urgent need to pee. Yes I am aware that this is probably too much information (feel free to skip the remainder of the paragraph,) but it might be amusing to anyone else who has been pregnant. You see, I refuse to get up at night while camping to pee, not because I wake and ignore the urge at night, but I seems like a have a switch in my brain that turns off the reminder to pee. At 27 weeks along apparently this switch still works but I had definitely had to waddle/sprint (as only a pregnant woman can) upon waking to the restrooms. I admit I might have envied penguins able to slide downhill quickly on their bellies at that moment, or just wished I had a freshette and a bush (yes, I’ve used one before and yes, they are awesome.)

Bladder relief aside, I was on breakfast duty that morning. My cinnamon pancakes, fruit and gobs of bacon are my camping staples and this day was no exception. The nice thing about having some older kids around is that they can be sent out to collect deadwood for the fire, and smores offerings are more then enough motivation to get even the most reluctant preteen moving. Us adults had our treat too, Andrea always makes mimosas for the +21 crowd (champagne and orange juice in the wilderness, why not?) and in her infinite wonderfulness brought your’s truly sparkling cider so I didn’t feel left out, baby+booze=bad ya know. ♥ Andrea.

I have to admit the photo of me drinking while flipping pancakes may look somewhat incriminating but it is not nearly as bad as this one with Damian trying it. The jury is still out on what Damian thinks of sparkling cider, he loves plain apple cider but I think he was less then impressed by the sparkling aspect in this bottle’s equation.

After breakfast and cleanup, Shannon and the older children went down to the lake (where Rachelle fell in, other then being cold, she was fine though,) Andrea and Peter wandered off to do something exciting (that sounds way dirtier then it actually was,) and Michael, Damian and I went for a little walk around the campground. There were a few RVs and tents scattered throughout but it was pretty empty, one of the joys of camping off season. Damian rode in his wagon most of the way snacking on trail mix and leftover pancakes but ultimately Michael’s shoulders proved to offer a much better vantage point for him. (Notice how Michael’s braid makes Damian look like he has a tail.) No chupacabras^[2] were spotted this year.

One our way back to camp we ran into Mikcos, Michelle and Nathan, another family we know who had expressed interested in joining us this year. It is a small miracle that they found us as there is no phone reception whatsoever in the area so we couldn’t tell them that we were switching of campgrounds. We returned to camp for lunch (oh yes, we also bring brie and wine with us when we go camping too.) Damian took a nap, Nathan went squirrel “hunting”, the children collected more firewood and went down to the lake again for a swim and the rest of us sat around chatting.

After Damian woke, Issac, Mikcos, Damian, Michael and I went geocaching. I love my father-in-law’s definition of geocaching as using “multi-billion dollar military satellites to find ammunition canisters full of children’s toys in the woods.” We found two caches, Mikcos spotted the first and Michael found the second. I stayed back at the van for the second as I was too pooped from wandering through the underbrush by that point to climb up a steep heavily wooded hill. Michael took photos for me though and I enjoyed chilling with Damian in a wildflower field.

We were all starving by the time we got back to camp and chowed down on fried polenta, chicken, roasted corn-on-the-cob and probably a ton of other stuff (there is never even the threat of hunger on our camping trips!) provided by previous leftovers and the lovely Andrea. Mikcos, Michelle and Nathan were only staying for the day so they left after dinner and then so did Shannon and the older children. Rachelle was not feeling too well and Mireille wanted her mommy (something I can totally understand not wanting to deal out in the woods.) We missed them though! That just left us and Peter and Andrea (who I think look adorable together for the record:)

We stayed up late talking, Damian fell asleep on my lap and the fire burned low. Eventually we all went to bed, or so I though…

I had a very strange dream that I saw alien lights outside of my tent and then was abducted by one of them through a bright light in the top of my tent. They took me to the lake to be baptized by a teenager member of the Aaronic priesthood who owned his own planet (which is where the aliens were from.) Luckily some Quakers rescued me by materializing a bridge across the lake though.

Yes. Weirdness.

Telling everyone about it the next morning I found out at one point Peter was wandering around outside with his bright LED headlamp and Michael had a dream the tent was falling over so woke up and shone his flashlight at the top of the tent to make sure everything was kosher. Mix that with our conversations earlier in evening and apparently that equals LDS alien abduction for me.

Anyhow… It was breakfast duty for me again. Rice and gravy! My favorite! And Michael made the cobbler we forgot to do the night before. Since Shannon is gluten-intolerant we bought gluten-free cake mix, which didn’t work nearly as well as the regular stuff. I think we will stick with the traditional way next time and just leave her some fruit on the side.

Breakfast cleanup came after eating and then the worst part of camping by far after that, packing up to go home. I love the Skookum area so much and I swear it gets harder to leave every time.

Oh well, until next year!
(Lots more from Skookum photos can be found here.)

1. Last year was our first time camping at Skookum after Labor Day and we arrived to find the main gate closed. We just hiked in though, hence the discovery that it is wonderful to have a campground to yourself and a friend with a manual water filter pump.

2. The Chupacabra is a cryptid rumored to inhabit parts of the Americas. It’s name aptly translates to “goat sucker” due to it’s reported habit of attacking and drinking the blood of livestock. You can refer to the 2008 Camping Recap if you want to know why the heck I am referring to this creature.

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.

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.

I might have a special place in my heart for Willow Bay because it is the first place I met Michael’s parents, almost 5 years ago now (wow, time flies…) A lot has changed since then but I still love that place. Willow Bay Resort is right on the Spokane River near Nine Mile (and about 45 minutes from our home.) My in-laws have a membership there so that they “camp” in one of the trailers on the grounds, but you can also pitch just tent.

On Friday Michael and I took Damian up there for the first time. Not to camp, but just for a nice dinner picnic with his family. We drove through quite a few rain showers on our way, but it was beautiful for the whole evening once we arrived. My father-in-law, Greg, grilled up steak for dinner and my mother-in-law, Kim, made her wonderful potato salad. Damian had lots of fun hanging out with his cousin Emily and running around like the crazy nature loving maniac he is.

I think it is so important for children to spend time as possible outside. Damian and I hang out in the backyard, go on walks and play in the park several times a week (if not every day.) Damian adores the outdoors, it fills him with more life, smiles and laughter then anything on the tube ever could. It also wears him out more and makes for longer naps, which I love (does that sound horrible?) since they give me time to blog!

So what is my favorite part of Willow Bay? I love it all but if I had to pick one thing, it would be all the colorful birdhouses. There are three of four of them on almost every tree along the main path. It looks like children painted most of them, which always makes me smiles. I think Damian will like projects like that when he is older. This is my favorite grouping of birdhouses (probably because of the sign):

Michael has the next few days at work, so you can probably expect another nature loving post soon as we are going to the annual Pagan Campout at Priest Lake this weekend. I am almost finished a garden update too (everything growing so fast!) but I have to wait for the rain to let up to grab some new photos. Oh and as always you can find more photos from our evening at Willow Bay in our photo gallery.

In one of my Aunt Ruth’s recent blog posts she asked: “Do you enjoy summer picnics, with your family or community? Or am I right in thinking they are becoming a thing of the past?” Which kind of inspired me to write this entry, though I do not get to answering her question until later.

This weekend was very busy for us. After Michael came home from work on Friday, we turned around and left to take Damian to his one year check up. He is doing fantastically well. Dr. Kincaid was amazed by his height, how well he is walking and all those teeth.

I’d like to say I was totally present at the checkup but I was a bit out of it since I had a migraine. I would just like to say that there is a difference between a headache and a migraine. When I say I have a migraine it means that bright light and noise causes pain so intense that I vomit continuously. I have gotten then for as long as I can remember but I know most of my triggers so I can prevent or at least reduce the intensity of most of them. However I cannot avoid them at three times, when I menstruate, when I ovulate and, apparently, when I am in my first trimester of pregnancy. I had them with Damian and now I have them again. I have been getting them one to three times a week (or rather once a week for three days in a row…) I cannot take any medication that would take the edge off since I am pregnant. However, I have discovered relief. Obey the Cravings. If I obey my cravings 80% of the time they go away.

So after the doctor, Michael took me to Panda Express (Chinese fast food place) since I was craving white rice and steamed veggies. You would think I would have eaten rice and veggies on Wednesday when the migraine began to manifest but I guess the cure just seems so ridiculous to me that I always think it won’t work (last time the “cure” was Dick’s hamburger and fries. Mmmm healthy…) Anyhow the migraine was gone before I finished eating, leaving me with just a blissful (and I mean that) headache.

So then we came home, and since I was feeling all renewed, we tossed some stuff in the van, turn around and drove out to Willow Bay for a second dinner of steak and potato salad with Michael’s of the family. (I am going to blog about that separately so I can profess my deep love for getting out of town and pretty bird houses.) But I wanted to answer my Aunt Ruth’s question. I throughly enjoy summer picnics with family, we actually do a potluck on the third Sunday of every month with Michael’s side so that we don’t fall out of touch. I do think those type of events seem to be falling out of favor with my generation though, maybe in favor of the thing we did on Sunday, but I’ll get to that in a moment.

On Saturday we shopped, and then shopped some more and then shopped… We are going to a big three day campout next weekend so we had to pick up everything we needed for that and did our monthly Costco trip. We also stopped at Michael’s work and bought a 14 count case of organic broccoli, a 10lbs box of local organic snap peas and a 25lbs box of rainbow rotini (pasta salad season!)

On Sunday we ended up running out for a few more things and I processed the aforementioned case of broccoli for freezing. (My feet hurt.) And then went to see more “family” since Andrea and Peter invited several of our friends over for dinner. Homemade gnocchis, strawberry rhubarb pie, fruit salad… Yummy! I brought broccoli (surprise!) and carrot salad. Did I mention that there was pie?

So now I want to add on to my answer to my aunt’s question. I think staying connected to family is important, but I also think, as far as my generation is concerned, the term family has grown beyond biological (enough so that there is the newer term out there combining friends and family, “framily”.) I know that I do the things with my “framily” that I would do with family. We go on picnics, meet up several times a month, go on camping trips, have potlucks, share some holidays together… Our closest friends are Aunts and Uncles to Damian rather then just our friends.

I enjoy family and framily gatherings, but I do think the generational family gatherings are falling out of favor these days in favor of “framily” gatherings. I can see why some people have drifted with family gatherings, you can chose your friends but you cannot chose your family. In a lot of ways it is often easier to be who you are and find acceptance among like-minded friends rather then family that might have preconceived notions of you formed during your youth. However, I think we forget that even though families have their own squabbles, that there is a unique kind of love that can only come from those you were surrounded by growing up. There is a whole set of learning experiences stems from interacting with family. We have to understand where we came from to know where we are going. At the end of the day there is room in my life for family and framily and I deeply love and enjoy both.

Yesterday afternoon we had a few flakes of snow. I was outside with Damian during it and I have to say, I do not think he approved. His frown of concern was adorable when a few landed on him. With all the economic turmoil in the country (and world,) people seem to easily forget how much we have to be thankful for and how much beauty surrounds us. I do not know much about economics but I feel that a lot of what is out there is fear mongering. I am not trying to say times are not hard, they are, but I feel this has all been blown out of proportion. People are comparing the current situation to the Great Depression. I think that is an insult to the people who lived through those time. Michael has lost a 28% of his 401K since this “crisis” began, but you know what, we aren’t worried. I am certain that by the time we are near retirement and are ready to shift our earnings to more bonds then stocks the market will have rebounded (perhaps more then once!)

Anyhow, I am not economic expert so my opinions on that aside, I thought I would share some photos of my morning. I hope you see as much beauty in the world around you are I do. (I put one of this morning’s pictures in my photoblog, I hope someone can help me identify those unique seedpods.) I actually don’t know what a lot of these plants are so if you see something you recognize, let me know!

This weekend is the Canadian Thanksgiving, so I wanted to wish a wonderful one to all my relatives and friends up north!

We went to Beck’s Harvest House in Greenbluff yesterday, this is our third year going out there to pick apples and it is always really fun. Our friends Andrea, Peter, Shannon and Rachelle came along (the photos in this post were taken by Andrea.)

Damian stayed in the wrap most of the time, snoozing, but he was awake for a bit and all happiness (except when he wet himself in his carseat… I would be cranky about that too.) We didn’t bring his potty and he was very unwilling to go in his diaper. We are going to have to start bringing it when we take longer outings. Damian loved the red apples, he loves anything red. I am sorting them today for peeling and he keeps grabbing at the reddest ones.

I love that creepy scarecrow picture. I also love the hat of that kid in the pumpkin patch. Orange for the win! Normally we drive up to Mt Spokane after the festival but the road is closed right now. It washed with the spring flooding and they are rebuilding it. That’s okay though, I was pretty tuckered out between carrying Damian and picking apples.

We picked a huge box of Valstars, Jonafrees and… something else (I don’t remember the name but it accounts for about 90% of my apples… They are crunchy and tart, my favorite type for pies and eating.) I also picked up a case of pluots, they are a plum/apricot cross. (They look a lot like something I called dinosaur eggs as a kid.) I am going to dry or freeze most of what we bought and also make some butter (some of which will be turned into fruit leather.) Oh we also got fresh pressed cider (one gallon of which I froze for mulled cider at Samhain) and two bottles of local wine (one cranberry infused one for Winter Solstice.)

Now to go make some apple pie! (Lots more photos from the festival here! I took some video too but I don’t have it on the computer yet.)

Imagine this picture, only in the dark, after a long drive down a rocky dirt road with a six-year-old scared that the bears would get her in the back of the van. That would be us on Friday night, driving to South Skookum Campground. Apparently the ranger I have talked to earlier in the day had been wrong about it being open. It closed on Labor Day, which was the weekend before!

Skookum is one of those wonderful secluded campgrounds, you know, the ones without phone reception? Which is awesome, except when you are stuck out there late at night with no way to tell the people who are coming up the next day that it is closed. However, we are a stubborn resourceful group of Pagans, so with a little bit of exploring by lantern light, we were delighted to find the host site was only 200 yards down the road and that someone had left the outhouse unlocked (double score!)

So we hoofed the basics down there (tents, sleeping bags and diapers,) pitched the tents and settled in for the night. Sal played his Native American flute for a time, a beautiful sound to drift off to sleep with. I did wake up three times during the night. A couple of the times were for Damian’s usual nursing and changing^[1] and once was to the sound of coyotes in the distance and something scamper past my tent (possibly a chupacabra or a baby sasquatch…)

The view coming out of our tents in the morning completely made up for Friday night’s misadventures though:

It even made up for the campground water pump not having it’s handle (I suppose they remove it for the season?) So no potable water other then what we had – not much (whoops!) We intend on buying a manual water filter, maybe a gravity filter, before we camp next; packing water in is way too heavy.

Friday night had gotten down to around 40F so we were bundled up pretty well for a couple of hours, until the sun broke over the trees. I think Damian and Shannon (in the photo to the left) win the most-layers-of-clothing award. Summer baby and So-Cal girl get along well!

Eventually we all were up. Some of us trekked down to the vehicles to retrieve the rest of our supplies and the others got the breakfast fire going. Hashbrowns needed to be rehydrated for catastrophe^[2] which brought around the question of our water supply, if Peter and Andrea didn’t show up with water we would have to drive to Usk to get some. (Luckily they brought a water filter hand pump – Andrea works for Mountain Gear, she is always prepared…)

After breakfast I thought I would trek down to the van to get the few extra things we needed, so I put Damian in the sling and wandered down to the road. It was very peaceful, I grabbed what I needed from the van and headed back. When I was a few yards from the van I saw something in the bushes right beside me so I turned and screamed. Yup, I’ll admit it, I screamed bloody murder. There was a big cat head looking right at me! As soon as the scream escaped my lips, the kitty vanished. I got back in the van for a few while I calmed down. I figured someone would have heard me and come with the bear spray. I waited, and waited, and waited some more. No one came. (They heard me back at camp but thought I was Rachelle, the six-year-old. Great, I sound like a six-year-old.)

Eventually I made it back, all by myself, unmauled. We figured out it was a chupacabra lynx and that is was probably long gone with my shrieking. Damian slept through the whole ordeal of course.

Shortly after the lynx incident Andrea and Peter arrived (with the aforementioned water filter,) we had some pbjs and all went on a hike around the lake.

The trail is an exceptionally beautiful one, full of ferns (I adore ferns!), unusual flowers and mushrooms; as well as tons of birds I could not even begin to identify. There are plenty of places to stop along it and enjoy the view across the lake. The windstorms this Spring did a number on some of the older trees but most of the big ones had been cleared from the path (thankfully since it is hard to duck under a fallen tree with a baby in a sling.) Since Andrea and I love photography we were the stragglers of the group, stopping to take a picture of everything (hopefully I will have some of her photos too eventually.) I had to hurry up at one point though because Damian and I were being sucked dry by mini-winged-chupacabras… I mean mosquitoes. (Yes the chupacabra thing could be seen as an unhealthy obsession odd interest. Dyslexic cryptozoologists untie?)

When we got back to camp we moved our tent (since we had set it up on lumpy ground the night before – imagine that it was hard to see in the dark!) and then sat around and chatted for awhile. As the sun began to set we started our dinner fire. We had so much food! Everyone brought extra to share, my jerky stew and cornbread, some Chinese food, olives, grapes, and many types of cheese. We also made cobbler with peaches, pears and fresh blackberries. Yummy!

After dinner Rachelle went to bed and chatting resumed and the wine came out, apparently we are all quite fond of the stuff so we had three bottles, two reds and a white. Sal played his flute for us. I tried to take a video of him playing it but the sound did not come through that well. The fire crackled while he played and coyotes howled in the distance creating a very surreal scene. It was so amazing having the entire campground to ourselves.

I wanted to stay up into the wee hours talking but alas, motherhood has turned me into an early sleeper. Damian fell asleep in my lap and I was nodding off shortly after so I headed off to bed with my munchkin. The next morning I heard that I missed and excellent debate about will power and guns, dang it! At least I was the best rested of the group (except maybe for Rachelle.)

Sunday morning was gorgeous once again, by the time I wandered out of my tent the sun had already crested over the trees. None of us had watches (our phones didn’t work so they were off and packed away) but it might have been around 9am. I tucked Damian in with Michael and I have to say there were some adorableness awards to be won by my guys. When Damian saw the blue sky and trees outside the tent he got the biggest grin ever. Of course as soon as I touch a camera it vanished but his eyes were still full of amazement and wonder.

Andrea is her pure wonderfulness packed orange juice and champagne, so mimosas for everyone! (After breastfeeding of course.) We laid out on the dock soaking up the rays, watching the waterbugs and shooting the breeze.

Eventually we got around to kindling the breakfast fire and having way to much food once again (better then too little!) Oatmeal, bacon, eggs, sausage, my pancakes and cinnamon rolls. Everything seems to taste better when cooked over a campfire and in good company. We took a long time to eat, maybe because our trip was coming to a close. Eventually though we all started going through the motions and breaking down camp and packing stuff up. We certainly took our time at that too, I don’t think any of us really wanted to leave. At least, we didn’t want to pack all that stuff back up the path to the cars!

Michael’s glasses disappeared at some point and I returned to look for them (nearly certain of not finding them) when I had a rather magical moment. I asked the powers that be to please show me where they were an a dragonfly came from the lake and landed on them. How awesome is that? Old Wild Mama Earth never ceases to amaze me.

The drive home was uneventful and beautiful. After we dropped Shannon and Rachelle off, we came home, ordered pizza, took baths, watched Smallville and remembered how wonderful it is to lay in one’s own bed! I adore camping but it is nice to relax at home afterwards too.

That pretty much wraps out up our trip, it has taken me a week to type this so hopefully it gave you a little glance into our vacationing style. Here is a short video to wrap things up:

1. It should be noted that Damian does not like cold cloth diapers on his booty! I stuck a few in my sleeping bag to keep them warm after traumatizing him with a freezing diaper on his sensitive areas at 3am.)

2. Catastrophe is something Michael makes, it is hashbrowns, eggs, sausage (or bacon) and cheese all scrambled together. With ketchup or sour cream if that is your thing.

I just realized we are only a couple weeks away from our yearly trip out to the Harvest Festival at Beck’s Harvest House in Greenbluff to pick apples and celebrate Autumn Equinox. It is a big, though very informal thing for me, most of our friends go and we have always had such a blast. Where has the past year gone? It was around this time last year I became pregnant with Damian, now if that isn’t a harvest gift I don’t know what is!

Damian loves being outside so I am sure he will enjoy the Harvest Festival too. It is a love I definitely want to nurture in him and hopefully over time it will instill reverence for Old Wild Mama Earth.

If you want to come apple picking with us, let me know, the more the merrier! If you are worried about not having the storage space, I have a dehydrator and a canner, we can set up a date a few days after to preserve some of the bounty.

(I’ll get around to posting about this past weekend’s camping trip tomorrow probably, it is all typed, but I need to finishing editing some video first.)

We are back!

From a weekend full of road barricades, disabled water pumps, hiking, lynxes, campfire cooking, music, lots of food, good friends and so much fun. But that is all I am going to say for now since we are worn out.

So we going to take showers, order pizza, watch some Smallville and sleep early. I’ll post more in the next few days!

We are camping up at Skookum this weekend, see you on Monday! If I don’t post by Tuesday, Bigfoot got us…

(Me at Skookum Lake, WA in 2006)

So it is decided! We are going camping up at Skookum Lake on September 5th, 6th and 7th with Shannon and Rachelle. Andrea and Peter might be coming up on the 6th too. I am so psyched!

Skookum is in the Colville National Forest. I haven’t been there since 2006, so it will be interesting to see if it has changed much. I hope not! The campground is perfect, 25 spots, not to big or small, lots of trees (not like those campgrounds devoid of greenery.) There is a trail all around the lake that is wonderful, and then the lake itself of course, totally gorgeous. It is $12 a night per vehicle. The only thing I am unsure of is if there will be a ban on campfires that weekend, but there is lots of rain in this week’s forecast though so hopefully any ban will be lifted by the 5th.

Last time we went, we drove up to Gardner Cave in Crawford State Park and walked across the US/Canadian border, but this time we will probably spend more time at the lake. My swimsuit does not fit so I will be doing the t-shirt and shorts bathsuit thing. Besides that I have no idea how anyone could breastfeed in a one-piece suit.

I am not worried about how Damian will be out there, he loves being outside and we cosleep. We are going to have to bring all his cloth diapers to make it through, and his potty. And we’ll have a bucket if handwashing is needed. On a side note, he will be turning 3 months old while we are there. He was 17-lbs yesterday and 26-inches long, which is the average size of a 6 month old, he is growing so fast!

So, twelve days to get everything together, which more then enough time (too much time!) I am already pulling out and sorting our camping stuff though, as well as plotting a dehydrator meal for Friday or Saturday night. Any ideas? Our dutch oven kind of got left on the patio all the winter and has rust, I have no idea how to remove that… Elbow grease and wire brush? Michael always makes cobbler in it. He is an excellent cook when it comes to camping, must be a boy scout thing.

I can’t wait!

(Blue tarps are a necessary accoutrement for the Northwest camper, but hopefully we will avoid the biggest thunderstorm of the season this time!)

This is some of the video Michael and I recently took along the Spokane River. The first clip is from Bowl and Pitcher in Riverside State Park and the remaining ones are from various parts of Riverfront Park in downtown Spokane. The river has crested though it is expected to stay at or near flood stage for awhile, especially with the hot weather and rain still in the forecast.

Street view is now available for Spokane, WA. I love this Google Maps feature, you can basically “drive” around the city and see it as you would looking at the window of a car. This of course does raise some privacy issues but it doesn’t really bother me, though I did see a topless guy in my friend’s yard…

Next time I talk about places in Spokane, I’ll be able to show you where they are.

Here is some stuff in Spokane (and a couple other places):

• Part of our townhouse complex
• Michael’s Work
• Spokane Midwives Birthing Center – this is where I plan on giving birth
• Beechwood Dr, Raleigh, NC – I think I lived here was I was very young
• 57 S 100 E, Bountiful, UT – Michael lived here a few years ago

As far as I know it is only available for the USA right now, though they want to do it for the whole world. I think it is so cool!

Michael and I are going to our duchy’s Twelfth Night celebration today, the duke and duchess specifically requested that we attend… Which is a little weird to me, as we have pretty much been inactive for most of 2007. Still it will be fun, I need to make a dessert to bring and I am really not in the mood for that this morning. Unfortunately they did not have Haagen-Daa Reserve Amazon Valley Chocolate ice cream in the Middle Ages. Unfortunately we do not have any in the freezer at the moment either… *sniff*

This is my hearth altar at the moment. I want to change it up, maybe put some Spring flowers there, I just need to find the energy…

The second Temple Free Spirit newsletter will becoming out Monday. We didn’t get as many submission this time and I wonder if this season affects people other than me. Mid-January to February I feel like all my energy is draining away, maybe filling up those persistent clouds outside, or getting lost in the fog. Then in rains down on me and washes what it left into the soil. Maybe the Earth needs it more then me though.

My doctor wants me to talk to the clinic councilor at the end of the month, which I will, though I really don’t think it will help any. I truly believe it is just the weather getting me down. As soon as the sun returns, so will my energy. It has always been this way. I admit this year it is worse then usual and I am sure pregnancy in amplifying it but I am certain I am not going to go antepartum psychotic though. Just give me back the sun. Maybe that is why the snake has been visiting me so often in my dreams lately, he always comes with the sun.

I don’t really know why I am talking about this particular mood right now. I am not sad or happy, I am just kind of… void. Easier to sit by my daylight (a really bright light that emulates sunlight) then do much of anything else, until I am recharged at least. But if anyone else feels like this, you aren’t alone you know? It isn’t your fault the your energy level currently does not match the height of pots and pans in the sink.

Speaking of which, I ought to make some apple pie… and do this dishes.

This is my Autumn Equinox “altar”. Since almost everything is packed for next weeks move, this represents pretty much everything that is still left out.

Pumpkins, squash, apples, white wine, huckleberry tea, canning jars, a dehydrator, a pressure canner, a food strainer and an apple peeler corner slicer. It also shows you want I will be doing for the rest of the day, canning and drying apples.

And it shows what I did yesterday, apple picking!

We are making a tradition (currently in it’s second year) of going out as near to the equinox as possible to Beck’s Harvest House with friends and picking apples as well as enjoying the Fall Festival they have out there.

(Some pictures from in the orchard, click the thumbnails for larger pictures of course.)

Apple picking is so fun with a big group of people. Last year I only picked dozen apples, but this year I got two bushels of Red McIntosh and Gold Delicious (for apple sauce) and a few Jonagold (for pie.) Our friends Lily, Mikcos, Nathan, Sal, Rusty, Peter, Stacy and her wife (I can’t remember her name) all came with us and we filled our little cart with apples. The man at the orchard said that we had picked the most apples of anyone that day, hehe. As we picked we shared a big jug of fresh apple cider and good times. I have to say of all the ways to celebrate a sabbat, this is my favorite, with friends and having a great time. Puns did fly! So did a few apples…

I love the Harvest House orchard because they let you taste every apple you are thinking of buying right off the tree. I like Red McIntosh best, as far as just eating an apple off the tree, they are tart and crunchy with a little hint of sweetness. I am using half McIntosh and half Gold Delicious in my apple sauce today.

We also went on a hayride, so I got the opportunity to get good pictures of everyone (except Mikcos, who managed to dodge the camera somehow) and Stacy’s wife, who had to stay behind because they brought their dog, Grace, who wasn’t allowed on the ride.

Some time during the day we ended up in the gift shop and did some wine tasting. I bought a bottle of sweet white wine infused with herbs, as well as a box of huckleberry tea. They also sell a lot of little crafts, preserves, pastas, local honey, baked goods and, of course, fruit. Plums and pears are also in season.

When we all parted ways at the end of the day, I think everyone was in great spirits. I know had a great time. Peter had carpooled with us so he came with us as we dropped by my mother-in-law’s home to borrow her apple peeler corer slicer and food stainer (now I can have a bit of an easier job processing my apples today.) When Michael and I return Kim’s apple peeler gadget and strainer, we might have to stop by Harvest House again and pick up some local honey and more apple fresh cider.

This is my favorite time of the year, nature is tucking in and turning down the lights for the winter to come but she is showing us one last huzzah for the year decked out with all her finery and abundance. I have more photos here and one especially for Autumn Zephyr, who commented on grey skies and smoldering clouds the other day.

Blessed Autumn Equinox!

~~~

Oh and of course no adventure can pass without at least a little mishap. Maybe it was the country roads, or the pothole-ridden streets of Spokane but we managed to knock the muffler off the car. When we stopped to investigate the mysterious dragging sound I found it hanging by one rubber loop, so I pulled it off and we tossed it in the trunk. We will get it put back on when Michael gets off work this afternoon.

Skywalks are one of the more unique features of downtown Spokane.

Spokane is one of the many cities I have lived in. I admit one of my first thoughts was along the lines of Toto, we aren’t in Barcelona anymore… With less then half a million people, Spokane often feels more like the world’s biggest small town rather then the largest city in Eastern Washington. Still, Spokane has its unique charm which seems to have rubbed off on me quite well. I do not think people pay enough attention to the cities they live in and spend too much time dreaming of far away places. While I too am completely guilty of this, I think it is important to also care about your local area.

Michael and I have been wanting to start a blog–or rather a section of this blog–dedicated to our exploration of the unique and eclectic Spokane. I thought a nice way to start would be to talk about the first thing I noticed about Spokane, the skywalks.

Some people see the Spokane skywalk system as an eyesore and economic pitfall (less then 40% of the businesses in them are occupied), but I think they are beautiful and bring a unique feel to Spokane. Of course Spokane is not the only city with a skywalk system, but they were one of the first and larger ones. Other cities that sport these space-age looking things are Minneapolis, Pittsburgh and Calgary.

The construction of the Spokane skywalks began in the late 1960’s and has continued since. They currently connect 15 square blocks of downtown Spokane and allow you to walk almost anywhere in the downtown core without setting foot on the street. I love them when there is fowl weather or when I just need to get somewhere quickly without the hassle of traffic. They also offer some pretty neat views of Spokane from above the street.

As we continue to explore and exploit Spokane, I will post entries here about what we find, and our thoughts on various issues affecting Spokane. If you have any suggestions for restaurants, parks, or any other unique feature of Spokane, please let us know!

I realize the point of this entry is relatively selfish, but people have asked me what I want for my birthday…

On January 8th, 9th and 10th Michael and I are renting a car to drive over to Seattle and the coast for my 21st birthday. I could care less about drinking, I care most about the ocean.

We will probably be sleeping the in car (unless someone puts us up for a couple nights) and we will not have much play money, and will probably park somewhere and ride the bus (oo or ferries…) but I get to see the ocean! You must understand, the ocean is my element and I have not seen her in three years which seems an eternity to me. I am completely ecstatic about the trip!

What should I see? Oo, who should I meet up with, I know some of you live in Seattle. I will bring the laptop, maybe find a wireless network and blog post.

As for the somewhat selfish part, what I want for my birthday is a little bit of financial padding for the trip, so if you would like to gift me any little bit for my birthday or buy something off my website I would be really grateful.

And to anyone I know who lives in the Seattle area, let me know if you’ll be around. Drop me an email with your name and number, maybe we can meet up. Ah, I am so excited! Salt Water!

Sitting here drinking some mint tea, I am thinking I possibly should put something deep and insightful for my first spiritually oriented post in this blog, but I just want to talk about sage, the herb sage, and my recent trip to collect wild sage brush. So here we go…

The Sage Daytrip
This past Saturday (the 25th) Michael and I set out to Grande Coulee, WA. Giving our friend Eala a ride we followed Lily, Mikcos, and Nathan’s car up there.

The 2 hour trip there gave Michael and I the chance to get to know Eala better. She is a solitary witch when it comes to her practice, though she hasn’t always been so. I am glad she was able to come along, I feel the each such trip bonds our group more. She gifted me with a small quartz crystal which I recently put into the tip of Michael’s wand. In case I have never mentioned it, Michael and I met Lily, Mikcos, and Nathan at the Pagan campout last June. Nathan is Lily’s 10-year old son and Mikcos is Lily’s second husband.

When we got to Grande Coulee the energy of the area was really amazing. The area is very much like a desert and there was sagebrush everywhere (I have some pictures from the daytrip here.) The area is a look-out over the Grande Coulee dam (we were also the only ones there at that time) and near the edge there is a pavillion where we did a little ritual.

Lily has been sage picking up there before and she gave an offered the last of the sage she had previously picked. She also cleansed each of us with the smoke, wafting it with a bird wing. I never use to put much credence into personal cleansing like that, but I have found I always feel much better after I am saged or I sage the apartment. I also find when I use frankincense I feel much the same effects.

After the small ritual we went where we were called, Lily, Mikcos and Nathan down a pathway towards the dam and Michael, Eala and myself down a slop in the other direction. I was very clearly able to tell which plant had parts to offer which was nice. Eala went her own way after a minute. Michael and I collected some sage on our way to a spot we were both drawn with two sagebrush plants side by side. One had a recently broken off branch which we took and the other had a lot of new growth. After we collected enough, we return to the pavillion. I didn’t have a problem keeping to my promise with Gaia not to take more then 1/3 of a plant since the sagebrush was so widespread and the individual plants were very nearly trees. While waiting for the others to return, by this time there was a school bus of Japanese exchange students in the area learning about the dam. I just spent my time soaking up the energy of the area, the weather was beautiful too.

Eventually Mikcos, Eala, and then Lily and Nathan returned and we bid farewell to the area. From my vantage point near a cliff edge, I saw a flock of crows circling far below which unnerved me a little but the crows had been watching us for most of the way. I see crows as one of my family’s guardian spirits and they show up in numbers to let me know when to be careful (almost always associated with a car trip.) We then left the area. As we were driving up the road a coyote ran across the road in front of the car (we didn’t hit it) it was such a beautiful animal. We went to a nearby park and ate some lunch, the trip home was rather uneventful but I definitly feel I go the energy I have needed for awhile from the area.

Sage (Salvia officinalis)
Sage is, in the New Age sense, used for purification of the self, ritual objects and a space (like your home.) This is done through smudging, which is wafting the smoke of the burning herb around a person/place/object. Sage smudging has been done by the Native Americans for a long time for cleansing and sending prayers to the heavens. It was sometimes mixed with Cedar, Sweetgrass, Lavender and Copal; something I wish to try when I aquire all those herbs.

Medicinally, sage has several uses, as an anti-hydrotic (something that reduced prespiration), a anti-spasmodic, an astringent, an anti-depressant, to decrease lacation and relief menstral cramps.

To make a useful tea out of sage, steep 1 tsp of leaves in 1/2 cup of water for 30 minutes, then drink it 1 tablespoon at a time. The tea can be used to treat prespiration, depression and to decrease lactation (if you have stopped breast feeding.) It can be garged to relieve a sore throat.

A tincture or infused oil can be made out of it to treat mentral cramps and 15 to 30 drops can be taken at a time as needed though no more then 4 times a day.

CAUTION: Extended or excessive use of sage can cause symptoms of poisoning and should be avoided completely during pregnacy. Over use of pure sage oil can cause convulsions. It is a potent and useful herb but deserves upmost respect.

Sage leaves are most potent when picked before the plant flowers. The sage we picked is actually Sagebrush, which is not related to Common Sage (Salvia officinalis) but has many similar uses (like for smudging and it can be consumed. Sagebrush’s scientific name is Artemisia tridentata.