Archive for June, 2007
We're down in southern Utah visiting family this week. The temperature change from North Idaho (60's) to Utah (107 today) is startling. This afternoon I rode my bicycle along the river path here in St. George. It felt great moving out east, but then I turned around and realized that a strong wind had been pushing me along. On the way back in that hot, searing wind was blowing so hard I could literally feel my eyeballs drying out in their sockets. It felt as if moisture were being sucked out of my body minute by minute.
This week our goal is to see as many family members as possible while still feeling as if this is a vacation. So far, so good. Friday we drove to Rexburg, Idaho to meet up with my sister and brother who were both there to drop kids off at a Mormon summer camp. I had lots of friends from high school who went to school in Rexburg, at what was then Ricks College but has since been rechristened "BYU Idaho". After actually visiting the town, I'm surprised anyone would want to go to school there... very desolate surroundings. I suppose the mountain biking is good in the foothills. On first seeing the sagebrush leading up to town, I remarked to my wife that the Mormon pioneers probably favored this area because they knew no one else would want it. Yesterday we drove into Utah, picking up Kayla's sister in Provo and then heading down into the southern desert. The next couple of days will be spent exploring different areas nearby, including Snow Canyon and Zion National Park.
June 24th, 2007
My brother graduated from high school on Monday. He's the last child to leave home, so this was something of a landmark for my parents. Josh flew up from Portland. Monday night was actually beautiful weather (we've been having rain off and on) so we took some pictures in my parent's back yard with the kids. If the slideshow below doesn't work, click here to open the web album.
June 16th, 2007
Last week I bought my first mp3 player, a Creative Zen V. I commute about 30 minutes to work each way, so I've come to rely on the radio and CD player to keep my mind running while driving. At first, I listened mostly to NPR (National Public Radio), which is a decent source for the high-level news stories. There are only four other stations within receiving distance. So NPR is really my only serious radio option. However, even that has begun to lose interest for me. Day after day of listing to the litany of our defeat in Iraq, with a few breaks here and there to outline how our top public officials are diligently focused on a presidential election that won’t happen for a year and a half. Occasionally a great story breaks through, but for the last year or so I've mostly listened to books on CD. In fact, I've nearly exhausted the Sandpoint library's small collection of CDs, so I needed a third option. Enter mp3 player.
Lucky for me, the library began offering a digital book service a while back. It's pretty nifty. You can log into your library account online and download media files to your computer. Then you transfer them to your portable player, and the files expire after 20 days. I'm just waiting to receive my FM transmitter, which will allow me to broadcast my mp3 player to my car radio.
June 13th, 2007
With the summer has come a renewed sense of permanence. This will be our third year in north Idaho. The third time I have planted a garden and watched it grow in this climate. The third summer we've experienced in the northern woods.
I've noticed that I go through three stages when I come to a new place:
1. Discovery. Everything's new and exciting. This is the stage of exploration.
2. Familiarity. Things are familiar, and sometimes a little boring. I get restless.
3. Permanence. I start to feel a rhythm develop. Things are familiar, but in a comforting way.
I know I've reached the third stage, permanence, when I spend more time calling up good memories of the past than in seeking novelty. When I go on a bike ride, instead of thinking "I'd like to find a new place to ride", I think, "remember that great ride two summers ago? I want to go there." I'm just starting to feel that way now.
The topic of permanence has really captured my attention this year (see my previous post). Tonight I read an interesting essay by Meg Holden entitled "Never to Speed Up Again". She discusses her transition from frenetic urbanite to isolated islander. It's worth the read if you have a few quiet minutes to think about her words. One of the most interesting statements in her essay is a quote from Terry Tempest Williams: "It just may be that the most radical act we can commit is to stay home." By establishing a sense of place, we gradually overcome our "fear of home" and do what almost everyone is afraid of doing: just stay home.
June 4th, 2007
This afternoon I decided to take advantage of the 90+ degree weather and hit the Kootenai River in my kayak. I chose the shorter version of the trip, which runs from the mouth of the Moyie River down to Bonners Ferry. Kayla drove me out to Twin Rivers campground and I set off into what turned out to be a very sunny afternoon on the water. The water itself was frigid, however: just dipping my hand into the river was painful.
The water is much higher than at any time when I've paddled the river before; at least 10 feet by my rough estimate. There were a lot of whirlpools and the top current was significantly slower. The car graveyard was completely covered except for one or two old rusty ones stuck on the far bank. I also noticed several colonies of small birds where the river had eroded the banks to reveal a vertical mud face. After researching online I believe these are bank swallows, and are migratory--which explains why I haven't seen them before.
June 2nd, 2007
