Oregon in the summer is always an opportunity to discover what Mother Nature will give to us. For two days it was above 110 in our front yard. Yesterday cooled down a bit and it is strange to think 95 degrees doesn't feel so hot when compared to the record of 115 at the Eugene Airport from a few days ago! I long for a kiddie pool to submerge myself.
I never thought I would say that I miss the rain, but there it is. When we first moved here we noticed that folks would walk around with shorts and t-tops the first time the sun would break through the clouds-even if it was the middle of February! It is easier to understand now.
Inspite of the heat it is back to painting for the weekend. But first I am doing some intensive rewrites to the Native American Leadership curriculum that I am writing. Good and honorable work.
Friday, July 31, 2009
Friday, July 17, 2009
Native American Twins Win Gates Scholarship
Twin granddaughters of a friend of mine were awarded the Gates Scholarship. Go to this site to read the story: www.ripplenw.org
Monday, July 13, 2009
Native American Leadership
If you show up are you a leader? If you disengage are you a leader? Yes? No?
Sunday, July 12, 2009
Thunder and Lightning
The clouds opened up and the rain fell down. Torrents of rain! Street was flooded and the water ran down the hill three inches deep. Then the thunder started. The air electric and thick. Came inside and took a nap so I wouldn't be afraid.
Tuesday, June 23, 2009
Saturday, June 6, 2009
Musings On A Cloudy Morning
It rained a few hours ago and things are still damp. There is an unnatural stillness in the air and I wonder if we will have lightening strikes again today. Going into the studio is what I should do. Turn the lights up all the way, bedamn Al Gore and his environmental suggestions about saving the planet, and get to painting.
What happens when you paint? When I paint I lose myself in the moment. My feelings of the good and bad of life disappear and from those few hours that I am lost, I emerge from the studio renewed and full of hope.
What happens when you paint? When I paint I lose myself in the moment. My feelings of the good and bad of life disappear and from those few hours that I am lost, I emerge from the studio renewed and full of hope.
Monday, May 4, 2009
How Crazy Was This Morning? Pretty Crazy!
Received a call this morning at 8:45am. The call went directly to the answering machine cause I couldn't get to it in time. Tripped over the ottoman and fell across the dining table and still missed the call by the fourth ring.
Grabbing the handset and punching buttons, I hear an eerie electronic voice announcing, "This is Carolyn (not her real name), I need help!" What a way to start the morning. The thought flashed through my mind that although I do know a Carolyn, her voice is less robotic and more NDN like. So perhaps it was a wrong number? Please let it be a wrong number. I am too old and tired for real stress this early in the morning.
My mind immediately goes to that place where paranoia reigns and I began thinking...is this a joke, is it sun spots, is it a conspiracy? I couldn't figure it out so I dialed *69 and received another mechanical message telling me the number that called is not functioning. Now I am really worried. So I call 911. Very polite police type person answers and assures me that if Carolyn is in trouble he will help to track her down. Whew, now I can relax, the Mounties are on the job!
Ten minutes later, Carolyn connects by strong arming the 76 gas station owner into letting her use his phone. Picture a small NDN woman, barefoot, wrapped in a polyester blanket coated with green fuzzy pills and she has had her car impounded. It happened at 2:00am and she slept under a bridge. Man, why didn't she call? I was awake at that time! Good thing the 76 station owner is a nice guy and I am sure they are grateful for the non-NDN guy who befriended them under the bridge. But he sure scared me.
Seems she and three other guys, met up with some folks at Biggs on the river and gave them a ride clear down here for the cost of gas. As they were leaving Eugene, they were followed up on the freeway by one of Eugene's finest and stopped for DUI. Car impounded, them stranded on I-5. No shoes, no coats, no money. Walking, walking, walking until they found an exit and a bridge. Three to a blanket for warmth. The other guy busted and detained for an outstanding warrant was the fourth. Their biggest crime drinking. Their second biggest crime being brown.
We find money and bail the car out and buy the certification from the cops. $265.00 later the young, Good Samaratans pile into the van and head for home. I will pray for their safety. I caution them to change their lifestyle and wave good bye. They listen politely and wave back. I am still praying for their safety. Bye.
Grabbing the handset and punching buttons, I hear an eerie electronic voice announcing, "This is Carolyn (not her real name), I need help!" What a way to start the morning. The thought flashed through my mind that although I do know a Carolyn, her voice is less robotic and more NDN like. So perhaps it was a wrong number? Please let it be a wrong number. I am too old and tired for real stress this early in the morning.
My mind immediately goes to that place where paranoia reigns and I began thinking...is this a joke, is it sun spots, is it a conspiracy? I couldn't figure it out so I dialed *69 and received another mechanical message telling me the number that called is not functioning. Now I am really worried. So I call 911. Very polite police type person answers and assures me that if Carolyn is in trouble he will help to track her down. Whew, now I can relax, the Mounties are on the job!
Ten minutes later, Carolyn connects by strong arming the 76 gas station owner into letting her use his phone. Picture a small NDN woman, barefoot, wrapped in a polyester blanket coated with green fuzzy pills and she has had her car impounded. It happened at 2:00am and she slept under a bridge. Man, why didn't she call? I was awake at that time! Good thing the 76 station owner is a nice guy and I am sure they are grateful for the non-NDN guy who befriended them under the bridge. But he sure scared me.
Seems she and three other guys, met up with some folks at Biggs on the river and gave them a ride clear down here for the cost of gas. As they were leaving Eugene, they were followed up on the freeway by one of Eugene's finest and stopped for DUI. Car impounded, them stranded on I-5. No shoes, no coats, no money. Walking, walking, walking until they found an exit and a bridge. Three to a blanket for warmth. The other guy busted and detained for an outstanding warrant was the fourth. Their biggest crime drinking. Their second biggest crime being brown.
We find money and bail the car out and buy the certification from the cops. $265.00 later the young, Good Samaratans pile into the van and head for home. I will pray for their safety. I caution them to change their lifestyle and wave good bye. They listen politely and wave back. I am still praying for their safety. Bye.
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