People of the Big River 2017: 7/12-7/15

Others are doing this a better way, posting day by day.

I'm not going to do that. I just can't think that way... maybe I can change the font so the colors are for each day that I'm talking about... Let's try it.

Red will be 7/12/17
Green will be 7/13/17
Blue will be 7/14/17
Pink will be today, 7/15/17

We'll see how this goes... It's going to clash with the background. I wish I could write as well as I know I can. I let little things get in the way.

On Wednesday ... lol clothes are done. We're at a Laundromat near Umatilla. They finished washing. I put them in the dryer for 40 minutes on high, I hope that's good.

We spent most of the day driving. We stopped in Bend about a half hour from camp to blog at a starbucks. That was fun. Me and Jose were sitting at a table beside Joel, Judy, Christina, and Mr. Clinton eventually joined us. Judy was so sweet and invited us to come join them so we scooted (Aye, my nickname is Scooter) our table up to theirs. Joel had a heck of a time blogging so I helped him out. Shared my pictures. I love photography. It's so weird that not everyone shares that passion. We drove for a long time. We were two hours late. We didn't get there until 8:30. And we stayed awake until midnight. I've slept very minimally while at Wynex' house. We planted ourselves in the shade beneath some trees. Jose and Pedro followed me. We were nearest to the horses and the trains which would prove to be conflicting with a desire to sleep. Note to myself: Check thoroughly for rocks in the ground. They were driving into my back all throughout the tent.Good stuff. But very warm, that was nice. I love the mummy bag.

After we set up our tents, we prepared dinner and then sat around the campfire. It's easily said but the process took about two hours because we have to wash the dishes afterward. Then Wynex introduced herself and Acacia did also. They sat right beside me. That was absolutely terrifying. I was the first to introduce myself. I could tell that they were very traditional by their behaviors so I prepared to introduce myself the way Jessica taught us in the beginning. I gave my name, my parents name and she asked us all to share what we'd like to take from the journey with their family and I said I wanted to learn about how to help with the healing process. We crashed after that. I was crashing as soon as dinner was eaten. The drive is exhausting. Our necks are all crooked, trying to find a comfortable position to sleep, we settle for less than ideal ;)

This was an awesome day. We went to the Tree Nursery after sometime at the Governance Center. Wynex had to skip sharing the creation story with us which was disappointing but I got the jist of it. She told us about their initiatives to suppport the water, the wildlife, and the plants. At the nursery we got an hour introduction which I really liked and then she told us to trim and move trees so they would be more manageable. I was the weeder but I mostly pulled dead leaves off the soil which seems a little counterintuitive. We ate lunch shortly after that... and the introversion kicked in. I really think there's a connection between the amount of sleep I get and my social interest. I am not socially interesting or interested when I am tired. So I ate my lunch and snuck away to pull weeds some more. Then an anxiety kicked in and I was afraid someone would find me out there and find a way to think less of me. We then started to cut "cuttlings" so we took branches from trees and made them into their own trees. We planted them too. It was a long process but we got ice cream afterward which was very appreciated.

What happened next? I believe it was shower time. Jessica took myself, Jose and Christy to take showers. Me and Christy swam and raced while the other girls from White Swan showered. It was either a close tie or she won. I think I played with the line of calling her old. It was cool. She seems to open up really easy when it's just her and myself. I think she's like that with most people that she trusts. I like her a lot. We showered and Jose was waiting for us. I wanted to sit and read until Jessica was ready but Christy was impatient so she said "Let's walk!" I thought she was crazy 'cause I had no idea how to get back. But we walked and we saw deer running in the distance and then we reversed roles and we were running trying to beat Jessica back and the deer stood near the road watching us.

We didn't beat them but we were close. We ate dinner just in time, there were a few parcels left for us. Not that we aren't being fed well, we totally are. #pbjeveryday :) After that I probably helped with dishes and it was 9:30 and dark. I pulled out my bible to read my three chapters. My grandma asked if I was okay because I've been trying to stay on top of calling her every day. I didn't even have time to text her today. I was just about done when Taylor came and laid on the other side of my bible and started talking to me. I am working on showing him light and love. So I slammed my bible closed without a second thought and I talked with him for a while. It was about 10:#0 when we called my pastor Joe and asked him a few questions. After that Taylor left me and I finished the end of my chapter. I saw Joel lying in the grass not too far away from me, I thought maybe Judy was on the other side of him but couldn't tell. She's small and he's tall. He was alone so I asked if I could join him and we watched the stars quietly for a while. A shooting star broke the silence. It lasted so long. It was magical. Then I think I asked him a question or two and things got deep. It was a really neat experience for both of us. We went to our tents at midnight and I stayed up praying for him for quite a while afterward. God is really working on helping me relinquish my fears. I felt real communion with God that night, it was really lovely. Seek His face and ye shall find it. (I want to write more about my conversation with Joel-- he is really cool.)

Wow, I'm blowing through this. Already on the third day. Hope I'm not leaving too much out. We woke up at 6 or 6:30 so I got about 6 hours of sleep. I NEED at least 7.5 or more. I've probably got ten minutes max until clothes are dry. Hopefully I don't burn them or anything.... We left for our tour pretty early but we spent a little time prepping for the feast before we left though. We stopped somewhere about fifteen minutes away by a river and then went down closer and happened upon one of the fisheries guys. He's very involved in his culture which I appreciate. I thought it was really cool that Wynex invited him to our dinner. Everyone seems to know everyone. Christy and Mike talked with her about their connections to her.

Then we spent an hour driving into the abyss. We didn't realize it would be an hour so we hesitated to sleep-- or at least I did, Jose falls asleep in seconds. It's crazy! I was talking to him and I swear he like fell asleep right after he said whatever he was saying. I fell asleep too though. Once we got onto the mountain road though it was too bumpy for sleep. It was like an earthquake that never ended. Wynex took us up off the trail just a tiny bit and told us about old huckleberry traditions and fire danger and control. We then went up the road a few more minutes to a lake. Of course I jumped in. We'll get to that in a second though because I have to tell you about the deer. I was walking to the bathroom to change into my suit. And I saw two deer. And I think if I'd acted like a human I would've scared them. I didn't stop and stare though. I didn't start to talk to them. I kept my pace even and walked by. I got so close. I was at most 20 feet away. I left them and changed then came back. And followed them. They were aware of me and I was walking with them. They stopped at some brush and I stood on the other side from them. I swear, I was so close. I left them and jumped into the water.

You'd think that I would've noticed them standing shin deep where I was about to jump but someone was saying "Be the first one!" "Don't be afraid!" "Be a leader!" Ouch. It didn't occur to me until I hit the ground. There was no regret until I felt the pain of gravel on my butt. I reached down to access the damage and found rocks in my suit and small tears. I swam it off.. everyone was watching... there really was no playing it off. Everyone laughed, I held in the tears ;) lol I laughed with them. I do this kind of thing all the time. I have to go get clothes quick. Brb. I raced Christy again, she won. When we got back I went to change and on my way back a deer almost ran into me. Trying to avoid crazy people with phones.

I slept on the way back. We got to the yoga place and worked for an hour and a half and I loved every second. She pushed my body to its limits but it was like a dance. It was beautiful and I appreciated it so much. My body was exhausted after that. I still haven't recovered, I am very sore all over. The work out was great though. I sweat like I haven't in I don't know how long. Dripping sweat onto the mat. I loved it! I want to do that way more often. It's good for my body. It's good for my mind.
We showered quickly after that and hurried back to prepare for the feast. We didn't have dinner until 8 at the earliest. I was confused. I couldn't find people. While eating, I sat with Sadonia and Judy. I asked what White Swan was like and Sadonia really went deep into her circumstances, I found out that she, Judy, and Joel all attend the same church back home. She left when we were done eating and I came back to Judy sitting alone. She had left while Sadonia was talking and so I apologized for possibly interfering with a nice dinner. She confided that she wanted to talk but people didn't listen or there were always interuptions so I took her somewhere away from the group and asked Jessica to let us skip the laser show. She told me so much and my heart really goes out to her. I aim to encourage above all else. I want everyone on this trip to know just how loved they really are.

I tried sleeping on the hammock and then on the swinging bench but a sort of guilt came over me like I was trying to get attention in the morning so even though the bench would have been so much more comfortable than my tent, I went back to the tent around 1 last night.

Today, we woke up at an early hour again. We left around 9:30. We got to the McNary Dam around 12. My math is all pretty far off. I don't know how to recalculate. But I'm riding with Pedro today which is nice because he has windows and it's one-on-one. There's lots of room for meaningful conversation. It seems all he wants to talk about is God and I just can't get enough either even though I dead tired, I really appreciate the conversation. Jessica wants me to talk to him about my career path. I can't believe that he has all the answers but I'm willing to find some from him. Our conversation was just leading that way when we got to the laundromat. I'm pretty sure we have a minimum of three hours left to our drive but because the truck goes so slowly with the trailer. I can easily see it being four hours. Lots of time for talking. And sleep, I'm hoping. I'm hoping so much. I don't know why God made me with such a need for sleep. It really seems like a weakness. But if God did it, I think it's wise to follow suit. Life isn't supposed to be all about work.

It's 2:43 PM now. Time is just flying today. I've been sitting with earbuds in to keep myself from being distracted and like I said, I'm less likable with less sleep so I am trying to keep my distance. I really need to just let go of myself and start focusing completely on others and God.

Now to upload pictures <3 ... I think I'll do them in better chronological order this time. Starting with today and going backwards.