We visited the Spokane Tribal Hatchery and I cried because of the trauma that these people have suffered. They're so willing to share. It's just so sad that people known for their salmon could lose something so closely knit to their identity.
We visited a wildlife center and talked with some wildlife technicians.
We went canoeing.
Coalby got here.
Saturday, July 22, 2017
7/19/17
I think I need coffee. It's 10:30 AM and they're making us blog. I have been staring at this screen and vacantly sitting in this group of people. My brain just isn't working. I actually went to sleep pretty early. I think it was around 11 or 12 last night and woke up at 7. I'm so tired.... I don't drink coffee. I have ordered coffee for myself once in my life. It was in Hawaii and I thought the occasion was special. I just can't... this is so hard. What's wrong with me?? I'm just going to lay on this bench until we leave. No, no. I must push on. For the blog!!!
7/17/17
We electrofished. Jose gets an A++ for being so brave.
We went in a pit house. This part deserves a lot of explanation because it was so special. We talked about what we were thankful for and shared really personal things. It's so strange that Joel and Jose didn't share, neither did Diana. But 2/3 of the Musketeers are very closed people. It's a strange situation. I was the first one of the whole group to share but I am the quietest of the musketeers and then they're some of the loudest of the whole group and they won't share. I just wonder <3
We went in a pit house. This part deserves a lot of explanation because it was so special. We talked about what we were thankful for and shared really personal things. It's so strange that Joel and Jose didn't share, neither did Diana. But 2/3 of the Musketeers are very closed people. It's a strange situation. I was the first one of the whole group to share but I am the quietest of the musketeers and then they're some of the loudest of the whole group and they won't share. I just wonder <3
7/22/17
Jessica wants us to power blog our last message and she told us to keep it heart-felt. Lol.
First we went to the Pow-Wow. It was very neat to see the culture... but the most important thing to me if I have to write fast is the relationships.I've really grown attached to Judy and Joel and Sadonia and Christina and Taylor, and Jay and Jose. Hahaha. The list goes on.
Last night, Jose spent more time with Joel and I went to sleep. It was about an hour nap. I woke up when I heard them come back. I thought I was pretty solidly asleep. But I woke up and it was 10:30 PM. I wandered a teeny bit and then I was getting ready to go back to my tent when Christy called me out. They were all around the table (the Heritage kids) so I came over and sat with them and Diana, Christy, Brooke, Brenda, and I all stayed awake until 1 in the morning talking and laughing about lady things. I've never done that before. It was fun. It was nice to connect with them all on that level. Every one of them had children and Christy and Brenda both have grandchildren so they have a lot of experience to share.
This morning, myself, Joel, and Jose stayed on the dock for an hour and a half before they came to get us. We didn't talk hardly at all. Joel didn't say a single word. We just listened to the water and hoped to stay there. We got all of our stuff together and then we went back to the water. Now we are blogging. This has been an extremely wonderful experience. Very, very full. Not with events but emotions and ... something.
We're going to Palouse falls and then home. Should be home around 4... I don't think so. It's almost noon now. Gasp maybe we aren't going to Palouse??? The adventure continues.
First we went to the Pow-Wow. It was very neat to see the culture... but the most important thing to me if I have to write fast is the relationships.I've really grown attached to Judy and Joel and Sadonia and Christina and Taylor, and Jay and Jose. Hahaha. The list goes on.
Last night, Jose spent more time with Joel and I went to sleep. It was about an hour nap. I woke up when I heard them come back. I thought I was pretty solidly asleep. But I woke up and it was 10:30 PM. I wandered a teeny bit and then I was getting ready to go back to my tent when Christy called me out. They were all around the table (the Heritage kids) so I came over and sat with them and Diana, Christy, Brooke, Brenda, and I all stayed awake until 1 in the morning talking and laughing about lady things. I've never done that before. It was fun. It was nice to connect with them all on that level. Every one of them had children and Christy and Brenda both have grandchildren so they have a lot of experience to share.
This morning, myself, Joel, and Jose stayed on the dock for an hour and a half before they came to get us. We didn't talk hardly at all. Joel didn't say a single word. We just listened to the water and hoped to stay there. We got all of our stuff together and then we went back to the water. Now we are blogging. This has been an extremely wonderful experience. Very, very full. Not with events but emotions and ... something.
We're going to Palouse falls and then home. Should be home around 4... I don't think so. It's almost noon now. Gasp maybe we aren't going to Palouse??? The adventure continues.
Friday, July 21, 2017
7/15/17
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.
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.
We're in Welpinit now. It's nice, very similar to Deschutes but warmer. We left the Laundromat at 4 PM yesterday. Jessica said it would be 2.5 hours and I bet it would be 4 hours. I was right. The drive was really awesome thought. I was super tired and I resolved to watch a super long video on YouTube but it started to put me to sleep so I turned it off and leaned back. Pedro was yawning though and Robyn gave me the impression that I couldn't sleep while Pedro drove so I turned the radio on and we started talking. The conversation was very engaging, it turns out Pedro is super spiritual so he loves talking about God. He has lots of interesting ideas, most of which I agree with, others or which are more abstract and I haven't considered.
We got here and set up our tents. I'm pretty far from everyone again today. And that turned out to be pretty scary later last night but I'll get to that later.-- grandmas home.
Alright, it's 9:30 PM now. Listening to "Come to the Table" by Sidewalk Prophets. Never heard it before, Sadonia's sitting across from me texting. It's quiet. We're waiting for the Aurora Borealis! If I see it, I just don't know what I'll do. Joel and I saw a shooting star the other night. I'm sure I already mentioned that... Jose's letting me use his laptop now.
So after we ate, several of us stayed at the table; Judy, Joel, and Jaynell and I sat and talked. Jay laid on the table and we watched the stars. After most of the lights were out, you could see way more stars. The conversation lulled and Joel asked me to prompt it further several times. First we talked about beauty and then we learned Jaynell's story. I've gotten a few of their stories alone in private but Jay was willing to share with us all. They briefly began to tell me about Stick Indians, or something scary. And then Ms. Trease told us to go to sleep because it was a half hour after she told us to be in our tents and we were laughing loudly. Judy and Joel needed to use the restroom so I accompanied them and then we sat in the parking lot instead of going to sleep. The conversation got deep again and we sat silently for a long while. I brought them back to their tents.
I considered sleeping in the hammock but I think that might be tonight instead or something. I am determined to sleep on the hammock. I went to my tent and prayed and tried to sleep then I heard this noise! I flinched, it was so terrifying. I thought it might be a demon or stick-indians so I rebuked them in the name of Jesus. I calmed down after that and turned to see what it was. I listened but I couldn't ... focus because people are playing Uno beside me!!! .... whatever it was waited for me to go to sleep before it came back. I'm guessing badger or large mouse creature. I have no idea. It was 2 AM at the earliest.
We're in Welpinit now. It's nice, very similar to Deschutes but warmer. We left the Laundromat at 4 PM yesterday. Jessica said it would be 2.5 hours and I bet it would be 4 hours. I was right. The drive was really awesome thought. I was super tired and I resolved to watch a super long video on YouTube but it started to put me to sleep so I turned it off and leaned back. Pedro was yawning though and Robyn gave me the impression that I couldn't sleep while Pedro drove so I turned the radio on and we started talking. The conversation was very engaging, it turns out Pedro is super spiritual so he loves talking about God. He has lots of interesting ideas, most of which I agree with, others or which are more abstract and I haven't considered.
We got here and set up our tents. I'm pretty far from everyone again today. And that turned out to be pretty scary later last night but I'll get to that later.-- grandmas home.
Alright, it's 9:30 PM now. Listening to "Come to the Table" by Sidewalk Prophets. Never heard it before, Sadonia's sitting across from me texting. It's quiet. We're waiting for the Aurora Borealis! If I see it, I just don't know what I'll do. Joel and I saw a shooting star the other night. I'm sure I already mentioned that... Jose's letting me use his laptop now.
So after we ate, several of us stayed at the table; Judy, Joel, and Jaynell and I sat and talked. Jay laid on the table and we watched the stars. After most of the lights were out, you could see way more stars. The conversation lulled and Joel asked me to prompt it further several times. First we talked about beauty and then we learned Jaynell's story. I've gotten a few of their stories alone in private but Jay was willing to share with us all. They briefly began to tell me about Stick Indians, or something scary. And then Ms. Trease told us to go to sleep because it was a half hour after she told us to be in our tents and we were laughing loudly. Judy and Joel needed to use the restroom so I accompanied them and then we sat in the parking lot instead of going to sleep. The conversation got deep again and we sat silently for a long while. I brought them back to their tents.
I considered sleeping in the hammock but I think that might be tonight instead or something. I am determined to sleep on the hammock. I went to my tent and prayed and tried to sleep then I heard this noise! I flinched, it was so terrifying. I thought it might be a demon or stick-indians so I rebuked them in the name of Jesus. I calmed down after that and turned to see what it was. I listened but I couldn't ... focus because people are playing Uno beside me!!! .... whatever it was waited for me to go to sleep before it came back. I'm guessing badger or large mouse creature. I have no idea. It was 2 AM at the earliest.
7/14/17
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. 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 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. 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.
7/13/17
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.)
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