Looking in the mirror

I am shocked at how quickly the last 6 years of my life has flown by and how many experiences I’ve had with my family in that time.  Somehow my youngest son Canyon is now almost 3!?

For Christmas this year we brought a cat into our lives.  Canyon’s older brother River had been asking for one for over a year so a shelter cat found a new home with us.  I hadn’t realized how much our new cat Feather resembled the cat I had when I was a young boy until my mom shared a photo of me holding Fishy.

Fishy was an adventurous feline who lived well beyond her 9 lives.  She ended up dying from an embedded claw in her belly which she received from a fight with a neighborhood bully cat.  I used to love watching her ambush our black lab and launch onto his back in a surprise attack.  Once she got squashed between the garage door and the ceiling of the garage as the door was closing and survived.

Feather is a crazy kitten and the boys love having her in their lives.  So tonight we had Canyon pose for a photo holding her and it turned out to be quite the comparison.  A crazy blast to the past.  I’ve cloned myself!

Reflections on time in Mexico

When River was one year old Liz and I took him down to Mexico for a few months. Liz was working on her PhD research and the boys got to tag along to experience the rich culture and take in the sights. We spent the first month in Mexico City , D.F. as it’s known, living in a small apartment in the massive metropolis. We toured the different districts, visited museums, explored the markets, consumed amazing foods and experienced various cultural festivals.  

Here are a few photos from our adventures- you can click on the images to enlarge:

The Zocalo at night in Mexico City

Liz & Catedral Metropolitana (Mexico City)

Casa Azul- former home of Diego Rivera & Frida Kahlo

River sleeping in a Mexico City museum

Rooftops of Guanajuato

A walk in Guanajuato

out for a walk

Central Guanajuato

La Parroquia de San Miguel de Allende

One of my favorite areas in D.F. is an area just south of the city called Xochimilco (zo-chi-meel-co) where the historic “Chinampas” or floating gardens were created around the 12th century. The floating gardens were built on ancient lake Xochimilco and now the area is an extensive network of canals with beautifully landscaped gardens and vibrant markets throughout. You can charter the colorful Traijinera boats for a small charge and enjoy food, beverage and live music from other trajineras navigating the canals. 

We spent the rest of our time living in Guanajuato, a beautiful colonial city in Mexico’s central highlands famous for it’s productive silver mines, abundance of spectacular churches, and for it’s role in the Mexican War of Independence.

Guanajuato is located in a small valley surrounded by spectacular mountains on all sides. The streets are cobbled and most of the car traffic is contained in underground tunnels making it a very pedestrian friendly city and especially nice for exploring with a one year old. Guanajuato is a great university town also known for the Festival Internacional Cervantino to honor Miguel de Cervantes, the author of Don Quixote.

I recommend that you take a trip over to San Miguel de Allende if you’re ever in the state of Guanajuato. It’s another quaint colonial town with tons to explore and enjoy. I particularly liked the hot springs just outside of town and the views from the mesa above town.

The new Obama Song Video from Michael Franti

The new Obama Song Video from Michael Franti is here and yet again Franti delivers his inspirational message with an infectious groove.

You can find a bit of information on the song on Franti’s website and check out his recent album while you’re there.

Treehouse nearly complete

It’s been a drawn-out project around our house, but finally the treehouse is more than a dangerous construction site. The boys painted the railing stays and helped hammer them up too. We’re still working on the lower level which will be more of an enclosed play house. The next step will be to get rid of the big blue roof tarp for something more aesthetically pleasing that will still keep most of the moisture and pine needles off of the upper deck.

Check out this blog post I saw a while back that had some amazing treehouse images.

Snow Teaser

The snow has not arrived in earnest yet, however we were able to enjoy a nice bit of frozen precip on Payette Lake last weekend. The boys were so excited for the snow play that it was hard to get them back inside to warm their frozen fingers. We took the row boat out for an adventure over to Ponderosa State Park where we found interesting logs and a skeleton of an old fort made out of sticks.

Check out the photo of River looking right at the snowball about to hit him in the head! The contrast isn’t great, but if you look closely you’ll see the round, white ball heading right for him. I took a bunch of rapid sequential photos of some of the snowball fights so perhaps I’ll put together a fast slideshow to share some of the throwing and dodging action I captured.

Land conservation in Idaho: the next chapter

Idahoans have elected our first democratic representative in a long time – 16 years to be more specific.  Walt Minnick took ultra-conservative and ultra-ineffective Bill Sali’s seat in the first district. Walt has the skills and values we need in congress to help move forward public land preservation initiatives for Idaho.

Here’s Walt being congratulated by Rick Johnson and Justin Hayes of the Idaho Conservation League at Walt’s victory press conference the day after the election. (Justin is also the board president of Conservation Voters for Idaho)

Also, Jim Risch, who replaced our foot-tapping and public lands-gutting senator Larry Craig accomplished quite a lot in terms of protecting Idaho’s environment during his short 7 month stint as Interim Governor when Dirk Kempthorne became Interior Secretary. These two newly elected leaders should work well with Senator Mike Crapo and Representative Mike Simpson to secure protection for a few of the biggest and most significant of the many bioligically and socially important wildland areas we have here in Idaho.

We’ve got the Boulder White Clouds wilderness bill CIEDRA of central Idaho, the Oywyhee Initiative of southwestern Idaho, and perhaps a move to protect Eastern Idaho’s Mesa Falls area as the Mesa Falls National Monument. Overall I’m very hopefull for the future of public lands policy for the state of Idaho with the leadership of our state delegation under the Obama administration.

Mesa Falls

Fremont County- Eastern Idaho: Outdoor Adventure and Potato Country

I made it over to Teton and Fremont Counties for a work trip at the end of August. We spent the first few days in Driggs and Victor meeting with CVI Action Fund donors and working with county commission candidates Kathy Rinaldi and Bob Benedict. Everyone we met with were very interesting and pleasant people doing great work and of course the landscape was spectacular.  The Teton Mountains and bucolic nature of the Teton Valley are enough to understand why so many outdoor enthusiasts and nature lovers are living in the area.  The demographics in the county now are such that new approaches to growth and other issues are being sought and implemented by smart progressive leaders in the communities.  It’s one if Idaho’s truly Blue counties, but is surrounded by some of the reddest of red counties.

After our political work in Teton County was finished we headed up to Fremont County and into the rolling, fertile hills where they grow so many seed potatoes, wheat and other crops and have for generations.  We were meeting with Chan Atchley who is the director of the Smart Growth Coalition, a group based in Ashton that is focussed on watchdogging the county commission and other policy makers with an eye to preserving the environment and feel of Fremont County.  The county borders Yellowstone National Park and sits in the northern corner of eastern Idaho only a short distance from spectacular Upper and Lower Mesa Falls on the Henry’s Fork river.  Many people know Fremont County because of it’s world class trout fishing on the Henry’s Fork or the snowmobiling mecca of Island Park. After robust policy and political discussions with Smart Growth Coalition and a bit of organizational development planning (with lot’s of family history story time interspersed) we headed up to the cemetary on the Atchley’s property for a brief 360 view of the area.

Bear Valley camping with the boys

Back in August I took the boys up to Bear Valley for a camping adventure. We drove 1.5 hours from Boise to Lowman then headed over Clear Creek Summit and down into Bear Valley. There’s some interesting mining and ranching history in the broad and beautiful valley and the creek is simply idillic. It was the perfect place for a bit of respite from the busy life we lead in Boise and the boys loved it.

I love the photo of Jah wearing Canyon’s hat. The sunset from our campsite on the banks of the creek that night was a treat. We watched fish rise as the light faded and then had hot drinks around the fire before bed. It’s hard to get enough of this stuff!

Record Exchange to host party for Conservation Voters for Idaho

Event will raise money for political change in Idaho

On Sunday, September 28^th from 2-6pm at the Record Exchange Conservation Voters for Idaho is teaming up with three family owned, local businesses – the Record Exchange, Idaho Mountain Touring and the Boise Co-op – to raise money for their efforts to get pro-conservation leaders elected to public office.

“Electing pro-environment candidates at the state, county, and local levels who will protect Idaho’s clean air, water, quality of life and natural places by making good laws and policies, is an important strategy for overall conservation efforts across the state” says CVI’s Executive Director Lee Flinn.

This year CVI is also getting involved in elections for the Ada County Highway District Commission which makes many important decisions that impact growth, transportation, and quality of life issues in Idaho’s most populated county.

CVI board member & Record Exchange owner Michael Bunnell and CVI Executive Director Lee Flinn are hosting the party with free hors d’oeuvres and drinks, friends and music, plus a silent auction featuring a Nirve Paul Frank Cruiser bike and other great items. Tim Johnstone of KRVB 94.9 The River will emcee. All proceeds from the auction and from the sale of the Record Exchange’s 3’ x 3’ mounted rock posters will go to Conservation Voters for Idaho Action Fund.

Conservation Voters for Idaho is a non-profit, bipartisan organization that provides information on conservation issues to voters, holds elected officials accountable for their votes on issues, and helps elect people to public office who will protect Idaho’s clean air and water, wildlife, and open spaces.

For more information visit www.conservationvotersforidaho.org

Salmon spawning in Bear Valley Creek

Bear Valley, it turns out, is now one of my favorite places to go camping with the boys. The creek meanders through a heavenly valley with such indifference to anything else going on in the world. We spent some a couple of days wandering it’s banks watching the giant spawning Chinook and tossing pebbles.

From the ocean to central Idaho

 

Bear Valley Creek reflects the last light of day

Paris for Prez

I couldn’t resist posting this because I just love the fact that McCain brought her into the mudslinging. While his ad may be effective for some people (god I hope that number isn’t scary big) I think the backlash will help Barack in the long run. Let’s each try to think of 10 people we know that we think don’t usually vote or follow presidential politics and bring them to the polls with us.

Here’s the link:

See Paris Hilton Responds to McCain Ad and more funny videos on FunnyOrDie.com

See more funny videos at Funny or Die

Counting Horses then Peacocks

I was fairly well prepared for the 500 mile journey to North Plains Oregon in our Prius with my two boys. I had enough food, toys, books, and fun music, plus my laptop with kids videos as the fallback and my goal was to arrive with enough daylight to set up our camp. As it turned out we made it about 300 miles without a major kid meltdown by counting horses. Of course it helped that my 2 year old son slept for almost 2 hours, but I think we got to 68 before we lost count.

The next 200 miles were smooth sailing because once we hit the Columbia River we had wind surfers, kite boarders, barges, dams, fish ladders, lava flows and water falls to look at and talk about. It’s quite an impressive landscape really when you consider the forces of nature that formed it over recent geological times. 

With one stop for gas and one to dip our toes in the Columbia, we made it to Portland in just about 7 hours. Our epic travel day to begin our 2 week vacation in Oregon came to a close with me setting up our tent in the dark while trying desperately not to let the boys hurt themselves as they stumbled around the woods in the dark with a 7hr-car-ride-reckless-abandon.

We woke to the sound of peacocks squawking and found ourselves in the magical landscape of Horning’s Hideout camped in Bob Horning’s crew’s camp overlooking the music amphitheater where we would enjoy 3 days of great bluegrass music for the Northwest String Summit.

Surviving the first epic day of our adventure to Oregon reassured me that I wasn’t completely crazy to take my two young boys on a 2 week, thousand-plus mile road trip by myself, and that in fact, it may be one of the best adventures to date we would have together.

Journey Westward in Search of…

coast range farm camping

In a less than two weeks I will be hitting the road with the boys for our second road trip to Oregon. We’ll follow our itinerary from two years ago more or less. We’ll first land at one of my favorite concert venues for 3 days of camping and bluegrass music at the Northwest String Summit. The boys loved it the last time and will appreciate the peacocks and swimming pond even more now since they’re a bit older.

Then we’ll wander down the coast exploring tide pools, old growth forests and getting very sandy. The coast tour will bring us to the glorious garden camping venue on our friends’ country farm in the coast range near Deadwood. There we will wake up in the mornings to gobble some blueberries and blackberries off the bushes, play in the creek and catch crawdads, explore the forest and catch up with our kind-hearted friends. Perhaps the boys can even do some pottery work with Margi. The last time we had a clay workshop with her, Canyon stuck a whole blob of clay in his mouth and swallowed – talk about freakin you’re parents out!

After we stuff ourselves on Deadwood berries and good times, we’ll head back up the coast to Cannon Beach for a rendezvous with friends for a wedding at Ecola State Park to round out the trip. This time it will be just the boys and I’m sure we’ll have some stories to share when we return.

the boys climb their first deadwood tree

canyon hands

It was night on the deck and the heat was still present. A late dinner and some productive yard work left us with a satisfied feeling. Then came the hands….