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| From top to bottom, left to right: Desiree from Alaska, Ainsley from New Jersey, Alice from New York, Mackenzie from Nebraska, Corey and Jordan from Washington, Mary from Virginia, Chris from New Hampshire, Nora from Oregon, Me, Cavan from Washington and the invisible soon to join us member Lou from Illinois. |
Last Wednesday our supervisor Meghann took us into Rainier park territory to walk one of the shorter trails called grove of the Patriarchs. It is far too modest to be called a hike but the small mile loop through old growth forest engrossed me nonetheless. The path was interspersed with signage that provided brief but comprehensive descriptions of the various tree types, a subject that has remained a curiosity to me but that I have never ardently delved into. But living here as opposed to being a passing traveler has infused me with a more vigorous determination to give it a go.
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| Western Red Cedars has practical, medicinal and spiritual significance for native tribes. Distinguished by peeling red-brown bark and broad-fanned branches. Favored for its straight grain, durability and water resistance which allows it to grow in swampy areas, up to 200 feet. |
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| Douglas Firs are some of the largest and oldest of the area. They thrive in open areas where there have been landslides or floods. Bark is grey, thick and deeply grooved. Drooping branches filled with cones that my dear friend Bill introduced me to as "fleeing mice" cones because of the scene they illustrate. Named after David Douglas who walked 6000 miles along PNW in search of new plants in the 1820's |
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| Western Hemlocks have thin scaly brown bark and are densely populated with needled branches which produce prolific quantities of seed. It thrives in shade of mature forests where its many seeds start developing on "nurse logs" of older trees but only a few well-founded ones reach maturity of 200 feet. |
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| Red Alder is actually noted by its grey bark and coarse toothed leaves. it colonizes in areas that have been disturbed and removed of trees as well as close to water. it is so prolific because bacteria in root nodules are able to obtain nitrogen from the air and convert it to fertilizer. |
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| Tree downed by a winter storm in the 1970's. It is thought that it's intricate root system was intertwined with the tree across from it, taking both down when one fell. |
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| Chris took the "one person at a time" advisory very seriously. |
I have also decided to try my hand at mushrooms after spotting such a wide variety on our Sand Lake hike. For Grove of the Patriarchs, I thought a step ahead and brought a bag. Unfortunately, I didn't think ahead any more steps and through my book investigations later that day, concluded that I had found a Cascade Russula, edible with a mild peppery taste, as well as a Death Cup. Not a trick name but actually one of the most poisonous mushrooms there is. Next time, I will remember to bring separate bags so that I can safely indulge.
Our Grove walk was combined with a walk to Silver Falls, another small trail across the way. These water falls run into the same Ohanapecosh River that runs through the groves and was some of the most crystalline water I have ever seen. This is because it sources purely from snowfall and clear glacial ice from nearby inactive glaciers. Were the glaciers active, the water would be cloudier from moving sediment.
We ate lunches by the waterfall and moved to a quiet place upstream to have a reflection time on some of the first days in the school earlier in the week. The overall sentiments were "chaotic and unprepared, but lots of enthusiasm from the community." It has been reassuring to hear of other's wobbly footing before I have had to start but I am also getting anxious to meet the kids in the area, as there are already some pointed characters from years past that everyone else has had an opportunity to engage with.
Our next days were a combination of work and play. To review the basic skeleton of rules set in place for the teen center, we brainstormed our own rules on paper and instead of popcorn style, shared them snowball style via a ridiculous paper ball fight. We had a more intense learning on Friday when we were introduced to the ins and outs of the Love and Logic 40 Assets approach to youth work which aims to encourage and enhance innate strengths in kids as opposed to punish for faults and weaknesses. The structure identifies 40 factors that play an instrumental role in cultivating conditions for a childs growth, subdivided into internal and external factors. I began to sweat over it a little as our mentor Dennis talked about being conscientious of how we can integrate these into our curriculum at every corner before reminding myself that they were just ways of identifying common sense. After our lessons for the day, we fine-tuned our aspirations for the group in the form of a choppy, ghetto-poetic written agreement and then balanced out the day with some good old Jeopardy and a combined effort smorgasboard potluck lunch (I took the opportunity to continue to try and make a dent in my squash surplus that still exists from the farm.
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| Tensions are high! |
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| Corey's attempt at stealthily getting us the lead. Instead, he just managed to give our team color a makeover. |
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| Meghann receives the answers to our final question: What state is the 40 assets Search Institute based out of. Amused by our attempt to garner a bonus for listing the state capitol, governor and his hometown. |
That night, I experienced my first football game....I think, ever. (Yeah, I challenge anyone else to pull that off growing up a block away from a significant stadium!) The Morton Whitepass Timberwolves VS the Adna Pirates, apparently long-time rivals. I am going to have to work up a reserve of team-color-attire for these events because it is no joke in this town.
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| First Field goal of the night! |
I caught onto the essentials pretty quickly. Root for Timberwolves (green and orange). Four tries to make 10 yards. Reset every 10 yards made. 6 points for a touchdown plus 1 for a field goal. Macho body smacks are a thing. Cheerleading chants: Push up, push up fight fight fight! And just be really enthusiastic. The hardest part for me was finding the ball. With all those stops and goes, that thing moves everywhere!
I gotta admit, I felt a rush for the team when they bolted for the 50-yard mark but I am still not sold on the whole aggression thing. I'll don my colors, though.
We left at the beginning of the last quarter to go back to Corey's for a bonfire, but we didn't miss much. The game ended with the same score as when we left. 55-6, home game. Go Timberwolves!
More good food and bonding continued on Saturday when a number of members from Morton took me up on my invitation to break the fast with me for Yom Kippur. I shared a very abridged and amateur summary of the holiday and got to share in my favorite portion of the closing service from back home: the Debbie Friedman Havdalah melody which we all sway to with the lights turned off.
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| I went down the wrong forest road in search of a Yom Kippur hike that day, but did find a beautifully clear stream to do Tashlich in. Also, found out today that Packwood water is sources from Packwood lake in the mountains. Snazzy. |
Then on Monday, more celebration. Nora kicked off our AmeriBirthdays by turning 24 and we celebrated at the Morton house with carrot cake, cider and ice cream and a good heaping side of frosting (and Chris' green goo which had by then, been ''recycled'' three times in an attempt to finnish it off from potluck numero uno.)
It has been so refreshing and uplifting to be a part of such and inclusive and well rounded group. Bonding in large group settings has always been a challenge for me because it takes me a while to warm up and often I am left in the dust of various cliques or fast bonds that I have just never had a knack for. But in this case, it seems as though we are all moving at the same pace and no one is getting written off. I am happy to be a part of this AmeriFamily.
As for the work side of things, I have been developing a rapidly expanding cluster of opportunities, roles and ideas this past week and have been hard at work in garnering a ''local status''.
At the beginning of the week, Mary and I attended a meeting for the Packwood Improvement Club. In addition to meeting some of the much talked-about faces of Packwood, I got the scoop on all of the upcoming events to put on our radar, got roped into a couple and got a taste of the small town drama that comes with the territory. It was quite interesting to listen to some of the pre-meeting discussions. An older woman with a brash, matter-of-fact attitude got into a lengthy sermon of advice about the best ways to shoot, maim or otherwise dispose of unwanted critters on your property. Terms like ''flip your lid'', ''jumped my shits'' and ''boiler plate ideas'' pop up everywhere as small reminders that we are not slapped with the fast-moving time of modernity. There is a sense of ''out there'' versus ''in here'' and it is a bit strangely...cozy. The banters of the meeting itself had its own flare also, from impassioned monologues about the principles and values of what the group must represent to heated debates on obscure topics such as what to do with an $18,000 outdoor toilet. There was name dropping and gossip and sarcastic, frustrated remarks about the slow-moving meeting but it was all met with an overtone of endearment and humor for one another.
The faces of the few businesses and establishments in the town are some of the most active community members so the week was also spent networking around the town. Mary and I attended church on Sunday and introduced ourselves. We had met with the warm-hearted interum pastor Lynn early in the week and she had suggested we come by, especially after hearing my idea for a community garden which she thought some church members could help with.
While we were cautioned that the church's thinking was rather conservative, Lynn brought a chipper balance of open-minded frankness to the service and included a small group discussion time about our acceptance of diversity in our own lives.
Many people were excited about the garden idea and the name Gretchen, this elusive organic gardener, was thrown at me for a zillionth time.
The rest of the week included conversations with the library about a homework help and game nights, an exciting meeting about the upcoming community picnic, a couple of side-job possibilities, and an introduction into my new position as part of PMRAY (Pacific Mountain Regional Alliance for Youth), a cross-sector collaboration of Lewis County organizations that is developing a massive database and multitude of projects for improvement of youth's futures. In addition to various projects I will help with, I am also going to be the primary secretary, meaning meeting minutes etc. I am using pens and notepads over 50% of my day, I swear. And feeling very "adult."
These are exciting times, these unfolding weeks. Ideas for projects, events, hikes, crafts are swarming my head it is both overwhelming and a relief to have so many fresh things to focus on. I am anxious to begin my primary position at the open gym next Monday and meet all of the kids of the community but in the mean time, these past few weeks have gradually settled me into calling this place home.
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