krystapanga

What to do with my produce?

2011-08-22T07:40:00.000-07:00

I've been writing some blogs for work at Mountain Valley Seed Co..Here's my latest one.

So is anyone else having trouble keeping up with the produce in their garden? I’m so excited for harvest season- you finally get to see the fruits (literally) of all your labors! My tomatoes are finally changing color, the basil is getting bushier, I’ve been harvesting beans and cucumbers the last month or so, my peppers are going crazy and now I’ve got zucchini to deal with…. Along with the steady supply of kale, chard, beets, micro greens and carrots supplied in my CSA from BUG Farms, I’ve started falling behind in actually eating and preserving all of this nutritiousness.

And it’s just the beginning of harvest season!

So what to do? Tell me. How do I keep all this stuff from going to waste? Eat more veggies right? And maybe do some canning or something? Right. But it’s not that easy, as I’m sure you all know. Don’t get me wrong, I do my fair share of veggie crunching, but you can only eat so many raw veggies before needing a change in texture. Let’s face it, a lot of veggies taste better when they’re cooked or prepared in interesting and delicious ways. That’s why humans invented the art of cooking- and it is an art! As much time as we’ve all spent on our garden, now we’ve got to put just as much effort into cooking, preserving, freezing, drying and eating our yummy fruits and veggies.

So let’s make a deal and help each other. I’ll share some recipes if you share yours!

Together we will become culinary artists of the masterful kind.

Here are some ideas I’ve come up with so far:

Fresh Bruschetta- one of my all time favorites!

Baguette, olive oil, fresh mozzarella, garden fresh tomatoes and basil leaves, salt, pepper.

Slice fresh baguette, brush or rub with olive oil, add a slice of fresh mozzerella, tomato, salt and pepper. Put basil leaves on top. Enjoy!

Shredded Beet and Carrot Salad

I haven’t tried this one yet, but I have a lot of beets and carrots to eat. Doesn’t it look beautiful? Check out the link. I think adding apples to this would be delicious.

Kale Chips

Put parchment paper or aluminum foil on baking pan. Chop stems off kale, chop in smaller pieces if you’d like. Drizzle and toss with olive oil. Add salt and pepper to taste or Cajun seasoning. Bake at 400 F until crispy or desired texture. About 15-20 min.

Sauteed beans and greens

Chop and string beans, chop off stems and chop up kale, chard, pok choi and/or spinach greens. Saute garlic first in butter or oil, then add beans. After 5 min add greens. Saute for about 5-10 more min, just until wilted and bright green- don’t over cook.

Veggie Lasagna with Zucchini and Chard

I made this last week and it was amazing! The recipe is in “Vegetarian Cooking for Everyone” by Deborah Madison I substituted the eggplant for zucchini.

Pickles, “Dilly Beans” and Pickled Peppers

I use this recipe for all three except I add a spicy pepper per jar, grape leaves (1-2 per jar) and sometimes powdered alum (these two help keep them crunchy). I like to cut the cucumbers into spears and cut off the ends. The beans I cut off the ends. The peppers I put in the jar whole.

Here’s a great resource I found about freezing, drying, canning and storing produce from Wasatch Community Gardens…

Also some good canning and preserving info from Utah State University Extension.

I need to do more freezing. And get a bigger freezer. Freezer salsa is next on the list!

Ok, now it’s your turn. What do you do with all of your produce?

News from the pumpkin

2011-08-12T13:28:00.001-07:00

So let me start off by saying….I feel a little embarrassed. Maybe that’s why I haven’t written for a while.

Here’s what my “giant” pumpkin looks like right now:

And here’s what an experienced giant pumpkin grower’s giant pumpkin looks like right now:

The bees are doing there job, so that’s not the problem.

I’m just a little behind…What can I say, I’m a beginner at growing gigantic pumpkins. And I got a late start this spring….Hey, we all learn from our mistakes. Before you throw me a pity party, let’s remind ourselves that my goal was to grow a pumpkin boat, which if I’m not being too idealistic, I think I might be able to pull off with maybe 200-300 lb pumpkin. Maybe. The experienced pumpkin growers, like the one growing the beautiful pumpkin above, on the other hand, are looking to grow a record breaking pumpkin- upwards of 1000 lbs! So hey, let’s not give up hope for my little pumpkin quite yet. I’ve still got some time right? Even if it frosts in September as it sometimes does, I’ve got a whole month of growth left.. If mine grows as fast as most giant pumpkins do, I think I should be able to pull off at least a tiny version of a giant pumpkin in comparison….If the frost stays away till October, which it sometimes does, I might even still have a chance at growing that pumpkin boat I’ve been dreaming about. Who knows?

Keep your fingers crosses and let’s wait and see!

Lessons from the giant pumpkin:

-Get a head start. Build a hoop house; start the pumpkin in the hoop house in April.

-Be diligent about training the vines (let the main vine grow straight down the middle, and carefully but diligently bury the secondary vines to help grow more roots and bring up more nutrients from the soil). I started doing this, but haven’t kept up with it…giant pumpkin growing can be a full time job. Already have one of those:)!

-Don’t grow anything else in your pumpkin patch
(you can see in my picture that I let some volunteer tomatoes and other squash grow in the same space [remember all of that fresh compost I added to my new garden? looks like it was full of seeds!] – they’re doing well but taking nutrients away from the pumpkin plant).

-Don’t give up hope! Keep fertilizing and maintaining your pumpkin patch even if you get behind:)

-Krystal

It's Alive!

2011-06-07T20:28:00.000-07:00

Ok folks, I think we're getting somewhere...
Look!

YAY!

Now if this sun would stick keep on stickin' around, we'll be in business...
Giant pumpkin, don't fail me now. Stay tuned for future progress!

In the meantime, here's a cute little story I wrote a week or two ago. Enjoy.

One day my seed sprouted! (remember my seed?)
I believe it was a Friday. In May. Possibly the 13th of May even... Hooray!

I shoveled some compost.
I turned the soil. Then I raked it in.

I finished my garden bed!
I planted my giant sprouted seed. It was a beautiful sunny day.

I planted my seed inside a warm and cozy wall of water.
I planted another un-sprouted seed next store. Just in case...

Then It rained. And it rained some more.
The sun was hiding.
And it was cold.
And it rained some more.
I checked my wall of waters every day. No green leaves popping out of the soil yet...

I bought a couple more seeds. Just in case...and started them inside.
And I waited. and waited...
Still no green.

I started germinating a few more seeds inside. Just in case....

And me and my seed have been waiting....Still waiting...
Waiting for the sun...to warm up the soil.
Still sitting here, patiently. Waiting for the sun.
Maybe that's what hoop houses are for?
Sunshine, oh sunshine, please come back!

My Ginormous pumpkin- episode 2

2011-05-13T14:45:00.000-07:00

Day....13 Ok, so here's the update on my giant pumpkin: no germination. What?! This is why I write the blog- and you guys read it. So you can NOT do what I did. Right? Right.

So as you may have read, I tried germinating one of my two gigantic pumpkin seeds in some potting soil on top of the fridge. After a couple of pretty gloomy days (remember last week?), I decided to move the pot near our south facing window when we were expecting some sunny days (finally!). Another couple days go by and...nothing. I knew the soil temperature probably wasn't the ideal warmth that pumpkin seeds prefer, but I figured a week and it would get there. Day 7, still nothing. This is when I decided I needed to get a little more serious about this. So I decided to give in and do what the President of the Utah Pumpkin Growers Association (Andrew Israelsen, one of his seeds I am growing) does with his seeds- put the pot inside a cooler with 2 quart jars of warm water to get the soil temperature up and encourage faster germination. I even added a home made heating pad for extra warmth (you know those been filled bags you put in the microwave?). This would surely work!

The 4 " pot is the pumpkin seed, the other two are some herbs I started germinating the same day.

I used this method for two days and still....nothing. How could this be possible? Not being scientific enough I am sure. What can I say, I'm more intuitive than scientific, I admit it. Well, I couldn't take it any more, so decided to dump the pot(literally) and try the elementary school method instead: wet paper towel in a zip lock (unsealed for air flow). When I looked at the seed it had not begun to sprout at all! Okay paper towel, don't fail me now. I decided to add my second pumpkin seed in the same damp paper towel, about 3 inches apart. It's been 3 days since the I've done this...Andrew's take 4 days to germinate so maybe tomorrow is my lucky day? My plan is to transplant them both outside once they germinate. I will warm the soil around them with milk jugs filled with water to create a mini greenhouse effect. Maybe I'll even cover them with some clear plastic.

In the meantime, I still have the new garden space to deal with...So this is what I did on Sunday:

I dug up the other half of my "garden space" (the other side of the wheelbarrow in the picture). The weather was actually perfect for the pick axing, shoveling, hauling and raking required- ominous rain clouds in the distance, overcast skies, and a cool, gentle breeze. Ahh, nothing like pick axing rocks for three hours on a sunday morning, i don't think it would be accurate to call it rocky "soil." Some sand and lots of rocks is more like it. :)
To be honest, it kind of made me feel like one of the dwarves in disney's Snow White.

Except where they were in fact digging in rock to find sparkly gemsI was just trying to make soil out of rocks. Most of the time I felt like grumpy. Now I understand why grumpy was so grumpy- blisters on your hands, back breaking swings, dirt down your back, rock dust in your eye...This pick axing business is not easy. So maybe a tiller would've been way easier- but I think it would've broken in about 5 sec. Maybe if I had a tractor...Since I don't...

The chickens decided that they wanted to help, so while I was swinging my pick axe with all of my strength, I had to dodge chicken heads that were racing each other to eat the worms in the earth I had just loosened. Brave chickens. Or maybe just stupid. More likely. They do scratch around a little and add some fertilizer here and there, so I suppose I'll give them some credit for helping right? I'm just glad I didn't gouge one with the axe.

Once I did all the loosening I could do (which ended up probably only being about six inches deep, if even), I sifting out fist sized rocks, some left over asphalt crumbles, big roots, and misc. trash like strips of plastic bag, candy wrappers and pieces of rotting boards (if you ever see our house, you will accept that it has an unusual history and pieced together landscaping design at best). Anyways, once I raked it out all the "soil" into a long rectangle shape and leveled it out, I measure it. About 8' x 25'. That should do it eh? The bigger question is: does this soil have enough nutrients and root space to grow a gigantic pumpkin? Guess we'll find out. I added 6 bags of top soil (1.5 cubic feet) and 1 bag of eco compost that I got from Home Depot. This is a constant balancing act that I am doing- how much am I willing to spend to grow a giant pumpkin? Seeing as I work two part time jobs and don't make an executive's salary, as little as possible. So far I've spent about $20 on soil and compost. For the size of the space, I could've spent 4 times that plus delivery fee. The soil could use a lot more love, but I'm hoping that once I add the compost from last year's compost pile (rich with year old chicken manure, egg shells and veggie scraps) that should be enough to grow a plant. Maybe even a giant plant?

I've got to fix the flax tire on the wheelbarrow first. Then empty the rocks. Then shovel compost.

After that I can:

-Add on new irrigation tubes
-Fix the timer wire that I pick axed through
-Build a hoophouse, buy some wall-o-waters, or drink a lot more milk
-Plant the seeds (which hopefully will have germinated)

Did you know that today's Friday the 13th? Day 13?! Am I jinxing myself?

Watch for next week's update!

Krystal

My Ginormous Pumpkin

2011-05-01T20:11:00.000-07:00

So the time has come: for giant pumpkin growing! I went to the Giant Pumpkin growing class at Mountain Valley Seeds on Saturday and now I am ready. Well...so maybe that's not completely true. Let's just say I'm a little more ready than I was on Friday. At least I've got a seed to grow; two in fact. One is from the state record holder last year: Mconkie, and the other is from Israelsen, the winner from the year before. I'm going to do a little experimenting....
I still need to prep a garden space big enough to grow a giant pumpkin (minimum 6' x 8'), which in my backyard requires loosening compacted rocky soil that was once underneath asphalt, then adding more topsoil and compost to make the soil grow-able, then extending the drip lines to cover the new garden space, then building a fence to keep the chickens out. After that I need to warm up the soil, by either covering it with some clear plastic or building a hoop house, as recommended by Andrew Israelsen, teacher of the class I went to and president of the Utah Pumpkin Growers Associatio n. Also owner of one of the gigantic seeds that I got from Mountain Valley to grow.

I was so excited after I got home from the workshop on Saturday that I finished digging up the asphault (which was mostly already done thanks to our neighbor Tim; we share a backyard) and started loosening the rocky soil underneath with a pick axe. After about 3 or 4 hours of digging, sifting out big rocks, shoveling and raking out soil, my hands were pretty sore so I called it a day. Today we did a bunch of weeding in my vegetable garden (which is on the NorthWest side of our house and in the front yard...a space probably only about 4' x 12'- not big enough (or concealed enough) to grow a majestic ginormous pumpkin fit enough for a boat.
That's right, a pumpkin boat. That's my goal. So I may not grow a 1167 lber Utah state record holder, but my ultimate goal is not about weight, it's about size. All I need is a pumpkin big enough to make a boat and sit inside (still a few hundred pounds I suppose- we will see). Ever since I saw a giant pumpkin boat race in Damariscotta, Maine in 2008, I've had a secret desire to grow a giant pumpkin and race it. Now's my chance. I've got the seed. I've got the space (with a little more work) and I've got a friend to race (Carly- it.

So here's the seed. This one is the israelsen:

Today I planted it in a four inch pot in some organic seed starter mix with some compost and kelp meal mixed in. I put it on top of my fridge to germinate.

My other seed, the McConkie (state winner last year and new record holder) I am thinking about germinating without soil (you know the same way we did in elementary school- in a damp paper towel on top of a fridge) then planting directly in the ground once the danger of frost has passed- mid may?

We will see which plant does better. I have always heard that pumpkins (and most cucurbits) prefer to be planted directly in the ground, but Mr. Israelsen transplants his...when it comes to giant pumpkins I am willing to experiment. Wish me luck!

Updates to follow.

Krystal mae

Chicken Love

2010-06-10T21:32:00.000-07:00

Best idea ever...

eating local chicken eggs
at a local brewery
touring local chicken coops
in local people's backyards
and learning how to raise your own chickens
so you can have your very own local chicken eggs.

I heart chickens. and chicken alarm clocks.

Yay for Chicken Week!

In memorial deja vu

2010-05-31T15:18:00.000-07:00

My grandmas are gone.
Both of them.

I haven't written once since last year, when my mom's mother died. It happened on May 18th, mid morning, at what my mom and most of the local nurses call the "Death Star" (otherwise known as the Intermountain Medical Center in Murray).

This year, here I am again because yet again, on May 18th, at the "Death Star," mid morning, my grandma died. This time it was my dad's mom...Is this some kind of crazy trick? Both grandmas gone within one year? After they've been around your entire life?! It's quite a shock to say the least.

Death is one of those things you know is going to happen sometime, and we expect it to happen sooner or later, particularly to our elderly loved ones, but that doesn't mean it doesn't come as a surprise when it actually happens. Or makes it any less hard to face.

grandma great with her grandchildren ella and callynn, august 2009

My Grandma Rogers was going to live forever. She was 87 years old, but I always thought she would keep on living forever. Grandma rogers was in relatively good health and good spirits whenever I saw her, which made me believe she was invincible and would always be around.

She had always been independent and mobile; she still lived in the same house where she raised her three kids; the house I always knew as grandma rogers' house. This was the same house she cared for her sick husband (my grandmpa) during the last three years of his life. The same house we could never find her at later because she kept herself so "busy busy busy". The same house we would take turns going to on Saturdays growing up: we'd help grandma do a project, like painting or cleaning, weeding or planting the tomatoes and marigolds in the backyard. It wouldn't be a very long project (until we got a little older) and when we were finished we would spend the rest of the day doing fun things.
Everything was better at grandma's house. She had games we didn't- like croquet and badmitten, skip bo and uno, boggle and yahtzee. And always had a cookie jar full of cookies. We'd go out to get lunch at KFC or Article circle (which was a big treat to an 8 year old and places my parents rarely took us), then we'd bring it home and eat it on grandma's plates with grandma's sliverwear and wash it down with grandma's sprite in grandma's cups with grandma's colorful bendy straws. Sometimes we'd even have a picnic on the back patio with the AstroTurf floor. When grandpa was still alive, but sick in his hospital bed at home, we would go get banana shakes for all of us, and we'd help give grandpa his banana shake out of a bendy straw- I think that's why she always had them around, but maybe it's because they were fun for us too. Banana shakes are still my favorite.

Even years later, after we'd all grown up, I'd moved away and come back, she'd still keep herself busy. On more than one occasion I would drop by her house to visit and she wouldn't be home! It was hard to find her at home because she was always out and about having lunch dates with her sisters, bingo games at the senior center, volunteering with the Utah Daughters of the Pioneers, seeing plays at the Hayl Center Theatre, or going on weekend bus trips...I honestly don't know what all my grandma did everyday except that she somehow managed to also keep her house spotless and tidy, her yard weeded and mowed, and she would faithfully ride her stationary bike every morning for half an hour. She also was very conscious of her nutrition, cooked herself balanced meals (many in her crockpot), went to church every Sunday and played lots of cards with my aunt Janet and Janet's friend Brenda...

Some of my favorite memories of grandma are from the holidays: 4th of July, Thanskgiving and Christmas. Almost every Christmas, grandma would take us to the Hayl Center Theatre to see "A Christmas Carol" matinee together. The same actor played Scrooge for years and grandma was so impressed with him every year and would tell us, year after year "He was soooo good! Can you believe he jumped up on that bed like that? He's just soooo talented! I can't believe that man can do things like that..." Then every year without fail, though the story didn't change, grandma would jump when jacob marley's ghost showed up on the door. And we would all laugh together. Afterward we would always go out to eat at a local chain diner like Applebees or Chile's.

On Christmas eve, we drove to Grandma Rogers' house- she had little white lights in her front window and her rainbow colored tree in the living room with her shiny ball ornaments mixed with kids' ornaments and icicles that Janet and the grand-kids had helped put up a couple of weeks before. There was always lots of food that always included shrimp appetizer over cream cheese dip, baked beans, funeral potatoes with cornflakes on top, rolls for turkey or ham and cheese sandwiches, a veggie tray with dip, and olives and pickles (sweet and dill though I think my grandma was the only one that ever ate the sweet ones). Just like Thanksgiving, there would be as many sweets for dessert as there were main dishes for dinner. After our feast, we would gather in the living room to hear the story of Christ. When we were little we would dress up as different characters from the nativity and recreate the story of christ's birth while someone read the story from the bible. When we got older, we stopped dressing up, but would still read the story (even though some of us didn't go to church anymore), open presents with grandma and our aunts, uncle, and cousins and sometimes even sing Christmas carols. Even though grandma didn't have an amazing singing voice, she was never shy to sing. Grandma always kept the Christ in Christmas.

Thanksgiving was the other holiday where we would spend some special time with grandma. The granddaughters (Cass, Beth and I) would sleep over at grandma's house the night before Thanksgiving with the task of making dessert. Not just one dessert, however, but a whole slew of desserts ranging from fudge and rice krispies (staple grandma treats) to carrot pudding, pie and anything else we could find from the LionHouse cookbook. And of course not just one pie; we always had to have pumpkin and then usually at least two other flavors: typically apple and pecan. We would stay up late making dish after dish, playing cards and games while waiting for the baked goods to be done. Then we'd wake up "early" the next morning to help make all the savory dishes. By the time we rolled out of bed, probably around 8 or 9 (early for us grand daughters) grandma would have already showered and primped, basted, stuffed and started roasting the turkey and would be joyfully humming while starting on another dish. She would make sure that we slept well and would offer us something to eat for breakfast, then we would get right to work making all the preparations before the rest of the family showed up at 1pm for Thanksgiving dinner: cutting up lettuce for the sarah salad, peeling yams and potatoes for mashed potatoes and marshmallow yams...Even when I didn't come home for Thanksgiving for a few years during college, I would still keep her traditions and make sure that everyone had plenty of desserts to choose from, including carrot pudding.

For the 4th of July, we loved going over to grandma's. The night before there was usually a big fireworks show at Granite High School by her house. We would all pack our lawn chairs and blankets and grandma would bring us snacks like cracker jacks, popcorn balls and salt water taffy. We would all stake out a spot among the crowds of families on the grass, then talk and wait until it got dark and the fireworks came. It seemed like they lasted for hours; we would guess what color was coming next and make jokes and laugh a lot. Grandma was always laughing with us. On the 24th of July, a state holiday here in Utah, we would go to a pioneer parade in the morning which usually invovled lots more sweets and laughs, and then that night we would go over to grandma's house to light sparklers and fountain fireworks in front of her house. All of us kids, especially the boys, would be out in the street lighting things while the adults would sit in lawn chairs on the side walk and grandma would be worrying the whole time "be careful kurty" "oh, not so close" "Hurry hurry hurry." We had a bucket of water close by to ease grandma's nerve's a little. Even though she was worried sick and honestly probably hated watching the little kids lighting things on fire, she knew it made us happy and so let us do it every time, giving us gentle words of loving caution before the lighting of each one. We laughed at her worried-ness and she laughed too saying" you're worrying your poor old grandma". I realized later that was one of grandma's greatest traits-she knew how to laugh at herself. Not in a self-loathing way, but in a fun and loving way that kept things silly and entertaining for us children.

Looking through pictures of grandma after she died, I realized that holidays, birthdays, weddings and graduations were the times when we would see our grandma the most. But she would always do her best to make it to other events of ours too, no matter how small. When I was probably 12 my grandma came to some softball games when my parents were still at work; when I was on the highschool cross country team she showed up to some of my races when no one else could (even though I was only on junior varsity). Whenever I had art shows in high school, or even middle school, she would come to see my work and when I won an award from the governor, she even made the effort to show up at the capitol to congratulate me. When my mom and I sang in the church choir for christmas, she always came to the performance. Then, when I graduated college, which was not conveniently located in downtown Salt Lake City, but way up in rural, progressive Arcata, California, five hours North of the San Francisco Bay up in the redwood forests and foggy coastlines with hippy college students abounding, she flew on a small, bumpy, crowded propeller airplane, (one of the adventures of her life I am told) to make it all the way up there and see me walk to receive my degree. She even came to a little party afterwards and listened to my friends and I sing folk songs and play the guitar at one of their crazy student hippy college houses.

I know she did things like this for all of us grandkids; she cared about us and she knew how to make us feel special, loved and important.

My grandma loved me very much. Apparently she worried about me a lot too (I hope I didn't cause her too much grief) during all of my crazy international and backcountry adventures, but even though she didn't always understood why I choose to do the things I do, or even knew the full extent of what I was really doing, she always supported me and made an effort to show interest in the things I cared about. She even sent me an e-mail a few times when I was away to keep in touch, even though we all knew she never had a fondness for computers.

I love my grandma and I'm grateful that we got to spend 28 years together! She helped take care of me from the time I was a baby with my twin brother and she has very much helped to shape the person I have become. I will miss her dearly and hope I can carry on her legacy by following the example that she led.

Some traits I inherited from my grandmother:
-A big sweet tooth
-A love for baking and cooking
-A love for gardening
-the ability to get my hands dirty
-hard work
-pride in my pioneer heritage
-making decisions carefully (aka indecisiveness)
-getting along with everyone
-making an effort to make sure everyone is included
-kindness
-dislike for medication
-determination to do things on my own

Things I learned from my grandma:
-what the "soft ball" stage is in fudge making
-how to make the best flaky pie crust-->buy it.
-laugh at yourself
-gardening gloves restrict your work
-it's important to make people feel comfortable
-make sure others are taken care of before yourself
-take the scenic route; avoid the freeway
-patience (have you ever made carrot pudding?)
-hide valuables in unlikely places: garage door opener in the pantry, purse in the dryer, rings in the clock and cash in the dictionary.
- pull the weeds, don't spray them
-plant marigolds and tomatoes in your garden
-thinning beets is hard work
-strategy
-how to play skip-bo, uno, 5 crowns, Yahtzee, croquet and badmitten
-how to use a calculator
-wash a stain with cold water and soap before you put it in the washing machine
-be accepting
-be cautious
-be caring
-be smart

Things I admired in my grandma:
-Her faithfulness to her beliefs
-Her willingness to do what needed to be done without complaint
-she was always on time or early
-Her good attitude
-Her determination
-Her loving-kindness towards others
-Her sense of humor
-Her joy in simple pleasures
-her love and dedication to family
-her openness to things she didn't necessarily agree with or understand
-her pride in her hometown of draper and her farm-girl upbringing
-her respect for herself and for others
-her bravery to stand up for what she wanted, especially during those last days
-her courage to live the life she wanted to live and accept death when it came

Things I will miss:
-her smile
-her laugh
-her sweet face with her mascaraed blue eyes and splotchy mauve lipstick
-her ability to lose an entire game, then come up from behind at the last minute and win
-her freckled arms and hands with her opal flower ring and small gold watch
-her perfectly curled, orange-dyed hair and her matching painted on eyebrows
-the way she walked, so deliberately and steadily in her square heeled shoes
-Her insistence on avoiding the freeway at all costs
-Her stories, especially of the family farm in draper
-Her strength of character
-Her positive spirit
-Her endurance and energy
-my grandma

So I just keep telling myself, death is a part of life. At the end, we kind of knew my grandma was about to die, so I kind of expected her to leave me with some profound message or advice, but when she didn't I realized that she didn't need to. She said so much more not in any final words, but in how she lived her life. Life is about spending time together with your family, enjoying the simple times together and making sure to laugh along the way.

You truly were the best grandma ever. I hope I can be like you when I'm 87.

We'll miss you!

In memory of my grandma

2009-05-24T11:28:00.000-07:00

Marjorie Lois Riches Hunter

life is like compost. you live, you die, then new life grows...

like grandma's 37 grand kids and 37 great grand kids.

Callynn Georgianna Henry
my new little niece:)

memories of grandma:

-endless creamies after swimming parties with my cousins in the backyard pool
-waiting for grandma to finish her water "aerobics" in her pool when we came over to swim.
-showing off on the diving board, playing marco polo, and going down the slide over and over and over.
-the jungle of raspberries in the backyard from where we picked hundreds of raspberries for grandma's scrumptious raspberry sherbet.
-grandma's zucchini soup made from grandpa's homegrown zucchini. the scandanavian silver soup spoons and ceramic soup bowls with one finger-sized handle on the side.
-her sewing room packed with all sorts of treasures and trinkets including the nesting russian dolls I would play with for hours and the stationary bike we would play on: one kid on one pedal holding on to one side of the handle bar, the other on the other pedal on the other side of the handle bar. somehow that never stopped being hilariously fun.
-her amazing laugh amidst all the chaos of the hunter family
-her sass with our stubborn and domineering grandpa
-her elaborate native american turqoise jewlery
-her facsination with my veggie habits.
-the big manual camera she lugged around on all of our many national park summer vacations with the hunter caravans which also included cb radios, action packers, and musical sing alongs.
-her sincere interest in my adventures and endeavors- she actually read most of my blogs.
-her interest in politics and sports impressed me. She wasn't sure how she felt about Obama; evertime I went to visit she would ask me what I thought about him and I'd tell her how I had faith in him and that he gives hope to our country. I think she liked him too.
-her love of her grandkids. About a week ago we noticed an embroidered sign above her door that said "grandkids are the reward for not killing your children." When we commented on that she laughed and said, "I think it's true."

love you grandma

I love my job

2009-04-28T21:54:00.000-07:00

It's true.
I really love my job.
Even when I have a bomb lesson with energetic 1st graders that have a really hard time paying attention for more than 5 seconds... overall, I still love my job.

I work at a garden.
Part of my job is to grow plants. to eat. then teach kids how to grow plants. to eat.
then I find other people who know way more about growing food than i do, and hook them up with a workshop so they can teach a whole bunch of adults how grow plants. to eat.
it's pretty great. and it makes me happy.
honestly, there's not much else that I can think of that brings people together better than food. can you?

...i just wrote a blog post about herbs. I did it for my job. and cause I love herbs.

it's true.
I love my job. and I love herbs.
I feel pretty happy about that.
For those of you that know I graduated from Humboldt, no, not that kind of herb.
just kitchen herbs. like mint. and lemon balm. and basil.
yup.
food and herbs.
yum.

back to the homeland & the birth of a renewed nation

2009-01-22T19:45:00.000-08:00

http://morningnoonandnight.files.wordpress.com/2007/09/beehive.jpg

so it's been a while I know.
so I move around a lot...
in the spirit of change that fills the air these days, I have felt inspired to again write in the blog.
(I am also currently looking for another employment opportunity, thus have more time on my hands than usual.) Since it has been a while, prepare yourself for a long read.

that's right...I've come back to the homeland:
slc, ut.
zion.
home of the pioneers.
the beehive state.
the busy bees.
the "mormons."

I'm actually proud of my heritage. usually.
hard work, dedication, perseverance, resourcefulness, self-reliance, sacrifice, love, compassion, moderation, service, kindness, standing up for your beliefs in the face of oppression...

Recently I have not felt so proud. prop 8 actually made me feel downright ashamed of who i am and where i come from...prop 8 really goes against all the values I just vouched for. well, just take a little comfort in this: it's not ALL mormons, and not ALL Utahns that supported prop 8.

For example, here is one Utahn, with a mormon heritage (who was actually still a resident of California and registered to vote in California during the last election), that voted AGAINST prop 8. I am now again a Utah resident and can stand by that decision, holding firm to the belief that it is wrong, plain wrong, to deny ANYONE the right to marry someone they love. regardless of your personal beliefs.

see? hope is alive.

anyways...back to the homeland.

it's actually been nice to be home. see the fam, see good friends, hang at grandma's cabin, see the mountains, see some Sundance films, play in the snow, ....

though yesterday we were declared as having the worst air quality in the country! that's right folks, worse than L.A.! unheard of. I guess even all the movie stars here for The Sundance Film Festival might've been having a hard time...Though I think up in Park City you might be high enough to get above "the inversion," so maybe they still have the illusion that they are having a refreshing holiday in the "fresh clean air?" wow, that's sad- worse than L.A.??
come on slc..."this is the place", right?

it's livable i guess. you either stay inside, or flee to the mountains( the snow really is great)
...or... get asthma.

like my mom. my mom usually sticks with the stay inside option. she's been watching Obama inauguration coverage and all the festivities for the past two days(in between work of course. she's a nurse, got to give her props for all her crazy hard work. she gets a ring for her 25 years of service at St. Mark's Hospital. good job mom.)

OBAMA IS PRESIDENT!!- Alhumdulilaay!!
(Praise be to God!! )

http://hugemagazine.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2008/02/shepard-fairey-barack-obama.jpg

I've been waiting to say that too long!...mom is currently watching (for the third time in a row) "America's song" celebrating the new administration. it was featured on Oprah yesterday...pretty hip thing to do for a life long republican eh?
(guess who she voted for? shhhh, don't tell.)

I am personally a fan of Michael Franti's "Obama Song," which debuted during the first show (in Montreal, Canada) of his current tour (where I happened to be the day of the election for a little french culture...and a contingency plan in case the election went bad:p)
It's a great song, check it out.

My dad even voted for Obama- so there is hope for a better future folks.
Utah'll be blue before ya know it!... Well don't hold your breath, but I'll see what I can do while I'm here:) I'm trying to tap into the "progressive community" here, there's some cool stuff going on.

Back to my mom, I think it wasn't til after watching Ed Begley Jr.'s reality show "Living with Ed" that mom decided she wanted to be an "environmentalist." and a democrat. Dad's still republican but I guess decided Obama was a better choice than McCain (and maybe he wanted to add a little splash of blue to our religiously red state this year?) Dad likes compact fluorescent light bulbs. He actually wanted to give them to the neighbors for Christmas presents this year...but didn't.

Mom watched the documentary "who killed the electric car" and got on the list to get one, but settled for a hybrid since she needed a new car (her old pontiac red racer finally called it quits). She proudly drives it everywhere and has even begun to watch Steven Colbert and John Stewart quite religiously... The point is, change is here! And Obama helped reel it in.

For the first time since I was old enough to vote, and really the first time in my life, I can stand in a foreign country and say "yes, I am American" without feeling ashamed, and can with confidence say that "yes, he is our president and I voted for him."

I believe in change. Change has come. and is coming. And we are a part of it!
HALLELUJAH! Barack Obama!

Okay, time for the Obama Song. Really, check it out. now.
.........................................................................................................................................................................

Even if you didn't vote for Obama, you have to admit, he inspires people!

Just look at the things he says. isn't this refreshing to say the least, to be hearing such things from our president? Here's a few favorites from his Inauguration speech.

in the shadow of the commemoration day of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.:

http://people.ku.edu/~kanning/images/martin.luther.king.jr.jpg

"The time has come to reaffirm our enduring spirit; to choose our better history; to carry forward that precious gift, that noble idea, passed on from generation to generation: the God-given promise that all are equal, all are free and all deserve a chance to pursue their full measure of happiness."

more of my favorites:

"Starting today, we must pick ourselves up, dust ourselves off, and begin again the work of remaking America."

"The question we ask today is not whether our government is too big or too small, but whether it works — whether it helps families find jobs at a decent wage, care they can afford, a retirement that is dignified. Where the answer is yes, we intend to move forward. Where the answer is no, programs will end."

"To those leaders around the globe who seek to sow conflict, or blame their society's ills on the West — know that your people will judge you on what you can build, not what you destroy. To those who cling to power through corruption and deceit and the silencing of dissent, know that you are on the wrong side of history; but that we will extend a hand if you are willing to unclench your fist. "

**"To the people of poor nations, we pledge to work alongside you to make your farms flourish and let clean waters flow; to nourish starved bodies and feed hungry minds. And to those nations like ours that enjoy relative plenty, we say we can no longer afford indifference to the suffering outside our borders; nor can we consume the world's resources without regard to effect. For the world has changed, and we must change with it. "

"What is required of us now is a new era of responsibility — a recognition, on the part of every American, that we have duties to ourselves, our nation, and the world, duties that we do not grudgingly accept but rather seize gladly, firm in the knowledge that there is nothing so satisfying to the spirit, so defining of our character, than giving our all to a difficult task. "

"With hope and virtue, let us brave once more the icy currents, and endure what storms may come."

"On this day, we gather because we have chosen hope over fear, unity of purpose over conflict and discord."

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090120/ap_on_go_pr_wh/inauguration_obama_text

These are real words. real hopes. real challenges. real commitment. real unity.

I am grateful.
I choose love over hatred. I choose acceptance over exclusion.

I choose hope over fear. I hope we call all choose hope over fear in every decision we make.

even in the homeland.

Sunburns at the Portland beach! sunshine!

2008-06-08T18:16:00.000-07:00

Willard Beach
South Portland, ME:)

Dav and Stina (friends from Cali and the Grand Canyon)

Emma:) Fellow Outdoor Classroom staff at Chewonki- I love this woman!
We are flare flamingos together:)

Barnicles! They are now one of my favorite sea creatures- have you ever seen them eat? They eat with their legs. and their legs are pink. can't get much cooler.

feet on the ferry

tide pools:) algae and mussels and crabs and periwinkles (sea snails) and green crabs and lots of great slippery seaweed:)

Maine Mazed Coast

2008-05-31T13:55:00.000-07:00

Introducing...
The Maine Coast!

I finally got my dad's old camera to work, so here are a few photos:)

This is the view from the Camden Hills- one of the only places on the Maine Coast around 1000 ' tall instead of 100 '. It's about an hour North of Wiscasset where I live:)
One of my housemates Ruthie and I went mountain biking and backpacking here last weekend!

The Maine coast is crazy cool; "wicked cool" would be the Maine lingo-lots of islands and inlets and crazy water ways and islands- the end of the last ice age 12,000 years ago...
left knobby hills and steep valleys and tonz of meltwater moving through valleys..

...this is how it was explained to me: the coast is a sponge that was compacted during glaciation and is slowly expanding upwards... I'm no geologist, but the coastline is pretty sweet eh?
Ruthie and our little home:)

View from our Tent...Europe's out there somewhere...

Flight of the bumble bee...or is it black fly? maybe mosquito?
the bugs were plentiful at sunset

Mountain Biking...sand, rocks, mud, rusty water pipes, you name it...Good times...

yay for trees.

yay for a view outside the trees:)

oh ya, the sun doesn't set over the ocean over here...Still gettin used to this East Coast stuff.

Girl time on the beach

This is me, Leah T., and Ruthie our friend and co-worker Emma's graduation last Sunday- We had to represent Chewonki love with plenty of flare for everyone:) Good times.

I'm keepin pretty busy, this is my last week of encampment before I go through wilderness trip training and life guard training- In July/August I'll be leading some 1 week canoe trips and a 3 week backpacking/canoe trip on the Appalachian trail...

Excited for a trip to Cali in about 2.5 weeks!
That's it for now, gotta go prep for my lessons for my last week of Outdoor Classroom of the Spring!

Wonderings and Wanderings

2008-04-22T19:53:00.000-07:00

HAPPY EARTH DAY!

I almost forgot. how ironic. I don't feel like I did anything super extraordinary to celebrate our mother earth today; my job is being an environmental educator, does that count as showing my appreciation for our ever-giving planet?

I have a feeling that teachers are chronically sleep deprived and therefore, quickly develop extreme dependencies on highly addictive substances.

like caffeine. and sugar...

hmmmm...I've stayed clear of coffee so far, which I am pretty proud of considering...
That little battle I might could deal with (bad grammar intentional), but this whole dialect of acronymese-a language I have detested since my frequent exposure to it in the Non Profit world...I don't know if I can handle much more of it...In the outdoor education field it seems to be creeping into my life more and more all the time...I was tossed a whole bunch more in my first aid class this weekend- HELP!

This week is a special week because I'm working with 1st and 2nd graders rather than 5th or 6th graders...they're excited about everything and go home at the end of each day rather than camping out with us for four days straight; a luxury. This week I am also working with Doug, a senior staff member from last year that knows what he's doing; yet another luxury....I'm learning lots and am feeling like I don't know what I'm doing most of the time, which can be kind of frustrating. Luckily with first graders who are on vacation camp, it's not too daunting- We mostly play fun games and do cool eco- activities outside all day...sounds easy right? Somehow this still takes lots o planning.

I'm learning that a lot of teaching, if not most of it, has to do with group management and lots and lots of forethought and planning-especially with 1st and 2nd graders- "oops, I peed my pants", "wait, I forgot my coat", "do you know where I put my water bottle?" "She pushed me" "I'm confused" "I need a bandaid" "I Lost my drawing and poem ( I somehow lost them already in the past 60 sec walking between point A and point B)"...

Any of you out there with pointers should feel free to share your infinite wisdom...
Especially about behavior modeling, positive language, discipline/consequences, and group facilitation.

Besides thinking about how to improve my teaching and facilitation skills, I'm feeling energized with the warmer weather- Maine is springing to life!
Flowers are emerging. Frogs are spawning and croaking like crazy!
Birds are nesting. Pastures are greening and vegetables are growing.
The sun lingers and a season of challenge and mystery awaits...

http://www.flickr.com/photos/ticklypig/2082452308/

Oh ya, went to Vermont this past weekend-super great place! Went to School for International Training for a grad school open house in Brattelboro, then a Wilderness First Aid Class in Burlington- fun cities. Lake Champlain is breathtaking. More reasons Vermont is cool: close to French Speaking Canada, they make REAL maple syrup, they're stoked on good cheese, and they have the fanciest rest stops I have ever seen in my life. Check this out. Plus, topography- hooray!

And, people are super friendly, eco-savvy, and I admit, a little hippish:) You can see past the endless and beautiful mixed forests to mountains + big chunks of rock in the medians along the highway.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/paulmoody/337938878/

I'm thinking about Grad school at School for International Training in Brattleboro maybe next year? They've got some really cool programs. They also are tres cher, so who knows what next year will bring...Thinking about Peace Corps or Fullbright, or maybe more teaching?
Anybody heard of cool programs?
Definitely have got the travel bug itchin' to get out and about in the near future....Would love to get back to West Africa to work with women/girls, dance and do art...am also hoping to get to South America for some dancing and Spanish lessons...Who knows?

Back in Time...

2008-04-06T19:37:00.000-07:00

So I moved! to Maine! It snows here. In April! It's finally melting- or so it seems...and mud is everywhere! One of the staff gave me yellow mud boots with bumble bees- that makes me smile.:)

Check out this interactive map of Maine! I'm still learning Maine geography, and history and everything else for that matter...Apparently they have annual dog sled races, sand castle contests, potato and blueberry blossom festivals, and I'm sure there's gotta be some kind of Lobster feed at some point during the year...

So I live on a "neck". at an environmental education institution. on a farm. in the woods. near a town called Wiscasset, about an hour north of Portland, in the state of Maine, on the East Coast of the United States of America.

Bye bye Sunny California! No more West Coast for me...at least not til November...Well actually, that's not quite true. Once I find an affordable plane ticket, I'll be flying out to California this summer to go to two weddings- four wonderful friends from Humboldt State: Lisa and Jesse, and Miles and Daniele!

I'm super psyched for that. I do miss my Oakland pals and my Warwick Palace and well, the diverse richness of the Bay...might comment more on that later...
All my love to my Oakland posse!

For now, I work for a place called the Chewonki Foundation. I think that's one of the funnest words to say ever. isn't it? try it: Che-wonk-ee:)
There are three meals every day that I don't have to cook. interesting. We eat together at round tables with different people every day: teachers, high school students, environmental education teachers, and other Chewonki staff day in and day out...
I live in a house with 7 other staff...The Warren House. That's next to the Betty Decker House and "Packout" - the magical place where all the gear and food for our encampments with kids lives...tents, peanut butter, tuna fish and wannagens- yes wannagens. I don't know if that's how you spell it, but I'm learning a whole new vocabulary living in Maine- such fun words they have here.
I'll explain about the wannagens later.

My life is getting more structured all the time...which means that it's 11:19 and I need to go to bed. it's past bedtime. still getting used to that. breakfast is at 7:15 every morning, meetings at 8, then staff training stuff til 5:30 for the next two weeks...then outdoor programs and lessons with kids five days a week...so it begins...the life of an outdoor educator.

I'm excited to start learning how to make lesson plans and scheming up fun ways to incorporate art and culture and creativity into environment and science lessons!
woopee:)

Now that I am super far from most everyone that I have ever been close with, maybe I'll want to write in my blog more often:)
And maybe all you people that love me will be motivated to write me cuz you'll know a little bit more about what I'm doing on a daily basis...(hint hint, write me comments and e-mails and stuff if'n ya wanto:)

lots of love!

okay, bed time for reals.
good night maine!

Vision Videos and Amazing Grace!

2008-01-14T00:36:00.000-08:00

First, have you ever wondered where the song amazing grace originated?
It's the most recognized hymn in the world I think...I always thought it was an African American Sprititual from the Southern U.S., but it actually was written by an Englishman slave ship merchant... Read about it here.
I just watched the movie "Amazing Grace", which is a British film "based on the life of anti-slavery pioneer William Wilberforce" in England. It's an amazing true story about a man who fought for the abolition of slavery for years in the time between the American and French Revolutions. Highly recommend it. Youssou N'Dour (our favorite Senegalese singer- remember, I met him backstage at his concert in SF a few weeks ago) plays a slave who bought his freedom and helps provide evidence for the inhumanness of slavery with his personal account about coming across the ocean on a slave ship and all the horrors he witnessed.

I think it's pretty cool that the film makers chose a respected, world renowned African man to play the part of the African slave.

Goree Island, off the coast of Dakar, Senegal, was on of the ports for the slave trade...and a place most Senegalese don't like to visit unless they are among the small community that lives there. I visited the house of slaves when I was in Dakar- they kept the slaves there on Goree Island in insanely cramped quarters (while their captors lived lavishly in the spacious quarters above them) before they were taken to the ships where they would go across the sea to experience even more cramped-ness, suffering and despair...
It was powerful to link both sides of the story and learn about a few amazing people who fought to abolish slavery in England...

The door of No Return, House of Slaves, Goree Island, Senegal

The movie is a great history lesson, but also sheds light on the fact that slavery does still exist today, especially for children in places like SouthEast Asia. This site has a list of organization partners and those working the end modern day slavery once and for all. For all the teachers out there, they also include discussion guides to supplement the movie. Pretty cool.

Besides watching movies, latley I've been working on finding my quest (and a new job.)
I'm getting close! I'm making a video about my personal vision for my life, which I'm really excited about! I'm almost done and will post it soon!

I learned how to make the video from a great presentation I went to last Thursday by a guy named Malcom Cohan- he's a crazy enthusiastic guy from Australia that came up with this easy, yet incredibly profound and creative exercise that helps people find their purpose, or quest, and help make our dreams reality!
that's him--------------------->

I know, sounds kind of bizzare impossible and maybe you even feel a little skeptical.
But I promise, it's magical and it works! If you don't believe me, try it yourself.
Or if you do believe me, definitely try it yourself.

Even if you don't believe me, watch Malcom's vision video for humanity here.

Start making your own movie here- you need to register, then he gives you all the software, online tutorials, and instructions to create your very own vision video=your own personal expression for what you truly want out of life. It's totally free! Detailed instructions here.

Info about some of his initiatives to help chronically depressed, elderly, disadvantaged youth, etc, go here.

Let me know what you think!

Any of you that were making vision boards for New Years with me have got to try this!
This is truly magical!

If you do make a video, please share it! Once other people know what your vision is, we can help each other make our visions into reality!

Into the Wild...and right back out again.

2007-12-30T23:48:00.000-08:00

So I'm in Utah- still!

The snow is beautiful, the roads are slippery, my friends and family are nice and fun.
I'm glad to be alive. I'm glad to have a break.

I have been having a nice time- look how beautiful it is here!

Sundial Peak and Lake Blanche, Big Cottonwood Canyon,
Wasatch Mountains, SLC, UT

Went snowshoing up this trail today with Jen, Mark, Lisa, and Cheryl:) So snowy!
(We didn't quite make it to the lake....)

Made some jewelry with mom.

I saw a great movie tonight with my aunt Janet- Into the Wild.
You should see it- I think you can rent it even.

You've probably heard of the book by Jon Krakauer

<-----------------------------------------------

(same guy that wrote Into thin air about Mt. Everest)

I haven't read it yet, but the movie was excellent as is the soundtrack
(songs by Eddie Vedder of Pearl Jam).
This is Chris Candless, the real guy who lived in an abandoned bus in the Alaskan Wilderness...

His story reminded me a little bit of Glenn and my adventure this summer- it's great when you have nothing but you, your walkin feet, your pack and the kindness of strangers to keep you goin...

The message I got out of it is: we need to live our lives to the fullest with confidence and courage, overcoming fear and doubt by challenging ourselves to go out of our comfort zones, be spontaneous, and go on adventures!

I'm working on that.

As this year comes to a close, I am looking for a new job, a real one even- full-time with benefits. Scary thought I know. What about adventure?

It's hard to find the balance between having flexible work hours, having time to travel and adventure while having no dental insurance (current situation), and working 40 hours a week with benefits, but working five days a week, 8 hours a day and not having time to travel very much (full-time job reality).
Trading sponteneity and adventure for security and predictability.
hmmmmm...

Those loans, those teeth, those eyes, that rent and that food...I'd like to take care of those things.

There is a potential job here in SLC that I am considering, but not sure yet.
Tempting wilderness...plus cool friends and lots of family.

Am secretly hoping to find something in CA- I really like Oakland a lot! I've applied a few places.
On verra...
I think it would be good for me to work full-time for a year or two and take care of all those things, then save money for traveling and apply for some scholarships to do cool community building/art/environmental projects abroad. Maybe get a Master's eventually?

How's that for a plan? I'll work and then travel. Maybe I can just keep switching off?...

I want to write a New Year's post in a day or two with some of my goals and dreams and hopes for this next year.

In the meantime, here are some beautiful photos of Utah's mountains by David Whitten.

Big Cottonwood Creek, Wasatch Mountains, SLC, UT

Ridgeline between Little Cottonwood and Big Cottonwood Canyons,
Wasatch Mountains, SLC, UT

Twin Peaks and Dromedary, Big Cottonwood Canyon, Wasatch Mtns.

Big Cottonwood Canyon, Mt. Raymond and Gobbler's Knob

Snowmen, Sailing, Senegalese Singing and a Circus!

2007-12-02T21:06:00.000-08:00

It's December already! I miss the snow.

(Save a Snowman!- "a fun, positive approach to solving the climate crisis. " Check em out.)

So Here's a little peek into my life:

I have 8 housemates. We need to find one more. We had a birthday party for Kat this weekend-and had lot of fun together. also lots of cleaning and cooking and eating and dancing:)

Kat is 24- happy birthday!

I live in a big beautiful, cold, drafty, un-insulated house.
I have a sink in my room, it doesn't work.
The air is getting colder outside and crisper. This comforts me somehow.

I guess I feel comforted that we still can distinguish between seasons with all this global warming and climate change happening. I admit that I love sunshine! And warm weather in October and November can be pretty nice...but it just doesn't feel right.

I've been working a lot. Good and bad. One of my jobs is working for an environmental non-profit called Earth Team, helping expand their Green News Online magazine- all for youth (middle school/high school). Really cool program.

My other job is helping do market research for my other boss (Allison's) husband for a little while to make some extra money and to bide time till we find funding for a cool experiential art exhibit we want to do about global warming and climate change...

I can finally pay off some of my bills, or taxes, as the case may be, but have not been exercising as much as I should. There's something wrong with this picture...our bodies are sacred and need to be taken care of, yet so often I deprive it and my mental well-being for "work."

I need to resolve this. It's important to take care of our bodies and souls- that's all we've really got when it comes down to it, isn't it sad that we neglect ourselves?
I think this might be a bigger society-wide problem...don't you think? Why do we work so much?

They don't work as long in Europe, and have longer vacations than us Americans in the U.S. ...Why?

I heard world-renowned singer Youssou N'Dour sing this weekend! for free! His voice is amazing! He's on Time's top 100 most influential people of the year, doing great things to help children, to fight aids and malaria through music. check out his webiste and hear some music.
(Let me know what you think, he's so popular in Senegal- people listen to him all the time on their stereos!)

Anyways, the concert started with everyone sitting in their chairs and ended with everyone out of their chairs and dancing- aisles full, dancers showing off their stuff on stage: dancing in provokative response to the drummer's beats. Very Senegal, so good. Then, we got to meet him back stage! A bit intimidating, but he was so laid back- we even got our picture with him!
And I got to speak Wolof and french with some of the band members which was really fun:)
I am inspired by the dancing- I want to take more West African dancing-so high energy and fun and free!....

On friday Glenn and his friend Brady finally left to sail to Mexico!! They went past the golden gate into open ocean for the first time and made it to Monteray Bay yesterday! They are hanging out there for a few days to wait out a storm before they continue...smart guys...Hopefully he'll get his own blog together soon, then you can read updates from him:)

I feel sad he's gone,

but so excited and happy and content all at the same time!

( I miss you Ella!)

He's traveling out of the country- that is an adventure that everyone needs to take- to find out more about themselves and the world. This makes me happy and excited for him. Tinge of jealousy, but way more happiness and excitement for him. I love traveling, and I'm glad to have had time to travel on my own....now it's Glenn's turn.

I'm going to have more Krystal time, which I'm excited about and need. I'm also excited to have more time to hang out with new friends, get some more work experience, do more art, more dance and find new things to do in the Bay.

This will be a good time for both of us.

The night before Glenn and Brady left, Caroline (Glenn's mama) treated us to Cirque de Soleil!
watch the video, so cool! It's a circus, but French Canadian style- can't get much better than that.

unicycle dancing duo

wheel of death- these guys are pumped with adreneline, lots of ego and lots of guts!

fastest moving hands I've ever seen, juggling 12 rings while bouncing a ball on his head and wearing a sliver suit! is he for real?

tight rope balancing act on bicycles!?- with a guy chillin in a chair on top...no problem!

balance balls- and people, and more balance balls, and more people- they just keep on stackin'

- watching this show made me awe at all the potential we humans have. it showcased a myriad of life's issues in a very physical way: humor, fear, love, passion, risk, balance, training, concentration, illusion, flexibility, passion, expression, creativity ...amazing. All with a live band and singer, amazing lights, crazy clowns all inside a big huge tent!

wow! really cool.
If you ever get a chance, scrounge up some cash and go!....

...So It's winter and I'm in california-

I got to go swimming with Caroline and hiking with my new friend Diana today- alhumdulilaay!

Joaquin Miller Regional Park in the Oakland Hills:)

This is right next the Mormon Temple, beautiful views of the bay.

All in all, Life is pretty good.

It's still weird to have no snow and flowers growing...It's Hibernation time- I'm ready to curl up by the fire and read books. And sleep.

Mushrooms are eating the San Francisco Bay!

2007-11-14T22:13:00.000-08:00

I'm sure you have all heard about the big container ship that hit the bay bridge a few days back and spilled 58,000 gallons of fuel into the bay. Oops.
Even the SF 7th graders I gave a presentation to yesterday knew all about it, so I'm sure all y'all out of staters know about it by now.

Apparently the governator won't let the fisherman or crabbers do anything until the mess is cleaned up, so lots of them are helping with their boats to clean the oil up. read article here.
Good idea Arnold, you know, I think he's not such a bad guy really. Did you know his signature is on my college diploma? Not that I'm necessarily proud that this grotesquely muscle-bound terminator is our governor, but he's actually done a lot of amazing work for the environment, so I've got to say thanks Arnold.

To be honest, I have been more busy trying to juggle a few different jobs lately than keeping up to date with the status of the oil spill clean up, but I did take a few minutes this evening to read a great article that made me really excited: a bunch of volunteers are using human hair mats (made from hair collected from hair salons)to soak up the oil on beaches, then using oyster mushrooms to absorb the oil, which turns the whole mat into compost! Turning toxic oil into non-toxic compost- awesome! That's gotta be one of the coolest, greenest, non-toxic solutions I've ever heard of! Yay for creativity and the mushroom family. Check out the article here.

Have any of you heard of Paul Stamets? He's basically the mushroom guru of the Pacific Northwest who wrote an amazing book about how mushrooms will save the world "Mycelium Running." I haven't read it, but I have heard him speak a couple of times about it, and it's truly miraculous stuff! Check out his website here.

So there are safe, all natural solutions to a lot of the yucky, man-made toxics created from our "industrious" species. Hallelujah! (I'm listening to old time gospel music right now. Which reminds me, Oakland has an amazing interfaith gospel choir! Who wants to come and see them with me? They have a Christmas concert every year, wouldn't that be fun?)
I'm thankful for creativity! May we all let more creativity thrive in our lives and make room for more innovation and miracles!
May I make more room for creative outlet in my life- I feel like an artist, but I don't do art often enough.
Here, some more paintings from this summer- feast on these for now till I get some new work:)

"Big Sand Lake" WI (near MN where Glenn's grandpa lives)

"Evolution Lake Sunset"- One of the prettiest spots on the Pacific Crest Trail located in Evolution Valley in Kings Canyon Wilderness I believe- also great fishing.

"Lake of the Lone Indian"- a beautiful spot off the beaten path a little bit, again an amazing spot on our hike along the Pacific Crest/John Muir Trail

"Rae Lakes" we stayed at a little island in between the two lakes, this is looking north at sunset.

"Puget Sound" in Seattle Washington- we went here right after our big hike and this was pretty close to where Glenn's sister Buffie lived.

I made some of these into cards- would you buy one? I'm thinking of trying to sell some at some of the local stores maybe?

Happy Halloween!!

2007-11-01T22:52:00.000-07:00

Barbarian and Sea Monkey, the dynamic duo of the year.
I love Halloween! The costumes, the sugar, the costumes, the haunted houses, the costumes, the pumpkins, the corn mazes, the squash and leaves and crisp air and and and....all the creative costumes!
Highlights for me this year were: the Phantom of the Opera themed haunted house, the Pirate's Cove haunted house, glenn's two-faced reversible jack-o-lantern, going to the party of our performing arts friend Frank, seeing Michael Jackson dance Billy Jean, making my sea monkey costume, finding glenn a human hair wig for his barbarian costume, and last but not least, my friend Noelle's costume: "Barbie's friend Fanny, the overweight barbie that has been discontinued, still in packaging comes with a fanny pack, slim fast cans, and visible panty line strecth pants. (too bad she was up in Arcata for that one.)
I hope everyone had a fabulous Halloween! What a crazy fun holiday. I like it, no matter what people say about demons and satan, I think it's a fun time to be creative ,let loose, and celebrate the harvest of the bountiful season! So there.

One thing I have yet to do is watch the young frankenstein..sorry mom and dad, I hope you kept up the tradition, along with open face candy corn grilled cheese sandwiches, always one of my favorites...
"he was my boyfriend!"

I must admit, I have eaten lots and lots of candy, not even quality candy, just junk candy: peanut butter cups, kisses, neccos, I even had some smarties- those used to be the bottom of the candy trading post pile. Still are, what was I thinking?
Must be left over trick or treating nostalgia..I think after today it's wearing off.
The funny thing is that I don't really feel all that bad about it...hmmmm. Ignorance is bliss. Ain't America grand?
Happy Halloween!

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Blog Action Day!

2007-10-15T17:53:00.000-07:00

Yesterday my faithful blog-writer sister Cassandra informed me that today is Blog Action Day: you're supposed to post a call to action about something. I promised I would so here you go:
What we can do about climate change. What else would I be calling to action about?
This is going to be fun though. Remember to have fun, that's my new mantra with work.

So after spending the day writing a grant for a climate change walkathon, I thought some videos would be fun. Doesn't that sound fun? You know it does. Here is a funny spoof with Will Ferrel on Global Warming...definitely check it out if you haven't seen it
Here's a good star wars spoof about eating organic food that's pretty entertaining too. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pUi43BCrsH0

I have yet to see Leonardo DiCaprio's latest documentary about Global Warming "The 11th Hour." But that's supposed to be good. Is it out on video yet? I think it's great that high-profile people are making efforts to educate and motivate us..isn't it great?
There is hope in the world.
Here's a site with some videos made by movie stars and others about Global Warming solutons...Some aren't all that exciting, but it's a good idea in theory. I haven't had a chance to watch all of them yet, so it's worth taking a look...
The site has a lot of good ideas and fun interactive stuff too. The Alliance for Climate Protection is the organization that Al Gore helped found. He is giving them of his $1.5 million nobel peace prize money that he received to continue the global warming education he started with "An Inconvenient Truth". (My mom, a devout republican for years, is actually considering becoming a democrat after watching his film. Pretty impressive eh?)

Okay, I'm gonna stop using my computer and producing green house gases and go take a walk back home- I'm stopping global warming!:) [Anything we can do to not use energy helps right?/ It was easier to remember that when I was hiking in the wilderness for a month... There should be a limit to how much time we can spend in front of a computer in one day...maybe there could be a carbon tax at work that says you can only use xx amount of carbon emissions from the electricity it takes to run your computer, therefore you can ONLY use the computer for xx hours per day and during that time you are required to go for a walk or run or a bike ride. Good idea. Save energy and your sanity at the same time. Happy walking!

Dimitris Tsouris, U.K.

Back to Civilization....

2007-10-13T16:11:00.000-07:00

Most of you know that I am finally back from my long summer of adventuring with Glenn! I know that at least my dad is missing the blog, so I guess it's about time to write something new. I feel like I've been a lot of places since my last post and was feeling pressured to write a whole bunch of stories and updates first, before I could tell you what is actually going on right now. I decided not to do that. Instead, I have updated the box next to this one with "Summer Fun" and that is where I will put up more pictures and stories about the rest of my summer. It might take another week or so to update since I don't have internet at my house yet, but be patient, and they'll be up soon.
Today I re-entered the world of cyberspace. It's a little overwhelming to say the least. I checked my myspace account- Now I know things about my friends that they haven't even told me yet. I added friends to my facebook account, some of which I don't even know that I know, but I think I maybe know..so I guess we can call each other "friends" now?...Isn't it funny, all of our new technologically dependent social networks and devices? We hardly talk to those around us anymore because we're busy "talking" to our friends and family on our cell phones or e-mail, or text message, or myspace or blogging or listening to our mp3 music or podcasts ... I guess overall it's a good thing, I like keeping in touch with those I love...obviously I like the blog idea, but there's just something not right about the increased technogically-based isolation in our communities with everyone around us being plugged into something...What do you think?
Well anyways, I've been back in Oakland for about two weeks now and yes, it's taken me this long to get things rolling. It's funny that now the frequency of updating my blog is now an indicator of how stable or "together" I am in my life. It's been kind of a whirlwind lifestyle since I got back in town. Back home. It's weird to call California my home, but I have lived here for 5 years now. And I'm living here some more. Is this home? Hmmmmmmm.....

I moved into a new house with a bunch of new people and I'm pretty excited about it. I've never lived with that many people before. I met 2 of my housemates a few months ago through another friend. Tammie and Kat are great, we all get along and have similar interests: we like to cook and jog and do yoga, and do art and play music..I think it's going to be really fun. There are three others in the house so far: Nate, Glenn (not my Glenn, a new Glenn), and Daniel, then four more to come by November. I'm still getting to know them, but they all seem like pretty good people...It's going to be a huge house of recent college graduates tryin to make it in the world, meet new people, have fun, and co-exist in a big house together. I'll keep you posted, but I think it's going to work out. We're going to try and have a lot of communal dinners and build a community together. We're still looking for some couches and tables and a washer and dryer to make it feel like a home, but it's coming together. I call our house Warwick Palace
Check out the website for more pics...we have signed a year lease, but the house is still for sale to investors and such, so it's online and people come to see it every now and then...
So that's my house. I have a job too. Fancy that. I work for Allison Quaid, who is the excutive director for the Bay Area Alliance for Sustainable Communities. There's a new video up on the site that I helped with a little, check it out if you want to.
She also started Creative Community Catalysts (the organization Glenn and I were raising money for during our PCT hike this summer.) and a small business based on the same ideas called "Creative Eco-Catatlysts" and is working on getting clients that we can work with to help "green" business offices. She is a wonderful woman and a great mentor, so I am looking forward to working with her as her "Program Manager" doing a lot of different work with both of these organizations...I'm helping to write a grant for a Regional Walk-a-thon educational fundraiser to stop Climate Change and raise money for Solar Panels for schools. We also are working to get funding to do a big Climate Change Art Exhibit in different locations around the Bay including interactive art events and scientific lectures about global warming and what people can do in their own lives to stop it... It feels good to be doing work that is meaningful and to work for a woman that is so passionate, intelligent, and connected.

Ironically, after living a car-free life for the past 5 years, I now have a car. Thanks to my good friend Jen from SLC, I got a free car! She met a great guy named Andy this summer while backpacking in WY. He was visiting from England and bought a cheap toyota to travel around for the summer going hiking and climbing around the country. He flew back to England from San Francisco a few days after I got back, wanted to get rid of the car, so gave it to me.
I still try not to drive too much to save money and keep my emissions down (remember the whole global warming thing, ya, cars aren't too good for stopping that.) But it's nice to have one when I need it to run far away errands or going places on the weekends. I take the BART to work and ride my bike downtown, which is fun. I live close to Lake Merritt, which downtown Oakland is built around...it's nice to see nature integrated with the city, helps keep us sane I think:)

As for Glenn, he is getting ready to sail to Mexico and continue some adventures on his own to take a break from teaching and do some personal soul searching. So we're going to have a little break from each other I guess. He just bought a boat for a really good deal from a really great guy, so I've been out sailing a couple of times. The sailing community is a totally different world that I never even thought about- It's fun to be a small part of it for a little while- to be able to go out on the Bay in a boat, feeling the wind on your face, seeing the clouds shift in the sky, and feeling the water mist on your legs instead of just watching peacefully from shore...I'm excited for him and his adventures to come.

After living in a nomadic bubble for three months, I am looking forward to having a schedule and a routine and a place of my own. It actually even feels nice to have bills to pay and try my luck at being a normal, responsible citizen trying to make it in the world. Other than settling into a new house and a new job, I am trying to re-establish an exercise routine and a daily spiritual practice, get my house together, and start a new life in Oakland.
Welcome back Krystal Mae
...how long do YOU think I'll be able to stay in one place?
Make your bets.
(I hear a blog is not a real blog unless it ins interactive, so start posting comments!)

We Made it!!

2007-08-10T22:50:00.000-07:00

35 days and 400 miles later, Glenn and I are back in Oakland. No more mountains or walking for miles and miles or filtering water to drink or cooking dehydrated food over an alcohol popcan stove, or putting on dirty smelly clothes each day without showering for weeks at a time....
We've have had a few days to recuperate from our 12 mile + hiking days and after 5 days off the trail can proudly say we have not really walked anywhere. Or really done much of anything like hiking in the woods till today when we hung out at Lake Anza in the Berkeley hills for a few hours... I think our bodies are finally beginning to readjust to "normal" eating habits, though it's hard to refrain from eating large quanities of food or lots of sweet things. All the convenience, easiness and fast-paced lifestyle might still take a little getting used to...but we're about to work on a farm for a couple of weeks, so maybe we don't have to fit into the so-called "real world" quite yet. Now that we've had a couple of days in Oakland full of shower taking, laundry doing, Harry Potter movie watching, Harry Potter book reading, binge eating, sunburning, repacking, and replanning, I think we're about ready to continue being nomads for a while and keep on adventuring...
I have some more trail journals and paintings to post from our hiking trip, but probably won't get those up for another couple weeks...check back.
In the meantime, check out http://picasaweb.google.com/krystapanga/PCT2007 for some highlight photos of the trip:)

Some favorites:
(From top to bottom: 1.Thousand Island Lake (John Muir Wilderness); 2.Lake of the Lone Indian (John Muir Wilderness); 3. JMT hiker Friends Michael, Niki, taking a "zero day" with little Adrian at Vermillion Valley Resort (Near Lake Edison, East of Fresno); 4. Glenn, Koa and I on top of Mt. Whitney! (Sequoia National Park); 5. Rae Lakes (Kings Canyon); 6. Evolution Lake (John Muir Wilderness); and 7. our run in with Mr. Bear (in Lyle Canyon outside of Tuolumne Meadows in Yosemite)!

Tuolumne Meadows: July 13, 2007

2007-08-06T21:52:00.000-07:00

Tuolumne Meadows: At an elevation of 8,600 feet, Tuolumne Meadows is the largest subalpine meadow in the Sierra. Unicorn Peak, a popular destination among adventurers, rises in the background. www.YosemitePark.com

[text taken from postcard --Cass]

Krystal's Trail Journal: July 12, 2007

2007-07-31T23:18:00.000-07:00

"Glen Aulin Camp" July 12, 2007

The sun feels warm on my skin as I sit on a rock next to the gigantic cascade of the Tuolumne River. We made it to Glen Aulin camp early today and are only 6 miles from Tuolumne Meadows, our first re-supply.

Glen Aulin has a backpackers camp w/composting toilets & bear boxes -- talk about luxury. It also has tent cabins & catered meals for mostly older folks who have the money & want to experience "wilderness" without the hassle of a backpack.

So here I am, feeling the mist of the mighty falls on my face, feeling more clean than I have in days after a "shower" in the falls & basking in the sun's warm rays, grateful that I am sitting in it next to a magnificent river rather than hiking up switch backs on a 2000 ft climb under her scorching rays. What a difference.

There's an older couple, maybe in their mid-forties, doing yoga in a meadow across from me -- seems fitting I suppose. Makes me more aware of my stiff spine & tense back -- suppose it wouldn't hurt to do a little stretching, eh?

One of the best lessons I'm learning out here on the trail is that of gratitude & recognition. Gratitude for life, for breath, for health, for beauty and diversity, mystery, & community. Recognition that happiness come in simplicity, in working hard for what you need & in honoring the sustenance that nature provides us.

When you have to carry everything you need on your back -- your shelter, food, clothing, stove, filter, entertainment -- then do all your work by hand (filtering water, washing clothes, gathering firewood, hanging your food, putting up your tent) it really make you both appreciate the luxuries of modern society and stop to think about if I really need or would even miss all the things I left behind in "civilization."

It seems society has become so fast-paced and mechanized that we have become detached from the natural world. Strange, since our ability to live & thrive is intimately & utterly reliant upon it. I'm not saying we should all go back to live in the wild...but...being out here, exposed to the elements & the pending dangers inherent in the "wild" world is a testament of the importance of protecting these wondrous places and the importance of visiting these places often.

Out on the trail I am humbled by mother earth's power & majesty. I feel my lungs breathe up & down in my chest -- and I am so grateful to have breath! I see a many-colored spectrum of hardy alpine flowers & shrubs blooming & thriving in harsh conditions and I am grateful for sight & inspired to be strong in the face of adversity.

I feel the sun, wind, & river touch my face all at the same time, & I am grateful for the simple pleasures, & refreshing delights that nature smiles upon us! I see others taking a dip in a pristine powerful cool mountain river and am so grateful for the privilege to even be here among them. It is a privilege to be here and I hope none of us take it for granted.

Krystal's Trail Journal: July 11, 2007

2007-07-25T20:17:00.000-07:00

"Do you think they sell blood by the oz. ?"

The PCT is pretty hard core. It's true. There are lots of ups & downs -- up to high 10,000+ ft passes then back down steep canyon ravines, only to go back up more passes -- then back down to beautifully clear stream & lakes. It's wonderful! And tiring, and sometimes frustrating, I admit.

But worth every second at the end of the day when we take a dip in a clear mountain lake & sun bathe on the sandy lakeshore of Miller Lake, eat a hearty meal of mashed potatoes & turkey gravy, then sing songs by the campfire, marvel at the billions of stars in the universe, and lay our tired bodies down to rest in a cozy, mosquito-free tent. Yay.

The bear bag is hung, we've definitely entered Bear Country -- we've officially been in Yosemite Park boundaries for 3 days now & bears will get more frequent the closer we get to Tuolumne Meadows. Lucky for me, Glenn is a pretty excellent bear bagger, so not too worried about losing food. We have seen a lot of bear prints, but no bears yet. I'm okay with that. Hopefully we won't get a visitor tonight!

Sweet dreams.

Harriet Lake: July 9, 2007

2007-07-24T00:13:00.001-07:00

"Harriet Lake" July 9, 2007

Krystal's Trail Journal: July 7, 2007

2007-07-24T00:08:00.000-07:00

We did a lot of silent climbing today following Carson River multiple times & little snow melt creeks up the saddle & around Sonora Peak -- what a beautiful view! We hiked 8 miles to Wolf Creek Lake, met a nice day hiker named Eric & had lunch with him there, took a dip (pretty cold water up @ 10,000 ft) and rinsed our clothes a little bit -- I think we have a new standard of clean now -- "clean-er" -- less dirt than before, looks great.

We had a nice conversation w/ Eric & he gave us a piece of rotisserie chicken to share -- what a treat! Everything tastes so much better out here! We saw our first view of the High Sierras in the distance, Yosemite here we come! We're half way to Tuolumne Meadows & everyone we pass on the trail says it gets better & better from here! We saw another maybe 15 thru-hikers today -- I liked what one guy said, "We're just doing a long series of day hikes."

Really, thru-hikers are normal people who have a large goal, but just take it one day & one step at a time...One of them said it was easy to hitch down to Kennedy Meadows for a cold drink & hot grub, so we took their advice. A nice old couple just returning from a backpacking trip picked us up & we had a delightful 11 mile drive in the back of their truck. Cars are so amazing -- you can sit & move at the same time -- how great!

It was strange to be back to "civilization" if you want to call Kennedy Meadows Resort civilized. Families car camping w/ [something], fishing poles, tents, coolers, the works -- lined the river up to the resort, lots of young teenagers showing off for each other [something something] stereotype "red-neck" guys about our age made our [something] meal a little less appetizing, but there were also a lot of really friendly, nice, considerate people too that respected & appreciated smelly hikers like us.

Anyways, we had a filling meal (I got grilled chicken salad) which came w/ soup, bread & dessert. Nothing fancy, but fresh & different & we didn't have to cook it :)

To stay on schedule we wanted to make it back to the trail tonight and fortunately were told by the cashier to ask for a guy named "No Sweat" at the [something]. Sure enough we found an old friendly guy that agreed to take us back up the pass this evening in his old Subaru. At about 9,000 ft we were going about 10-15 mi per hour, the temp gauge was up to red & the car started hissing, but "No Sweat" assured us his little baby would make it, and amazingly enough, we all made it to Sonora Pass in one piece, no sweat.

We only hiked maybe 1/2 mile in by a creek & are camping on another windy bluff [?] with an expansive [?] view of [something...sorry, I can't read this section very well --Cass] of mountains rising the the distance. A slight breeze, the stars are emerging, & no mosquitoes! Tomorrow is another day.

Krystal's Trail Journal: July 6, 2007

2007-07-22T11:20:00.000-07:00

"Sonora Peak" July 6, 2007

Today was a beautiful hike through meadows of beautiful wildflowers -- lupin, mule's ear, columbine, red paintbrush, subalpine buttercup -- I'm still learning all the names. We climbed and descended past 9000+ ft. peaks, through saddles & down over small creeks, then back up again.

We managed to get an earlier start today & hiked 11 miles before lunch feeling good & strong. It got a bit hotter & steeper in the afternoon, so it felt good to have those miles behind us. Now we sit, camp set up early with plenty of sunlight left to write, read, cook dinner, & maybe paint!

I think I've decided to keep my trail name from last summer -- "Paintbrush." I paint when I can, I'm kinda spunky [or spiky? -- Cass], & the same name as one of my favorite flowers. That's what I've been introducing myself as, so I guess it's stuck.

We probably passed 20 thru-hikers today! Most of them are doing the entire 2600+ mile trail! Makes 350 sound puny, but almost every one of those hikers have raved about the beauty of this section. I think we can enjoy it better this way :)

The shadows are lengthening across the speckled sandy soil where we have made our home. Chipmunks chirp & chase each other -- jumping between pine cones & anthills, the scaling the bark of the Ponderosa pine who towers above our heads, sheltering us from the wind. A solid mound of creamy granite rises up to the north -- we are subtly changing our geology from dark volcanic conglomerates to exposed igneous granite.

I feel at home. The air is dry, the ground dusty, the wind gentle & soft. The golden sun is peeking at me through the trees -- the dirt on my fingers shimmers. I feel calm & present -- nowhere to be, no rushing to finish...

The ground is flat & soft, my body is strong & ready to relax, my mind is quiet & my heart is content. I can still smell the blend of sage, mint, & fruity alpine flowers. Gusts of cool wind plume though our tent...Sonora Peak proudly stands watch to the south...The clouds are shifting, they're almost gone...The sky is blue with early evening & canyon shadows carve the landscape into deeper angular peaks & bluffs. The mountains surround us, the pine needles cushion us, the sun warms us & the wind comforts us.

This is why I walk.
This is why I sweat.
This is why I breathe & live & love.

My nose is dry & stuffy, my shoulders tight & strained, my feet are covered in mosquito bites & my lips are chapped from the sun. Yet I lie in the wonder & beauty of our planet, and contemplate the vast intricate universe that we are part of, and can't help but be overwhelmed with happiness & gratitude, for being a witness of this magic!

Krystal's Trail Journal: July 5, 2007

2007-07-20T23:50:00.000-07:00

Today was beautiful but hot! We left camp around 8:30 and it was already scorching! Sad to leave our peaceful solitary lake on the mountain, but we had a wonderful stay -- warm evening breezes, Glenn caught our first trout -- a beautiful red-striped one which made for a filling meal! We even saw a coyote & bear tracks -- luckily no bear sightings yet! We hang our food every night and hope for the best...so far we've been fine.

Oh ya, from Raymond Lake we could see Lake Tahoe's fireworks in the distance!

Today we hiked about 15 miles. It was a pleasant hike through forests & meadows, meandering up & around mountains, over bubbling creeks from melted snow -- all pretty mellow hiking until our 1000 ft climb to Noble Lake -- a great view, light rain & wind eased the climb with time left for a gourmet meal of noodles & chicken in tomato sauce & quesadillas! Yum, plus time for painting right before the sunset -- yay!

"View from Noble Lake" July 5, 2007

The last few days we've been hiking most of the day, so by the time we set up our tarp tent, filter water, cook dinner & wash-up, there is often no more time for painting or writing. Sometimes reading or star gazing, which is nice -- I think Draco the dragon is my new favorite constellation, besides Sagittarius (looks like a teapot), which is home to a glimpse of "downtown Milky Way."

There's a slight breeze, Nobel Lake Creek is softly bubbling in the background, and I sense the stars coming to life outside our tarp (pitched on slightly slanted ground this evening). Early bedtime tonight -- we've got to get up early to try &amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp; beat the heat & hike the next 16 mi. to Boulder Lake.

The temperature right now is perfect. I'm glad I'm safe in my little bug net tent where mosquitoes have no access to my flesh! Bonne nuit!

Krystal's Trail Journal: July 4, 2007

2007-07-19T22:55:00.000-07:00

Happy 4th of July! It's our third day out and & a beautiful morning! We camped by Upper Lost Lake last night pooped after a fifteen mile hike -- so our bodies are still adjusting...

I feel amazingly rejuvenated after a good night's sleep though. Being out here really helps you appreciate the simple things in life -- eating, sitting, lying down! They feel so good after being on the move all day long!

It's nice and quiet this morning -- only sounds of a slight breeze & bird chirps. A nice change from the noisy kids splashing in the lake and revving ATV engines -- this lake is drivable to by dirt road so naturally there are big families that want to enjoy the beautiful Sierras too...c'est la vie.

We're off to Raymond Lake today, another 14 miles. I'm hoping today I don't lose or break anything...I've had a little bad luck so far on the trail: lost one of my Crocs, got a little heat exhaustion from going back to look for it, which caused us to not quite make it to our first destination -- Showers Lake -- which made for a long day of hiking yesterday...

That's not so bad, but when I was lying sick in the tent I accidentally rolled on my fishing pole, snapping one section in 2. But wait, it gets better --yesterday I lost my sunglasses -- had to back track, but did find them after not too long -- but broke the end of my umbrella off when I sat down on a rock to rest...Maybe my trail name should be "Back Track."

Glenn was deemed a new trail name -- Stitch -- by our friend Zach (a.k.a. Germinator b/c he sprouts his food on the trail). Stitch is for his handiwork sewing -- he sewed almost our whole net tent, a camera bag, a ukulele bag, & a "ditty" bag among other things. We both sewed our backpacks & mittens but we all know Glenn is the pro.

So I'm still trying to pick a trail name...Some options are "Brushstroke," "Water Color," "Ortvark" [I don't know what this is...maybe Aardvark? --Cass], "Juggernaut," "Lefty" (cuz I only have 1 left camp shoe & leave everything behind), "Pigment," "Palette," or "Paintbrush." I like "Brushstroke" the best so far -- any suggestions?

I have my watercolors & am trying to do one per day, but haven't had time yet. Once our packs are lighter & our bodies are stronger, we'll get to camp faster & have more time to relax. We've run into a lot of thru-hikers (started at camps in So. CA & are heading to the Canadian border), many of them do up to 25 or 30 miles per day! Hiking from about 6 a.m. to 9 p.m. -- No thank you.

Ode to Pine Tree (July 1, 2007)

2007-07-19T22:50:00.000-07:00

Ode to Pine Tree
by: Krystal & Glenn & Caroline

Oh, twisty, hardy moss-covered Pine Tree,
your branches reach
out, like solar-powered
sea urchins;
you have pointy
little fingers
like fireworks
in the sky...
Miraculously growing
out of a large granite
boulder, you give us
strength.

(Caples Creek, July 1st, 2007)

Hi!

2007-07-19T22:42:00.000-07:00

I'm Krystal's sister Cass, and I'll be your guest blogger for the rest of the month. Krystal sent me some trail journals and watercolors, which I'll be posting here in several installments. Check back often, and don't forget to visit the website for more information about Krystal and Glenn's route and cool photos of their gear.

Comments in [brackets] are mine, everything else has been written, painted, or drawn by Krystal or Glenn.

2007-06-30T09:00:00.000-07:00

Today's the day!

After days and days of planning, we're off for the trail! We'll be camping at Caple's Creek about a half hour from Echo Lake for 2 days with Glenn's mom, then Glenn and I will begin our month-long trek hiking on the Pacific Crest Trail!!
Woohoo!
Our bags are packed, our gear is sewn, our food is planned, and our money is spent.!
We'll be leaving in about an hour- looking forward to a month of sleeping on an inch of air mat, taking cold "showers" by lakes, (might sneak one one or two hot ones when we re-supply), fishin' for trout every night, and breathing the cool mountain air of the Pacific Crest Trail! I'm excited:) Just have to finish up our website and shave my head!

We'll be sending my sister trail journals that she will be posting on this blog periodically, so check back for updates from our trek! Happy Trails, Happy Summer Everyone!!

Planning our camping sites- check out our John Muir Trail Map Pack:)
Planning our dinners: "hungry! me, food."

"our bundles and bundles of food."
We're sending ourselves three boxes of food to towns near the trail where we will be resupplying about every week. Check out our website under "Our Route" to see our day by day itinerary.

"I'm a fish, don't eat me!"- Glenn playing with our fishing lures:)
Vacuum sealed food :P

rationing our food- cream of wheat for breakfast- ligthweight and creamy! yum

Glenn doing some last minute sewing- he sewed his own water-proof camera bag:)
Two things I will miss most on the trail: 1) fresh fruits and veggies 2) icecream!

There are a few more photos under "Our Gear" on the website, check it out! You can also donate to an art/environmental organization I volunteer for :Creative Community Catalysts.
So definitely give it a looksey, I've spent some time on it: planethikers.googlepages.com/pct07

See ya around the next bend.....

2007-06-10T19:29:00.001-07:00

Mt Diablo

"The Devil's Moutain" is the tallest thing close to where we are, rising 4,445 ft above sea level. Our adventure for today. It's about an hour drive here from Oakland East over the hills past Walnut Creek. Perhaps a training hike of sorts for our upcoming hike a 350 mile section of the Pacific Crest Trail. ...Okay, so we only hiked a few miles total, but it was a hike nonetheless, as Caroline can attest.

There's a road that goes all the way up to the top, so that takes a little of the glory out of the satisifaction of hiking to the top of a mountain peak. However I am proud to say that Glenn and I dragged his mother Caroline to the top from a few miles below and had a lovely picnic at the top. There's even a visitor center up there so you can learn all about the geology and flora and fauna. The trail up to the top is called "the trail through time" because you are going from younger to older sediments of rock, with the oldest dark volcanic rock that burst up from underneath millions of years ago to form the summit.

Do you like my hat? This is looking East from the summit- you can barely make out the Sierra Nevadas in the haze, but we saught 'em out- soon to be our temporary wanderland in three weeks!

"Uh, whatta we do now?" "Huh?, what's that there city over yonder?"
"I think I cun see some sorta bridge up over there..." "This here's a purty old mountain eh?"
"Yup, they used it as a point-a - refrence fur mappin out the whole state North ta South."
"It's pretty nice out here in Cali-forn-i-a. I think I might just stay a while."

Pretty cool spot. I guess it's pretty neat that such a majestic mountain with one of the most extensive views in California is so accessible to people and their families. There are a lot of people that bike up there too- it made me get a dry throat just looking at them pedal their way up the windy paved roads to the summit. I bet it's all worth it on the way down.

This mountain was held sacred and worshipped as part of the creation story of the Miwok people native to this area. I can see why, it's the tallest thing around surrounded by flat river valleys and deltas that run to the bay, then to the ocean.
Pretty spectacular.
Here's a view from the top. The little tower is a radio tower? at the summit, that's where there is another tower with the visitor center and the lookout deck.

There are even species of plants and animals that only live on this mountain!
One of them is the Fairy lantern. Only grows on Mt. Diablo, no where else in the world!

pretty little thing.

Another is Mt Diablo Tarantula!

They come out in flocks, swarms, herds? What do you call groups of hairy spiders tromping around on a mountain? Pack?
Cool lookin, but to be honest, I would be freaked out if I happened upon one while on a happy little hike up the trail. I guess Fall is when they come out to play for everyone to see, so summer time you're pretty safe.

One last thought. Living in Oakland for the past four months has been great. There are a lot of things I like about the city- sunshine, environmental responsibility, beautiful hills, rich cultural diversity, cool community events and inspiring non-profit organizations working for justice and peace. But lately I've been so inspired by the trees. Oak trees grow everywhere, including all over Mt. Diablo. Their curling branches twisting toward the sunlight, their hardy stout leaves and intricate branches making a maze of intricate patterns against a sunlit backdrop...More than their mysterious beauty, old wisdom, and simple grace, I hear that Oak trees are amazingly home to over two hundred species of life! I am grateful for your presence might Oaks! May you live long and healthy lives and continue to bless us with your bounty!

2007-06-03T19:52:00.001-07:00

Kinetic Sculpture Race!
Photos! As promised Dad.
So I've made my first pilgramage to the Mecca of Arcata since I moved away in December. I forgot how nice it is up there- crazy races, quaint farmer's market, gorgeous river 45 minutes up the road...lovely.
If you don't know about this race, read up- it's pretty whacky awesome.
I lived in Arcata for four years and never saw this crazy race. I come back over Memorial Day as a visitor with Glenn and we find ourselves among a pack of sculpture followers out at the dunes watching the these crazy kinetic contraptions go down "dead man's gulch." Such a great event, it'd be so fun to be in it wouldn't it?...

"Armored Carp" This was one of my favorite ones, made out of kitchen utentsils..

Blue Beetle- check out this guy's outfit! pretty hot huh?

"Bounce for Glory"- he just jumps up and down to move forward

"June's Bloom"- they have the best costumes

"Heads of School"

"The Patriot Act"- the big wheels are best for sand surfing

"Easy Does It"
______________________________________________

Trinity River !!

My Stud Muffin

Peter, Noelle, me and Glenny

Kayakers!

All for now, more later...

2007-05-22T19:13:00.000-07:00

Lately I've been feeling like a slacker. a little bit.
Or maybe just a lack of motivation. Change of the season, anticipating change?
I'm still doing everything I usually do, exercise, volunteer, work, chores, trying to do art, planning the future... but I've not been pushing myself lately. I know there's some inspirational saying out there somewhere about how when we challenge ourselves we're more interesting, and full of life, and how it's important to continue growing and not become stagnant...etc....Anybody?
I think I'm snapping out of it now, but I still slept in this morning with a total of 9 hours of sleep! And for some reason I feel guilty about it- it's cuz I really want to make a habit of getting up earlier so that I can make time to pray and be grateful and ready for the day before rushing into it. It's hard to remember that when I'm in dreamland though.
I don't really like how I feel when I sleep that long, but at 7 hours I feel so deprived..I didn't have the motivation to drag myself out of bed at the perfect 8 either, what's the deal?
Is it important that we sleep the same amount each night consistently, or can we make up for other nights where we didn't sleep so long? If that's true, maybe i'm still making up for lost sleep during my college years? Or not. What do you think?...

....I decided to do an image personality test my sister has on her blog, it's pretty interesting.
According to www.imagini.net, I am a person who is a dreamer, an escape artist, a new wave puritan, and a love bug. I think I can live with that. You know maybe it's good that I don't get up at the same time every morning, I think I like the spontaneity of it...I don't think consistency is part of my personality, though at the same time I am a creature of habit...interesting.

On a different topic, I heard about this crazy race that happens every year in San Francisco- Bay to Breakers.

About 7.5 miles from the bay to where the ocean breaks- people dress up, teams race tied together, people register, people dont'---I thought it'd be cool to at least just go out and see...but alas the lack of motivation I was mentioning up there kicked in and I didn't go. Maybe that and I haven't been running 7 miles lately, usually only 2 or 3 a couple times a week....Okay, I could've done it if I had a running buddy, but couldn't scrounge one up on late notice and glenn and caroline definitely do not run. We could've walked, I know I'm just making excuses now.
Maybe next year.
Looks fun doesn't it?

You can go here to see more photos of people's costumes. What fun:)

2007-05-14T19:51:00.000-07:00

HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY!

I'm grateful for my mama. And my grandmas. And my boyfriend's mama.
And my earth mama. And all mamas really.

Caroline and I took five minutes of silence on Sunday as suggested during Karen Stokes's sermon (she's the pastor at the Montclair Presbyterian Church.)
We were sitting silently in the sun in Dimond park, kids playing with their parents, bees buzzing in the clover around us on the grass, blue sky...and one of the thoughts that came to me was that all life comes into being through mothers, just like our mother earth brings forth all life that lives and breathes and thrives on this planet. That's something we all have in common universally, we all come from a mother somewhere; regardless of our race, class, gender, nationality, or species if you think about the planet as mother of us all- that's all something we can relate to. Isn't it beautiful?

During Karen's sermon she was talking about how we all want our children and children's children and children's children's children to have clean water to drink, clean air to breathe, nutritious food to eat, good health care, and a loving community of people to support them...That's what environmentalism is for me and it's cool to think of it as being rooted in our love and appreciation for the all the mothers in the world. All that they work, and sacrifice, and live for to protect and support thier children.
And that's what the five minutes of silence was for- to appreciate mothers; to celebrate life; to show that we believe in that healthy and positive world, that we hope for that world to come into being, that we will do what we can to support peace and life and love and make this world better for the children to come.

Happy Mother's Day mothers!!

In Karen's sermon, she also mentioned some powerful, courageous woman in history who have stood up for peace and justice on behalf of their children : Julia Ward Howe,
Soujourner Truth (1797-1883) and the Mothers of Plaza de Mayo".
Truly courageous and powerfully inspiring women. Can we say role model? Wow. I want to be that strong in my convictions.

Soujourner Truth's speech was my favorite part. I didn't really know that much about her. Here is a quote from her "Ain't I a woman" speech in 1851 at the women's convention in Akron, OH:

"That man over there says that women need to be helped into carriages, and lifted over ditches, and to have the best place everywhere. Nobody ever helps me into carriages, or over mud-puddles, or gives me any best place! And ain't I a woman? Look at me! Look at my arm! I have ploughed and planted, and gathered into barns, and no man could head me! And ain't I a woman? I could work as much and eat as much as a man - when I could get it - and bear the lash as well! And ain't I a woman? I have borne thirteen children, and seen most all sold off to slavery, and when I cried out with my mother's grief, none but Jesus heard me! And ain't I a woman?
Then that little man in black there, he says women can't have as much rights as men, 'cause Christ wasn't a woman! Where did your Christ come from? Where did your Christ come from? From God and a woman! Man had nothing to do with Him."

Isn't that great? She had fayda that woman (courage and attitude in the Wolof language).

Oh ya, I have to tell you about a moving song we sang in the choir: it's about missing the tenderness and comfort of a mother called "Wanting Memories" by Ysaye Barnwell (a singer in Sweet Honey in the Rock, a soulful, powerful, inspirational group of women). Very rhythmic and beautiful. Listen here (link on left side).

So I'm feeling full of Gratitude for life and love and all the good things in life.

Cafe Gratitude

This is one of the coolest restaurants I have been to. It's up there with Cafe Diablo, maybe even better. Do you believe me dad? Besides all of the food being beautiful with wonderful service and a great atmosphere, Cafe Gratitude has named all of their dishes self affirmations, so when you order you have to say things like " I am fabulous" and when they serve you they have to say "You are fabulous" or "You are fulfilled", things like that. The cool thing about is that they actually sincerely mean it when they say it.
It's a really positive, comfortable-feeling, community-based place. They serve mostly raw, all organic, yummy yummy food. Their desserts are especially good with things like cashew cheesecake and raw cacao fudge- oh my goodness. so amazingly full of flavor!
I feel so grateful:)

I'm very grateful to be living and learning, struggling and growing, laughing and loving, exploring and giving...

And I owe it to my mama for carrying me around in her belly and bringing me into this world.

And taking care of me and supporting me for 25 years after. Thanks mom.

Well, I should thank my dad too, but we'll save that for Father's Day won't we?

2007-05-07T20:08:00.000-07:00

Why I don't eat High Fructose Corn Syrup (HFCS)

So I've had a bias against High Fructose Corn Syrup for quite a few years. Many of you know this. I think it started back in my sophmore year of high school when I read a "How to be a Vegetarian" book my mother gave me to make sure I was getting enough nutrients without eating animal flesh....

Since then I have cringed at the idea of eating High Fructose Corn Syrup, checking every label before I buy bread or cookies or anything really. Though I admit, it's hard to avoid; it seems to be in everything. I hadn't thought that much about why I had this strong bias until Glenn's mother asked me the other day "what's so bad about it?" This made me really stop to think. What is so bad about it? (besides the fact that it's hiding in everything from soda and ketchup to bread and cake mix.) I started to explain to her that high fructose corn syrup is unhealthy for our bodies because the chemical composition of corn starch is significantly changed during processing, which changes the molecular bonds that then become unstable in our bodies when we ingest it...I realized that I had confused this explaination with partially hydrogenated oils, my other arch nemesis, and realized that I needed to re-examine where I got this firm conviction from.

One thing I was confident in saying before researching more was that any corn in this country that is not organic, is most like genetically modified, an industry that I do support nor want to ingest food produced from it.
But that wasn't enough. I had to find more research to back up my claim that HFCS is much more unhealthy than cane sugar, and very dangerous to eat, cancer-causing even. That's right, I'm still going to keep my bias, I don't need HFCS in my life or my bloodstream; but I do need to feel more educated about it.

So of course I looked it up on Wikipedia! Yay. Okay, I know that Wikipedia is not the end-all know-it-all, but you have to admit, it is pretty great. And it did have a pretty balanced explanation of the controversy I thought. That's where I found this really well-written article about the issue from the SF Chronicle "We're drowning in high fructose corn syrup, do the risks go beyond our waistline?" You should read it.

After doing my research, here are some things that I found unappealing about this stuff:
-Dulls taste buds (may not be true, but I definitely think it has a funkyboring phony taste).
-Possibly metabolizes differently in the body than sucrose
-It's in so many foods that you don't even know you're eating it- added sugar=added calories=added fat and added risk of degenerative diseases.
-Our society is consuming too much sugar in our diets!!
-"Loading high fructose corn syrup into increasingly larger portions of soda and processed food has packed more calories into us and more money into food processing companies"
-USDA reccomends only 10-13 teaspoons of added sugar per day; one can of soda has can have 13 teaspoons of sugar in the form of (HFCS most of the time in the U.S.)
-Research done by the American Beverage Association (almost all of whom use HFCS in their sodas) and corn refiners association (hmmmm) says that HFCS does not behave differently in the body on metabolism or satiation than sucrose (table sugar). Hmmmm.
-The U.S. has import quotas and tariffs on sugar, which is supported with campaign financing funded by agricultural corporations, namely Archer Daniels Midland, one of the leading sellers of HFCS and other additives. This keeps sugar prices high, which makes sweeteners from corn (an industry already highly subsidized by the U.S. government) cheaper and more attractive to most food and beverage manufacturers, thus giving more profit to those corporations in the industry at the expense of the heatlh and pocketbooks of us consumers. lame.

So you can come up with your own conclusions that work for you, but here are my personal reasons for not wanting to eat it:

-Precautionary principle- HFCS may cause degenerative diseases or other health problems, why take the risk? I don't need it in my life and I still want to be healthy in 50 years!
-I don't need more sugar in my bread, or in my bagels, or english muffins, or hotdog buns, or juice, or cereal, or peanut butter, or ketchup or anything else they're lacing with HFCS.
-I most certainly do not want added sweeteners to my fruit juice!! I think that's my biggest pet peve with HFCS, you think you're drinking something healthy and it's got extra sweetner, as if fruit need extra sweetness...That makes me mad. As for soda. I don't need soda. period. And if/when I were to drink soda, I would choose one with REAL sugar because it tastes better. That's right. I've tried it, it's better. ( Go to Senegal, or any European Country, or any other country that doesn't have a high sugar tariff and doesn't produce excesses of corn subsidized by the U.S. government to support rich corporations profiting off of corn products then using them to control poorer countries' through GMO "food aid", and you'll taste what soda is supposed to taste like because they still use cane sugar.)
--As mentioned earlier, I do not support what the Genetically Engineered (GE) or Genetically Modified Organisms (GMO) Industry stands for and do not want to eat corn that is produced by it (which HFCS almost definitely is ).
-I like Michael Pollen's* philosophy: "If your great great grandmother didn't eat it, neither should you" and "if you can't pronounce it, or don't know what it is, it's not food and you shouldn't eat it" or "If it has more than five ingredients, don't eat it"

I can pronounce high fructose corn syrup, I think I know what it is and don't think it has more than five ingredients, but honestley, I barely have the patience to type out all four words and now that I know what it is (a fake imitation of the natural chemical make up of cane sugar that is highly processed thus eliminating any minerals or nutrients that may have been present) I'd rather eat the real stuff in as unrefined a form as possible, and not in excess.

I think the message here is, whether it's sugar or HFCS, it is clear that we need to eat less sweet additives in our diets in order to be healthy happy people into the future. I still like the "word of wisdom" I learned in the Mormon church which says "moderation in all things." As far as sugar goes, I'm still working on that one, but you can be sure I'm going to be trying extra hard to keep HFCS out of my life and out of my esophogus for good.

Any suggestions on cutting out the sweets?

* I'd like to read his book "The Omnivore's Dilemma"- it talks a lot about the corn industry including HFCS and the history of food and nutrition in our country.
I've heard him speak, he's really down to earth, interesting, intelligent and funny. Put it on the list.

2007-05-06T17:52:00.000-07:00

Happy Cinco De Mayo!

I learned from my father and the help of wikipedia, that it is not the celebration of Mexican Independence day, but celebrating Mexican Pride, especially for Mexican Americans. It's apparently more celebrated in America b/c of commercialization than in Mexico which originated as a celebration of winning a battle five years before Indepencence against the French...)
Good time to get together with friends, eat good food and celebrate ya?

So I kind of slacked on posting last week. This whole week I've kind of felt like a slacker to be honest- haven't felt lin September- but ke jogging, eaten lots of sugar, feeling lazy...Maybe it's cuz the weather is getting hotter? I'm thinking we all go through our phases of being motivated or not...right?
I snapped out of it today after a moving sermon at church (welcome all to the table, regardless...reminds me of a saying I like: God bless everyone, without exception.) and a perfectly gorgeous day with a nice hike in the hills. So now I'm taking a week long break from sugar- I admit it- I'm addicted to sugar okay- especially chewy sweet chocolaty things like brownies, or cold chunky chocolate chip cookie dough ice cream...mmm. Glenn and his mom aren't much help, but when my teeth started hurting in multiple places, I thought "maybe it's time to take a little break..." Give me strength!

^ remember these?

Sugar makes Crystals!- do you think there's a connection?

....Anyways, i've been procrastinating posting a blog this week because I didn't know what I wanted to write about..I've felt the same way about painting lately...
Part of it is also because I'm having a blog identity crisis. I feel like it's turning into just a travel log... I want my fam and friends to know what I'm up to- but I also want it to be a place that I can express my feelings and invite discussion and share opinions ...so give me comments !:)

So I'm a little back logged-but here are a few things I've been up to lately:
I started balafon lessons with a musician from Guinea named Mohammed Kouyate.
I met him when I went to an African Dance class in downtown Oakland:) I wanted to take lessons when I was in Senegal but never seeed to have enough time, so I'm glad I do now. I don't know how long I will take them cuz they're a little expensive, but it's an ancient instrument and mesmorizes me everytime I play it. What's a balafon?
I just learned that one of the best balfon players is a man from Guinea named El Hadj Djeli Sory Kouyaté
kouyate, sound familiar? Apparently it's one of the biggest griot families in West Africa.listen to some of his songs!

Other than that, the most exciting thing I've done lately is seeing the new spider man 3 movie.
I know, just a movie, Krystal's usually not that into the pop culture scene..But this movie I really liked. So much that I am writing about it in my blog. It was actually fabulous, especially for a #3 movie, which I am getting increasingly annoyed with- what's up with everyone making 3 movies nowadays? But this movie was great - great message, good storyline, great effects, and lots of humor. Can we say emo?

You'll know what I"m talking about when you see it.

Plus we saw it at the greatest theatre in Oakland- the Grand Lake Theatre- it's a super old classy theatre that has a live organ player on Fridays and Saturdays, doesn't play any commercials before the movies, and they post political messages on the theatre board. If you come to visit, it is a must-see.

Oh ya, I went to Muir Woods last weekend- sorry, can't get away from the pretty nature photos.
I took seven international students from the EF international school at Mill's college, each from a different country (Russia, Germany, Belgium, Kuwait, Italy, France, and the U.S.) A great group of peopls, and we had a great time- had a BBQ on the beach (I even cooked hamburgers for everyone, though I still do not eat them nor do I wish to support the cattle industry anytime in the near future...I'm getting more blatently opinionated in my older age aren't I?...)
Anyways, the beach was lovely, a bit windy and foggy-but hey that's the northern CA coast- then went hiking in Muir Woods down the way...Honestly it's a beautiful place, but I guess I'm a little spoiled having spent four years at Humboldt State near Redwood National Park- it's not nearly as crowded up there, there are more trails, taller trees... I wasn't as awe-struck as I feel like I should've been being in the presence of thse amazing ancient wise giants...but humbled none-the-less.

2007-04-22T20:53:00.000-07:00

Global Mourning
Shana, me and Allison of CCC, 4/22/07

Today I was a part of a participatory art project at Golden Gate Park in San Fransisco called "From Global Mourning to Global Awakening." Allison Quaid, the director of Creative Community Catalysts, reserved a booth for the us at the Green Apple Festival, a music festival for Earth Day. It was her, myself, and another CCC volunteer named Shana that came up with the idea for this piece, then collected salvaged materials to build it (re-using is sustainable:).
The piece itself was addressing the issue of Global Warming, like most of the other organizations there, but before calling people to change their livestyles, we were asking people to express their emotions about Global Warming either by writing or drawing, or talking. Then after reflecting about those feelings,we encouraged people to write their hopes on a flag and tie it to our "tree" of hope. We made a website to go along with this projects so people can continue to express themselves, so please take a couple minutes to share your feelings too.

The main idea behind our piece stemmed from the belief that healing is a process. So in order to heal ourselves and the planet, we must tap into our emotions and take time to reflect and think about how Global Warming is affecting each of us in our lives. Then we can really make meaningful changes to stop it. The idea is that by meditating about how we feel and thinking about what we may lose, or already have lost because of Global Warming, we are able to open up to what really matters in life and enter a state of mind that helps us sincerely ponder what we will do to protect our planet and those we love.
Those emotions are what inspire and motivate us to change, but we have to take the time out to go through the process; it's like a rite of passage.

To represent this process, we set up two doors, an entrance and exit that people would walk through. The entrance is called Global Mourning, and the exit: Global Awakening. To draw people in at the entrance was an ice sculpture that was melting in the hot CA sun with a sign underneath it saying "As the glaciers melt, what melts in you?" In the center is a space for people to sit on cushions, read stories about people whose livlihoods have changed because of glacial melting, write thoughts in journals, and draw pictures about how they're feeling. Next to the exit door is a tree we made from trimmed tree branches and a salvaged CD case trunk that people tied flags to. On the flags, people wrote their hopes for the planet. After that people could choose a vegetable, flower, or herb seed from a bowl of seeds to take home with them. Then they exited though the "Global awakening" door, symbolizing a seed of change that each of us plant inside to begin growing a positive future.

Here are some pictures so you can visualize what the piece looked like:
Global Mourning Entrance, mourning space, and Global Awakening exit

From this angle you can see both the entrance and exit doors with people in the center drawing and writing. To close off this space we built screen walls where we hung pictures about the effects of Global Warming and where we hung drawings that people had created.

The Ice Sculpture in front of the entrance.

A bunch of kids making drawings about the planet:)

Me at the table where people could write their hopes, then take seeds of hope home to plant .

Some kids writing their hopes for the planet...
"I hope we can plant more trees."
"I hope for sustainability," etc.

Glenn and his mom both came to participate:)

This is our tree of hope that people tied their hope flags to.

After doing all the brainstorming for this project; searching salvage yards for materials, building screen walls that were structurally sound, printing jarring pictures about the effects of Global warming that were hung up on them, and then standing in the sun all day at the festival encouraging folks to express themselves, I feel like I haven't taken the change to really stop and think for myself:
How do I feel about global warming? How is it affecting my life?

So here goes: I feel surprised that we have come to a point where the impacts of the human race are being seen world wide. I feel angry that the American culture values money, consumption, competition and limitless growth over human relationships, conservation, cooperation and "smart growth". I feel guilty when I fly and want to travel far places... I feel frustrated that I have to fight against the grain by saying let's try and consume less, not more...that bigger is not always better and is usually much worse!....

Like most of us, I feel overwelmed by global warming. The Human species is changing the climate patterns of our planet, affecting not only our own well-being, but that of every other living thing that shares the planet with us. That's scary. disturbing. discouraging. depressing!...
Somehow I still have hope for us though. I have hope that we can change. I have hope that we, especially as citizens of the U.S., are entering a time of awakening and connectedness that will help us recognize that relationships are more important than material wealth, that there is enough for everyone if we share, that we don't need to rapidly deplete the world's resources to live a happy and fulfilling life...
So I don't think we are doomed. I won't give up. I won't say that it's too big and I refuse to believe that we can't work together to turn it around. But I do believe that each of us has the power and responsibility to stop climate change; to care about those around us more... To think about the consequences of our actions more... To make efforts to change more... To try more... To believe more... To love more... To care more... The keys are: individual action, faith, and hope.
"Four Elements" Mandala by Glenn and Krystal, 8/18/06. Trinidad Beach, Trinidad, CA

So where does my hope come from? I'm forcing myself to think about this. Am I a hopeless idealist? Maybe. Maybe not. I feel like I'm pretty eductated in this area, and yes I tend to always look on the bright side....Am I just naive? I hope not. No, I don't think so. I have hope because I have a deep respect and love for nature and I'll never stop doing what I can to protect it. I have hope because I honestly do believe that human nature is inherently good and I believe that we all have all the tools we need within ourselves to transform the way we live and think about the world we live in. I have hope because I have faith in creativity, love, compassion, and cooperation, all of which all happen to be renewable just like the sun, the wind and the waves. ... So now I've got to turn this hope into change.

What does this change look like? To me, in order to stop global warming and create a positive future, we must re-think how we live our lives; stop to contemplate what is really important to us, and identify what sacrifices we are willing to make for the benefit of our planet, ourselves, and each other. Then we are ready to make different decisions in our daily lives that accumulate with others' to create big change.

So I've mentioned some feelings and thoughts.
Being who I am, I've got to talk about some solutions too,
so here are some ideas:

let's try and reach out more and build more positive relationships instead of isolating ourselves behind our laptops and iPods..I'm just as guilty as the next person, but I'm trying to break out of my shell. And I think this is a big piece in the puzzle to fill. Wanna try with me? Let's try. It starts with smiling. Then opening your mouth.

I believe that each of us can choose to do something differently every day even if it seems that others aren't. We have the power to encourage others around us even if we don't feel encouraged. We have the ability to commit to doing something different every day that is positive: whether it's changing light bulbs to energy effecient ones, taking the bus instead of driving one day a week, talking to a stranger in line at the store, buying fruit a local farmer, offsetting travel with carbon credits... (I'm still learning about this great one, check out what one of my heros David Suzuki says about it.) The point is, there are small things we can do to create a more positive place to live and that add up to make a difference. Let's strive to live a carbon-neutral life. Let's strive.

So for me, I think the first step to making these solutions real is as simple as having faith, believing that our actions make a difference. Let's work on that one.

The next step would be trusting ourselves and each other, then reaching out to more people. I was talking to someone recently, or maybe it was a lecture I heard sometime, that we must think about what we want the future to look like, then in order to create that positive future, we must sharing that vision with others to help it grow.
It's kind of like Peter Pan: "Think happy thoughts and you can fly"...right? You get my point.

The last step would be to commit and choose to do what it takes to make that vision real. Every day. And when we forget, re-commit and keep on going.

One of my favoirite images that helps me keep my focus is what I learned growing up in the Mormon church: life is a journey. Every day we can be better than we were the day before. When things get hard, the challenge helps us grow stronger. And by enduring to the end- keeping faith alive and hoping for a better future-we can partake of the fruit of the tree of life and be happy.
The trick is you gotta keep on walking.
And f you take a wrong turn, you've got to make your way back to the path.

"Tree of Life," Cynthia Fisher. 2002
Big Bang Mosaics

So...Let's reach out to others, encourage each other, have faith, live with hope instead of fear, and partake of the fruit of the tree of life.

I revel in the awe and beauty of nature and give thanks for all that our Mother Earth continually provides!

Let's protect and honor this precious gift.
Alhumdulilaay!

2007-04-15T09:51:00.000-07:00

Big Sur!
It's one of the most beautiful places I've been I think. yup.

Andrew Molera State Park, Bluffs/Ridge Trail Loop
Very beautiful, not very developed, and not many people:)
"That's the way uh huh uh huh I like it..."

Pink Sand!
This was at a secluded beach off the trail on a spur called the Spring trail.
We had lunch in a little drift wood bench in a protected cove right before the trail got to the beach- peaceful bubbling spring, chirping birds, graceful butterflies...

Pink Sand in my teeth!

Shadow Monsters on the metamorphic sedimentary swirly rocks.

Top of the ridge with super- skydiving-power winds that almost blew us into the ocean...
almost.

Big Sur Coast line on the way to Julia Pfeiffer State Park (about 10 miles past our turn off for the Pine Ridge Trail in Pfeiffer Big Sur State Park)
a happy little accident as Bob Ross would say:)Pine Ridge Trail up to Sykes Hot Springs.
10 miles in and back, we spent two nights backpacking with great spots sleeping next to the big sur river

poison oak is everywhere! beware.

The Trail is alush meandering through canyons and around mountains with towering redwoods shooting up beside you on the trail and mountainesque views the whole time! The West is the best! (The East is the least...for more on this you can refer to the AT blog from last summer...) PCT is for me- I need the mountain views and rivers and lakes and hot springs please!!

Me in our cozy spot with our tarp tent- easy, light and quick. We use trees or hiking poles to pitch the tarp, then have a smaller net tent that goes underneath to keep the bugs out... There weren't many mosquitos, but I did get my very first tick this trip, how exciting. It was in my back of all places, those little guys are sneaky and tiny. Thanks to Jimmy and Marylyn, a cute older couple that let us borrow the tweezers, and to Glenn for pulling it out...Just for the books, if you ever get a tick, the match on the butt is not a good strategy, it just kills the tick, then you can't get the head out. I don't think peanut butter is effective either, according to the tick pamphlet we got at the ranger station it's best to just pull em straight out with some tweezers. Again thank you Jimmy and Marlyn. I think I might just put some tweezers in the first aid kit now.

Here are some haikus we wrote by the river:

Campfires and campers
bodies in a circle sit
Brothers and sisters

pot coated w/food
smells like good things are cooking
even when they're not

River oh river
always whispering words of peace
stay with us tonight

golden branches soar
ripples dance their way down stream
ancient giants watch

Dusk fills the valley
shapes and voids become sharper
such a peaceful time

illumination
heat creeps up from underneath
blue flames dance upward

calm, peaceful and wise
flowing down the mountain side
clear syrup of life

The lucsious trailThe lucious river valley! I love mountains!

Monterey Bay at Asilomar State Park
We went tide pooling here and without much luck realized we could see all the best of the best at the aquarium...Monterey Bay Aquarium
This is an amazing place.

Jelly Fish- these are amazing to watch, especially the tiny baby ones.

Sea anenomes!

Sea Otters- this is the big new exhibit right now, we got to see them during feeding time, then watched them play in the Bay during dinner at El Torritos right on the ocean front.

Coral, lots of different kinds: brain coral, velvet coral, staghorn coral, spiny coral or something like that...Lots of these reefs are dying over the world because of pollution and raising ocean temperatures..sad they're so beautiful.

The kelp tank.. Kelp can grow 1.5 feet a day and 75 feet tall- they must have the moving ocean to grow and thrive, so they have a way to simultate the ocean tides to keep this exhibit alive and well.

The aquarium is really impressive, we also saw sharks and rays and touch pools and interprative displays...they integrate their mission of conservation into their facilities and programs too: the toilets have low flush handles (you pull up for liquid waste and it doesn't use as much water) have signs on the paper towels that say: towels=trees, they encourage you to recycle plastic bags (they look like jelly fish and fish eat them, making them feel full, but giving them no nutrients) and give out Sea Watch guides to let you know what fish is the most appropriate to eat in order to save the ocean environments: check it out here and help keep the oceans healthy: http://www.mbayaq.org/cr/SeafoodWatch/web/sfw_regional.aspx
What a cool place.
Yay for our oceans! It is a totally different world under there...

2007-04-02T09:13:00.000-07:00

Te Deum
Yesterday was the day that we finally had our big choir performance. Remember, I sing in the Montclair Presbyterian Church Choir with Glenn and his mother Caroline? So for months we have been practicing Handel's "Te Deum in A" (1726) with 9 movements. It lasts about 15 minutes all in all and today we performed it for Palm Sunday- the church hall was lined with big palm leaves on each side to commemorate the entrance of Christ into Jerusalem when he was praised as King before his betrayal and crucifixion... We had a small orchestra to accompany us, and sang with our hearts and souls...it was nice to feel the energy and praise in the room. We practieced and worked hard on this piece, so it was nice when I actually felt the peace and joy we were singing about during the performance, rather than just blindly singing the prnted words. With the sun shining on our heads from the sky lights above I really felt like a holy angel singing from heaven..it was pretty neat.
I liked what the pastor Karen said before we sang, she gave us confidence and peace by reminding us that: singing in a church choir is singing in behalf of the whole congregation (the real choir), singing thier hopes and praises together with them and for them. It's also about singing together in unity, creating a unified sound that is about praising God and feeling the revelry and peace of creation. It's not about your ego trying to sing the loudest or best, but about humbly and proudly melting our voices together into a harmonious, joyful song that shows our gratitude to God for life, grace, and love and praises life of Christ for his inspiring example of compassion and love for all.

The Lady Washington

Saturday night I celebrated the full moon with Caroline and Glenn aboard the Lady Washington's Moonlight adventure sail from Jack London Square out on the Bay... It was with a non-profit called Gray's Harbor Historical SeaPort Authority, who does educational programs for youth to promote and preserve maritime history and teach kids about sailing, and also do recreational sails like adventure and battle sails with the public on the weekends!

My first time sailing, and it was in a historic tall sailing ship...in the full moon! Very cool experience...The adventure sail means that people aboard get to help the crew sail the ship- this is harder work than you think...the crew seemed to be running around the whole time from rope to rope "hauling your halyard" and "setting your gear" on the star bird side...basically pulling ropes to let down the sails, pulling other ropes to change the angle of the sail relative to how the wind was blowing and the direction we wanted to go...It is a lot of work to sail a ship like that, I can see why modern day ships have gotten a lot simpler- not so much work! But there's something really satisfying about knowing that it takes a crew of people working hard together, communicating clearly(repeating the orders of the captain and yelling when your ready), and singing songs together to make this big ship move...

Apparently you can volunteer for two weeks on the ship (for $500) and see what it's really like to live on the ship, learn the ropes, and become part of the crew. All the crew members started out this way. It's pretty tempting to want to escaoe to sea for a few weeks, or a few months...a simpler life with different worries and a lot of hard physical work, but a deeper connection with nature: being attuned to the direction of and power of the wind, and a deeper connection with yourself and those around you...It really is an escape from our reality of life living in a city- it's like having time hold still, stopping, listening, feeling...

That's what I envision anyways, I don't REALLY know since I only have the experience of 2 hours pulling some ropes a couple of times in the protected waters of the Bay...But I'm thinking that the sailing life must be similar to the backpacking life- majority of the time you are working, but your amongst the power and beauty of nature, you're with spirited companions, you live a simpler life by taking away so much of the technology and busy-ness that we get caught up in during our day to day existance in a modern day city...leaving time to think, and wonder, and sing, and dance, and fly with the wind:)

"Unconditional"

I went to an amazing performance yesterady afternoon by the Destiny Arts Youth Performance Company, called "Unconditional." They're a multi-cultural group of teens around ages 16-18 who combine different dance techniques from salsa to hip hop, with poetry, theatre, song, and spoken word to confront personal challenges, tell their personal stories, and make commentary on society to inspire social change. All this while empowering youth and creating community- all the performers are involved in the choreography, and the stories are all true, personal stories they have experienced in their lives. The show covered issues like racism, gender roles, family issues, media, immigration, violence, personal identity, accpetance, global warming, as well as love, peace, meditation, and hope. The stories (told in the form of cell phone conversations) were so moving and shocking: having close friends get shot right next to you, having a dad and family threatened to be deported after 20 years of living and working in America, having a cousin go to fight in Iraq with ignorance about oil interests or Shiite/Sunni conflicts, being a guy who has long hair, likes to wear pink and wants to be accepted for who he is, feeling fearful and hopeless in a world of climate change and conflict, being addicted to T.V. then realizing the it is fueled by the corporate media....

It was inspiring and refreshing to go to a performance that included such relevant and REAL issues prevelant in our society that are not featured, and most often intentionally dis-cluded from mainstream T.V. Then to see a group of youth who cared so much about REAL issues alive today in our world and to see them inspired, empowered, and hopeful for a better future despite really challenging experiences in their personal lives, made me feel there is some hope for the future. I wish you all could've seen it because it's so hard to explain the power, energy, and emotion in their performance- funny, sad, heart-breaking, hopeful, beautiful, real, dynamic...every second is different from dancers on ropes from the ceiling to highly energetic group dancing to gospel songs to satirical imitations of news broadcasts and corporate CEOs...they sell DVDs of their performances as well as a documentary about them online..it would be cool to get one so you know what I'm talking about. Or go to a performance if you live in the Bay area.

Destiny Arts is by far the most succcessful youth organization I have witnessed so far in empowering youth, and providing creative outlets for youth to learn about themselves and the world, and teach others how to keep hope alive. They have a program called Project Destiny, which goes to 21 different schools in the Bay to do afterschool programs in martial arts, dance, and theatre from elementary to high school. They also have afterschool programs at their main site for youth to take classes, with all of their classes incorporating the "five fingers of non-violence." It's really amazing to me how they bring a diverse group of people together, empower youth to hold keep hope alive even in the most heartbreaking circumstances, and empower them to be positive, resist violence, be educated and thoughtful citizens, learn about team work and have lots of fun with youth of different ethnicities and backgrounds! I am inspired:) ...One last thought to contemplate: "What would a world without racism look like?" Without discrimination based on race, gender, class, age, sex, ethnicity, sexual orientation, OR education ( I though that was an interesting one to think about)...Really think about it.
What would it look like?

2007-03-31T14:40:00.000-07:00

Let's go fly a Kite!!

Natural Bridge State Beach, Santa Cruz.

I like Holidays. who doesn't? When I was in Senegal it seemed there were holidays every other week because they would celebrate ALL the holidays: muslim AND christian holidays, plus other national holidays... not a bad idea. In California, we get a special day to celebrate the life of Cesar Chavez, legendary Mexican American farm worker in California who fought for the health and civil liberties of farmers in California, leading a strike with a huge march of grape-pickers from Delano to the capital (around 245 miles!, I just learned) that lasted for 5 years and encouraged people to boycott table grapes. To be honest, I hadn't even heard of Cesar Chavez growing up in Utah. I learned about him a few years ago when I worked for a Cesar Chavez grant one of my professors got to teach kids about him and about environmental conservation, organic farming/gardening, and community building in Willow Creek and the Hupa reservation (about 45 miles East of Arcata). What an amazing man. Thank you Cesar Chavez!

So to celebrate Mr. Chavez and our day off, Glenn and I took off to find a sunny beach- hello Santa Cruz! We were going to go to Stintson beach, which is supposed to be
the closest relatively non-crowded, un-polluted , and super beautiful beach...but after finding out that the next closest beaches (in Santa Cruz) were 70 degrees and sunny rather than 60 and foggy, Santa Cruz won! What can I say, I'm a dessert girl, I thrive on sunshine!

One thing I can say is that Glenn and I are good at playing: we spent the day running on rocks, Ukulele playing, tide pooling, playing tag, and kite flying!- we finally got my kite (purchased last summer and earth-bound even atop Utah's tallest mountain) to soar! It wasn't easy, our little kerby kamakazi kite kept spinning and diving all over the place, but we did it for a few couple minute long sessions with success, and Glenn's persistance:) Kite flying reminds me of camping at Moab in Southern Utah - we used to go every year with my family, cousins, and aunts and uncles over Easter and camp by the green river, have Easter Egg hunts in the sand, hike in nearby Arches National Park, play April Fool's jokes, and play capture the flag at night..I hear some of my cousins are keeping up the tradition and going down this year- way to keep the tradition alive! Unfortunately I won't be going :(, but Glenn and I might go to Big Sur, which is almost as nice:)

Big Bend Campsite, Moab, Utah

So back to Santa Cruz, the day was topped off with the appearance of a blue alpaca who came to enjoy a wade in the ocean! Yes blue, like dyed blue alpaca on a leash at the beach! How unusual?! maybe it's a frequent occurance there, but it was my first time seeing one. I feel privelaged.
I've always loved alpacas- their soft wool spun into velvety socks, hats and gloves and scarves, their gentle demeanor, their ability to mow your lawn by eating only the tops of the grass instead of the whole plant, plus they come in different colors apparently:P
I'd like to have a pet alpaca some day:)

Aren't they cute?

So I never thought anything could be softer than alpaca wool yarn until last night when we spent some time with our friend April, who just returned from a year in New Zealand, and brought home with her hundreds of pairs of posssom socks. That's right, possom fur is spun and mixed with wool and a little nylon to make the warmest, softest, most durable socks imaginable..or so April says. She convinced me...After trying them on and hearing the story of the possoms, I bought a pair and haven't taken them off sicne...I know you're thinking, how cruel, why would anyone want or even need a pair of socks made at the cost of the life of a small cute little bushtail possom(way cuter than the possoms here in US)?

Well I would've thought the same thing before I learned that possoms are the BIGGEST environmental problem in New Zealand! They were brought over from Australia (home to plenty of predators that will control the population such as dingos, tirantulas, alligators, ect) to New Zealand where the only mammal is a bat, hardly a predator for the feisty little possom. So the populations have mulitplied to uncontrollable numbers- 70 million! And they eat up to 140 TONS of the sweet lucious vegetation thriving in New Zealand's beautiful landscape...The government's way to deal with it is poison, which is just making another environmental problem contaminating ecosystems and killing other animals too. The alternative is to hunt them, and currently numerous hunters make money for killing as many as they can- they get 10 kiwi dollars ( about $7) for each possom they kill, then their fur is used to make soft, warm, durable socks. Apparently there are lots of hunters that make a good living doing this.

So now I've got super socks and I'm doing my little tiny part to help preserve New Zealand's pristine environment. I'll let you know how they stand a month of hiking on the PCT this summer...April has already used them for 6 months of hiking in New Zealand and they do not look worn at all. Yay for possom socks:) If any of you are interested in getting yourself some, contact my friend April Armstrong: aprilalison@hotmail.com

2007-03-19T21:32:00.000-07:00

A NEW JOB! and Stretching the Social Circle

So this past week has been pretty exciting:

I got a new job! yay:) I now am an administrative assistant for a program called ALICE, Arts and Literacy in Children's Education. It's a great non-profit organization that works with resident artists to teach elementary school kids dance, theatre, and visual arts! How cool! So I just help out with any and all aspects of coordinating the program, and even get to help out with a production they are putting on next week called "My heart comes from my ancestors" which is an original performance piece about kids stories from their grandparents. Read some of the stories here.

It feels good to be part of something worthwhile and meaningful that is working with art!
This is my new boss.
Her name is Helen.
I like her a lot because she is professional, creative, super organized, an open and honest communicator and she tries really hard to make our work environment positive and wholesome- she has an herb garden in her front yard (the office is out of her home), lots of natural lighting, has a sunny back patio that we will be able to work from sometimes, has herbal tea in the cupboard for making, and a compost container on the counter-my kind of atmosphere:) So what I'm trying to say is that I feel right at home there, and I think this will be a really positive experience. I think I will learn a lot from her, and will hopefully learn a little more about grant writing (essential in the non-profit world.) Plus the job is only till the end of June (which is what I wanted so I can go play for a couple months this summer- PCT hiking and farming with Glenn)

I met a lot of the artists the other day too, one of them is a Congolese dancer/drummer that has done workshops up in Arcata with my former african dance teacher up there- What a small world. He teaches at the Malonga Casquelourd Center for the Arts! in downtown Oakland also, where I've been meaning to go to take some African dance classes- I took a class a couple semester ago at Humboldt and miss it. So hopefully I will be able to go to his class soon:)

So besides a new job this week, I had a really fun weekend:

I met a Senegalese woman (Klarice) and a man from Burkina Faso (Malam), and we all cooked Yassa Poulet (a senegalese oniony dish) at my friend Joe's house (who works at the West African Immigrant center in San Francisco). It was Joe that introduced us all and thought up the whole idea. what a cool guy. Anyways, the man from Burkina Faso, Malam, is a tailor, and he's going to make me a padded bike messenger bag out with African patchwork prints:) We're hoping to all get together again and go salsa dancing and/or go dancing at the Little Baobab in San Francisco. It was nice to hear people speaking Wolof and eating Yassa poulet!

yum.

The grand finale of this weekend was to go to an all day workshop and concert hosted by the Oakland Interfaith Gospel Choir! Not only did Glenn and I get to take a singing class from the director, Terrance Kelly and ear training, drumming, and gospel/jazz piano with other choir members, we also got to learn some gospel songs and sing in the concert in a big mass choir! Can you say Hallelujah?
The community concert was free hosted by the 1st congregational church of Oakland about a 10 minute drive from where we live: the concert lasted about 2 and half hours (every choir had to show off their stuff) and there were choirs from an assortment from black baptists to white church folks from Petaluma. One women reminded me of the woman version of James brown, I swear it was like right out of a movie(if anyone has seen blues brothers, it was kind of like the church jake and elwood went to)- singin at the top of her lungs at the piano while the whole choir sang at the top of their lungs shoutin and jumpin and clappin and dancin! What energy! It was fun, and shocking, and chaotic and crazy!
I feel like I've now had an authentic taste of the REAL gospel sound. It was great.
The Oakland Interfaith Gospel Choir and the St Paul's church were my favorite- both the directors are full of energy! Terrance is a great guy, I'm glad we got to sing with him- he also has an amazing voice and is a passionate director!

I started a new community group: East Bay Nomads...check it out at http://groups.google.com/group/east-bay-nomads

2007-03-12T09:02:00.000-07:00

Another Day at the Musuem

I took some international students down to the Oakland Museum for their FREE day yesterday:) They have a really nice history of california exhibit, California artists, with a couple of famous pieces by Rothkho and Deibenkorn....but my favorite exhibition was by "100 Families Oakland" project using art for social change.
Basically a partnership between Oakland's Center for Art and Public life and the College of California Arts came together to offer a series of art workshops for families from four diverse neighborhoods in Oakland to participate in together.
The project is about celebrating family as the foundation of community by bringing famlies together, building self-worth and bonds by creating art, and bringing together neighbors to strenthen the broader community...This makes me happy.
I'm glad there are projects like this and I would like to be a part of more like them.

2007-03-08T10:11:00.000-08:00

Yay for Art!

There are some great exhibits at the MOMA in San Fransisco right now!
I went there on Tuesday for free tuesdays- the first Tuesday of each month.
My favorite exhibits were:

Henry Wessel's Photography,

"San Francisco" 1977

Some of Paul Klee's small sketches

"Why does he run" 1932

Amy Franceschini's victory gardens project. She is one of the five contemporary artists in the Bay Area to win the biennial SECA award (Society for the Encouragement of Contemporary Art)," an art interest group tha recognizes local artists of exceptional promise." The exhibit included a pogo stick shovel as well as a wheel barrow bike, and free seed packets to take home.
I like this idea.

Check out the website to read more about it and see the video.

My favorite was the featured exhibit right now: Picasso and American Art!

"Bull Fight" 1934? Picasso

(there was a similar, cooler version at the exhibit)

"Bathers with Beach ball" 1928
Picasso

This is an excellent show with a lot of Picasso's diverse art pieces intermingled with American Artists who were influenced by him, my favorite one being Max Weber. Too bad I can't find a copy of the "Conversation" 1919 online anywhere. That was my favorite one of his and it's more interesting than some of his other work...

David Smith "Interior" 1937

Max Weber "Bather" 1913

So after failing at finding all the images of my favoirte prints from the show online, I am realizing that that is the point of having museums and galleries..If all the pieces were all online, there wouldn't be as much excitement to go and see them in person at the museum right?

To be honest, I always thought it a nice thing to go to museums, but often lack the initiative to go because there can be this air of exclusiveness and "holier than thou" attitudes attached with the experience, which isn't that nice.

Yet, after being so inspired by much of the art I saw on Tuesday, and actually every time I actually take the time to go, I get motivated to do art! Hooray! So yesterday I sanded and gessoed some salvaged wood, and I'm going to start some new paintings today:)

So I am accepting the fact that there are a lot of good reasons that museums and galleries exist, and I think that the good things that come from their existance outweigh the "exclusiveness, holier than thou" stuff one can feel sometimes.
Here are my top 5 reasons that art museums are cool:
Reason #1: you can go look at art up close that you can't see other places. Even if there are prints or photos of the work, there's something totally different about seeing the textures, colors, and materials used up close and personal.
Reason #2 They create a gathering place for communities to get together and appreciate culture, inspire thinking,and sparks conversations.
Reason #3 They inspire artists to create more art!
Reason #4 They offer a space to appreciate contemporary artists and support local artists in the area.
Reason #5 They instigate personal and social change by offering a space where it is encouraged to open your mind and look beyond yourself to learn new things or see things from a different perspective.

I now have a renewed appreciation and thankfullness for art museums and galleries. Even though "the art world" is tainted with egotism and uppety rich folks, I think everyone has something to gain from having more art in their lives.
So go out into the world, reach out to people, make art however you feel inspired to, talk to people, go to museums, and support local artists where you live! I would especially reccomend finding out when the free days and gallery openings are each month and go to those!
Yay for art.

2007-03-05T15:24:00.000-08:00

Shaking, Salsa, and Skydiving
So this week I survived a 4.3 earthquake, my first salsa lessons,
and jumping out of a plane from 13,000 feet!

The quake happened when we were at choir practice on Thursday evening....The ground shook, for maybe 5 or 10 sec...singing stopped... looked up to see the beams were still in place over our heads...then kept singing...

The ironic thing about the whole thing was that we were singing in a temporary room at the church where services are held while the church is being renovated for earthquake-proofness(isn't that a great non-word?)
What was really funny was that right when it happened we were singing
"there is nothing that can shake me..." How funny..and exciting...
I'm a REAL californian now:)...

Glenn and I went to take salsa lessons on Saturday at a club/cafe called Club Monteros and learned the basics of the expressive dance of salsa! I think that for me, as the woman, it's all about the flare- in the arms, hands, and hips...I am still finding my flare, but now that we've got the basics, we'll be salsa masters in no time:)

So to top off the week, Glenn and I took a group of international students skydiving in Acampo, CA at the Parachute Center about an hour and a half drive from Oakland East to the Central Valley. It was a last minute thing, the guy that was scheduled to do the tour cancelled, so I volunteered to lead the tour intstead!

To be honest, I was totally freaked out...I guess I have a tad fear of heights.
But with a free jump and an hourly wage, how could I resist?
I couldn't help getting Tom Petty's song in my head to get all pumped up
"And I'm free................free fallin..."

Here's the crew that went: Buckard (from Germany), Glenn, me, Jorge(from Guatemala), Lisa(France), Sebastien (Belgium), and Julia(France).

So when we finally landed it was in the grass on our bums.
We had 1 minute of free fall , then sailed through the air with our parachute above the central valley farm fields admiring the Sierra range to the East, spinning in circles, and feeling a tiny taste of what it's like to be a bird!....

This was our plane- pretty tiny! It took us up 13,000 ft, then we all filed out, squatted at the door, and jumped! I'm glad I was hooked to someone else (Rick was my buddy) cuz I don't know if I would've been able to jump out myself...we just crossed our arms and let our human appendages do the work on our backs...Luckily the guy I went with was pretty nice, there were a lot of macho guys that thought they were too cool for school....

My tandem buddy Rick and I after the jump...I was his 4091st jump or something crazy like that
( I didn't get a picture of myself with my stylish harness, nor did I pay the extra $35-$75 for a camera person to jump with me and film my crazy facial expressions during the jump down
...I screamed until my throat was dry, and smiled until my gums plastered shut in the wind...
I think my favorite part about the whole thing was gliding in the peaceful silence of the calm air and not having words to describe the freedom that I felt...Ahhhhh.

Then I remembered there was someone strapped to my back steering the whole thing and we had a nice conversation about the Sierras on the way down-
looks like this will be a better year for PCT hiking, not as much snow as last year !
woohoo!

2007-02-26T15:28:00.000-08:00

What's a Golden Birthday?

So Yesterday was my golden birthday. Have you every heard of it? Well don't worry, I'd never heard of it either until yesterday when I was at church and someone told me. It means that you turn the same age as the date you were born: so in my case, I turned 25 on the 25th. How exciting! To be honest, I didn't do anything all that exciting to celebrate, but I did have a good day: went to church and sang in the choir(they even sang to me in harmony), played my new card game called set (makes my brain hurt, but in a good way), played frisbee with glenn (with brand new frisbees!), talked to my family and friends:), then ate lots of chocolate chip date cake, sugary spicy candies, and fine chocolate truffles, and topped it all off with some nice thai take out food for dinner with a side of Academy awards- just like a good spoiled birthday american girl should. I know, doesn't sound quite like me ya? Well I tell you what, those big glowing boxes are hypnotising. But don't worry, it's not starting a trend, I still don't watch T.V. I am glad I watched though, it was pretty worth it to see Ellen as the host and hear Al Go
re say "my fellow americans" and see The Inconvenient Truth win an oscar- if you haven't seen this yet, watch it! I have a copy if you want to borrow it, or you can rent it, or you can buy it.
Anyways, the most important thing that I do on my birthday is to wish my twin brother a very happy birthday too...HAPPY BIRTHDAY KYLE!! (It's his golden birthday too...and no, we're not identical:P)
That's him-->

Oh ya, I do have to mention that I did have a fabulous little tamale party with some friends on Saturday night, which was a wonderful celebration equipped with all kinds of gourmet vegetarian fillings including mole (pronounced Moleh) from Mexico and cactus salsa; Plus a nice game of apples to apples with lots of good people:)- if you haven't played apples to apples, or made tamales yet, I would highly reccomend them both- especially in groups.
All in all, I'd say I had we had a pretty fabulous celebration. Thank you Caroline and Glenn for hosting and making my birthday special! And to all the cool people that came:)

So back to the golden birthday, I want to tell you more about the actual day because it turned out to be quite inspiring. Yesterday actually started out in a really nice way that kind of set a contemplative and rejuvinating mood for the day (which was a little jaded by all the hollywood stars, but definitely not ruined.) This being the season of Lent, which I have never really celebrated, but like the idea of re-evaluating what is wrong or missing in your life and making changes in new positive directions, i'm thinking it's a good time of year to think about what we are doing that we would like to be doing better, what we haven't been doing, but would like to start doing, or what have been doing that we probably shouldn't be doing.

I've been going to the Montclair Presbyterian church with Glenn and his mom Caroline (we all sing in the choir together) and the pastor women (her name is Karen) always gives really meaningful, thoughtful and inspiring sermons. Yesterday morning, after a couple different meloncholic, yet hopeful songs sang by the choir and members of the choir, she spoke about what repentance is and what being "meek" really means.
I always understood repentance to be the act of making your sins right through the grace of Christ and his sacrifice for humankind. She explained it in a different way which I think is a cool way to think about it: to turn around or change direction. Apparently when mary magdeline looked into the tomb to see that Christ was gone, she "repented", or turned around in a new direction, and that is when she saw the resurrected Christ. So really, lent is a time that is about changing directions and re-focusing to find what is truly important in life. This time of reflection happens in a lot of traditions too- I know in Judaism it's during yom kippur...

So seeing as I just celebrated my golden, once in a lifetime birthday, I'd like to take this special time to reflect, renew and repent.

So part of this process for me is going to involve meekness, which was the other thing that Karen mentioned in her sermon. Now I always thought of meek as being humble and submissive. In my shy disposition, I have always kind of identified myself as being a meek person, and therefore, was happy to read that according to the bible, I was promised to inherit the earth. But after hearing Karen speak, I have a totally different understanding. First she talked about how many negative conotations the word meek has, someone who is a "schnook" weak, wishy-washy, compliant, plain and passive. This didn't make me feel so nice, I don't want to be a schnook, even if I can inherit the earth. But then she continued to talk about positive definitions of meek: how we can be humble, gentle, and peaceful, without letting ourselves be trampled upon by others. She used an interpretation of Matthew's Beatitutdes in the bible from "The Message" by Eugene Peterson, a fellow pastor friend of hers. He interpreted the phrase from the bible"Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth," to say "You're blessed when you're content with just who you are- no more, no less. That's the moment you find youreselves proud owners of everything that can't be bought. " I like this perspective because often I feel like the shy disposition that I was feeling kind of proud of has been a hindrance to me often times in my life: I am too passive when I shouldn't be and can be too wishy-washy to make definite decisions when I need to.

Beth Grossman "She who dwells within"
-->she's a bay area artist who is hosting a workshop on Wed to make "green pin-ups."
They're kind of like war-time pin-ups that were used to boost soldier's morale except for these will be for the public to be boosted about saving our planet:) I'm excited.

I'd like to take this golden birthday to give up being shy and submissive and work on cultivating more confidence, pride, strength and assertiveness (in a humble and gentle way of course) filling myself full of spirit and gratefullness for all the beauty and magic and good in the world. I also want to work on building faith around the belief that a better world is possible, and each of us has the power to change it: the first step is belieiving that it can happen! This is a continuation from what I learned last week at the same Presbyterian church from a guest rabbi spoke (isn't that cool? a rabbi at a Christian church:) His name is Michael Lerner and he wrote "The Left Hand of God," which was apparently one of last year's best sellers in America: one of the central themes is that security comes through cooperation rather than domination, what a novel idea.... He also helped start the network of spiritual progressives- check em out. I think they're pretty cool:)
I'm feeling inspired, can you tell?
Bonjournee!

2006-07-13T14:56:00.000-07:00

PHOTOS!! Hot Springs- Erwin July 7th-13th
So We're still thinking of trail names for ourselves. Everyone has one on the AT.

The latest ones are:

Glenn= Taut Line. He's super good at knots, and loves to use the Taut Line Hitch, a famous one used in Boy scouts. He's also always on top of it, has all of his stuff organized, knows where he's going, and knows what to do in tricky situations.

Krystal=palette or paint brush. I've been doing small watercolors every couple of days, appreciate a wide variety of colors, textures and life around me. I also collect and press wildflowers and, you know, do the artsy stuff I like to do.
Any suggestions for other names?

This is a typical view when we get out of the woods- looks like layers and layers of rolling hills- pretty eh?
These are either the Smokies, the Black Mountains, or the Blue Ridge Mountains. It's hard to tell since there were mountains in every direction, and we haven't been carrying very detailed maps..ya, so this was kind of a last minute trip okay?

"Are these called Mountains?"

View from the Fire Tower on Rich Mountain.

"Yee haw!!" Ridin the rock at Lover's Leap above Hot Springs.

2006-07-13T13:49:00.000-07:00

MORE PHOTOS!!

Walnut Mt Shelter- it was pouring rain for a day and a half. This is about 13 miles away from Hot Springs.

Hot Springs North Carolina! The whole downtown is about 1/4 mile strip with a couple restaurants, an outdoor store, a post office and some bed and breakfasts. We stayed at the campground for $10, and splurged for some hot tubs fed by the Hot Springs! So very nice for a tired body. This is the French Broad River looking down from Lover's leap rock

This is our raging pop can stove- super light weight, easy, and burns clean denatured alcohol. It's a little slower, and quieter, than the MSR stoves, it works great for hot cocoa and yummy rice on a cold day:)

Here's us trying to keep bright spirits in the long dark thunder storm ..fur cute..

Here's us leaping off Lover's leap rock. This is hiking out of Hotsprings above the French Broad River North toward Erwin. The sunset was firey orange and we saw fireworks from the valley exploding up in the sky. (TN and NC have cool fireworks)

Cool Mushrooms eh? Glenn calls em chicken of the woods- we tried alittle piece and didn't die. Definitely a meaty-like texture, maybe we can cook with em next time? Just trying to scare you mom..tee hee.

2006-07-13T11:29:00.000-07:00

Greetings from the Appalachian trail!

So ya, this is the complete opposite of the Pacific Crest Trail, but at least we're not trudging through 20 feet of snow and carrying ice axes and crampons!

We're doing a few sections of the AT instead.
Check out photos below!

The Route
Glenn and I got a ride out there with a guy we met through Craigs list who was heading to North Carolina. We stopped by some cool spots on the way out (Petrofied Forest in AZ, White Sands in NM, and stopped by the Smithville Jamboree in TN for some authentic bluegrass gospel music). Esteban dropped us off in the Smokies and we started hiking from Clingman's Dome in the going North following the AT on North Carolina/Tennessee border. After hiking about 6 days (75 miles) we stopped at Hot Springs for a soak in the tubs (heavenly), some fried food and icecream. Then we hiked from there North to Erwin, TN (another 6 days and about 70 more miles) where we stayed at a cute place called Uncle Johnny's.
Got free shuttles into town, clean laundry, tv/vcr, nice hot showers, and 40 cent snickers bars. Can't beat that.

We hitchhiked from Erwin North up past Britsol with some old hippy friendly gus, then East to Damascus with a nice Baptist missionary man. It was way easier than we were expecting to hitch, we probably didn't wait more than 10 or fifteen minutes each ride- woohoo!

Now we're hanging out at "The Friendliest Library on the Trail" Damascus, VA. We're staying at a hostel called "The Place" run by the Methodist church for $4/night. We're heading back out on the trail tommorow morning after an all you can eat $4.99 pancake breakfast!
From here, we're heading North to Mt Rogers and Burke's Gardens up near Blend Va. From there we will hitchhike again up to Luray and canoe the Shendoah river for a few days up to Harper's Ferry. (Virginia is a big state!)

Then we're going to spend a day or two in DC before we fly back to California at the end of July. Quite an adventure!

I'll post more pictures as I can (which probably won't be for another week or two).

Check out this website if you'd like to know more about the trail:
http://www.appalachiantrail.org/site/c.jkLXJ8MQKtH/b.727749/k.91A1/AT_Essentials.htm

Here's a map of the whole trail so you know what I'm talking about:
http://www.nps.gov/applications/parks/appa/ppMaps/ATmap.pdf

PHOTOS!!
Here are some highlights from our trip so far!

So as a lot of you may know, Glenn and I got inspire to make a lot of our own gear after reading Ray Gardine's book "Beyond Backpacking," which emphasizes light weight gear, and simple, fast drying clothes.

One of the tips was to wear spandex shorts hiking, which are supposed to help prevent chaffing, are flexible and comfortable, and quick drying.
Glenn just likes them because he can hike and feel like he's naked.
I think they're pretty comfy, but usually wear my nylon adventure skirt over top of them cause I'm not quite as confident in spandex as he is yet.

We've seen lots of wildlife on the trail so far: mosquitos, flies, stinging flies, moths....so okay, not that exciting. We have seen lots of butterflies, bees, and fire flies:), a black rattle snake (timberline rattler or something?), a mouse, some beautiful birds, wilde turkeys, and two turtles! This little guy was just walking right across the trail.
We heard a coyote or something the other night, and heard of a bear close by, but didn't see him...

So here is a picture of the Great Smoky Mountains- ain't it pretty? Okay, so it's a picture of a postcard we found at a hostel. We didn't get any pictures when we were in the Smokies cause the extra batteries I had were actually dead. Sorry, that's the best I can do for now.

AT vs PCT
Hiking on the Appalachian trail is a lot different than what we were expecting on the PCT. There are shelters along the trail, a lot of roads (and sometimes noisy people/cars), and lots of hostels right off the trail. This kind of caught me off guard cause I was expecting more of a wilderness experience far away from any kind of civilization.

There are shelters every 10 or fifteen miles that you can stay at (3 sided structure that can sleep from 5-16 people, with a privy, water source, camp fire pit, and sometimes bear cables to hang bear bags.) So it doesn't feel as rugged or backcountry-ish, because you don't have to set up camp all the time if you don't want to .
We were expecting to have to set up camp on the PCT, so we carry our lightweight net tent and string up our tarp if it looks like rain. We've only stayed at two shelters so far, it's nice to camp and try to see some stars and feel the stillness of the woods. It's nice to stay at a shelter when it's dumping outside, and it's nice to meet other people, but it's also really great to have the option to set up camp wherever we want, rather than being limited to staying where the shelters are.

The terrain is a lot different too, obviously. The "mountains" are more like rolling green hills, with LOTS of foliage and trees galore, plus some kind of stinging nettles which we are getting pretty tired of hiking through. The streams are pretty hilarious too, sometimes when we filter water, we have to dig a little trench to make a deep enough puddle to cover the filter tip, but there are some big wide streams and rivers too.

There are a lot of little hostels to stay at with people who love hikers, since the trail is older, there is just a huge community of AT supporters who love to hear about where we've been and where we're going. Glenn keeps saying that a lot of the cool part of hiking the AT is all the cool little towns and communities it passes through on the way, it's not just about the scenery, cause honestly, it can get monotonous sometimes. Some hikers we talked to said the AT is sometimes referred to as the "Green Tunnel" and I think we're just getting a little taste of it. It gets tiring to not see the sky for hours at a time (because of the tree canopy overhead). Don't get me wrong, it's pretty, and it's really nice when we get to a high spot with some views, but it's definitely not what we're used to.

Some Thoughts on our Trip so Far...
There are not too many people out on the trail where we are, since all the thru-hikers are in Northern VA by now, but we've met some other section hikers like ourselves, and other couples out for a week or a few days...Lots of time to relax and think. And NOT ThinK.

It's nice to live a simpler life with everything we need right on our backs. We switch off doing the chores (hanging the bear bag, cooking meals, setting up the tent, filtering water or gathering fire wood.) Then I try to paint every so often, and we write in our journals, and I press flowers that I pick along the trail. We've also been reading some short stories about the area we're hiking in from the Civil War, which really gives us more insight about all that has happened in this land we are hiking through- pretty cool.

I think Glenn and I are spoiled, being used to the tall 10-14000 ft moutains with rushing streams and icy lakes galore, so I guess we're getting used to appreicating a different kind of beauty out here on the 6000 ft "peaks" and trickling brooks. There is a whole lot of history in this part of the country, and it's cool to get a little taste of southern hospitality and culture- most of the people we have talked to have been very friendly, talkative and helpful. We're looking forward to a little different terrain in VA, and canoeing will be a nice treat.
I'm still itchin to do the PCT, perhaps we can do a big section next summer, let's pray for less snow (or maybe we'll just have to take some self arrest classes to deal with some of those icy passes... we will see)

It's nice to be flexible and change our plans as we need to, as we have already re-routed a few times. "Do it while your young" right mom and dad?, that's what they always say.

2006-06-25T14:23:00.000-07:00

Kauaii!!

2006-06-25T13:16:00.000-07:00

The First Day of our PCT adventure starting at Burney Falls south to Old Station (40 miles). Our good friends Jesse and Lisa from Arcata came with us, equipped with a small guitar and smoked salmon! We had a lot of fun together!

(What a great way to start our adventure, even if we only made it 40 miles before there was too much snow to keep going!)

Krystal and Glenn at Burney Falls, the starting point of our PCT adventure.

Burney Falls is about half way between Canada and Mexico, the length of the full Pacific Crest Trail is over 2000 miles!

Finding the trail- Glenn got really excited about using the GPS, we could find exactly where we were on the map- THanks Dad!

Here is the infamous Baum Lake- A great place for the locals to go fishing, but so many mosquitos!! This is where I lost my camera, and after 2 hours of searching the lakeside, Glenn found it aobut 10 feet from where we had stopped to filter water- what a lifesaver!
Thanks a million times Glenn!!
What would I do without him?

After searching for the camera, it was too hot to hike, so we waited till later afternoon to hike the next six miles to our campsite. In between, Krystal got sick of her hair and decided to cut it off with her pocket knife!
Going Ultralight eh? After a dip in the mucky lake, I felt renewed and refreshed ready for a night of hiking and bug dodging- short hair is so easy!