Photo Catch-Up

You can click on any of the pictures to make them bigger.

Levi on the small tractor that all of the cousins used to drive when we were little.

Mount Baker saying a little hello.

Levi liked Uncle Gerrit's salad at Bob's.

We went to the Deming Logging Show! The Deming Logging Show raises money for the "Busted Up Loggers." I didn't make that up.

Sheri, Kevin, and I wait anxiously for the Deming Logging Show to begin.

We had lunch while we waited. Yummy yummy salmon. A baked potato. Coleslaw (yuck!). Bread. Baked beans. A tasty red punch.

These two guys cut down this log while balancing on these little boards!

Starting the Deming Logging Show with a prayer for those who had lost loved ones in the woods, for safety for the upcoming year, and for safety in the competitions.

Back on the balance boards. They have to cut down the logs and try to hit the little orange cones on the ground.

One of the relay races. They had to run across these logs in the water as part of the race. So many people fell in but I didn't get any pictures of them because I was laughing so hard.

They had the two fastest tree climbers. They went up those logs so quickly! And then came back down so fast too!

We had some really good strawberry shortcake too! Kevin liked his so much that he couldn't wait for the photo.

These kids did the log roll. The water looked so cold!

They're doing the "Ma and Pa Saw." The lady in white is 4 months pregnant!

The clown climbed the tall tree and did a little show. His "wife" eventually came and "shot" him out of the tree.

A manly logger chopping the log.

Adults doing the log roll.

The "Hot Saws." They connect massive engines to a saw and can saw through that huge log in less than 2 seconds. Crazy (and loud)!

Hey Mount Baker!

Ashley giving her horse Rusty a pep talk before we started out. She was afraid that he was going to die on the trail.

Uncle Wayne teaching Uncle Gerrit how to properly put a saddle on a horse after he had done it wrong. :)

We were supposed to see some of the islands off the coast and the Pacific but as you can see it was a bit cloudy. We were most definitely in the cloud.

Eating lunch by Lake Lily. My toes felt like they were about to fall off at this point.

On my horse Sugar.

Heading towards home.

Driving back from horseback riding. What you don't see is Uncle Gerrit sitting next to me yet. All of us were in the cab of a pickup. Quite illegal but I felt like I was home again.

Grilling steaks at Berthusen Park with my uncle and aunt's small group.

The kids working on smores.

Congratulations Sheri on getting married!

My friend Sarah and her boys came up to the farm for the day from Seattle. Playing with kittens.

Trying not to kill the kittens.

Sarah helped Ashlee fix the riding lawnmower.

Swinging at the farm.

Checking out the calves.

Family photo.

Later that night, he asked his mom, "Can you just leave me on a farm?"

A boy after my own heart - loving the Woods.

Sunset from the farm.

The view opposite of the sunset.

Chasing Cows

I think my title describes the type of workout that I got last night.

I'm staying on the farm by myself this week while my aunt and uncle and their family are at the Ag (Agriculture) Teacher's Conference. Uncle Gerrit left me with two phone number that I should call in case of a farm emergency. When we were talking about this on Saturday night, I asked the sarcastic question of, "So I should call them if there's cows running out on the road, right?" Not good to joke about such things.

One of my uncle's students is doing chores this week so my responsibilities extend to the two kittens on the porch, the dog, and the flowers...not cows. I came home yesterday afternoon after working on school stuff at Woods, my favorite coffeeshop, to a different pick-up in the driveway. I saw Brent in the cowyard and yelled hello. He asked what I had done to scare the cows. Wasn't sure what he was talking about. He came out to tell me that when he had come to do chores in the morning, the cows in the orchard had broke through 3 fences to get to the hay field. He had to bring in 2 other guys to round them up and put them back in the proper field. They got that done and left. Everything was a-okay.

I had dinner and wasted some time on facebook before my cousin Sheri called and asked me to go for a little walk. As I was walking out the door to go into town, my cousin Aaron calls. We talked about the cows breaking through the fences and he shared his story of his first day of work up here. He had just gotten hired, was supposed to start his first day, was staying by himself on the farm while my grandparents were traveling, walked out the door, and there was a cow in the garden. In his case, all of the cows were loose and he had to round them all up by himself. He was an hour and a half late for his very first day of work.

I went into town to go for a walk with my cousin, came back, called a friend in Indiana, talked for a long while before I saw another pick-up pull up the driveway. Hung up with Hannah, met the guy at the door, and he said, "Ma'am, you've got a beef on the road." Agh! Said thank you very much and started making my emergency phone calls. "Ah, Brent, I've got cows out on the road." "Ah, Rolf, I've got cows out on the road." Voicemail for both. Called my cousin Aaron, "Aaron, can you come and help me? I have cows out on the road." "I'll be there in 20 minutes." I slip on the closest shoes I can find. Flip-flops. Not really good for chasing cows.

As I ran out to the road, an SUV stops. An old man gets out and says, "I'm from the old country [Netherlands] and I don't speak much English but I'll try to help you catch the cow." We chased the cow from the road and onto the yard. I started running around the fenceline to see if I could find where this cow got out - in my flip flops. Avoiding cowpies at all costs. I made it about halfway around the fenceline before the cow leaves the yard and heads down the Trapline to the Hampton. Trapline is busy but the Hampton is even busier. It could be really bad if someone hit the cow. The cow gets spooked by the traffic and tears off into the neighbors field.

At this point, I really do not care about that cow. The old man has gotten back into the SUV and left. I can't do anything with the cow by myself and I'm very concerned that the fence is broken and the rest of the cows are all going to get out and I'm going to have a much bigger problem on my hands. My emergency people start pulling into the driveway. Brent, his brother, and his dad head into the neighbors field to see if they can find the cow. Rolf heads to the train tracks that run behind our farm to see if he can head off the cow. Aaron pulls up and asks how he can help. I go to get a half bucket of grain to see if we can coerce the cow back in with some food. I make my first call to my uncle Gerrit, "So how many head are you supposed to have in the orchard?...7?...I count 12...What does the cow look like?...I don't know - brown." I'm not so good at this whole identifying cows thing. I head back up the Trapline and find Rolf, Brent, Kelby with the cow on the train tracks. They're going to try to get the cow headed back down Trapline and into our yard and hopefully back into the orchard.

Much conversation ensues as we stand there on the train tracks. "Are we sure that this is Gerrit's cow?" The counts are all messed up because of the cows getting out earlier in the day so we have no idea how many cows we're actually supposed to have in that field. The cow gets scared and starts running again - the wrong way. He heads further north and there's no way we can follow him through this field. So we stand on the tracks and start trying to figure out whose field he's in. Calls start to the neighbors. I'm not calling any of them since I have no idea who the neighbors are. On the Nextel beeping, we hear someone say, "Yeah, I'm supposed to have 8 head in this field and I only count 7. Maybe that's my cow. You know, I think that cow got out earlier this week." Great. Thanks.

Too much excitement. My emergency people start heading out. Rolf has to go help pull a calf - I think that's farm-speak for helping a cow give birth. Brent and his family start to head out. Aaron and I kind of stand there. I guess there's nothing else that we can do. Much too much excitement. I think my uncle is starting to second-guess leaving me here by myself. I'm praying for much less excitement for the rest of the week.

Fun on the Farm

It has been a great week of hanging out with my family. I feel like I'm past the jetlag and am on to real life. I've been keeping myself busy as I try to help out where I can around the farm. That has meant that I've mostly been in the house cleaning and doing laundry as I also try to get some school work done. Since I'm teaching three new classes next year, I'm going to have to do a significant amount of prep work this summer. Current reading - "Roles in Interpretation" - a college-level textbook all about Oral Interpretation. I'll be teaching the class in the fall so I really need to have a good handle on the material.

I'm including a little photo below of my cousin and her attempts to get the bulls up the alley. Her magic solution? Throwing dirt clods at them. I like this action shot. The bull was not too happy with her.On the possible schedule for tomorrow:
- my 8-year-old cousin's dance recital.
- a logging show - like the ones you see on TV where they cut down a tree, run on logs in the water, saw through a trunk, and other fun logger things. It'll be an experience if nothing else.

A little sidenote: I am back in the world of cellular communication. While I am here in the US, I have a T-mobile cell number that you can use to get in touch with me. The number has a Grand Rapids area code then 516.7773. Please give me a call or at least send an e-mail with your number. My previous US cellphone was stolen in our house robbery so I no longer have your numbers. Sorry.

Next post: Pictures of the logging adventure (if we go).

A Week in Washington

It's hard to believe that I've been here for a week already. In that time, I think there's only been about an hour of sunshine. It is so cold! My first purchase was a $3.00 clearance sweater at Old Navy. I'm not going to be able to tell if pictures are on the same day or not because I'm wearing that silly thing practically day and night.

This week has been busy busy. I spent 3 days down in Seattle with the wonderful surprise of my cousin and her baby. I was a bit worried that since they live in Alaska, I wouldn't be able to see them while I was here. But she surprised me with a pick-up at the airport. For the record, my aunt is a liar. When I called to tell her that I arrived, she said, "Be there in a minute." It was definitely not her who picked me up but I was okay with the designated driver. We spent three days just hanging out at my aunt and uncle's house. I had a lot of work to do on my Powerpoint for churches but we did squeeze in a little baby snuggling time.
On Saturday, I came up to Lynden with my aunt and uncle. Yea for Starbucks addicts! I love that there's no doubt that we still stop on the way for a cup of coffee. Yum yum.
We made it up here in time for me to work more on my Powerpoint and church talk while everyone else biked, went to the parade, or went to breakfast. Ah well, it can't be all fun and games. We then hit our family barbecue. Yummy food, good company, and the threat of rain that never actually happened. I have missed them all even though I haven't been away that long.

Sunday was my first talk at one of the churches that supports me. I don't think many people will remember what I said since they were also listening to and interviewing a pastoral candidate. However, I think it went fairly well. I kept myself fairly composed even though I was super-nervous. My Powerpoint had a little glitch but people were pretty understanding.

This week has been a fairly normal week out at the farm. I've been mostly working indoors while everyone else works outdoors. It's the only way that I can survive. It is too cold! Hopefully during this next week I'll have some time to make some individual contacts. Next church talk is this upcoming Sunday. It's going to be a busy summer.

One last little blurb for my dad. Delft Square, a Lynden landmark, burned on Tuesday. It looks like pretty much a total loss. Unfortunately, the fire was started by two kids from the community. It is a sad loss to Lynden and to the downtown storefronts. Here's a few pics for my dad so that he can see a bit of the damage to his hometown.

the end...well, sort of

I've decided to give myself the title of worst blogger ever. I thought that I did a pretty good job of updating my blog until I opened it up today and realized it has again been more than a month since I have written anything. Apologies.

Well, here we are at the end of it all. School ended last Friday. My classroom is still in a state of distress...disorganization...upheaval, but slowly it is getting packed up and ready for me to leave in just three days! I'm not sure how I made it to this point. It feels wonderful and sad and exciting and melancholy all at the same time. The goodbyes are so hard! If we could figure out a way that those don't have to happen, this would be a glorious time of celebrating the completion of this year! But on the field, friends do leave...and lots of them at one time. Please pray for me in the next couple of days as I have to say goodbye to some pretty special people in my life - a family that has been an immense support to me and my brother, a couple who have graciously invited me to have dinner with them every Thursday night, a wonderful woman who has been in my Bible study and her husband, and my one other CRWM teacher who was just here for a one-year internship. It sure is not fun!

Just so that this blog doesn't sink into a pit of despair and sadness with this entry, allow me to tell you about the binds I've gotten myself into this past week.

Tuesday night - It is absolutely pouring outside. Sorry folks, if you haven't been in the tropics when it pours, you haven't really seen it rain. I was working in my bedroom, sorting through boxes that never got sorted when we moved into this house last November (no, I never got around to it. It was busy!). I'm home by myself and the cats are crying incessantly and going between my room and the kitchen. I hate cats. So, I follow them into the kitchen to get them some food. Oops, no. Not getting food or anything else because there is a good inch of water on the floor and there is a waterfall shooting out of our ceiling, cascading over our cupboards and countertops and creating a pool on the kitchen floor followed by a river all the way to the front of the house to the front door. What did I do? Saved the microwave that was directly under the waterfall and tried to call my dad. Dads always save the day. Not this one. He never picked up his phone. I spent a bit of time panicking, thought I might get electrocuted, saved the Vonage phone and cable modem, and prayed for the rain to stop! It turns out that a hole in the roof combined with gutters that haven't been cleaned in a while and a massive tropical rain - not such a good idea.

Fastforward to Wednesday night - We've banished the cats from the house because of a little problem that they have. Pink and Green - not their real names, but we never use their real names, only their collar colors - have redeveloped the unfortunate habit of pooping in the house. Out they go. Lock all of the entrances so that they can't get in. Not such a good plan as it turns out. The two dogs trap the two cats on the screen window outside of Kim's bedroom and bark at them for a good half hour making it impossible for Kim to sleep. She eventually went out and grabbed the two cats, held them over her head so they wouldn't become delicacies for the dogs and rescued them.

Thursday night - The cats have been allowed back in the house because we both want some sleep. Nevermind the fact that the dogs have found a new stray cat to terrorize. Actually, I'm not sure who was terrorizing whom. I think that stray cat pulled a Garfield, was just out of reach, and made faces at the dogs. Barking for a good 45 minutes outside of my bedroom. No amount of yelling would shut them up. I went out there and was ready to smack them both because it is 10:45 and our neighbors are going to have us evicted if two dogs bark constantly outside of their windows. I come back in, am ready to hop in the shower, turn on the light to the bathroom, and there is a large frog staring right at me. Agh! What is this? Attack of the wildlife? My brilliant plan was to grab a dustpan and a broom catch the frog on the dustpan, hold him down with the broom, and take him outside to enjoy actual nature rather than my bathroom. Minor problems include him peeing all over my bathroom floor and not staying put in the dustpan. Plan B - I'm going to sweep him out of the house like a rockstar! I've got on my towel and I start swinging the broom around in circles like I am doing some great rock-out on a stage in front of thousands of people. Kim said she heard me but did she come and save me? No. Finally got the frog out of the house and headed back for a much needed shower. Go to dry myself off with my towel and suddenly I feel like my whole body is getting bitten. Yes, yes it is. By little tiny red ants! What is with this "revenge of the natural world" scenario? Did I ever do anything bad to them?

The joys of living here. It actually has been a fantastic year. When I get back in the US and have a bit of time, I'd like to sit down and do some reflection on the entire year. It has probably been one of the hardest years of my life but by the same token it has been so rewarding!