A Hare raising Halloween

11/1

It was Saturday at lunch when I heard the frightful news; a bunny had fallen down a hole. Slightly distressed by this situation and very curious as to what species of rabbit was holed up, I leapt into action to hatch a plan. My ideas for how to rescue this stranded lagomorph multiplied like rabbits. Finally I came to the end of my McGuyveresque rabbit trails and decided to lower a bucket into the 9’ deep hole that will be next summers outhouse at the Holden campground. To sweeten the deal for our imperiled pal, we tossed in a little lettuce to the bottom of the bucket. We also brought a long stick to persuade the startled critter into the bucket if the lettuce didn’t do the trick. When the two village four-year-olds heard about the bunny down on its luck they were hopping with excitement to help. So we drove out for the rabbit rescue with the boys, dad, and grandpal. We lowered the bucket, gently tipped it on its side to reveal the scrumptious bunny bites, but the little feller wasn’t interested, so a series of taps with a stick got our newly named friend, “cutie” in the bucket, and our rabbit rose from the depths of despair and death to the light of life, liberty and lettuce.



What emerged in our bucket was a young snowshoe hare, in the midst of metamorphosis from a brown summer coat to a wondrous white winter wardrobe. After a brief photo op, and several reminders to not kick the bucket to the kids and the bunny, we tipped the bucket over so Cutie could continue cavorting in this beautiful place. He didn’t budge, instead our deer friend contendly chewed his lettuce from inside the bucket, so we took more pictures and marveled at the giant feet on this winter wanderer. Eventually we unceremoniously got him out of the bucket and watched him hop back under the outhouse. We covered up the hole after verifying that the rabbit didn’t need a repeat rescue and were on our way, with cutie returned to his rabbitat. And thus ends the story of our bunny saved by a hare.

BVL

Better late than never

Written a while ago, now being posted

9/15

It is Wednesday evening, it is raining it is beautiful. I just spent an hour in the sauna, and am clean, warm, rested and refreshed. I am sitting here looking at the rain, enjoying a delightful beverage. Life is good.

Here is a little bit of what I have been up to.

The last few days I have been replumbing two of our wood-fired boilers, so they can heat more buildings this winter, reducing our need for diesel boilers, and allowing our limited winter electricity to be used for other things. My training period is over. The two guys who had been the utilities department for the last year left today, so it is left to me, and two other guys to run the villages water, power, sewer, and heat. I am looking forward to the challenge. I am missing my students, but I love the work I am doing.

I have been taking full advantage of the sauna that is 20 meters from our door. There is a dunk tank in the sauna building, which allows for invigorating dunks after sweating for 20 minutes. I am also planning on swimming in lake Chelan every month while I am here. I am a quarter of the way there with July, August, and September taken care of. I am looking forward to January!

I haven’t done as much hiking or climbing as I have wanted to, partly due to weather, but I am ok with it. I’ll do what I can, when I can, while I can. Then I’ll break out my skis. It is just amazing to watch the weather and the mountains out here.

Tara and I picked about 10 pounds of Hops on Sunday for this fall and winters brewing activities. The people here know how to make good beer!

Girls Night Out

This past week, five women and I packed up our warmest gear, our tents and sleeping bags, and headed 9 miles up the Railroad Creek Valley to Lyman Lake. The day was perfect- frost on the ground, sunshine warming the air, fall colors surrounding our wilderness path, and the company and conversation of good friends.



By the time we got to Hart Lake, it was snack time (pop tarts for me!) We basked in the sunlight on the rocks overlooking the lake, and shared stories, both of humor and of deep sadness. Stories of life and of love.



As we neared Lyman Lake, further up Railroad Creek Valley, we realized why Cloudy Pass is named as such (just beyond Lyman). Clouds filled the Lyman Lake basin and soon it began to rain. We set up camp, ate cold pizza for dinner, warmed up a bit near the fire, but eventually dove into Lori and Becky's tent for a reprieve from the rain, and a rousing game of BS. At some point in the middle of the night, the wind picked up and the rain turned to snow. We didn't get much sleep because of the windy racket, but were rewarded the next morning with a winter wonderland! (And yes, I sang the song as I boiled hot water for our coffee. I will take any chance I get to sing Christmas carols!)



We stopped at the lake to filter some water for the hike down. It was an amazing moment. The night's snow dusted the mountains around the lake, and sun was bursting through the clouds. And as we filtered water, Becky recited E.E. Cummings' "I Thank You" and I was moved to near tears.

I Thank You
e. e. cummings
I thank You God for most this amazing
day: for the leaping greenly spirits of trees
and a blue true dream of sky;and for everything
which is natural which is infinite which is yes
(i who died am alive again today,
and this is the sun’s birthday;this is the birth
day of life and of love and wings:and of the gay
great happening illimitably earth)
how should tasting touching hearing seeing
breathing any—lifted from the no
of all nothing—human merely being
doubt unimaginable You?
(now the ears of my ears awake and
now the eyes of my eyes are opened)



We hiked back to the village in the warm sun. Girls' Night Out, Holden Village style.

Agape White Peach Pie

One of my little joys here in the village is baking with friends. Last night I baked a white peach pie with some friends who live in Agape with us. The village kitchen bakes delicious coffee cakes and desserts for the village. But for me, baking with my own hands connects me in so many ways to friends, family, farmers, and fruit in a way that simply eating dessert can't do. I love eating pie. I really, really love baking pie. So last night, when we were eating dinner, each of us took one peach back up to Agape and together we adapted this pie recipe from Allrecipes.com. We will now call it Agape White Peach Pie! Do you have peaches in your backyard? Have you visited the farmer's market lately? It is prime time for peaches here in central Washington. If peaches are still in season near you, don't let the season pass you by!

Agape White Peach Pie

Ingredients
10 fresh peaches, pitted and sliced (or enough to generously fill a pie pan- we only needed four!)
1/3 cup all-purpose flour
1 cup white sugar
1/4 cup butter
1 recipe pastry for a 9 inch double crust pie

Directions
1. Mix flour, sugar and butter into crumb stage.
2. Place one crust in the bottom of a 9 inch pie plate. Line the shell with some sliced peaches. Sprinkle some of the butter mixture on top of the peaches, then put more peaches on top of the the crumb mixture. Continue layering until both the peaches and crumbs are gone.
3. Top with second rolled-out pie crust.
4. Bake at 350 degrees F (175 degrees C) for 45 minutes, or until crust is golden. Allow pie to cool before slicing.


Crust (double this recipe for a two-crust pie, as we did)

Ingredients
1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup butter, chilled and diced
1/4 cup ice water

Directions
5. In a large bowl, combine flour and salt. Cut in butter until mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Stir in water, a tablespoon at a time, until mixture forms a ball. Wrap in plastic and refrigerate for 4 hours or overnight.
Roll dough out to fit a 9 inch pie plate. Place crust in pie plate. Press the dough evenly into the bottom and sides of the pie plate.

For an extra treat, whip heavy whipping cream until soft peaks form. Add sugar to taste (after whipping), combine, and serve a dallop on each pied of pie.



Pie and Crust recipes from Allrecipes.com, adapted by the folks in Agape at Holden Village

School Days

A couple of weeks ago I was in the Skagit Valley for a ten day teacher training. I was part of a team of 6 educators, professors, and administrators who had been working on our certification project for Project GLAD (Guided Language Acquisition Design), which is a synthesis of best practices for students learning English. It was an exhausting six days of coaching and teaching, but was very successful, and I am pleased to say our team is now certified as Official Tier III GLAD Trainers for within the agencies we serve (ex. I can train teachers in the Burlington-Edison School District). The highlight of the trip was seeing dear friends and family on the weekend and evenings after the training.

I returned to the village after 10 days, and after getting back into a routine outside of village life, and it took me a few days to re-enter the village routine. The day after I returned, my co-crafts coordinator Susannah left the village (we had been sharing the position during the summer, and she taught me much of what I know about weaving.) The next day I went down to the Craft Cave just hoping nothing would go wrong with the looms- the most difficult part of this job is trouble-shooting, mostly because I just don’t have much experience yet. I was still in “education” mode, fresh out of the GLAD training. And as you probably guessed, something did go wrong. One of the brakes broke on the “Peggy” loom and this was trouble I had yet to “shoot.” But with the help of Brennan and another craft-caver named Lori, we were able to not only fix it, but it’s in better shape than it was before. I was reminded that the greatest part of my job is being a willing learner.



Returning to the village just as my teacher friends were starting to get their classes revved up for the first day of school was a little bittersweet. Fortunately for me, the first day of school at Holden is a BIG DEAL. Although we live within a few hundred yards of each other, on the first day of school, one of the Holden busses drives up Chalet Hill to pick up the school children, and anyone else who can manage to get onto the bus. The goals are: a) get on the bus, and b) hold up the bus so it can’t get to school on time by creating a scene.




Brennan dressed in climbing gear, stepped in front of the bus, and took one solid step at a time, falling dramatically, as if he were about to summit. I dressed up with the Laundry crew (which is also located in the basement of Agape, where we live) and we blocked off Chalet Hill with a clothesline.


Other memorable “roadblocks”- a few people set up a game of Settlers of Catan in the middle of the road, and walked onto the bus in search of “brick,” and village Directors dressed up in white HAZ-MAT suits and were frantically trying to protect their two students (ages 16 and 12) from germs (hand sanitizer), mosquitos (bug spray), and the like. Their kids could hardly make it onto the bus with their parents’ hovering. Our friends Brian and Natalie staged a “hold up” as the Banana Bandits, and demanded the writing utensils of all the students if they were not granted a ride on the bus. It was hilarious!






Brennan and I also found out that the village asks staff to volunteer at Holden School, whether teaching Spanish or Biology or Sewing or Yoga, any village staff with skills in these areas can volunteer to teach. We don’t know what our roles will be yet but look forward to teaching in a different way than we are used to.

Also, our family is growing. NO, I am NOT pregnant!!!! We are sponsoring a boarding student from Minnesota this year, and we are her “family” here away from family. Alisha is a senior in high school and is rumored to be in the running for Class President (…she’s the only senior…) ☺

So as my colleagues and family begin school outside of the village, we are celebrating here in our own quirky ways. I love it.

Daily

7/31/10

Holden is a place of rhythms, daily we gather to share meals, daily we gather to listen for God’s voice at vespers, daily I check the water plant, daily I check the hydroelectric generator. Weekly we celebrate communion, weekly I hike to Copper Basin to watch the basin change from snow, to last years dead grass, to this years flourish of grasses, sedges, and flowers in a period of three weeks. Through these rhythms I am learning to see how this place changes daily, weekly. I am working on seeing what is around me, paying attention to the 3 mule deer fawns, the two that are twins, and the one the bleats for its mother. I watch the creek each day to see the level and how the small fish-holding pools develop and disappear. This is what I was wanting in coming to Holden, to develop my awareness of the beauties of the world around me.

But these daily rhythms also quickly fill the day, and there are so many options of ways to fill the hours, there are sessions that range from exploring Handel’s Messiah, to analyzing the Israel-Palestine conflict, to discussing The Brothers K by David James Duncan, one of my three favorite books. There is always fishing (Which can be really good), I have discovered some great boulders to climb. Plus there are the spontaneous conversations with staff and guests that amaze and surprise me, and a fantastic sauna to wind down the day. So many options, and they are all good.

I don’t like feeling busy, especially here. But rainy days like today help me to slow down.

Bvl

New contact information:

Tara and Brennan Van Loo
c/o Holden Village
HC 0 Box 2
Chelan, WA 98816

tbvanloo@gmail.com (Comcast has cancelled our account)


7/24/10

Would you like a tour of our home? I would be happy to show you around.





Our apartment is in a lodge called “Agape” and we are blessed to have a living-room view of the village below, as well as a small, private porch that is in a quiet area of the village (in the photo, the two windows on the left are our living room). The only creatures who walk by are folks on their way to hang their clothes out to dry on the village clothes line, and a number of deer who forage in the bushes nearby.

Life in the “Craft Cave” is one of endless inspiration! So far I have taught a few classes to guests: basketry, origami paper crane chains, needle-felted necklaces, print-making, and landscape watercolor.




I have woven a runner for our dresser and a rug for our apartment, and crocheted a handful of posies. I have also spent some time painting for pleasure. I am learning as much as I can about the looms and weaving while the current crafts coordinator is still here at Holden with me. I’m learning how to post work schedules (there are five of us working in the craft cave), how to order arts and craft supplies, and how to create programming for craft classes each week. My learning curve is great, but I still pinch myself when I realize what a gift it is to be here!!



Usually when Brennan and I go hiking, we have to drive over an hour to get to the trailhead in the North Cascades. Here at Holden, we basically walk out our door with our hiking poles in hand, and begin hiking. Two weeks ago we hiked Martin Ridge. Last Sunday we went up to Copper Basin and spent the afternoon reading, painting, and drawing (a bit more restful than Martin Ridge!) This weekend Brennan is hiking on the other side of Lake Chelan, from Stehiken to Prince Creek, with a friend. I am spending time in the sunshine, hanging our fresh laundry out to dry, and baking a cake with a friend.

My favorite times of worship are singing Morning Prayer on Sundays and "Compline," evening prayer, on Thursday nights at 10:00. Both of these services frame my days in a way of worship that I haven't experience before, inviting God's presence in the coming day and thanking God at the end of it.

So many new experiences. I’d be lying if I said there haven’t been times of loneliness. But God is faithful to provide for each day its daily bread.

-Tara

“Have courage for the great sorrows of life and patience for the small ones; and when you have laboriously accomplished your daily task, go to sleep in peace. God is awake.” -Victor Hugo

Getting started

A view of Holden From atop Martin Ridge, with Copper peak dwarfing the village, which is in the lower left corner. We live in the building with the green roof.


7/12/10
Moving isn’t very fun. But in the midst of the process we trust that God’s hand is guiding us and love supporting us (part of the Holden Prayer). As we were packing, I kept thinking that the only way to shed the stress and worry of the move was to go for a hike and start exploring the beauty around Holden. So on Saturday, my first day off, I woke up at 4:30 and went to Copper Basin, a place that is already one of my favorites. I came back refreshed, renewed, and with a peace I haven’t had for a while. Tara and I then took the bus down to the lake and swam, slept and read in the sun for a few hours.

As far as work goes, I help manage the village’s water, sewer, and electricity. It is amazing how much goes into maintaining these things. Lately the power has been going out once a day leading to much troubleshooting on 100+ year old machines (That generally run incredibly well). Also the late spring melt is clogging up the water filters at a time when the village is at capacity and using a lot of water. Plus there is the daily monitoring of both of these systems. The fun never ends!

bvl

7/14

The system works.

Holden is a former copper mine, and mines leave ugly scares on the land. While at NCI a few weeks ago there was a giant satellite photo of the N. Cascades, and Western Washington, Holden was very easy to find because of the very apparent tailing piles (take a look on google’s satellite map). The Holden mine has also done serious ecological damage to the portion of railroad creek downstream from the village.

Tonight was the Forest Service’s informational meeting and public comment time for the proposed remediation to clean up the Holden mine. It was a breath of fresh air to see how our National policies value ecological health and state that the environment, God’s creation, needs to be taken care of. While it is lamentable that it takes this long for someone to clean up their mess, it is encouraging that it is getting cleaned up, encouraging that as a nation we are concerned about stewardship of the world we live in, encouraging that the democratic process seeks and listens to comments from the public, and encouraging that Holden is fully on board with this plan that has been designed with the village’s short term and long term sustainability in mind. I never thought a meeting in the wilderness would put me in a patriotic frame of mind, but I guess that is part of Holden, being open to what this place and its people have to offer.

God bless America (and everyone else too).

bvl

Intro to Holden

Tara and I went out to Holden in early May. It started as fact finding trip and quickly turned into two days of soaking in the beautiful surroundings, and enjoying the wonderful community. As some one said to me, "Holden is a foretaste of the great feast to come." It is a place that denies explanation, so come visit!

I took a quick hike and was mesmerized by the mountains.


Copper peak and Mt. Fernow



Buckskin and the bus

It is now mid June, and we are packing up our classrooms and house, eager to start this new adventure.

bvl