Beginnings

Well, we have begun a new school year, and I am now a Freshman. I think. Anyway, we have done a very good job staying on task, and I must say that I am under the impression that this is our best school year yet. You might be wondering why I would say that, and even if you are not, I would be happy to enlighten you.

First off, I am very excited to have started 9th grade, because that means that when I'm finished this year, I will have only 3 more years of school left, which is definitely worth celebrating.

Second off, we have stayed on task so well that I am inclined to think that we will finish this year's school this school year. (Isn't that awesome?!)

Third off, I am using curricula(?) that are not horribly boring, which is good, because I get sick of horribly boring curricula very quickly, don't you?

And fourth thing is, I am doing a lot of reading. In fact, I am doing more reading than anything else. Except maybe writing. Anywho, I love reading, so naturally, I love what I get to do.

And these my friends, are the reasons for my being so excited about school this year.

I dare say it's time for an update

There's a lot I haven't blogged about this summer. I think it's time to share some of it.

This is the ninth week since my husband was terminated (not laid off) from his job. That was a new experience for us both, and the first time he's been out of work in about 20 years. God provided very well for us during that time through our garden, our friends, and our neighbors. I'm sure He did even more than we noticed. He's good like that.

During the 19 years we've been "together", Loren and I have always done well spending time apart. It was a pleasant surprise for me to see how well we got along once we settled into spending every day together. I'm actually going to miss having him around when he starts his new job next week!

Last month was a big travel month for part of the family. In blogging about the trappers' convention, Toby forgot to mention that Loren took all the kids camping there for the weekend. That gave me a nice, quiet break. Shortly after they returned, Lynae spent two weeks in Oregon visiting dear friends. Loren spent time with friends and family. And Toby went on a canoe trip, about which he has already shared. All of them were enormously blessed during their adventures! And since these trips overlapped, I spent several days at home with Jon, Michael, and Grace. I, too, was blessed; it was wonderful to see the "little kids" step up to share the additional household responsibilities.

Those kids aren't going to be little for long. The three youngest have each grown at least a couple of inches this year. And of course, as we wrap up the birthday season, they're all older than they've ever been.

This is the part where I should think of some clever closing paragraph, but I missed my nap today and I'm feelin' it. So it's either publish now or send this post to the draft pile, never to see the light of your screen.

Boundary Waters

I recently went on a canoe trip to the Boundary Waters Canoe Area in northern Minnesota. Pictures may be forthcoming, but then again they might not be. I make no guarantees. But I will tell you about our trip. I went with Mr. Schutt, Mr. Kling (Mr. Shutt's new son in law), David, Isaiah, Daniel, and Austin.

I quickly earned the nickname "paddling machine," because they said I paddled like there was no tomorrow, and they also said I had this look in my eyes that could freeze steel... hmm, I'll have to remember how to do that look. Everybody wanted me in their canoe. That's a good feeling.

I saw fresh moose tracks, some of them only 15 minutes old. I also saw fighting crawdads, one of which was blue. I saw some leeches about 8 inches long. When we were canoeing through some windy river areas,m which were full of beaver dams, I saw muskrat poop on nearly every rock. I also saw a lot of mink and otter poop. We even saw a muskrat, which Mr. Schutt named Suzie, and we saw a beaver.

I caught 2 northern pike. One of them was about 2 feet long, making it the largest fish I have caught. Austin brought with him some smelt for fish bait, which, when he saw that they weren't catching any fish, he cooked up and gave to me. And I ate them. Mmm.

Yesterday, our last day, we had our longest portage. It was 480 rods long, which is exactly 1 1/2 miles. When we portaged, everyone would carry their packs, which averaged around 55 pounds, and then some people would carry a canoe as well, while carrying their packs. They carried the canoes on their shoulders, just like a voyageur, although these canoes were doubtlessly a lot lighter than a wooden canoe. These were kevlar and only weighed about 45 pounds each.

Because I have things to do and places to be, I can say no more. But I would definitely go there again, and I think just about anyone would love it.

Convention

This past weekend I went to Chisholm, MN, to meet with roughly 2000 other trappers from around the state. We got there early Friday morning, and I stayed until late on Sunday afternoon.

Friday morning, as soon as we got there, I went to a MN Trappers' Association Instructor course. The MTA pays to educate anyone who wants to become a trapper, and the instructors are all volunteers. I became an instructor and got certified, making me one of the youngest instructors the MTA has had.

Friday evening, I wandered around for a while until I found some friends from Tman. I had brought my guitar, and when they found out, they asked me to play for them. This is the picture they took of me.While I was hanging out there, a tough Minnesotan fellow came beeboppin' along with his prize...
Here is a picture of a great trap which was embedded in a great looking log bench. The trap is worth about $125, and I think the bench sold for about $400.
Here is a picture of our friend Cedar. She and her husband 160user are great people, and I'm glad to know them.
I stayed with a few of the other folks from the MTA and helped clean up on Sunday. This is a picture of us after we had put all the tables away. In order from left to right: Wheelers, Julie (Wheelers' wife), Mr. Gary, Bogmaster, Mr. McElmury, and then, on the far right, you can see me standing in front of a few ladies... I believe they are Mrs. M :)
So that's what I did this past weekend. Now I just got a phone call from a fellow from church, he wanted to know if I could go to the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness with him and some friends this next week. Heck yes. I got some videos from the last trip we took together, but unfortunately I am not too good with a computer and therefore cannot get those where you can see them. However, I am sure my mother or my sister could do it and make it look easy, so I will let them do it.

Blogging philosophical

From Atlas Shrugged, first published in 1957:

"Money is the barometer of a society's virtue. When you see that trading is done, not by consent, but by compulsion -- when you see that in order to produce, you need to obtain permission from men who produce nothing -- when you see that money is flowing to those who deal, not in goods, but in favors -- when you see that men get richer by graft and by pull than by work, and your laws don't protect you against them, but protect them against you -- when you see corruption being rewarded and honesty becoming a self-sacrifice -- you may know that your society is doomed. Money is so noble a medium that it does not compete with guns and it does not make terms with brutality. It will not permit a country to survive as half-property, half-loot.

Whenever destroyers appear among men, they start by destroying money, for money is men's protection and the base of a moral existence. Destroyers seize gold and leave to its owners a counterfeit pile of paper. This kills all objective standards and delivers men into the arbitrary power of an arbitrary setter of values. Gold was an objective value, an equivalent of wealth produced. Paper is a mortgage on wealth that does not exist, backed by a gun aimed at those who are expected to produce it. Paper is a check drawn by legal looters upon an account which is not theirs: upon the virtue of the victims. Watch for the day when it bounces, marked: 'Account overdrawn.'"

Stress Relief

Last night the stress of life got to me, and I ran away.

Ok, actually I drove.

I drove out to a nearby swamp, where I found the waxwings I'd been missing! And a goose, too. I also saw some ducks, a fisher, and a 6-point buck.

After all that and a gorgeous sunset over recently hayed fields, I was ready to go home again.

Local Sign

The forecast calls for highs in the mid-50's here tomorrow. I don't mind that a bit!

The value of a thousand words

A book I'm currently reading on fetal alcohol effects led me to hunt down the single picture I have of one of my sons as a baby. Thankfully, I found it. That one, poor-quality copy of a polaroid brings tears to my eyes every time I see it. Sometimes it's for the time I missed. Sometimes it's for the hurt that baby had already experienced, and the hurt he didn't know was yet to come -- the hurt I wish I could've protected him from, and the hurt I was a part of.

As well as I know my son, and as much as I love him, looking at that picture makes him seem more "real" to me. It gives me a different perspective of who he is now. That fresh perspective, the tenderness toward him, and the tears are so very important. He desperately needs me to be impacted in that way, encouraged to keep learning how I can better love and help him.

Lord, give me the strength and courage to continue this journey.