Thankful and the 2008 Winter Olympics

Today the barrel from BF #7 was unloaded and the results were interesting. Will post some pics soon. In the meantime, it was wonderful to get an email saying that my colleague, Carl Yost is back from Afghanistan where he served as a chaplain for four months. How he's been missed! I'm so thankful he's back and here safely.

While it gets colder here, there is still no snow! Here are more pics from my wintry white vacation. :) We celebrated the 2008 Winter Olympics there on January 30. (Me above in red).

First, the dogsled races with human dogs, of course. :)
Next, the garbo relay, carrying children. The carriers were encouraged to dress in drag. :)

Next, the sledding competition. I competed and it was hard to make it to the bottom without hitting the sides of the slope. Plus, I went SO fast. Here are a few pics- almost too fast to catch on pic. First, here above was my view from the top of the sledding run. Yes, that was the view.

The top of the sledding hill. The 'officials' were serious about timing the runs.

That's me in the red... This was way fun... especially going so fast!

And that's me too; it was way brighter there; a beautiful day. The one at the beginning of this post that shows more of the beauty of the day. I competed in the sledding event and the biathalon (sledding while throwing snowballs at targets. Didn't win any gold medals (gold coins filled with chocolate, attached to yarn) but it was great fun!

Wool Sweater People

Before I post more pics of the incredible weather at Holden, I met some wonderful people there. Here's just one of them.

Joan and her husband, Art are living and mostly volunteering there for a year. She's incredibly generous, kind, and fun! Here she is wearing a sweater she acquired for nothing at 'potty patrol'- a lost and found place, where one can take something and use it or leave something for others. Look at the sleeves; the person who wove it (knitting at Holden is quite popular) made a sweater with the sleeves being different lengths. Joan wears it with pride as she works. She and I went snowshoeing once too. I also experienced shared coffee with her in front of the 'lights'. A light machine is a good thing as Holden doesn't get sun for a couple months during the winter... as the sun struggles to come over the mountain. (no pic for that, would you send me one of the light machine Joan?) :) I miss her and the joy she gives to others.

Here she is in front of a yurt, during our snowshoeing expedition, where some crazy skiers stayed (in the 20 degree cold) some nights. Hikers stay in yurts during the summertime too.

A funny pic of her in the sweater, which is big enough for two of her to fit in. What an expression! :) Joan, don't work too hard and be safe. I hope our paths cross again.

Wintry White Labyrinth

Well, I must say that it's taken awhile for me to adjust to living back on East Coast time, plus in the world with phones and email. For example, it took 3 hours to get a priceline ticket up north for my youngest sister's wedding. It ended up being exorbitant too.... long story. This too shall pass, I tell myself. And it's 10:20 pm and I'm making dinner. Meanwhile, back to wonderful memories of time at Holden.
The day after I arrived (12.28.08) I went snowshoeing by myself out to the labyrinth. It had just snowed a bit and it was good to help pack down the path of the labyrinth. Gorgeous. These pics don't do the view and experience justice.
Holden used to be a mining community. Here's a pic of the bridge leading to the old mine.

Here's the labyrinth from the start. It's a bit hard to see cause everything is so white! A closer one of more of the labyrinth. :) It was pretty big. As I walked, it was over a couple feet of snow, at minimum. On my walk back, here's a pic of the river that was parallel to my trail and not too far away. :) This was Holden's electric and water supply (the hydro plant relies on the running water to make the electricity).

Everytime I go to Holden, I feel like I step into a couple of those National Geographic pictures that are beyond words.It was so cold, but I managed to get a pic near the bridge before I returned. A great snowshoeing expedition!

Vacation- Day 1 Christmas Day

It will take awhile to post about my 12 days of Christmas! Here's the first post of many:

Christmas Day. I've created a new tradition of eating at Anthony's Restaurant in the Sea-Tac airport every time I visit there. So, as an added extra when I arrived on Christmas Day I treated myself to a Christmas margarita. Anthony's has a great salmon burger too. I forgot to get a pic as I left Sea-Tac on Monday evening when I ate the salmon burger at Anthony's.

A good beginning to a long trip to Holden Village. I traveled by plane, amtrak train (departed four hours late due to the snow in Seattle), and then boat. This is why:

This is the view from the lodge where I stayed. Beautiful beyond words! Snow came almost every day... some nights we had over a foot of snow. This is why in part, I traveled for a day to get to Holden. No phones there; only email access available to staff working there. I was happy to take a break from all that for this. It's located in the middl eof the North Cascades and only accessible by boat.
At Holden everyone gathers for vespers each night. Here is a pic of part of the advent wreath and the advent/Christmas decorations in a place called Koinonia (means community).

There are many reasons I like Holden. One is that they recycle all they can (or carry it off the mountain). This gift of chocolates and a cookie was in my room when I arrived. It's made from a card box- how thoughtful! Here's a pic of the lodge where I stayed. The windows are boarded because of the significant amount of snowfall expected- 300 inches in a year on average, so rooflanches are normal.

That was enough for my first day there. It was an exhausting trip!