Winter, Lent, Life

The biggest news from Spokane...

You can see our yard! No snow! Well, except in the berms and in shadows. This has been a long winter and has made me reflect a lot on what winter really is.

It is a time of dying. A time of stagnation, a time of slowing down.

TIme for snow and snow angels and hot chocolate.

Early nights and late mornings.

Clouds and cold.

A time of doing without - no fresh vegetables, little sun.

This winter, more than any other, has seeped in. I have had cabin fever like none other. I can't wait for sun and warmth, not just so I can get out of the house, but so my housemates can get out of the house as well! Sometimes it feels that if we all weren't at the same place at the same time all the time, we would get along much better.

And its interesting because this is the time of year lent occurs. Where winter melts into spring. Where we take the time to recognize how dark precedes light. How the green of the earth must die in order to live again. 

So it has been a long winter in Spokane. We've hit our 6 month mark, and trudged past. And now we'll march on through to spring. (cheesy pun there, eh?) 

Jackie

Do something to change the world: Give up meat on Fridays, maybe all year long. If all Americans gave up meat one day a week, it would be the equivalent of taking 8 million cars off the road.

Nelson, BC

So those poorly captioned photos are a couple from this year. The one of the snow, trees, and valley was from our trip to British Columbia. We took a long awaited vacation (we've saved for months!) to explore a bit of the other side of Canada. Nelson is a small, quiet, hippie-friendly town in the Kootenay (pronounced koot-nie) mountains. When we got there on Saturday morning, John, Kelly and I went cross-country skiing.
Except cross country skiing is a bit of a misnomer. We went downhill skiing on cross country skis. Despite John and Kelly promising me that it is a piece of cake and there's virtually no way I could fall, it turned out to be quite an adventure. The easy trails were closed due to avalanche danger, and the black diamond trails were about the equivalent of an easy downhill ski trail. So an hour and a half of faceplanting later, we made our way deep into a valley, only to spend the next hour and a half climbing out of it. Basically, the 'gliding' technique they taught me turned out to be useless. The trip either was spent trying to stop or hiking up a hill. The views were gorgeous however. Even though I couldn't feel my nose when we returned.
On Sunday we went to the Ainsworth Hot Springs. The resort had a hot spring cave in addition to the pool. There was something about sitting in 100F water, while looking out on a lake surrounded by mountains covered in snow that just makes you think this is the life. If we had had more money/time we probably would've gone to Vancouver, and missed out on tiny Nelson.
Nelson also had its own organic brewery. Personally, I enjoyed their honey ale, though no one else did. The name of their winter ale? Faceplant.

The house

Nelson, British Columbia Spokane River

Curl up with a good book

When there is nothing but snow, ice, and cold to encounter during the winter months in Spokane, reading inside all day is definitely the best option. (With slippers and hot chocolate, of course).

Maybe that's why Kelly and I decided to do a literacy program. The literacy program basically has three parts:

1. One on one reading with preschoolers. Right now, Kelly and I are the only ones doing the one on ones but we hope to recruit some more volunteers. We spend 20-30 minutes a week reading with preschoolers with behavioral problems or ones who are beginning to fall behind and will be getting ready for kindergarten soon.

2. Family Lending Library. This is the part I'm most excited about. We are collecting books to have a lending library at St. Anne's. The objective is for parents who might not otherwise go out of their way to obtain books pick up a few to read for the week while they are on their way home. We've had a book drive at the school this week and the church we are going to also is doing a book drive for us. Someone even gave me $20 after mass to go buy books!

3. Family Reading Nights. We are going to invite parents for a night of reading/crafts/dinner and talk to parents about how to read with kids and the importance of reading. However, we have to wait till the snow melts so that people will actually come, so this won't be for a while.

My toes are freezing as I type this. John and I just went for a walk. I finished knitting a pair of mittens so I wanted get out and test them. They are warm...my toes, not so much. That's another thing to do in the long winter months - take on new knitting endeavors. (Cables are easy and a lot of fun, Meredith! I just made a pot holder with them to learn to do it first). 

Do something to change the world: Read a good book. I'd recommend The Omnivore's Dilemma or Mountains Beyond Mountains.

Finally it's melting

The 50+ inches of snow we got in December are finally melting! No sign of grass yet, but the highs are supposed to be in the upper 30s all week. Granted, this brings flooding, caving in roofs, and all sorts of other fun things. Hopefully it'll be a nice respite before the next snow!
Work is going well. Kelly and I have started working with kids who are getting ready for prsechool and are struggling to keep up. We hope to build a Family Literacy program that would be an ongoing part of St. Anne's.
There was a quite exciting day last Tuesday: we had a gas leak at St. Anne's and had to evacuate the buildings. During nap time, of course, so coats/shoes weren't on, babies were in the escape cribs, the pavement was a sheet of ice. (Granted, all of Spokane is a sheet of ice. They don't plow hardly anyhting here). Luckily the fire department approved us to reenter right before we would have had to load the kids onto buses to stay warm and relocate. It felt a little bit like the fire drill scene in Kindergarten cop, but I think we did much better than that.
Not too much else to report. The snow has pretty muched slowed life to a crawl. Buses are unpredictable, and walking is barely an option. (The best days to walk, actually, are the day after a snow - more traction). I've realized these would be handy: chains for your shoes. I like the snow, even though its just a slushy mess right now. But I still will be appreciating spring when it comes!
Do something to change the world: Shovel your neighbors walk. Our neighbor snowblowed ours!

Christmas is coming...

Christmas is coming, and ironically its the warmest and least snowiest weather I've been in all week. Meaning, of course, that I'm home in Virginia. Meanwhile, Spokane is buried under some 2 feet of snow.  The snow storm pretty much shut down the city. No work for the two days before I left for home - hurrah! Granted, I did have to walk home 2 miles in 5-6 inches (and rapidly still falling) of snow on Wednesday night. Sure, the buses were still "running" at that point, but it was more akin to a crawl around a stopped pace.  I figured I could spend an hour walking at get home, or an hour waiting for the bus and have the bus driver chip my frozen body off of the sidewalk.

But Christmas is coming nonetheless. My presents are knit and under the tree. Hurrah for avoiding all malls! Now time to start working on some toboggans for myself...too bad I left my needles in Spokane, though.

Do something to change the world: Make cookies for your neighbor. Or adopt a grandparent at a nursing home. Everyone deserves to have a Christmas.

Seattle and Snow

So far, the Spokane winter hasn't been any worse than growing up in Giles. We've only had a few inches of snow total. Tonight however, it will be a chilly zero degrees. Negative temperatures are approaching!

Despite the snowfall this weekend, our house took a trip to Seattle. Eastern Washington is dry, flat and fairly boring, but when it was covered in a dusting of snow, it was really quite beautiful. The Snoqualmie pass through the Cascades was also gorgeous in the snow. It was too cloudy on the way there to see the mountains, but on the way back it was clear and we had great views. Washington, the parts you expect and the parts you don't, is a pretty state.

Seattle is a much, much more exciting city than Spokane. We only went there for a night to go to a party at a JV house there, but it was still fun to see. I met up with Hannah, a friend from Work Crew whom I hadn't seen in 4 years. We had a blast. I saw the space needle, Pike Place, first Starbucks. I didn't actually have a cup of coffee all weekend...oh well, there is good stuff in Spokane!

The bus company which takes kids from the special needs school to our day care called and said the employees wanted to sponsor families for Christmas. It's the first year they've done it, and I thought it was pretty exciting that this year, despite all the economic crisis, they decide to spend their Christmas gifts (I think they are donating mainly the gift cards they are given from families) on someone else. So now it's my job to call the families and ask what they want for Christmas. It's kind of awkward, to be honest.

It's funny listening to all of the kids talk about what Santa is going to bring them. I know their Santas. Moms, dads, of course. Some Santas will be anonymous donors. Other kids' Santas will be their bus driver. Some will be the grandmother who doesn't get to see her grandkids anymore after her son's divorce. It's encouraging how communities make this effort to see to it that kids have a Santa.

I go home on Saturday...excited!

Do something to change the world: Buy an angel tree gift.