It's been a crazy couple of weeks in our family. As you know we had graduation, two birthdays, the end of school all within one week of each other.
I can't remember if I mentioned this in my last entry, but Jordan has become a certified river guide. To be a certified river guide you have to take classes and log 50 hours on the river. Well, learning to guide wasn't too hard for Jordan because he has been rowing a cataraft for 3 years now by himself. The hard part was clocking the hours on the river. The reason this was difficult is because our little community here is suffering from a drought. This past winter we had very little snow and as a result our river water levels are very low and not many people are on the river. This, coupled with Jordan finishing up his schooling to graduate made for little opportunity to get the hours. Right before he turned 18 (you also have to be 18 to be a certified Guide) Jordan had worked hard to get 43 hours behind him on the river. For his last run, he ran a class five rapid as a safety in a kayak. Both Brad and I were very nervous when he left. Running class five rapids is no joke and if you flip you are in cold water that can threaten your life. Jordan was a champ though and aced what most 1st year guides couldn't have. Just FYI, Jordan is a much better kayaker/rafter than Brad now. Brad always is so proud when his kids get better at something than he was.
Speaking of the river, I have run it three times myself with McKenzie in our duckie. Yes, Brad bought me a duckie and I am loving it. This last weekend was an especially grand occasion as Kenzie and I ran the river by ourselves without help from Brad or the boys. Granted, the river is low and for the most part you just have to watch out for the rocks in the river, but we also made it down the difficult rapid section by ourselves. Yes, we almost flipped our duckie there when we got caught sideways on a rock, but we emerged victorious over the wave. Jake was even more brave as he mastered the section in a tube.
I did get some graduation pictures of Jordan. His friend sent them to me. So, here's Jordan day of graduation with his friends.
There is a fire in our community. Here's actual footage of the fire.
It has grown to 17,000 acres. Yesterday it was around 8500 acres and today it doubled in size. I've never lived this close to a forest fire before and it is strange to wake up to the smoke permeating the valley every morning. Here's a picture I took at 7 am the other morning. There's so much smoke you can't even see our beautiful mountains.
Usually, by the afternoon the smoke has cleared up. 2000 of our local homes have had to be evacuated. My house is not in danger from this fire, but with the drought, the dryness and the wind that seems to be never ceasing, none of us are truly free from the threat of a wildfire this year. We are all praying and hoping that our monsoon season starts early while at the same time hoping that the lightning that always accompanies the monsoons doesn't start any more wildfires and the rain doesn't cause any mudslides on the newly barren moutain terrain. While noone wishes such tragic events as a fire to happen to their community, it is amazing to see how the community is rallying around each other and pulling together. When events like this happen, it doesn't matter your skin color, your religious or political views, past arguments....all these things are put aside as we pull together to help each other. Last night I had an opportunity to attend a dinner/show here (I was trying to support a local business that thrives on our tourism which the fire is hindering. Oh, and it was excellent by the way, everyone that visits me should attend) and felt proud at the end when the whole room stood up together to sing, "I'm proud to be an American." It was such a unifying experience. This unity is more of what our country needs not labels that separate and cause division.
McKenzie was asked to sing a solo in church today. I really wanted to sing something that was touching to our community and I wanted it to be perfect so that all could feel the message of the song. The song I chose for her to sing was How Gentle God's commands. I feel like right now with what our community is facing its message was just what we needed to hear. The words are beautiful and remind us that while we can't control everything that happens to us, there is one that know us, loves us and will take care of regardless of the situations we find ourselves in. Here are the words:
How gentle God's commands!
How kind his precepts are!
Come, cast your burdens on the Lord
And trust his constant care.
Beneath his watchful eye,
His Saints securely dwell;
That hand which bears all nature up
Shall guard his children well.
Why should this anxious load
Press down your weary mind?
Haste to your Heav'nly Father's throne
And sweet refreshment find.
His goodness stands approved,
Unchanged from day to day;
I'll drop my burden at his feet
And bear a song away.
This is probably my second favorite church hymn. The first, of course, being Come thou fount. Anyway, Kenzie sang lovely and well, I messed up majorly on the piano and was so dissapointed because I had practiced so hard. My pages were out of order when I played and I couldn't find my place in the song. Ugh! I hope some still felt the spirit and message of the song regardless of my shortcoming.
Because of the wildfire, the race that McKenzie and I were going to run was cancelled. The starting point was right across the highway from where the fire is burning. She has trained so hard that I just couldn't let her not run yesterday. So early yesterday morning we headed out and I set up a 13.1 mile running course for us to complete. Every two miles I set up a resource station where we had water and food to replenish ourselves. Our first two miles were excellent. When we arrived at our aid station I waded through the tall grass to get our water bottles out to refill the small container we carried with us. When I came out from the grass Kenzie looked at me and said, "Mom, there are bugs all over you." Then she looked at herself, "Mom there are bugs all over me...mosquitos!" I told Kenzie to keep running and eventually those wretched bugs left us alone. But they didn't leave us without mark. Yes, the title of the post is referring to how many mosquito bites I received in that short 30 second span. I am in the gall of bitterness today trying to not scratch and itch. We finished though. Kenzie made it 13.1 miles and together we finished. I hope she learned what I wanted her to learn which is this, we can do more than we think we can. Even if it means we get 47 mosquito bites in the process.
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