Today's hike to lower Copper Basin.Monday, September 29, 2008
Friday, September 26, 2008
Highly Educated Workers
One morning at breakfast, a woman said that Holden has the highest educated manual laborers in the world. I believe this to be true. This young woman is working on her PHD and is a cook here at Holden. Our post office person is a retired English teacher. Our laundry person is an RN. We have preachers, teachers, doctors and many other professionals coming and going every day. Pianist's, violinists, choir directors and artists come for sabbaticals. My all time favorite was Peter Mayer, Jimmy Buffett's lead guitarist who came for a week.
This week Art developed an ear infection and he was seen by an RN, a general practitioner and an ENT (ear nose and throat doctor), who is a 79 year old maverick here. The mavericks are the ones with all the muscle. They unload luggage and groceries, pack in wood to the chalets and pack the snow down into paths all winter long. This man works hard all day long and is always open to doctoring those who need help. Tonight a man cut his finger and our ENT doc jumped up from dinner to stitch it up for him. We all work hard to serve others here and by doing this we have the time of our lives.
This week Art developed an ear infection and he was seen by an RN, a general practitioner and an ENT (ear nose and throat doctor), who is a 79 year old maverick here. The mavericks are the ones with all the muscle. They unload luggage and groceries, pack in wood to the chalets and pack the snow down into paths all winter long. This man works hard all day long and is always open to doctoring those who need help. Tonight a man cut his finger and our ENT doc jumped up from dinner to stitch it up for him. We all work hard to serve others here and by doing this we have the time of our lives.
Wednesday, September 24, 2008
Monday, September 22, 2008
Saturday, September 20, 2008
Trips to the lake
One of my favorite places off of Lake Chelan is Lucerne. Lucerne is where the Lady of the Lake boat docks to off load passengers so they can ride the rest of the way up the mountain to Holden. Art is a bus driver and so at least twice a week I ride down with him to Lucerne to meet the boat.
Until today, Lucerne has been like a summer resort. The lake water is cold but the outside air has been nearly 90 degrees. We can fish or swim while we wait or simply sit in the sun on the boat dock. When the boat comes in we help off load passengers and luggage and assure them that they have not just delivered to the very edge of the world. Art then drives us all back to the village.
Today the weather turned and the lake was like the ocean, all waves, wind and white caps. We watched the floating dock be dashed around and the waves would wash up over the dock, getting the unsuspecting wet. The boat was late due to the chop and so a few of us just sat and chatted on the dock. As the boat finally arrived and then pulled out, Art and I stood alone on the dock and waved to those we had just delivered down the mountain. Alone... Alone... Alone - together we drove up the mountain back home. I wonder what the non-Holden people on the boat think of us as we are left behind.
Until today, Lucerne has been like a summer resort. The lake water is cold but the outside air has been nearly 90 degrees. We can fish or swim while we wait or simply sit in the sun on the boat dock. When the boat comes in we help off load passengers and luggage and assure them that they have not just delivered to the very edge of the world. Art then drives us all back to the village.
Today the weather turned and the lake was like the ocean, all waves, wind and white caps. We watched the floating dock be dashed around and the waves would wash up over the dock, getting the unsuspecting wet. The boat was late due to the chop and so a few of us just sat and chatted on the dock. As the boat finally arrived and then pulled out, Art and I stood alone on the dock and waved to those we had just delivered down the mountain. Alone... Alone... Alone - together we drove up the mountain back home. I wonder what the non-Holden people on the boat think of us as we are left behind.
This table was made for the new library. The tree here at Holden was cut, sawed, planed, measured and cut to create a new piece of furniture. Marvin Johnson runs the portable saw mill here and creates beautiful furniture for the village.Wednesday, September 17, 2008
Trouble for Bambi and Lil Smokey
Hunting season has arrived and our nature friends are mostly no where to be seen. Deer season is short; only ten days but bear season is 30 days. I am really struggling to grasp meaning and purpose of all of this. These hunters are really tough people. They come up via the boat or they hike in. They then hike out of Holden for days at a time and scour the landscape for game. Once they make a kill, they must debone the animal on the spot and carry the meat out on their backs. The Holden bus takes them back down to the boat so they can head home. I am a watcher of all that goes on here. I want to learn the balance of nature and how we affect the lives of other living creatures.
We work hard here to convince the deer and bear that we are safe and trustworthy. Art just came home with a story of watching a small cub playing in the creek just outside of a window he was passing by. In the same, way, Holden staffers try hard to make all hikers, workers and hunters feel welcome. We encourage them to come back for a visit. Our job is hospitality and yet we live in a place where the natural balance of life must happen as well. Last spring a mother bear with two cubs killed a new born fawn right in the village. All anyone could do was watch and wonder.
The news from the outside carries heavy thoughts of an economy that is struggling. Possibly hunting, gathering, gleaning and preserving are skills that we need to relearn in order to survive. I think I am going to focus some of my reading time on home skills 100 years ago and see if I can glean useful knowledge to help us out when we leave here. Leave a comment if you have thoughts on any of this.
We work hard here to convince the deer and bear that we are safe and trustworthy. Art just came home with a story of watching a small cub playing in the creek just outside of a window he was passing by. In the same, way, Holden staffers try hard to make all hikers, workers and hunters feel welcome. We encourage them to come back for a visit. Our job is hospitality and yet we live in a place where the natural balance of life must happen as well. Last spring a mother bear with two cubs killed a new born fawn right in the village. All anyone could do was watch and wonder.
The news from the outside carries heavy thoughts of an economy that is struggling. Possibly hunting, gathering, gleaning and preserving are skills that we need to relearn in order to survive. I think I am going to focus some of my reading time on home skills 100 years ago and see if I can glean useful knowledge to help us out when we leave here. Leave a comment if you have thoughts on any of this.
Monday, September 15, 2008
Garbage
Every thing taken to Holden Village must be taken out again in some manner. Each wrapper, wine bottle, pop can, battery or shoe must be taken back out again. Nothing can stay here in the mountains; we can not pollute.
So we have "Garbology", which is garbage sorting system that sends each scrap to it's proper place. Some things are recycled - like cans, glass and paper. Some items are burned - like brown paper and natural fabrics. All food items are composted and reused in future gardens. Landfill is the last choice because it means that it is packed up and shipped out to be dumped in a "real world" garbage dump.
Once or twice each month each of us has the privilege of doing "garbo" as we call it. We meet as a team to crush boxes, sort the village trash and to chop compost. This job is done all year round, snow or not. The hike up to the compost pile can be brutal with 5 feet of snow on the ground. Fortunately the path is well tromped and we are always in a hurry to finish with this task.
The cycle of garbage here changes you for ever. You never again look at a tin can or a plastic wrapper in the same manner. You now know what happens to it, whether it is by your own hands or someone elses.
So we have "Garbology", which is garbage sorting system that sends each scrap to it's proper place. Some things are recycled - like cans, glass and paper. Some items are burned - like brown paper and natural fabrics. All food items are composted and reused in future gardens. Landfill is the last choice because it means that it is packed up and shipped out to be dumped in a "real world" garbage dump.
Once or twice each month each of us has the privilege of doing "garbo" as we call it. We meet as a team to crush boxes, sort the village trash and to chop compost. This job is done all year round, snow or not. The hike up to the compost pile can be brutal with 5 feet of snow on the ground. Fortunately the path is well tromped and we are always in a hurry to finish with this task.
The cycle of garbage here changes you for ever. You never again look at a tin can or a plastic wrapper in the same manner. You now know what happens to it, whether it is by your own hands or someone elses.
Sunday, September 14, 2008
Holden's Library
The bookshelves are finally here and we are moving books from the old and temporary library (3 years temporary) to the new library below. We don't have enough shelves yet so a few of the wall shelves are being moved over as well. Weeding out the theological section is a job that Paul Hinderlie is tackling. Holden's library is slowly moving out of the 60's and 70's to a new millennium resource.
The new library will have a separate section for "Ginny's Corner", the children's area. A mountain scene will be built to separate it off from the adult area and the children will enter via a cave in the front. There will also be an adult door for those accompanying the kid. All in all the work is going well. I thought that work in my old library was slow at times, but "Holden Time" is an alternative time zone. I love it though. So many fun people and activities.
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