Spring Bouquet #3: Picked by JEJ

A lovely way to start the first Saturday in May is with a beautiful bouquet of serviceberry blossoms picked and arranged by my husband.

Photo Hunt: Time

It is finally tulip time in the inland empire! To find other photo hunts on time go here.

The Sunshine Mine Fire: A Dark Day in The Silver Valley

On May 2, 1972 a fire started in the Sunshine Mine near my hometown of Kellogg, Idaho. Ninety-one miners lost their lives. When I drive by the memorial, read articles about the disaster, or talk to a family member of a fallen miner I am still deeply saddened by the event.

Last year I reflected on that disaster on a blog post here.

Gregg Olson's words in the introduction of his book The Deep Dark: Disaster and Redemption in American's Richest Silver Mine reminded me today of all the lives that have been impacted by that mine fire. " Every day people remember the date, May 2, 1972. It is their local 'when Kennedy got shot' touchstone. It rewrote the lives of everyone, and even now its extraordinary legacy of unity and divisiveness is palpable. It is as if the smoke never really cleared. " G. Olson

My sister Silver Valley Girl posted an article yesterday about a high school classmate of mine that created a music composition inspired by Olson's book. You can find that post here.

" Prayer is a cry of distress, a demand for help, a hymm of love." - Dr. Alexis Carrel

Three Beautiful Things

This evening as I gazed across the lake from the deck I reflected on three beautiful things: a spring sky, mountains in the shadow, and longer evenings.

Celebrating National Poetry Month: #30

Poetry is a passion in my life. I have loved reading and rereading poetry and posting a poem each day this month. I may have to continue posting favorite poems as I find them. Thanks for all your encouraging comments about the month's collection. Recently two people shared this poem with me. It became a new one to add to my collection. I love the woven theme of tasks and how many ways they can be approached. It was fitting to choose my mother's picture above for this final poem. Whether she is at my house helping to prepare Thanksgiving dinner as illustrated above, planting a garden, or washing down the walls in her kitchen- she always jumps in head first.

To be of use

The people I love the best

jump into work head first

without dallying in the shallows

and swim off with sure strokes almost out of sight.

They seem to become natives of that element,

the black sleek heads of seals

bouncing like half submerged balls.

I love people who harness themselves, an ox to a heavy cart,

who pull like water buffalo, with massive patience,

who strain in the mud and the muck to move things forward,

who do what has to be done, again and again.

I want to be with people who submerge

in the task, who go into the fields to harvest

and work in a row and pass the bags along,

who stand in the line and haul in their places,

who are not parlor generals and field deserters

but move in a common rhythm

when the food must come in or the fire be put out.

The work of the world is common as mud.

Botched, it smears the hands, crumbles to dust.

But the thing worth doing well done

has a shape that satisfies, clean and evident.

Greek amphoras for wine or oil,

Hopi vases that held corn, are put in museums

but you know they were made to be used.

The pitcher cries for water to carry

and a person for work that is real.

-Marge Piercy

Grand Coulee Dam and the Lake Roosevelt Drawdown

When Grand Coulee Dam was constructed on the Columbia River in the 1930s the water behind the dam created Lake Roosevelt. It stretches from the dam to the Canadian border north of us. Grand Coulee Dam provides power, water for irrigation, and flood control . Each year starting in early April we experience a drawdown of Lake Roosevelt. Because more water was needed this year the drawdown is greater. It changes the landscape of the area around Lake Roosevelt where we live. All the part that is sand above is usually underwater. Barnaby Island is not an island right now. The locals always plan hikes from the campground out to the island this time of year when the sandy shore is exposed on all sides.
Looking north it almost looks like a beach at the ocean in this picture. You can see the channel that is getting smaller. A few months ago this was all covered with water. A new island has even emerged on the lake by our house. Believe me... there are many more places to take hikes during the drawdown.

The original town of Inchelium was also moved when they filled Lake Roosevelt. It is a tradition during a big drawdown to hike to Old Inchelium with our students to locate streets and foundations. The elders love to come and share stories about living on the Columbia River and moving the town to a higher spot. Above the bridge at Kettle Falls we can now see the place the Indians gathered each year to catch salmon. There is rich history around my corner of the world. This time of year the past and present intertwine with ritual and remembrance.