When is it going to be summer?

I place an inverted box fan in our small, square attic entrance and crank it, stand beneath it, and bask in the raw heat, imaging it's summer. I will sample it anyway I can get it. Sanity is a fine line drawn in windswept sands.

Upper Lake Tour

The Photo Journey...............

Kettle Falls Bridge over Columbia River/Lake Roosevelt



Traveling up river towards the Canadian border

Ray and Eric chillin' and maxin' in the D.A.R.E. boat
People started scrambling around weird when we rode by.....hmmm?
Definitely out of service.....


Boundary Dam, just Canadian side on the upper Columbia River
(illegal entry into Canada)

Rapids at the Canadian/U.S. border
(illegal re-entry into U.S.)


Immature Moose at China Bend, west shore

St. Paul's Mission getting a new roof
Built in the 1830s on the bluff above Hudson Bay Co. Fort Colville just north of Kettle Falls
Catholic and Protestant missionaries trying to baptize and convert the Natives
Restored in 1938-1940 using historical tools and craftsmanship
Prehistoric and historic burials nearby
Portage route around Kettle Falls went right by here

Inside of Mission, late 1930s attempt at the hand-hewn log


Inside of Mission seeing daylight for the first time in a long time

Roof replaced using split shingles and hand-driven nails

'The Sharpening Stone'
Amphibolite erratic
Associated with major mountain building events when mafic igneous rocks (basalts and gabbros) are metamorphosed through depth of burial
Relocated near St. Paul's mission from Hayes Island, just north of Kettle Falls
Representing thousands of years of knife sharpening to butcher salmon caught at Kettle Falls

Highlights

Oh, where to begin.
Swimspot.

This is the beach I go to almost every day. In this photo, the Lake Roosevelt reservoir is drawn down a bit. A month ago, the water came right up to the edge of the bluff. Fae and I swim alot because most days it is too hot after work to do much else. If I took her to the park to play Frisbee, I'm positive she would pass out. It is supposed to get 100 degrees again tomorrow, so you know where I'll be.

My one friend here.

This is Megan and I standing in the middle of Hwy 25 on the bridge over the Spokane River on her 22nd birthday. We had just walked up from the government housing at Fort Spokane to the Two Rivers Casino, which is dry. Note suspicious water bottle under left arm. She got to play $5 free since it was her birthday. I cheered her on and sucked down a few free sodas. She made it last about 30 minutes and walked out with 5 cents. The cashier was like, really? She was my roommate in my FEMA trailer here for 3 days before they moved her sixty miles south to the Fort. I came down and camped this night in the field behind the maintenance pole-building next to 'seasonal circle'. The stars there were amazing. The Fort is built on a flat, now grassy terrace above the confluence of the Spokane and Columbia Rivers. It was a magical, warm night with stunningly bright, clear stars and deafening crickets in the pasture.

I know everyone in this picture NOT wearing a cowboy hat. This guy suggested that Megan could strip for him and his buddies at their what-the-hell-ever event party gig thing. On her birthday, she got called a stripper by a random drunk ass in a cowboy hat in a golf course bar in the middle of nowhere. Why are a bunch of Park Service employees at a tiny golf course bar at closing time in central WA? It is the ONLY place to get a drink within a 30 mile radius, thats why. So, we tolerate guys like this.

Sherman Pass.

The last pass you come over traveling east on Hwy 20, directly west of Kettle Falls, is the high country around here. This photo is at 6000-6500 ft. and it is very peaceful up there, with good views. The pass was an important route for natives traveling to the Columbia River to fish. It was named after the Civil War veteran General Sherman who crossed the pass in the late 1860s when it was still a wagon trail.

I haven't had a chance to figure out what this old cabin was used for exactly. A good view, no doubt, but not fire-lookout good. It is off the Kettle Crest trail and there are some wrecked telegraph poles and wires 50 meters away, so I guess it was some sort of a communication outpost. All the timbers are labeled and it appears the Forest Service is intending to dismantle the structure and want to be able to put it back together correctly. Maybe they intend to refurbish it. There are carvings on the inside going back as far as 1933, so it seems it was unoccupied and home to passers-by after that.



I backpacked a portion of the Kettle Crest trail two weekends ago and camped at near 7000'. I did not see another person the entire two days I was out there, and it was a weekend. It is remote in this corner of the state, and I love it. I even made Faelan carry her own water this time, since everything is dry. No free rides, dog.

Remember what Smokey says...................

Just don't be crushin' mine.

The Kettle

Kettle Falls

ca. 1900

www.nwcouncil.org/history/KettleFalls.asp

Seven hundred river miles from the Pacific on the upper Columbia River lies Kettle Falls, one of the most prehistorically and historically productive salmon fishing locations in all of the Northwest. People gathered from all over. Fishing at Kettle Falls by humans dates to at least 9,000 BP. Sockeye and Chinook were the primarily targeted species. This far up river, after a significant struggle behind them, the salmon were lean, their meat firm and lower in fat content, allowing them to preserve especially well. Then in 1941, the flood waters rising behind the newly constructed Grand Coulee dam covered and forever obscured this important location with current day Lake Roosevelt. Not only were the falls inundated, but so were hundreds of archaeological sites along the former river shoreline and on the glacial lake terraces directly above. The majority of the lake's shoreline is now public lands managed by the National Park Service as Lake Roosevelt National Recreation Area. The NPS hires archaeologists to manage sites within the park; enter myself into scenario and why I ended up here all summer. Ah, Kettle Falls. Where the weather is hot, the lake is cool, the beer expensive and the women are classy. For Stevens County.

I live in a little FEMA style trailer/cabin right behind the Kettle Falls campground that is my 'seasonal government housing'. It is approximately 150 yards from my office, so at least the morning commute isn't a stress.

I moved here the week after I graduated with my MA. The beginning of this year was one continuous blur of thesis writing, editing, grieving, editing, power point presentation-ing, defending, wifing, working, going on an Alaskan cruise, graduating, having family in town, throwing a party, and then moving away from my previous life and garden to Kettle Falls. But, not before getting to meet the sweet, precious, baby-girl Molly Alana, Erin and Doug's beautiful first born, gracing us with her presence March 16th, 2009. Way to go Erin, seriously. This is how you know we are grown up, this is how, this is how......what a blessing. Makes me want one, or two.

Talk about shifting gears. But without the clutch in all the way. This summer is turning out to be an exercise in isolation, but overall I am really enjoying myself. The environment is beautiful, I have all sorts of time for soul searching, its hot and it smells really good. Plus, I have Fae-dog to share life with.....thank goodness. And, a two hour conversation about nothing and everything all at the same time with my parents is never more than one push of a button away on my cell phone.....also, thank goodness. And, CamE came back safe to the sacred soil.......thank goodness. And, we have tickets to DMB at the Gorge......you get where I'm going here.

Work highlights since I got here include: having a pretty rad boss with a good sense of humor and correct political alignments (which is key, since he is literally the only person I interact with), getting to excavate actual 1x1 m units at Fort Spokane Historic District, and responding to a train wreck north of Kettle Falls that almost impacted a prehistoric archaeological site. Luckily it didn't slide down that far. It was caught by a historic site. Oh, the irony. The excavation is around a 2' by 3' brick cistern built into the ground behind where some barracks used to be. The Ft. was occupied by US soldiers from the early 1880s to 1899 to squelch Indian unrest in the region. It is presumed that the cistern structure held water and is associated with this occupation. Beyond that, not much is known. The Ft. had a complex and cutting-edge water and sewer infrastructure, so anything is possible. Maybe it was a holding tank for drinking water, maybe it held grey water? The Spanish-American War of 1898 drew the soldiers out of Ft. Spokane, never to return. The Ft. later became an Indian school from 1899-1914 and a sanitarium for tuberculosis from 1914-1929.


The cistern has since fallen apart and is slated to be restored to its original condition by a historic mason who specializes in rebuilding structures with like materials and craftsmanship. Also, a really neat guy I got to spend a few days with...a kindred spirit and highlight of my journey so far. Excavation is being conducted around the cistern to ensure that potential intact cultural deposits are not impacted from reconstruction activities, and to try to determine how and why the thing collapsed in the first place. Also, any clues to engineering methods and materials are also sought out. The back dirt around the cistern is filled with cool historic stuff, including wire-cut nails, glass, metal-sawn cow bones, burned and calcined bone, leather shoes parts, lots of metal cans, bullet casings and ceramics. A couple feet from the outer cistern wall, the edge of the original construction trench can be seen, and it has a crenulated edge as one would expect for a hole dug with shovels, by hand. The good old 1880s.

The train wreck was definitely something I wasn't expecting. North of Kettle Falls, a hillside wasted away under the tracks, sending two huge locomotive engines down the embankment, landing just above a previously recorded archaeological site. That is how I got to take a boat ride to a train wreck, and watch 5000 gallons of diesel fuel get pumped from sideways engines. This is why I love archaeology....because you NEVER know what kind of an adventure you will get sent out on.

Murphy the Puppy

I apologize for eight years of disgust making its way into my last entry. I prefer not to focus on negative subjects. So, I will now attempt to make up for it with a subject matter which may just be the complete antithesis of GWB.


Meet Murphy, Trent's new 6 week old half Boxer, half Aussie puppy. She is about the sweetest thing you have ever seen. This was her first photo shoot. I had just given 'little squirt' her first bath and she even got a pretty pink bow, to which Trent responded, "she may be a girl, but I'm a guy." He promised to leave it on her long enough to meet his sister. I love to torture Trent.Murphy is a quality Whatcom County girl, so she gets some instant respect as far as I'm concerned. She came from a farm in Lynden that breeds Australian shepherds. Apparently there is also a Boxer that lives there, and there was an incident. She is what the Japanese might call a 'happy accident'. She is perfect and has a very sweet demeanor. She makes me smile because many of her mannerisms remind me of sweet Makiah the mini-Aussie (the other love-dog of my life). Dogs are just about the best things in the world. The other night, I was holding Murphy while she peacefully slept, the way only puppies can do. As I handed her limp, completely trusting and love-saturated little body over to Trent, I said, "to anyone who is struggling to understand the meaning of life, here it is. Look at how this innocent creature, who has only been on this earth for 6 weeks responds to love and gentleness. She is completely at peace. Love is the center and purpose of our existence."

So Long Georgie

I cannot believe that the time is finally here. Bush has only minutes left in his reign of stupidity. Oooooh, and he loves power. Poor little fellow. A moment of silence for every stupid, evil and self-motivated thing he did. But, then there aren't enough moments in one day. Just to clarify, I detested the weasel from day one. I have come to loath him within the last eight years as he proved all of my negative perceptions about him correct. Good riddance. Go crawl back to your ranch, you were there most of your "presidency" anyways. And, P.S......you are a horrible example of a Christian. May the fiery gates swing wide open. Maybe he'll be wearing this.....

He even looks like a chimp, only they are smarter.

Instead, it is time to celebrate a new day in America. But for perspective on today, you must unfortunately remember the past. Today is for every slave ripped from their tribe, brought here in shackles (if you were lucky enough to survive the journey), their culture, clothes and family stripped from them, made to work fields you cared nothing for, your humanity taken, all while being beaten and raped. Remember, if you were black (insert other word here), you were only 3/5th a person, but that was just a technicality...you were really nothing. That math was for somebody else. It was only 50 years ago that segregation still existed, the N-word flowed freely and blacks were still treated like livestock. Today is a day, in all of its ugly days, that the USA can be proud. Obama has the right heart and mind at the appropriate time. But, it is a wonderful day in America when he is judged for his intelligence and for the quality of man he is internally. Thank God the day has come that credentials have little if anything to do with the color of your silly skin. Humans are manipulative creatures. So, celebrate the end of evil and the beginning of something different. Don't let the White House door hit you in the ass on the way out, Georgie. Get ready for a black man to show you how its done.

Difficult To Tell If T.J. Maxx Hit Hard By Recession

Maybe its the nigh decade I spent in retail-hell at PetsMart (now PetSmart, who are they kidding?) that made me laugh so hard at this article. Or maybe it is a bi-product of growing up 15 minutes from the Canadian border (you have to be local to know what I mean when I say that). But, if you need a good chuckle, I thought this article in the Onion was worth sharing.