Mietzke's POST Holden Adventure

This week has been crazy, with power outages that last for hours, and inventory needing to be done in the dark, starting a new job, and Halloween. I spent the day setting up the dining hall like an enchanted forest for the Halloween party. I went out into the woods with Bill who is working as my helper this month and gathered large branches just for the occasion, then we brought them back to the dining hall and brought the forest inside. We made pinecone bats and ghosts and lanterns, and hung blue, green, and red lights from the ceiling and branches. There were caramel apples and Christmas cookies and chocolate covered nuts, and pudding with gummy worms and broken up oreos in it. The children spent the afternoon pressing apples into cider in the cider press, helped by Chuck Carpenter, and then they carved pumpkins and helped with the last of the decorating.
The evening festivities started with a haunted Holden Evening Prayer vespers where everyone came in costume and Tom played the whole service in minor keys. It was fun and creepy, and we all laughed and worked hard at trying to sing this familiar service in a different tune. When the service was over we all headed up the hill and the whole village trick or treated and whoevers house was next would run ahead of the mob and prepare for the trick or treaters.
It was a lot of fun. We ended trick or treating at the dining hall where we held a dance and a pumpkin carving contest, and enjoyed the food and festivities. It was quite a night. Jordyn made her own costume and was a pixy who sparkled from the top of her head to her feet. She was all stripes and had made striped wings and wove thread into her wings like spider webs, it was so creative! Nyrie was a Monarch butterfly her class has been studying the migration patterns of the monarch and she really had a vision for her costume. Dave was dressed like our beloved maverick Dan and had him down to a tea. I was a television evangelists wife and I had a dark wig on a white dress and a crown.
Matt and Steph did a great job with the music and we had a lot of fun dancing and being silly. We ended the party at 9:00 and then hosted two scary movies one for kids and one for adults. All and all the day was fun and successful! I get to take the day off tomorrow and my feet will be happy.

The frost grew out of the ground
like tiny spires claiming domain over the rough red earth.
They declare the ridge as winters property
Even as the first colors of fall come into play
The battle won’t last long on this side of the slope
which sees no warmth from the suns rays,
but gives itself quickly over into winters icy grasp
Where the frost will grow feathered fingers that reach for the sky

This morning I awoke before the sun and headed down the hill for the operations meeting. It was misty out and the clouds were low and the sun had just begun to breathe light into the valley. The sky to the East was pink framed with clouds of gray mist and the light brightened turning the mist into a rainbow. It was beautiful to see those magical colors appear in the mist as I was still waking up. I stood still and quiet taking it all in and as the sun moved down the valley it lighted the mist to the west as well where colors began to haze into view and reach for the sky. It was one of those moments where you don’t want to blink for fear of missing something. When the sun climbed above the clouds the valley darkened and I awakened from my awed stupor, walked into the dining hall to get a cup of coffee throughout the day I carried that beauty, that thought held in light with me, and it brought me joy.

We had a ladies night at my chalet tonight and if felt like all of the women in the village were here. There was good conversation, the telling of stories and carameled apple slices which reminded me of fall. It always amazes me how many people you can fit into the living room of a chalet. It was a nice way to end the day.

Dave and the girls are out camping with the grandparents this weekend and I am in the village alone which feels strange and relaxing simultaneously. I miss them but I am also enjoying getting some time to myself and getting time with people in the village in a different way. Tonight I hung out with some friends from Tacoma in the Jacuzzi and then spent some time in the sauna. It was relaxing and fun. The stars were out and the moon was bright in the sky silhouetting copper basin beautifully.
After the sauna I headed up the hill to the chalet and it dawned on me that I wasn’t afraid. When we lived in Tacoma and I was home by myself or just the children and I. there was always a low lying fear that someone would break in and we would be hurt. I remember checking the lock multiple times and feeling afraid if I had to go outside to feed the rabbit that there might be someone waiting out there to hurt me. I used to hate being home alone and would often ask people to come over while Dave was away. Actually, even when Dave was home, there were still aspects of that fear in my daily experience. It feels nice not to be afraid and it makes being alone enjoyable.
I love you and miss you family and I hope you are having fun with the extended family.

My family left today and it is strange to be here without them. It is not often that I am the one left behind. This afternoon I went out into the woods with Ben, one of the Mavericks to collect some aspen branches to weave into a triptych for the winter season. The decorations part of my worship assistant job is so much fun! I love creating large scale scenes that set the mood for the season. We collected branches from fallen trees and I am excited about creating a barren woodsy scene for the worship space, a reflection of this time of year where we are turning inward and hopefully have time for introspection. There is a group up at Holden right now that does homeless outreach and as a part of their outreach brings people from their Seattle programs up to Holden for some respite and relaxation. The group has been an absolute joy to have around and tonight they did a forum that they called homelessness 101 and talked about their ministry and we got to hear some stories from some of their lives and work. I was amazed at the amount of people they serve and the way that they reach out and support and love without judgment. I have been really impressed with the staff and the people who are up hear from the program and their willingness to talk about the issues that surround homelessness and their passion for compassionate change. After the talk Mark and Nancy RB invited me over for the evening and we hung out and talked for a couple of hours. It was a really good evening.
I’m home now and it is cold in here. We had sputtering of snow all evening and the temperature is dropping. I miss my family, but I know they are having fun, and with so many kind people around time will pass quickly.

The yellow leaves gather in swirling pools dancing around each other waiting to see which one will slide between the rocks and down the river. Snow is gathering on the tops of the mountains edging its way down into the valley in sputters and starts that have the feel of winter cold. The wind picked up today pulling leaves off their branches and chilling me beneath my sweater so I shivered where I stood watching the goings on of nature. I don’t know why I feel constantly taken by surprise as if I had never seen or felt these changes before. With the changing leaves comes the cold… Isn’t that how it has always been? I woke up this morning and the sun was shining up the valley. The mountains are covered with snow mid way up, and the autumn colors are brighter than ever. There is something magical happening here. I couldn’t get enough of the view, the combination of the snow ant the autumn colors is astounding. It is like viewing two seasons at once, seeing the place where they meet but do not cross over. I went out and tried to take pictures, but they just don’t capture the essence of it.

For the last few days I have been working on hanging drywall, taping and muddling in the Hydro/electric plant. I have been working with Analisa which has been fun. I like this kind of work, but it can get a little lonely and tedious, although not when doing it from a ten foot ladder. I have also been working on getting the Library ready to hand over to the new Angela who comes in just one week. The Library is beautiful, but there are still so many loose ends and details to figure out. The Manson sixth graders are visiting this week and have some fun programming going on. It is fun to have some many kids in the village exploring and getting to know it. They are such a great group of kids, and they seem to be having a blast!
We said good bye to our friends Gail and Hanna this week and it was a sad parting. They have been an iatrical part of our community up here. Gail has been like a third grandma for the girls and a cushiony mother figure for me and it was such a blessing having her around, and Hanna has become a good friend to our family and will be missed. It feels strange heading into winter without so many of you who were a part of it with us last year. Anni, Abby, Jenna, Gail, Cable, Caleb, Beckah, Katie and Sue, The Loulay family, Marve and Nancy, Rachel C, Patty, Aaron, Nick, John, Matt, Stephan, Daniel, and others. We miss you and think about you a lot!
Dave and the girls are going out this week to go camping with Dave’s folks, so we are preparing to send them out. I will be meeting them out there on Wednesday of next week. It will be strange being in the village without them

Yesterday I went with the girls class on an overnight field trip to Stehekin, and it was so much fun! We took the boat up and arrived around lunch time so we drove up to Rainbow falls and had a picnic at the base of the three hundred foot falls. It was so beautiful! The whole Stehekin Valley is in full autumnal swing and the colors of the trees are vibrant! We had a great picnic and then we headed up the valley to a horse farm where our friend Caroline worked all summer so we were able to meet the horses and get a tour of the ranch which is nestled in the valley between pine covered mountains and next to the Stehekin River. The horses on the Farm were Norwegian Fiords which are a distant relative of the Zebra and have a unique stripe down the center of their manes. They are tan with a black stripe. The horses were sweet and very interested in interaction. They came right up to the fence and we fed them grass and pet them. The children were enthralled. When we were finished at the ranch we drove further down the valley to a ravine where we could look down and see the Stehekin River running far below. Every time we saw the river we were on the look out for salmon that are running at this time. They are land locked salmon but still spawn up the river and their red bodies are slowly decomposing as they make their journey. The children were fascinated and sad at the idea that all of the fish we saw in the river would die. There was one spot in the river where there were thousands of fish near the banks and in the shallows. We went down to the water and the girls counted sixteen dead fish on the bank. The part that amazed me was the likeness in color to the changing leaves; it was strange, disturbing, and beautiful.
We were fortunate enough to know some people in Stehekin and so we got to visit a couple of rustic resort type places on the river. One of them had a wonderful tree house with climbing rope, a rope swing, two stories and a rope bridge and nets for climbing. The kids had a blast playing on them! There was also one of the best rope swings on a tree near the river where several of the children played a game where they tried to see how many kids they could get on the swing at one time. I heard the record was ten. There was a rope that was tied way up in a fir tree and Jordyn climbed up very high and the Stehekin kids were impressed and said she was the first girl to go that high. One of the boys told me that he was even to nervous to go that high.
We spent the night in a small community hall heated by a woodstove that we got too hot and we all roasted. We stayed up playing mad-libs until the children could hardly keep their eyes open. We brought tents, but it was pretty rainy so we were glad for a place to sleep. In the night there were many trips to the bathroom and a wood rat that was rattling around in the roof making a ton of racket. There was one point where it was so loud we thought it had to be a bear digging in a trash can so I went out with a rock and a flashlight to scare it away, but to my surprise and to my continued lack of sleep it was only a pesky determined wood rat.
In the morning we had breakfast and a woman named Tammy who lives in Stehekin brought us a freshly baked loaf of banana bread which was really good. After breakfast we headed out on a hike to one of the oldest apple orchards in Washington State. It is no longer a commercial orchard and anyone is welcome to pick the apples so we spent about an hour exploring and picking apples and we came away with five boxes that we are going to make into cider this week. The land around the orchard is so gorgeous! All of the trees were golden and red and the old wooden buildings and cars made for some really great pictures!
While we were there we got the chance to visit the old Stehekin School which was a one room cabin that housed grades one through eight for years until they built the new school which is a beautiful facility with a movement room, two small classrooms, and an attic library. The grounds were beautiful surrounded by woods with some great climbing trees, and some swings. The children Spent the second morning with the Stehekin class giving a presentation on Monarch Butterflies. The presentation went really well and afterwards our little class joined the Stehekin children in a game of capture the flag and Jordyn got the closest to actually capturing the Flag. She snuck in while everyone else was distracted, captured the flag but didn’t make it back over to her team’s side before she was captured.
After our time at the Stehekin School we went to lunch at the bakery and had goodies and then headed back to the boat to head home to Holden. A good time was had by all but by the time we got back here we were all tired.

In the Coments on The Hunt (?) I talked about a bear breaking into the village trash, well a song was written about it that can be found here: The Garbo Bear

Enjoy! David

A fat toad lumbered across the darkened path. I almost stepped on her, but I caught the faint hint of movement from the corner of my eye. I bent down in the dark and picked up the toad gently and looked at its shining eyes in the moonlight. Then I sent her on her way a little further off the path and she crawled slowly into the bushes and out of sight. What I saw in the toad in that short glimpse was patient persistence, something I lack at times in my own life. She took my picking her up in stride and when I set her down went on her way once again continuing her journey undaunted by the unexpected. The unexpected always throws me for a loop and it takes time to walk through my confusion. It might be easier just to be a Toad.

The morning sun comes in through the valley illuminating the changing trees. It comes in low backlighting the forest and making the larches glow with the darkness of rock and wood behind. The autumn light is warm and golden as it moves from the valley floor to the peaks. This quiet village surrounded by flames of change.

There are only about 75 people in the village right now and we can feel the size. Last night was the first time we went to the winter schedule and had our main service in the morning leaving the evening free and it felt really nice. Jordyn and I rode bikes out to the Labyrinth and walked it. I followed her in on the curving path towards the center. We would both stop often to look around at the mountains, the trees, and the brush. It is breathtaking right now. Then we went to the river to look for fish and collect some rocks to put along the Labyrinth path in places where the rocks have been buried or moved away. We spent most of the time in silence walking and looking at the world around us and it felt good to be together. While I finished my walk through the labyrinth I watched Jordyn roam out through the field which is filled with yellow flowers right now. Her movements were beautiful and she looked as if she were dancing with her arms outstretched.
We came back late for dinner and then the girls and I went down to the Jacuzzi to soak in the warm water. It was nice to be together with no hurry to prepare for the next thing.
Nyrie and I had a good walk the day before heading off through the forest arm in arm. She loves to walk with me this way and to tell me about her day and her many thoughts. They are growing up so fast and I love that they still like to be touched and they haven’t gotten to the place where they find me annoying for just existing yet.