Mietzke's Holden Adventure

Grandpa

2008-05-07T18:55:32-07:00

Down lake was so beautiful! The hills are greening up and all of the fruit trees are in bloom. I worked at the B&B a little on Tuesday I ran errands and did some cleaning and weeding. I had gone out to be available to the kids by phone because their school is on a week long field trip. I called them on Tuesday night and Nyrie said HI Mom, I love you but I am missing all of the fun so is it ok of I go now? I think that was my cue that they are going to be fine. There were many giggles in the background so I decided to come back to Holden Village. Before we left someone asked Jordyn if she was nervous about the field trip and she said " I am fine, but my Mom is having a hard time." It is true...letting go is hard. They are so grown up it feels like yesterday that they were babies and needed me for everything. It is really great to see how confident and self assured they both are. I am really proud of them, and I am excited to hear about their adventures.
Yesterday was the anniversary of my grandfathers death. All week I have been flooded with memories of him, and I have had this ache in my chest from missing him. I got to talk to my grandma on the phone. My Mom and Dad, Bob and Jeanne were with her but It is still a difficult time.

The swallows

2008-05-06T08:18:19-07:00

The swallows are dipping and gliding
blue white and grey in the sky
They swoop and flutter almost colliding
then drop like stones
only to catch themselves at the last minute
with quick wing bursts
rising skywards in twists and turns
defying gravity
They fly a silent flight
Their wings cutting through the air with such precision
Then each let out a cry
As if in ecstasy
They are not bound to the earth
but toy with the earthbound notion
landing momentarily
Springs call does not easily lend itself to stillness
The swallows can hardly help themselves
after a moments pause they glide forth
Breaking the earthly connection
To commune with the breeze
Living freedom in death defying feats
Flickering and fluttering
Pausing on the brink of chaos
Only to catch themselves
Then fly again

The Sunday Sun

2008-05-07T18:38:50-07:00

The sun came out today and was gloriously warm and bright. The Holden staff gathered in droves near the ark. Musicians brought their instruments and painters, their paint. There were people playing cards and knitting and just lounging. All of the village kids were playing in the drainage ditches making dams for the melting snow water and then breaking them apart to watch the water run down. It got warm enough for them to wear bathing suits and they were all covered in mud and smiles! Lunch was also eaten outside and the sound of running water surrounded us along with laughter and bird chatter.
Dave’s sister and her family are up with a youth group for the May youth weekend along with Dave's daughter Rachel. My nephew Alex and my niece Hiwot are playing with the girls. Nyrie has set up her tent in the square and is having a party with her dolls and throwing snowballs at Cable. It just feels so magical out here. There is bear white skin hungry for light and many of us came away from the day with pink arms and legs and faces.
The birds are amazing. There are so many of them dipping and gliding, pulling worms out of the ground and building nests. They are busy and insistent. We have two humming bird feeders on our porch and the humming birds are so loud. Their wings make a whirring sound and they fly quickly across the porch pausing for a sip and then are off again. Yesterday I ran out of sugar water in the feeders and a little humming bird kept returning and hovering around my head trying to let me know that yes indeed it was time to put more out. He was so persistent that I finally gave in. I am a sucker for hummingbirds, what can I say. The chipmunks and squirrels are also our in droves sneaking around trying to get a taste of today’s lunches off of people’s plates. They are so darn cute and fun to watch. Sometimes they are a bit too daring.
The smell of damp warm earth is so strong it makes me want to be digging and planting. It is so nice to sit here taking it all in listening to the playful banter and reveling in this beautiful creation! The May youth weekend kids just got out of their session and are out enjoying their freedom. They seem to be having a really good time at Holden and I have been really impressed at the organization put into the programming! They seem to have just enough activity and free time to keep kids out of trouble which is nice!
Dave and Hiwot and I hiked out to ten mile falls this afternoon. The snow is really slick and we had to be careful in the woods not to step in pockets around the trees and rocks. Hiwot lost her shoe in a hole while walking near the river. We had to stop and find it under the snow before she could put it back on. I can’t believe how much the trail has changed already and how much snow has melted just within the last few days. There are whole sections where we were walking on bear ground! Hiwot was a good hiker and we made good time as well as being able to enjoy the beauty of the waterfall. It was really fun to get time with her.
We had fun hanging out as a family and playing games for Alex’s birthday. I actually made a cake which is not something I normally would do. Then we played Apples to Apples. It was a nice way to end a really good day!

Bus Driving

2008-05-03T12:01:21-07:00

I just got home from a week of bus driver training, and am now a commercial driver. I got my Class B license with a passenger and school bus endorsement. I had a LOT of fun driving the busses down lake and I am sure it will be fun to drive the busses up here.
As well as having a good time in the actual course I also had a nice week in Chelan and Wenatchee. We ate lunch every day at a taco truck that was excellent and a great value (across from the Stihl saw shop on Woodin Ave.) Ang was down for Monday and Tuesday, so we went out on a real date just the two of us on Tuesday night. It was great we drove all over Wenatchee looking for the movie theater; finally we got fed up with trying to find it and just went to dinner. We had thoroughly mediocre barbeque but it was just fine we were enjoying each others’ company enough to make up for the food. The next evening after driving Erik and I went down to Wenatchee to run some errands and have dinner. We had dinner at one of the places he had told Ang and me about; I wish we had found it the night before, it was great. I had a great time with Erik too.
On top of the bus driving we were trying to help get the B&B ready for summer visitors. We never would have made it if Nick and Ang hadn’t been there working on it while we were driving.
At the end of the week Daniel, one of my best friends up here left for a month out at his home. Daniel nailed the driving portion of the test, he had no errors at all. I had a lot of fun hanging out with him all week, and trying to talk him into bringing his boat back with him from Minnesota. No luck though, he decided that it would be just too much work to get his boat ready and out here.
All in all it was a great week, a lot of work, but so nice to be down in the spring weather. It was also pretty amazing how the much snow had gone down at the village on our return. There are huge patches of exposed ground now. Spring is finally springing.

Driving from Ocean Wet to Mountain Dry

2008-04-30T08:59:39-07:00

It is Monday evening and I am out of the village for a few days to go to a doctor’s appointment for my ears. I have not been able to hear very well since I got sick in March and my ears have been painful. So, anyway I am staying at the Holden B&B and helping to prepare for the opening on Friday for the beginning of the May Youth Weekend. Dave is also out for the bus driver training course and the kids stayed in the village with our friend Gail who is our adopted village grandma.
I came down on the boat on Sunday and drove to Seattle to say good bye to our friends Keith, Karen, and Lyla who are moving to San Diego on Wednesday. The drive was amazing! The sun was shining most of the way and it is so springy and beautiful down here! There were flowers everywhere in Seattle and the trees are that brilliant bright spring green. It was such a nice drive! I was just relaxed and quiet most of the way taking in the colors and being amazed at every turn by the beauty of the mountains and the difference driving over a pass makes in climate.
I got into Seattle around 7:30 catching the tail end of the going away party. It was so good to be with Keith, Karen, and Lyla. Keith and I stayed up late chatting and hanging out. It was really great to be with him and to hear about the new adventure that lies ahead of them. Lyla came and woke me up at about 6:30 in the morning. She climbed in my sleeping bag to snuggle and told me stories and we played and sang songs until 7:00. It is good to be three and ridiculously cute! Then Karen and I took Lyla to her school and Karen and I got great time together at a coffee shop in Wallingford. We spent the morning hanging out talking and running around Seattle. It was so good to be with all of them. It doesn’t seem real that they are leaving.
Seattle was in full bloom. The tulips were out and all of the fruit trees were in full bloom. The sun was out and dew was sparkling on the lawns. Sometimes I forget just how beautiful it is on the west side of the mountains. It felt like home and it felt really good to go back even if it was a short visit. I headed back over the mountains at 11:30 and drove over Snoqualmie pass and again was astounded at spring coming to life everywhere. On the other side of the pass where the earth is red and orange and grey rocks push upwards through fir and pine wild flowers are blooming up to the edge of the melting snow in yellows reds white and purple. I stopped my car several times to take pictures. The contrast of the wet Seattle spring and the dry mountain spring surprised me. One is home, it is known, and the other one becoming sacred to my heart as I experience it for the first time.
I arrived at the B&B at three and started to work straight away clearing winter from the flower beds. It felt so good to work the soil in the sunshine! There are several people down here from the village doing the bus training with Dave and so arriving at the B&B is a little like arriving home. We all had a nice dinner of bratwurst with a sung blessing and collective clean up. Then Dave and I went for a walk at dusk holding hands and walking along the road near the lake. It was a beautiful night for a walk, and if felt like a luxury to be together like this.
It is time for bed now and I keep wondering how the girls are doing. I bet they are having a lot of fun with Gail! I get to missing them though.

Smoke

2008-04-30T08:53:32-07:00

Smoke hangs in the air above the valley
floating effortlessly ,
lingering
as if to hear the music from the village voices.
It waits patiently
for breezes to sweep and push
down the valley
carrying it on to new sights and sounds
These particles
of earth and thought,
newspaper and wood
gray clouds of time
hold onto their home
soon to pass onto something else
I watch the hover with gratefulness
knowing that each plume warmed a home
perhaps mine
those particles pass like villagers
into the greater world
maybe blessing it with a little bit of Village life
a memory of home carried on the breeze

Eden

2008-04-30T08:52:42-07:00

A trickle slowly moves through the dirt
picking up sticks and bits of dry earth and sweeping them up
in tiny swirls moving steadily down the ditch.
Drips drop
making pools in the ice and snow
creating a symphony of sound that could only be orchestrated by God.
The river close by is rushing and dancing
around rocks
moving stones and sticks
in its downward plunge towards the lake
Birds call and swoop
moving in and out of view
I hear the whoosh of the crow’s wings
he passes overhead sending the squirrels into fits of warning chatter
A chipmunk pops in and out of the lumber pile
quickly darting this way and that
searching for bits of food
she sprints daringly between feet
The martin makes his way throughout the village
Across the snow
into a hole for a quick escape from watching children
With activity like this going on all around,
you can’t help but join in the movement and the song
Spring is on the move turning our frozen world into Eden

Its Melting!

2008-04-30T08:52:15-07:00

There is something about a sunny Saturday that is so life giving. Today the street was filled with people sitting in the sun, and all of the village kids were our laughing and riding their bikes down the street. People were taking time to just sit and chat and enjoy the warmth of the sun. It was actually warm today and the snow was melting filling the ditches and walkways with little rivers of water. By this evening you could actually see a difference in the patches of snow that are receding from the paths revealing flowerbeds and new buds! It was warm enough for me to wear shorts. I have been such a grump this week but the sun can make anything feel better.
A couple of people were out hiking the ten mile falls trail and saw a mama bear with two cubs. Dave went riding his bike and saw deer in the valley below the village, and the birds are out in droves making nests finding food, going from building to building looking for the perfect place to build a nest. While I was sitting on the porch today I saw several humming birds coming to check out my feeder. I love the sounds that they make when they fly!
I got some work done in the library and opened the windows and could clearly hear the creek and the trickle of melting snow outside. When I was done working I took a group of kids down to the creek side to play in the water. There were even some butterflies out. The creek is rising and the sound is amazing. The water is cold and flowing rapidly. The kids took turns throwing rocks into the creek, building small dams, and hoping from rock to rock. I am constantly amazed when I look up from whatever I happen to be doing and realize how lucky we are to be here surrounded by all of this beauty.
I am going down lake tomorrow to go to a doctor’s appointment. I have had a lot of pain in my ears for the last few weeks and I feel like my ears are stuffed with cotton. I have been to a doctor but they suggested an Ear Nose and Throat specialist, so down I go. I was going to take the girls with me because Dave is also going to be out for bus driver training, but they both wanted to stay. They don’t want to miss school or anything else going on in the village. Gail, who is one of our village grandmothers, will be staying with them up here.
The girls were so fun to watch today! Jordyn was up one tree or another all day and Nyrie was in a gaggle of kids playing a burping game and laughing hysterically, Nyrie is one of the only kids in the village who can burp on command and she has been trying to teach the other kids how to do it. She has learned well from her mother, and it is possible that one day she shall carry on the family nickname of Foghorn for the loudest and longest burp. The girls have been flitting all over the village, dressing up, dancing, running, biking and enjoying the sunshine in its fullness.
Jordyn has really taken to helping me in my library window garden. She loves to go in there to check on the plants that are making a stellar appearance! We have peas and beats and greens and flowers and onions and lavender. Everything is coming up looking healthy and happy in village compost! I guess we just can’t live without a garden. I hope to get a couple of zucchini starts while I am out. Good night friends, blessings on the rest of your weekend!
Love, Angela

First Bike Ride

2008-04-26T19:58:46-07:00

Today I went on my first big ride. I went 20.4 miles round trip, out and back I lost and gained 2300 feet of elevation. My plan was to ride from the village to the top of the switchbacks (about eight and a half miles each way), and then turn around and come back. When I got to the top of the switchbacks I was having so much fun screaming down the road I decided I’d go on down to the lake. I figured I could ride the bus back if I was too pooped to make it on the bike. Well I got down to the Lake and found out that that bus wasn’t coming back to the village until next Saturday with the first May Youth Weekend. Okay… so now I have to pedal my fat butt back to the village whether I like it or not.
It took me twenty five minutes to get down to the lake and three hours to get back up to the village. The switchbacks were the last five minutes of the ride down and an hour and ten minutes of the ride back. You gain nearly a thousand feet of elevation in just under two miles and then the other 1300 feet or so in the last eight and a half miles. The final killer was that the road had some really muddy patches just outside of the village. I’m still on road tires and these spots nearly drug me to a stop on the downhill run, I had to get off and walk through a couple of them on the way up. It was just too much work that late in the ride.
I saw two deer on the ride up just about half way to the village. They were a little surprised to see me. Oh and I bit it going down the switchbacks, the road tires don’t hold the corners on dirt quite as well as they do on pavement. The bike just slid out from under me and I hit the dirt.
All in all it was a great ride, but I’m going to plan a little better next time, take more water, and maybe wait for the road to dry a little more.

Blitz Day

2008-04-24T18:10:37-07:00

Yesterday was blitz day which is the day where we prepare the village for summer. We began the day with a few inches of snowfall to add to the three feet or so that we have left on the ground. Normally by now most of the snow has melted and green grass is starting to come up all over the place. Not this year. We spend time taking off the window grates that keep the snow from breaking the windows during roof-a-launches in the winter. We cleaned out the dining hall and brought in the long tables to accommodate larger groups of people. We did a deep clean of the dining hall and moved the games tables back into the Village center. For some people it was an emotional letting go of the winter village, but for me it just feels like another unknown step in our Holden journey. We had a work crew of about forty people aside from the staff working in the village, and it was fun to see the camaraderie between all of the people working together to make the transition go smoothly.
We had a feast to celebrate the transition with steak, fish, and veggie kabobs and brown rice, plates of cheese and rolls and salad, and a really yummy desert of pastries with whipped cream topping. Everyone dressed up and we had a wonderful vespers in the dining hall surrounding the meal. The kitchen staff really went all out and made the evening memorable!
We have continued to have pretty cold weather and do not have enough power yet to heat the Village Center building and the lodges, so we are really hoping for a heat wave before the first of the May Youth Weekends, where we have 80 some odd teenagers and their counselors coming for camp.
Dave and I ended the day with a movie and snuggling on the couch. Nyrie played games at her friend Ellie’s house while Jordyn was out playing in the snow with a big group of kids. This is a pretty amazing community and I am so glad to be a part of it. I often wish that I could share this place with my community in Tacoma, and our families. We get lonely for you all and at the same time we know we are exactly where we are supposed to be.