Standing united

From local writer Loree Harell

Of course I was proud of both kids for coming home with straight A's. It's easy to admire those qualities in your children that exceeded your own. But at the same time, I shared another emotion with the kids. Not just pride, but unconditional love and acceptance. For my parents, it was easy (easier) to love me when (on those rare occasions) I did get all A's -- or won a speech tournement. It was harder -- and I knew it, for my parents to love and accept me when I fell short of their expectations. It cut like a knife. I can still feel some of those hurts.
So in the celebration of these report cards, I also shared another message: there will come a day when you won't have all A's, a time when you make a mistake, a time when you hurt me or yourself -- a time when you really screw up.
The most important thing to remember is that on that day -- your mom and I will love you, accept you and be as proud of you as we are today.

On a slightly different slant -- the words of writer Loree Harell -- to the parents of young girl, though it applies to boys as well.




Please, somehow don't demand
that your daughter obey you
against her will
because if she learns that
too well,
she will obey others
against her will.

Teach her to trust
what her body knows.
It does know,
and will tell her,
through the hormone scream,
what is right
for her.

Don't require
that she need your approval.
She will need everyone's.

Teach her to believe
what she knows to be true.
Even when it doesn't match
what you want,
what you want for her.
This isn't about you.

Know she will make mistakes,
that she will know
when she has, and that
the only mistakes that matter
are the ones that hurt her,
not the ones that disappoint
you.

Don't make her pay
for how you were at her age.
She is not you.

Remember this is not your story,
it is hers.
She gets to write it,
she has to edit it finally,
to know what to take out, and
what is essential and can't be changed.
It is pure gift of trust
when she asks your feedback
on the draft.

Know that sometimes
she will make you nuts,
hurt you, make you mad,
show all the good sense
of a wombat on acid.
Trust her anyway.

Don't forget
this is a whole human being,
not an appendage of you.



You can quit protecting her now.
She has already made mistakes you don't know about.
She will make more.

Let's try this again.
This person is whole.
You can no longer mold her,
not with your anger or violence or shunning
or shame. This person is whole.
But if you can find the love
to stand with her as equals
together, she will ask you
to help polish the edges
and walk next to her home.

She is better, she is stronger
than you dared believe.
Trust her.

Catie doesn't need to help Claire with bites from her sister's birthday cake.

Bryn is the queen on her birthday

Will this be me at 82?

We sent out a notice for a public meeting.
Here is one reply.

Capt'n Joe goes clam hunting

Belize: here we come

The Oregonian is accepting photos in its annual travel photo contest. First place is a trip to Belize.
Three catagories: I will enter this one in Oregon places.
Titled: Reflections on clamming

Will I ever talk again?

Drat.
A cold.
I had been doing so well for so long.
A cold carries psycho baggage for me for a couple of reasons.
Back when I was in radio it meant going to work and sounding like crap.
That always created a sense of anxiety.
Perhaps an irrational sense of anxiety. When I was a little boy, I picked up a book on legendary sports broadcaster Red Barber. Among his hundreds of stories was the tale of broadcasting one time with a cold.
During the middle of his broadcast, his voice cracked.
Then -- nothing, just squeaking air.
He went to a nationally recognized throat physician who said he might never talk again due to the strain of broadcasting with a cold.
For 90 days, he was instructed, he must not try to utter a word.
Finally, slowly, his speech returned.
I thought of that story every time I felt an itch in my throat.

More recently, the first touch of an illness sparks terror of a disturbance in the force.
This is based on the theory that one's physical health is a portal to one's inner health.

''Oh my god, I have a cold -- my chakras must be out of alignment!"
I need to relax -- no, I am stressed, no relaxed, oh my god, I must be more stressed than I realized. Oh my god, I must be unaware…..oh no my internal monitors are askew ...arggghhhghhh.''

So here I am, sipping CALM tea from TAZO and trying to center.
Trying to imagine my white blood cells playing a Ms. Pac man game with viral bad guys.
Do do do
Doo do doo
Doodle le doodle le do.

Snow and light at the cabin

Catie looking out the snow fort

Snow fort

Multimedia message

Snow closes schools - fun on 9th street- 1.16.06

Ricky catches a falling flake

Weekend at the cabin - Catie's snowman on the deck

Elk crossing on 3 rocks road

Rick in cabin meadow

Snow comes to the cabin

Reflections on the Dream - 2007

Today is an important day.
A day to remember our core values.
A day to remember our dreams.

To live...
As Dr. King said…

in a nation where our children they will not be judged by the color of their skin

but by the content of their character.

And if I may, also suggest, to not be judged by where they call home.

When the citizens of Clackamas County opened their arms and their hearts when news that Katrina survivors may need shelter,

There were voices that judged us -- not by our character, but by where we lived, by the color of our skin.

Voices that suggested we would not be appropriate hosts to fellow humans in need.

Let me say -- as a proud Clackamas County resident,

I took exception.

I am proud of Clackamas County --
For its beauty
For its collection of small and diverse communities.

For the lack of hesitation to open its arms to others in need.


We are -- as President Carter noted -- NOT a melting pot

but a beautiful mosaic.

Different people,

different beliefs,

different yearnings,

different hopes,

But let us share in the dream.

Too little, too late - Congress, time to do your job

Top Ten Features of Bush's New Iraq Plan


10. Make the war best two-out-of-three

9. Blame it on that crazy New York gas leak

8. Convene blue-ribbon study group; ignore recommendations

7. Consult with Rumsfeld, who's now working as a casino greeter

6. Sit on ass until January 2009; let Hillary figure it out

5. Send Cheney to Baghdad with a shotgun

4. Tax cuts for the rich

3. Put Giants coach Tom Coughlin in charge of enemy, watch them collapse

2. Raise money for escalation by robbing Mick Jagger's apartment

1. Dig up Saddam and execute him again

The dream of my childhood realized - an old fashioned Christmas

Up on the rooftop - Christmas 2006