Desert and Ashes

This last weekend, I took a group of 11 students to experience some solitude in the desert (in Central Oregon).  As it turns out the place I picked for us to disperse in the desert had burned in a wildfire less than two weeks ago.  So wandering in the fierce landscape, smelling the charred sagebrush, and sensing a still-warm earth added an other-worldly sense to this already remote scene.  On top of that, we found many skeletons of animals who had apparently been caught in the fire.

There was also a cliff we later approached and the scenery was quite evocative.  We turned over stones while the sparse landscape also provoked internal turning of stones.  Difficult, but rewarding time in the desert.  I said the landscape seemed other-worldly?  But was it?  Desert, fire, death, emptiness are part of this world, but it says something about the infrequency with which I experience desert in a culture of excess.  I want to return and spend more time there--and observe it in other seasons as well.

Food Renegade

Check out this great website--Food Renegade

TOUR OF HOPE BLOG

I wrote another blog for the trip I took out to New York City with my 8-year old son (Jonathan) and our train trip across America back to Portland, Oregon.

We were on our journey for nearly Three Weeks! Great time, met good people, got to know my son in new ways, and we logged over seven thousand miles.

The theme of our adventure was to connect with people who were GROUNDED and connected well to one another, and the rest of creation. There is a lot that can discourage one from hoping, but this trip did what I hoped--it inspired hope, and deepened relationship (or began them) with those seeking to be wise, hopeful and loving even while staring some of our world's harshest realities in the face.

CHECK IT OUT HERE

Newberg Farmer's Market Tomorrow

Every TUESDAY 1:30pm-6pm (now through Oct.)
at the Newberg Cultural Center
(across the street from the library)
Enjoy live music, get fresh local strawberries and
asparagus and much more!

Who's YOUR Farmer?

Do you want fresh, local, organic, seasonal veggies every week?
Maybe you've wanted to join a CSA (Community Supported Agriculture) but weren't sure how or more likely, there were LONG waiting lists (since more and more people are aware of the need for local organic food)?

Well, now our farmers (Katy and Casey Kulla of Oak Hill Organics) are starting a NEWBERG drop off of their veggies. The last few years, we've had to go to McMinnville. They will be using our garage as the place where you pick up your veggies each week. You get a big bin of whatever veggies are freshly picked from the farm that day--you can taste a big difference--and at the same time you're supporting local farmers rather than giving your food dollars to big agri-business corporations out of the country. You get veggies every Thursday, and it costs about $20 per week. The season goes from June through November!

Click here to sign up. Applications are due by the end of March, and spots are filling up quickly. Here's a look at one week's veggies. Imgaine getting a bin of veggies every week--it's like Christmas every week, opening up the bin to see what you get that week. And they provide great recipes for how to prepare this delicious goodness.

Worms!

We're in the middle of a great worm fest! Celebrating the creatures that transform our trash into gold, and make food possible by producing the organic matter in soil.

Students, faculty and staff have adopted worms, made worm bins and we've got a couple dozen worm-composting bins (medium and large) across campus.

Those who are worm composting have the distinct privilege of being a 'worm herder' and wearing one of these great t-shirts. Thanks Karina for the awesome design!

We'll be having another opportunity to get started with a worm bin, and worms. God bless these wonderful creatures, as they bless us!

From Dirt to Dirt

Zooey has been with us for 16 and 1/2 years. She has traveled with us to 8 different places we've
lived, including driving all the way to the East Coast and finally back. I think each place cost her one life, and her last one ended yesterday. She hadn't eaten in four or five days, and she picked out her final resting place--this corner in the sun where she has sat and slept a lot in the last week. It also happens to be just a few feet from where we buried her sister, Franny, five years ago. If God is going to bring about a new heaven and a new earth, I can hardly imagine that it won't include trees, grass, apples and animals--including cats. May she rest peacefully in her corner in the sun next to Franny.

I Heart Oregon

This is a rock I found in the rock yard and picked it because it looks like our beloved State #33.

I've since placed it in the center of the walkway to our house. I sure love this place!

Corey

FLOATING CLASSROOM

As one student said while we were kayaking & canoeing down the river, 'It's hard to believe this is CLASS!" The Praxis class I'm beginning to teach this semester (and it lasts for four semesters with the same twelve students) is confirming that I feel called to INTEGRATED (and experiential) learning. We were able to do so much more in one overnight river-camping trip than I think we could have accomplished in half a semester in the traditional classroom. We read, we talked, we observed, we reflected on things as we paddled down the river and sat around the fire on the river beach, and slept under the stars. I'm looking forward to the next two years of learning 'in motion' and 'in practice' together with these great 12 students.

Below is a slide-show of the trip. Each slide is default set for 4 seconds (too long), so you can speed it along by clicking the forward button.

Free slideshow design customized with Smilebox

Tomatoes!

We've been eating heirloom tomatoes for a couple weeks now from the place in our parking strip where there used to be grass! Our tomatoes (not cherry tomatoes but larger ones) have ripened before most gardens I've seen or heard about in Newberg, and I was wondering why. Wayne Adams said it was because the street serves as a 'heat sink' which means our tomatoes have been exposed to more heat than most other spots. That has meant lots of 'Caprese' Sandwiches (basil, tomato, mozzarella--or sharp cheddar--and balsemic vinegar). We've also been having tomatoes in salads, tomatoes on pasta, and there's nothing like picking that tomato and eating it like an apple right there on the spot. So I just discovered one more reason to grow a garden in the parking strip!! Enjoy the taste of summer!