Malibu

Eric has been there several times and I was honored that he invited me to attend with him, "Men's Weekend".  The Young Life Camp Malibu is located on the British Columbia coast and is not accessible via car.  We left Puyallup at 4:30 a.m. and arrived at the camp 12 hours later after some considerable serious driving and 2 ferry rides. The four day event was well attended with 200+ men mainly from Western Washington and a few from Oregon.  It was a meaningful event for me, especially in having some quality time with my new son-in-law.

 Arrival at Horseshoe Bay just out of Vancouver, BC., to catch a ferry.  Eric's best friend and best man, Scott, traveled with us.

 A 30 minute ferry drive then another hour drive to Egmont.

On arrival at Egmont we parked the car and boarded the Camp's passenger ferry for a 3 hour cruise to Malibu.

We cruised through a very primitive area of B.C. seeing very few signs of human activity.  The landscape reminded me of Norway and they do refer to the area, Jarvis Inlet, as a fjord. 

 Camp Malibu.  Several hundred acres with buildings located on 44 acres. The site is so isolated that the camp has its own low head hydroelectric generating plant with generator back up.  There was no cell on wifi contact for the entire 4 days.  :-)

 The main structure set on a rocky point jutting out into the water.

 The view from the deck in front of my room.

 Following Eric and his best man, Scott, to a session.

My roommates.  We were surprised that Scott, Eric and I were not placed in the same room.  I was placed with 10 men, all  from Waypoint Church, Gig Harbor, who were attending the camp as a church retreat.  We met each night to digest the day's events.  I was privileged to spend 4 days with these dedicated men.

Memorable 4 days.  Memorable environs.  Memorable men.  Memorable dialogue.

Old Friends

I met Dave when we were 15.  He lived just down the road, about 4 blocks away.  He was the Methodist preacher's son who lived across the street from his church.   He had come from the coast and had attended a school many times larger than ours.   I was a Lutheran who had recently moved into town from the farm.  My new school was twice as large as the school that I had attended in Hay.  Lacrosse High had over 100 students. 

He always pushed the boundaries, in relative form.  Boundaries were very defined and narrow in our hometown of Lacrosse.  He started playing a guitar.  We sat and sang folk songs, some with deep religious meaning.  He talked me into buying a motorcycle which he had already done. He instigated a motorcycle trip for our senior tour.  Five farm boys traveled on Honda 65's thru 125's to Samish Island near Burlington to his friend's cabin. Then home via the Olympic Peninsula and White Pass.  We traveled most of the way on roads that don't allow small motorcycles any more. 
 I went to PLU.  He went to UPS.  I went to graduate school.  He went to Viet Nam.  I traveled southeast Asia as a teacher.  He came home to be a cop.  I came home to be a teacher.  We raised our kids.   We worked hard to provide for our family and our community.  I studied to be a principal.  He took flight lessons to work to locate marijuana fields.  Different paths should have drawn us apart.  It did, but only in location.  We saw each other only a time or two each year but we stayed close.

We are both retired now and are each doing our own thing.  On a cloudless and beautiful day recently, Dave called me.  "Want to fly with me up to Orcas Island for lunch?"  "Sure"  Within the hour he picked me up at a local airport.  A little more than an hour later we were flying over the San Juan islands. 

After landing, Dave extricated two folding bikes for the back of the plane.  We two old codgers may have looked peculiar peddling those bikes down to a restaurant by the water.

Fun.  Not what a lot of old codgers do.  Those were the type of boundaries that Dave tended to push.

Old friends.

Assembling the bikes

 

Artists, Somehow They Keep Showing Up and I Know Not From Where They Have Come

The gkids spent the weekend with us and it coincided with a Tacoma visit of Barb's favorite children's  author, Eric Carle.  Saturday, Barb and Jane, age 5, coordinated to produce a piece representative of the art in Carle's book, 10 Little Rubber Ducks.  Barb had used Carle's art techniques in her kindergarten classes and Jane readily jumped into the medium.  Sunday afternoon, after church, Barb and Jane stood in line for over an hour at the Tacoma Art Museum to meet Carle.  On approaching his table Jane handed Carle her artwork.  Carle responded to Jane, "Do you want me to keep this, or do you want this back."  Jane was ready to give it to him but Carle  offered to give it back.  Carle responded, "Well, this piece deserves an A+."  He then applied the A+, he signed it, and returned it to Jane.  A family heirloom created...

Saturday afternoon with GrandB creating the artwork.

The finished product from 10 Little Rubber Ducks



Waiting in line to meet the author

Jane hands her artwork to Eric Carle.

The signed product



After a long respite...

Wow.  It has been a while since I have blogged.  So let me try to make it up one chapter at a time.

The Aune Christmas here was mid January.  All were healthy and we had 4 days of sharing, love, and a Seattle vs Atlanta (Ben and Penny) playoff game.

Jensen wanted Uncle Ben to know that Jensen was in "Beast Mode".

Ben and the boys reading books.

It has been a good year.....apparently.

The first hat for the "first".

Jane, as the only "grand" daughter usually gets some really grand clothes from Ben and Penny.

Jane and Penny love games.

Seahawks score.  Can we win vs Atlanta?

Mexican train after the game.

The next eve at Kari's and Eric's.

Girl time.  Early morning after sleepover, Jane combing Penny's hair.

It was truly a different atmosphere to meet mid January but it afforded family, time, experience and wonderful memories.  Thus it exhibited the traits of Christmas.

Aune Grandchild 4

Kari and Eric are due on June 20.  We are so excited with the news and equally excited that Kari feels so healthy as she glows with the blessing growing inside her.

Kari and Eric informing Ben and Penny via Facetime...showing them the ultrasound from five weeks ago.

To inform Nathan, Cailyn and kids, Kari and Eric had made a puzzle of the ultrasound.

Jane was quite taken back, not sure how to react after she had put the puzzle together.

Tragedy

I am so moved by the events in Connecticut that I feel I must respond.  This blog is normally the reporting of family history and experiences .  As a retired elementary principal who loved his job and the adults and children that I was privileged to work with, I am devastated by sporadic gun violence in our society.    I own two guns and enjoyed hunting until my ankles made it difficult for me to walk.  One is a  12 gauge shotgun designed for hunting upland birds.  It can carry up to 3 shells.  The other is a 22 rifle which carries one shell and is designed for killing varmints, squirrels, rats, etc....

I have never understood  the power needs of one who feels he must own a "people killer".  Guns and ammunition, designed for military and law enforcement, are now available to the public since 2004 and the sales have been astronomical, especially since the election of President Obama.  The yearning for vicarious power and authority, implicit in the design and intention of the assault weapons, has reached fever pitch in some segments of our society.  The secondary result, as demonstrated in Sandy Hook, is that one maladjusted or disgruntled person can access weapons, some which can spend in excess of 100 rounds before reloading and can be fired as fast as one can  move his finger.   That person can enter very vulnerable settings such as shopping malls and schools to inflict incredible carnage.

I applaud Sen Manchin, Democrat from West Virginia who spoke out today for a ban on assault weapons.  Much can be said, but more must be done.  The NRA, right wing talk radio and TV, and extreme elements of the Republican party have defended assault weapon ownership as  a second amendment right.   Yes, I believe in the second amendment but I am a stronger believer in the first commandment.  When one straps on the elements of what he sees as power, then goes out to play god, then, as a society, we must step up and work to change our culture.

Nothing brings more pain than too much pleasure;  nothing more bondage than too much liberty.
 Benjamin Franklin

Liberty may be endangered by the abuses of liberty as well as the abuses of power.  James Madison

Celebrated Tradition

Each year Barb organizes a lefsa baking activity and the process has changed over the decades.  Now it involves Kari and Cailyn (both of whom have brought their own flair to the event) and granddaughter Jane, who will hopefully carry forth the tradition.   Jensen added his own "flair" to the process, one which his development oriented retired kindergarten-teacher-grandmother described as a "tactile (kinesthetic) experience."

They actually have two griddles baking.

The taste test.

 Jane loves to help GramB and mom cook, especially baking.

It has been a fun day.

Jensen awakes from his nap and brings his cars to the table.

When the baking is completed, Jensen takes over the left over flour.

Jane begins to form a snow landscape.

Jensen sat there for close to an hour, moving the "snowbanks" and plowing roads.