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Thin Air 6-28-24

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  6-28-24 POBR My eyes gasping for the sunrise, I overheard a conversation between a guttural wisdom preacher and the broken smoke detector. An owl and brush bird competing for the sun’s praise. Today’s coffee started late, and in contradiction to yesterday’s position to coffee, I was begging for time to speed past. My ukulele will spend time with my full stomach and soaked hands. After a speedy recording of a new song, 10 o'clock marked our poster-making time. We dredged through our methodologies until Warren Seyler came and began to meander our conversation toward a sharing circle. Surrounded by humans, the air was thin and pristine, propagated by Warren’s calming energy and soft-spoken words. I felt confident enough to speak up and to share my heart with the circle. It was amazing to hear everyone’s heart and to grow a new appreciation for everyone on the trip, Sandy would have loved it. Warren believed in us, his eyes spoke wisdom that surfed upon his words, and the floor was w...
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Hottest Tent 6-27-24

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  6-27-24 POBR My tent breathes above me while my nose is stuffed with decompressed emotions. Today our journey started somewhat early, late enough for me to not feel like a cup of coffee. I remember packing my day pack in the back of the suburban, seeing the waiters in a plastic bag, and then feeling my poofy hair compress from rain drops. Today was probably my wettest day yet, more so than the beaver day. Our gracious hosts Brain G and AJ came to us this time and asked if someone wanted to ride with them. Me and Gilberto in a competitive rage both joined the boys for our own sense of retribution. We got to talkin’ with Brian and AJ and they were both super nice and very knowledgeable; AJ had just started his job, and Brian grew up for this line of work. We got to our first site which was another BDA (beaver dam analog) and it was Gilberto and Virginia’s job to measure the water at 9 different points - 3 spanning the dam, 5 feet from the dam, and 50 feet from the dam. The next sto...
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6th Passenger 6-26-24

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  6-26-24 POBR A deer clopped past our breakfast in honor of Sandy’s departure. Today Sandy, our tallest member, had to leave with the shortest amount of time spent on our trip. He was hilarious and brought cheer any second he could. The night before, we spent time talking about our favorite moments, and he told us how important it was to just be happy and bring those laughing moments that all of our favorite moments included. We dropped him off at the airport with a man hug to send him off. When we stopped to eat lunch, I kept waiting for our 6th passenger to come out of the car. When we got to the campsite in Wellpinit, we waited and waited for the Fox Trailer to show up with our tents. In the meantime, we went into the Spokane Reservation Pavillion to go check out whats happening at their “Culture Event.” Turns out they have it chalked filled with cultural arts and crafts for kids, we were very excited to get ourselves a second so we could join. But the Fox showed up and we had ...
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Cheat Grass 6-25-24

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  6-25-24 POBR A silent moment, carried by the wind, hosted by the stream we’ve found peace at. Under the impression of a soft and easy day, we all woke up late. Slept in and ate warm oatmeal and cafe. Made our lunches and washed our dishes. And in no need of a rush we fell upon our next site of inquiry, The Wallawalla Fishery. It was a beautiful habitat that TeLa __ and John __ found themselves stewarding. The Wallawalla River was healthy and strong, chalked full of nutrients for any one of its inhabitants. A lush blanket of golden cheat, invaded by a tall thorny emerald (the scotch thistle of their dead grass plains). Inside the fishery is where the fun began, post cheat grass plucking. We learned so much from the manager of the fishery, Jason Thomas, truly a man of value that the Wallawalla Fishery has gladly claimed. Our mission was simply to observe and ask questions. I’ve never seen fish so big, but Sandy, Virginia, and Ilene were calling them babies. How to identify a domest...
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Fire Maintenance 6-24-24

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  6-24-24 POBR We’ve gave up what we’ve lost. Our humanity. Our birds. our natural environment. Nothing lives in stagnance. there will always be movement. we must give up. what we’ve lost. everything we’ve lost. is what we’ve given up As I sit here, post theatric song demonstration, I feel the water and its currents. Calling the air to move and provide, for the air is meant to be breathed. Fires are meant to burn, they too are needed for an easy breath of the forest. A fire burns the underbrush and allows new to grow with old nutrients. It prevents more fires, our goal is not to burn down the oligarchy of our 4 elements, but to stabilize them, apply pressure, and release force as needed. No matter who or what you are, you’ll always move with the flow, going against the grain can only last so long. It's like dragging something through the sand, it builds up and traps you, time for maintenance. Our truck broke down yesterday, so we had it towed, and today we had the RV towed to our c...
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Intuitive Geology 6-23-24

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  6-23-24 POBR Our day started off early as ever and with a slap of cold air on the back. I find comfort sitting in the back seat, squished between Ilene and Virginia, I think we all find a bit of comfort. As Dr. Black stated, “They are conditioned to instant slumber.” Our expedition began at the cobble stone plains where we learned to use our hammers and how to identify the rocks we were indulging in. Our second stop was Brennan Van Alderwerelt‘s first of many story times; this one was the scientific tale of Mt. Mazama’s eruption told by the Klamath tribe of Oregon. Truly a beautiful representation of Indigenous interaction with nature, Brennan continuously circled back to engaging with geology in an intuitive way that he swears the Indigenous peoples must have known through tradition and passed down knowledge. Come to find out most of our horizon has been affected by the collision of tectonic plates that created the Cascades. That includes The Painted Hills, the balding hills, th...
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Bigfoot Exi- 6-22-24

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  6-22-24 POBR Correle mijo! Levantate we gotta go! Hopped up groggy as ever, chose the normal path of destruction as we broke down camp and smashed everything back in our chariot. Luckily for us, the library was our first stop of a beautifully laid out day. I was surrounded by books with headphones in ear makin’ me bob my head to funky bass-line beats with kicks and snares loud enough to be shushed. We hopped back in the car and travelled back in time to the High Desert Museum. The Bigfoot Exhi- The People of the Plateau Exhibit was beautifully orchestrated with up to date terminology and treatment towards Indigenous peoples of our modern day and from the past. The language was rejuvenating and the outside exhibits were gorgeous. I remember waking up today and thinking, “I’m so happy I’m awake right now,” it was 6 am. As I sit here postponing my rest, I cant help but to think about my surrounding environment. Has it always looked like this? Are these little hills experiencing old ...
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