Klamath Tribes Restoration Pow Wow 2011

All is quiet on this Monday after Pow Wow, and normality, such as it is, has return to our usually quiet mountain town. But allow me to share with you some photos from Saturday afternoon's Grand Entry.






For more photo's check out my other blog:

http://thundercatt99.wordpress.com/2011/08/29/chiloquin-pow-wow-2011/

The Klamath Tribes Restoration Pow Wow Parade 2011

This weekend is the Klamath Tribes Restoration Pow Wow, celebrating the 25th anniversary of the Klamaths regaining tribal status! To celebrate I'm offering pictures to this years parade ....



Yes .... Oregon Duck fans abound here!


More pictures are at my other blog:

Thundercatt99.wordpress.com

Looking For Chiloquin

My son Shay is in a town over the mountains, Grants Pass, and he wanted a picture or two to show his friends there his hometown. So today I had time and went rambling through our hills to get the perfect shot.

Shay ... As you can see from the picture above I got sidetracked yet again. I went down a positively nasty rutted out road and ended up at another section of Modoc Rim. Here is Klamath Lake Looking Klamath Falls way.

To try to make up for it, here is a shot from the 4th of July parade.

Ok ... I did make it to the power lines on the other side of the river, an area I'm sure you are used to. Its the best I could do. I was to tuckered out from hiking the cliffs on Modoc Rim with Charlie dog. Perhaps I'll get the perfect shot next time ok? lol

Day 10: Living History Day Collier State Park

Today, the last day before I go back to school, Melissa took me to Living History Day at Collier Park. Outside of Crater Lake National Park, this is probably the most 'famous' place in this area. This is a big event with people dressing in period costumes to celebrate to logging past. Below is a photo of Spring Creek which runs through the park before slamming into the Williamson River.

Below is a 1912 steam engine that was used to haul logs. "It's even older than you Dad!" Thanks Hannah ....

Hannah getting cozy with a beaver. This is Oregon after all!

One more shot of Spring Creek. It was a fun day. Now to begin thinking about school ...

Day 9: Klamath Marsh National Wildlife Refuge

This wasn't the best of days out taking pictures and all; factor in I'm getting physically tired after nine straight days of hiking around .... But this afternoon I packed up Charlie dog and out we went to the Klamath Marsh Refuge.

The pictures above and below is of the Refuge. Even with the clouds and wind the birds were out all over the place! I even found a cool camping spot I must check out further another day!

On the way home we passed through Wilson Flat, A great name for a place I must say. ;-) Just one day left until school starts back up ... A trip to Collier for Fathers Day is in order, thanks to Melissa and Hannah.

Day 8: Back to the Gorge

The Williamson River Gorge is a favorite place of mine and this was my first trip in there for the year. It was a great morning for a hike; bright and sunny with calm winds for those reflection shots! The picture below is of a favorite stopping point around the first bend.

There are several strange rock formations such as the one below in the canyon.

This picture I threw in for fun. Since I usually get out with crazy Charlie dog, I don't often get to take pictures of things that fly. Here is a rare exception, although from a distance.

Day 7: Fort Creek

Today we took a short jaunt to Fort Creek. Another one of those 'only locals know about' getaway. The lighting was a bit harsh for taking pictures but I gave it a shot anyway.

Below is looking down the creek as it makes its way to the Wood River, then Agency lake. Above is Reservation Spring which is the source of the creek. Crystal clear water bubbles up, and around it as the creek pretty much just flows out of the mountain.

I don't know the name of theses flowers but the pop up here and there especially in drier places. I wouldn't know why a person can't help themselves not to smile when they see them!

Day 5: Agency Hill

Today we decided to go a different direction, Agency Hill by way of Spring Creek.

Above is Spring Creek which comes bubbling straight out of the mountain. Its crystal clear waters stay at a constant 38 degrees! We came by here to scout out camping spots for later this summer. It is a tragedy what has been done to the campground here with the thinning of trees left all over the place and what looks like zero maintenance. However, over time it looks like the people who visit are cleaning the place up little by little and this is a great place to camp and get away from it all!

Here is the view from the top of Agency Hill. There used to be a fire lookout up here but it has since been torn town and the road to this place can be a little rough going. But as you can see, well worth it! In the distance is Mt. Shasta and Klamath Lake, with aptly named Crooked Creek below. There are plenty of ceders up here which give the forest a wonderful aroma to walk around in to enjoy the views.

Day 4: Telephone Flat

Yesterdays Spring rain came and went last night, but the wind was up a notch today. I packed up Charlie the hound and we went to a favorite spot, Telephone flat. Why it is called Telephone flat is a mystery to me as there is not a pole in sight! In fact my cell phone couldn't get reception up there!

The three pictures above is of the flat which is covered in wildflowers this time of year, and luckily no mosquitoes! The lower photo is of the tree Charlie and I took a break under after some serious stomping around in the creek and through the meadow and woods.

The last photo is of what my older kids and I called "frog pond", which as you can see is flooded. For some reason very large bullfrogs live in this area on top of a mountain, so a return visit is in order later on.

The adventure continues ....

Day 3: Chiloquin Backroads

A storm was to be coming in the evening so off we went a little bit earlier and sticking close to home. First off was a stop off was a stop along the Sprague River near the local "swimming hole" which is pictured above.



Ah yes, my kind of roads pictured above. A generic woodsy shot! lol


Eventually we made it by an extremely strange route, trying to get lost, to something on the map named "Lobert Draw," which is in the next two shots, I tried to go further, but a massive mud puddle blocked the way. I wanted so bad to charge the Zuzu through it, but decided against it after pondering for twenty minutes. The heart attack was only a couple of years ago and a long walk out wasn't yet in the cards! Maybe next time ....

Day 2: The Meadow

Day two of the backroading by town/photography binge. Taking Hannah along for the ride,we headed out to some unnamed meadows about ten miles away. Vrrooooom Kersplash!

Some yellow flowers nearby a snow melt creek.

Wildflowers in "The Meadow" in all its glory.

Hannah lifting weights with a pair of "dinosaur bones" we found along the way.

Up Around The Bend

Since college is out between terms for ten days, I'm off on a picture taking and hiking binge within twenty miles of town where I live. So, for each of the ten days I'll post my favorite from that day. This first shot is of the Sprague River and Winema National Forest from near the Sprague River Hwy. about five miles away.

Road Trip: Fort Rock 2011

Last month I went on my first adventure of the spring trying to outrun the rainstorms to the Oregon Outback, destination Fort Rock. My first stop was to the Fort Rock Homestead Village Museum.




Above and below is St. Roses Catholic Church, which was the only church built in the Fort Rock Valley during the homestead years. Here it is in all its glory over 100 years later. I was real excited over the fact that I actually got to go inside the museum since I usually get here and its closed. It is a must see if you get the chance!



Above is Fort Rock rising out of the barren, immense flatness of Oregon's high desert. The first photo in this blog entry is the view from inside the rock formation.


A trip for me out here has to include a visit to the sand dunes. The Isuzu did get to frolic for it bit before it was time to go home. And yes, the rain did catch up to me!

Heaven in a Wild Flower

To see a World in a grain of sand
And Heaven in a wild flower
Hold Infinity in the palm of your hand
And Eternity in an hour -William Blake

Earth laughs in flowers.
Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–1882) ...

Silence

"Silence comes to heal the blows of sound."

Oliver Wendell Holmes

Psalm 51

"Create in me a pure heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me." That's a really good prayer to have. But notice how David isn't saying, "Yeah God, I'm gonna make my spirit strong and make my heart clean and then I'll come back and we can talk." No. David is asking God to do it for him. Another thing I like about this. It reminds me that we can't make it all by ourselves. And I know I'm not the only one guitly of trying. Life is such a constant struggle, so many things to overcome, and some days it just gets SO HARD.

But that's what I find my hope in. That I'm not alone. It doesn't matter how lonely I feel. He's right there for me all day. Every day. Forever. And He'll help me through the tough stuff.

Just some thoughts :) .

Psalm 51
1-3Generous in love—God, give grace! Huge in mercy—wipe out my bad record.
Scrub away my guilt,
soak out my sins in your laundry.
I know how bad I've been;
my sins are staring me down.

4-6 You're the One I've violated, and you've seen
it all, seen the full extent of my evil.
You have all the facts before you;
whatever you decide about me is fair.
I've been out of step with you for a long time,
in the wrong since before I was born.
What you're after is truth from the inside out.
Enter me, then; conceive a new, true life.

7-15 Soak me in your laundry and I'll come out clean,
scrub me and I'll have a snow-white life.
Tune me in to foot-tapping songs,
set these once-broken bones to dancing.
Don't look too close for blemishes,
give me a clean bill of health.
God, make a fresh start in me,
shape a Genesis week from the chaos of my life.
Don't throw me out with the trash,
or fail to breathe holiness in me.
Bring me back from gray exile,
put a fresh wind in my sails!
Give me a job teaching rebels your ways
so the lost can find their way home.
Commute my death sentence, God, my salvation God,
and I'll sing anthems to your life-giving ways.
Unbutton my lips, dear God;
I'll let loose with your praise.

16-17 Going through the motions doesn't please you,
a flawless performance is nothing to you.
I learned God-worship
when my pride was shattered.
Heart-shattered lives ready for love
don't for a moment escape God's notice.

18-19 Make Zion the place you delight in,
repair Jerusalem's broken-down walls.
Then you'll get real worship from us,
acts of worship small and large,
Including all the bulls
they can heave onto your altar!

Crooked Tree

A great quote I would like to share ...

"Your heart is blessed when you can see the beauty in a crooked tree."

~Author Unknown

The Call

So many terrible things happen every day that we start wondering whether the few things we do ourselves make any sense. When people are starving only a few thousand miles away, when wars are raging close to our borders, when countless people in our own cities have no homes to live in, our own activities look futile. Such considerations, however, can paralyse us and depress us.

Here the word call becomes important. We are not called to save the world, solve all problems, and help all people. But we each have our own unique call, in our families, in our work, in our world. We have to keep asking God to help us see clearly what our call is and to give us the strength to live out that call with trust. Then we will discover that our faithfulness to a small task is the most healing response to the illnesses of our time.

~Henri Nouwen

Just a couple of comments ... This seems to have a lot to do with this sense of prayer and the Cross that I've been groping around after for the last couple of days. I have spent far too much of my life feeling guilty about not doing more practically, not having the resources to give more, not having much in the way of the gifts of an evangelist, that kind of thing, instead of getting on with what I have been called to do which is to be me.

Have a most blessed evening everyone!

Tim

Cha Cha Cha Changes ...

"Sometimes in the winds of change, we find true direction."

~Author Unknown dispensing their wisdom yet again ...

Beannacht

Beannacht (“Blessing”)


On the day when
the weight deadens
on your shoulders
and you stumble,
may the clay dance
to balance you. And when your eyes
freeze behind
the grey window
and the ghost of loss
gets in to you,
may a flock of colours,
indigo, red, green,
and azure blue
come to awaken in you
a meadow of delight. When the canvas frays
in the currach of thought
and a stain of ocean
blackens beneath you,
may there come across the waters
a path of yellow moonlight
to bring you safely home. May the nourishment of the earth be yours,
may the clarity of light be yours,
may the fluency of the ocean be yours,
may the protection of the ancestors be yours.
And so may a slow
wind work these words
of love around you,
an invisible cloak
to mind your life.

~ John O’Donohue ~ (Echoes of Memory)