Busy, Busy September

I swear that August was just a heartbeat or two ago! Now, here I find myself looking at the first day of autumn and the end of September just eight days away. How did that happen?

We began the month with a Labor Day weekend rock hunt (for a school project for Bailee) which took us up to Kelly Canyon, over to Blacktail Reservoir, down to Bone, and back along the Snake River. We found some interesting rocks along the way. Bailee was happy with her finds and did well on the project. Needless to say, Idaho is possessed of a great many varieties of igneous and metamorphic rocks. Imagine that!

We then HAD to take in the Eastern Idaho State Fair of course! This year we made two trips. The first was an eight hour marathon of looking at everything, going on rides, shopping, and snacking at the food vendors. Bailee then had to take Grandma the following weekend to make sure hat she had her own funnel cake (this is Bailee's MUST EAT fair food). We had a good time, and saw SO many people that we knew! It was crazy! It seemed like the entire population of Southeastern Idaho had found their way there. Bailee branched out to some new and more challenging rides - which left Diana feeling a little melancholy. She rode the merry-go-round, but turned her nose up at the other kiddie rides she used to love. Poor mommy! Her girl is growing up.

School has been nonstop crazy, of course. It is just one constant round of training and training and training some more. Whenever I start the new year I think about the movie "Men in Black." Do you remember how they "flashed" people to erase their memory? It makes me wonder sometimes when I look out on those fresh faced fifth graders ... yep, I really do wonder.

Last weekend Bailee's dance studio was in the Spud Day parade down in Shelley. I was shocked by how big it all was. The parade was long, and the park looked like a minature version of the state fair. Thousands of people were there. Very impressive. Tubers - who knew?

In the evening we hauled Bailee over to her dance studio for auditions for THE NUTCRACKER. We were stunned when she was chosen to play the lead part of Clara. Whoa! That was a massive shock to us all. Bailee still keeps asking if it was a dream. I hope she does well. How she will dance in a dress that weighs 30 pounds (she weighs in at 60 pounds when soaking wet), I have no idea! Right now she vascillates between excitement, terror, and guilt (she wanted her dance buddy to get the part). The coming months are going to be interesting.

Bailee is currently up at Pine Basin Camp with the girls from the fifth grade. They will spend the next 48 hours learning about life in the woods, fossils, and the environment. I expect that she will be tired and filthy when she returns. I hope that she is having a good time. We sure miss her! The house seems so empty (and boring)! Her dog, Caribou, is highly distressed. He has been looking for her all evening and keeps coming up to us with this expression that seems to say, "I can't believe you people are so careless! Where did you put my girl?" We are, in a word, in the doghouse with the dog. Or, I should say, instead of the dog. Oh dear.

Can We Agree to Disagree?

When I arrived home from school the other day there was a photo and article about the man who shot the first wolf during the sanctioned "Wolf Hunt" here in Idaho. It was hard to miss, as it was crossed out in angry x's made by a black marker. The marker was weilded by Bailee - who loves wolves. This has been a long standing issue in our house, first started by our governor "Butch" Otter's vocal support of this hunt months and months ago. Bailee's ire was raised then, and it has not diminished. She is passionate about these creatures ... a feeling that started when we took her to the Grizzly/Wolf Discovery Center in West Yellowstone many years ago. It was strange to watch, but there was a connection between our tiny little one and the wolf pack there. They followed her as she walked along the exhibit. Okay, did she look like lunch? Diana and I joked about it until she parked herself on one of the benches and all the wolves sat down too, like they were attending an audience with the queen. It was, in a word, a little odd, and it just became odder. The wolves were fascinated with her. They watched her intently, with cocked heads, and large wolfish smiles. Some of the younger wolves got down into that "play pose" we've seen with our dogs. What was really odd was the fact that the wolves totally ignored the other children that were running about the exhibit. I've never been able to explain it. Was it the fact that she was quiet amid all the usual crowd and chaos? Was it the fact that she looked different from all the other bland Caucasian faces? Who knows?

Bailee came away from that visit loving wolves, so this week and the resulting news coverage has been upsetting to her. She doesn't understand hunting for sport. She might be able to grasp ranchers and farmers hunting wolves that are a problem on their land ... maybe. She does not accept men buying a tag to go out to kill a wolf for the thrill of the hunt. I have to admit that I am pretty proud that she doesn't. I don't believe God placed animals on this planet to be killed for thrills or the sport of it all. I know Bailee doesn't believe that either.

I have to admit that I admire wolves as well. Their social structure is interesting. Their communication is complex. Their family units beat some human families - no contest (I've taught children who would have been better off raised by wolves as opposed to their parents). They're beautiful, and I'm glad that God included them in his creations. As for man ... I think we have a lot to learn about what it really means to have stewardship over this planet.

All in all, this is not one of the weeks that I have been proud to live in Idaho. Quite frankly, I am ashamed. From candidate Rex Rammell's jokes about selling "Obama Tags" (then refused to issue any kind of apology) to school districts caving to right-wing pressure to ban President Obama's speech to school children - I want to deny any connection to this state.

I think we need to take a serious look at ourselves and the message we are sending to the world. It is not a pretty one. I hear too many voices filled with hatred - and they are so loud that no one can hear anything else. Perhaps, that's the idea.