Over the course of the long weekend, we did some fishing, canoeing, mallow roasting, cooking and eating, reading, and playing on the playground. The desert did disappoint a bit – it was never more than 75F, and most of the time it was also rather breezy, so swimming was a little challenging. The girls didn’t seem to mind much though, but still preferred the playground to the swimming. Ella even tried her hand at fishing, but didn’t have much success. She didn’t mind though because Grandma taught her about licorice, the bait that serious fishermen use for themselves. She really got in to that. We did find a slightly better place to fish later, but only caught pike minnows, which there’s a bounty on.

The good news is that the girls are really digging camping. Maddie woke up multiple times during the night, screaming on a few occasions, but Ella was upset when it was time to go home, expressing interest in staying longer. Here are a few pics.

When you start to think of other potential disasters, you have a very wide variety of causes, be they natural or human-precipicated, a very different set of tools to respond to the disaster, a probably most intimidating, a myriad of ways the rest of the people around you will respond. I’ve been visiting a number of urban survival and emergency preparedness resources on the internet, and I’ve noticed some common themes among the most active and vocal contributors.

1. The generic label of “the disaster” is often referred to as “SHTF,” or when the Shit Hits the Fan.
2. There seems to be a common perception that SHTF will be a human-caused event, likely involving the collapse of economy and or government.
3. and SHTF will mean that people will try to take your stuff

This is not a new phenomenon or a new set of fears; I think it’s as old as our nation. And it seems that the response and planning by most posters follow the same rules.

1. Get your guns
2. Get your stuff
3. Get out of Dodge

There seems to be a universal disdain for the city and the collection of resources available in them, largely because you will have to share, no, compete with other survivors for them. And there’s some unease in talking about how each individual will respond to threats to their own security. The answer seems to be answered for most folks merely by the presence of a gun or many guns solves that unknown.

But there’s still a bit of a question mark there about how you will truly respond to people. And I have a suspicion that popularity of Zombie-themed survival films and literature actually attempts to deal with the response without actually answering the underlying question. Zombie lore is very common, and in many ways, Zombie scenarios are like many disasters in which an outbreak has caused competition for resources and diminished safety. And by having the antagonist be dead, or technically undead, you remove most of the guilt of having to kill a real person to protect yourself. You can pretty guiltlessly say that you’d shoot a zombie where as you can’t quite say that about someone with avian flu.

I haven’t yet read The Zombie Survival Guide, though I understand that it deals with such an artificial zombie attack like it were any other human disaster. I’m hoping that this isn’t dealt with right away in the book, because then I’ll just look like a plagiarist. But this came to me while trying to rectify what could be real human response and what could be fictional. It would suck to think that the community response to an earthquake would be a shotgun in the face. But I sense as an overall lack of preparation for events like this by the community at large, there will be a lot of scarcity, and thus a lot of poor responses.

Oh, and I should mention that Michelle and I just discovered The Colony, which is occasionaly educational, but in many ways as fanciful as Swiss Family Robinson. (Which I still love.)

and a link to part 2.

Anyway, we made Strawberry, Strawberry-Blueberry, and Raspberry. All three turned out quite well, though the Strawberry may have suffered slightly due to a lack of truly firm berries (they were definitely ripe). The Raspberry on the otherhand turned out most delicious, possibly owing to the opposite; the berries had literally just come on and were ripe enough but also still solid fruit.

All three jams are delicious though, and we’ve already managed to finish off two or three jars. It has been enjoyable to have our own stash of jam without the seeming complexity (read: a whole bunch of stuff) of canning.

The drive was long, and while challenging with two toddlers, was quite nice. Especially from La Grande to Joseph, which neither of us had been to before. The dry forest awoke a homesickness for Wyoming I’d long since forgotten, but it was tempered some since it was Chief Joseph Days, and the Rodeo was in town.

We rented a cabin on the south end of Wallowa Lake where we ate well, watched deer, played in an inflatable pool, and relaxed. From the cabin, we ventured out several times, including trips to Enterprise for dinner at the Terminal Gravity Brewery, Joseph for some ice cream and to see what the Chief Joseph Days were all about, several trips to the lake, and even a trip up the tram to the top of Mt. Howard.

The tram was a favorite for both Ella and I (Michelle, Meghan and the younger kids stayed back “because of the cost..”), and the nearly cloudless sky meant almost endless viewing from the various vantage points around the summit. The Royal Purple loop was probably Ella and Nate’s favorite because a couple gave Troy a baggie full of sunflower seeds, which the kids used to feed portly chipmunks from their hands. The views to the Eagle Cap wilderness, east across Hells Canyon, and north towards the lake, Joseph and Enterprise were stunning. I was pleased that the kids enjoyed the tram ride as much as Troy and I.

We also had a couple excursions to the lake, the best of which was on the Saturday before we had to leave. The weather was perfect, the crowds weren’t bad, and the lake water, though cool, were a perfect compliment to the 90 plus degrees of heat. We all had such a relaxed time, and I know this is expected, but we managed yet again to keep the kids from getting burned. That’s actually kind of impressive considering how often they were in their suits (or not in them).

The Wallowas and area are beautiful. Joseph and Enterprise have a charm their own that was, as I mentioned, a cause for some deeply buried homesickness for Cody. I’d heard the Eagle Cap Wilderness compared to the Enchantments in Central Washington, and while I didn’t ever get close enough to compare, I can see the comparison drawn to Leavenworth. The glacial moraine that frames Wallowa lake is really quite a trip because it’s steppe/desert that creeps in to forest in one direction and farmland in the other. Next time we go back, hopefully the girls will be ready to do some serious hiking.

Sadly, all good things come to an end and we had a 6 hour drive back to Portland. Why does the travel always try to unravel the relaxation?

I didn’t arrive until 10:45, so the L ride in to the city was dark and uneventful. All but three people on the train were staring at their iPhones. One of them was on a different smart phone, one was reading a book of poetry (for real), and the third was a drunk man who threw garbage out the door on to the tracks at every stop. If you’re ever under the L and get showered with broken glass, it’s probably this guy.

It wasn’t until right downtown that I finally got a sense that I was in Chicago. The elevation of the city is pretty amazing, especially at night with the absence of bustle. I got off the L a little early so I could walk the remaining 3/4 of a mile to the hotel, though after 11pm on a Sunday, the place was pretty dead. I crossed the river and weaved my way to the hotel and checked in. A quick ride to the 34th floor and discovered that I had a pretty sweet view. I was hungry though, so I grabbed a quick bite in the lounge in the lobby then tried to fall asleep. The faint whir of the elevators going past was reminiscent of the MAX, so I drifted off.

Monday

Monday was largely spent in conference, which was great, but I won’t bore you with the details. There was learning, networking and such. I had big plans for the evening, so I somewhat carefully dodged doing anything with the folks from PSU and even with my friend and coworker. But it was my first time to Chicago and I wanted to be self-indulgant. So after the conference, I changed in to some walking clothes and headed north through downtown. I have to admit I got disoriented a few times and had to pull out my phone to recalibrate.

Downtown is cool, though about half the storefronts are the same as you’d find here. The streets and sidewalks are very different, and they’re made out of the same aggregate as those in Nebraska. After walking through town and blatantly staring up at the buildings (I love skyscrapers, and there are a century’s worth in Chicago), I drifted through Washington Park then on to Old Town, zig-zagging through neighborhoods. There were still a few giant elm trees throughout the city, and throw in some cicadas and brick, and again, it felt a lot like being in Hastings. Then I drifted northeast (hitting Goethe, of course) until I reached the Goose Island Brewery on Clybourn. I’ll write more details about the beer and beer establishements on Rooftop Brew, but suffice to say it was very homey what with the dark woods, good beer, and cycling club meetings.

After a lager, a pulled pork sandwich, and a cask pale, I wanted to catch the bus across the river to the fabled Map Room. When I got up to North Ave, I realized it wasn’t too much further (only a mile and a half) and the area was slightly industrial, so I decided to walk. The next thing I knew, I was looking at scrap yards and a huge steel smelter/fabricator. It was interesting and industrial, and someone had left all the doors open while they were on break. I’m sure it was because of the heat, but with the doors rolled up, I was able to peek in, step in, and even snap a few pics of this rather turn of the century looking foundry. The outside was meticulously decorated with flower boxes that all seemed in much better shape than anything in my yard.

After leaving the foundry, I crossed a river, wandered under some elevated train and freeways, and made my way in to the Bucktown neighborhood. It was charming – huge trees, cicadas, lightning bugs, bricks, and well taken care of neighborhoods. It was like being in my parents home town in Nebraska, but much denser and, well, Chicago. I finally ended up at the Map Room and grabbed a place by the bar after washing some of the sweat off. The place was really cool. Maps on the walls, excellent beer, and great music. I spoke with some locals about the neighborhood and area and they told me to just keep walking, as it’s the only way to really get Chicago. From there I wandered down to Wicker Park, which was much more alive than downtown had been. Probably a nightime effect thing where everyone goes back to their own stomping grounds for fun. In many ways, it reminded me of NE Portland, except with a flatiron building and humidity. From here, I caught a ride back downtown for the night. Did you know that the L also goes underground? I didn’t, so I was surprised when I had to take several flights of stairs up to the street.

Tuesday’s conference was great blah, blah no one cares. After work I grabbed a beer with a tech ninja from D2L and we talked some shop and life. It was good to get to talk some bigger picture things, but I realized that folks from that part of Canada say “resources” with a Z. When I first heard this, I thought it was just a fluke. But after several different people using the word, I decided it must be a localism. To say it properly, you pronouce the word “ReZources.”

Afterwards, I met up with Avery, a friend from Yakima who is living in Chicago. We grabbed dinner at a vegan cycle spot named Handlebar that made me feel at home. It was great to get her outside perspective and some great stories about Chicago, which really makes our city hall shenanigans sound amateurish. Afterwards, I walked on North Ave east towards the lake front, but eventually realized I wasn’t going to get to the Pier (the conference party was on the pier) in time, so I caught a bus. From the end of the line, I walked with the boathouse guard (who also got off the same bus) to the waterfront and got a local history of the Greek Orthodox church in Chicago, and how it was better than the Catholic church (we walked by the Archbishop’s residence on North Ave) and so on. We got heckled by some youth, which seemed to roll off his back. I then walked south along the waterfront, which I didn’t realize was a giant concrete sea wall, the rest of the way to the pier. It was warm and clear, and the city looked great from the water, but apparently you’re not allowed in the water after dark. Regardless, I got to the pier too late but ran in to my coworker as he was leaving. We wandered back to the hotel, chatted, and ducked out of going to a piano bar after midnight.

The last day of the conference was excellent and finished with a closing keynote from Joel H. Cohen, writer for Suddenly Susan the Simpsons. It was entertaining, to say the least, but then I had to scurry south to catch the L back to Midway for my flight home. This time it was daytime and I could see more of the city as I escaped south and west through was seemed to be working class neighborhoods. There’s a lot of brick, and some of the homes and blocks looked great, and some looked like dumps. I was glad to see both, because it showed how a city like Chicago can actually support such an immense population. Midway was pretty lame with the exception of the hubble telescope pictures and the cardinal art (someone else’s vid) in the ticketing area.

I’m rather bummed that the extent of my visit was about 5 hours over two evenings, and I somewhat intentionally avoided a number of touristy things (Damn you cubs for your out of town game!) because I can’t wait to get back and visit with more time.

Here are some of the photos shot while perambulating.

Upon arriving at Columbus Elementary, I was momentarily mortified when the woman in the head office said the teacher wasn’t in today. I assumed she meant that the teacher was at one of the other 2 schools where she teaches. Luckily, she simply meant that the teacher had a sub who was informed of what we were doing.

The class piled in to the lab after I’d logged all the machines in, we did the intro, and they took off. There was a noticeable difference between the early and late finishers, time wise. The last two sessions didn’t have such a long span between the first and last student. I’ll be interested to see both the biographical and the times in the results.

Again, after thanking all the students, I rewarded them with giant pretzels (many of the students had never seen such a thing) and peppermint candies. Then I excused myself to drive back to work. In the car I enjoyed a few pretzels myself, but then realized I didn’t have any water to help wash them down. This is when I started getting calls from work. I frantically tried to swallow the crumbs and not sound like a buffoon.

Note to self – check out one of the alternate questions on question set 7. The map didn’t come up for everyone.