2011 Colestine Camp Out

Dear Friends,

The 17th Colestine Camp Out is scheduled for June 10-12, 2011.

The first camp out was in June 1995. I remember that the Lovills, the Feltzs, the Smiths, the McBennets, the Conniffs, Lowell & Joanne, Greg & Noah were in attendance. Lord, who else? It has been 16 years now and my memory is shot to hell. Sky was a toddler, Ruthe had just found out that she was pregnant with Lauren and Elaine may have been pregnant with Claire. I think Arly Sue was in 3rd grade and Kiva was in 6th. I remember that Arly was hugely proud of the fact that she jumped off the rock into the freezing cold creek 49 times.











Kiva has been out on her own for almost 10 years now and Arly is in law school, for god's sake. Sky's at Cal, Sierra Conniff's at Temple, Lauren, Claire and Sierra Sullivan are all in high school. Who knows where the time goes?

I am so remarkably blessed by all of you. I so look forward to gathering together once again.

Peace Like a River

Ah, peace like a river ran through the city
Long past the midnight curfew
We sat starry-eyed
Ooh, oh,we were satisfied
O-o-oh, when I remember
Misinformation followed us like a plague
Nobody knew from time to time
If the plans were changed
Oh, oh, oh, if the plans were changed.

You can beat us with wires
You can beat us with chains
You can run out your rules
But you know you can't outrun the history train
I seen a glorious day, aiee------

Ah, four in the morning
I woke up from out of my dreams
Nowhere to go but back to sleep
But I'm reconciled
Oh, oh, oh, I'm going to be up for a while
Oh, oh, oh, I'm going to be up for a while
Oh, oh, oh, I'm going to be up for a while

...in a circular motion

Time moves inexorably forward, but sometimes it feels like Sequoia and I are going backwards; maybe it all just runs in a circular motion. The hot tub saga is a good illustration. Sequoia and I are both fans of hot water; we had our first conversation in a hot tub. When his dad bought a new tub, Sequoia hauled his old wood tub here. He bought a second used wood tub off the back of a truck in the Shop N Kart parking lot and pieced the two together. He tried to install a salvaged propane water heater and pump as his heating system, but it never worked and the tub sat empty for a couple of years. One day, we found ourselves with a little extra cash and figured, what the hell, let's buy a genuine Snorkel hot tub wood stove. We have to generate solar power and haul gas from town, so an electric or gas stove was out of the question, but wood is abundant out here. He bought the stove, installed it in the salvaged tub, slapped together a bit of deck and we were good to go for several years - that is, until he started a fire with some hot ashes and burned the tub, half the deck and a big old fir. We were damn lucky the house didn't burn. Sequoia tried to repair the damage, but the tub never held water again. Last month, he finally caved and bought a new cedar tub from Snorkel. He spent the last two weeks setting it up and installing the stove. We took it on its maiden voyage last week and, Houston, we have lift off.

Most people would just bought a new hot tub and stove from Snorkel right off the bat. Most people would have put it on the Visa and paid someone to install it. That's not how my husband operates. He has to do things for himself and get there by his own path. I can't complain. In the middle of winter, in perfect silence, I float in hot water and gaze at the night sky. There are more stars than you can possibly imagine. Life is good.

Sunrise from the tub:

Snot the Unemployed Jester

This April, coming to an independent film festival near you, Laney's short animated film Snot the Unemployed Jester with music by Hamfist. We finished recording the score tonight. The film has been accepted into the "Locals Only" screening at the Ashland Independent Film Festival in April. This was our last chance to work on the soundscape before Laney submits the final version on Tuesday. Laney and I charted out the cueing then we recorded new opening sequence music with Jimmy, Joe & EZ. I chose Pachelbel's Canon for the opening, transposed to C and arranged as simple acoustic strings overlaid with accordion. There was some skepticism about my vision, but I think everyone was quite pleased with the end result.

This was our second recording session. The first session was a bit chaotic. I asserted more of my vision this time, took ownership, assumed responsibility. I'm always a little nervous about taking on that role. As a former bossy older sister, I walk a very fine line. The minute I start evincing any kind of Lucy Van Pelt vibe, people turn off. And yet, being an artist means advocating for your vision, convincing others to sign on. It's only the start of the process; you have to remain open to collaboration and reinterpretation, but someone has to drive the bus.

I drove the bus tonight. It felt like the right choice, but the end product will tell the tale. Process is well and good, but I'm a results kind of gal.