christmas in carolina

we spent christmas with my parents in north carolina this year. the drive there was a bit more uncomfortable than usual (josh had gone snowboarding two days before, & i'm not used to pregnant roadtrips! we stopped every two hours so i could walk laps around gas stations & rest areas). but once we arrived... we were really able to rest. mom & dad's home is so peaceful, & they took such good care of us! waxhaw is about 40 miles from charlotte, & my folks' homestead is on a wooded 7 acres + a pond. so we stayed around the house mostly, except for a trip to the raptor center, christmas eve at calvary church, & a traditional shopping trip with mom. it was a small & lovely christmas this year.

we loved visiting the raptor center, something dad was very excited to take us to...

: apparently, my ectomorphic husband has the wingspan of a bald eagle :

the raptor center rescues & rehabilitates birds of prey. it was a much more positive place than a zoo, where animals would be happiest in the wild (i love visiting zoos, but they always make me a little sad, too). these birds would not be able to fend for themselves in the wild, as many of them had been shot & had never regained full mobility, or had been hit by cars, leaving permanently damaged wings. our favorite birds were a screech owl named andi, a part-albino hawk named honeysuckle, and a peregrine falcon named aragorn. thanks, dad, for taking us to see the birds!

: we also played LOTS of mexican train, our new favorite game :

: here's my mom :

: and dad, showing us his current work project :

(former jungle pilot, he is now working as a writer & photographer for wycliffe, & scanning in thousands of his own slides for the wycliffe archives. he's delighted to be working from home these days, in a little writer's nook above the garage)

for the first time in my life... i love winter!

being a jungle girl, midwest winters are a little rough on me. but so far this winter, living in the country rather than the city, it's been a cozy, easy, even delightful, experience. josh & i love being so much more connected to the change in seasons, the hourly moving landscape just outside the door, the daily birds to wonder at (the great blue heron in the river, the flame red cardinal in the snow). last year, in the city, everything for months just felt gray & mucky, & it was hard for my soul. but this... well, it's a soul-nourishing scene to wake up to! this was our front yard last week (the field we love to take dusk or late-night snowy walks in):

a few days later, the snow melted & the river flooded its banks. bill said to keep a close eye on the river, because we might get stuck out here for a few days. but we decided that getting stuck out here really wouldn't bother us (we're homebodies anyway, we have a pantry full of food & an amazing kitchen, & we really kind of like spending 24 hours a day together).

: the trees we sat beneath in summer :

the waters have since receded, & new snows have fallen. here's the backyard scene i have as i sit at my art table...

so i guess there's hope for us--a jungle girl & a midwestern german-finn--& josh's dream to someday build a house (strawbale? cob? live in a yurt?) on the family's land up in michigan. i've always said i wouldn't be able to make it through the winter. this year i'm even making it through the winter with a happy heart.

why are we mammals & not birds?

for a year or so now i have been pondering the question, "why did God create us as mammals and not birds?" i ask this because i would really prefer to be a bird, & i really do want to fly. i have recently discovered that i am in good company with others (josh, kari, madeleine l'engle) who have vivid memories of flying as a child, even if it was just down the stairs, off of a picnic table, or a few feet above the sidewalk. we all believe that we did, in fact, fly, & have since lost the ability, faith, or imagination to do so as adults.

: this is the bird i would choose to be--the Great Blue Heron :

so as i've pondered this question my biggest & brightest conclusion is this: i don't want to sit on eggs for 9 months. obviously, at some point in time, humans were in greater danger from predators than we generally are now, & eggs are much more difficult to protect than a hidden baby (i think). so this seems to be God's wisdom--a great way to protect humankind. let them carry their yet-to-be-born babies around in little moveable aquariums for 9 months. yes. much safer.

and now i have a little birdie inside of me. & i am glad to not be sitting on a nest of eggs. she or he is 14 weeks along. today i was praying for the baby as i walked around our neighboring cemetery, my favorite place to walk around here. people have asked me if i have an in-utero name for the baby like "sprout" or "peanut". & i didn't really until this week, when it started to feel impersonal to pray for the baby, always saying, "the baby" or calling it "it", "him", "her", "he", or "she". so to God i call this little creature "little bird" or "birdie" when i pray. & there are so many reasons why this fits. so if you feel led to pray for our little baby, you may feel free to use the same names until the little bird is hatched, & we bestow a new out-of-the-womb name. feels a bit more personal, doesn't it?

thanksgiving in seattle

yes... we really did just take another trip. we just returned last night from seattle + vancouver-ish. the kind canadians flew us out for a show, & we booked the tickets to arrive a week early to spend thanksgiving with la familia. our entire family, on both sides, minus my parents (in north carolina), now lives in seattle, so this was a tremendous gift to us. my brother jeff & his family (cris, lucas, wren), josh's parents, sisters teal & alli, & sister gala & family (zack, ezra, solomon) have all migrated, from indiana to seattle. teal just moved there from l.a. a few days after thanksgiving. plus... we still have so many muncie friends out there that we love catching up with. it was pretty spectacular to see so many loved ones all at once. oh! & we even got to see friends in canada--josh & anya barkey. josh & i grew up together in the jungle in peru, & their baby was due the day after josh's show.

we took TONS of pictures of our sweet nephews + niece...

: here's solomon, gleeful :

: sweet cozy wren + josh (in a handsome finnish cap) :

: cris + lucas + doodling josh :

: ezra in boots :

: siblings' night out at the tamarind tree :

: snowy walk through the woods :

: marti loves mike :

: garrels in the snow :

feliz aniversario!

yesterday josh & i celebrated our 2nd anniversary. instead of venturing an hour & a half away to indy for a special date, we stayed at home & cooked a feast for ourselves. our friend kaleb had left behind some of his secret thai spices (plus some vague verbal instructions for a curry) when he returned to thailand. we save it for special occasions like this one. so feast we did, & then we began the joyful labor of transcribing our someday literary masterpiece (ha!)--"the mythology of sarnwen and aldaron". we plan to add to it annually (or, i suppose, whenever we're inspired), to begin documenting our love story for our children. it's told as an epic folk story, of course, featuring sarnwen of the woods & aldaron the warrior. my friend ted gave me the elf name sarnwen on my 13th birthday; it means "small girl". i gave josh the name of aldaron on his 21st birthday; it means "lord of trees". (thus, our blog address...) if anyone thinks this is really weird--why, yes. we're a bit peculiar. & we're sure glad we found each other... (again)

to chicago for art

(okay, guys... 4th post of the day. this is to catch us up to the present)

this weekend at the last minute i decided to tag along with megan + tim to chicago for our friend amy's (from twine) art opening. serendipitously? my sister-in-law gala also had an art opening in town ("allegoric"), 3 miles away from amy's! gala's art had been in london, & just happened to be stopping through chicago for a one-night-only show.

tim & megan like to stop at roadside attractions like i do, so...

: the gummi bear factory :

(where they even have gummi army guys in different poses)

: jaiya's a little rock star :
(she's the same age as ezra & lucas, our nephews... may we make a match?)

: thanks jake + jess for stopping by to see me & the show! :

: with amy & megan :

what a fun bunch to spend the weekend with. my friend stefan in india (who introduced me to sustainable development work) introduced me & amy ('cause he thought we'd be friends, & we only live 3 hours away from each other), & it is through another connection with stefan that josh & i deepened our friendship with jake & jessica. megan + tim met amy + sherwin + jaiya when josh + i invited them up to chicago with us to meet amy for the first time. we are all sustainable development workers of some sort, varying in fields of social work, literacy, ESL, agriculture, art, ecology, but with the same heart to serve the poor & oppressed. it was beautiful to all be together (but we missed josh, who was home sick). & we were all amazed at the seeming randomness, yet utter providence, of meeting each other. thanks stefan!

mitchy turns 31!

(see? i'm making up for lost time on the blog posts today. can't write new things until i document the old...)

oh, yeah. i celebrated another birthday on the road this year (october 30). treinta y uno. i still get really excited about birthdays, even though i'm getting older. maybe because i still feel 23? we were in manasquan, new jersey, on my birthday, & our hosts & tourmates made a delicious surprise breakfast for me.

joshy got me a concertina, & i bought this coat with birthday money from mom & dad garrels. & megan sent me a bird's nest in the mail. the concertina, well, i have a long way to go before anyone would want to hear me. thankfully, this isn't like my childhood jungle days of learning the violin, with only screen windows to protect the neighbors' ears from the murderous sounds of my amateur suzuki practice. now only josh has to hear me! poor guy! it was very brave of him to buy me a musical instrument...

: tonight at dusk, the sycamore branches fanned the sky :

the big black bus comes to eaton

3 days after we returned from our east coast tour, we almost took off for another roadtrip--to philadelphia, an 11-hour drive, to meet up with the remaining psalters for a time of prayer as they seek guidance for their future as a band/community/ministry. we've been building a friendship with them over the years, & find alot of resonance in calling & values. we seem to be headed in similar directions & are looking for similar things in the coming season (a new home base, service among the poor, time/space for creation, a supportive/creative faith community, cross-cultural ministry, stateside and abroad), & are mutually wondering if there might be some sort of collaboration. we anticipated meeting their pastors & community, circle of hope, people + places we've heard much about. thankfully, though, road-weary as we were, they decided to drop through eaton on their way out to washington state, just a few days after we would have met them in philly.

having just returned from a tour where we were fed pizza & pasta most nights, we thought it would be fun to make a non-italian feast for our traveling friends. apple-stuffed pork, roasted red potatoes with rosemary, & asparagus topped with lemon almond glaze. after a long night around the riverside fire, & a cozy sleep, we sent them off with a breakfast feast (mmm...bacon. i'm temporarily eating meat again).

: scott, jay, justin, & mr. mauser the dog :

R.V. having fun yet?

i can't believe i still haven't written a post about the "walking on water" tour! i think we were simply getting caught up on rest, the business, & local + out-of-town friendships as soon as we returned, but now we're back in the game!

as i usually say after our trips--we had a wonderful time (i'm either unimaginative or we really do love trips)! 15 people traveling up the coast in an r.v. for 3 weeks, living & working together 24-hours a day, could potentially be painful (especially for two introverts like us). but this trip, our first extended tour with other people (it's usually just josh + his wife/merch girl mitchy), was pretty invigorating. & josh & i continue to learn that we do pretty well traveling, & traveling together. looks like a pattern for life!

the thing about traveling with surfers is that they stop along the way (josh & i were the only non-surfers on the trip, though josh is up-and-coming i'd say; i, well, still have a long way to go, though i have fun when i try, which isn't too often in indiana). if we were just with other musicians, we might find ourselves on a rigorous schedule with no time to enjoy the scenery (much less connect with it in any way). this was pretty rigorous, with a show just about every night, but many days we spent a few hours on the beach--josh surfing & i lounging. josh, as a fledgling surfer, has already gotten to surf many of the best spots on both coasts. we hope to have a season in life when we will live by the sea..

: here's the team & our lovely mobile home :

( an eclectic group of cinematographers, producers, surfers, musicians, & merch people )

(l-r: russell brownley, matt katsolis, mike doyle, dan hamlin, the weilers (hosted us in myrtle beach--not on tour with us), bryan & corrinne jennings, liselle wisnaugh, whitney & jesse hines, jessica & nic mclean, josh & mitchy. front row: cheyne cottrell & brittany diggs)

we drove from florida to new jersey, then flew back down to florida for a few more shows. i think it was 14 shows in 18 days.

highlights: making friends with our tourmates. turning 31 years old on the trip (with a surprise birthday breakfast feast thrown by the whole WOW crew) . enjoying such warm hospitality in host homes along the way. meeting new & inspirational people who love the Lord!

not-so-high-lights (but make for good stories): josh was bitten by a dog. i got sick in new york city & had the supreme delight of carrying a bag of my own vomit (at least it was urban outfitters!) around on various subways, trains, planes!

we miss these guys, & we'd travel around the world with all of them in an instant! it was kind of a dream team. actually, maybe we will? there will be many international premieres, & josh & i have already said "we're in!" if they should ever want us along...

: josh plays at the goods surf/skate shop with braddigan :

: we met up with josh's cousins carla & stephen in wilmington :

: i loved having other merch girls at my side :

: josh plays at i-can't-remember-where :

: liselle, our tour "mom", on the cape may ferry :

: nic and jessica :

: coffeeshop in manasquan, nj :

: by the sea in manasquan :

: josh goes night fishing with the guys :

: we call this one "urban warrior" :

josh & i received this startling news while driving through anderson, indiana:

walking on water

josh & i fly out tomorrow to join up with the East Coast Tour of the Walking on Water film premiere. we'll be travelling by bus or rv up the east coast along with the filmmakers, surfers, & other musicians. we're SO excited to spend these coming three weeks with some really fun & amazing people who are fast becoming friends. here's the line-up...

East Coast USA Tour
Indiatlantic, FL October 19th (josh plays at The Goods Surf Shop)
(somewhere in), FL October 20th (at Christian Surfers Natl Conf)
Melbourne, FL October 21st
Myrtle Beach, SC October 24th (hang out w/mom&dad ramsdale!)
Wilmington, NC October 25th
Kitty Hawk, NC October 26th
Virginia Beach, VA October 27th
Ocean City, NJ October 28th
Manasquan, NJ October 30th (elle's 31st birthday!)
New Smyrna, FL November 1st
Jacksonville, FL November 2nd
Daytona Beach, FL November 3rd
Vero Beach, FL November 4th

the weekend of the volvo wagons

amy, sherwin, & jaiya arrived on friday afternoon with a dark grey 87 wagon. daniel & amanda drove over on saturday afternoon, from new york, in their white 93 wagon. both looked smashingly handsome next to our newest joy: a white 86 wagon--my dream car (story of the white wanderer coming soon...)


FRIDAY


we hosted our friends amy & sherwin from chicago as they shared the work & vision of their non-profit, twine. it's a collaborative art + ecology + social justice project, with elements of film, farming, & weaving, & they're headed to india. about 20 folks came out from indy, muncie, & taylor u. for the evening. & of course, a gorgeous saturday with the family followed, before they packed up their wares & headed on down to anderson.

: sling demonstration :

SATURDAY

in true daniel & amanda style, the talstras decided to take a last-minute weekend roadtrip to indiana for their car's first adventure. perfect! they arrived just in time for a late-afternoon river wade, & fresh trout on the grill (from our neighbor matt's trip to michigan). on into sunday they stayed, through late-night campfire, sunday morning wendell berry essays, sunday afternoon kite flight. what a delightful spontaneous visit.










SUNDAY

: i imbibed the last day of felt summer--outside, with my best friend & a favorite book :

(sure enough, the next morning was blustery, quite autumnal, & they harvested the corn in the neighboring field)