On the Rim of a Smoking Caldera

Nearby Redoubt Volcano erupted last night so I am taking the opportunity to post some smoking caldera pictures. I'd like to say that these images were taken at the summit of Redoubt, but they were not. They are all from the summit of Shishaldin Volcano - a 9500 foot strato-volcano on Unimak Island. I climbed it with Gregg R, Franz M and Nancy P back in late May 2005. Then we had a 7000 foot vertical run on skis back to base camp (Top Photo - taken the next morning).

Since we climbed Shishaldin two nearby volcanos Mount Augustine and Redoubt have both erupted, and inconvenienced Kodiak. When volcanos erupt planes don't fly to Anchorage and at the museum we get really worried about ash getting into the climate control system and collections. So I've learned to closely monitor the nearby volcanos on the official volcano observatory website (cut and pasted below)

http://www.avo.alaska.edu/activity/Redoubt.php

But what's funny is that when we climbed Shishaldin we never even checked on its eruptive status. It may have been orange for all we knew. I do know that at the top the smoke was thick and pungent and had us coughing. It smelled really bad. It makes me cringe in retrospect to think it might have been poisonous! Swirling smoke coming up out of a deep hole - seemingly from the center of the earth - while I stood on the top of the world. I will never forget it.

Meanwhile Redoubt has erupted. After I post this I plan on checking the AVO website to see which way the ash is blowing and to see if more eruptions are immanent. I've become much more volcano aware in the last 4 years. We live in a wild place.

Lordy, Lordy, Look Whos 40!

Last night MJ and Katie orchestrated a surprise 40 birthday party for Matt. Hard to believe he has joined the 40-something crowd! I remember celebrating his 31st birthday with a small crowd at the Henrys bar years ago after we had all just moved (back) to Kodiak. Seems like just yesterday.

Katie ordered a special cake from a New Orleans bakery (Matt's home town)--a multi-layer INCREDIBLY moist cake with chocolate frosting. I"m not sure I've ever had such a yummy, moist decadent cake. WOW.

As we surprised Matt, ate appetizers and cake, it snowed heavily outside-a spring snowstorm! This morning I"m headed out to go skiiing on Lake Gertrude with friends. Winter hangs on!

Zoya

photos from the party...
Check out Matt J's teeshirt--polygamy porter. Pretty funny.
The snow outside as we left MJ's house.

More Cross Country Skiing

Yup - yet more cross country skiing. And to all you people who think Spring has arrived and that Winter is over - I hate to break it to you but we got another two months of snow season on the Emerald Isle before it starts to green up. Yip, Yip, Yipppeeeeee!

Anyhow I went up skiing above Buskin Lake with Gregg. He went on classical cross country skis (slow) while I went on skate ski gear (fast). Needless to say, but I did zip on ahead of him a bunch. I used the time ahead to video him catching up, and I made a short movie that I posted on youtube. The link is below. Zoya thought it was a little bit boring, but i kind of liked it. You have to copy and paste the link into your web browser because I can't seem to post a 'hot link'.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W6-bIZiumjw

Patrick

Tour of Anchorage Pics

Last week I received in the mail 'the official Tour of Anchorage photos' of me taken by the 'Official Tour of Anchorage' photographer - Michael Dinneen Photography of Anchorage. Without photos to prove it, it really did not happen. Anyway the photos really do bring back the memories. Amazing what I had forgotten in the 2 short weeks since the race.

The start when it was barely light, losing the pack on the Spencer loop (some frozen extremities in that photo that you do not see), and the numb feet. In the bottom photo you can tell I have numb feet - no control over the skiis at all. A good time. Patrick

Powder Tracks

Here on Kodiak we have great cross country skiing conditions - light powder on top of a hard crust and blue skies above. And today my truck is in the shop and I did not get to go skiing. It about killed me. But I did bike to work so I got some exercise at least. Right now I am doing kiddo daycare and cooking up a caribou roast in the pressure cooker. Mike, Roxanne and Cece are coming over for dinner and Mike brought over a shoulder roast that someone gave him at work. Dinner ought to be good. Zoya just got home and is now making a salad. My daycare duties have suddenly got a bit lighter.

Photos: Skate ski tracks up the Buskin, and far view of the same.

A Walk in the Park and Baby Shower

Walks in the park-
Recently the road in front of our house has thawed and now we can go for walks down the road with the kids. They enjoy being pushed down to the end of cliffside in the stroller and then we walk home together. Stuey likes stopping at the Bern's house and looking at the pile of bouys and fishing line. He says, "Hi Bouys" and as we walk away, "Bye Bouys." He has an affinity for fishing gear (his late grandfather Dave would be proud! And Patrick says his great grandfather was a fisherman as well!).

Patrick took Nora on what may have been her last back pack ride to the park. She is over 40 pounds now and she has legs for walking. I think she should've been walking much earlier than now, but the walks to the park have been a very special time for she and Patrick. Stuey has had very few walks to the park in the back pack during his baby and toddler years. This is largely due to the fact that Nora would get very sad (or rather, mad) to see Stuey go off in "her" backpack.

Baby Shower for Shannon
Last weekend I hosted a baby shower for my friend Shannon. She is new to town and teaches dance classes at the Little School of Dance. She is due in the beginning of May is the most adorable, enthusiastic pregnant woman ever. We did a mother blessing bead ceremony at her shower where everyone brought a bead and we strung it onto a necklace for her along with a wish for transition into mother hood and labor/birth, etc... (Patrick is probably yawning right now as he reads this...or perhaps he has skipped this paragraph all together). The cake was made by Paul Hicks-he is a gentleman in the Coast Guard with incredible cake-art talent! It was yummy, too!

Zoya

More Caribou and Moose for Alaskans

I gather that at the recent Alaska Board of Game meetings the focus was on predator control. Time to kill bears, wolves, and other predators to hopefully increase the population of the prey species – moose, caribou, elk and deer. A lot of Alaskans are complaining that it has become too difficult to find and harvest an animal. I’m more than a little disappointed – I believe that rather than focusing on predators we should be focusing on habitat protection. Why is it that the proponents of predator control also seem to be the same people who want to open ANWR and build roads into the places I like to hunt?

But I have a solution. Lets designate a couple thousand acres of public land near both Fairbanks and Anchorage for the propagation of wild game. We’ll build a fence to keep the predators out, and populate the pens with caribou and moose. In the wilds of Alaska moose and other game are few and far between because the landscape cannot support more than that. But in fenced enclosures we could supplement the natural browse with hay and grain and maintain a healthy population of free-range game. A much higher population than the landscape could naturally support. With enough hay we could probably increase the density to 2 or 3 per acre instead of the usual 1 animal every few square miles.

The State of Alaska would build roads through the refugiums to provide access to the animals. Maybe even have a facility at the gate that rents out ATVs to help the public access their game. Top notch butchering facilities on site would be a must. A draw permit system would be needed – one animal per family perhaps? And maybe one enclosure could be maintained for maximum trophy quality. In this enclosure the feed could be supplemented with minerals beneficial to horn growth and the animals with poor trophy genetics culled.

My plan would be way cheaper than trying to wipe out the predators over the vast expanse of Alaska’s backcountry. And the enclosures would be pretty cheap to maintain. I bet the State of Alaska could even make a profit on the program. Best of all we’d leave the rest of Alaska alone.

I can hear the screams of ‘such a plan is not natural’. And I agree. But removing the predators from the ecosystem is not natural either.

Patrick

Photo: Me with a free range elk I harvested on Afognak. Note that the antlers lack an eye guard on each side and are relatively puny given the size of the animal. This animal would have benefited from supplemental feed, genetic culling and some extra minerals in its diet.

Patience, Patience, Patience.

Patience is a virtue. Especially with parenting in the Saltonstall household this past week.

Nora has had several down days where she has been grumpy & whiney. It gets exhausting after a while. She does the "Only you" routine and lays around not helping when getting ready in the morning. Patrick and I were somewhat stumped and wondering if it was a reflection of the fact that I travelled a lot recently and perhaps she was missing me? Then we get confused about when to insist she do something and when to give her attention. Its so hard to know what these little beings need. And what they're thinking. Are they trying to make our lives miserable? I have a hard time believing that. Something is awry in her mind and she wants to make it right. And often Patrick and I don't know how.

I called a good friend who recently made the choice to stay home with her kids. She informed me that her 3 year old was doing a very similar behavior and she was wondering if it was because she was home too much. And here I was worried Nora was doing it because I was gone too much. Go figure. Theres never an easy answer.

So my friend and I decided that we should keep being strong yet loving parents and our daughters will come around.

Today Stuey learned how to climb out of his crib. He is part rock climber with it. So as I write this, he toddles in and out of his bed room...testing Patrick and I. We have to transfer him to nora's bed and get her a twin bed on the floor soon here (like tomorrow). His crib days are over. In some ways I'm relieved, because I knew this was coming sooner than later. And this will make travel easier-not having to worry about him being contained in a crib.He and Nora can curl up and sleep any where! Yeah!

Zoya

Wind, Snow & Ice

Here on Kodiak we have had some beautiful weather lately. Cold and sunny with the occasional snow shower. Even with the cold temperatures the sun is high enough in the sky these days to warm things up in the sun. I've been doing a lot of skate skiing on the local rivers (see post below about my birthday ski up Salonie Creek). The only downside has been the wind. It's been super windy, but without the wind we would not have the cold. The wind is what ushers in the cold from the North.

Top photo is looking downstream in the Salonie Creek canyon. The sun is still having a hard time reaching places like this! The middle photo is of the snow blowing off the tops of the mountains. Obviously you would not want to go downhill skiing on a day like this. Bottom photo is of the Upper Buskin with Pyramid mountain behind it. This is where the river begins to enter the canyon - I skate ski up here practically every day.

Also, I made a video of our skate skiing trip up Salonie Creek from my birthday and posted it on Youtube. Not sure how you link these things on a blog - but here's a try. I just cut and pasted the web address below. Patrick

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fyRN98SRIME

Patrick's Birthday Dinner-Comfort Inn

Last night Patrick and I celebrated his birthday-alone and together. A much needed respite from the hustle-bustle of last week. Ordinarily for birthdays we have people over to our house for dinner and cake, but this year we just wanted something peaceful and quiet. Imagine that?! Must have something to do with having a 2 year old and 3 year old.

We decided to try out the Buskin River Inn (Comfort Inn) restaurant. We hadn't been there for 2 or 3 years. Lately we had both heard from different sources that there was a new chef and the food was good. So we gambled-and won-by driving out 10 minutes for dinner.

The restaurant was quiet--the librarian conference people were at a table next to us and 1 other person at a table nearby. The waitress was speedy and had a good sense of humor. Patrick ordered the Beef Carpaccio, which was a TRUE gamble, because it is a raw meat dish and if done badly, it could be really bad. It was delicious! Patrick was in heaven.

For the main course, I ordered a pork dish and Patrick ordered a New Zealand lamb dish. Both had wonderful sauces on them and a side of melt-in-your-mouth wild rice and grilled zucchini. I felt like I was eating in Anchorage. Really.

It was so nice to have a date with Patrick at someplace different. The energy was good, food was EXCELLENT. The kids did great with a new babysitter- they ate popcorn, watched 1/2 hour of a video and went to bed easily. Yeah!

Zoya

Rocket Ship Crust Cruising Video

Nothing like a video to show just what it was like. I think the video shows the effortless speed quite well. It's a little over a minute long so it might take some time to upload. It shows the skate ski home today on Salonie Creek. Horses running back to the stable. Patrick

My Awesome Birthday Present

Today I turned 44 and got the best birthday present I can remember. Zoya watched the kids and I went skate skiing up Salonie Creek with Gregg, Adelia and Philip. And Zoya did not have an easy time. Nora has been in one of her whiney moods. So I truly appreciate what I was given. And what I was given was great.

The skate skiing was super fast, it was sunny and the wind was not bad at all - especially considering how windy it is in town right now. The road into the rifle range was a little sketchy - but once we got to the river bed it was all gravy. I did not mind the road or woods all that much - I find it exciting to avoid ruts and trees at MACH speed. You gotta have quick reaction times - more adrenaline than downhill skiing!

We got way up into the canyon - to where we could see the blue icicles. We debated whether crust cruising on Kodiak is better than skiing the groomed at Kincaid. To me that is a no brainer. It was all slightly downhill to the car - we flew. Guess where I prefer to ski. Patrick

This ones for you, Patty!

Last week when I was in Eugene, Patty asked how the kids were doing and I reflected on the many times Patty took such wonderful care of Nora when I would go to pre-natal appointments for Stuey. Patty asked what the kids were doing, saying ,etc and I decided it was time for a Nora, Stuey video.

In this video, Patrick does a "say-this, say-that" session and you can hear their variations on all sorts of words...including macaroni, milk and yogurt. You can see how Stuey is picking up Nora-english.

Zoya

Class in Eugene

I"m returning from the Midwifery Today conference, and it was just wonderful. There were many doulas, aspiring doulas, massage therapists, aspiring midwives, midwives and RN's.

Yesterday I met a a lady in her 60's who was a physical therapist, had 7 kids, was a doula and is now a midwife! The great thing about the conference was that it didn't matter at all what your degree or title was-we were all there with the same mission. To learn how to help women have better childbirth expereinces. My biggest question going to the conference was "Would I feel out of place, not being a midwife?" and that wasn't the case at all. In fact, there were a few people there who had not assisted in a birth. One was a massage therapist who does prenatal and post partum care and she wanted more tools in her toolbag.

The first class was taught by a licensed massage therapist from New York, Elaine Stillerman. She wrote the book on prenatal, labor and post partum massage and teaches classes on it. In the 60's/70's and perhaps even early 1980's there was a time when pregnant women weren't allowed to get masage, as it was feared it could harm the baby. What is known now is quite the opposite-that pregnancy is a time when massage is VERY beneficial-to help improve blood flow/circulation, promote relaxation, get the body ready for labor by assisting in alignment of the muscles and bones AND to help decrease pregnancy related pain (such as back pain!). One reason I haven't done much of pregnancy massage at my clinic was because i hadn't had the extra training in it and wanted to be re-assured that I was doing it correctly. Now with this training, I"m thinking about how I can actively start integrating it into my clinic offerings.

The second class was taught by a very well known lay midwife from Mexico name Naoli Vinaver. I first saw her in a video my sister Bonnie had at her home-of her giving birth to her 3rd child in her tub at home. It is a beautiful 10 minute film called "Birth Day." Very simple and beautifully filmed by her father in law. I now show it in my birthing class.

Naoli taught us how to use a rebozo-which is a cotton shawl or garment worn by women in mexico. They are used to assist the women in labor by maneuvering the pelvis with it. And you can do body work with them, to help decrease low back pain, to encourage repositioning of breech babies as well as posterior babies .(I imagine as Patrick is reading this, he is yawning right about now...probably right along with other people not interested in baby stuff). :)

Or when labor has stalled and the baby needs a slight repositioning to help get them in a better position in the birth canal. It really is amazing and it all works on basic principles of biomechanics. Open up the pelvic outlet with the counterpressure of the rebozo and voila-space in the pelvic outlet opens and the baby can move.

So I now am the proud owner of a rebozo and look forward to using it in the months to come, as a shawl AND as a tool in labor & birth bag AND to use during prenatal massages! Fun!

Going to the class was truly wonderful. Naoli not only presented wonderful information on the rebozo, but also had wonderful insights on birth, as she has 20 years of experience. She has such a beautiful, peaceful way to her.

I stayed with the Mahoney's in Eugene, which was great. I miss them lots-they used to live here in Kodiak until moving to Eugene one and a half years ago. Their house there is just gorgeous. Completely redone-great back yard and work shop for John. John and Patty picked me up from the airport and we went to a Thai Restaurant for dinner while getting caught up on life. I miss them.
Thank you for a fun two days, John & Patty!

Zoya

Bedtime Rituals

(this post was written on the airplane down to Eugene...I'm now sitting in the Anchorage airport waiting to return to Kodiak)

Parenting rituals

Daily rituals are such a big part of parenting and one that I really love in our house is putting the kids to bed. Anyone who has spent any amount of time in our house in the past 3.5 years knows that in the past bed time was NOT the most peaceful of times in the Saltonstall’s. Sadly enough, was often greeted with cries and rebellion from Nora. No matter how much down down, prep time, ritual we gave her. Now wer’re at a balance where there isn’t the constant struggle and the kids go to bed without defiance.

Patrick lays on the couch as I get them changed into their “jam-jams” (pajamas). As of late, Nora refuses to let Patrick get her ready, so I’ve been doing it. Then there is brushing teeth. They have their little Dora and Hello Kitty electric tooth brushes and we’re able to get about 20 seconds of brushing in. Probably about 2 minutes shorter than the hygienist’s of the world would like to see.

Nora climbs onto the couch with Patrick and lays down next to him while they read a book. Stuey comes to my lap on the floor and either grabs a book to flip through or her nurses for a few minutes. When Patrick has finished reading the book to Nora, he tells her a story. Often it is about something simple-like a daily routine of what happens on a day in the life of our family. Nora loves this—and often likes stories which involve her and flying or going on the ferry. She likes all the details about what everyone does on the airplane, what everyone eats and drinks, etc…
It really takes very little to make it a good enough story, and after she climbs into bed and says “tuck me in, Mamma. Only mamma.” If Patrick dares try to tuck her in, she bums out.

I lay Stuey in his crib and put a blanket over him. If hes tired enough he doesn’t resist this. I sing him the abcs, often doing the signs with my hand for the letters-he likes this. He is starting to sing along with a couple of the letters.
Then I go to Nora and sing her the patty cake song. At the end I say, “mark it with a N, P, M & D, then put it in the oven for Nora, Stuey, Mommy, Daddy and me.” Last night she said, “roxy and Jake, mamma.” It was the first time she really called me on the fact that we have been doing this song for months and left out critical members of our family!

Then I tuck her in, and lately she likes lots of sweet hugs before I leave the room. The door remains open until I go to bed, at which time I check on them and shut the door. I know it is cliché, but any parent will agree, I believe, how watching kids sleep is one of the sweetest things in the world.

Zoya

A Balanced Approach Spruce Tree

I only took this picture because the spruce tree reminded me of the logo for Zoya's business 'A Balanced Approach'. When she first came up with the logo she wanted a spruce tree to symbolize and represent her natural and holistic approach to health and healing. She asked me if I had any pictures of spruce trees, and to my horror I found that I had none that would suit her needs. But since then I keep on seeing the perfect spruce trees, and of course I have to take their picture. I fully realize that I am 'closing the stable doors after the horse escaped'.

So every time I go up to go skiing on Pyramid I see this tree silhouetted against Sheratin Mountain, and think of 'A Balanced Approach'. It would have been the perfect tree for her logo. And the next time you drive up to the pass on your way to Anton Larsen Bay or to go skiing or hiking be sure to look out for the 'A Balanced Approach Tree'. It'll be right there on the horizon silhouetted against Sheratin. Patrick

Todd & Todd

(written on the plane)

I’m on the plane to Eugene and thus far, this trip has been much smoother than my last trip off the island. I’m trying to avoid watching the movie slum dog millionaire which is playing on a fellow passenger’s mini dvd player. Still a movie I haven’t seen and I’m looking forward to watching it with sound and being totally surprised by all of it.

The flight out of Kodiak was smooth as cream pie. We boarded the little “mini-plane”…the kind where the pilot serves as flight attendant and you can see the pilots in the cockpit and watch the landing. Very cool. One row of seats on each side-a prop type of plane. Flying into Anchorage was so smooth and everything was so white. Winter is still very much here, as much as I’d like to see some spring!

In the Anchorage airport I was standing in the light security line when I noticed a person who STRONGLY resembled Todd Palin come into line behind me (2 people behind). I remarked to the gentleman in front of me, “The gentleman in the back of the line looks like Todd Palin” and the man replied, “Yes, I think its him.”. He was dressed in a suit and was vigorously chewing gum More intense looking than I imagined him to be. Call me crazy, but I think its oh so fun to see celebrity people when travelling!I feel like that hardly ever happens to me.

Then as I’m standing in line buying water, I look over and there is my brother in law Todd and my sister Bonnie walking down the concourse! They were on their way to Fairbanks for a 2 day getaway. What a surprise. So I had the joy of catching up with them for a few minutes before I boarded the plane.

Zoya

Proud of my husband

RACING FEVER
I"m so proud of Patrick doing the Tour of Anchorage.
Last year I remember when I was hemming and hawwwing about doing the Tour of Anchorage, he said "Zoya, just do it. It doesn't matter how good of shape you're in. You'll feel so good about finishing it." And he was right. I did it, my time was slower than the year before but it didn't matter because I completed the race and felt good about accomplishing it.

The past 2 months, his training for the race was less than perfect, as he had a bad cold, back pain and sinus infection. But he persevered and did it! He really instills that "just do it" attitude in me and the kids. No matter what the weather, its a no excuses type of approach. I admire that about him.

And second place for his age group! So cool. Now we can go downhill skiing together. Corn snow, here we come!

EUGENE
Tomorrow morning I leave for Eugene Oregon for a Midwifery Today conference-I'm going to attend a two day class on body work and massage techniques for women during pregnancy, during labor and after they've had the baby. The first day is a class taught by a licensed massage therapist from New York and the second day course is taught by a well known midwife from Mexico. She is going to teach different massage techniques for labor. It'll be a whole different scene from the PT classes I attend. There will be other doulas, midwives, childbirth educators, physical therapists...it'll be a new mix of folks, and completely new material!

REWIND
I was thinking about my last blog post about teaching Childbirth courses and hoped that I didn't come across too "anti-providence" or "anti-hospital". In many ways, it is a blessing in disguise that the hospital classes weren't fit for me, because it has propelled me to take this childbirth education journey on my own! I felt bad about the post, but refuse to delete it, as matter of principle. I don't want to come across bitter, or upset--I think I"m just driven to help produce a series which can give hands on time with helping women and their partners prepare for labor. And, frankly, I want to see a decrease in our c-section rate. Who can fault me for that? Its at 28%--if we got it halved, that'd be fabulous. One birth at a time.
So often I have thoughts about wanting to change standards or systems, but I don't often write about it--for fear of offending someone. I think I am slowly realizing that in order to make change in the world, you have to be that change. Thats what Gandhi said and I like that. Be the change you want to see in the world.

Zoya

Photos: From the morning Patrick left town. He wanted photos of the kids to show the family in Anchorage.

Back to Kodiak after Tour of Anchorage

Boy am I glad to be back in Kodiak! After a weekend in Los Anchorage the drive to work and sunrise over the harbor seemed positively idyllic. Anchorage might have the distant mountains hovering over town but everything in the foreground is ugly. It is not a pretty town.

But it is a good place to go cross country skiing and visit with family. On Sunday I raced in the Tour of Anchorage, a 50K skate ski marathon. We started at dawn at Service High, raced up to the top of the Hillside Ski area and then on to near downtown on a greenbelt that wound by APU, and Russian Jack park. We linked up with the Tony Knowles trail at Westchester Lagoon and then raced on out to finish at Kincaid Park. I loved the airplanes flying directly over my head as I neared Kincaid and the finish.

I did not have great race but I did meet my goals. I finished in 2:39 and came in 47th (2cnd for my age group)- I had wanted to break either 2:40 or finish in the top 40. My biggest disappointment was over-tightening my brand new ski boots. By about halfway through the race I realized that I could not feel my feet. This made it hard to be graceful. I also had slow skiis at the start and lost the pack. So I skiied the rest of the race alone. I think if I had stayed with the pack and had happy feet I could have easily finished 5 - 10 minutes faster. But hey I felt good, finished well, and had a good time.

It was great fun meeting up with family at the finish line. It's becoming a tradition. Zoya's brother in law Todd came in 2cnd for his age group in the 25K classic race with a faster time than he had last year, and Zoya's stepfather raced in his first Tour of Anchorage - also in the 25K classic race. My cousins Will and Beth, joined Cathy, Kellen and Bonnie to meet us at the finish line. Then we went off to the Moose's Tooth and had beer and pizza. Nothing like a good beer after a long ski race! Patrick

I think I'm off to Anchorage

This is a post from last Friday that got cut. I've just put it back. I did make it to Anchorage. More on my race later.

Well I am off to Anchorage to race in the Tour of Anchorage on Sunday. Or at least I think I am. The winds have really picked up and I fear I might end up on weather hold. Weather hold is better than volcano hold. Time to put on my 'stoic' hat - Karma, Kismet whatever. If you're from Kodiak you know what I mean. It's no use stressing about the weather - you get out when you get out. At least I got 2 days to get to Anchorage before the race. And hey, if I don't get out today, I'll get an extra night with Zoya, Nora and Stuie and Roxy and Jake. Patrick

Photo: I know it has nothing to do with flying to Anchorage, the Tour of Anchorage ski race, or even Kodiak weather delays. It's just a picture from Wednesday that I took when skate skiing up in the canyon above Buskin Lake. I found fresh goat tracks. That's Barometer poking up in the background downstream.

Birth Matters

I've wanted to teach birthing classes for years and now with my own business, I am able. Tonight I wrapped up my first 8 week course with 8 couples. It was so fun to be part of this time with them.

When I was pregnant with Nora, I took part of the hospital course and left wanting MUCH MORE. I felt so passionate about natural birthing techniques and wanted to be inspired by someone--to show me how to do it. The hospital class was, well, a hospital class. A standard hospital agenda-class with the anesthesiologist, learning about cesarean deliveries, learning about interventions and a little bit on breathing. Hmmm.

The person inspiring me ended up being my twin sister, who was due 3 months prior to me, was induced and did a hypnobirthing program which I became fascinated by. She sent the materials when she was done with them and I was on my way to a natural birth-no matter what. If Ella did it, I could do it. Nothing like a little twin competitive juices to get the birth of my dreams!


So I resorted to doing a LOT of reading about birth. And I prepared myself. And I had the births of my dreams. Feeling confident and supported by friends and doulas.

When I was working at the hospital, I was always curious about teaching birthing classes with more practice, hands on time.
After having my babies, I had an even stronger desire to teach classes, but I didn't see that there would be a need for another class at Providence. Why would they support another birthing class? (Plus, in all honesty, in working with a large organization like Providence, I felt that every word I said would have been more under the microscope-making sure I don't say anything "anti-hospital" or anti-institution. In all actuality, I feel more middle of the road-as I had fabulous births at the hospital and felt VERY supported by the staff there. They listened to all my wants/needs/concerns. However, that said, the hospital is not a birth center, and because of the nature of maternity care in a medical setting, there can be more interventions and monitoring, which can lead a woman down a path to epidural or cesarean section.)

And now I"m living my dream with teaching childbirth preparation classes.

Some may wonder, "What qualifications do you have to have to do that?"

There is a child birth educator certificate which I'm working towards and part of the training is teaching a series of classes. Also, with my physical therapy degree, I am confident explaining the anatomy and physiology of labor/delivery and how it pertains to helping women get in the right positions to move their baby down. It is all about understanding the pelvis and how gravity works!!

Often childbirth classes are taught by a nurse. And I wondered if since I wasn't a nurse if could really teach them. My wonderful friend Marias kindly reminded me that I have plenty of experience, knowledge and education on the topic to confidently lead women through the process of preparing women for the experience of childbirth.

This first series was 8 weeks and I had a great time. I passed out evaluations today at the end of class and was giddy with excitement to read them once I got home. I was quite nervous-wondering if people got anything out of the class and this would be a big determinant on whether I teach another series. And fortunately, the reviews were good! I'm thrilled. There are so many things I want to improve on for the next series and I see this as an exciting work in progress.

What did I learn from this first series?

1) the importance for socialization of the couples AND really listening to the couples--including the father. So often childbirth classes can leave the father out and this is actually a big component of the course. Hands on practice for them to practice contractions, practice supporting their partner. Its a big confidence booster for them to have a role play chance to see how it might feel to help coax their partner through a contraction. I really enjoyed hearing the questions/concerns from the father and to see their confidence build.

2)Women in our society benefit from positive messages about their bodies birthing a baby. There are so many "horror" stories and a large function of the class is to promote confidence in them that this is a normal, healthy experience and to trust that their body can birth their baby.

I am so thrilled that 8 couples entrusted me with their childbirth education experience and feel blessed to be part of that journey-and it was SO FUN!

3 of the women have had their babies and there are 5 more to go this spring. I plan on doing a reunion with them in mid-may so they can all meet eachothers babies. I already had 1 reunion after the first 3 had their babies so they could share their wonderful birth stories with the still-pregnant crowd.

I"ve also begun to recognize that there is a big gap in post-partum attention for moms--as far as helping them get their bodies back to normal after delivery. I've started a mom-baby exercise session every Wednesday from 11-12. Its fun for the moms to get together after having their babies and to get guidance in all the things they can do to help their bodies and backs feel better after labor or delivery.

Zoya

Eating close to the source

The other day Zoya asked me what I thought about not buying any meat at Safeway and only eating meat that we harvested ourselves. With my love of frozen pizzas, sauages, and good steaks on the grill in mind, I think she thought I'd rebel at the idea. Instead I loved it.

The next day, Zoya admitted to going to the Taco Bell drive through and wondered if the no-meat idea was crazy...especially after she enjoyed the order of Nachos Bell Grande with the kids. But by then, I'd really embraced the idea, and it had evolved a bit in my mind. Rather than treating meat and vegetables differently we'd try and examine the source of all our foods. Local is better - off island is worse. Industrial meat production and industrial agriculture are both bad while small, local farm production is always good. Whether it's organic or not only comes into it marginally. In my excitement I re-invigorated Zoya about it too.

Know your sources will be our new mantra. Things we will consider about our sources: the amount of fossil fuels used to get our food to the table, whether or not the plant or animal lived a good, natural life before harvest, and the amount of packaging the food comes in. We also hope to cut back on meals at restaurants.

We will not get militant with the new diet - I think mystery meats in restaurants or at other people's house is fine. And hell, we need bell peppers even if they are grown on industrial farms in California and shipped at great cost to Kodiak. But I do plan on foregoing the frozen TV dinners with mystery meat included. Perhaps I'll still buy a free range turkey every now and then, and maybe even some grass fed lamb mmmm... But no pork breakfast sausage or California Strawberries from Safeway. I think you get the idea.

So what are we going to do about getting more food locally? I think I got the hunting and fishing thing down - meat or fish will not be a problem (and local seafood even if we did not catch it is fair game). I do plan on stepping up the garden a bit, but I actually already do pretty well there now. What I really want to do more of in the next year is gather local plants. When I'm in the field doing archaeology we routinely eat nettles, fireweed, dandelions, lambs quarter, fiddleheads, seaweed etc. They are all great tasting, plentiful and free. Best of all, they are available when our garden has not yet begun to produce.

So watch out when you come to our house for dinner - it might be Mountain Goat tenderloins, with garden potatoes and dandelions from the lawn.

Photos: The three local options, cooking nettles gathered from the field, digging potatoes from the garden, and butchering deer on the mountain. Patrick

Acrobatics

The other night Stuey had a binky craving so we gave him one and snapped the top photo. We knew this photo would make several family members upset...We figured the binky worked so well with Nora, why not start Stuey on one?! :) Just kidding...

Life has been busy but somehow mellower for me lately. Work has settled into a fabulous rhythm and schedule--16 hours of patient care a week which leaves some time for paperwork, house work time, and more kid time. I'm really enjoying it. My fabulous office manager, Erin, is to the point now where she does the majority of bookkeeping work which really takes the weight of my shoulders and allows me to focus on what I love best about my business-patient care and teaching classes!!

Tonight we had Mike, Roxann, CeCe and Meghan and Bruce over for dinner. Mike cooked up a fabulous ptarmigan dish which we enjoyed with brown rice and a lovely salad from Meghan and Bruce. Bruce got into Nora and Stuey's make shift fort at the end of the evening and read a book to them-which they sure enjoyed. We haven't had people over for dinner for quite some time and it was so fun to do again.

On the lower photo, Stuey is doing nursing acrobatics--which he is quite good at.

Bottom photo was a self photo of Patrick and Stuey hanging out in bed the other evening after dinner. I like that photo of the both of them because they really are together. The energy is good. Stuey often tries Patrick's patience and it is fun when they really enjoy eachothers presence. Equivalent to when Nora was that age and she was more of a daddy's girl. Now Stuey is at the Mammas boy age.

Zoya

Snow, Trees, & Sky

Today when I went for a ski after work I was surprised by the sunshine. I had actually expected rain, but as I drove out the road the peaks started to poke out of the clouds and the sun broke through. I thought, 'sucker hole', and I was wrong. Good thing.

I skate skiied up to the canyon on Salonie Creek. Perfect conditions. However the new snow got too deep for skate skiing in the canyon and I could not make it up to the big ice falls. I love looking at the cottonwood trees silhouetted against the snow on the mountains. And the sky was extremely blue. Patrick