Ice and Fog

Ice and fog near Newport, Washington this afternoon. 

Pullman

On Tuesday, I attended the Board of Trustees meeting for the Community Colleges of Spokane. Usually, the meeting is convened in Spokane, but every so often, the board meets in one of our outlying centers. Our most recent meeting was held in the Pullman Center. 

The community college holds class in the old Pullman High School.  

The WSU cougar is everywhere present in Pullman, including this carving on the bridge. 

The Pullman Center has a painting in the stairwell that depicts the westward expansion of the American empire. The settlers and the wagon train takes the center of the piece while the Indians watch passively to one side of the image. Disturbing. 

The outside of the old Pullman High School. 

The campus of Washington State University. 

Turnbull

After living in the Spokane area for most of my life - and attending classes at EWU in Cheney for three years - I never visited Turnbull Wildlife Refuge until this afternoon. 

My friend Carole introduced me to the park. This coyote greeted us at the entrance as we arrived. 

Turnbull is considered a riparian zone, which refers to an ecologically sensitive area situated between water and land, often characterized by water-loving plants like cattails or tule. The landscape is remarkably diverse, ranging from basalt scab-lands, to small lakes and pine forests. The vegetation is equally beautiful and diverse. 

We spent several hours at Turnbull photographing the plants and wildlife. It's truly an amazing place - well worth the visit. 

Tall grasses surround the many ponds and lakes. 

Ponderosa pines stand in the distance. 

This porcupine walked only ten feet away from us, apparently undisturbed by our presence. It was difficult to photograph because of the movement. However, I called out and said, "Stop moving so I can take your picture!" In that exact moment, it stood completely still and seemed to wait for my camera. It was quite funny. 

A lone pine on an island. 

Pink and purple flowers. 

A whitetail deer in velvet and a red summer coat. 

Ponderosa pines. 

Does anyone know these birds? 

Click on the image to get a better view. 

Lupine in the sunset. 

These little flowers were soft like feathers. 

Does anyone know their name? 

I believe these are naturalized or invasive flowers. 

The Way to the River

Many Americans view the struggle for civil rights through the lens of a "black-white binary," or the over-simplified belief that the "history of race and rights in this country is a story told only in terms of black and white, as though the rest of us aren't part of the plot" (Nakagawa, 2013). Mainstream culture has begun to recognize civil rights heroes like Martin Luther King and Rosa Parks. This is encouraging; however, binary thinking has obscured the contribution of other leaders like Gordon Hirabayashi, who defied the internment order of Japanese citizens during World War II, and Billy Frank Jr., a Nisqually activist who fought to defend tribal fishing rights in Washington State during the 1960s. 

This short video highlights the courage and activism of Billy Frank, who passed away only yesterday. He was a visionary and a cultural leader who will be missed. I encourage you to take ten minutes to watch this video. 

Soap Lake

Soap Lake, with white mineral deposits on the shore. 

Omak

On the way home from Canada, we passed through Omak.

A few sites caught my attention, like these iron statues. 

Statue of a woman carrying a baby on horseback. 

Petroglyphs. 

A burned tree limb that reminded me of a monster 

with many tentacles and a single eye in the center.  

Bellingham

Leavenworth, WA... en route to Bellingham. 

This year I spoke at the Faculty and Staff of Color Conference in Bellingham. Rhonda and I rented a car and made the drive to the western part of the state, stopping in Leavenworth for an ice cream. 

Once in Bellingham, we visited one of our favorite CYT alums, Nick. 

We also stopped in Ellensburgh to visit another CYT alum, Brittany. 

Tacoma

After we left Vancouver, we continued our whirlwind tour of the west side and drove to the University of Puget Sound in Tacoma. There we attended the Race & Pedagogy National Conference.







UPS is a beautiful campus.



Mount Rainier from the freeway.

Vancouver

This last week, I attended the Washington State Faculty and Staff of Color Conference in Vancouver, WA. The speakers, workshops, and fellow attendees gave me a sense of belonging to a wider professional network. In all, the conference inspired me return with greater insight and dedication to my teaching.

Between sessions, I had a small window of opportunity to capture of few scenes near the hotel:





The interstate bridge was about a block away from the hotel.





Murals depicting military scenes lined the train tracks near the I-5 bridge.



Walking downtown, I looked through a window and saw a man blowing glass.

Gifford

Last Friday, I attended a meeting in Gifford, Washington. People familiar with Gifford will appreciate the unusual nature of holding meetings of any kind in such an obscure location. The town overlooks the Columbia River/Lake Roosevelt and includes little more than a single post office. A nearby ferry transports passengers to Inchelium on the Colville Indian Reservation.

After the meeting, I had the opportunity to climb the hillside overlooking the Columbia. What an amazing sight! The river brought back memories of crossing the ferry with my dad to visit our relatives amongst the Colville.

Grant

fieldtrip011, originally uploaded by sulustumoses.

Grant Cummings is a member of the Washington Native Plant Society and lives near our traditional root fields. We met several years ago when he found me digging bitterroots nearby. Since then he has graciously shared his knowledge of plants every time he sees me. I'm extremely thankful for his strewardship and love of the land.

In this photograph, Grant is posing with me, Dakota, and our little school group.

Anna

Our little trip through Memory Lane ended by sharing a wonderful dinner with my childhood friend Anna Olivas, her husband, and her father. I can't begin to say how this visit affected me. For one, I was just happy to see Anna and her father after all these years, but it also brought back so many memories from my own home and family. This visit produced such a strange mix of happiness, nostalgia, and sadness.

Memory Lane

After leaving Alki Beach, we took a drive down Memory Lane, quite literally. I saw my old church, my school, and even my old house (pictured above).

My favorite memory, however, was the "Little Store," just down the street from our house. It looked exactly the same as I remember, even down to the same coat of paint. I bought my first pack of cigarettes at that store, when I was about nine years old. Actually, my parents sent me to the store with a note to buy their cigarettes. In those days, the store owner simply inspected the note, determined it authenticity, and gave me the cigarettes. Those were surely different times.

Green Grass and Flowers

After surviving the latest Ice Age in Spokane, we were all overwhelmed by the appearance of green grass and flowers in Seattle. Whitney was so moved that she sat on the grass and picked flowers for her mother. It was really quite sweet.

Seattle

It's spring break, and we brought the kids to Seattle for a much needed vacation. We arrived at about 4:00 in the afternoon, and drove straight to Alki Beach. Mostly, I just wanted to walk along the beach and see the skyline. Of course, the city makes a wonderful backdrop for pictures.