Today was the first Saturday I have been off this whole assignment and we have made the most of it. What it really is is hat we have to stay busy my whole first day off of work so that I can stay awake. If we are home even for 40 minutes I find myself curling up in a ball on the couch. So fist thing was first we hit up the Salmon Berry patch Sophie had pointed out to me on Wednesday. She was right there was a lot of good berries there and it was very close to our house. The berries were taller than me and the kids were navigating them quite nicely. They would yell for me and then follow my voice until they got to me. Chad was the smartest and stayed around the edges still getting plenty of berries.
After picking for an hour or so we headed to Walmart and Safeway to buy the canning supplies we needed to make jam.
We only made one batch to start with because it was time to head to the fairgrounds for the Kodiak Rodeo. It was a free event and it felt homey in the small arena and small community organization was apparent but still, maybe we are getting to an age where we appreciate the accomplishment. No it wasn’t the Snake River Stampede, the Pendleton Roundup or the St. Paul Rodeo, but we saw the little ones just learning. Cheering them on was the best. There was one girl who’s flawless performance on barrels seriously made me tear up. I’m so glad Chad suggested this activity. The rodeo started at 4:00pm we had also planned to attend the Demolition Derby on the same grounds hat started at 6:00pm. We are learning that in Kodiak nothing ever starts when it is supposed to.
The rodeo was not quite over at 5:55pm when we figured we better run around to the auto track. We probably could have stayed until the end and not missed any of the auto action, but that is all hindsight. I love Demolition Derbys so I had in my head the Susanville Demolition Derbys that I had seen as a teenager on the 4th of July. This was more of a conglomerate show with motor cross in several age categories, a dragster, and then the Demolition Derby which came with a lot of yellow flags and hiccups. I guess the city adult was coming out of me. I have to remember that I am seeing raw community not some glitz and glitter show. And, really, whichone is better? The real deal unfinished big hearted people. I had to take a picture of how scratched up my arms got while picking berries this morning. It was 64 degrees out and the kids were begging to be allowed to go find the shade. To their credit it felt like it must be at least 100 degrees to me too.
Owens Endeavors 