A week later I attended my cousin Thea’s wedding near Bozeman, Montana. The Johnstons graciously allowed my family to stay in their phenomally gorgeous and enormous home at the Yellowstone Club, and it was a second family reunion to have so many of us together in one place again. We enjoyed every minute of it, watching movies, going hiking, sitting in the hot tub etc. Nate and Thea’s wedding was one of the most beautiful and meaningful I have experienced. It started as an outdoor wedding, but began to thunder as Thea walked down the aisle, and partway through the service we grabbed our chairs and headed indoors as the rain picked up. They finished the service in the reception area, with everyone sitting at the dinner tables. But it was cozy and intimate and felt like an adventure.
Four days later I went to a class in Coquille, OR (on the coast near Coos Bay) called The Complete Cob. It was nine days of living in a tent in the rainforest and playing with giant mud pies all day. We learned how to build a cob cottage from the ground up. “Cob” is an Old English word for “lump”. Cob is a mixture of clay-dirt, sand, water and straw, mixed on a tarp with bare feet and then lumped onto a wall to build a house. It is truly an amazing building material, with the straw adding tensile strength the way rebar does in concrete. Natural building is very forgiving, beautiful, inexpensive, fun, and the results are incredible. A house you can build from the dirt under your feet with no mortgage needed (if you can get the land), which can withstand earthquakes and can’t be eaten by bugs or burned by fire.
“Hippie Camp”, as I affectionately called it, was quite the experience for a suburban yuppie like me. I was also the only Christian. There were about 20 students and 10 others there (teachers, cooks, interns etc.) The only other person of faith was a Muslim man. I knew from people’s stories and comments that most didn’t have high opinions of Christians, and many had been burned by the church. I felt like my job was to really suspend judgment, and just to love on people, and not start any faith conversations. I really enjoyed loving on people and hearing the stories of people who were so very different from me. And I ended up having three great faith conversations initiated by three different students.
It was a very impactful nine days in many ways, between having my faith tested and living a life of radical simplicity. No make up or shaving, few showers, the same dirty clothes every day, a local, vegan, sugar-free diet, working hard in the dirt all day and sleeping in a tent every night. I became good friends with two guys in the class, Erik and Guy. They were non-hippies like me, so we had a good time comparing notes about what we thought and observed on our afternoon off when we went to the beach and out to eat in nearby Bandon. I introduced them to my new favorite card game Quiddler early in the week, and we spent literally hours every day playing Quiddler, after lunch and on free evenings. We had a plethora of inside jokes by the end of the week! For about a week after the class I visited Cobville in my dreams every night. The first night felt very unnatural to sleep indoors. I still think about it often, and daydream about the cob house I someday hope to build.
Two days after I returned from the cob class I moved in with the Johnstons. I found a new roommate, but she needed to move in two months before Sarah moves out. So I hatched a plan to sublet my room and move in with the Johnstons for two months, and then to move into Sarah’s room when she gets married. So my living room furniture, books, and kitchen stayed there, my bedroom furniture went to Annette’s garage, my plants went to Young Life and my camping/sporting equipment went to my mom’s house, in addition to everything I moved to the Johnstons. It has been wonderful. The stress of the awkwardness at home is gone. I love living here with no roommate and no commute (not to mention no rent!) I’ve also started biking to Young Life again now that I am going to two places a day instead of three. Will I really move back after two months?
Two weeks later I went with Clayton to Nashville for five days. Clayton’s best friend’s family moved there about a year ago, and Clayton had three days off of school so we went to visit. I am also friends with the family, through both Young Life and the Johnstons. The Millers live in a sweet little suburb called Franklin, where all the country music stars have bought ranches. Downtown Franklin was adorable, with cute little shops and restaurants. At night lots of families were out and it felt completely safe. Just past the downtown is ranch after farm after colonial mansion. The Millers live in a lovely gated community with ponds, walking paths and lots of trees. There is also a neighborhood swimming pool, where we spent a lot of time since the weather was in the low 80’s all week! I had a blast with the boys, and after they went to bed Mary and I stayed up late playing Quiddler and talking! It was a big week for Clayton also, who lost his front tooth and learned to ride and bike and tie his shoes! On Sunday we went to their wonderful church, which happens to be located in Steven Curtis Chapman’s barn – no kidding!
The other big happening of the autumn (which did not involve traveling) was that I gave my notice at Young Life. I have been the Area Administrator for Bellevue Young Life for 6 ½ wonderful years, but it is now time to move on. I will stay until we find the right person, but I hope that is sooner rather than later because there are a lot of things that I would like to do with my mornings this winter, like XC ski, volunteer at Agros and volunteer at Anya’s Spanish immersion school! I told the Johnstons that I will continue with them until the end of the school year. And after that, on to adventures unknown to me, known only to God!
