Home Turf

Upon landing in Portland, I had a sudden feeling of nerves.  Why?  I couldn't pinpoint it, but it quickly subsided as I walked into PDX, my old home airport.  There was something settling about the green and blue criss-cross carpet and the REI gear everyone was wearing.  These are my people.  This is the place in America I fit the best.  I was reminded again and again of this while talking politics with friends or education with Grandpa or family drama with Mom.  If I were to pick somewhere in America to live, it would still be the Northwest.  My voice can get a twang from being in the South, I can listen to the ideas of an East Coast friend, and I can understand the small town view of my mid-west coworkers.  But I still feel the most like those from the Northwest.  I think I forget this sometimes as I'm exposed to more Americans from my ventures abroad.  But family and friends reminded me that I'm still an American girl no matter how far I go.  So thank you to all my family and friends for a wonderful trip to Oregon!  Next time, I'll drag Will along.

(Ok, most of these pictures are old, but they'll have to do because I forgot my camera in Budapest.)

Sweet Bekah

Newberg Friends

Kelsey Girls

 Grandma and Grandpa

 Mom

School Breaks

One advantage of teaching in Europe is SKI BREAK. At the end of the month my international school will break for a full week to allow everyone some time to hit the slopes - Austria, Slovakia, pick a country, choose a mountain range. Of course, some people choose to hit the beach. Either way, it's great for everyone! As I was telling my grandpa about our upcoming holiday, he told me this story...

We didn't have Ski Break growing up, but we had two weeks off in the Fall. During World War 2 (when Grandpa was in high school) the migrant workers couldn't get transport up to Oregon from Mexico easily. Everything was being rationed and transport was limited. In order to get the potato crop picked in Central Oregon at the time, schools let out and all the kids went to the field to pull potatoes and lift sacks and drive trucks and get the potato crop harvested.

I wouldn't really call that a "break", but it was a good story to hear and a bit of history. I think how different our grandparents grew up than us. They grew up working hard, and sometimes I think Americans my age think we have all these rights to things without working THAT hard. Then I think of the kids I teach... If my students were asked to pick potatoes during their holiday (or any day for that matter), they'd throw a fit - literally! We're wimping out in the world, I think. Maybe manual labor should be part of our school curriculums these days.

I always like hearing my grandparents' stories and this one was no different. Thanks Grandpa!

A Tribute to My Grandpa

My grandpa passed away yesterday. It's hard to be away when something like this happens, especially when it's someone so important to me. But I talked to my grandpa just a few days ago, telling him how much I love him and I'm thinking of him and asked my aunt to give him a kiss for me. Hopefully, that gave him some comfort and let him know how much I love him even from the other side of the world. Since I can't be in Idaho to say good-bye, I have to find a different way to honor my grandpa. So here is a tribute to Leonard Grimes and everything I love about him.

My grandpa was the hardest working man I know. Even at 90 years old he was still mowing his own lawn, raking leaves in the fall, and wiring the tree in his yard to shock the squirrels that ventured toward the bird feeder. My grandpa wasn't a big talker, but when we did have a chat, the common topics included how much he loved my grandma and what a good woman she was, the good life he'd lived with no regrets, and his words of wisdom, such as, "Now don't go getting in any damn trouble, you hear?" My grandpa was a World War II veteran, who earned many medals including the purple heart. He was a hero to many, and I'm very proud that Leonard Grimes was my grandpa.

Grandpa, I love you very much and I pray you are holding your beautiful bride again. Thank you for being such a good grandpa and showing so much love to your family. You are always in my heart.