Deb's Blog - 2005

October 10, 2005

I’m about a month late for my “What I did on my summer vacation” report, but Sandra and Jean’s first trip to Mama’s homeland was memorable. We loaded up our ’93 Eurovan with a pop-top, and headed east – destination Minnesota. The five of us spent (not slept) one night in the van. Hotel rates immediately became more affordable.

When the passenger window refused to close in Billings, the 100-degree heat convinced us it was worth a delay to get it fixed. We left at 3:00 that afternoon, and within an hour, the air conditioner stopped. A few calls confirmed that the closest necessary part was in Fargo. With three small kids, we traveled through Montana and North Dakota, hitting every rest area armed with our new purchases – squirt guns. (The “G” word wasn’t used in our home for years.) We’d get out, run around squirting each other, reload guns and snack containers (junk food – another purchase), climb back in, put a DVD in my laptop (we purchased a few movies, too), and drive until the next stop. Sometimes survival gets top billing over good parenting.

Kaj at spirit lake

We reached Minnesota a little warm and weary, and spent our days hanging out at “the lake” (which means any lake you normally go to in “Minnesotan”). Our lake was actually two – Spirit Lake, in my hometown of Menahga, and nearby Stocking Lake, at my sister and brother-in-law’s cabin.

After a few days, Karl flew off to join the Shifty Sailors. No, he didn’t leave us, though he may have felt like not coming back. The Shifty Sailors are a singing group from Whidbey, created and directed by Karl’s brother Vern. Each summer they leave the island (and country) for a couple weeks to follow the tall ships. This year was Wales and France.

Sandra and Jean, with us for just a year at that point, met an overwhelming number of family and friends at Menahga’s Midsummer Celebration. Fireworks, food stands, carnival rides, and a parade that you can only find in small towns, were the highlights for our under-nine crowd. Some of my favorite Minnesota activities were seeing so many people I love, meeting the folks at Beagle Books in Park Rapids (who hosted a signing for me), and listening to Karl’s concert before he left on his trip. If you’d like to hear his love song CD, let me know. I’d be happy to send one off to you.

The transition into fall has been both chaotic and calming. We’re still trying to design a schedule that works for our family. We have days were all five of us head different directions. A friend suggested a color-coded calendar, but conceded that putting it on paper doesn’t always make it happen. I said I didn’t have the color-coding gene.

I’m enjoying being back at the Cedar program, supporting families, and helping kids become whoever they are going to be. We’re a family at Cedar, and the new families who have joined us already feel like old friends. Several of them have adopted children. If you’d like to see the kinds of classes we offer, click on “Cedar Program” at www.wingsnw.com. You don’t need to log in to view our schedule.

I’ll be at a couple conferences during this next month. The Washington Library Media Association (WLMA) will meet in Yakima later this week (Oct. 13-15). I’ll be presenting a session, signing books, and playing with my old library friends. In November I’ll wear my school hat and attend the Washington Association of Learning Alternatives conference in Chelan.

Whatever your plans are, enjoy the fall air (no air conditioning necessary), and pause to watch little kids in leaves (without squirt guns).

Sunday, June 25, 2005

June 29 will be Adoption Day. It’s the one-year mark of our life with Sandra and Jean. We don’t know yet how we’ll observe the event, but it will include some sort of ritual that we can repeat each year. If you have any ideas, let me know! When I woke up this morning, I thought about the hands in their lives – the ones that birthed them and the ones who brought them to us. Sandra and Jean’s hands, our hands, the hands of friends who have helped us. Maybe we’ll trace hands to show the physical growth on each adoption day, or maybe we’ll draw hands and write poetry about hands. A book of hands, perhaps, with words and wishes, written by many hands – a book that we would take out and add entries each year. A book that says “we will be here” through its intention of being an annual project.

We’re still in the midst of transition for our family. Some aspects will just become part of our life-long journey. There are many stories I could tell you, but those stories belong to Sandra and Jean. I’m thankful for all the things we’re learning and all the ways we’re growing. Thank you for your warm wishes and support.

I’ve also learned in other ways recently. To renew my teaching certificate, I’ve had several classes and clock hours to complete this spring, which is one of the reasons you haven’t heard much from me lately. Many of the classes were offered by Heritage Institute, which is affiliated with Antioch University. I think of Heritage Institute as a “Cedar program” for adults. The Cedar program is the homeschool support program that I founded and co-direct along with David Pfeiffer. If you want meaningful, research-based, experiential courses that will inspire your teaching, please visit Mike Seymour and his gang at www.hol.edu.

This next week I’ll be in a three-day retreat called “We Teach Who We Are.” I’m looking forward to sharing time with Mike and other educators who are interested in helping children learn and discover who they’re meant to be. Other events I’ve been to lately include “Learning to Move, and Moving to Learn,” a “Learning and the Inner Life” conference in Seattle, and a “Touch Drawing” course by Deborah Koff-Chapin, who lives here on Whidbey Island. If you have an artist’s soul with hands that don’t always create what you envision, take one of Deborah’s classes. You’ll fall in love with “process” and you’ll move way beyond the blank sheet of paper. Check it out at www.touchdrawing.com.

I also attended a retreat recently with my friend Sandy Kulman. She has been helping women lead more fulfilling lives through her incredible workshops. One of the highlights was Sandy telling me about a book she wanted to write with me – one I’ve wanted to write with someone for months. We’ll see where that leads.

Last weekend, Karl and I were in Leavenworth for a night away. We arrived on Sunday, ten minutes before my book signing at “A Book for All Seasons.” Thank you, Amy, Pat, Nat, and Stephen for a wonderful visit. They put us up in the “James Herriot” room of their delightful “author” hotel, the Innsbrucker Inn. Imagine having an independent bookstore, quaint hotel, and Starbucks all in the same building! That evening, Karl gave a love song concert (thanks, Maren). The next morning, I taught a group of girls from Amy’s summer writing camp. We enjoyed sharing our writing experiences, dreaming about future ideas, and playing with words.

On July 5, we load the three kids into our ’93 Eurovan with a pop-top and head to Minnesota to visit my family and friends. We’ll be driving, arriving in time for Menahga’s Midsummer Celebration, the peak of my childhood summers. Karl will fly to London to catch up with the “Shifty Sailors” as they tour with the tall ships.

If you’re in the Spokane area, stop in and say hi to me at Auntie’s Bookstore on July 5 at 5:30. Once in Minnesota, I’ll be at Beagle Books in Park Rapids, Minnesota at 11:00 on Friday, July 15. Details for other events are still being completed. We’re looking forward to seeing everyone, and spending time at “the lake.” (For those of you not from MN, “the lake” refers to any one of the many thousands.)

For our friends around here – Welcome the Larsens, who will live at our house for the few weeks we’re away.

Thanks for your notes, especially you kids I’ve met at signings, classes, or here online after trying one of my “Try This!” activities. I love seeing the writing my ideas have inspired. Keep in touch, and keep on writing!

Wednesday, March 23, 2005

Happy Spring! And Happy Easter to those of you who observe the holiday. It's been a packed several weeks for us -- here are a few highlights.

Kaj, Jean, and Sandra at Holden Village.

"Deb Lund - a swashbuckler on the tossed seas of literature." That's the sign that greeted me February 19 at "A Book for all Seasons," the delightful bookstore tucked into the Innsbrucker Inn in Leavenworth, Washington. We had spent the week at Holden Village in the Cascades with good friends Lars and Anne Clausen, and stopped for a book signing on the way home. I'll be back to the store in June to kick off "Book Camp." Amy Carlson, their clever, resourceful events person, is the lead teacher for this incredible summer writing (and playing!) experience for kids.

The first weekend of the month was the seventh Whidbey Island Writers Conference, which many say is the best conference of its kind in the nation. It's where I've been able to spend time with great authors and teachers like Jane Yolen, Bruce Coville, Paula Danziger, Marion Dane Bauer, and many others. It's also where I met Michael Stearns, editor of Dinosailors. This year was the first conference without our magnanimous founding director, Celeste Mergens. Congratulations to the conference team and to Elizabeth Guss, whose organizational skills kept the conference on course. People came, wrote, set goals, and promised to return. If you'd like to know more about the conference, check out http://www.writeonwhidbey.com. Maybe I'll see you there next year!

On March 12, a mob of writers, illustrators, librarians, and friends gathered at the new Seattle Public Library to celebrate with Chauni Haslet, the well-loved book queen of All For Kids Books and Music. If you're in the Seattle area, stop in and say hi to Chauni and Renee. And be sure to check out the autographed room with notes and doodles from many of your favorite authors and illustrators.

Karl Olsen Concert April 1

If you're local, or want to travel a bit to treat yourself to a great evening, read on, and pass it on to your friends...

Karl Olsen will appear in a release concert for his latest CD, This Love. The concert will be at Trinity Lutheran Church (highway 525 and Woodard Road in Freeland) at 7:30 on Friday, April 1 (No foolin', it really is!). The concert is free and will feature selections from This Love as well as other songs from Olsen's repertoire. There will be refreshments and CD sales following the program.

Olsen, a local favorite, has performed in many concerts and events as a solo artist or with local groups such as SING!Chronicity, The Shifty Sailors, The Basics and the Whidbey Island Chorale.

The CD is a collection of love songs selected from his earlier concert at Whidbey Island Center for the Arts. This Love contains jazz, pop, and folk numbers, as well as many standards from decades past. Some are Olsen's personal compositions and one was written by his father, George Olsen. Musicians Michael Nutt, Siri Sobbotka, and Olsen's wife, Deb Lund, accompany him on the CD. The concert was recorded and edited by Gregory Garbarino.

Come and enjoy an evening of love songs and treats, and take some music home with you. For more information, email karl@trinityfreeland.org or call 360.331.5195.

Yup. That's right. I'm on the CD. Just a little harmony on one number -- "Old Love." And speaking of old, this is the time of year when Karl enjoys life with an older woman for 7 weeks. He catches up with me on March 30. If you can't make the concert but want a CD, just email me at deb@deblund.com. I'll see that you get one.

Friday, January 14, 2005

The day I re-met my husband Karl Olsen (that's another story I'll tell you soon), I got to hear him perform. I have a music degree and taught music for years, so I've heard a lot of great voices. That's why I can say that it's not often you run into a voice like his. I don't know - maybe there are other factors influencing me (like he's the sweetest man I know), but I'll never forget that first concert. Now he's done something several of us have been begging him to do for years. A love song CD! He's sung many love song concerts through the years, always to packed audiences, and his followers will be thrilled to finally have him in their homes instead of waiting for the next concert.

Karl's CD will be out around Valentine's Day. If you'd like to preorder one, send me an email for more information. The CD's will be selling for $15 plus $3 shipping. If you order 3 or more, we'll pay the shipping. I'm happy to share him with you!

Saturday, January 1, 2005 - Happy New Year!

Each year on New Year’s Day (except during the snowstorm when Kaj was born), we write our resolutions on the beach during low tide. I’d share some of mine with you, but that would defeat the purpose of writing them on the beach. We have two theories about what happens after scribbling our thoughts in the sand. The tide comes in and washes away any evidence that our resolutions existed, or they’re carried off to the universe to become a reality. Either version is okay with me.

New Year’s Day is also Haiti’s Independence Day, so we’re adding new traditions to our New Year’s activities. We tell the story of how Haiti became a free black nation. We sing Haitian songs in Creole, and we eat Haitian pumpkin soup and fried plantains.

However you choose to recognize this new year, I hope the celebration and your year are both joyful.

Okay, I’ll share one word from the beach trip. A word from Kaj – “Peace!”

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