World Famous 4th Of July Party!

Someone has been following the blog and is intimately familiar with our growing list of Family Rules For Surviving As A Nomad, specifically rule #4! When we showed up at Aunt Debby and Uncle Barry’s house for the 4th of July party, everything was “World Famous”. We had a great time celebrating the day we whooped the Brits.

Photo #1 – Stevie with Aunt Debby after arriving at the “World Famous” party
Photo #2 – The Fam getting ready to kick it off
Photo #3 – Indra showing off her “World Famous Ceviche”
Photo #4 – Barry passing around his “World Famous Mai Tai”
Photo #5 – Theo showing off his “Trujillo Blood”
Photo #6 – Nica and Stevie – flowers in the hair is all the rage

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Lonesome No More!

We are up in Bellingham this week with Tree’s family….MY family!  I’m so happy that I’m marrying into a tribe that is so warm, welcoming, and teeming with strong women. I definitely believe that as people, our spirits grow exponentially faster in a relationship, and part of that is because our network of communication, exposure to wisdom, and awareness of others grows with the addition of our spouse’s family.  

One of my favorite authors, Kurt Vonnegut, wrote, “Human beings need all the relatives they can get- as possible donors or receivers not necessarily of love, but of common decency.”  He believed that the extended family, or adopting strangers as kin, was the backbone of humanitarianism, and that the dissipation of it in America was the cause of widespread loneliness on a personal and social scale.  He also believed that the extended family was a key component in a long and healthy marriage.  The idea is that two people will inevitably grow weary of one another if the only thing they gain in the partnership is the other person.  But if the couple gains an extra ten people for instance, the likelihood of staying stimulated increases tenfold.  Vonnegut went on to say that it was this loneliness and deep longing for family that drove people to religion, a sad and desperate act that often leads to irrational thought and senseless violence, he thought. In the science fiction novel Slapstick (or Lonesome No More!) Vonnegut humorously addresses this breakdown with the creation of the “artificial extended family”.  Every citizen is given a middle name like Rock, Flower, or Rainbow for example, and every other person with the same middle name as you is your new relative. Ta-Da! Lonesome no more!  

Fortunately, I don’t need an artificial family. I have plenty of love spreading from the East coast to Los Angeles and up through the Northwest.  I feel very, very blessed!

Yesterday we went to the Bellingham market, a cross between a farmer’s market and an art walk with live music.  It was a blast!!! I peddled a blender to make a smoothie, Nica learned to hula-hoop, Theo had his face painted, Indra, Angela and I shopped, and Tree and Brent patiently supported our mission. Today is the 4^th of July, and we’re going to Aunt Debby and Uncle Barry’s later to celebrate our in-TER-dependence.

Much love to all of you!!

-STEVIE

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Just Good Fun

I love my family! - TREE

http://www.outdoorplay.com

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Sprinter Life - we love it!

Life on the road, we love it! At this point we can't imagine living any other way.

Photo #1 – The Northern Cascade sunset burns up the sky at our urban bivy

Photo #2 – Stevie showing me how she would “plow a field”

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No Canada – No Problem

We dropped back into the Okanagan Valley where we stumbled onto an amazing winery. Rockwell Cellars is located in the little town of Omak. Doug, the owner and a 4th generation local, poured us all 18 of his wines. We hit it off and he took us back into “The Room” where we were treated to 3 amazing barrel samples. I think his Malbec is going to be special. It’s due to be bottled this winter. After that we cruised into the Northern Cascade Mountains. Life is gooood!

Photo #1 – Me and Kiki going Western

Photo #2 – Stevie being treated to barrel tasting at Rockwell Cellars

Photo #3 – Me and Kiki taking in the view of the Liberty Bell. I climbed this big granite rock wall almost exactly 5 years ago!

Over and Out - TREE

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