Rowing

I've started rowing again since moving to klamath falls... ere's a nice little rowing club on lake ewauna, less than two miles from my house so I bike down and row for an hourish then bike back home. I recently have had a lapse of about a month in my rowing because of a variety of factors (vacations, sickness, horribly smokey air from local forest fires) and had finally stopped really caring if I went at all. Today Adam called me from work to see if I was planning in rowing. I wasn't, but changed my plans and decided to go. I went and had a great time, despite getting quite soaked from large waves since the water was a little rough. Today I learned how easy it is to convince myself that I don't care to do an activity that I really like to do, and also how much I will enjoy formerly pleasurable activities if I can get myself off my lazy bum and moving again. 

Basketball

Today I learned (again) that if I don't exercise for two weeks and then try to play basketball, I will have a hard time running up and down the court a bajillion times. In other news, I'm thinking about trying to run a 5k next month and I am not a runner...

Midges

Someone warned me that midges in Klamath Falls are really bad in the summer. Today I had my first run-in with the nasty blighters. They don't bite, so I suppose as far as bugs go they're really not too bad, but they swarm like crazy around Upper Klamath Lake. Today we went to lower Moore park after dinner, which, of course, is prime time for bugs of all sorts. There were so many midges outside our car when we got there I almost drove back home, but this was the first time we'd taken Lydia to the park since she got her cast off. They were thankfully not too thick around the swings so that's where I spent most of my time. They are little green bugs that apparently hatch in the lake and come up to mate in big swarms. They can be found all over the northwest but are particularly plentiful here in Klamath Falls. The scientific name for this type of midge is Chironomus utahensis, as it is also found it Utah, where it was first named. They're known to clog car radiators and people who live in their region often have big piles of dead midges that they need to sweep off their porches every DAY. Yuck, yuck, and yuck. Unfortunately, I also learned that they will most likely be around until September. The internet tells me I should be thankful for the midges since the larvae are fed on by a variety of fish and contribute to the food chain for trophy trout, which Klamath lake is apparently famous for. I'm not convinced that it's worth it. (note: midges were native here, they were not introduced to compete with mosquitos... this picture was taken from a true or false page of the klamath county museum website)

chess and scriptures

Today I learned how to get a checkmate if I have a queen and a king versus a king and if I have a rook and a king versus a king. Since I tend to lose endgames very very badly, this will be helpful in my chess endeavors. I need to learn more checkmates but it's a good start.

Also, since it's Sunday, I've been working on memorizing scriptures. The LDS church has what we call scripture mastery. Church leaders picked out 25 scriptures each from the old testament, new testament, book of mormon, and doctrine and covenants. LDS youth who go through seminary in high school learn all 100 scripture masteries. Since I never went through seminary, I never learned them, and have decided to learn a few each week during church, since, honestly, I barely ever pay attention to the lessons in Sunday school or relief society anyway. I only have a few more in the new testament section, though I need to work on solidifying some of the ones I've already learned. After that, I'm moving on to the old testament. My goal is to learn all 100 by the end of the year.

Snotty Boy and Square

So today I learned that when Henry, who usually falls asleep with hardly a peep, has a completely stuffed up nose that prevents him from sucking his thumb, he will scream his little boy head off for hours before falling asleep, then repeatedly wake up throughout the night. I ended up bringing him to bed with me since he and Lydia share a room and I didn't want him waking her up. It was a good choice for him, but not for me. Woo, I'm tired.

I also learned that I can take credit cards using my iPad with a free square reader. The downside is that I don't have a data plan for my iPad so I'm not sure if I can use it if I don't have a wifi connection. I signed up to go to a small scale community sale on the 17th so hopefully I'll get to try it out then. If it works well we may use it when Adam opens his clinic, until he figures out a more permanent solution.

Pee

Today I learned that if I'm debating making my daughter try to use the potty I should always go with my gut, which usually involves making her pee, instead of listening to her when she says she doesn't have to pee and instead allowing myself to get distracted by reading an article about why I shouldn't be reading an article about Kate Middleton's post baby belly. The result of my folly was urine all over the kitchen, hallway, and bathroom, where I finally found Lydia standing near the potty.

The Settling of Oregon

I just finished the book "Adventurers of Oregon" by Constance Lindsay Skinner. It's an interesting narrative and includes details mostly of the fur trade in early America. The parts that I have found thought provoking are the start of the vast American settler influx and e role of alcohol in trading with the native Americans.

After the war of 1812 the British controlled much of the Oregon territory through the Hudson Bay company, lead at the time by one McLaughlin. he ruled the area much as a feudal lord and was respected by white and native alike. He was strong and fair. The natives called him chief white eagle and everyone lived fairly peaceably. some farming was established by retired traders. Then one of the native tribes, the Salish, sent some men to find Clark (from Lewis and Clark), to ask him to give them a bible and to send a missionary to teach them. Clark did not do so, but word of the expedition got out and interest in Oregon rose once again. After this a flood of missionaries and settlers began to head for Oregon. The natives became uneasy about their lands being taken. McLaughlin was deposed as the Americans were against the Hudson's bay company (despite being treated fairly and generously), and the natives began to rise up. I don't doubt that settlers would eventually have come to Oregon, but I can't help but wonder how long it would have taken had the Salish not sent to Clark in search of the Bible.

The use of alcohol in trading with the native Americans was a controversial practice. Some trading companies provided alcohol liberally and some forbade the practice of trading with alcohol. I am a little torn on the topic. On the one hand I commend The companies that did not allow alcohol because they seem much more honest and concerned for the well-being of their fellow men, but on the other hand, I believe that the natives should have been able to withstand the temptation. Having lived near an Indian reservation, I have seen first-hand the hold that alcohol still has on many of the people. It makes me wonder if there is some genetic predisposition toward alcoholism or perhaps some historical reason why the natives would be likely to become abusers of alcohol. Is it because it was so new? Who knows. I do think it contributed to the decline of the natives and their defeat by the Americans. I was also surprised at how much the tribes warred against each other and it made me a little sad every time a tribe was kind and helpful to the whites. Part of me wishes I could warn them that they are facilitating their own downfall through their kindness. Who knows, but we may never have discovered the mouth of the Columbia at all without their help.