Radio Silence...

Because I'm actually on the radio among other things this week.  This Saturday is the big day.  I'll be back on-line after it is all done.

Race for the Rivers  is:

• canoe and kayak races
• bike rides -- still time to sign up!
• festival
• music fest
• food and beer
• green vendors
• hands on activities for all ages
• Asian carp fish fry
• Stream tables
• opportunities to volunteer 
• FREE voyager class canoe rides on the Missouri River
• and the fundraiser for Greenway Network, Inc. 

Stop by the Greenway Booth if you are able to come out and ask for me.  If I'm not in the WaggonsWest booth, I'll be there or they will be able to find me.  I'd love to say hi.  

Did I mention the FREE voyager class canoe rides on the Missouri River? 

Oh My (Random Thoughts)

I have no idea where this week has gone.  Nor am I exactly sure where the summer has gone.  Here is one last look at the lake (admittedly from a couple years ago.) 

The weather has certainly turned colder around here.  When I went to the Post Office at 4 pm,  (to send out Christmas Coal...) it was 82 degrees.  When I got in the car to take Spud 3 to scouts it was 48 degrees. 

It has been so warm around here for so long that I am right out of the habit of cooking.  Sandwiches and salad don't heat up the kitchen much.  Nor do they create much in the way of dishes.  However, I think I am about ready for some variety.

The annual chili cook-off and pumpkin carving is at our church this weekend.  The cold weather is making the idea of cooking chili much more appealing than it was a couple days ago. I have to decide if I'm going traditional this year or if I continue my streak of entering odd-ball chili recipes.  

We don't have any pumpkins yet.  I'll have to see if the spud wants to carve one or if he just wants to hang out help the younger ones.  I haven't even managed to decorate for Halloween.  I think that at this point decorations are highly unlikely.

I had the opportunity to join with a group of people from around the country at the Mississippi River Network meetings this week.  It is so exciting to meet them and to learn all about the amazing things they are doing to protect the Mississippi River Watershed, otherwise known as the Louisiana Purchase.  The first thing we did, by way of introduction was to tell of our first experience with the river; to answer the question, what draws you to the river.  Let's just say there was an awful lot of wading, swimming, caving, climbing, catching and general mucking about when mom wasn't looking going on.  It certainly renewed my belief in the need to bring as many people as possible to the river. 

The meeting was also another opportunity to catch up with the Quapaw Canoe Compay crew.  While I have still not met John Ruskey in person (I'm beginning to think he is an imaginary, no legendary figure!) I did get a chance to catch up with some of the guys.  Here is a picture of the mighty Quapaw in the Junebug, a canoe they built, taking some folks out on the river at the Race for the Rivers Festival this summer.  You really should check out the fine work they are doing down in Clarksville on the river and in their community.

I am making my last few preparations for a craft show on Saturday.  This is the first time I've actually set up my booth space ahead of the show.  I've taken some time to not only map out the space but to physically place the items and displays on the tables.  I've chosen to go with black tablecloths as they won't stain and they won't compete with the bright colors of the sunpaint fabrics.  I even managed to make a banner this time.  I still have to make some signs and either find or re-print my cards so I need to get busy.  I'll try to remember to take pictures and post them when I get a chance. 

Paddling

Bohemiannie! asked me to tell more about the Race for the Rivers.  For the first time, I didn't even manage to take my camera.  I personally have no pictures other than a few I took on my phone.   I'll start by sharing a few that have been sent to me.  These were taken by M Garvey.  They are very low resolution but they will give you an impression of the day on the river.  He was on one of the support boats that went along with the paddlers. 

Maybe I should start at the beginning... at 9 am we launched paddlers in canoes, kayaks and stand up paddle boards from 20 miles out and from 41 miles out.  There were 97 boats registered.  We send support boats with them.  The image above was taken after one of the heart-stopping moments during the day.  Shortly after launch I looked out at the river and saw this barge going up river toward our paddlers.  I am in touch with the barge folks.  They didn't have this one on the roster.  Paddlers in small boats have to respect the barges.  The barge cannot react.  With the water as low as it is, there is less room for everyone to maneuver.  Our wonderful radio communications crew got word out as quickly as possible to the support boats to warn the paddlers.  Fortunately, there was only one close call and that was with a well trained crew who knew how to paddle through the wake. 

The paddlers go through some amazing scenery, natural and man-made as well as some naturally altered man-made... those are full size trees on the bridge support.  They are left from the extreme flooding of last summer.   

We track the paddlers all along the route.  We get reports of their progress.  They faced a stiff wind for much of the day.  We had it in the park.  It was problematic for the tents, but made the 90+ degree day tolerable. 

Eventually they cross under the last bridge and are within sight of the park and sound of the music. 

 That is where there were helpers to get them on shore.  Fans to cheer them on.  The sweet sound of the airhorn signalling their finish and documenting their time. 

Day two saw some of our intrepid adventurers off on another 24 mile stretch of the river.  

  The crew on one of the support boats along with the radio operator.  All smiles as they keep track of our paddlers.  What a great way to spend a morning!

Still smiling.

 These six guys in five boats completed 65 miles on the Big Muddy.  Awesome paddlers.  Awesome guys.  And a great day. 

As I collect more pictures and have more time to reflect, I will share some adventures at the Race for the Rivers.

Lists

I always thought I was a list maker and list crosser-offer.  I always figured I relied on my lists and could find whatever was necessary from my lists.  I have also, always known that I am organizationally challenged.  Finding my list, filing my list, remembering which pad I wrote my list on was a challenge.  Heaven only knows how many clip boards that say C's STUFF have floated from booth to booth, table to table, finally found and retrieved by whichever spud is driving the golf cart this year.  It is truly a challenge.

Over the past few months I have been working hard to learn to delegate.  What I have learned is that the lists are all in my head.  Writing them is really just a means to cement them into my brain.  The paper is pretty much irrelevant to the final memory. 

Fortunately, or unfortunately as the case may be, the folks to whom I am delegating have discovered this as well.  That the paper lists aren't really the real list.  There is always more.  Some detail or relationship that needs to be attended to.

The long suffering Mr D has finally decided that he is going to extract all of the lists from my head and put them into electronic documents that can be sorted, prioritized and understood by any who access them. His lists are a thing of beauty.  No really,  there is nothing so beautiful (at least today) as an excel spreadsheet that has all the relevant information laid out in order.  No random notes.  No bizarre columns off to the side with weird shorthand and unidentified calculations.  Yes, I am trying my best to help him.  But it is infinitely clear to anyone who looks which ones are mine. 

The thing is, I am greatly afraid that once Mr D extracts the last little bit of information from my brain, categorizes, sorts it and commits it to electrons the vacuum left behind will cause my head to implode. 

Well, we'll see next week.  Pray for good weather and safe passage for all of our racers and riders and festival attendees.  And perhaps a wee one for my poor head, soon to be empty of all but the most trivial of details. 

Full Speed Ahead

The Race for the Rivers is just over one week away. Sewing and blogging will be light over the next while as we head into the home stretch.   Come on by if you are in the neighborhood.  Stop in at the Greenway Network booth and say hi. 

What Happened Here?

We throw a lot of parties around here and have the snack prep and post party clean up down to a science.  But after the guests left last night we were left with a different kind of carnage.  The floor was covered in shreds of blue and white t-shirts.

The table around which everyone sat looked like this.  Sharp objects and one lone caramel zucchini cupcake.  (Totally awesome cupcakes baked by one of the guests.  I'll see if I can get her to share the recipe.)

The result of 3 hours of cutting and snipping and pulling and tying?  Two bags of worms!

Actually it is two bags of wrist bands for the Race for the Rivers bike rides.  We decided to go green and skip buying the plastic wrist bands to identify our riders.  These upcycled bands are more comfortable and will come in handy for wiping sweat!  Even better they are washable and re-usable so our riders can take them home and proudly wear them in the future. 

Misson: Clean Stream

I already told you about Mission: Clean Stream.  I don't have any numbers to report yet.  I just like this picture. 

Mission: Clean Stream 2012

 

 Saturday was a beautiful day.  It was sunny until about 2pm.  The weather was comfortably warm.  The flowers were in bloom and we had a trash clean up.  Mission: Clean Stream is an annual event, coordinated by my little organization.  We were scheduled to clean on April 14 this year.  There were 1138 people pre-registered to help out.  That would have set a record for us.  Unfortunately, we had severe weather that morning and had to postpone until this past weekend.  Turnout was very light as you might expect.  Trying to cram one more thing into already jam-packed Spring schedules was just too much.  But we did have somewhere in the neighborhood of 300 people scattered across several dates and locations.  And they did manage to pick up a BUNCH of trash.  

 

Here is part of a load of metal being scoured for useable parts by our Stream Trash ARTists.  START is the brainchild of the gentleman in the yellow shirt.  He arranges to bring in sculptors to the event and they use the trash pulled from the stream to create lasting sculptures.  The sculptures, along with appropriate signage, are displayed across the county to remind folks to not litter. 

All in all, it was a very rewarding experience for the participants and a great day for our rivers and streams. 

And now that it is May and Earth Month is over, I might just be able to get back to some "want to" as opposed to "have to" sewing projects.  But I do it with a renewed sense of my place in the environment and an even stronger desire to find ways to use what I have and what I can upcycle in my projects. 

Real Life

Real life is messing with my sewing and blogging time. So I will leave you with another picture from the 2010 Sunlight Project Quilt created by the Crossroads Quilters. Paintings by Twig. Quilting by Feather Touch Quilting. Sunpaint fabric (the pinkish and green patches) by festival attendees.

I am still looking for some one to take on the project for this year!

Recruiting!

It is almost Earth Day. The folks at Greenway Network are getting ready to for a big festival season. And that means SUNPAINTING!

Here are some kids at a recent festival making their sunpaint fabric. We usually have HUNDREDS of kids come by and play with our paint and things. Most of them are able to come back and get their fabric to take home as a souvenir. Some don't make it back and some simply donate the fabric to the Sunlight Quilt Project.

You see, while the kids are painting with our volunteers, we are talking to their adults about the problems associated with invasive species. One of the biggest problems we have around here is bush honeysuckle. It is a huge problem because it crowds out the native plants that grow in the forest floor, creates pathways for predators to get to songbird nests and may even add toxins to the soil that prevent some native species from growing.



That brings us back to the pieces of fabric that are left over from our festival events. For the past several years, we have given the fabric to local quilt guilds. They have assembled quilts which we then raffle. The money raised goes to support our invasive species education and eradication projects. Last year we used funds from the Sunlight Project to purchase special tools called honeysuckle poppers. They make it easier to get the plant out of the ground. We have been using these tools at several removal projects throughout the Confluence Region.

You see, that is the origin of the Sunlight Project name. We use sunlight to paint the fabric and removing bush honeysuckle brings sunlight back to the forest floor.

It is time to get started on the project again. We are looking for a quilter or group of quilters who will be willing to donate their time and the extra materials (batting, backing, quilting) to make a quilt. We have some fabric available now and will have more at the end of April. We need to have the quilt ready for display before our annual Race for the Rivers event at the end of August. We start selling raffle tickets as soon as the quilt is ready and the drawing takes place at our annual meeting in late October or early November.

Let me know if you are interested in working on the project.