Rainbow Season

Last week was my dad's 70th birthday and we went with my parents on a 45-mile roundtrip drive for Chinese food (well worth it) and came home through some stormy skies. The rainy season here is nothing like what we experienced in Portland, but it does put a damper on outdoor activities. Thankfully we don't have to take the dogs on long walks through the city anymore when it's raining, we just boot them out the front door.

Lazlo barks at thunder - it's hilarious. Also, airplanes, geese, helicopters.

Sunday we decided to have a picnic (a cheap activity when we're broke and have cabin fever), so we drove up the South Fork of the Clearwater. Despite cloudy skies and cooler temps, there were a lot of people out camping, fishing and even floating the river on catamarans.

We scouted some camp sites and stretched our legs after eating our egg salad picnic lunch.

The lettuce I planted in the grain drill we installed on the front porch is stretching up toward the sky. I will have some tasty homegrown salads here soon. I was worried it might not get enough light, but these little guys are going strong.

  
The bathroom remains Under Construction. Being broke slows us down. So we wait and in the meantime try to get done what we can with items we already have. We spent $16.95 on an all-wood, Made in the USA toilet seat at the local hardware store and borrowed the dog food bucket to mock up our composting toilet.

Getting inspiration from a variety of places including The Pee and Poo Show (ha!) and here for urine diversion and here for composting the poop in rain barrels. I think there will definitely be a learning curve, but it just doesn't make sense to either one of us to use fresh water to deal with human waste.

One of the most beneficial practices I've started recently is going to a weekly yoga class at Riverbend Yoga  (above). It's held in the walk-out basement of this house on the South Fork and it's the best $5 I spend. One hour of gentle yoga on a Saturday morning helps me get rid of stress, build strength and improve balance. Our teacher does a great job of incorporating mindfulness lessons and I always feel like a better person when I leave. This week Saturday's class is canceled and I knew I didn't want to wait another whole week for my de-stressing, so I went on Wednesday night. It had been raining off and on all day and our teacher mentioned it was "rainbow season" which is a much more positive take on the weather. I also started reading Karen Armstron's "Twelve Steps to a Compassionate Life" and I'm finding that helpful in dealing with some of the stress of work and everyday life. Definitely recommend!