The Color Beige - A Poem by Sydney Anderson

This summer Sydney was chosen to participate in the Richard Hugo House's summer middle school writers camp. The program is called Scribes. After two weeks of work, the participants were each asked to share a piece of their writing at a reading in front of Hugo House staff, their peers, and invited family and friends. Sydney decided to read her poem, The Color Beige.

The staff were so impressed that she was invited back to read the same poem at their monthly open mike reading for high school and older youth.

We are very proud of Sydney. She continues to write and, we hope, will continue to share her work. We filmed her first reading and want to share it with you here.

Getting in Tune With Nature and Dog

Well, since I do go to an environmental school I thought it would be nice to actually go outside once in a while. So, in early April, on the warmest day of the year so far, Father, Chloe, and I packed up our bags and filled up our water bottles and proceeded to hike Cougar Mountain. Chloe spent the car ride curled up on my knees while I pointed out the window and pretended that she was paying attention. When we finally found a parking spot she leapt out of the car like she was Mom when she has too much coffee. We found out just then that we had forgotten bags so Chloe helped us out by depositing her weight in fecal matter right outside the Honey Bucket. Dad managed to snag some toilet paper and right as he picked up the poo a woman decided that she needed to go. It was quite funny watching as Dad made his "ew!" face and sat the poo covered toilet paper down and waited. When we finally actually started the hike Chloe almost decapitated herself she was pulling so hard, but soon she realized that no matter how hard she pulled we were not going to run down the trail and decided that she would walk at our pace no matter how slow she thought it was. I have to say that is was a very fun hike. The sun was warm enough that I could peel off my sweatpants and walk in my T-shirt and shorts. The sun made the leaves and grass glow green casting a nature induced spell on us as we walked down the moss covered trail. The spell was slightly broken when Chloe started to eat horse poop, but when we made her spit it out we resumed being happy. The falls were amazing, although I think Chloe was kind of freaked out by the loud water. She did however manage to pose for some pictures courtesy of Dad. She was sad to go when we finally wound our winsome way back to the car, but promptly fell asleep on me as soon as the motor started running. It was a pretty good first hike for Chloe, she sure as heck had a good time, and so did I.-Sydney

Caribbean Cruise

In March, Sue and Brian joined old friends Cyn Eels and Doc Snyder for a week aboard the Grand Princess in the Caribbean. Here we are at the port of Ocho Rios, Jamaica.

Just outside of town is the Dunns River Falls, where foolish tourists are herded into the water and up the torrent to the top of the falls. Why? So they can have their picture taken.

The visit to Grand Cayman allowed Brian to get in touch with his inner pirate.

While the day in Cozumel brought snorkeling on the Palancar reef and relaxing at Casa Denis.

The trip ended far too soon with a stop at Princess Cays in the Bahamas where we played in the sand and in the surf and got in a little last minute shopping.