One Hot Saturday Night

On a dark wintry Saturday night, Carl and I joined other enthusiasts to watch women in fishnets and spandex bump and grind their sweaty bodies against one another. Music was pumping, dollar bills were flying, and heart rates were up. Get your mind out of the gutter - this was good old fashioned family-friendly roller derby we were watching, and those dollar bills were donations to send fourth graders to camp.

At the season opener for the Southern Oregon Rollergirls, women with code names like Madame Morticia, Udaho, and Piranhasaurus raced laps on roller skates around a track laid out on an auditorium floor, wearing all the regulation protective gear (helmet, mouth guard, wrist pads, elbow pads, knee pads) and governed by a circling flock of referees in official black and white jerseys. Roller derby is a team sport that involves lapping members of the other team to score points, but it's complicated enough that I'm not going to try and explain it here. If you've ever seen the movie "Whip It" you know what I'm talking about.

Needless to say there were time keepers, score keepers, and lots of rabid fans. These girls are passionate about their sport and it was exciting to see the venue so packed (the only other time I've seen that many people gathered together in Medford was at Costco). Oh, and did I mention Carl was there for work? Yup, he got paid to watch those ladies in their spandex duke it out on the floor.

In other news, it snowed! The town of Ashland received a good four or five inches, depending on how far up the hill you live, and was transformed into a veritable winter wonderland. Schools shut down for a day in celebration (not mine, of course). Bubba enjoyed the cold white goodness covering the world.

The Moment of Truth

After four weeks of spine-tingling anticipation and anxious glances, today was the day of reckoning. Would all the time, tears, patience, and smelly green things lead to fruition in the form of a delectable alcoholic beverage? Or would it all be for naught, that one sneaky dog hair having ruined the entire precious batch? It all came down to this.

We held our breath as the lid was pried open. The hiss of escaping pressure was a reassuring sign; so was the clear amber color as Carl poured the first glass. "Smells like beer", he said after a tentative whiff. Then he took a swig and I swear to you the man started to glow. A grin broke out from ear to ear that would put the Cheshire cat to shame. Beaming triumphantly, holding the glass aloft, he crowed, "I've made beer! And it's damn good, too! I am AWESOME!" Congratulations, Carl, on joining the illustrious ranks of the Homebrew Army; your mom and I are both very proud of you.

The rest of the week wasn't nearly as eventful. I went to school, Carl recovered from a head cold, and Bubba moped at home. It was once again sunny this weekend so we took Bubba for a hike up in the hills behind town, catching glimpses of Mt. McLoughlin over the far edge of the valley and following deer trails through the woods. Back at home we made blue cheese burgers with locally raised beef, cheese from the next town over, and bread baked down the street. Everything's better in Ashland.

Rogue River Rambles

After a busy week there's nothing better to clear the head than some long walks in beautiful places. Since my parents were visiting we had to show them around Ashland Saturday afternoon, winding up at the Standing Stone Brewery for some delicious burgers and beer. Today we trekked a little farther north through the town of Merlin and on out to the Rogue River trail. Just like the name suggests, it's a trail that runs alongside the Rogue River, and if you wanted you could follow it for 40 miles until you hit Gold Beach and the coast. We weren't feeling quite that ambitious so we turned around at Rainie Falls, which at this water level was more of a longish rapid instead of a true waterfall. Here's a picture looking downstream at the beginning of the hike. Let the forced march begin!

Cheesing it up with my folks at Rainie Falls.

The boys and me at the same spot.

While there were a number of people following the Rainie Falls trail on the opposite shore, we only passed one other couple on the cool side of the river. The trail head marks the beginning of the wild and scenic section and we look forward to revisiting the upstream portion when summer arrives (which in this corner of the world will be next month or so).