planning

So we have the project in mind. We have funding for it. Now how to proceed? We knew we wouldn’t get very far if we just pulled into town and stopped people on the street, asking them to talk to us. We decided that the best way to do this would be to contact churches. They are the ones out in front helping people who find themselves in need, through food pantries, community meals, financial assistance, and in other ways. In addition, I have always been very interested in people’s experiences in their spiritual lives, so I am curious to know how the changing economic reality has impacted people’s faith. So that’s our plan. We will talk to various church people in the towns we stop in and will ask them if they know anyone else who would like to talk to us. We will observe the ways in which they are responding to meet the needs in their communities. We will attend services when possible. Now I am even more excited about what we will learn on this trip! Since we have been attending a Quaker church here, it will be particularly meaningful for us to be a temporary part of other Quaker meetings, since there is a wide variety of practice within this small denomination.
A friend donated a road atlas to the cause, so we have examined that, looking at the possibilities. We had decided to point the truck in the direction of Burlington, Vermont and take 2-3 months to get there, stopping along the way. We knew that going south wasn’t a viable option. I hate the summer heat, so try to avoid as much of it as I can. That meant staying north. Even so, there were a few options. We opted for the most northerly interstate, so starting in Oregon, we will go through parts of Idaho, Montana, North Dakota, Minnesota, and Wisconsin. Then we will head southbound for a short while and then eastward again to get around the Great Lakes, going through Illinois, Indiana, Ohio, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, a small portion of New York, Massachusetts, and finally Vermont. I have an aunt in New Jersey that I have not seen in 12 years, so we will plan to stop in and visit with her. We have a few potential contacts already in various places and we hope to get more. We will organize things around whatever contacts we can gather before we leave, knowing that as we proceed, we may end up with more. We are being very flexible. We are open to whatever comes. Living in Klamath Falls for 5 years and dealing with one bizarre experience after another has allowed me to grow into a level of comfort with that kind of thing. The only thing we are expecting is the unexpected!

dealing with the unexpected

Recently, someone said to me, “Living in Klamath Falls is hard.” I was so struck by that comment because I have spent most of the last five years trying to come up with language that was adequate to describe how horrible my experience of this community has been. There it was in a nutshell—clear, concise, simple. Living in Klamath Falls is hard. Yes, indeed.
Though I have found it difficult right from the start, my lowest point occurred during the last 4 months of 2007. I found myself praying the same thing every night before I went to bed. “Please don’t let me wake up in the morning,” I would ask. Then it would be morning, I’d be awake, and I would lay there talking myself into getting up and performing my day. And it was a performance. I put on my plastic face, plodded through each excruciating minute, and looked forward to the moment when I could get back into bed. I spent a great deal of time lying in bed, staring at the ceiling, and crying.
After this had gone on for awhile, I knew it could not go on much longer. I would have to make a choice about whether I even wanted to bother anymore. As I pondered this question, I discovered that I did indeed want to bother—but not like this. I wanted to have a life. And I knew that while I could exist here, I could not have a life. It was a start. From there I was able to begin tossing aside some of the excess baggage I’d been carrying around with me. I knew I would have to turn my attention elsewhere instead of focusing on Klamath Falls. So while I have been physically here for the past year and a half, in every other way, I have been somewhere else. I stopped reading the local paper, terminated—except in the most peripheral ways-- my involvement with everyplace except my church, and I simply got my information from other places—podcasts, websites, books, magazines, etc. This requires a great deal of effort and that is something I will always remember. It is exhausting to do what is required to be in a place like this and stay sane until you can get out. I am tired.
The next step was deciding that we would do what we have done in the past, which is to sell our house and use the proceeds from that to get us started in the next place, which was going to be Ireland. Not the right time for that as we quickly found out! The realtor came and gave us the news—the house is worth less than it was when we bought it five years ago and we owe more than it’s worth. It took a bit of time for the market to deteriorate here to the degree that it had done elsewhere, but it has done so now, and she expects this to last for two more years. So selling was out. So was staying. That meant that we would return the house to the person we bought it from and who was carrying the loan. It also meant that we had nothing financially speaking, since everything was put into the house. This was actually kind of freeing, since it left us with few choices to consider!
We decided to hit the road in our 19-year-old truck and camp at various places in our tent. We would have to figure out how to get money for gas and food along the way. This did not seem unappealing. Then as we were walking around town doing errands we started talking about doing a project while we’re out there. We could collect stories from people about how the economic situation has changed their lives—in both positive and difficult ways. We began to get excited about the idea. We told a few people. The next day after church we were taken to lunch and offered support for this trip! We were astounded and grateful! After that, we began to plan in earnest. The people who decided to support the trip told us that we could keep it between the five of us if we wanted to, but they thought other people in the church community would be interested too. We assured them that we had planned to tell others, but hadn’t had time yet. A couple of weeks later, we gave a presentation at church and the members agreed to set up a fund to which people could contribute if they wanted to. Every person we tell has been very enthusiastic about the idea. We have gotten all kinds of support—people have offered their good wishes, financial support, and donated things we need for the trip. It has been an amazing experience. So we are preparing to leave. And even though we’re still here, it’s been an amazing journey already!!
The prayer flag was created by Dawn Wood from the Klamath Falls Friends Church. Thanks Dawn :)