there once was a biker from whatcom

we answered a craiglist ad that asked "will you work for food?" yes. yes we will. we went out to the farm, where farmer barb has cows, goats, chickens, ducks, dogs, cats, you know, a farm. after 4 hours of farm/yardwork we came home with a dozen duck eggs and a dozen chicken eggs and 22 pounds of her ground beef. all-protein diet begins now.

the internet also brought me a free organ (the piano kind). the organ donor (heh) had just inherited another, larger organ and did not need this one anymore as she does not play the organ at all. it features light-up keys for quick learning. the handbook includes diagrams of all of the circuitry within the organ, which is kinda nuts. the handbook offers this fun idea: bring your pedal organ to the beach! what?


overall we have been very active and acquired many volunteer gigs, including the indie move theater, a local money campaign, an upcoming string band jamboree, a domestic violence org and shelter, the food bank...geez hadn't listed them before. maaaaking friends

our neighborhood is full of small houses with giant windows. there is almost excessive deference to pedestrians and cyclists. everyone is driving around feeling guilty that they are not walking or biking. this is a striking change from el salvador, where you have to frogger your way across streets in terror as cars whip by.

other fun times: this area has some excellent geographical names. cape disappointment. useless bay. sudden valley. when i googled to find others i found this bloggem: Dirty Limericks Based on Washington State Place Names. what a great idea. what an inspiration.

now we live in bellingham

this is our house!

on the ferry to san juan island (check out mt ranier)


polarized goggles, for safety


also for safety


the teacat lurks in the shadows


the inside of our house


on the ferry again


i can see through your lies

now all we need is income.

upupup

exiting san francisco in a hurry

ehow.com told us there was a free place to camp on the beach in orick, CA. more like ehownt. that beach was very illegal and we would have been very exposed to authoritarian predators. we found a little lookout that also said NO CAMPING(this was maybe 11pm) at the top of a cliff. we camped. then we woke up a bit before dawn and hastily uncamped.owen removes the evidences

hey, turned out it was a nice-looking place in the light

DAWN

we pressed on and visited very generous friends in southern oregon.

our friend sam leslie's hops farm in jacksonville, oregon. check out their poles.

we then couchsurfed in eugene and almost stayed to live there but decided not to. our couchsurfing host took us on a hike up the butte on the 4th of july. it gave us a pretty nice panorama of the whole valley's myriad firework displays. the fireworks looked like little spark geysers for we were very high up.

the car, which tentatively bears the name "the teacat," heeds a stop sign in portland, oregon.

owen enjoys water in portland

we pressed on to seattle. we are in kirkland, where my camera relished a delicious hot sunset over lake washington.
ahhhhh

now we go to our somewhat arbitrary destination! bellingham, washington! if anyone is hiring there, do ring.

palo alto - america's high stick

forgive my sepia. but really this is someone's front yard.

the infinitree

congratulations dad winner!!

owen and i waltzed into an open house that was on the market for 1,975,000 and found this wacky shower/worst bathtub

oh by the way i'm in california. we are headed north to oregon this week. green green green.

hop in my sailboat let's dump tea in the harbor

these pictures are from boston

i

well, the last collage, i promise

juana and genesis

lupe and her daughters

edy, jose antonio, and wee sister

ana and bryan

kenia and me

morena and me

andrea carolina and me

send me on my way

yeah i made another collage click on it

don tito, the keeper of knowledge

a farewell party for me

the cake is chocolate and i love it

my legacy...one of three babies named caitlin, which of course is actually spelled "keyli"

26 people who live in las delicias

wendy's quinceañera!

you've probably heard of a quinceañera, probably in a special text box in your spanish book called "cultural notes" or "growing up in latin america." today i went to wendy's quinceañera. it was very, very similar to a wedding. wendy's grandfather even gave her a ring at the mass. below you can see all of the ladies and gentlemen of honor with wendy and the priest.

ring boy looks at ring box with gusto

wendy is documented

the ladies of honor admiring the bride, er, 15 year old

lookin fly on the altar

wendy's cousin jaime makes her exit into the great masses

rudy enjoys an ice cream

back at the house, after an entrance procession set to music provided by the dj, wendy dances the traditional waltz with her main gentleman and then with all of the other gentlemen

the ladies join them

wendy and her main gentleman

do-si-do

this cake cascade is nicer than my life

wendy attacks!!

waitin for cake

cecy (wendy's aunt), jaime and kelly (cecy's daughters)
this is a funny picture

a very fancy event. morena said she'd lend me nice clothes for it, which ended up being the shirt you see above and a jean miniskirt. but other people also came dressed like that. i felt like i was straight out of the party in the usa music video. on the front it says "BIKE CRAZY go to heaven well on wreels ALSO ORRELLGOING HEAVEN american sexy biker ride on the bike" and on the back it says "Exdmss your possnalhp in a from and mona in fhcahahsur mnnuor AVENGERS me nar the nerhuon toub ACOLESCENTS CROWD." looks like somebody got drunk at the typesetting machine. also, the shirt has a funny little hood that fluttered behind me in the many backs-of-pickups that i rode in today.

congratulations wendy. your birthday has been excellent, and i even thought the cake was moist. her parents are both in the states and were not present. kinda sad. i am thinking about going to the bronx and meeting everyone's brothers and sisters and aunts and cousins and whatnot.