Family, Friends and Ferries

Something as simple as 
the 
sun 
asking me 
out. 
Nayirrah Waheed, "the perfect date," Salt (2013)

Corvallis, Oregon

We left the California coast for the Pacific Northwest on January 10th after time with family and book readings in Pasadena and San Clemente. After a week off in Bend, Oregon, we hit the road for Kirkland, Washington where we re-connected with the Rutenbars, beloved community partners from our days in Orange County. We had a fascinating book gathering in nearby Woodinville with former staff from Saddleback Church (now at a megachurch in Seattle) and joined by a cluster of dear friends we've gotten to know over the past five years. It was a deep and encouraging time with a circle that included many pastors, a theology professor, a spiritual director and a couple who work with teens recovering from substance abuse.

We drove (via ferry) from there up to Vancouver Island, B.C. (Canada) where we had multiple book gatherings with two different churches and an intentional community called Emmaus. We celebrated our 14th wedding anniversary huddling in a little vegan joint in rainy downtown Victoria. We pivoted back to the States for another book tour stop in Whidbey Island, Washington with our friends Clancy and Marcia Dunigan, elders who planted an alternative Christian community in Berkeley back in the Reagan years. We met the Dunigans during our "radical road trip" in 2013 and have been back to see them three more times since then. And we get a chance to spend time with them every year at the Bartimaeus Institute in February. They hosted a gathering with folks from their United Methodist Church on the island.

After a month of staying with friends and family, Lindsay came up with the brilliant idea for us to take a desperately needed week off the road and spend some time just the two of us. We decided to settle in Corvallis, the college town where Tom's parents met in 1963 while they were undergrads at Oregon State University. We posted up in a little cottage on the southwest edge of campus, where we spent our time watching blue jays out the oversized window, getting our car tire repaired, reading, writing, cooking, watching shows and movies, going for long runs, sampling beer and coffee, catching up on dance videos to our nephews, and getting tattoos. Normal stuff. Three of the days were pure sunshine and 50 degrees. Practically a tropical paradise contrasted with the polar vortex sweeping through Detroit. We soaked it all up while we could, and were grateful for a chance to slow our pace enough to reset, recover, reflect, and give thanks for each new day.

North Whidbey Island, WA

Lindsay with Roxy Humphrey
on Vancouver Island

Post Pasadena book gathering with the Hur family

A book gathering on Whidbey Island with friends
and co-conspirators of Marcia & Clancy Dunigan.

A quick stop in Alhambra to re-connect with Rev. Josh Lopez-Reyes
and his subversive wife-partner Grecia

And last but not least, a tradition continues. Wrap a Rutenbar in the
blanket and start swinging. These little ones can't get enough of it!

...and yes, it finally happened.
Only 2 years and counting for Lindsay...a little less than that for Tom :)