Sugar Snow

Wow. I'd heard endless stories of the sublime condition of the early Bend-Cascades snow, but had not quite had the opportunity to experience it firsthand.

Here in Bend, the kiddos have an extended Thanksgiving break. No school on the Friday before Thanksgiving, and the entire holiday week itself off. At loose ends, EE and I drafted a demanding schedule for ourselves on that first day off.

Priority number one: A hearty breakfast. Before we moved to Bend, we were regulars at the Original Pancake House in Salem due to Mommy's deep-seated pancake addiction. we decided to swing by the Bend branch for eggs, cakes and bacon - we were not disappointed.

Priority number two: Locate and frolic in fresh powder. It was a beautiful day - nary a cloud in the sky - but we knew there had been a fresh powder dump in the last few days. Our question was - how far up did we need to go to access the "fresh pow?" A few quick inquiries to the locals solved that in short order. Go to La Pine and up, or up Century Drive above Meissner. Given our current location at the intersection of Century and Colorado, heading to the Bachelor area was a given. While there were patches of ice on the roads in downtown Bend, by the time we reached Widgi Creek, snow sprinkled the shoulders and fairways. Just 10 more miles provided us with a highway of hardpack and a good 8 inches of snow at roadside.

We pulled over and parked at Dutchman Flats - in the shadow of Mt. Bachelor and a great launching point for various trails. Luckily there were no snowmobiles in attendance today - just a scattering of retired folk on cross country skis.


Our plan was to have one hell of a snowball fight, build a snowman and explore a mile or two of woodland trails. We were stymied on two of three counts. The snow was the most beautiful, delicate, fine, dry, angel-fine sugar. Forget snowballs and snowmen - this was impossible to pack. That didn't bring an end to the fun, though. We flung the superfine dust at each other, tossed it up in the air to see which way the wind was blowing and ran for several hours through the undisturbed snow in the meadow.

The mountain views were spectacular and provided a great opportunity to test out our new digital camera. Although it was a nippy 30 degrees outside, we stayed warm in the bright sun. This negligent mommy forgot to bring sunglasses for the kid - realizing this only after a good ninety minutes. The poor guy could have gone snow blind.

Priority number three: Return books to the library. Check!

Priority number four: Dinner with friends and music at McMenamins' Old St. Francis. We arranged to meet our good friends and their baby daughter for a brew pub dinner at 6:15. After being informed we'd have a 20 minute wait, we were finally seated 40 minutes later. While the beer and burgers at McMenamins are always great, their attempt at Osso Bucco was an utter failure. Tough, dry meat proved to be un-chewable. Our waiter kindly removed that item from our bill, though and was friendly and eager to please. The other bummer: The McMenamins' website and all media calendars listed live music from the Freak Mountain Ramblers beginning at 7pm. We weren't the only family to arrive shortly before 7, only to be informed that the show was actually to begin at 8pm. Staff was fairly unapologetic for the mixup, saying only "it figures..." Bah. Once dinner was finished, we decided to skip the music altogether. The two tired kids weren't likely to enjoy such a late night. Our friends offered to take our kid home with them for awhile, so K and I headed down to the martini bar at the Old Mill for a cocktail and conversation. While we chatted, our friends were teaching EE how to play Othello and how to fingerprint each other using pencil lead and scotch tape. EE was reluctant to call it a night when we arrived to collect him, but it was late and we bundled him off into the frosty dark and quickly deposited him into his snug flannel covered bed.

A pretty full day and a great start to Thanksgiving break!

Child Abuse - How Do We Respond?

Child abuse is the ugly elephant in the room. The cold reality of life is that child abuse is more common than any of us would care to admit.

Current statistics show that four children die each and every day as a result of child abuse. Three out of four of these children that die are under the age of four.

A report of abuse is made every 10 seconds. Experts estimate that the actual number of incidents of abuse and neglect is three times greater than reported.

We teach our children about "stranger danger" even though we know that in all cases of child rape, 90% of victims knew the perpetrator.

And those victims of sexual abuse are 2.5 times more likely to abuse alcohol and 3.8 times more likely to become addicted to drugs.

Statistics show that one in three girls and one in five boys are sexually abused by an adult at some time during childhood. Most abusers are someone in the family or someone the child knows. If you think about ten of your best friends, you can expect that one or more of them have experienced some form of sexual abuse.

Here in Oregon, over 10,000 children were confirmed to be victims of abuse, though many more reports were made and undetermined.

Half of these children were under age 6.

In 2007, twelve of these children died. In the majority of cases, a parent was a perpetrator.

We do have a network in place to address issues of child abuse - prevention, detection and healing - but that system of support is woefully underfunded.

Many counties have what is known as a "child relief nursery." These organizations are intended to help prevent child abuse by providing intensive supports to high-risk families with children under six years old. The spectrum of supports may include such services as home visits, parent education, therapeutic classrooms for young children and emergency childcare and respite. These programs focus on keeping children safe and families intact by providing the support and education parents need to be successful. Sometimes families are referred by the courts, human services, law enforcement. Sometimes families approach the nurseries on their own, knowing that they need assistance to adequately and safely parent their children.

Oregon also has a system of "child abuse assessment centers." These centers employ highly skilled and specialized professionals to perform child-centered evaluations of abuse through forensic medical exams and one-on-one child interviews. Once the assessment is complete, the center provides a report that details the results of their neutral investigation. Some centers also offer mental health therapy onsite - a vital step in helping children in their healing process.

With the advent of these centers, conviction rates and sentence lengths for perpetrators have risen dramatically. Perpetrators are faced with detailed reports and video victim testimony, and often decide to plead guilty to the charges brought against them. Or, if an accused perpetrator decides to take a case to trial, the taped child interview may prove to be sufficient testimony for purposes of trial, and the child spared the trauma of the witness stand.

I recently took a position with the KIDS Center, our local child abuse assessment center. My focus will be on raising the funds needed to see all the children who are in need of the vital, healing services provided by the KIDS Center, right when they need them.

With the downturn in the economy, we are seeing more families under intense stress, more children who need support and attention, and fewer community resources available to address the challenges. As we all face rising costs and lost jobs, corporations and individuals are giving less to the community organizations that so desperately need the support.

What an awful catch-22: We have that intersection of fewer resources and dramatically increased need. It'll be my job to help bridge the gap - and I couldn't be more honored to be tapped to service. These kids are our most vulnerable citizens - and our tomorrow. Please spare a thought and a small effort for someone else during these tough times. Whether it's for a family facing a shortage of food and power, a senior shut in with limited access to the outside world, or a small child powerless against abuse, there are myriad ways for us each to make a meaningful difference in a matter of minutes and dollars.

Lost in the "Maize"

Today we trekked the short distance over to Terrebonne to visit the Central Oregon Pumpkin Company. According to longer-term Central Oregon residents, this pumpkin patch started out as a pretty homespun, low-tech fall fun locale, but in recent years has expanded to include a tractor-drawn "Zoo Train," food and concessions, live music, and one kick ass corn maze.

Now, this patch would be worth the drive even if there were just a pile of moldering pumpkins stacked on a ratty tarp. It sits less than a half mile from Smith Rock - one of our very favorite Central Oregon destinations. From anywhere on the approximately 10 square acre site, you can see the rusts, greens and yellows of Smith Rock towering on the horizon.

Once on site, a live band kicking out Eagles tunes and other pop-country offerings puts you in the mood for fun. We lined up to purchase our corn maze tickets and tokens for other activities. The corn maze tickets did not come cheaply - $7.50 for anyone over 11, $5.50 for those 6-11. If you happen to be under five - you're free! Tokens to take part in any of the other attractions ran $2.50 each. The whole area has a medieval theme - horse mounted and armored knights (of both sexes) wandered the grounds, providing plenty of good photo opportunities!

The corn maze was created by a national company called The Maize. We entered through a false castle facade and sat down for a funny, three minute video with medieval characters counting down the rules of the maze. We consulted our map - a cartoon sketch of the different routes through two different mazes in the same cornfield. If you were to fly overhead, you'd see that the many pathways create a complex castle scene, and it took us a few minutes to decipher which lines represented the paths and which represented the corn stalks.

They'll tell you that it takes about 15 minutes to solve the first maze and 30 minutes to solve the second, but with a steady eye on the map, you can blitz through in about half that time. The kiddo enjoyed meeting a fully decked out, silver bearded knight at one midpoint, and a beautiful princess sharing candy at another.

Due to the lines, we opted not to ride the train or shoot the high-powered pumpkin cannon, but we could see that participants were having a great time. EE tried his hand at the junior archery booth, fed a few pigmy goats and explored the pirate ship hay fort. He's becoming such a monkey, jumping and climbing obstacles higher and higher.

It took us just a few minutes to select three pumpkins to take home for carving. We were concerned that after the expense of the maze and fun, we'd have to put one of the oversized orange monsters back, but we had just enough cash on hand to pay for the pumpkins - and a $3 day permit over at Smith Rock.

Putting the pumpkins securely in the back of the car, we headed over to Smith Rock for a short hike. This time we started at the northeastern end of the park to explore a horse trail we hadn't yet traversed. In each of our visits to the rock, we've arrived at a different time - and the light always reveals a different aspect, a different character. The greens seemed more intense today, and the shadows longer, more dramatic. Not wearing good hiking shoes, we slip-slid our way down the Homestead Trail into the canyon below. Geese floated in the calm waters of the Crooked River and climbers high above called to each other. Wonderful. Our route took us along the river to the centerpoint of the park, up "The Chute" and back around to our car. Just a quick jaunt, under two miles.

While there is a hike or two around the canyon rim that would be considered kid-friendly, if you're going to get down into the canyon to explore the trail network below, your kid will need to be pretty steady on their pins. Any way you cut it, you'll have to get them down and up a short but steep scramble - down the Chute or down the Homestead Trail. Less intrepid little explorers may balk - especially on the way up! Do keep an eye out for rattlesnakes. There are signs posted, and on one trip we heard a rattler in the scrub.

The Central Oregon Pumpkin Company: http://www.pumpkinco.org/
Smith Rock State Park: http://www.oregonstateparks.org/park_51.php

Maiden Voyage

Crack open the bubbly and bash this blog on the masthead... We've landed in Bend and are ready to launch our new Central Oregon lifestyle. "Keen" sandals? Check. Wool caps? Check. A taste for well-hopped microbrews? Check. Fully inflated fat tires, bike maps and hiking boots? Check, check and check!

This blog is intended to share our discoveries and experiences with friends, family and strangers alike.

T (me) and K (husband) are thirty-somethings, with EE the 7 year old happily accompanying mom and dad on local adventures. NN is our nifty 18 year old in his first year of college back in the Valley.

Most of our posts will cover family-friendly outdoor outings, local events, food, beer or wine reviews and general musings about the Central Oregon lifestyle - with the occasional political or philosophical thought tossed in for good measure. Think chop salad, not Caeser. Minestrone, not cream of broccoli.

And with that, welcome to Becoming Bendite!