penny carnival

The socioeconomics of swimming

We’re on a little road trip, currently in Portland, Ore., at a hotel with one of those rarities: a warm, clean pool with no who wants to use it but us.

We got a slow start to summer in the northwest, so the girls haven’t had a ton of opportunities to swim yet. And even when we do go, the public “pool” that’s closest to our house is one of those splash pools that dumps water on your head and has water slides. It’s not the kind of place you swim laps or pretend to be a mermaid.

Magpie’s only 2 1/2, but she’s more adventurous in the water than her big sister. Bo, age 5, is very timid and isn’t close to knowing how to swim. We’re signing her up for some private lessons in August to hopefully chip away at that—it’s too important of a skill to mess around with, and group instruction hasn’t worked for her so far.

We had a couple of near drownings in Spokane this month—a 3 year old and a 4 year old, both of whom were thankfully saved in the nick of time. The thought of that scene makes me weak: a child spotted at the bottom of a crowded pool, pulled out and resuscitated. The lifeguards and teenage bystanders who swooped in and performed CPR are nothing short of angels, in my book.

My friend and colleague Shawn Vestal wrote an excellent column about the socio economics of learning how to swim in The Spokesman-Review last week. In summary:

“Children from poor families and minorities are quite a bit less likely to get swim lessons – and quite a bit more likely to drown.”

Shawn’s article continued:

“Among black and Hispanic children the figures are more pronounced. Across the board, minority kids and poor ones were less likely to take swim lessons, more likely to fear the water and more likely to drown. African-American children ages 5 to 14 drown at three times the rate of white kids, and they’re five times more likely to drown in a swimming pool, according to figures reported by the Wall Street Journal. The National Safe Kids Campaign says low-income kids generally are four times as likely to drown as other children. You might imagine that this is simply an economic issue, but it seems not to be. Fear – on the part of kids and parents – was mentioned as a larger factor in the surveys. For African-American families, there is also a history of discrimination and cultural habit to overcome.”

I’ve been thinking of Shawn’s article as my kids have been frolicking about in pools this week.

J and my experiences with swimming pools are different and similar at the same time. 

I didn’t grow up wealthy (by any stretch of the imagination), but it was a country club pool where my sister and I swam away our summers. We’d jump off the high boards, dive for pennies and then charge licorice ropes to my parents’ account in the snack shack. My mom would sunbathe with her friends on the lounge chairs. It was like a scene from Caddy Shack, minus the doody.

300 miles away, J would borrow 40 cents from his cousin’s piggy bank and walk to the public pool while his cousin rode his bike. With five siblings and hard-working parents who earned modest salaries, J didn’t have the luxury of owning his own bicycle.

Different experiences, but we both learned how to swim.

All this talk of pools and swimming reminds me of an interview I heard on NPR a few years ago.

The guest was the author of a book about the history of swimming pools. He talked about how they began as giant bathtubs built as a way for poor people to get clean. Eventually, pools evolved to what they are today: recreational facilities, mainly for kids.

One portion of the interview has stuck with me. The author recalled an incident that occurred at a Youngstown, Ohio pool in 1951. A Little League baseball team was celebrating its city championship at the public pool, but not everyone was allowed to play in the water.

The pool was (unofficially) segregated, so the one black boy on the baseball team had to sit outside the fence and watch his teammates splash about without him.

Several parents, bothered by the situation, asked the lifeguards to let the boy play in the pool, even for just a few minutes. The supervisor finally gave in and allowed the boy inside, under two conditions: everyone else had to get out of the pool and the boy had to float on a raft.

My memory of the interview details was fuzzy, so I looked up the story on NPR today and was reminded of the heartbreaking way it ended:

“As his teammates and other bystanders looked on, a lifeguard pushed him once around the pool. 'Just don’t touch the water,' the guard constantly reminded him. 'Whatever you do, don’t touch the water.'"

So, I’m grateful today for a lot of things. For one, the fact that my husband and I can afford swimming lessons for our kids—private lessons at that. Most importantly, that my kids are being raised in an era during which any child is welcome at a pool, regardless of the color of their skin.

But Shawn’s article is a reminder that we’re still a long way from righting those wrongs. 

Let's keep an eye on the kids at the pool this summer—our own kids and our neighbors’. 

 

Kids, nature and some 4th of July crafts

We're back from our first (real) camping trip of the summer. I walked away with only three mosquito bites and perhaps an extra pound thanks to s'mores and beer, so I'd call it a success.

It's amazing to me how few behavior issues we have when the kids are dinking around with Mother Nature. I can't think of a single whining or fighting incident among the girls, and--believe me--we get plenty of that here at home. Does anyone else out there camp with kids? Do you notice the same thing?

Here are the girls preparing for a hike. So serious:

J setting up our temporary home:

 

See the lack of fighting over who got to get the newspaper off the front porch and who got to press the garage-door opener? Ahhh ... maybe we should live in the woods. 

 

Counting the rings on a tree stump:

Finding shapes in nature:

The last load of laundry is in the machine right now. Maybe tomorrow my hair will stop smelling like a campfire.

Back at home ... we made some 4th of July crafts tonight. This was a "cracker rocket," as the girls called it:

 

This is Bo's interpretation of the U.S. flag: 

 And this is Magpie's:

You need to see it from the side to fully appreciate it.

 Happy Fourth of July!    

  

Tidbits

Poor Penny. She's been pushed aside again. I've been hustling to get a bunch of work done before camp-a-palooza 2010, and this little blog has suffered as a result.

I do have a bit of stuff to say, though, so please accept this random wrap up of thoughts and experiences. There's no theme here, unless you care to find one?

1. First, congratulations to Spokane seamstress and Etsy seller Cherie Killilea, who recently landed a licensing deal with Simplicity patterns. Simplicity will begin selling her patterns for duffel bags (remember mine?), clutches and luggage tags next year under the name Studio Cherie. What a thrill, huh? You can read my blog post about it (including some comments from the designer at Simplicity who discovered Cherie) over on Dwell Well.  

2. Also on Dwell Well, I posted a roundup today of links to several eco crafts for kids. I'm gearing up for this year's make-and-take craft booth at the North Idaho Fair, which you might remember from last year. There are some neat projects there from Kayte Terry, Maya Made and others. Check it out if you're looking for something fun to do with the kids.

And by calling them "eco crafts," I'm generally talking about projects you can make from stuff around your house or stuff headed for the trash bin. In other words, they're the best, most creative kinds of crafts.

3. Speaking of all things eco, have you seen this video yet? It's excellent. It's 20 minutes long, so grab a cup of coffee, and the start is a little slow, so hang in there. 

4. We are going on four different camping trips this summer, one of which involves visiting three different campgrounds within one week. In other words, we will be living out my mother's worst nightmare. 

A few weeks ago, in a moment of irritation, Bo turned to her little sister and snapped, "Get out of my campsite!" instead of "Get out of my sight!" Hilarious.

A big part of planning a camping trip is preparing the menu. I'm sure I'll post photos of our camp-food successes and failures when that time comes, but putting all this thought into meal planning has reminded me that I never wrote about some of the wonderful meals we ate this spring. 

For the last few months, we've been spending two weeks with a particular cookbook (like Almost Meatless), a stack of magazines (like Sunset) or a blog (like my friend Sarah's, called In Praise of Leftovers). We pick two weeks' worth of meals from each, grocery shop for the main ingredients on one day and leave a few last-minute items on the calendar so we can pick them up fresh, as needed. The system has worked beautifully, and here's a sampling of what we've been enjoying:

Broccoli Fried Rice with a Poached Egg:

or two.

Squash-Walnut Galette:

Moroccan Grains & Greens:

Some of our other favorite dishes were:

Potato Taco Salad with Creamy Lime Dressing

Bruschetta Steak Salad (uh-mazin')

Eggplant and Chicken Stacks

Almond Gnocchi with Lamb Ragu (although I must admit we used plain, store-bought gnocchi instead of making it from scratch, which--when you have two young "helpers"--can get quite messy)

5. Besides love, family, children and sex, running is the key to happiness. You don't have to go fast. Just go. 

6. I turned 36.

My plan was to do 36 random acts of kindness, like Robyn of Mix Mingle and Glow did on her birthday. I even had appointments scheduled at the blood bank and a nursing home (we were going to help with an ice cream social). But Magpie woke up sick, so I only got to squeeze in a few things, like buying coffee for the person behind me and bringing grocery carts inside from a parking lot.

My wonderful friends on Facebook picked up the slack, though, and completed their own acts of kindness as a birthday gift to me. It was so fun to read throughout the day about the things they did, like my friend JoNelle, who was buying a candy bar for her son and decided to buy one for the cashier, too, because the woman mentioned it was her favorite treat. 

Facebook gets a bad reputation as a time waster and all, but how else could I spend my day at home with a sick kid and see friends I've known since grade school and friends I've made just recently spreading joy to other people in my honor?  

7. Like any family, we get caught up in the go-go-go-ness of life. Rush to preschool so we can rush to work so we can rush back to preschool and rush to get dinner on the table. Every once in a while, we have a day that stops me in my tracks and reminds me of who I am and what is important to me. 

It's never any big, major deal. Tonight, for example, we decided to go out for ice cream. As we passed the market near our house, we realized they were hosting one of their outdoor music nights. Very low key--just a bunch of neighbors sitting in the parking lot drinking beer and eating cookies.

There, we ran into the parent of one of J's former students. She (the parent) is running for office, so we got to catch up with her and talk about that.

Then, we saw a teacher J knows and his wife, who just had a baby. Had a wonderful conversation with them as the girls ran around in circles to the music.

By that time it was 8:30--way past bedtime for us, but J decided pizza sounded good, so we drove to another neighborhood we love and ate a pie on the patio, struck up a conversation with the sweetest 4-year-old boy you can imagine, and then got to talking with his parents, who we hope to bump into again.

Yes, the girls were tired, but happy, like us. They won't remember this night, but maybe somewhere deep down they'll make a connection. Meeting new people + building relationships with neighbors and old friends = happiness + love.  

8. Thunder and lightning out my window right now. Life is good.

   

Nine reasons (and counting) to love Portland, Oregon

J and I are on a kid-free trip to Portland, Ore., which is pretty much the perfect U.S. city. I lived here in the late '90s and have to get my fix at least twice a year. 

Here are a few of the many reasons why:

1. Food. Beautifully presented food. Around every corner. I wish I had a month here so I could eat at all my old favorite spots and discover the new ones. This lovely bread was at St. Honore Bakery, 24th & NW Thurman.

Some of our other favorite eateries: Kenny & Zukes, Oba, Mother's Bistro, Jo Bar.

And, my old stomping ground for breakfast ... Besaw's.

That there is prosciutto and sage eggs Benedict. And a mimosa. And this beast of a bloody Mary:

2. Drinks. And more drinks. Did I mention that the kids are with Nana and Papa? 

Drinks with views (those lucky drinks):

So many drinks the photos start to get fuzzy (which means, like, two drinks. For me anyway).

3. The many mustached men of Portland. I haven't built up the courage yet to ask one if I can take a picture. Mustaches are to Portland what cowboy hats are to Texas. Somehow, the dudes here can get away with it. 

4. People going green, everywhere you turn, even in the side yards of urban neighborhoods.

5. Dear old friends who make me laugh until my belly aches.

6. Mid-century modern at the coffee shop ...

7. Coffee at the coffee shop ...

 

8. Coffee in the hotel lobby, which is adjacent to the coffee shop ...

9. And, of course, the hotel itself. I blogged about the Ace Hotel when we stayed here for the first time last year. I'll spare you the repeated love fest, but it's still just as fabulous.

You can see for yourself:

 

I'm digging the heavy use of wool:

What other hotel provides a record player in the guest rooms, not to mention some pretty sweet records from which to choose?

 

Reduce, reuse, repurpose:

 

Not your typical honor bar:

The Ace has a photo booth in the lobby just like one I used to frequent with my sister at the downtown Bellingham Woolworth's.

  

We miss our girls like bananas but they're in excellent hands, and I strongly believe all of us parent-folks need to do this getaway thing now and then. 

OK. Time to go find tonight's dinner.

  
    

Bits 'n' pieces

Just a few quickies tonight:

*I'm working on a tutorial for a fabric flower corsage for Dwell Well--sort of a last-minute Valentine's Day project. Here's how it looks so far:

The color scheme was inspired by Emerson Made (and by the fabric scraps I happened to have on hand), but I wanted to use a flower that would be easy for folks to make, especially at the last minute. After much trial and error, I think I have a fabric rose anyone could handle. 

Or does it look like just a bunch of mushed up fabric? Back to the drawing board or get on with the toot, already? Here's a closer look:

 

*You probably all know about this already, but just in case ... The Uniform Project. In a nutshell: woman in New York wants to raise money for kids who can't afford to go to school in India (where 7.5 million kids don't get an education). Her friend/designer sews up a dress--a "uniform"--that she'll wear every day for a year to raise awareness and dough. The dress is simple black cotton little number, and every day for the last months, she has accessorized it in some creative way (linking to designers who send her accessories to wear). So far--$52,000+ raised for kids. Brilliant. And so much fun to look through the "dailies" to see what she has done with a little black dress. (Doesn't hurt that she's adorable to begin with.)

*Breakfast at Etta's in Seattle. As delicious as this crab eggs Benedict was ...

... the French toast from the kids' menu was to die for:

The server said the secret is to:

a) use Half and Half instead of milk in the batter

b) add orange juice to the batter

c) after frying the French toast, pop it in a warm oven for a few minutes to give it a crunch on the outside (but not so long that the inside doesn't retain its custardy goodness).

She had me at Half and Half.  

Etta's was nice, but my favorite Tom Douglas restaurants are Serious Pie and Palace Kitchen. Bo ate a whole trout at PK when she was 3, pretty much all by herself. Except the face. She just thought that part was kind of funny.

Speaking of fish, what trip to Seattle is complete without watching the guys throw fish at Pike Place Market?

Magpie was not a fan:

To grandmother's house we go

We’re wrapping up a simple weekend that included a couple of fun outings: a housewarming party for friends and a polo match. Spokane has one of the oldest polo clubs in the U.S. It’s great fun to pack a picnic and go watch a match, but hardly anyone around here does. Maybe I’ll start a new trend.

Anyone else have the book "10 Apples Up on Top"?

Mostly, though, we’ve been packing for our two-week trip to Bellingham, Wash.--my hometown—to see family.

I took a more-is-more approach to packing this time, sort of throwing everything but the garden hose into the suitcase. I’m sure I’ll regret it in a few days.

Bo caught on and decided to remove every single pair of shoes I own from the closet and attempt to cram them into my already-stuff suitcase. Thankfully, I’m not a shoe whore, but there were still some ridiculously inappropriate ones on display tonight (can someone please slap me for buying a pair of platform shoes covered in sequins?).

Speaking of gardens, I'm going to miss our little patch while I'm gone. The sungold tomatoes are just starting to ripen and they are delish. Bo likes them enough to just suck out the juice (and then leave the flesh on the ground), sort of like a vampire. 

Check out the scarecrow she made a few weeks ago (the garden has grown considerably since then):

I managed to sew an Emmeline apron for my sister, who’s letting us crash at her house for one of the two weeks we’ll be there (my parents’ house will be occupied by our Rhode Island relatives, making my headline here somewhat deceptive; we got a smokin’ deal on a nice hotel for the other week).

I think this is the fourth Emmeline I’ve made now, and every time I do there’s always such a strong response to it, as in “I will pay you whatever you want to make me one of those!!!” Kudos to Meg over at Sew Liberated for designing such a successful pattern.

Because of that, I’m thinking of taking part in her cottage license program, which allows you to pay for the right to sell the items you make from her patterns. The cost is $75/year, which seems reasonable to me, and you have to be approved by Meg (understandably, she wants to make sure you know how to sew). What do you guys think? Is it worth pursuing and applying for? I'm always trying to reinvent the wheel, but maybe I should just do this since it's already such a hit with people.

Other thoughts …

Can someone please tell me how I can run 30-40 miles a week and not lose a single pound? I’m trying to burn off these last 10 baby pounds, but apparently my body is on strike. I know you’re not supposed to get on the scale every day, but I swear to you I stepped on yesterday morning, ran seven miles and ate healthfully all day (minus one smallish cupcake), got on the scale today and had gained two pounds. Seriously. 7 miles. Gained 2 pounds. And no, I'm not pregnant. 

I had hoped this was going to be the summer I didn’t have to wear a skirted swimsuit but it’s mid-July and I’m losing hope. Grrr …

A few things I’m loving right now …

-This house tour.

-Amy Butler organic bedding now available here. (Scratch one more project off my sewing to-do list, I guess.)

-The before-and-after gallery on Design Sponge. If I only had 1,392,022 hours to kill:

-Daydreaming of building a modern playhouse for the girls in the backyard. This one is awesome, but it’d pretty much be nicer than our actual house.

This one is adorable, in a different way.

I’m thinking we’ll start collecting supplies from the secondhand building-supply store, come up with a plan over the winter, and attempt carpentry next summer. Stay tuned.

 

Since we’ll be out of town, I’ll probably have a craft hiatus for a couple of weeks (God help me). You never know, though. My sister and I grew up in the same house. She must have a glue gun stashed away somewhere. If nothing else, I’ll have to share photos of her always-incredible cooking. 

Ace, Ace, baby

I've been meaning to post some photos of a great hotel we stayed in last weekend in Portland, Oregon. The Ace Hotel is a small chain that started in Seattle about a decade ago. They have hotels in NYC and Palm Springs now, too.

I don't normally go around taking photos of hotel lobbies and bathrooms. This place is different, though. There was inspiration around every corner.

The Ace does a fabulous job repurposing old stuff, like using vintage locker baskets to hold towels and wallpapering its guest rooms with the pages from antique books. (My friend Celeste here in Spokane did something similar in the foyer of her restaurant recently and gave me the following instructions:

Step 1--apply wallpaper paste to wall. Step 2--apply book pages to paste and allow to dry. Step 3--cover with Mod Podge.)

The Ace is green on so many levels. Besides rescuing unwanted crap from the landfills, they offer bicycle rentals and post gentle reminders about conserving energy, like this kitschy stitchery that hangs in the elevator:

Besides, the place is just plain fun. I felt like I was living in my old Portland apartment again, complete with claw-foot tub, ever-so-slightly musty smell in the hallways and a fantastic coffee shop attached. Two other features not to miss: an amazing New York-style deli up the block (I'm still dreaming about the lox I ate there) and an old-school photo booth in the hotel lobby.

I wrote more about the Ace on my other blog if you want more details, but here is a visual of what now is the only place I'll stay when I visit Portland. Is my review too glowing? It might also have to do with the fact that the two junior members of our family were 300 miles away at their Nana and Papa's house. Sort of clouds my judgment. (No, actually, it sort of cleared away the fog that's been hovering over my brain for the last four years.)

Enjoy ...

Bicycle for rent in the lobby:

Pages of a vintage book used as wallpaper behind the bed, with a deer and bird painting on top:

This is the back of a plastic molded chair:

Every detail was thought out, down to the dry-cleaning sack and order slip:

Wool blankets (which are used on the guest-room beds) and bathrobes for sale in the lobby:

Check-in desk. They use real keys, by the way.

Oops. Lobby. I almost wrote "Bobby." I have no idea whether that dude on the left (who is looking at me like, Quit taking pictures, freaky lady!!) is named Bobby or not:

Photo booth (sorry for horrible back lighting):

For your listening pleasure in the lobby:

"A" is for awesome:

Lovely lazy days

As our vacation in Rhode Island winds down, we've spent some quiet days closer to home. Our biggest outing this week has been to the Roger Williams Zoo in Providence where Bo was captivated by the 10 a.m. bath time of Ginny, Katie, and Allison, the zoo's three elephants.

It seemed like we got to stand so close to the animals at this zoo, closer than we can when we visit the Woodland Park Zoo in Seattle. My Aunt Betty joked that that's because Rhode Island is so small--there's not enough land to put much distance between the people and the critters.

Our "crafting" here has been pretty simple--coloring and building sandcastles, mostly. Today we made seashell birdhouses. I bought the basic houses at a craft store, and we've been collecting shells every time we go to the beach. We're just using Tacky Glue to stick them on. Seems to be working so far. I'm hoping we'll be able to cover the whole house in shells (and pasta--what's a craft project without pasta?) by the time we leave Wednesday.

Let's see, what else have we been up to? Walks and runs on the bike path. An extremely fattening trip to Vienna Bakery in Warren, R.I. An equally fattening plate of seafood linguine. And snapping green beans from the garden with Auntie Peggy on the couch. In short, pure bliss.

More soon on an excellent discussion I heard on craftsanity recently and on an interesting interview I just had with Cherie Killilea about selling crafts on Etsy. I'm writing an article on that topic soon for the new Spokane Metro magazine.