The Hazard Chronicles

(This picture doesn't even give it justice- but it's as close as I can get)

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Let me start this week by sharing an experience I had yesterday. Really, it was more of an internal experience than anything, but it was extremely significant to me.

It started in the evening, just as the sun was starting to go down and crickets were coming out. I was at the park for the Annual Post Falls Festival (more on that later) and getting ready to ride my bike home. Now, as you leave this particular park, you cross over a bridge that spans the Spokane River. And it just so happened as I was riding my bike across this bridge, that the sun hit that perfect point in the sky that casts a warm summer luminescence over everything, giving the surreal and muted feeling of an old fashioned movie. I stopped and looked over the river, taking it all in. On the park side I could still see kids playing at the beach and people moving around as they made their final purchases or took down their tents for the night. The warm evening air carried the suppressed tones of a local rock group and laughing children, as well as the potent smells of deep-fried goodness from the various food vendors. Turning to look up-river, I saw a few boats making their way slowly back to the docks, and the silent silhouette of a fisherman casting for trout over the red-orange reflection on the water. And then, in the background, as if overlooking the entire scene, the sun slowly fell behind the beautiful pine-covered mountains, leaving nothing but its warm glow behind to light the scene.

As I took a picture in my mind, trying to capture every detail, I had a thought. A thought that this was more than just simple beauty. More than a pretty night. More, even, than a wonderful experience. This, I thought, was HOME. Those people down there were people I knew- and people who knew me. They were my people. And this river is my river. Those mountains, my mountains. And that feeling- that wonderful feeling of a perfect summer night in a perfect place shared among friends- it's mine. Because this is my home. And I'll tell you what- I LOVE IT. Every bit of it.

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Now, about our week. If you remember from last week, we had Rachel's family up for their family reunion. We had a great time last week swimming, going to parades, doing fireworks, and exploring the area. This week we finished off the reunion with a bang by renting a pontoon boat for two wonderful days on Lake Coeur d'Alene. As I write this, I don't really know how to do justice, in words, to these days. We got a boat and...we boated. We tubed and water skied and swam and jumped off cliffs and discovered rope swings and had a lot of junk food and good conversations all while cruising around the glassy-smooth surface of a lake surrounded on all sides by pine-tree covered mountains. After these days I can say two things without a doubt. First, that our kids no longer have any inhibitions of the water (if there were any there to start with). And second, that we will eventually have a boat. One day.

I have to admit, I was worried at first that the kids would get bored or nervous on the lake. I couldn't have been more wrong. These guys are crazy! Evelyn will now jump in the water head-first and Addy and Jack will swim around like fish without being able to touch bottom. Even Maren likes going out and floating on the water, a big close-mouthed smile plastered on her face all the while. What can I say- we are a water-loving family.

On Wednesday the extended family all left for home and gave us a second to recover from the past week's worth of activities. Thursday night, however, we were already preparing for the weekend. The Post Falls Festival was starting and we didn't want to miss out.

On the business side of things, we set up a booth for our practice at the park (all Rachel's idea) and had a raffle for people to enter for some gift baskets that Rachel put together. On the raffle tickets we asked if they wanted us to call them to set up an appointment (and promised them that we wouldn't call them otherwise). We figured that, if anything, the booth would get us some good publicity. We would break even on the venture if we could get just two people to schedule visits, and we had a goal of getting 10 over the course of the three days that we were there. (Just to put things in perspective, an average dental practice around here sees about 20 new patients each month). Because of this we were blown away by the results we got- of the people who entered the raffle, roughly 30% of them specifically asked to schedule a visit at our office. This translates into about 170 new patients that we will see within the next month! 170! Woah! I feel sort of like the fishermen in the bible story when their nets broke. I honestly don't have any idea how we are going to accommodate this massive influx of patients into our practice, but at the same time I am profoundly grateful that they are coming. This summer has had us a little bit worried about our fledgling dental office, and these patients just might get us though until Fall when things will predictably pick up.

Aside from the business, the weekend has been tons of fun as we celebrate our little community. We had a parade on Saturday where the kids saw some of their friends and stocked up on candy. Afterwords, we headed over to the park for lots of fun booths, live music, food, and events.

I'm going to put a plug in here for my kids- If your are a band, you should hire them. Seriously. Whenever we arrived at one of the two bandstands they had set up, there was usually a meager scattering of people sitting on picnic benches around the perimeter enjoying the music as a background to whatever conversations they were having. Enter our kids. The three oldest (and sometimes Maren, and I admit, sometimes myself) all immediately run up in front of the stage and start dancing. It doesn't matter what kind of music- rock, blues, jazz, country- they dance to it all. And they're good! (They can thank Rachel for that). Right away, people start noticing, and smiling at the cute kids who have no social inhibitions whatsoever (and neither, apparently does their father). But I can tell you, there is a noticeable change in the attitude of the band once they can see that people are watching. Their music gets a little livelier, and they actually start turning up some of their own dance moves on-stage. Soon, other parents are encouraging their kids to join in as well, and before long the parents themselves are up, in front of the stage, dancing like nobody is watching. The entire process takes place in about 5-15 minutes, and I watched it happen at least four times in the past couple of days. So again, if you are a band- call me and I will let you borrow my kids (and I'll even waive the fee if you agree to take them during church!)

Anyway, there's not much more to say. We love summer time!