Friday night was the first home football game in the valley...which truly is a region-wide event. As with most small towns the general populous finds its way to the bleachers each week...whether from a sense of town pride, a need for entertainment, or simply habit is hard to discern. Matt was on "watch duty" for the back of the stadium, so we sat and kept people out of trouble while visualizing half of the field and enjoying the small town commentator immensely. I enjoyed getting to meet many of Matt's students and a few fellow teachers, and just getting to be in a crowd. The week has been lonely, and feeling a part of a group was wonderful.
On Saturday we visited 8-10 antique stores, an estates sale, and a "swap meet" aka flea market in several towns in the valley...besides meeting a few of the local merchants we were also able to procure a few small pieces of furniture to help us make our kitchen more useable and to release our bookshelf from it's duty as a pantry and put it back in the living room where it belongs. The house is finally starting to come together and in another few days I hope to have some pictures on the walls. Our tired feet got the chance to relax through a west wing marathon Saturday night...what a great show.
Yesterday we went to a small Baptist church in Kernville, and had a wonderful time. The sermon was challenging, the music was heartfelt, and the people were so genuine and kind. We had several offers to help us in any way we might need and a few dinner queries for this week. The pastor and his wife are laid back 30 somethings and seem like dear people. The worship leader and his wife could hardly contain themselves...after meeting Jake and Mattie, she said outloud to her husband "They are our age! right in front of us. The community as a whole is largely retirement age, and we know that we aren't the only ones hungry for interaction with peers. It was exciting to meet young christian leaders who were also so approachable and fun.
After attending the early service we headed home and changed and made our way to the beach of Lake Isabella. Matt found a windsurfing group on Facebook last week who were having an open house for beginners and we decided to try our skills. It is incredibly nerve wracking to approach a private looking camper with 10 people around it and not feel just silly. We were greeted immediately by a 60+ spunky lady with a thick German accent, who proceeded to introduce us to her group of retired friends, most of whom were very fit, environmentally concious, and vegan. The group has formed spontaneously in the past 3-5 years as they kept meeting each other on weekend get aways to the lake...many of them have now retired to the area and see the lake as their home. Eva, our host, is passionate about helping beginners discover that water recreation need not use fossil fuels. She is an avid wind surfer, kayaker, hiker, and swimmer, who collects old gear from friends in the valley and makes it periodically available to those wanting to learn the sport. We spent some time on a surf board mounted to a lazy susan to get the feel of it, got some instruction and then....waited. Perhaps for the first time since we got to the area there was absolutely NO WIND! We were ushered under a small canopy for shade and had paper plates thrust into our hands...our polite declining was overrun by insistence that we join them in eating delicious salads and zucchini bread set out for the occasion. By the time we finished lunch a small amount of wind was present, which steadily increased through the afternoon.
For those who don't know, wind surfing is done essentially on a surf board to which a sail is attached. The mast of the sail is attached by a flexible rod at the base, which allows it to lean in any direction. Standing with your back to the wind and the sail in front of you, you manipulate the sail to catch the wind and propel you perpendicular to the direction the wind is blowing. After 5-6 falls into shallow water before even getting the sail fully in place (balance has never been my strong suit), I managed to start moving...but the truly great challenge is turning around! The board must rotate 180 degrees to tack back in the direction you came from...but in order to maintain any movement you and the sail must stay as you have been: perpendicular to the wind. This challenge of footwork and muscle coordination was never quite mastered for me even on the wide "moose" board, but Matt was looking quite coordinated by the time we left the water 3+ hours later.
(If you are interested in seeing some of the "pros" do their stuff, visit http://kernvalleywindsurfing.com/ and watch the video at the bottom...it will also give you a feel for how pretty our lake is!)
More than the joy of a new sport to learn, we loved getting to know this older generation full of life and passion and new pursuits. We were surprised as we continued talking with them to learn that many have actually lead very difficult lives. Eva, forinstance, ran away from Germany as a 24 year old and never returned due to a series of events...she has lived in 5 countries including China, Chile, and Austrailia. She was married for a short time and is now divorced...she homeschooled her only son who is now estranged. She has no family close by and travels to Germany 3-4 times a year to care for her aging mother. She is a self proclaimed protector of the lake and the town, speaking frequently of her disgust at the way that noise laws, pollution, and right-of-way are not reguarded by the "motorboats and stupid jet skis" despite her efforts to volunteer for the lake patrol and other enforcement agencies. But despite her frustrations, she has chosen actions which serve, give life, and allow her to connect meaningfully with others. She told me "some people think that a church is the only way to change people and give to others...for me, this lake is my church." Her understandings may be misguided, but her heart has discovered the truth: giving yourself away is the only way to live a full life.
After Matt and I had tired from fighting the ever-strengthening winds, the professionals rigged their sails and showed us how it is done. Impressed is the understatement of the century.
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