Merry Christmas!

We celebrated the holidays a with a few dinners here and there this past month. First, at the Hammac Hostel (also for an engagement celebration-Yay Padre!), then at OSHA Thai (bon voyage to C&J), and finally for some more dinner and Scoop(in celebration of El Presidente's change in career paths). Here is a picture from our Thai dinner. We are off around the globe over the holidays and I am looking forward to some posts of our holiday travels once we return in the new year.

Merry Christmas! And may the Spirit of the holidays bring joys and love to you and your families.

Thanks for another great year of memories, BAYA!

Volunteering

BAYA has been involved with a tutoring program for quite some time now at the Novato Community of Christ church, and looking back, I cannot find any posts about our Homework Club volunteering. Today feels like a good day to post about it.

Started by Scientist and Sweeney, the Homework Club is open to children who are seeking help with their homework on Thursday nights, the same night as the ESL program for adults in the community. Kids from grades 3-7 bring their homework and we help them. Usually, they remember to bring their homework and text books, but occasionally they forget. We spend the hour and a half quizzing them on math problems, spelling, or reading.

Skippy and I are always amazed at the potential we see in each of these kids. But, what we have noticed is that some of these kids like to take the 'easy way out' approach when solving problems on their homework. I suppose that in a classroom setting, it is hard to take the time and challenge each individual student, one on one. For teachers, it would take forever to complete a lesson. At HC on Thursdays, we have the chance to challenge this easy approach to getting answers. We're in such an intimate setting and often with one tutor to one student. This is often frustrating for the students because they're guessing at the answers and waiting for us to confirm whether they're right or not. They want the answer to just get on with the rest of the homework. All the tutors are pretty good about not letting these answers go unexplained. It's pretty cool to see what happens when the kids figure the problems out for themselves and gain confidence in their own intelligence.

I feel like I'm making a difference. I guess that's the hope that comes with my anticipation to every thursday night. I also have the anticipation to hear about the kids' "good thing" and "bad thing" of the week - sometimes they really let us in and I feel like they are sharing stuff they wouldn't normally share. Then other times they share about big things, like they're moving, switching schools, got suspended, and their favorite animals. :) Many wonderful stories have come from this tradition of starting each session with these questions- thanks Scott. I have learned a lot about them as individuals and enjoyed hearing their creativity when coming up with "question of the week".

HC time is so valuble to me. It's a time that some of us from BAYA can meet during the week, check in with each other and work towards a common goal - helping kids. I truly look forward to Thursday nights, and I miss it if I cannot make it one week. Sure, it's an extra drive to the North Bay during the week, a night I can't work on MY school stuff, can't surf the internet, can't watch my favorite TV shows, but I believe there is a strong force working here towards goodness. All the stuff I'm missing is small when I can see the big picture of tutoring at HC. I am grateful to be a part of this community of people who believe in teaching, inspiring, and believing in children. So, thanks, Scientist and Sweeney, for starting the HC. It rocks!!!

Apples!!!

Apples!!!
Originally uploaded by TreeBed.

Did a little apple pickin on Saturday... This might have to be an annual event. Although... we may wait and see if anything actually comes of all the apples that we picked. It was a great day up in Sabastopol, and Gabriel Farm was a wonderful host. Almost as good as our dinner hosts...


And for the record... I picked Presidente right out of the orchard ;-)

Puzzle Pieces

I wanted to put up a quick post describing my week at the Art of Mentoring course last week in Bolinas . I am not exactly sure how to do that... how do you describe a spiritual experience? If you have ever been to a Community of Christ reunion, camp or retreat... then you have some reference for what I experienced last week. However, you must take that experience, remove the history and faith connections, and then add the element of a regenerative (that is a step beyond sustainable infrastructure, combine many different cultural histories, a high level of focus on the reason we were there (I will get to that later)... and you end up with much of the powerful spiritual connection that we often find in our familiar C of C events.

In the simplest of terms the Art of Mentoring goal is to relearn how to create the "village" that our very survival as a species has depended on for millions of years. What makes these teachings powerful is both how they were gathered (from many cultures, all over the world), and that at the core of the whole thing is the Peace Maker's story. This was a very powerful part of the picture for me and spoke to both my cultural heritage in my faith community... as well as the call I feel towards environmental stewardship.

Make no mistake, dark times are here... and preparing to grow darker. However, there is much joy in my heart that the strands of light that tie our paths together are coming into view. Our path, and our responsibilities to our brothers and sisters is becoming clearer... and the beauty of that path (which I fully witnessed last week), is that although there is a great deal of hard work... it can be done joyfully and with smiles all around!!! What a blessing.

SKIPPY & GASR's Wedding

One of my favorite things about BAYA is our celebrations. This amazing group of people has always been up for a good celebration, whether it be birthdays, new jobs, Thanksgivings, bon voyages, welcome homes, Halloweens, or just "haven't seen eachother in a while" parties. Ever since the announcement of our engagement and our plans to marry in Hawaii, BAYA planned on being there. And we added another celebration to our list- weddings.




Thank you for making the trip. And for those who were not able to come, thank you for your warm thoughts as we begin our marriage. Also, a major contribution was our wedding logo and invitations by Treebed Design and they were assembled by the team including Scientist and Sweeney.

Most of all thank you for making the journey. It would not have been a complete celebration without you. Once again, BAYA comes through, showing your support that goes beyond simple friendships. These are friendships that are made of strong bonds which make me want to be a better person on a daily basis. It is a group that we have come to call our family here in the Bay. As we begin our life as a married couple, we could only hope to continue and grow what's been started.

Mahalo nui loa,
Skippy & GASR

Living "An Incovenient Truth"

Hot Mama
Originally uploaded by mbessie.

After the past week of extremely warm temperatures for us California Weather Wimps, Deb and I thought maybe we should see the Al Gore slideshow movie, "An Incovenient Truth".
We attempted to go last Sunday when the temp outside was 102 and inside our apartment was 105. No joke. I thought this was perfect marketing for the movie, super hot temperature and high gas prices. Well, we encountered a small challenge in that the Fairfax theatre had a power outage. So one week later, Scientist and I went to see the movie. Going in, I wasn't too keen on the film. I agree that global warming is taking place and I am aware of many of the impacts it may/will have (massive flooding, more violent storms). Why was I going to see a "preaching to the choir" movie?

After the movie, I am glad I saw it. The presentation wasn't really political, but more matter of fact. This is the "hard science", the facts, and the scientific consensus is in agreement that humans are responsible. The film's graphs and photos really help to illustrate the subject. The timeline pics of glaciers receding were stunning. Although there were dire consequences portrayed in the film, I responded more to the call for action.

So what can I do or what can we do as the collective BAYA? First, I will be recommending the movie to friends and family. Second, I am going to educate myself on ways to reduce my impact.

As BAYA, I think we could push to get the Green Business designation for Marin County. We can also look to implement some of Micah's permaculture ideas on the church grounds.

Just a few thoughts and more to come.

NW Sr. High Camp

I am back in the Bay after Sr. High Camp up in my old neck of the woods Lewis River Camp Grounds. It is always good to return and do this camp... this year was no exception. However, it was different (as it is each year). I was very aware this year that I had migrated into a different role as a staff member. Once upon a time, I was the "young cool" counselor, and it was relatively easy to relate with the campers and for them to relate to me. This makes some things easier, some things harder when dealing with these youth. In many ways this has mirrored where I am in the larger picture of my spiritual path... finding that it is time to take on more responsibility, and use my questioning to bring me closer to the church rather than pushing me away from it. I taught in Theme Class about a "spiritual ecology" that leads us to seeing that we are all connected, and we must treat each other with the idea that perhaps God, is really made up of the spirit in each one of us. We did some "composting" of things that were holding us back from being connected to that Christ like self... not to toss that baggage aside, but to break it down into a nutrient rich, "spiritual soil" to grow from. I saw a lot of growth the past week, in myself, in others and in the camp as a collective whole. I am excited to see what that might lead to next year. For now... I will catch up on my sleep, and continue to mentally sift through the very rich week that I had.

BAYA Sweep

After Race (t-shirt) Photo
Originally uploaded by TreeBed.

It is official... BAYA swept the top two spots at the "highly competitive" Angel Island trail run. It was a hard fought battle in the beginning of the race between teammates Milah "don't call me Dorthy" Hammol, and Skippy "the zippy" Roberts. After a two miles of neck and neck up hill, Milah skated away down the hill to improve upon his 3rd place finish in January, and run away with the white hat. The GASR made her trail running debut to round out an impressive showing from team BAYA. Mama TreeBed was there to support and photograph the event.

BTW... These are great events, focused less on "racing", and more on community, beauty of our natural world... and fun. We certainly did all of those things!

Pink Triangle

Pink Triangle
Originally uploaded by TreeBed.

This could be a fun BAYA event next year... I wasn't looking forward to going this morning (at 6am when my alarm went off). However, I walked away inspired. Not only a pride event, the pink triangle goes back to a time we cannot forget. And even more importantly that we must work to remember... by working towards social justice everyday! My cousin Patrick started doing the Pink Triangle 10 years ago... a "renegade craft project" as he called it, but it is a beautiful example of what one person can do to create change. You can see this 200 ft triangle from all over the city (and beyond), and it can start a conversation of tolerance many times over.

Opportunities...

I wanted to throw some stuff out there for the BAYA crew... I have felt for a long time that BAYA has the opportunity to make some major changes happen in our congregation, the world church (C of C) and the world in general. I am not much for fate, or the "master plan" run by our creator... However, I am all for opportunities arising in front of us, and making choices. I believe that our group, coming together in this place (the Bay Area) at this time, with our broad range of talents/skills... provides a major opportunity. A combination of events (RDNA lecture last tues, Tony's sermon on Sunday... my own processing) has lead me in the past week to see this clearer than ever before. There IS a low rumble of change that is bubbling just beneath the surface. It is easy to take for granted here in the Bay (and just get comfy in it), but there is work to be done to reach the tipping point... and change the world (a major cultural shift towards a more "sustainable", "gentler", "Christ like" (choose your term) living).

So, I would like to propose that we start using this site (and other tools) to increase the surface area of BAYA. Meaning, if we can start connecting some of the dots, and filling each other (and whomever reads this) in on stuff that we are doing that is pushing towards a "Zion Tipping Point", we will be more effective, more fulfilled, and hopefully enjoy the process even more.

I am going to start by pointing out the lecture series that I went to last Tues, and is happening for the next two Tuesdays in Petaluma at IONS with RDNA. This is a group that is right in our backyard, and has a plan and the natural capitol to make it happen. I would love to see us take advantage of some of the stuff they are doing and both pull from and add to what they have cooking. I will be gone tomorrow, but will be at next weeks cob work party, and then the lecture. If anyone wants to go, let me know and we'll make an evening out of it. I see this like all of our BAYA stuff... If I am going to be doing it anyway, I will put the invite out there... no strings attached, but I will be better about jotting something down here so the knowledge goes a little further. It is $20 for the lecture, but I guess I would think of it as a form of stewardship towards work that is well worth it.

Lets try to share our stories up here... both fun stuff, and our work towards the spirit which makes BAYA such a cool community of friends.

TreeBed Music

TreeBed Music
Originally uploaded by TreeBed.

A fun little night of music at the church. Great to be singing with Chad, great to provide an atmosphere for the congregation (and whoever else) to gather and have a good time, and nice to have a long distance member of BAYA back in the mix. Thanks for all who helped in some way with the evening... even if it was just by being there and listening.

Point Reyes Backpacking - Year 3

This weekend BAYA completed its Annual backpack at Point Reyes National Seashore. This year 7 of us ventured out through bog and swamp and up steep hills with laughter and memories of Karate Kid in our heads.


We stayed our first night at Coast Camp and arrived just in time to see the sunset. We were greeted by the omnipresent and brave raccoons. Here are our 4 tents in a green meadow of Coast Camp.


Following our theme, "You're the best around, nothing's ever going to take you down", here is the premier photo of the BAYA Cobra Kai Dojo. This is a definite possibility for our Bay to Breakers theme.


We were graced with excellent weather the whole weekend and with beautiful scenes like this, no matter how steep the uphill, I can't wait to get back out there.

Hope you can join us next year.

BAYA Easter Lunch

 
After a great Easter Service, which included some awesome "cathedral setting" organ playing by Andy, the Padre, BAYA went to the new Crepevine for lunch in San Rafael. Lunch was quite tasty. And dessert was the requisite trip to the "Scoop" in Fairfax. It was Adam's first trip and Newsie's second. All in All, it was a great Easter day with friends. 

Hiking with BAYA

 
One of BAYA's favorite group activities is hiking the local trails of the Bay Area. Today, 4 of us hiked up a trail behind White Hill School to the top of the hill. There we found a mini-labyrinth that has be created by some locals.
 
Although the day was a little damp, the hike was good. Up, up and more uphill. It was a good warm-up for our backpack trip at Pt. Reyes next weekend.

Happy Easter everyone! 

Helmets & Harnesses

Helmets & Harnesses
Originally uploaded by TreeBed.

Getting ready for the high ropes course... I will have my eye out for when this new fashion trend goes mainstream. What was your favorite part of this rich experience?

Power in Periphery

This weekend BAYA (the Novato chapter) was all over the map... literally. Not everyone's travels were based on fun and excitement, but I do suspect each person's weekend was connected with a common spirit that has become a constant presence with BAYA. We haven't touched on the spiritual by name yet in this diary of BAYA history. However, make NO mistake, it is a shared spirit that sets this group of friends apart from other friends that I hang out with. We do not use this blog as a forum to talk about God, religion or the spiritual, because that is not what makes us a "Young Adult Group". We are not friends out of obligation. We are a group (and this is my opinion mind you ;-) that has become friends from personal decisions of necessity. That is the only way I can describe how a group of people that live an hour long drive away from each other (the BAYA triangle), and still somehow seem to get together at least twice a week... and often 3 or more times a week. What is that necessity we feel? It is a community of spirit that we find, each and every time we gather. This weekend several of us gathered at a Sierra Pacific Young Adult Retreat. For those who weren't there, your presence was felt in many ways. We talked about how we get stuck out on the periphery of life in the church as young adults. Not ready to be the core, but having an understanding of what we have to offer and wanting to contribute to something larger than ourselves. This is a hard line to walk... both for those on the periphery, and those in that long standing core. It gave me great joy to share how our group has worked through many of those issues, and built momentum strong enough to ignite (and support) others.

This weekend I understood better than ever that... searching those people out who both love and support you fully, and you being willing to offer the same allows you to grow to understand yourself better, because sometimes "support" means expecting more from each other... And by working along side those people using the potential of that love and support you come to understand your value as a part of this human experience... And then by worshiping together (whether it be listening to prayer in a chapel, or the wind in the trees during a hike) we add that third element that connects us at our core, beyond our friendship, possibly beyond our humanness. That is where our power is found. Not the power to push others around, but the power to accept, absorb, listen, struggle, give and enjoy the process. You cannot be exclusive when you reside in the periphery. That is why it is powerful.

What we call "BAYA", is not a label for a group of individuals, or does it have anything to do with geography... but I believe it came out of a necessity of language to understand that which has transformed our group into something that we didn't really have words to describe. "BAYA" works as good as any word. It is not our invention. We were just fortunate enough to stumble upon it, recognize the potential, and be present to building that potential into something more... For that I am SO thankful. If you are reading this, you most likely have had contact in some way with BAYA. This means you are a part of that unexplainable. You have added to that power. You are connected to it... Tap into it. It is an unlimited resource... It is built out of love, support and a spirit that I don't yet understand, but do fully believe in. I encourage you to search it out in your corner of the world... I guarantee you it is worth it!

scoop

scoop
Originally uploaded by ginelledds.

Katlin had a quick trip to the Bay and that resulted in a BAYA gathering. Amy also joined us from Sunnyvale and had her first experience with the Scoop! They even had Soy Mexican Chocolate, it was meant to be "Newsie".

Hello Spring!

It's SPRING!

BAYA has officially closed the Winter season and opened the door to Spring by celebrating our last Winter day basking in the sun for lunch on a deck in Tiburon. In the coming months, I look forward to spending more lunchtimes this way, camping at Pt. Reyes, hiking on Sunday afternoons, and looking at the wildflowers in Yosemite!

We enjoyed the view from our friend, Chuch Taylor's home while having lunch on his sunny deck. Chuck lives in a town called Tiburon, which is located north of San Francisco and has breathtaking views of the Bay. He has been inducted into BAYA and accepted his new nickname "BBC" Broom Buster Chuck. He founded an organization called the Broom Busters who help keep the hillside free of pesky plants that ruin the wildflowers of the open space surrounding his home. Chuck is quite a special guy and we love him for all of his continuous positivity and youthful outlook on life, thus the oldest (82 years!) , but youngest at heart, member of BAYA! We love you Chuck. Like I said, breathtaking.

Storyhill Benefit (part 3)

Wow! The Storyhill benefit concert was so many things to me. It was the culmination of a 29 days of planning, lots of teamwork, and many pieces coming together at the right time. And the result was an awesome and amazing concert put on by Chris and Johnny resulting in a significant amount raised for Outreach International's programs in Malawi.

My highlights for the night included seeing so many people in our building, hearing new Storyhill songs and Doug's speech tying the whole event together. However, if I had to choose one moment, it would have to be the spectacular harmonies on "Steady On" to conclude the show. Incredible. I hope to hear them again live in August/September and maybe at the COC 375 Calle Arboleda again.

STORYHILL ROCKS!

First time benefit for BAYA- not too shabby! From left to right: according to our nicknames, Diablo, Scientist, Gas-r, Chris (of Storyhill), El Presidente, John (of Storyhill), Oasis/Skippy, Milah, and El Padre.


Whooohooo! The concert ROCKED! Storyhill's performance just blew the socks off all the people who showed up to support the benefit for Outreach International. From the regular Storyhill fan to the new listener, the concert was enjoyable for all. Way to go BAYA, it truly was a team effort - high fives all around! What a cool way to share in this community.
(Deb and I collecting admission and passing out water with messages about OI attached)

Micah Hammac opened with some of his own songs and started the evening off right. Treebed design also provided the concert atmosphere, including professionally pressed coffee and treats! Way to go Milah!






Carla and Diana did a stellar job on CD and other Storyhill music item sales! Thanks ladies. (Chris of Storyhill, scratching his head on all of the merchandise sales we made Storyhill that night!!!)

My favorite part of the concert was when they took requests and played "If I Could" per my shout from the back row. Thanks Storyhill! You guys played an amazing show and we definitely want to have you back again soon.

Let the event Begin...

Let the event Begin...
Originally uploaded by TreeBed.

It looks like I am the first one to complete the homework assignment from El Presidente. "My favorite part of last nights Storyhill benefit concert was..." Well, it had to be the looks that I got from Chris and John when I introduced them and they came up on stage. They both thanked me, and mostly it was in the way it felt like they were saying, "hey that was pretty good, we enjoyed that." It sort of made the whole thing real, and unreal at the same time. Here I was on stage performing, and then welcoming to the stage two big reasons why I was up there in the first place. Wow! It was really cool to see a full church of smiling people enjoying something that we worked really hard to make happen. The goal was to have an event that was a good experience for everyone... and I think we nailed it! Yeah BAYA!!!

Zippy's Chilli, B-A-Y-A and Apples...

Zippy's Chilli
Originally uploaded by TreeBed.

All for Skippy's golden birthday... there were some fierce games of B-A-Y-A basketball (who knew Padre was a shooter, without legs!), and then the apple game (a supreme test of strategy, knowledge and skill)... all fueled by Zippy's chili and cajun pizza ;-) Happy Birthday Skippy... how is the mouth feeling this morning?

Storyhill Concert

Well, it is really going to happen....We are going to have a benefit concert at the Novato Community of Christ Church with none other than "Storyhill" performing. The concert is going to be on Sunday March 12th at 6pm at the church. The proceeds of the concert will go towards our Outreach International fund supporting projects in Malawi. Some of you may remember "Storyhill" as Chris and Johnny from our G-land days, they have changed their name, but the music is still great. To see what they are up to check out their website . We hope to see you there.

Deb conquers basecamp moves on to blogger

Yep, that's right....you heard correctly, I actually set-up a basecamp for the Storyhill concert. Am I feeling pretty special right now, hmmmmm, yep, you know it! Anyhooo, now I am trying to get going on the blog. I am starting to get teched out, or maybe I'm just tired. So, I guess that's it for now.

Happy B-day!!!

Happy B-day!!!
Originally uploaded by TreeBed.

No extra "C" so look at it cross-eyed and you will be fine... or maybe you are are old enough that it is blury anyway (hee hee). We celebrated you tonight, hope you are well on your birthday!

Taco!

Taco!
Originally uploaded by TreeBed.

Another moving job complete... thankfully it was just a move up a flight of stairs. No VW busses used or needed.

Hey, now we can actually gather at the Skippy/GASR pad...