Lovebutt Junior Reunion

We had an amazing summer reunion in August. The Bleyle-Landeys, Avila-LoBiancos, Cohen-Fishers, Denkewalter, Mr. Johns, and Auntie Cynthia Star were all there. We rented a huge cabin outside Salem, Oregon in protected forest lands. We sang songs, ate great hippie food that Anna would have LOVED, played "old growth fir, spotted owl, and flying squirrel" (which is like complicated tag). Brave Ruby is the only one who conquered the cold and swam in the beautiful crystal river.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/12616997@N07/sets/72157607454026928/

http://landey.smugmug.com/gallery/5919219_GNXiT

Anna's dreams

This Sunday marks two long years of missing Anna. This is a hard week of remembering, because the memories are the painful details of two years ago. But summer is here, and Anna was summer...we all have zillions of summer Anna memories. Here is a list of her dreams that I found in one of her journals. Summer dreams, all (well, except for snowboarding and the Knicks!)...

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Hiking on the salmon river
Oregon coast – hike in to fields sleep listen for seals
B’way shows – annie a chorus line, Oklahoma
Spend every summer on the beach
Snowboard
Do Puzzles
Have BBQs on summer evenings
Dance in summer rain
Watch for Oregon rainbows
Ride bikes – long rides too and camping
Read Charlotte’s Web together
Go see outdoor music concerts
Crafts: tie dye, batik, potato prints, make t-shirts make jewelry
Eat dinner together and talk about our days
Write/tell stories
Drive cross country
Play wiffleball
Go to a Knicks game
Go to a Mets/Yankees game

Mostly now I am worried I am not living full enough – where are my mountains, oceans, hikes, camping, ice-cold water, swims, running dogs, spicy foods, shining sun, snow boarding, organic salsa + chips + large pine trees
I crave these things
Sharing the love and joy of these experiences

I too want to live as madly as deeply as I can

Be so acutely aware of love and small pleasures – savoring the moments

Still able to be radical, and live freely, and still feel connected to the earth – the beautiful earth.

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Ruby and Dario, these are the things she did with you, and the things she wanted to spend 100 years doing with you. You are her love and joy.

The picture at the top of this post is from the forest in Oregon where a bunch of us (including Chico, Ruby, and Dario) are going camping this summer. We'll be sure to post pictures of us in this very spot looking for amphibians and rainbows!

Sandy River Secret Spot

Here's an annotated Google map of the Secret Spot on the Sandy River and the spot just down the river where Chiq scattered Anna's and Puppa's ashes.

You can zoom in and out and drag the map to see the river flow into the Columbia (to the left, West of the Secret Spot) and the Columbia into the Pacific.

Secret Spot

Here's a view that shows the Secret Spot, Mount Hood to the East, and the Columbia heading to the Pacific.

Wide view

Lucky House Steps

Lots of pictures and stories to come, but for now, here we are on the Lucky House steps after going to the Sandy River.
From bottom to top and from left to right:
Ruby, Nina, Twylo, Fred, Misty, Alicia, Pascale, Tom, Jody, Dario, Chiq, Denk, Cynthia, Libby, Krack (John) and Louisa.

At the farm with Cynthia.

Scouting the rivers

I went out to the Salmon River last week. Anna Noah and I decided once to go on a camping trip out there & then it happened to be the opening night of The Blair Witch Project and I didn't know anything about it but Anna got us there early to get in line and we made it into cinema 21. Probably the most terrifying movie I've ever seen. And then, off from there to the oregon woods.
A real sleepless one of shrieking at every breaking twig, every night bird. So scary and I know Anna got a real thrill from it. And good old puppa.

The next day we swam in what I still declare to be the coldest water in the world.

This time I did not go swimming. It was raining and foggy. Just thinking of her and missing her.
Itwould be good for us all to go out there together except for the road has been blocked off and there is about a half mile of trail which at one point is crossed by big fallen trees and a new creek.
This is my report. Anywhere else I should be scouting.. i'll try to get out to the sandy..

love love indeed
Denk

The Prince

Anna sent this on october 23, 2003 :

"My stinky old mutt,
a prince among dogs.
His beautiful spirit outlived his ailing body.
Truly loved & truly loving.

found: April 26, 1994 Portland, OR
lost: October 20, 2003 South Salem, NY

my first love..."

I was always terrified of Puppa. Was it that if I went to hug Anna he would try to bite my butt off? Was it because if I made any movement that resembled dancing, he would try to rip my throat out? Or was it that strangely human look in his eye?

Maybe it was because Anna loved him so much that I knew that he must be a creature of superior quality.

....No, he was a little scary.

AKA Colette Rabin

Here's another.. probably not for the kids:

In Portland circa '93 I belonged to a gym and one hot day brought Anna
+ Maudie as my guests to swim in the pool. I only had one guest pass so
Anna took the alias "Colette Rabin". Well, sure enough, the woman who
worked at the place came out to the pool and asked if we were members
and what our names were. When Anna said "Colette Rabin". the woman
said, "No you're not. I know Collette Rabin, she's in my spnning
class". Anna, non - plussed, just kind of quietly said, "well, that's
weird" and kept on swimming.

Awesome!

Story from James

Holding Krack's Hand

Hi guys. In Portland I was with Anna and Krack and a bunch of other people at a party at the Lucky House. These skaters that no one knew showed up and started to cause trouble. They ended up throwing a full beer can at Krack, which hit him in the face, giving him a big gash in his lip. Someone volunteered to drive Krack to the emergency room and Anna and I got in the car with him. Everyone who knows Krack knows he can be a bit hard to read under normal circumstances. As we rode in the car with him, he just didn't seem to be reacting at all. It was also hard to see how bad the gash was and I learned later that it was pretty deep. So I just assumed he was ok but Anna turned to him and said, "Krack, do you want me to hold your hand?" and I remember that Krack nodded vigorously. She held his hand until we got to the hospital.

Story from Neilson

Gratitude

I remember Anna from college. Her and Emilio and Nelson and I don't remember who else would have me over for dinner in their big shambling house. Lauren was there usually and Julia and Hannah. Great tasting food was served in heaping portions, and I would drink wine until I was happily drunk. The thing I loved most was that everyone who came had some particular brand of eccentricity or quark, some creative dis-ease, and were equally embraced as part of this wonderful extended family. It was a safe place, where I remember breathing easier, outside all the self-judgement of that time in my life. I always thought that Anna set the tone. She was like a mother, even then, regal in her idiosyncrasy and understanding. She was solid, playful, wise, generous, and passionate. She embodied the values I've always cherished, and brought them into those settings in a palpable, nonjudging way: integrity, generosity, community, hope. She did it with so much love, was instrumental in creating and holding this space. I loved her for that, and for the closeness she made possible. I always felt some recognition of the type that goes unexplained in this little life, one of those big essential feelings that seems too obvious and deep and healing and real for words. The word that says it best is gratitude.

--From Frank M., a friend from Reed, who sent this memory to Nina last fall

Direct sunlight

Beams through the Window
Originally uploaded by I Am A Legionnaire.

Anna didn't believe in curtains or shades -- when I was trying to sleep until noon in my cave at the House of Rock in Portland, she wanted the sun to blast in as soon as it came up.

Hey! We should do a post of all the places Anna lived...

Cheesy delight!

stewed tomatoes, black beans, corn
Originally uploaded by esthakoopoo.

Here are some more quick food stories-- anything with a lot of cheese was a "cheesy delight". The classic cheesy delight was a flour tortilla with cheddar cheese and chopped garlic toasted in the toaster oven.

One of the dishes Anna made out in Oregon was good old "3 Can Stew". Correct me if I'm wrong, friends, but I believe the classic 3 cans were crushed tomatoes, black beans, and corn. Yum! What could have been better than Anna saying with complete joy, like it was the absolute greatest event of the year "Hey! Let's make 3 Can Stew
tonight! Right on!" I don't know if she invented it, but she sure made
it taste good.

lovelove Jody