gorge. us.

sometimes, in the wilderness, i'll turn over a rock and discover a whole family of unusual creatures dwelling peacefully together, contributing in some unexpected but vital way to the overall harmony and health of their local environment. in the urban wilderness of portland, we discovered the rodgers. ricky, anna, and their kids selah, moriah, havilah, graylan, and gideon are an unusual species of family. they are sinking roots down into the soil of southeast portland, and already producing fruits of charity and kindness for the refreshment of those within reach of their tree (and the great, asymmetric house being built upon it).
although they'd only known us for about thirty minutes, ricky and anna gladly offered us their love, inviting us to abide at their delightful abode, and to share in the joyful noise of their large family.
we drove with ricky, the kids, and neighbor jake in the vintage chevy greenbriar to elowah falls, where they all helped us set up camp for the night. the falls are in the columbia river gorge (the name europeans, we discovered, prefer over 'canyon'). the gorge is an enchanted place, full of wonder and the possibility of magic.
after elowah, we hitched to hood river, stayed there for two days, catching our breath and remembering what we're doing, and then went back into the wilderness of the gorge. at ricky's suggestion, we hiked seven miles up eagle creek, where everything is soft, green and pulsing with life, and where water falls thrash and explode on and on along the trail. it was one of our best hikes yet.
we hitched back to p-land, spent the evening with ricky, anna and the kids, and are now off to seattle.
some families are not unexceptional. the rodgers, mmm, are one of those families.