Entering Montana along the Paradise Valley was a treat. A few miles in we turned off and I soaked in another hot spring while light snow floated down upon my head. It cleared up as we drove to Bozeman, a great college town with an awesome food co-op. Another kindly cousin put me up for several days, and I caught up on writing (sort of), laundry, and repacking Peachy. It is hard to believe that I can misplace things in a space so small, but I do with depressing regularity. As I have admitted before, I am not dependably domestic - and that includes being "tidy".
Montana's Big Sky was suitably impressive, and the perceived space was conducive to ruminating on new aspects of the journey. I have mentioned hauling water as a part of my experience, but here there was time to think about refugees and what their larger experience might feel like. I envisioned having to walk hours to fetch water and firewood, and when I looked around at the vast country - with no water or trees visible, my heart sank. When propane fuel for the camp stove, or Peachy's gas gauge ran low, I grew nervous, wondering how many miles to the next town. At night I locked myself into Peachy's relatively warm and protecting shell, and imagined sleeping on the ground, worrying about insects, snakes, bears, and humans with malice in their hearts. None of these fears were realized (except the insects and one night of rowdy raccoons who rifled the food box and ate everything but herb tea, and two glass jars filled with oatmeal l and lentils), but to a refugee or an evacuee, they are too often facts of life.
The statistics about living conditions, disease, violence, and rape in refugee camps is distressing. Some families have had to live in these camps for years, and things have not improved much in that time. The "Water for Life, Water for All" project of Church World Service is trying to improve conditions and relations between groups in places of conflict so that neighbors can live in peace and share resources, instead of living in a constant state of siege. As a matter of fact, the aims of the program are:
1. Water for Life - clean, accessible water for villages
2. Water for Food - water to grow crops and healthy livestock
3. Water for Health - water for sanitary facilities
4. Water for Peace - enough water for everyone to share, thus avoiding conflict between groups
5. Water for the Future - water to build up agricultural surpluses to sell
6. Water for All - the water sources to be kept in the control of the community, not sold to a for-profit company
These objectives take time and education to "catch on", and they are, indeed, working well in many parts of the world where CWS has been working for over 50 years. We in the USA have been blessed with abundant natural resources, and take much for granted, but we are also a generous nation, and have made life better for others in many countries around the globe. I am proud to be a partner with such admirable neighbors!
Onward to Idaho, over snowy passes and down into the flat again where there were bill boards advertising SPENCER - OPAL CAPITOL OF THE USA. Who could resist?
The opals were really beautiful, and there were pink ones! The route took us farther south, to a warm welcome at the U.C.C. Church in Pocatello, Idaho, and through more space and ruminations.
The major stop in Idaho was Craters of the Moon National Park, thousands of acres of black lava, both smooth and jagged, in cones, mounds, sheets, and cinder meadows, all starred with silver-leaved plants that shone brightly. Temperatures here are terribly hot during the day, and both plant and animal life have learned over time to protect themselves. Some of the astronauts trained here in preparation for going to the moon, learning in the process how to survive in a hostile environment
Speaking of stars, the nights we spent there in the park happened to be when the moon was new, and the stars were tremendous! There was also, surprisingly, lots of bird chirping to keep us company. Luckily there are paths through the lava - evidently the jagged type tears shoes to shreds in short order.
Church sign: "COME EARLY FOR A GOOD BACK SEAT"
Shalom, Penny and Peachy
