Life at a "Swell's" pace

A helmet saved my brother's life

This post is easy to write, yet hard to put into words. Easy in the fact that a helmet while riding a bicycle should be something that comes as natural as grabbing your keys when leaving your home. My dad taught us at a young age to always wear a helmet while doing sports activities where your head could possibly be injured in some way or another. That lesson has carried over for all three of his kids as we have gotten older. And it's a good thing that is has.

On the hard aspect of writing this post is the fact that my brother could have ended up with permanent brain injuries, facial disfigurements, or even worse-It could have ended his life. But none of that happened because all in all, as the title of this blog posts says, "a helmet saved my brother's life."

My dad, my nephew, and my brother, had gone for yet another bicycle ride on a nice Arkansas afternoon. The day was a good day to grab their bikes and take off on a ride to enjoy nature, and the great things during this time of year that Arkansas has to offer. Near the end of their bike ride is a dirt track for BMX and other trick bike riders in an area called, Cedar Glades Park in Hot Springs, Arkansas. My brother's main bike riding is either road bikes, or mountain biking on trails, so to him this was a fun group of hills to ride over and have a good time finishing out their ride for the day. My brother's confidence got the best of him and he decided to give the dirt/rock track a try on his mountain bike. He was riding over 20 miles an hour on a downward slope of rocks and hit a hill that he didn't see ahead of him. Taking that dirt hill too fast, he lost his balance, was thrown over the handlebars of his bicycle, and came crashing down onto the dirt ground with full force and momentum from his still traveling body. This "crash" resulted in him hitting the ground first with his head, knocking him unconscious, and with the left-side of his body having no control-after.

Our dad and my nephew, Ryan, watched helplessly as he came crashing to the ground. The fall ended up knocking my brother unconscious for about two minutes and when he woke up he had no memory of where he was, or why he was there. My dad describes the fall as something he hopes he never has to see again for the rest of his life from anyone-He thought the fall my brother took onto his head had killed him instantly.

The result of the bicycle crash left my brother with a broken collar bone, a concussion, large cuts on the left side of his face and body, scrapes, and large bruises. The doctor treating my brother told him that had he not been wearing that helmet he most certainly would have greater injuries, maybe irreparable injuries to his head and neck. And the worst part is, had he not had a helmet on the doctor told him it could have killed him.

My brother is healing up well and doesn't have any lasting impacts from his crash. His collarbone put him out of commission for awhile and he was really bummed that he couldn't go swim his laps in the community pool each week. Talking to him he is in high spirits about the wreck and we are glad to know that the helmet he was wearing protected him and did its job and took the brunt of the fall-as it's supposed to.

My brother was wearing a Trek helmet at the time of his wreck and contacted the Trek company to tell them about his wreck and that their helmet saved his life. Trek was so gracious and supportive of my brother's accident and they were so pleased to hear that it was their own product that became the barrier between good news and bad news for our family. Trek told my brother how amazing it was to hear that the helmet did its job. They were so moved by his story that they sent my brother a new helmet, some accessories, and also asked if they could share his story.

We have all decided to share his story and make it a point to tell people, "Your head, face, and brain are an important part of you. Don't risk it-Wear a helmet always!"

Road Trip: da Vinci Days

da Vinci Days is a festival in Corvallis, Oregon, that focuses on science, technology, kinetic energy, art, math, and engineering, and takes place on the third weekend of July. It's free to the public and operates on donations. Community members and Oregon State University students team together to bring this even to the Benton County Fairgrounds each year.

Founded in 1989, the festival continues to excite and engage people of all ages and backgrounds. Inspired by the "left brain meets right brain" genius of Leonardo, da Vinci Days is a canvas for you to celebrate your own creativity and innovation. da Vinci Days exists to showcase our community of artists, engineers, teachers, and visionaries, while supporting the economic development and vitality of Corvallis and Benton County.

We love the fact that science is being brought to the forefront in the area and this year we decided to join in the festivities this year at da Vinci Days. The best part of the festival is the kinetic bicycle and other structures that race along paths in Corvallis during the Graand Kinetic Challenge.

(The video above is not mine, it belongs to Danugirl1)

“To develop a complete mind: Study the science of art; Study the art of science. Learn how to see. Realize that everything connects to everything else.” -- Leonardo da Vinci

The Bean got to use kinetic energy to power a water sprinkler through pedaling a bicycle. The racers on their kinetic vehicles would pass in front of the water sprayers as part of the finish of the race.

Five simple things

Hello.

Gardening, gardening, gardening has been on the front lines this week. We've been babying our garden a bit more because of the hot temperatures. Our peas and tomatoes have been coming in one-by-one and they are delicious! Holding out for the blooms on the cucumbers, yellow squash, and the zucchini to slowly turn into nice fruits soon. The Bean has been "grazing" in the garden each day for lunch and I just love how we can walk out our back door and grab a snack. Here is what our week looked like:

Saturday: The Mr. and The Bean replaced the brake pads on our "road tripping" car. They took a little more than an hour to replace them, but I found it to be a great opportunity to see The Mr. in his teaching element. It takes someone special to be able to actually teach something to a child. Patience, know-how, and the one ability a lot of people lack-even actual teachers-the ability to listen to the one you're teaching and hear how they are perceiving the lesson. I always praise The Mr. on this ability alone. More on this below.

Sunday: We took a nice day trip to the Oregon Zoo. Not a lot of people out and about on a Sunday, so it was nice to walk around and see the animals without a lot of people crowding our views. If you follow me on Instagram you can check out the "summer" highlight to see a lot of great shots from this trip.

Monday: We fertilized our roses this week. Our go-to rose fertilizer is from a small company based out of Eugene, Oregon, and it works nicely for the roses we have.

Tuesday: We sold the train layout this week. A hobby shop owner from La Pine, Oregon, came and purchased it along with a lot of the scenery and layout items. We aren't too sad to see it go, but it is a bittersweet moment. In our process of downsizing, it just didn't make the cut. We are excited to gain a large part of the garage back though and The Mr. is happy to have space for equipment we may need for the bus build in the future, too.

Wednesday: The three us met up and played a nine-hole-round of golf with a coworker of The Mr.'s that's moving to California. The Mr. is extremely sad to see him go, but definitely will stay in contact. The golf game was played at Mallard Creek here in the Valley. Great course and well maintained. The Mr., The Bean, and I stayed up late to make three pounds of meatballs to freeze overnight for a going-away party for the coworker leaving for California. It's my own recipe that will be shared on the blog soon. They are a two day process and on Wednesday night we got a headstart with them and mixed and formed the meatballs, browned just the outside and then froze them. We finished them up on Thursday night to take them to the going away party on Friday afternoon.

Thursday: The Bean and I spent Thursday cleaning up the yard a bit, deadheading flowers, herbs, and vegetable plants, as well as watering everything thoroughly and picking what was ripe in the garden. Our raspberry plants, blueberries, and strawberries continue to give us fruits. We also harvested all of the garlic, braided them, and hung them to cure for a week. When The Mr. got home that evening we placed the frozen meatballs in the large crock pot along with the BBQ sauce and placed them on warm overnight.

Friday: The Mr. woke up to head to work and put the meatballs on low for the day. We met him around 11:00 a.m. for the going-away party and the meatballs were perfectly cooked through. It was a bittersweet moment for The Mr. He has gotten to be great friends with this coworker, but we made promises to him that he will be our first road trip we take in our converted bus.

So for the other part of the week, here are five simple things that made this week great!

1. This bumblebee...

On our recent day trip to the zoo this bumblebee wasn't part of the animals on display, but I couldn't help but give him a bit of attention. He was a busy, busy, little bee

2. Yogi Surprise Lifestyle Box...

Have to always give a shout out to Yogi Surprise and all of their great items. This is the Lifestyle box for July. Loving the Aloha hip pouch. You can get on the list for August here and get a $10 credit towards your first box. (Use coupon: REFTE219XWUDJ)

3. This House Finch...

The Bean rescued this poor, scared, House Finch from the mouth of the neighbor's cat this week. The House Finch was a female and spent all day in our bathroom sink recovering. Once she was ready to be released she let us know by flying on top of the bathroom clock. The Mr. was able to pick her up and we released her promptly outside shortly after. We were so glad she was able to take flight pretty well.

4. This herbal shampoo bar...

We've almost completely made the switch from liquid shampoos to bar soap instead. We really like the shampoo bars that contain rosemary essential oils in the mix. We are trying to transition completely to bar soaps because it's less waste, but it is a work in progress.

5. And lastly, this Instagram story post...

Regardless of where this was posted originally, I stand by it 100%. Raising children in this day in age is hard work, but raising them with values, and respect for everyone, no matter who the person is, is a great task. I am proud to say that The Mr. and I have taught our child that respect comes in all forms. We have taught him that people that feel they are better than others, those that can't seem to work past minor issues in life, and those people that always make a small issue a larger one, are people that haven't found themselves in life. We have taught him that loving everyone, no matter who they are, is a feat in itself. Living a non-judgement life and always being the person others can count on, is what matters. Living a simple life, being someone you love and understand is more important than a lonely life on the inside of always trying to stay on top. We have also taught him that he is not required to bend and fold for other people and never ever let others treat you less than what you are. No matter what life brings, always, always be the person that makes others question their own life and want to live better. The Mr. and I are still learning what's good and what's bad and in the long run there are some people and some things that will hurt you. We have taught our son that it is okay to cry, show emotion, and be the person you think you should be no matter how many come in and out of your life to bring you down. Disappointment in part of life, but it doesn't have to change you, or break you in the end. And whatever you do, tell people that want to tear you down to f-off. Your life is more important to the ones that love you with no conditions than those that want to rip you apart out of their own misery. In the end, we are giving the world a child that will become a great adult that will rock the world with his knowledge, love, and be the kind of adult that will shake up the way the world is currently. Kick ass, Skylar! You are the one!

A few more things:

• Do Sun Salutation correctly.

• Oregon swimming holes aren't like Arkansas swimming holes.

• The Bird Machine.

• Guerrilla gardening.

• The most expensive perfume in the world.

• Still living the frugal life?

• A new look at GOOP.

• Tobacco free California.

• Top 10 tips for new bloggers from original blogger, Jorn Barger.

• What type of vegetarian are you?

Have a nice weekend!

Road trip: Larwood Historic Covered Bridge (summer swimming)

It's been pretty warm here the last few days and a nice water deep is such a treat this time of year here in the Valley. In the process of downsizing we ended up donating our backyard swimming pool we have used to cool off with the few summers before. The Bean misses his pool, but overall we are glad that the maintenance of it is over. So in the process of finding a new watering hole we have ventured around looking at different places to take a deep.

Being in the Willamette Valley of Oregon we are right in the heart of the covered bridge capital of the area. One great historic covered bridge is the Larwood Bridge near a small community called, Scio. The history of this bridge is pretty interesting with its waterfront being right on Crabtree Creek. It's one of the number one covered bridges in Linn County that offer fishing and evening a nice area for picnicking in the area. And the best part, it has some of the best swimming in the county.

Five simple things

Hello.

Happy Friday the Thirteenth. Wow! This week got hot! Not just slightly sweat-worthy, but pretty toasty on Wednesday and Thursday. We crested well over 100 degrees on both days, according to the NOAA temperature gauge The Mr. has. I was watering our garden morning and evening just to stay ahead of the game. The Bean enjoyed the warmth after his school work was done to slip down his "homemade" slip-n-slide. As far as the school work goes, remember we homeschool here, there is no summer break, per se, but often time in the summer there are breaks in weeks. But I digress, the temperature spike almost reminded me of being down south in Arkansas. We loved it! We did have to look into getting another air conditioner for the upstairs loft, though. We ended up purchasing another small one so that The Bean didn't melt into his bed at night. We will have to come up with clever ways in storing it in the off months. This week we also went on a little shoe adventure to purchase some new Birkenstocks for all three of us. That ship is still sailing, so stay tuned. As far as everything else around here it's been pretty calm, hot, and collected. Nothing too exciting, so here are the five things that did make this week great!

1. This lavender...

Because it was time to harvest and give them a nice summer haircut.

2. This key...

Because it looks similar to my 17-year-old Persian/Siamese, Meia. I'm using it as a bookmark right now in one of my bedside books.

3. This sweet swimmer...

Even when Happy's pool is being cleaned out she find a way to just keep swimming. I had ducks growing up and so did The Mr.-Being a duck family just makes sense.

4. This bell...

We've had a lot of Geocachers come by since the summer started. We love when people come by to ring the bell and it gives us such a delight to be able to meet the Geocachers that favorite our little space of the Geocache world. If you're a Geocacher and looking for adventures in the Willamette Valley, check out our Geocache, "For Whom the Bell Tolls."

5. July's book selections...

These are the book selections I've given thought over for this month. Great reads and ones that will definitely keep you occupied and able to take you away for a moment. You can check these and other month's selections out here.

A few more things: