Hope in Small Doses

After spending days in a hot lather about politics and the people who live in those exotic environments I had maxed out on anger and angst.  I was ready for a day of pure tourist adventure on vacation here in the Olympic Peninsula.  It was more than a good day.  It was a day that I needed. 

We are currently in Forks, a town made famous as the home of Stephanie Meyers, Twilight, series of books about vampires, the girls who love them and the super wolves who hunt them.  In truth, Forks is a timber town.  The timber industry has taken a big hit in the recession, but it still lives. 

A lumber mill was the first stop.  This mill has kept itself running by doing three things.  First, it is light on its feet.  Every man there could do more than one job.  They floated from task to task as the day required.  No one was idle.  Second, the company looks for work from a multitude of wholesalers and lumber users.  They don’t have all there eggs in one basket.   Finally, computer technology and heavy machinery were involved with every step of the operation.  They work is both smart and efficient.   They waste nothing.  It was private enterprise doing its best in tough times.  It gave me hope.

Next, we went to an area where forestry was taking place in a state owned forest.  Once again, the machinery was massive and awesome.  We watched a machine that picks up a log, strips off the branches and most of the bark and cuts it to the required length.  But, we were there at lunch time so the man controlling this mega-machine brought it to a stop, got out and retrieved a cooler from the cab.  He was a young man.  He had only one leg.  Our guide knew the young man and shared his story.  He had lost his leg to cancer as a boy.  Evidently, if this young man ever felt like a victim it was a transient thought.  At this point he was just another logger, earning a living, carrying on.  It gave me hope.

Late that afternoon, Tom and I traveled to the Pacific coast, to the town of La Push, home of the Quileute Tribe of Native Americans.  The beach is beautiful.  We had a nice dinner at the River Side Restaurant and then attended a, “Drum and Healing Circle” at the Community Center.  We had heard of this event at the Forks Visitor Center.  Several tourists joined us for the first part of the evening, but slowly drifted off.  Tom and I were taken by the historical and anthropological importance of the event, and chose to stay.  Here the Quileute people are trying mightily to keep their society’s traditions alive, while eradicating the grievous problems of drugs, alcohol and domestic violence in their community.  These gracious people made us a part of their dances and rituals of potlatch as if we were guests in their home.  Through the entire evening we saw people who suffer from many ills which our society has imposed on them, yet they are working, one child at a time, to recapture the dignity of their heritage.  It gave me hope. 

These three small islands of normality were a refreshing change from the abstract crises of the political arena.  I saw the people of this country trying to live the best life they could day by day.  These were all good, kind, hard working people.  They deserve a government that has the same qualities.  It humbled me.

Aim high, and keep the faith.