Heeding the warnings about grizzly bears and cougars, I headed down the hill into "downtown" Heart Butte for my morning walk. The cows were enjoying breakfast in the tiny little park, the dogs were everywhere(memories of India) . The trash and dilapidated homes reminded me of Crow Agency, except all these homes had at least one DISH attached. Beyond the small town I headed up the ridge, to stupendous views and horses grazing. The way back brought me to the tidy Head Start building(closed for the summer), the Senior Center and the post office.
On return, I settled in to work on my Cuba project. Some of you are aware that I am enrolled in a certificate program at CU Denver in Nonprofit management, and I have a paper due on Thursday. Phil will tell you that the first paper I did for my first course caused me alot of angst(the last paper I wrote was likely when I was in college!), I'm hoping this one will be a bit easier. Its amazing how relevant the course material has been to my day to day work, as well as my volunteer trips
Having read my fill, I headed into Browning for checking out the local art galleries, another grocery run, and a stop a the Pastor's ranch to pick up supplies and bedding. At a controlled burn last night, practice for the local volunteer fire department, some huge hose got out of control, tangled up Pastor Hill, knocked him out and landed him the hospital. After imaging, and laceration repair he was sent home with the admonishment to "take it easy". Doesn't seem like the kind of person to just hang out. His wife reassured me that she will try to have him lay low, but he is planning to do his circuit tomorrow and preach at 3 different churches and drive 150 miles.
I was just settling into the quiet back in Heart Butte when a huge bus pulled up to this humble church. Out poured 20 young adults(in future to be referred to as "the kids") and their somewhat overwhelmed 4 adult chaperones(in future to be referred to as "the adults). They tumbled out of the bus, all wearing their Ben's Lighthouse T shirts. (for more information see benslighthouse.org)
Tired and overwhelmed, we had a quick tour of the place, worked on beds, bedding, internet access(very critical), and food(also critical). The adults were fantastic in getting everyone organized and setting some basic etiquette and safety rules. The scene is quite amazing: stuff everywhere with electronics plugged into every available outlet. I'm going to have trouble with names, we have three Camerons, two Grants, and a variety of other names.
Just as I thought things were settling in, Francine asked to speak to me privately(uh oh, the team leader in me thought). Turns out she is the mother of Ben, and if you've read ahead, you know that Ben was a 6 year old shot and killed at Sandy Hook, while his 9 year old brother hid. This is the first trip for her since the shooting, she left her 9 year old and her 20 month at home with her husband. I was so honored and humbled that she shared her story with me, and wanted me to know how she was doing. We had an excellent discussion of how to handle how much the kids will want to talk about the tragedy during their trip here. I assured her we would be following their lead.
It is suddenly very quiet again, after all the settling in hub bub. I am hoping they all get some sleep. Tomorrow brings a big day with orientation and an afternoon tour of Browning, the reservation , and into Glacier National Park.
Love to all of you from Heart Butte, where I am definitely feeling humbled by the opportunity to work with this team,
Barbara
On return, I settled in to work on my Cuba project. Some of you are aware that I am enrolled in a certificate program at CU Denver in Nonprofit management, and I have a paper due on Thursday. Phil will tell you that the first paper I did for my first course caused me alot of angst(the last paper I wrote was likely when I was in college!), I'm hoping this one will be a bit easier. Its amazing how relevant the course material has been to my day to day work, as well as my volunteer trips
Having read my fill, I headed into Browning for checking out the local art galleries, another grocery run, and a stop a the Pastor's ranch to pick up supplies and bedding. At a controlled burn last night, practice for the local volunteer fire department, some huge hose got out of control, tangled up Pastor Hill, knocked him out and landed him the hospital. After imaging, and laceration repair he was sent home with the admonishment to "take it easy". Doesn't seem like the kind of person to just hang out. His wife reassured me that she will try to have him lay low, but he is planning to do his circuit tomorrow and preach at 3 different churches and drive 150 miles.
I was just settling into the quiet back in Heart Butte when a huge bus pulled up to this humble church. Out poured 20 young adults(in future to be referred to as "the kids") and their somewhat overwhelmed 4 adult chaperones(in future to be referred to as "the adults). They tumbled out of the bus, all wearing their Ben's Lighthouse T shirts. (for more information see benslighthouse.org)
Tired and overwhelmed, we had a quick tour of the place, worked on beds, bedding, internet access(very critical), and food(also critical). The adults were fantastic in getting everyone organized and setting some basic etiquette and safety rules. The scene is quite amazing: stuff everywhere with electronics plugged into every available outlet. I'm going to have trouble with names, we have three Camerons, two Grants, and a variety of other names.
Just as I thought things were settling in, Francine asked to speak to me privately(uh oh, the team leader in me thought). Turns out she is the mother of Ben, and if you've read ahead, you know that Ben was a 6 year old shot and killed at Sandy Hook, while his 9 year old brother hid. This is the first trip for her since the shooting, she left her 9 year old and her 20 month at home with her husband. I was so honored and humbled that she shared her story with me, and wanted me to know how she was doing. We had an excellent discussion of how to handle how much the kids will want to talk about the tragedy during their trip here. I assured her we would be following their lead.
It is suddenly very quiet again, after all the settling in hub bub. I am hoping they all get some sleep. Tomorrow brings a big day with orientation and an afternoon tour of Browning, the reservation , and into Glacier National Park.
Love to all of you from Heart Butte, where I am definitely feeling humbled by the opportunity to work with this team,
Barbara
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