Category: Life

The Pirate Ship Sails….Farm Kid Style

We have an old boat. It was recovered years ago from the side of the road where someone had (so generously) left it near our property. My husband and I saw just “an old abandoned boat”, while our kids saw a pirate ship just needing some attention before she hit the high seas. Since I’m writing this blog we all know who won that debate.

So a short haul down the road, a lot of pressure washing, and this old gal has over the years been the center of many adventures. She’s caught salmon on the Pacific, fought off pirates near the Caribbean, and yachted through the Panama Canal. However with all these adventures under her belt, she had yet to actually get in any real water.

With all the rain this winter, the call to get her out on the sea was too much. Our kids saw that flooded bottom ground below the farm and it had to happen. So with waders on and a little prayer we launched that old pirate ship in the ditch below the farm. And to all our amazement the dang thing actually floated! Not one leak!

It was a great afternoon. Captain Hoot could have stayed all day with first mate Auggie, deck hand Dad, a few fair maidens (Millie & her cousin Addison) and boat dog Booker aboard.

The original idea was to finish out her first sail with a sleep out under the stars, but with temps still near freezing at night even an imagination as big as these farm kids have wasn’t enough to convince mom that was ok. Maybe next year…..

This flooded ditch below the farm holds a lot of adventurous memories for me as a kid and now they are all starting over with the next generation.

I love their imagination, I love how they make things happen and never think “well we can’t do that.” And I’m very certain that someday they will sleep out under the stars in their pirate ship; another adventure of many down the road that our farm kids get to dream up.

Grandpa Marlin

When I say “It is with a heavy heart…” I know that many have felt the gravity of what I am about to write. Many have had loved ones who were here for the exact right amount of time for them, and yet, not even close to enough time for those who they left still here. And if I’m being honest, as life goes, “enough time” doesn’t exist for great men like Marlin Hammond.

My grandpa Marlin was quite possibly one of my best friends. I have a heart full of memories, but from the day I told him “I’m 6.” and he responded, “Well Brenny, I’m 66, so that means I’m only twice your age.” I felt a kindred spirit in him. With 60 years between us, my grandpa and I had no problem ever finding something to talk about, something to laugh about, or something to just bullshit over. When I went to visit him just a few months ago my aunt told him Matt and I were there and he said, “Oh good those are my kind of people, farmers.”

My grandpa was in the service where he served in WWII. He was a farmer, the hardest worker you will ever meet (those who knew him know this is the truth), a carpenter, a real estate salesman, a husband of 77 years, a dad, a grandpa, a great grandpa and a great great grandpa.

At 97 I think he lived enough for three lifetimes over. Although with our math together we could never figure out how he got so old since he was only twice my age (such a mystery). He was a traveler and enjoyed trips with my grandma Arlene, many times with other family in tow. I doubt I’ll ever walk in a camper or trailer without thinking of the many adventures we all had with him and grandma. He said words like “pertnear” and “davenport” and was always clean shaven. A gentleman to the end.

Marlin Hammond passed away peacefully on Friday October 22nd. The night before I was there holding his hand, he still had enough grip to let you know he knew you were there, and the hospice nurse told us all that in death people will go when it’s their time, and it’s on their terms. So to hear that within minutes of my Aunt Jo arriving and praying over him, he had passed away, it just all felt like it was right. I find great comfort in that thought; he was ready in all the ways that you can be to move from this earth.

There’s a part of me that is a little jealous of all the folks who I know were there with open arms to welcome him to heaven. I can imagine all the handshakes (because let me tell you Grandpa Marlin’s handshake will go down in history) and all the big hugs. Even as I sit here writing this all down, all I can picture is him with a giant smile on his face, and for that, I’ll forever be thankful.

My grandpa Marlin taught me important life skills like how to get out of a bear trap (hint….it’s say “Please”). He gave me good advice like never put a raspberry on the top of a dessert at a strawberry farmer dinner, or to never underestimate the value of perfection when hanging a picture frame. When farming he always said to let those roots go deep. And maybe most importantly; how to love and laugh your way through a whole lifetime of memories.

He loved his family and as it grew and grew, to well over 70 people. He showed me that you can have a place in your heart for every single one of us that were lucky to call him Grandpa, 5 generations worth.

I’m forever thankful that out kids got to know him and love on him for as long as they did. Hoot loved him for his farming & hunting stories most, and Auggie for all the M&M’s that he would give to him. Millie just loved teasing him and giving him hugs, which he also in turn loved.

Grandpa Marlin you took a big piece of my heart with you when you left this earth, but like I said before, a very good man once taught me how big a heart could be and how much it could stretch. So until we meet again, I’ll stay down here with Grandma Arlene and her giant crew of family to continue making memories, laughing and loving, thankful for one more angel looking out for us.

Tomorrow we will do a send off to one of the greatest men that this world has ever seen. For me, I couldn’t be more grateful that I got to be around for so many years with my wonderful grandpa, who happened to be only twice my age.

Below you will find a link to Grandpa Marlin’s obituary along service information:
Marlin Ellis Hammond

Please Don’t Silence the Rural Voice in Oregon

The Oregon legislature is currently taking on the enormous task of redistricting. This happens once every 10 years and coincides with census data. This year is a bit different because census data is not planned to be compiled until after the deadline of redistricting here in Oregon. So the question then becomes, how can this process be done fairly and accurately so as to not marginalize or silence the voices of so many? The answer is that it truly needs to be done by an independent commission, not politicians.

So why as a rural Oregonian do I even care about district lines? To answer that question you will have to check back with my last blog. A few weeks ago I wrote about a terrible experience where my rural voice was marginalized to about half the weight of those who were speaking in opposition to my testimony. I know I’m in the minority in many situations, but does that give my voice less importance than anyone else’s? It certainly shouldn’t. And yet I am supposed to sit back while our voice gets cut up into tiny pieces along district lines, just so this can continue?

When you break it down, you can’t deny the fact that rural voices are being marginalized. And this isn’t the first or the last time this will happen, we need to do better, Oregon needs to do better. Which is why I still showed up, just a few hours after being silenced, to testify yet again and try to be heard.

In listening to testimony on the issue of redistricting, I have heard people question the term rural and question MY identity. This is wrong, and it’s offensive.

Did you know…
**25 of Oregon’s 36 counties are categorized as “non-metro” rural, meaning they have no communities of 40,000 or more residents.
**Ten of those counties have population density of less than 6 people per square mile.
**Even Oregon’s most populous counties have many rural and agriculture-dependent residents.
**The lower population of these communities makes them more vulnerable to gerrymandering, where districts are drawn to dilute the voice of these rural citizens.

As a farmer, I know when something doesn’t work. When it doesn’t work, we must change the process. Having legislators choose their electorate is innately a conflict of interest – perhaps the greatest conflict of interest. Seeing how the committees are split up with majority Democrats, knowing the Democrats have control of the Secretary of State and the Governor’s office, I can only believe those that hold all the power want to keep that power, and will draw the lines accordingly. I also can’t help but notice both chairs (Rep. Taylor & Rep. Salinas) of the committee formed for this project are from the greater Portland metro area. I have spent enough time in the Capitol and advocating for the agricultural community to know how “understanding” Portland legislators are of communities outside Portland. In fairness I would also guess that I don’t understand a lot of what needs there are to be determined within the metro area either.

In listening to public testimony over the past multiple weeks, the overwhelming ask is to move this responsibility out of the hands of partisan politicians and into an independent nonpartisan commission and I completely agree.

We know how partisan and divided our state and country is. There is an opportunity to choose people over political power, and ultimately choose what is best for Oregon. The current political situation we find ourselves in makes it difficult, maybe impossible, to achieve fairness without political gerrymandering. Rural district boundaries have been superseded and overshadowed by larger metro areas, and because of this, has diluted voices just like mine.

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