Black Mesa

Memories Revisited:

Kellisa's 8th State Highpoint

Black Mesa, Oklahoma

4,973ft.

Round Trip Hiking Distance: 8.4 Miles

Elevation Gain: 654ft.

April 2008

Our first father/daughter Spring Break trip happened in 2008. The main objective was to reach the Highpoint of Oklahoma. The plan was to fly to Amarillo, TX and have our cousin Matt pick us up, as he was able to join us for this trip. However, we almost did not make it to Amarillo. We had a stopover in Dallas that included a severe seizure that lasted longer than 5 minutes. Paramedics had to be called and airport police also hustled to the scene. Just as everyone was arriving, Kellisa popped out of her seizure.

Since the paramedics were on scene, they had to check Kellisa out. At the same time, a police officer starts questioning me about Kellisa. "Where is her mother? Is she Hispanic? Do you have the mother's approval to be traveling out of state?" I did not let the questions bother me as I figured he was just doing his job in a border state. Kellisa checked out OK and they offered to transport her to the hospital for further evaluations. Did I ever miss Lisa at this point. We are use to making joint decisions in these situations.

If we go on...am I just being selfish? Would I ever forgive myself if something happened in the air?

If we stay...we are entirely stuck in Dallas and for how long? Matt will be waiting in Amarillo for a long time.

Even though Kellisa struggles with communication, we try and give her a say in these situations. Kellisa was looking good as she did not have the usual paralysis that follows even a mild seizure. I'm sweating bullets as I ask her if she is OK and ready for one more airplane ride. She answers "Yes" and that was good enough for me.

We were far from our gate and it was past the departure time. We hurry to the gate and to our good fortune, the gate agent has held the plane because he had seen us at the gate earlier and knew we where around somewhere. He was also listening to the rescue on his radio and assumed it was us. I was very appreciative that he held the entire plane about 15 minutes just for us.

How about one more problem? We fly Southwest and they are well known for not assigning seats. With Kellisa, we are always the first to board. However, being the last on a full flight would mean that we both would get stuck with middle seats and who knows how close together? I think the gate agent saw some fear in my face and correctly assumed why it was there. He told us not to worry because he had the flight attendants hold two seats in the front row. Gotta love Southwest! The flight was uneventful and we met Matt at the airport just as planned.

The following day we made the long drive to Black Mesa as we introduced Matt to Hannah Montana. Almost 4 years later, he can still sing some of the songs he heard that spring day.

Kellisa is all smiles at the start of the hike:

Views along the trail:

Most of the elevation gained on this hike can be seen in the picture below as the rocky trail works it's way up the side of Black Mesa:

The next 8 pictures were taken by Matt as I pushed Kellisa up the trail to the top of Black Mesa:

Looking back over the landscape from the top of Black Mesa:

Even though we made it to the top, we still needed to hike approximately 30 minutes along a relatively flat trail to the granite monument that marks the actual high point:

The top of Oklahoma:

At the edge of Black Mesa before we started our descent:

Kellisa still smiling back at the car:

Beautiful sunset as we leave the highpoint area:

Original Blog Post Date: January 20, 2012

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Day 22: COVID-19

Laurel has been growing food for the family and documenting her observations each night for school. Today, we were able to harvest the first batch of edibles from her mini-farm in the kitchen. We feasted on broccoli micro-greens and the box claims they have 9 times the vitamins compared to regular broccoli. Laurel made another amazing dinner with a little help from mom. We enjoyed wild caught salmon from Alaska, biscuits, rice, and the broccoli micro-greens cooked with bacon. Laurel was very proud of her harvest and meal. We ended our day with another family movie night when we enjoyed the 2010 movie, Megamind. 

Day 21 

Days 23 - 29

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Day 21: COVID-19

Hard to believe we're at three weeks for our lock down. WOW. I know this is unprecedented for just about everyone, but Kellisa is the one in my worries and thoughts today. She is the one most at risk in our family and we are doing everything we can to protect ourselves and her health. Kellisa has no idea what's going on in her world. She loves school with her teachers, aides, and so many friends. Kellisa also loves her bus driver and riding the school bus every day is a highlight. Then all of a sudden, she finds herself never leaving the house. In fact, she rarely leaves her bedroom. 

A quick reminder, Kellisa was in the NICU for the first 113 days of her life and then only really left home for school, therapy, and doctor appointments for the first years of her life. She was medically fragile and scared of literally every little sound. We stayed at home and couldn't even leave to go to a restaurant. So, Lisa and I have years of being trapped at home. I doubt Kellisa remembers these years.

This might be hard to believe for those who only know the adventurous and traveling Kellisa, but that girl didn't sprout until she was 5 or 6 and then really started thriving around 8-years-old. Outside of surgeries and a few hospital stays in the last 10-12 years, Kellisa has never been "stuck" at home for more than a couple of days. Like the rest of us, she's accustomed to being out and doing stuff. Unlike everyone else, she can't comprehend why she's stuck at home with her family. I'd give anything to get inside her head for a few minutes, but I also know that I probably couldn't handle what I would learn. 

My mind went in this direction when Kellisa started getting excited in her bedroom and calling out for attention. I entered her room and found her pointing and giggling at a flock of turkeys strutting their stuff just beyond her bedroom sliding glass door. With our small yard, the turkeys were less than 10 feet away. I watched Kellisa interacting with them and it was like they were putting on a private show for Kellisa. This went on for awhile and Kellisa loved every second. 

I was extra appreciative to witness Kellisa enjoying her encounters with nature from the safety of her bedroom. Hopefully, this will be over soon and Kellisa can get back to her life.

Laurel has been doing schoolwork every day and has had a couple of exciting face time sessions with her teacher, but today she had a joint session called "Fun Friday" with her classmates. She was so excited to see and be able to talk with her friends for the first time since this whole pandemic started. Laurel has been doing amazingly well, but this was a definite highlight and a much appreciated diversion during her seclusion. 

Not surprising, shortly after Laurel's class time, we learned the in-person school year was canceled for both girls. Laurel was disappointed because she misses her friends. 

After dinner, I spent a few minutes in the backyard. I noticed the relative quiet at 8pm and looked out to observe the clear nighttime skies free from clouds and airplanes. When I made my way to look straight up, I noticed the 78.7% moon staring down at me. It was bright and clear, but at an angle I wasn't familiar with from previous encounters. I quickly grabbed my camera to capture the moon in all her beauty.

Days 18 - 20

Day 22

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Days 18 - 20: COVID-19

Days are running together...here's a picture a day:

3.31.20

Laurel made the family dinner by herself with ingredients from a (Chopped inspired) mystery basket 

 4.1.20

Laurel is excited for an online school session with her teacher

4.2.20

Evie enjoying the backyard while I work from our deck

Days 16 - 17

Day 21

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Days 16 - 17: COVID-19

3.29.20

Sunday

I took Evie for a much needed walk on the Roseville trail system we can access from our neighborhood. The pace was a little slow, but it felt great to be outside. The trail was packed with people, but everyone seemed to be keeping their distance. In fact, most people would look away as we passed and only a few said, "Hi". 

Views from the path:

Days 5 - 15: COVID-19

March 18, 2020

Lisa and I celebrated our 31st wedding anniversary. Not that we would have flown to Italy for a romantic weekend, but we were quarantined inside our home on day 5 of our corona-virus lock down. We were all settling in to our new (and hopefully very temporary) normal. We were in the early stages of figuring out how to work from home while watching the kids and making sure Laurel doesn't fall behind at school. Kellisa is Kellisa, she continues to hangout in her room with Hannah and The Wiggles while reading scary books. Lisa made us a nice family dinner.

The frogs of Miners Ravine have been serenading me on my late night walks with Evie with the lack of vehicle noise to drown them out. We've had some interesting skies above with all the rain and cold made more eerie by the relative calm.

Day 4: COVID-19

The girls were trying to be festive in the St. Patrick's Day shirts Lisa purchased a few weeks ago.

The rain finally stopped in the evening long enough for a short drive through the country. Both girls (and myself) were excited to get out of the house. It was nice watching them act normal when we paused to observe a few animal along our path. I was hoping we'd be able to get out, but everything was too wet. Even though we weren't gone for long, it was great for our souls. 

Day 3

Days 5 - 15

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Day 3: COVID-19

Laurel working on fractions

I'm very fortunate that I work from home when I'm not traveling and since I usually don't travel out on Mondays (Conference Calls), today was like any other with a few exceptions. First, my anxiety is through the roof and second, Kellisa and Laurel were home. Fortunately, this happens fairly often for school holidays and summer vacation, so the kids are used to me working from the kitchen table and I'm used to some background noise and calls for help. When my phone rings, I grab it and run outside so I won't be distracted. I was worried about today because I was concerned about Laurel's anxiety and I knew Kellisa would be asking for her bus to take her to school. I was also worried about all the uncertainty in the world and how it will impact my career.

Laurel blew me away today. I could tell she was having some internal worries, but she stepped up and had a perfect day. She played a few video games after waking up, but then came down ready to do some school work. I was absorbed in the news and my work and snapped at her because I wasn't ready to help her. I immediately felt horrible and apologized many times. She even told me that she's moved on and not to worry about it. I still felt bad.

Laurel sat opposite of me at the kitchen table and worked on several math sheets we printed and she studied a new spelling words list and when I quizzed her, she was able to spell 8 out of the 8 new words. I couldn't have been more proud. Her behavior was also perfect. It can often be a challenge when she has her own anxiety, but she really stepped up today.

                                                                                                                                                                

Kellisa watching The Wiggles

I was still feeling bad and decided to join Laurel in the living room to watch some of her YouTube videos. We watched everything from make-up tutorials to people getting, let's just say unique ear piercings.

Hopefully, I learned my lesson that this is very hard on Laurel and I need to step it up myself to set a calm example.

Kellisa, to my surprise didn't ask for the bus this morning, so she probably thought it was just another weekend day. She stayed in her room all day watching The Wiggles and Hannah Montana while reading her creepy crawly books.

Since Kellisa is at the greatest risk, we are keeping her in her room and only going in to take care of her needs which includes pushing a few buttons every time she needs a new video. We also bring her food and give the tube feedings in bed.

Even though it was a work day, I was still hoping to get outside for lunch or after work, but for the third day in a row, it was a miserable day outside filled with rain, wind, and cold.

I really hope we turn the corner tomorrow....in more ways than one.

Day 2

Day 4

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Day 2: COVID-19

Today was another cold, windy, and rainy day which prevented us from going outside in nature, but thankfully the beauty came to us. While I'm very happy with how the above picture turned out, it doesn't do the double rainbow we witnessed from our backyard this afternoon proper justice.

Like probably most churches, ours was closed today. Laurel was worried her musical rehearsal would also be canceled because all gatherings and meetings on church property have been canceled through the end of March. Fortunately, the musical director graciously offered to open her house to host the rehearsal for everyone who wasn't showing any signs of sickness. Laurel was excited to go for 2 hours and she asked Lisa to stay with her to help. The rehearsal went long by 45 minutes and Laurel enjoyed every second. Laurel spent most of her remaining hours singing and practicing her parts on the couch in our living room.

Thanks to my friend, Joshua Nordstrom (owner of Tierra Tile in Homer, Alaska), we have a freezer full of wild caught Alaskan Salmon. Lisa took a frozen filet out yesterday to cook for tonight's dinner. We said a little extra prayer before dinner for what every one in the world is facing right now. We made sure all electronics were turned off so we could enjoy a quiet and peaceful meal.

Salmon, rice, and artichoke hearts

Chris and Joshua in Homer, Alaska

Day 1 - Coronavirus Spring Break

Day 3

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Day 1: COVID-19

We survived. It felt like a regular Saturday with everyone home and doing there things. Kellisa spent the day watching music videos in her room, Laurel playing her video games, and Lisa keeping the family and house functioning. I'm not sure what I did, but I remember walking the dog, taking boxes to recycling, helping Kellisa, reading a book, spending time on my computer, and I even went to the grocery store. 

I had set a goal to get outside at least once a day while the kids were home from school. I want us to take the time to see the beauty around us and breathe some fresh air. Sadly, we didn't get outside as a family. It rained all day, which isn't a plan buster by itself, but it was cold (50F) and windy all day, so we stayed inside.

Lisa made three amazing meals which makes being trapped in the house a million times easier. 

Dinner

After dinner, the girls wanted some sister time. Yes, they can drive each other nuts at times, but at the end of the day they love each other. They sat together on the couch for over an hour and the giggle far outnumbered the little pushes or feet in the face shenanigans of sisters.

After the girls went to bed, I decided to venture out to the grocery store. I wanted to grab a few items, but mostly wanted to see the aftermath of Saturday stockpiling. We don't have supplies to survive years or even months, but I think we'll be OK for a few weeks.