Today, Dave and I headed back to what has become one of our favorite paddling venues, Fish Lake, about a two-hour drive through the Willamette National Forest, into the Cascades. Every winter, it becomes a lake. When we return in September, it will once again be a meadow.
Paddling in for a close up of one of many water falls:
A bit of flora:
And fauna:
THE SWIMMING LESSON
THE SITTING DUCKS
Dave heading out in search of some fauna to take home: tadpoles
And the faithful Subaru is always waiting:
To see Fish Meadow, check back here in September when, once again, Fish Lake will have magically vanished.
• Before Title IX, the primary physical activities for girls in school were cheerleading and square dancing?
• Before Title IX, only 1 in 27 girls played high school sports?
• Before Title IX, college scholarships for girls were virtually nonexistent and some school even limited the number of women admitted?
• Before Title IX, less than 10 percent of law and medical degrees were earned by women?
In 1972, what is now known as Title IX of the Education Amendments Act vowed to change that.
No person in the United States shall, on the basis of sex, be excluded from participation in, be denied the benefits of, or be subjected to discrimination under any education program or activity receiving federal financial assistance.
That was 40 years ago. Today, opportunities for girls and women have grown significantly. One in every 2.5 high school athletes is a girl, nearly half of the doctoral degrees awarded go to women and more than $1 million in scholarships go to female athletes at Division I schools.
What does this mean?
• High school girls who play sports are less likely to be involved in an unintended pregnancy; more likely to get better grades in school and more likely to graduate than girls who do not play sports.
• Girls and women who play sports have higher levels of confidence and self-esteem and lower levels of depression.
• Girls and women who play sports have a more positive body image and experience higher states of psychological well-being than girls and women who do not play sports.
And 40 years ago today, I gave birth to a little girl. She and her sisters got to grow up in a world that did not discriminate against them in this way. How cool is that? And how cool are they?
Some nice people came to lunch at 1880 yesterday. You would have thought that on June 5 we could have eaten outside and enjoyed the smells of all the roses, lavender, and rosemary. But no! It turned out to be a cozy, drizzly, in-doorsy Oregon kind of day. So I just went out and cut all the roses and brought them indoors!
