Friends of the Little Spokane River Valley

FLSRV.org

To preserve and sustain the unique character of the Little Spokane River Valley, including it's open space and natural setting.

To maintain lower density zoning.

To protect the area's ecosystem including water quality, wetlands, priority habitat and wildlife, and dwindling native vegetation.

To encourage the development of area parks and natural areas.

To educate public officials of the concerns of the Friends of the Little Spokane River Valley, and be pro-active when major issues are at the forefront.

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Maya Jewell Zeller
by Tina Wynecoop

Interesting people live in the Little Spokane River watershed. Always have. Over the years I have written articles for our newsletters about the river's indigenous residents, chiefs, early pioneers, water wheel builders, inventors, proprietors, dairy farmers, horse race course owners, fishermen, stewards of the land, pilots (who crashed), and so on.. It has been fun. Now, it is time to focus on the present, and if you haven't had the pleasure of reading her poetry and essays, or heard her interviewed on the radio, you must to meet neighbor Maya Jewell Zeller!

Allow me to introduce her: Two years ago she was invited to read her river-themed poetry at the annual dinner/fundraiser for Spokane Riverkeeper. The other invitees were: author/ naturalist Jack Nisbet, and Spokesman Review columnist Shawn Vestal. They made an eloquent threesome. I knew then that I would write about Maya for our newsletter. She's our 'neighbor' and we are hers. Last November I heard her speak on Montana Public Radio's program, The Write Question.* She and editor/ author Margot Kahn were interviewed about their new book, This Is The Place. It is a collection of thirty essays by women writing about home. After listening to the program I checked This Is The Place from our county library and turned straight to Maya's essay, "The Privilege Button." Meandering throughout her story are varied experiences of place that have defined "home" for her. She explores the manifestations of home influenced by the HOA covenants of her Fairwood II Home Owners' Association.

I contacted Maya hoping to interview her in person. As wife, parent of two young children, writer, gardener, editor, outdoorswoman, and Assistant Professor of English/Creative Writing at Central Washington University (she commutes) she has hardly time to squeeze in a meeting with me. We 'met' by phone and conversed through emails. She gave permission to choose one of her poems to share with friends in the Little Spokane River Valley:

FALLING

Though it's gone down a little, that water
at the bridge is still too brown for me to do
any more than wade in. I did today, after twisting
my ankle again. I could see just by the shore,
where creatures skip and scuttle against the sand
my toes sink into. Behind me the willow was
saying something again, the grass too tired yet
to be much more than green trying to overcome
yellow. And beyond, out there, where the current
ripped against itself like hair or the wet legs
of a galloping horse, the river was dark,
and reeked of the damp undersides of things.
Of course I thought of you, flat rock
poised to fling like a small girl might from a giant's
grip, drop from his cloud and plummet
the way a grown woman trips on a trail.
She goes down hard from those hands.
You'd call me clumsy but we both know my body
just wants to be closer to earth.

How evocative the poem's closing lines! Her writing can be described as having "intensity that draws us into participation...tells us what our blurred eyes, dulled ears miss. She doesn't tell us so much something we never knew but brings us into recognition what is latent, forgotten, overlooked..."

Her poetry dives beneath the surface and breathes of that glorious presence flowing through our lives and our landscape – the river.

News

2019-03-21 Note new meeting place for Cleanup

2019-02-10 A "Walk" Through FLSRV's 2018 Activities
by Tina Wynecoop

2019-02-09 Annual Meeting and Dinner/Auction
Friday, February 22, 2019, Wandermere Golf Club

2019-02-09 Valley Cleanup 2019
by Michael Kennedy

2019-02-09 Volunteers Wanted
by Kirk Neumann

2019-02-09 It's All About The Plants

2019-02-09 Maya Jewell Zeller
by Tina Wynecoop

2019-02-09 Whitworth Water District 2019 Update
by Matt Wright, PE, District Superintendent

2019-02-07 Membership

2018-11-01 "Won't You Be My Neighbor?" Please, Won't You...
by Tina Wynecoop

2018-11-01 Back to School
by Kirk Neumann

2018-10-30 Spokane County Little Spokane Drive Sewer Extension Project
by Michael Kennedy

2018-10-28 Fairwood Farmer’s Market
by Merry Maccini

2018-10-27 Holiday Shopping at Amazon Smile
0.5% donated to FLSRV for a no-cost way to support your organization

2018-10-27 Mark Your Calendar -- 2019 Annual Meeting and Dinner/Auction
Friday, February 22, 2019

2018-10-27 Membership Update 2018

2018-10-15 In Memoriam -- Merle Moberly, MD

2018-05-21 Annual FLRSV Meeting

2018-05-20 Membership

2018-05-19 Water Quality
by Lindell Haggin

2018-05-19 What’s Happening on the Middle of The Little Spokane River?
by Daniel Collins

2018-05-19 2018 Fairwood District Farmers Market

2018-05-19 Valley Cleanup 2018
by Michael Kennedy

2018-01-28 What We Accomplished Together in 2017
We are honored that you support the Friends of the Little Spokane River Valley. Your donations, membership, sweat equity and enthusiasm have brought us a long way over the last two decades.

2018-01-27 Membership

2018-01-27 School Bond Vote

2018-01-27 In Memoriam - Harold Balazs

2018-01-27 New Board Position

2018-01-27 Valley Cleanup 2018
by Michael Kennedy

2018-01-27 School Time

2018-01-27 Walking to School is a Smart Choice
Spokesman-Review article. September 1, 2017 Reprinted by permission.

2018-01-27 Seeing Red Over Dog Poop? Oregon Town Paints it Orange
Spokesman-Review article. October 13, 2015 Reprinted by permission. Originally published July 28, 2011 The Bellingham Herald

2018-01-27 Local, Family-Owned Landmarks: Pounder’s and Pattison’s
by Tina Wynecoop

2017-10-25 2018 Annual Meeting
Friday, February 23, 2018

2017-10-24 Mark Case
New Board Member

2017-10-24 A River Captured: The Columbia River Treaty and Catastrophic Change by Eileen Pearkes
Reviewed by Jack Nisbet

2017-10-24 Living Water: Salmon's Presence
by Tina Wynecoop

2017-10-24 Earth Day Clean-Up of Our Valley 2017
by Michael Kennedy

2017-10-24 Thanks Be to the Decorator!

2017-10-24 October Board Meeting
by Harla Jean Biever

2017-10-23 Sign Up for Amazon Smile

2017-10-23 Colbert Road Trail
by Mark Case

2017-10-23 In Memoriam - Daniel Eugene Forsyth

2017-04-15 Annual Meeting 2017