Soon after Erica’s plane had touched down in Oregon and we were waiting for their luggage around the turnstile. Erica pulled me aside. She quietly confides in me “Dad, I just don’t know what to do”. “Ka’mya is so close to learning how to walk but I just can’t seem to get her to take those first actual steps” “Can you please help teach her to walk?” Hearing the desperation in my daughters voice and seeing the concern in her eyes, I told Erica “Honey don’t you worry, daddy will take care of this for you, you just enjoy your trip to Oregon”.
Knowing in the back of my mind that this was only the second time I had been with my east coast granddaughter. Obviously at first I was a bit nervous about how or if Ka’mya would bond with me. Trying not to act too overly anxious at the crowded airport I was reminded Ka’mya was only going to be with me for one week. I knew that I would need to work fast and often with her. To make my important task even harder I had to share this little crawling gem with my ex-wife… her other grandma. I took Ka’mya in my arms and we began our bonding process, while I had to fight off the other grabby relatives vying for her attention. They did not know about my secret mission. For the first couple days after Ka’mya came to Oregon she went to “crawl” around at her “other grandma’s” house which actually turned out to be a godsend for me. Those few days away from her gave me time to bone up on my new toddler walking skills. It’s amazing, they really do have everything on-line these days.
Finally Ka’mya gets to come to grandpa’s house where the training regiment can truly begin. To the untrained persons eye it would look like I was just carrying her around in my arms, a lot. But, nooo… Immediately I began teaching her about floor surfaces. Hardwood floors are slick and hurt when you fall on them. Shag carpeting can slip you up but doesn’t hurt as bad 
when you take a spill. Informing Ka’mya stair steps are a "fuddrucker" for a beginning walker, so avoid them. Ka’mya was a quick learner too. I was able the dive into some of the more complicated walking surfaces. We practiced walking on snow at Crater Lake, sand at the Pacific Ocean and grass in my own backyard. I reminded her about dangers that can befell you while hiking in the Redwood Forest. I taught her about uneven surfaces that can jump out from anywhere, wind and wind drift, finishing with the complex theory on the rotation of the earth and how it can effect walking in a straight line. 
The final day of Erica’s visit to Oregon was to be spent at Beaver Hollow where she could show Van where she had grown up camping and having fun with all her friends. Leaving her dad on the creek bank for the first time, actually I was using these last few minutes alone with Ka'mya for a last minute pep talk. I assured Erica she was now old enough to lead her own motley crew on an inner tubing adventure down Graves Creek. She brought along her brother and several other younger siblings that had swarmed around her all week on the wet adventure. Erica is a school teacher in Maryland and it clearly shows she is a great one by the care and concern she shows all the kids who hang out around her. 
Plane tickets $1200.00, trip down the Rogue on the jet boats $400.00, gas for the van $200.00. Watching Ka’mya take those first fragile steps on her own, while visiting Beaver Hollow “PRICE LESS”
What the short video doesn’t show is when Ka’mya looked over at me after her first actual steps, now a new “Toddler”. She gives me a wink only a granddaughter and her true grandpa can understand. It’s still a ways off but, yes I am ready for the next challenge Erica unloads on me. Teaching Ka’mya how to color pictures and stay within the lines, reciting her alphabet and picking out her first boyfriend.
Now Blaze did you have this hidden knowledge or had really thought it through, at picking Beaver Hollow for Ka'mya to take her first un assisted steps. I find it abit phenomenal that in that same area, was where Little Billy Blaze took his first faltering steps. With you on my shoulders, it was our routine to walk down through field, then onto the county road,to meet your Grandpa Buster coming home from the logging job as you loved riding in his open air jitney. Not remembering why I had lifted you off my shoulder, maybe your diaper had leaked, it wasn't comforable because I was sunburned or you were getting to darn heavy to pack. But I stood you on the ground and you just walked away, but only for a short distance or until you realized you had nothing to touch or hold onto and sit down in the dusty road. Naturally I wanting to show everyone else in the family that you could walk on your own but it took another week or so before you would and sorry to say, I have no pictures. Mom
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