5/6/13 -- The Next Big Step

 

The past weeks have been packed.  I'm going to have to send a couple of posts to cover everything so when you see a second and maybe a third post from me in the next few days, it isn't spam and it isn't a mistake.

Spring has come to the northwest.  Yesterday we had a high of 80 degrees.  Today we have sun again and a high of 86.  It feels so good to sit out on our funny little deck bathed in warm breezes and surrounded by flowers.  Our little yew tree has new growth and the rosemary plant on our bistro table is blooming.  The "purple passion rhody" sat on the altar at our wedding (yes, wedding -- but more to come on that). 

Our deck is 4' wide and 20' long with a 6' privacy fence around it. 
It's like a little room without a ceiling. 
When we sit out there, Rocky the flying squirrel comes and visits us.

We installed a potting shed at the end of the deck.  Well, really it's a closet with shelves, created by Rubbermaid.  It's 6' tall, 2.5' wide and about 1.5' deep.  I'm going to build a potting bench to sit next to it....sometime.  I have the materials and I did start it but we've had so much going on that everything else has gotten put on hold. 

The biggest news requires a bit of background.  Some time ago, the Washington State Legislature passed the Marriage Equality Act, giving all people the right to marry in this state, including same gender couples like us.  The church we attend was very active in working to get this bill passed.  Later, folks who were unhappy about giving everybody the same civil rights got busy.  A judge issued a judgment that put everything on hold.  That's how things stood when we got here.

Last fall our journeys took us to visit Adina's cousin Jim and Nancy in Port Angeles.  That's where we proudly registered to vote and to sign the petitions for a Referendum last fall.  We felt a lot of pride later in November at the first election in our new home when we voted for civil rights for everyone, even us.

In April, we decided to have a church wedding and become legally married.  That seems so impossible, even as I write it.  All our adult lives, both Adina and I worked for civil rights for GLBT people but we thought we were working for the future, that maybe our granddaughter's children would see it happen. 

This part of our journey continues to amaze me.  When we went downtown to get our marriage license, they treated us like "just people."  The woman who took our paperwork was full of congratulations and joy.  She told us with pride about how she voted for our civil rights.  The same thing happened as we ordered our cake. 

Some of you have seen bits and pieces from the wedding but I am including some new pictures and a more complete story of our special day.  Thanks to Theckchen for videos and to Omega, our adopted boy, for being our Excellent Photographer.

75 people joined us a week ago on Sunday afternoon, 4/28/13, to help us celebrate our 23 years together and to see Adina and I legally married.  It really happened!  Our son Pete stood up for me and our granddaughter Kelsey stood up for Adina.  It was a beautiful ceremony, full of joy and amazement for us.

Adina and I, Kelsey and Pete all lined up before the wedding,
ready to walk in,  bursting with excitement.

Pastor Brooks gave a homily.  The church was beautiful. 
The committee that makes banners dedicated a new one that morning, called "Sisterhood." 
It hangs on the left and depicts three women dancing. 
We were so happy that it was part of our wedding.

If you want to see some video clips of our wedding, check these links.   A few of you have already seen them.  The first is a clip of Adina and I reading from Song of Songs (Song of Solomon).  We end it with a toast and then I drop something.  https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=VIMPT-O_MzI

The second clip shows Adina and I during the Statement of Intent -- that's the "I do" part of the wedding.  It includes the "I do" from the congregation too, a statement of support.  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2uAQSU7G1nI&list=UU4c3pFkE286lV7E4zpb49qw&index=2

Our daughter in law (for real now!!) read from Robert Fulgham's piece, "Everything I need to Know, I Learned in Kindergarten.  Our heart-sister Barbara read a piece that described the elements of a good marriage and our friend Theckchen, a Buddhist nun, gave us a blessing.  Adina is a Buddhist-Christian, holding dual citizenship in this way and it felt good to have a blessing from that tradition as well as the several varieties of Christian represented in the wedding.



After her beautiful blessing, Theckchen presented us each with a kata.
Katas are white silk blessing scarves.
Adina's Buddhist teacher, Domo Geshe Rimpoche, gave the scarves a marriage blessing
 at Lotus Lake in Wisconsin before sending them with Theckchen.

The third clip depicts Adina and I as we said our vows.  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wBTQ-drSxjQ&list=UU4c3pFkE286lV7E4zpb49qw&index=1 

I also include a couple of photos below.



Our son, Pete, stands to my left as Pastor Brooks leads us through the vows.
We used the vows from our first wedding but we added "and legally married" at the end. 
It felt amazing, almost surreal and yet so right. 

Our granddaughter, Kelsey, stands to Adina's right.
Our eyes were wet as we said our vows.  Afterwards, we heard one of our church members say,
"When they cry after 23 years, you know it's real." 
We all had tears in our eyes before the ceremony was over. 

Adina's cousin Jim said afterwards that this wedding had a different flavor than when we got married (but not legally) in Wallingford Methodist Church in Seattle, 23 years ago.  He said that back then, our first wedding had an edginess to it, overtones of defiance.  It makes sense. 

When society marginalizes any group, closing the door to civil rights and acceptance, it has a terrible impact on the people in that group.  We didn't realize how we have spent most of our lives braced against homophobia and discrimination.  Our first wedding was a true wedding but it was also an act of defiance.  Although it wasn't the reason for our wedding, we also hoped to strike a small blow against the bastion of disapproval that surrounded us.  Perhaps we did.

Cousin Jim said that this wedding was pure joy and celebration, such a contrast to our first.  A lot of people from our church came as well as friends from both Oregon and Washington. 

After the final blessing, the congregation began to sing our exit song, that wonderful African hymn, "We Are Walking in the Light of God."  The last verse of the hymn was "We are dancing in the light of God."  That's when we made our way back down the aisle.


And we danced, oh, didn't we dance, down the aisle.

We weren't the only ones who danced their way out of the church.  The wedding party either walked with pride or danced their way out too.  The congregation sang and swayed to the music.  Some danced in the pews.  It was a joyful moment.

I had to giggle when I watched Teckchen and Pastor Brooks walk out together.  Uh, I mean, dance their way out of the church.  That brought a lot of smiles from the congregation too!

robes swaying, they danced
reveling in celebration
a mitzvah of joy

Everyone came to the church hall for a party afterwards and enjoyed the finger food that our friends brought for the wedding feast.  There was shrimp and salmon dip and veggies and chips and chicken salad and all sorts of great food.  They liked the cake too!  For drinks, we served punch and coffee. 

We got our cake from Winco's bakery -- chocolate cake with a raspberry filling and a creamy frosting dotted with pastel flowers and the word "Celebrate" in lavender.  We put our names on a cake 23 years ago and wanted something different this time.

I'm not posting a picture of us feeding each other -- but we did.

After the party wound down, we signed the papers that made our marriage legal.  It felt like a door opening, like reaching some new plateau, when we watched Pastor Brooks sign our LEGAL marriage certificate!   

Brooks signs certificate while hug each other and Pete watches.  What a happy moment!

So now we are legally married.  Has it made a difference?  Yes and no.  We were so thoroughly married the first time, and that hasn't changed.  But there are differences. 

Adina went to a new dentist last week.  When she filled out the forms for their files, they gave a choice: married, divorced, single...  She checked the square beside "married" and realized that, for the first time, she had that right.  It's what we fought for.  Now it's the law of the land. 

Another difference has surprised us.  Always, we have had our guard up, we have pushed to find a place to stand in the world.  We've always had to defend ourselves, explain ourselves and why it's okay to be us.  We've always been braced against rejection.  Now we find ourselves relaxing in a deep way -- for the first time in our adult lives.   
 
The affirmation and acceptance from our community is powerful.  The affirmation and acceptance from society has an even greater impact.  I didn't know it would feel like this.  I've never known how it felt, to feel safe enough to relax into just being in society.  Adina says the same.  What a gift!

Everyone we meet has a story about how they supported the marriage equality law, about how they love and support their gay friends and family members.  Day before yesterday, another lesbian couple from our church got married.  They took a page from our book and danced up the aisle as well as out of the church.  What an expression of celebration and joy.

Everyone looks at marriage differently.  A lot of couples, gay and straight, don't get married at all any more.  In my youth, that was a great shame.  Now, it's fine.  For us, we wanted to marry. 

We talked to one lesbian couple who came to our wedding.  They aren't going to get married, even though they could now.  One of them said to me, "We supported Marriage Equality and voted for it but we don't want to get married.  What is important, what we accomplished, is that now, we have a choice.  It's important to have a choice."

I couldn't agree more.  In all sorts of life-arenas, it's important to have a choice. 

Theckchen stayed with us for a week and we played tourist.  We showed her some of the beauty of our new home -- up the Gorge and into the mountains.  I took lots of pictures but that's for my next blog post. 

Watch for it!

3/27/13 -- Short Trip into Adventure

Last week we took a trip around the Olympic Peninsula to see Adina's parents, her sister, to attend a Quileute drum circle in La Push and to enjoy the winter storm at the ocean.  As usual, we had no idea of the kind of adventures we were going to have.

Now we're home safe and relatively sound.  I can't wait to tell you about our journey.  This gives me a great opportunity to share some new images of Washington state.

When we left on our little trip, we were excited about the signs of spring we had already found on our short jaunts here in Vancouver.   Green grass was getting greener.  Some of the bushes were showing signs of new leaves.  Nobody was budding yet but the plants and trees were clearing considering the possibility.  We had more days in the low 60's than the 50's.  The sun had some warmth in it.   

Our first stop was a visit in Seattle to see Adina's parents.  We were amazed to see blossoms everywhere.  The trees were making flowers faster than they could make pollen.  I caught this tree blooming next to the building where the folks live.




held close like a shawl
pink blossoms cloak her shoulders
sign of spring and hope

I guess big cities are always warmer than smaller places.  Another difference is that the folks live on the Salish Sea which makes for warmer weather.  Those of us that live inland with only the Columbia River for warmth are clearly at a disadvantage. 

At Wesley Terrace they have a grotto where the residents can go for coffee/tea/ice cream.  The four of us trooped down there and then I hurried for my camera.  The rhodys were in full bloom.  Dad said they were almost done.  Ours aren't due to bloom until May/June. 

Rhodys are so beautiful.  Flowers cover the bushes in spring.  I hesitate to call them bushes though that's what they are according to Gardening Masters.  In the forests, wild rhodys grow as tall as a ranch house roof.  We've tented beneath them in an old canvas umbrella tent, if you remember what those were like.

A rhody bloom, one of maybe fifty on this single bush

The azalea bushes, nearly a hedge of them, sported pale pink blossoms.  I was most surprised to find a camellia bush in bloom.  I'd forgotten that they burst out this early.  This bloom was so exquisite, I had to capture it.

Camellia flower

Some flowers really do have to be captured.  Some brave soul had clearly fought a mighty battle for these flowers, for they had to be caged to protect the innocent.  I found their prison by Wesley's dining room.



living in a cage
caught by a Master Gardener
dangerous flowers

Whenever we visit the folks, they always used to take us down to Salt Water State Park.  Now that they are no longer driving, it is our pleasure to take them there, a treat for all of us.  It is only a few miles from where they live, an easy access to a lovely beach on the Salish Sea.  We had clouds the day we went but it is beautiful in any weather.

I can show you the picture.  I wish I could  publish the smell. 
Salt water, ocean air that has brushed the mountain tops, seaweed and something else.
It's the smell of home.

After spending a night with Adina's sister, Barbara, we took a ferry across the Salish Sea.  The Olympic Mountains were out in all their glory.  They are too big, too long to capture in a single photo, especially on a day with a bit of haze.  I did snap a picture of a few of these beauties along with a passing tugboat.

These tugboats tow barges so long that it makes them look like toys.
They are also used as pilot boats to bring large cargo vessels through these shipping lanes.

We crossed the Hood Canal Bridge, a long floating bridge.  We had read a two line item about it when we still in Wisconsin, something about it collapsing.  It must have been a doozy of a collapse because the whole bridge has been rebuilt on sleek modern lines.  We didn't recognize it and, at first, weren't sure we were in the right place. 
 
Our next stop was La Push on the northwestern coast of the state.  It's about 20 minutes west of Forks.  Our friends from La Push, members of the Quileute nation, had invited us to attend their weekly drum circle and to enjoy the winter storms.  The weather people predicted a storm and we were excited about seeing our friends, Renee and Chas, and sharing the circle with them.

Our little cabin was adorable -- a table and chairs, a bed and a wood stove with wood supplied.  It was a good thing too, as the weather on the coast was cold, pushing 30 degrees at night.  Our little wood stove kept us toasty. 


Our little cabin -- great place to stay!

It reminded me of the years we had a hearth stove and heated our house with wood.  Mostly, we didn't buy wood in those days.  We scrounged it.  Pete's grandpa, Carl, used to say that wood warmed you four times: 1-when you cut it, 2-when you bucked it out, 3-when you split it and 4-when you burned it.  I found his words of wisdom to be pure gold true.

In front of our cabin was a grassy area with lots of trees.  Between the cabins across it we could see the ocean.  The grass was so green and looked so soft, I could have rolled in it.  Except that the temperature was in the thirties and the wind chill felt Arctic as it howled and shoved.  The storm had arrived on schedule.

a lush green space blessed by salt air and sea-going fog banks
the moss is very healthy this year

A huge Douglas fir had washed up on the beach.  We've heard that they are uprooted during winter storms, then are washed down the rivers to the sea.  The ocean carries them where it wishes and deposits them on coastal beaches.  This tree was so  big that we were able to walk into it and shelter from the storm. 

This tree is so big I could have camped in it. 
It is so big that, if I had gotten the whole tree in the picture,
I'd have been an unrecognizable pink dot.

That night we attended the drum circle.  It was a wonderful experience.  Different tribal members invited one or another to sit in a chair in the center because of some special thing they had done, a kind of recognition and thank you bundled together.  Several people who had birthdays were so honored.  One family whose daughter had been tragically killed in an accident sat in the circle while the tribe comforted them.  Each time, people joined together to sing special songs.  That circle was clearly sacred ground, a place of joy and healing.

Sometimes, when no one was sitting in the circle, people got up and danced.  In one dance, two little boys danced the raven dance, wearing cedar raven masks carved to their size.  Or maybe they were wolves.  When the women danced, old women, teenagers, little girls and everything in between joined the circle.  It wasn't a performance. They were stepping in the footsteps of their ancestors, moving through patterns that their people had danced for thousands of years. 

We felt so honored to be there.  I took no pictures because I didn't want to be disrespectful.

And of course, it was good to see Renee, Chas and their daughter again.  We made some new friends too.  The Quileute are such a welcoming community, we felt humbled to be with them.  They are working hard to be a caring, open community.

The storm was still in evidence the following morning when we headed for home.  I watched it come from somewhere on the ocean to the west.  I saw sun and storm all at the same time.  The next ocean pictures were taken about 10 am, even though they look as if nightfall is near. 

I love ocean storms
They make me feel alive

The waves were wild, crashing like an orchestral percussion section.  The wind howled.  Okay, I know that's a cliche but its a true one.  That's what the wind did.  It howled and threatened to blow me over.  Or away.

 

The waves were so ferocious
I could feel them through the soles of my feet
Grandmother Ocean is restles today

Then the sun slid behind the storm clouds and I watched it move toward me.  I didn't have all my rain gear on so I waited until the last possible moment before racing for the cabin.  By the time I got there, I was wet through and had snow dusting my shoulders.

The islands that mark the entrance to the La Push harbor
James Island is sacred to the Quileute people

We didn't get off until noon because we visited with several of our Quileute friends.  By that time, we'd decided to take an extra day going home.

The snow hit us with every ridge we crossed.  Sometimes it was snow mixed with rain, sometimes with sleet, often with hail.  This was spring weather for the Washington coast.    I felt like a million bucks driving it and we thoroughly enjoyed our day.

We spent the night at Long Beach, one of our favorite tourist places.  That's where the beach is 30 miles long and you can drive on it.  After turning our noses up at several pricey motels we found a sweet one called My Place at the Beach that didn't cost too much.  Love those winter rates.

We thought we were done sightseeing as we began our last day, a drive along the Columbia River on the Washington side.  On our way, we saw a cranberry bog.  They are such a vibrant red this time of year.  The sun came out just long enough for me to snap a picture.  Washingtonians call that a sun-break.

Cranberries from this bog must taste as sweet as their color

The route that takes us inland along the Columbia River is part of the Lewis and Clark Trail.  We learned a lot from the signs along the way, especially those at Dismal Niche where we ate our lunch.  The Columbia River is five miles wide here.  Coming from the ocean, the mouth of the Columbia is the 5th most treacherous entry into a river in the world.  It's floor is dotted with wrecks. 

Thousands of people cross the Columbia River here on the Astoria Bridge.  The high arched part is so ships can pass beneath it.  I couldn't get the whole bridge on my picture.

The Astoria Bridge, part of it anyway
The tall part on the right side of the picture is so high
that an ocean-going freighter piled with cargo boxes
can pass beneath it with ease

On the way, we spotted the Columbia White Deer Wildlife Refuge.  The sign said the road was closed but as far as we could see it was open so we headed off for a side trip.  The sun was in and out and so was the rain and sometimes, snow.  The road was only wide enough for a single vehicle but no one else was around so that was okay.



The deserted road in the Wildlife Refuge

A heron stood on a log to watch us pass.  He soon went back to fishing, protected from the stormy wind by a fallen tree.

The heron who posed for me is the grey bit on the left
Note that you can also see his reflection in the water
a still moment in an eddy of the Columbia River

This part of the Columbia River is riddled with islands, islets and sandbars.  Canadian geese, mallards and bufflehead ducks moved between them with the ease of a city pedestrian crossing a street.

 

Canadian geese, three goslings and two bufflehead ducks

Soon the storm pushed in to the point I couldn't take pictures any more. We drove back to the main road in a pounding rain.  We puddled on slowly and carefully in our Ford Explorer.  I didn't want to hit any wildlife that showed up suddenly whether they had feathers, four legs or two.  The rain and storm didn't bother this tug any though.

A minute before I took this picture, the air was clear
The heavens opened and dumped heavy rain/snow on us
but I took the picture anyway

We were happy to be home.  It is such a joy to walk into your own place and realize again how beautiful it is.  It wasn't until the next day that we realized what had happened in our absence.  After all, we'd only been gone a week.

Spring has made another stride on her journey into Vancouver, our fair city.  Oh, the rhodys aren't blooming yet and trees are just beginning to put out buds but it's a lot warmer and we we're happy for day temperatures in the sixties. 

Yesterday, we took a walk down our street and were surprised to see trees in bloom.  Not budding.  In full fledged, in your face, glory be blooms.  There are rows of these trees at the church and in strip mall parking lots.  I think they're all smiling.

Trees in bloom at the end of our street

Today it's pleasant out, just cool enough for a vest or light sweater.  Next week the weather people promise that we will have several days of sun when our daytime temperatures will top seventy degrees. 

In the next couple of months, we're going to see new life every day.  Maybe spring is the best time of the year.  It is, after all, the beginning of hope fulfilled whether we have remembered to hope or not.

As always, we are happy to hear from you either to tell us about your adventures or to comment on this blog.  The easiest way is to use the email address in the upper right corner of the blog under my picture.

3/6/13 -- Picnic in March

Spring is trying to come to the Pacific Northwest.  Trees push tentative buds toward the sun when it shows its face.  The rhody outside our dining room window is well budded out, ready to burst toward the end of next month.  Temperatures have left the low 40's of winter behind.  It's still cool many days, especially when it rains.  It rains a lot here and winter rain makes the air feel colder than it is. 

Still, I stopped wearing the lining for my rain gear mid-February.  The shell is sufficient most days.  When days are in the 50's, I just wear my fleece vest with the faux sheepskin lining.  No coat.  Lately, some days have inched their way into the low 60's.

We have started a Scrabble Group, the Vancouver Word Weavers.  We borrowed the name from the group at The Hawthorne, our home in Milwaukee.  We didn't think they'd mind since this is a different state and over 2000 miles away.  The group is small yet but we have a lot of fun.  We are putting up flyers and are hopeful that it will grow.  The closest Scrabble Group is in Portland and they are a tournament club.  We are a casual club.  We don't use timers.  We don't keep a club record of scores.  We just spend an enjoyable afternoon stretching our brains and rooting for one another.

Adina and I are itching to explore outside of Vancouver.  I attend a writing group at the Battle Ground Library, about 14 miles north of home.  Every time I go, we see the sign for Battle Ground State Park.  All during February, we talked about going there to check it out.

March 1st dawned grey with a blanket of clouds as soft as a comforter.  The weather people promised a day without rain, so we decided this was the day to take a look at Battle Ground State Park.  Maybe it was just a picnic ground but we'd go and find out if there was more.

The park is situated in a forest of cedar and fir with a few deciduous trees scattered here and there.  The campground was all we could have hoped for.  It wasn't very big, which we like.  The friendly campground host told us that it fills up on weekends in the summer but is pretty open during the week.  When we were there, we saw one tent camper and a couple of small trailers.

A sign directed us to a boat launch, indicating a body of water.  We drove down a steep hill to find a delightful little lake.  Tall evergreens were reflected in the still water.  It was absolutely beautiful.

 
Our folding camp chairs live in the car all the time now in case of impromptu picnics.  We sat on them rather than at the picnic table since the benches had absorbed enough water to soak us thoroughly since we didn't have rain pants with us.  We had a lovely picnic of tuna salad and crackers, watching the lake.  This lake looks just right for our blow-up 4-person boat. We call it our rubber ducky because it is yellow and it loves the water. 

A lot of logs floated on the water, snags from fallen trees.  This is just the sort of habitat that fish love.  We figured they must stock the lake, a note of hope for the future.  I hope to do some fishing this summer. 

We watched three fellows fishing from the dock.  One guy was in shirt sleeves.  We shivered and were glad we had bundled up.  Every few minutes, one of those fellows would catch a fish.  They weren't catching pan fish either.  I saw sever trout the length of my arm go into their catch buckets.  I was seriously jealous.

   After lunch, we hiked part way around the lake.  At first the path was wide and smooth but it quickly became more challenging as it wound up and over root systems 4-5 feet high.  We went as far as I was able to manage the challenge of clambering up and over. 

It was wonderful to be out in the woods.  A few bushes had buds but most of the deciduous undergrowth was still bare.  However the ferns were green and beautiful and the moss that covered trees and rocks was lush and green. 

We stopped at this bench to stand and watch the lake.  Suddenly a couple of cormorants landed on a log and settled down for some serious fishing.  They dived deep over and over, gathering their lunch.  One of them flew to a log and posed, stretched his wings to dry them and looked coyly over his shoulder at the camera.

Cormorants are such interesting birds.  I have often seen them resting on old pilings or piers along the Salish Sea (Puget Sound is the old name) with their wings stretched wide.  Jet black with an orange beak, they are big birds, bigger than sea gulls.  In silhouette, they hold their heads kind of like loons when they float on the water.  I don't know how far they range but my friends in Wisconsin didn't know of them.

The day cooled and we headed home, content and warmed by our day of hiking.  Soon, we'll go out again and find another place to explore.

See you then!   

2/2/13 - A New Year Begins in Our New Home

This post has been delayed by two things: the busy-ness of December, colds and flu  in January.  Now we are hale and hearty again but I have some catching up to do.

During a trip to Seattle in December to visit Adina's parents, we dropped in at Salt Water State Park, a lovely rustic park in the middle of the city.  Although it was cold (well, in the 40's), we enjoyed some beach time there.

This park is on Puget Sound, now called the Salish Sea.  It is salt water, sure enough, but is protected by the towering Olympic Mountains so its waves are small.  Still, these ducks had their work cut out for them riding the swells of the Salish Sea.


Ducks riding the waves on the Salish Sea
Salt Water State Park, De Moines WA

Driftwood comes to all the beaches on the Pacific Ocean, on the Straits of San Juan de Fuca and on the Salish Sea.  The law prohibits hauling driftwood away from state parks so Salt Water Park is one of the places where it piles up.


Driftwood and picnic tables

 Adina's sister, Barbara, and our neice Ying came for Christmas.  Late in December, we took them to Long Beach, that marvelous 30 miles of beach.  It is so wide and flat that people drive on it like a road.  Traffic isn't very heavy in winter and this sea gull rested among the ruts as if it expected cars to drive around it or stay away.


Sea gulls stand like this when they are getting ready to lie down in the sand for a siesta
note the ruts in the sand

 

Ying, a long distance runner, pelted down the beach for a run of several miles.  The weather was cold and the wind fierce but we had a great time.  Adina, Barbara and I ambled along, snapping pictures and visiting. 

It rained a bit as storm clouds roiled across the huge sky.  Now and then a bit of blue would peek through.  Presently, a rainbow blessed us, it's treasure safe beneath the waves.

A rainbow ending out in the waves. 
Waves drop piles of foam on the beach as they recede.

The waves don't look too big but they were about 6 feet high and when they broke, they spread out far across the beach.  When they recede, they made tide tracks in the sand.  Every foot of the beach was covered by different patterns made by the endlessly creative ocean. 

Tide tracks in the sand

January was a lost month.  It's the month when we have winter here.  It snowed a couple of times, maybe 1/2" at most but people got excited about it.  We were both sick for a while.  Adina went back to WI for a couple of weeks to her favorite retreat center. 

On February 1st, spring began, though not officially.  The grass has stayed green all winter and so have the evergreen trees and many of the bushes.  That makes the the brown trunks and the bare branches of the deciduous trees easier to bear.

Today, Adina and I explored Salmon Creek Park for the first time, a spot not far from our home.  We hiked along the greenway about a mile and wandered around the pond.  The deciduous trees are still brown and bare except for the odd bud.  The fir, spruce and cedar keep their deep green and remind us that spring will come again.

Adina and an evergreen, green grass and jacket unzipped
a beautiful day

Along Salmon Creek, the county has made a great effort to construct a safe habitat for salmon and other creatures.  Signs asked that people stay on the path.  It was interesting to see their efforts.

Our walk today was refreshing - temperatures in the comfortable 50's and bright sun in the sky.  At the pond, several families were enjoying picnics.  Every fishing dock was occupied.  Some of these folks were serious fishers, each with lots of gear boxes and several rods. 

The feathered denizens of the park paid no attention to the humans playing in their home.  A couple of loons swam the pond, the distinctive way they hold their heads advertising their identity.  I've seen loons many times but today was the first time I ever saw one sitting on a post.


Folks fishing from the dock on the left.
A loon perches on the post on the right.

A couple of mallards came waddling up to us, begging half-heartedly, not really expecting much of us.  When they understood that we weren't going to feed them, they posed so I could take their picture.

"Be sure to get my best side."

We haven't seen any flowers blooming yet but the world seems to be standing on tiptoe, ready and waiting.  Many bushes are budding and so are a few trees.  Oh, we could still have a little snow as late as March, but this really is the beginning of spring.  On our walk I saw this beautiful bush or maybe it was a little tree.

 That brings me up to date except for one more item.  Last May I published a book about Vikings with some of my own memoir thrown in.  The book is called "The Viking Beneath My Skin" (345 pages).  It's the size of a table book.

No, I don't think I was a Viking in a former life but I got interested in reading about them.  My research about the Viking Age made me aware of how our culture is strongly influenced by this ancient culture. 


The book is about Vikings. 
"A legacy quilt book" is a series of books in my memoirs.

Whether you have a Viking ancestor or not (and many of us don't realize that we have one), your life is impacted by the Vikings.  I had a lot of fun writing it and people who have read it have enjoyed reading it.

Then in December, I published another book, "People I Never Knew - An Anthology of Short Stories" (197 pages).  This book is 8 1/2 x 5."

Although there are two books in the picture, the anthology is only one volume.

I'm excited about this book, so different from my other books.  This is my first foray into the world of fiction.  People who have read it have loved it and have asked me when I'm going to publish another short story anthology.  Well, not for a while.

If you are interested in more information about either of these books, email me for a list of these and other books I've written and I'll send you a price list. 

I guess this is a bit of a plug but I did want you all to know what I've been working on, now that I've become a writer.  Besides, I'm having such a good time doing it.

Now that we're past the busy-ness of the holidays and the mollycoddles of January, I'll blog more often as we continue to explore our new home.  There are several parks that beckon us, all different and we look forward to checking out a number mountain campgrounds when the weather warms just a wee bit more. 

As always, we welcome comments -- also news of what you are doing now and what you look forward to in this new year.