Onwards
Okay - will try again. Why is this blog so hard to do and yet - I love writing. I love reading well written blogs.
Today is a beautiful fall day here in the NW. Cool in the morning and just right by afternoon.
Some catching up.
Trump is all over TV with his UN speech. I can't stand the man so I will wait to see what the news reports on the speech. Watching takes too much time and gets me upset.
I am still alive.
Kind of silly really. That is, me posting again. I gave it up 10 years ago and am discovering that I am still out there in blogoshpere. Let's see where time went.
2008 - Husband had heart attack - got a defibrillator in him and is still around. Son had MRSA - 3 surgeries later he finished his degree and went to Asia teaching. Back now and in Seattle.
2009 -2016 - Lots of trips, lots of gardens, lots of hikes, visits from grandchildren, many dance steps. The hardest thing has been friends who have passed away. Last year it was my close friend Mary Ellen. So hard to loose friends and family.
2017 - My mother-in-law passed away at 93. And two days later, a grandson that she never knew showed up on my Ancestry account. He was given up at birth 50 yrs ago. Both his father and mother have died but he was so eager to connect to family that he made the trip from the East Coast to see us. And all is good. We feel blessed. Sad that he couldn't get to know his mom but we are trying to fill in the pieces.
I need to take time to reflect on what I want this "blog" to be. I love to read others that are interesting and well-written. I love the stories that people tell. Biggest problem is time. We look out and there seems to be such a limited amount of it - even worse when you are 74. But feeling thankful for every minute of it.
Hot summer here
The temperature has been hot but we may go hiking this week. And maybe I will get back to blogging afterwards.
Election Day
It seems like people woke up this election day and got rid of a lot of corrupt, yes-men (and probably women too). The war in Iraq was certainly the biggest impetus (and it did not help to have GW say he would keep Rummy in power). But the fact that these people in Congress, elected to serve us, seem to spend more time on re-election and petty stuff is infuriating. Not that the new wave will be any different but we can hope that they can now get back to real issues like negotiating for lower prices on perscription drugs, Social Security reform and Iraq. GW also needs to stop being so devisive and start working with Democrats instead of against them! Okay the last is too much to hope for. And anyway it is all up to Karl Rove.
Halloween
We went dancing. And partly due to George's costume - which he danced in all evening - and partly thanks to his fan club at dancing, we won $50 for best costume. And maybe it was the purple hair!
More fall hikes
This fall has been full of vivid colors and good weather. These pictures are of two hikes I did. The first two pictures are of the hike to Thorp Mtn in the central Cascades north of Cle ELum. This is the third time I had done the hike. It is a difficult hike and we may have made it harder by going on a little known trail starting up a creek bed. The weather at home was terrible that day and I came pretty close to canceling the hike but it turned out that we had better weather in the mtns than in the desert. The views (as always) were wonderful.
The next hike was last week and although we all thought we would have very cold weather, I found myself taking off my long underwear at the trailhead and hiking in shorts. This hike was south of Heppner, Oregon in the Umatilla forest. We were surrounded by hunters hence, the presence of lots of orange vests. The air was hazy with smoke but it still was a crisp, sunny fall day. The hike was 10 miles with about 1600 ft elevation gain.
Last weekend we had snow in the mountains so perhaps our hiking will be around home for the rest of the year.
Hiking - Mt Rainier and Chinook Pass
Last week I went with the hiking group to Mt Rainier to hike 2nd Burroughs. The day was clear. I expected it to be cold but found I could unzip the lower part of my hiking pants and just do it in shorts. It was clear. Despite forest fires in the north, we could see clear up to the North Cascades and Glacier Peak. There were six of us so we all could fit in John's van. After our hike several got ice cream cones. I have been hiking with other people in this group before where we went to a restaurant and I was the only one who got something sweet. Some people are too healthy!
Then on Wednesday, George and I went up to Chinook Pass with Charlie and Barbara to pick huckleberries. At first we wandered off trail around Naches Peak and could find none. Since it was my idea, I was beginning to think I had miscalculated - or was it the incredibly dry season we have been having in the Northwest. Finally, we discovered immense patches of blueberries and settled in to pick. Afterwards we ate lunch overlooking Dewey Lake where a gray jay took a liking to us. He continually landed on George's hand to get a treat.
Afterwards we drove up to Sunrise. Where the week before had been clear, now it was smokey and hazy. Could barely make out the North Cascades peaks. Still it felt good to be up in the mountains as always.
I have been lazy on this blog but will try again.....
40 Years
We celebrated our 40th wedding anniversary at the end of August. I am sure that every couple that reaches this milestone wonders where the time went. We have not reached it without some wonder... how did we survive it all, what did we do that made marriage work when so many fail, would we do it again? I often say it is luck because what insight can one possibly have at 20? I know we felt comfortable with one another from the start. We enjoyed exploring, doing new things, dancing, and hanging out. I do know we were not real good at communicating but early on that did not seem to matter. As time went by and we got married and had children, we remained always good friends. Now we do communicate well and I think that couples can learn that. Most important we have the same values. We are not religious and think little of it. But we care deeply about lots of things and try to live our lives with strong values. And most important - we have a lot of fun together.
We threw a party in the park for our anniversary. About 90 people came - all ages, all good friends that included neighbors, dancers, hikers, co-workers and pilots. What fun!
