Tag Archives: backpacking

Rising Above

Recently I departed on a flight from Seattle-Tacoma International Airport. Flying out of Seattle, I always expect low clouds, a brief experience of turbulence as we pass through them, and then. . .suddenly. . .blue sky and mountain peaks rising above the clouds. It never fails to amaze me, this experience of rising above, andContinue reading “Rising Above”

Thursday We Hike

When I moved to my rural home in northeastern Washington several years ago I learned that there was a women’s hiking group that met on Thursdays and explored the many trails nearby, often getting together after the hike to share a beer at a local pub. The group intrigued me, but it took me aContinue reading “Thursday We Hike”

Joy in the Morning

The painting was an impulse purchase at a local winery recently. This one called to me immediately, and it was not until I brought it home that I realized why. I hung it on the wall opposite where I sit in the morning, sipping my tea and writing in my journal. It is my mostContinue reading “Joy in the Morning”

I Saw That!

Every day I discover more and more beautiful things. It’s enough to drive one mad. I have such a desire to do everything, my head is burning with it. Claude Monet When I find myself feeling sad about my decision to give up backpacking in order to save my aching back from further injury, IContinue reading “I Saw That!”

The View from My Chair

Will you seek afar off? You surely come back at last, In things best known to you finding the best or as good as the best, In folks nearest to you finding the sweetest, strongest, lovingest Happiness knowledge not in an other place but this place, not for another hour but this hour. Walt WhitmanContinue reading “The View from My Chair”

Mountains and More Mountains

O’Neil’s conclusions were the same as those of the Press party. There were (sic) no great central valley, no prairies in the interior, no lost Indian tribes. There were only mountains and more mountains in every direction. . .adding that it was so mountainous as to be of little use “except perhaps,’ he wrote, “asContinue reading “Mountains and More Mountains”

Beware the Bears

Love the animals. God has given them the rudiments of thought and joy untroubled. Do not think you are superior to them, for you are not. Fyodor Dostoevsky Of the many wonderful camping trips my brother, Pat, and I took with our family as children, one that we both remember with particular fondness is aContinue reading “Beware the Bears”

Moments of Wonder

My three-year-old Bernie Doodle, Bruno, has a morning routine that is the same everyday. I get up and let him out to relieve himself, and as soon as he comes back into the house he runs down the hall to the toy basket and begins the thoughtful process of selecting the toy that will beContinue reading “Moments of Wonder”