Hi everyone,
I'm still new to posting on this blog so bear with me.
In the future I plan to scan old family photos and share those with you all; also some prose that I have written about our star-crossed family (relax, no one gets criticized!!). I just believe that we are an "interesting" family, don't you?
Right now, though, I am in the midst of two writing projects; one an on-going assignment with VisitRainier.com. I'm writing trail descriptions of hikes in Mount Rainier National Park and also providing photographs to accompany the described hikes. You should be able to google Visitrainier.com and find my work (there are other writers and photographers on this site so I hope you enjoy their work as much as I do). The other project is a book but that's hush-hush for now. Expect me to talk more about that in about a year or so but this project is going to keep me hopping (or hiking) for quite a while.
Speaking of hiking I went for a hike yesterday east of the mountains; Umtanum Creek Falls. A pretty easy hike but not familiar to many folks on the west side of the Cascades. We headed east to escape the drenching rain on this side of the mountains and well, we did suceed.
I hike 2-3 times a week as a rule and I jog a couple days a week as well to keep in shape. Alas, I have the Dalby sweet-tooth and am endlessly warring with my desire to eat sweets and stay trim. In fact I recently joined Weight Watchers (again!) to help me lose the 10 additional pounds I picked up from last winter. Oh well.
As you can see, I am self-employed but with Social Security and a small pension I get by. Perhaps I should say "we". This is too long a story to relate here but I have reconnected with an old love from 26 years ago. Bob found me through my hiking column in the PI last year. He was living in Denver at that time and found my column quite by accident. He sent me a short note saying he was happy I was doing what I loved best (hiking, writing, photography) and over time we began to write and email on an almost daily schedule. That led to a visit. Long story short, he's here. To stay. Though we are not the die-hard romantics we used to be when we were young, we are glad we have found each other again and operate under the assumption that our relationship will flourish and if it does not, we will part graciously and without anger.
Since my Mom (Edith) and Dad (Fritz) died, followed by Uncle Ed, I lost the desire to visit the Canal. Without them there seemed little reason to visit anymore. That has changed too; now that Valerie and Charles are living there as is Kenny (Ed's son) and his wife, Vicki. I'll be visiting more often but I will always feel a twinge of sadness for those sweet days gone by.
Like my Dad, it's easier at times for me to live in the past than in the present but I'm working on that.
I sure hope the rest of you will write and add to this family blog. While I have mixed feelings about this "technological" day and age and the need to be connected all the time by various devices, I cannot help but praise The Internet. The power of The Internet not only helped Bob and I find each other again, it also has enabled me to spend more time getting to know Valerie and Charles. Something of a loner, I've always found it easier to write than to talk.
But I'm working on that too.
Here's a picture of Bob on our hike yesterday; this is on the cliffs between Umtanum Creek Falls and the punchbowl at the bottom of the cascade.
