Summertime, and the Livin' Is Easy....

Well, sort of...for Wally, not so much. He just worked a 6 day week, so today was his only day off. After worship, we came home, had lunch and then headed for a sunny spot by the bay. He made the best of his brief respite!

Otherwordly

If you know me well, you know that I harbor several "addictions" when it comes to collecting knick knacks. I've always been surprised by this side of myself, since I really can't abide "clutter". One would never guess this by looking at my living room which is FULL of "stuff" that has been lovingly given to me over the years. I don't think of it as clutter, though, I think of it as a gift store transplanted into my house!

One of the things I love to collect is drangonflys. They are beautiful and prehistoric in nature and they intrique me. So imagine my delight when I was out watering my hanging baskets the other day and discovered this big guy just sunning himself!

But let's not stop with the real thing, let's take a tour of the gamut of dragonflys that permanenly inhabit my world.

And let's knot forget the collection of sheep--and this is the latest addition to that menagerie, given to me by Jessie for Christmas...too cute, eh?

Rare Sighting

We saw one of these last night perched at the top of a tree in Cornwall Park! This is a Western Tanager (photo from web). It's the first time we've ever seen one of these birds here. Their coloring is stunning!

Summer Camp

Summer arrived last week, briefly! The high on July 1st was 59, the low on July 9th was 60! The PNW is all about extremes! We did our best to enjoy the heat and sun. Jess was here for a visit (great timing, it was over 100 in Portland!) and we spent lots of time near water. Just sitting.....

Or enjoying music in Elizabeth Park during their weekly free concernts.....

Or swimming at Semiahmoo.......

and enjoying the great view of Mt. Baker from there.....

or picking raspberries with dear friend, Leslie, on her farm....lots of memories for Jess here, she and Leslie's kids used to play Little House on the Prairie in these fields....

or watching Wally watch the sunset at Larrabee State Park......

or eating supper on the patio.....

or helping Dad edge the lawn....eeww, bad memories of doing this chore herself!

Summer has taken another hiatus, it's back to clouds and temps in the 60's. But....it's not raining, so all is well!

People Watching

It's street fair time again! We spent Saturday perusing the streets of Mt. Vernon during their annual Tulip Festival street fair. Booths stretch the length of about 6 city blocks and are filled with every imaginable form of "art" or "craft". But I think I had more fun watching the people.

The new generation of Republicans! :)

This woman is truly an artist. Her face paintings were spectacular. I had a hard time tearing myself away from the rhythm and blues this gentleman was pumping out. He played a mean dobro!

Wish I had a video of this. Her "puppets" were dancing to the VERY loud music playing on the stage to her right.

Let's not forget the fair food--Phad Thai, satay and spring roll...can't get much better than that.

And of course there is the wildlife!

But the best treat of all was rounding the end of the row of booths and discovering Jenny Lommers, our dear friend who used to work at Homax with Wally. She and her family recently moved to Corvalis, so we don't get to see her often and didn't know she was going to be here. What a treat! And her art is fabulous! We miss you, Jenn!

In Our Own Backyard....

Wow, has it really been a month since I've written anything here? This is a very good indication of how uninteresting my life is...work, eat, sleep, repeat. That pretty much sums it up. But....spring has finally arrived and the Bearded One and I are venturing forth once again. One of our favorite "haunts" is Anacortes. It's not too far away and it's a beautiful drive down through the Skagit Valley. There is something about that valley that really lures me; it may be the wide open vistas and the twisted sloughs that snake their way through the lush landscape--and there are bakeries to stop at en route. The "blink and you're through it" town of Edison is a place I would love to live. It's fast becoming a popular "artist colony", for good reason. I think the same open air romance that attracts me also appeals to artists--the light, the color, the texture and the wildlife are photos/paintings just waiting to happen.

A few Saturdays ago we decided to try to find the parks on top of the mountain that skirts the south side of Anacortes. We had heard about it, but had never run across it in our wanderings. Lo and behold, we discovered it inadvertently as we were driving through a neighborhood. Teeny, tiny little wooden signs with hand-painted titles led us to the end of what looked like just a neighborhood street and onto a dirt and gravel road that wound around and around and up and up and up and up until we were on the very top of Mt. Erie with a view that rivals the one from Mt. Constitution on Orcas Island! WOW! How have we missed this all these years? Unfortunately, it was not a very clear day, so the Olympic Mts. were hiding under a cloud cover, but we will surely return to this spot again and again this summer.

Harbingers of spring---the skunk cabbage--aptly named, pee yew!


It's tulip time in the Skagit Valley and pink is one of my favorite colors, hence the pink shirt! The Bearded One insisted on a pic in the tulips...no, I was not tip-toeing

View to the northeast from the top of Mt. Erie

View to the west from the top of Mt. Erie

A rain squall was moving in as were leaving.

A madrona root snakes its way down the rock face! Talk about hardy!

Serendipity or Status Quo?

She was sitting in the back row in the corner seat. It's a small church, so newcomers are easily recognizable. She's an African American with very dark skin. I feel inexplicably drawn to her and I want to go introduce myself, but she is in a deep discussion with her seatmate. After the opening hymns we were urged to "meet and greet" and I took the opportunity to turn and catch her eye and I made gestures to indicate I was going to work my way over to where she was sitting. She walked towards me and said, "I'll meet you halfway." She takes my hand in both of hers; they are very warm. I am riveted by her eyes which are also warm, deep and extremely captivating. Her name is TJ and "no" she doesn't live here she's just visiting. By this time the music has started up again and we must take our seats.

After the service I find I am "trapped" by people standing and chatting and I see her exit the sanctuary. When I finally make it out of my pew and downstairs where coffee and cookies await, I find she is there, pouring herself a cup of coffee. It is now that I notice that she has a very, very large backpack at her feet, it is almost as tall as she is. I again approach her and ask where she's from. What I learn astounds me. She is walking all over the country "telling people about Jesus." I ask her how long she's been doing this and she responds, "Five years". I ask if she's with an organization and she says, "No, God told me to do this, and so I am. He provides for me." I ask where she started and she says, "Arizona".

By this time Sunday school has started and I am torn between attending my class which is excellent--deep and thought-provoking (we are doing a Precepts type of study on Ephesians), and staying and talking to her. I go to class, hoping she will still be in the coffee room when we are done and I plan on asking her to have lunch with us. After class I open our classroom door and my heart sinks when I see that she has gone. I wonder where her next stop is. I wonder how she decides where to stop. I wonder where she will sleep tonight. And I marvel and the obvious peace and contentment that she exudes. Her faith has been tried, tested and proven. I wonder why she chose our church and I wonder why I didn't stay and talk to her. I can't shake the feeling that I have had an extraordinary encounter and I wonder whether I was too intent on study and not intent enough upon application.

Godspeed, TJ, you are in my thoughts and prayers tonight.