Summer Bucket List

"A desire presupposes the possibility of action to achieve it; action presupposes a goal which is worth achieving." Ayn Rand

 I am bursting to the seams with excitement for this summer! I feel like I did when I was a kid and the hope of an exciting summer loomed on the near horizon. I am so ridiculously full of anticipation that I made a summer Bucket List for myself and my family. I must shamefully admit here that this is one perk to being a single mom: everyone runs on MY schedule.  I am sharing this list to help me keep track of my plans and goals.

O The Places We'll Go:

• Lester - This is a legit ghost town located off a secluded Forest Service road on the Green River, south of Snoqualmie Pass. It is only accessible by foot and the only other time I was here we saw a cougar...yes, a real live mountain lion! What did we do? What any sensible, non-destructible human being would do...we followed it. That was before kids... I think I will hike this one sans children.... and with a gun toting fella.
• Orcas Island - If I see an orca whale this summer, I would say it was an accomplished year. This will be a trip with the kiddos. I plan on taking the ferry from Anacortes and climbing to the top of Mt.Constitution.
• Table Mountain Lookout - This is a fire lookout located in the remote Okanogan Forest. The lookout has a large deck perfect for stargazing. I've already booked two nights here in August and can't wait!
• Hurricane Ridge, Olympic National Park - I haven't been here since I was a kid. What I remember about that trip is a scary steep road and 360 degree views of the jagged Olympic peaks. I look forward to experiencing this trip as an adult with kids, and camera on hand.
• Camp Muir - This hike has become a summer tradition and it looks like this year my sister, Emily, and I will have more company...including our priest Father Anaya.
• Carbon Glacier - I have the fondest memories of hiking to this glacier as a teenager. One that sticks out the most is when I was running down a trail holding Emily's hand (she must have been about 3 years old at the time) and the opportunity to literally save her life presented itself. Since I was an irresponsible 13 year old she was on the down slope slide of a steep path. In a split second her feet slipped off the side of the trail and had I not been holding her hand she would have fell a few hundred feet down to the rushing waters of Ipsut Creek. Of course, had I not been running, or had her on that side, she may have never been in peril in the first place. Anyway, I believe to this day all she remembers is me...saving her life ;)

I think that will be enough to pack our summer days with adventure. I didn't mention the camping trips with the cousins, there will be plenty of those too. Now, as far as goals I'd like to accomplish that don't require a few hours of packing and food preparation:

• I want to brush up on my mad guitar skills and learn to play two of my favorite songs; The Gambler and Will the Circle Be Unbroken.
• The Warrior Dash - a 3 mile race through mud and even muddier obstacles.
• Run the 4US 5K - to help raise money for Pro-Life causes (getting back into shape starts now!).
• Sign Samuel up for 12 Parkour sessions. Soon baseball and cub scouts will be done for the summer and I will finally have time to dedicate an evening a week for him to put his wall climbing skills to good use.

So there we have it. I am calling this summer Rediscovering Washington. It looks like a lot, but I believe it will be do-able because, as Helen Keller stated, "Life is either a daring adventure or nothing."

Adventurous days to all!

Gina.

http://www.fs.fed.us/r6/recreation/rentals/ow-table-mt-a-frame.shtml
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lester,_Washington

Here is my goal destination this year...near bottom left; Camp Muir. To go any further would require a climber's permit.

This must be that road I remember from a family trip long ago. (Picture courtesy of info@olympicsuitesinn.com)

At Ipsut Creek

View of San Juan Islands from Mt. Constitution. (Picture courtesy of KevinMallick via Flickr)

Away From it All

The Milky Way galaxy is whirling rapidly, spinning our sun and all its other stars at around 100 million km per hour.....

And yet, the night I lie out on the airstrip at Buck Creek, just a few miles from the entrance to Mt. Rainier, to watch the stars in my sleeping bag next to my closest friends; it felt as though the universe was as still as could be.

After writing my last post, I was in dire need of some "friend time", and, as usual, the time we spent together cured the doldrums that had crept up on me during the course of the day. Emily and Aaron are like my "Happiness Project Resurrectors" and they don't even realize it half the time. As I sat at my computer, gloomily writing my blog entry, they arrived with bean dip and my favorite, Bud Lite Lime; I provided the Costco jug of Pub Mix and the tortilla chips. We grabbed some sleeping bags, pillows and jackets and headed for the hills. Literally.

It was almost 9 pm, the sky was clear and the air was fresh and cool. Darkness was upon us as we entered the campground and it was only then that we realized we had forgotten the flash lights.  So, when we found the air strip that separated one side of the campground from the other, we used Emily's Bug "Bella's" headlights until we got semi-situated. Then in the pitch black we settled in and gazed up at the starlit sky.

What we saw took our breath away; a ceiling of stars that twinkled and raced across the night sky. The Big Dipper, which usually appears nearly solo in the city sky, was surrounded by thousands of stars. It was cold but it didn't matter. My mind cleared and the awesome feeling of insignificance filled my soul. Wonder at the almighty power of God filled my soul, as well. I also marveled over the fact that God would send His Son to die for us tiny insignificant beings. My heart was filled with contentment.

I knew then, that I could face any task ahead of me. In fact, I looked forward to facing my next challenge. That is the power of nature...God's nature.

As I looked into the galaxy, I was filled with a desire to know more. I wanted to know what star I was looking at, how far away it was, how old it was and much more. So today I took to the world-wide web to give me some answers. This is what I learned:

• The pull of gravity is calculated between heavenly bodies by multiplying their masses together, and then dividing the total by the square of the distance between them. HUH?! OK, I had to ditch that site.
• There may be a huge black hole in the very middle of  most of the galaxies. Now, that's a little more interesting.
• If you fell into a black hole, you would stretch like spaghetti. Yikes! Now, THAT is good information. Hope that never happens.
• A day in Mercury lasts approximately as long as 59 days on earth. Wow. And I thought today was a long day.

What I really found out is there is a lot of "There may be's" and "it's possibles"....I mean, how do they know that we would stretch like spaghetti? Has that ever happened to anyone? What it seems to boil down to is that the very smart people who know a lot of stuff about the universe don't really know any more than the child, who, looking up in the night sky, says, "God made those."

Awesome pic....not captured by me unfortunately.

Happy days to all,

Gina.

A day of Ups and Downs

The hours in today have taken me through just about every realm of emotions known to mom. I have felt alive in my work as teacher, and my heart just about died as I witnessed heartbreak coming from one of my children.

I missed them when I woke up, and I welcomed the sight of them when I saw them in the classroom.

I hugged them, kissed them, and felt like beating one of them. (I know, call CPS, huh)

Working at the kids' school is a blessing and a curse.... It's one thing to hear bad news from a teacher and work with her to solve the problem, it's another to see the pain in your child's eyes as they are being informed of the consequences of their actions...and not being able to be understanding and comforting and to let him know that everything will be okay.

I know this must sound dire, and to his little heart it is. But six-year-olds regret their actions quickly and can't seem to see far past the current hour. It would have been different if I had the time to talk with him at home when the others went to sleep; but they are all spending another night at their dad's and I barely had the chance to tell him, "It's okay, everyone else is over it, don't hang on to it....learn from it and let it go."

It's quiet here.

Too quiet.

It's friend time.......

I know I've used this one before, but it's fitting.

All Grown Up (that's me I'm talking about)

I found myself thinking today about the momentous time in a person's life when they come to the realization that, "I'm a grown up!" My daughters tell me all the time...'when I'm a grown up, I'm going to...." Kids seem to ponder this thought frequently. When I first moved out at 18 and didn't have to tell anyone where I was; I had the inkling that I was a grown up. When I went shopping for my own food for the first time...the thought crossed my mind then too. I don't remember having the thought when I got married, had children, or had to file my taxes as Head of Household. I did, however, have the thought today.

My eight year old had his first baseball game of the season and I invited one of his best friends to stay the night so she could come help cheer him on. I told them I would take them out to ice cream afterward to celebrate. His hitting was amazing, his feilding needs improvement (but what 8 year old's doesn't) and his attitude was inspiring. So, when the game was over, I gathered up six dirty kids and headed to the magical place of 31 marvelous flavors...it was 8:30 pm.

I'm not sure if every Baskin Robbins is the same, but the one we went to had very few seats, little room to sit and enjoy an ice cream cone and a LOT of odd people. In fact, the last time I went there, it was also later in the evening and there were some other people who appeared to be woven of the same cloth as tonight's visitors. Anyway, ordering whatever flavor ice cream six kids wanted (and myself) in a crowded area really brought me back to the few times my mother braved a  trip to the mouth watering "Neighborhood Ice Cream Store". Only, this time....I was on the receiving end. The receiving end of, "Can you lift me up to see?" "I want the pink one, no, the rainbow one.....no.....I want the bubble gum one" (times six) "Can I sample this one, and this one, and this one"...."I have to pee!" "There's no bathroom" "But I have to PEE!!"

I began to realize....WE were more the sideshow than the emos, or the man with the shorts that looked more like a tattoo than an article of clothing..I mean...I think he was wearing shorts, just kidding, he was. Oddly, amidst the chaos, instead of feeling stressed, I found myself thinking, "I'm a grown up!" I'm letting all these kids get an ice cream cone of their choice and I get to chose one for myself!" I know what you're thinking...what a weirdo! Well, I think it all goes back to when I was a little girl. One day, when I was craving ice cream and couldn't have any, I must have said to myself, "When I grow up, I'm gonna get whatever kind of ice cream I want....and buy some for my kids too!"

I dedicate this post to my kids, who help me feel grown up, while at the same time, remind me of the joys of childhood. I love you guys.

 .

Spring Has Sprung in our Great Big Backyard!

"Climb the mountains and get their good tidings. Nature's peace will flow into you as sunshine flows into trees. The winds will blow their own freshness into you, and the storms their energy, while cares will drop off like autumn leaves." ~John Muir 

In my opinion, the sun in the Pacific Northwest is shinier, brighter and more glorious than anywhere else in the country. When I lived in the Sierra Nevada region sunny days were bountiful, beautiful and hot. Did I say bountiful? Living there made me appreciate rain. I can remember days where the sun actually annoyed me. Is that possible? Was I ungrateful? Maybe that is the key to why the sun, when enjoyed in Washington state, just seems so....heavenly; people here never lose appreciation for it.

The month of April, while bringing it's signature showers, was also generous with it's beautiful sunny days that foretold of a coming summer. I have been able to get out and enjoy the woods of Washington on several occasions already. As I've said before, I consider the natural world around me; the state parks, forests, national parks, rivers, lakes and mountains, our backyard.

After many failed plans to go hiking with one of my oldest friends, Valerie, we finally made it happen. Up early one morning, when the kids happened to be at their dad's, we both had the first half of the day to drink in a healthy dose of nature's vitamin D. The challenge was in finding somewhere nearby. As it turned out, it wasn't much of a challenge. To my pleasant surprise, there are many places within 20 minutes of home that I had never explored before.

We headed south to the capital city, Olympia. First we took the mild but beautiful trail near Tumwater Falls. We walked only a short ways and realized, due to construction, half the trail was closed. Still not in the mood to return home, we headed back north and pulled off I-5 toward Tolmie State Park. Both photography enthusiasts, Valerie and I had a heyday with the mossy green forest, and the sparkling blue bay. I enjoyed this place so much that I returned the next day with my sister, Emily, and best friend, Aaron. On the way home we stopped for coffee and wrote down our goals for this summer. It is the outcome of this spontaneous meeting that will be the topic of my next post.

Two weeks after my first Spring venture into the great backyard, we were blessed with another dose of sunny weather. In fact, it was so warm, I decided we would head up to Mt. Rainier for National Park Week with the added bonus that during this week none of the usual fees applied for park entry.  The kids and I, and, of course, my little sis, Emily, changed our clothes after church, packed a lunch and headed on the road to 'The Mountain'. We decided to enter by way of the north side...but apparently I haven't learned my lesson in researching before a trip...because that entrance was closed til summer.  So we made our way back down and ended up at Buck Creek Campground at the base of the mountain.

This place had it all. Secluded sites to park and picnic, trails through mossy green forests, an icy rushing river for us the kids to play in, and breathtaking views. We spent the entire day here, just soaking in the beauty that surrounded us. As Emily stated, "There's nothing like a mountain to make you feel small." This is a great feeling to me. I love to feel small and insignificant. I know that seems to go against the grain of modern thinking, but it is a feeling that tends to make all of life's stresses melt away. For how can the things in that our lives that seem such a BIG DEAL really be so, when we are so small?

Sunny days to all,

Gina