Years ago, when our three kids were in elementary school, my husband and I decided it was important that they experience nature up close and personal on the Olympic Peninsula. I prepared a travel kit for each child, complete with healthy snacks, activity books and brand new markers. Climbing into our van, each with a blanket and pillow covered by a case I made from fabric they picked out themselves, they resembled happy little campers as we made our way down the island and onto the ferry.
This week my husband and I ventured off the rock and flew to California. During work hours he attended a Navy-sponsored environmental law refresher class for civilian employees at Port Hueneme. I spent time in our nearby hometown with his parents who are, in all ways, my parents as well.
Never could I have imagined experiencing serenity any sweeter than what I discovered the summer of 1973 when my family toured the Pacific Northwest.
“Where’s Bear Wells?” my husband hollered as he hopped out of his truck. “If we don’t watch him, he’s gonna end up eagle food!”
Last Saturday I had the pleasure of spending an hour with Graham Kerr. As keynote speaker for the 2011 Whidbey Gardening Workshop, sponsored by the WSU Master Gardener Program, he charmed and delighted but also asked us to dig deep into our own motivations for gardening. Days later, I’m turning over the soil in my raised beds and thinking about his message.
Like millions of people worldwide, I first knew Kerr as The Galloping Gourmet in the 1970s. He and his wife produced over 1,800 shows back then, passing on ways to prepare great food for people to enjoy in the most delightful and entertaining ways. As he tells it, back then food was great if it looked good, smelled good and tasted good.
I dislike washing my car, but enjoy washing my dishes. If I’ve experienced a busy day, I bake to relax in the evening. I rarely watch a movie without a Cook’s Illustrated in my hand and if I could tour anyone’s kitchen it would be Ina Garten’s, that Barefoot Contessa.
I’ve begun reading through the Bible using a free iPhone app called YouVersion. You may choose from an impressive number of reading plans and Bible versions. If you want to search for a particular verse or post comments online, no problem.
Faithful Living: Peace: Make it, don’t just love it
This week I watched what I consider to be one of the most ridiculous commercials I have ever seen. A mature couple, married a number of years and experiencing emotional stagnation, finally enjoys a renewed sense of excitement after they change their brand of toilet paper.
You’ve got to be kidding me.
Long ago I figured out a simple fact about myself: I must establish a place and regularly schedule a time in that place to renew. Regroup. Rethink. Recommit. In the winter I like to pull up my favorite leather chair, grab a quilt and sit near our stove in the family room. It’s cozy and warm and welcoming.
When was the last time you gifted yourself with a new bedroom pillow?
During my childhood I recall using only one, feather-filled pillow. It rested my head every sleepover, road trip, and church camp I ever attended. I hauled that pillow around because it was the only one that didn’t give me a neck ache by morning.
The kids leaned forward in curiosity as my husband Matt set out various skulls and taxidermied animals. Each specimen set off a flurry of fourth grade thinking and stories filled the room.
“Old Saint Nick. What are we to do with him?”
It was an issue I first considered at Christmas, 1986, when the birth of our first child begged the question.
