Leave My Peaceful, Easy-Going Path Alone....

The path started out level, easy going, peaceful and fun.  But then someone, who shall remain nameless, decided that he needed to step in front of me on my nice little path, and put up a road block. This is all metaphorically speaking of course.

I belong to this wonderful little group/organization of people. I have been with them for over six years and I have enjoyed every minute. Then one day, out of nowhere, one of the members just up and decides he has a problem with me.  Actually it is a couple of them. They believe that I wronged them somehow, which I did not.

We are on the board together, have been for six years. He decided, out of the blue, to make some serious accusations against me, with no evidence to back it up.  Him, and the other nameless member, decided that it was time to push me out of the club.  Why are people like that? I can speculate about what their real motives are - and I would probably be pretty close to right, but what good what that do?  I just don't get people like that?

Luckily for me, the other board members took great offense to his accusations and proceeded to do a fantastic job of defending my honor. They say that when you are down, you find out who your true friends are, this couldn't have been more true with this group of people.  They really had my back.

Our little group meeting turned into a minor skirmish in a war zone. Shouting ensued, fingers were pointing, the accuser was flogged (not literally, just verbally). Proof was shown that his accusations were false.  The other members chastised him for his accusations, especially without any proof.  They could tell that he was just out to get me.  And yet, after all of that, he still did not apologize and worse, he didn't feel any remorse for what he said and did.  I just don't get it.  It floors me that someone can be like that.

The emotional upheaval I felt from the betrayal of this person, was a serious uphill climb for me.  But when I reached the top, I was greeted by something so wonderful, that the whole climb made it worth it.  I was greeted by a group of people that displayed such strong support for my honor and defended me with such skilled eloquence, that I will be eternally grateful to them.

May your little army of friends have your back.

Expressing myself with honorable gratitude to such wonderful people.  THANK YOU!

A Little Green

Happy St Patrick's Day

Communing with Nature

It was a nice sunny, almost warm day, so we decided to go for a little hike.

We stopped at a little spot to photograph the pond. What happened instead was nature grabbing my attention.

Nature was reminding me to stop and just enjoy the moment.

It was enjoyable to just watch the ducks as they paddled around, enjoying the sun and eating.

To watch eagles soaring from tree to tree.

To listen to the little creek babbling.

It was nature talking and I sat on a bench and just listened.

When a Community Celebrates

For years, a little girl in our community went through treatment for Leukemia.  To celebrate her last treatment and her being cured from cancer, the Chief of  Police, and the town, threw her a parade.










                                                                                                         A community comes together to celebrate.

                  A community holds a parade.

Fun in the Sun

Fun in the sun. That phrase might make you think of a California beach - surfing, warm water, warm weather, the hot sun beating down on you.

That is not what, "fun in the sun" means here in the Pacific Northwest.  It mostly means that the sun is out. And that was what it was like on Saturday, February 2nd.

 It does not mean that it is warm - though it was a nice 50 degrees - and for us that is warm.



It doesn't mean going to the beach, though we might.  Unless it is an El Nino year and a super hot day, the water is freezing. The average water temperature around here is a cold 40-47 degrees.

Our 'fun in the sun' means it was  a sunny day. And a great day to have a  a paddle race in La Conner, WA.

Our 'fun in the sun' was a group of stand up paddles, rowing boats and kayaks - racing seven miles in the slough. Slugging their way through the currents. Paddling as fast as they can in as short amount of time as they can.

Seven miles of  constant pushing and pulling. Seven miles of paddling. Seven miles of standing (for some). Seven miles of heave ho.

Yes, that is what 'fun in the sun' means for those of us in the Pacific Northwest.