"Of all Flowers, me thinks a Rose is best." ~Shakespeare

My girls group had intended on going to the zoo on such a nice Friday evening, however, the time the zoo closed was too early for us to spend any time there. We quickly came up with plan B, which was to go to the International Rose Test Garden. We sat in the ampitheatre to eat our dinner and then headed over for the roses.

Notice the spelling of flowers...

Lots of roses in bloom.

Portland from the hill.

Rachel and Rose traipsing through the garden.

Rose walking among the plaques of all the Rose Festival Queens.

There were plaques with Queen Rachel and Queen Stephanie....no Queen Rose or Queen Jamie... :( Plaque or not, we are all Queens...right?!?!

Rachel :)

Me~among the roses.

Jamie :)

We know how to have fun!

~Our group~

All-in-all, not being able to go to the zoo wasn't such a big deal. No matter where we are we can have fun and enjoy just getting to hang out. Another great evening in Portland and with friends goes down in the record book!

Dreaming....

...of a Hawaiian get-away....

And, realizing that as much of a dream as it might be, it might also become reality. Fingers crossed.

:) :)

A 5 Mountain Day in Honor of the 4th of July

In honor of the long holiday weekend and in honor of the promise from the weatherman for a clear and warm Independence Day, I decided to head towards Mt Hood. I have passed the parking area for the trailhead of Mirror Lake multiple times, but have never actually stopped. I went with intention today. There are always lots and Lots and LOTS of cars, so I decided I would get up at the crack of dawn (almost, about 40 minutes shy of when the sun actually rose, in other words, 6am, which is a whole hour earlier than I can pull myself out of bed on a day I have to go to work) and got in my car with lunch and water and camera ready for the trail. I was on the trail just before 8am. It was cold and the air was brisk and fresh. I had lots of layers on and even wore my gloves. It was worth it.

Trailhead above; felled logs below.
Because of the altitude, flowers that bloom in spring in PDX were just starting. Here you can see some Rhododendron blossoms just getting ready to pop.

Here are some that just popped!

Trillium abound...and they were gorgeous, some white, some pink, some purple.

First glimpses of Mt Hood once I got to Mirror Lake.

A poor attempt at getting me and Mt Hood in the picture...not great lighting.

Mt Hood reflected in Mirror Lake.

My arms aren't long enough....apparently. :)

I hadn't necessarily planned on conitnuing to hike up Tom, Dick & Harry Mountain once I made it to Mirror Lake. I decided that I couldn't pass it up though. Once I got up past one of the switchbacks snow patches started appearing.

Lots of snow in July!

Once I arrived at the top of Tom, Dick & Harry Mountain I was in awe of the phenomenal view. It was what climbers here refer to as a 5 mountain kind of day. It was clear enough that you could see all 5 major mountain peaks in the area, Mt Hood, Mt Adams, Mt Rainier, Mt St Helen's and Mt Jefferson. I can't even describe how amazing it was to see each snow-capped peak in all the gorgeous sunshine placed almost strategically around the horizon tucked away in the folds of the hills and among the cloudless, aqua blue sky.

The first mountain I saw was Jefferson straight ahead...

Then I turned around and was greeted by Mt St Helen's...

....and then Rainier....

...and then Adams and Hood....

....I couldn't get enough of the mountains....look at those rolling hills leading up to Jefferson.

I settled up on a rock about 4 feet tall that had the most perfect little cranny that was just the right size for a person to curl up in and I basked in the sun with four peaks in my line of site and the fifth right behind me. I had taken a notebook and pen and wrote. I thought. I got sunburned and didn't even know it. I was thankful for such majesty and that I am privileged enough to see and appreciate the beauty. I also enjoyed my lunch among the silence.

These are two of the peaks (look like bumps) of Tom, Dick & Harry. The two that are not accessible are refuges for Peregrine Falcons.

Mt Hood with Mirror Lake below.

I love this picture....me staring at Mt Hood.

Blue sky, white snow-capped mountain, green trees, more green trees, SNOW, and my feet.

Shortly, lots of people started arriving and after about an hour and a half of amazing views, I headed down.

But, I got to enjoy more views on my way down.

All in all, it was a great hike. A great way to celebrate America's birthday. There are mixed reviews of the mileage...a few sources say 5.8 miles from the parking area to the lake, around the lake and then up to Tom, Dick & Harry. A few other sources say 6.8 and my pedometer-less legs couldn't guess if you made them, though my hips probably could.

I knew it was a smart move to get there early, I was one of four cars when I parked. By the time I got done with the hike (about 1pm) my car had been joined by about 40 others...

....they even wrapped around the curve of the highway....

...and I pulled out and went home!

I wasn't successful in napping in order to make it to firework time and like I told a friend of mine, I fell alseep right as the fireworks were starting because I am cool and old like that! Haha! :)

Hope you all had a great day celebrating the freedoms we have in this beautiful country and those that fight to keep it that way! Happy 4th of July!

July Poem of the Month

i thank You God for most this amazing
by e.e. cummings

i thank You God for most this amazing
day:for the leaping greenly spirits of trees
and a blue true dream of sky;and for everything
which is natural which is infinite which is yes

(i who have died am alive again today,
and this is the sun's birthday;this is the birth
day of life and love and wings:and of the gay
great happening illimitably earth)

how should tasting touching hearing seeing
breathing any-lifted from the no
of all nothing-human merely being
doubt unimaginable You?

(now the ears of my ears awake and
now the eyes of my eyes are opened)

nos·tal·gia...

–noun
1. a wistful desire to return in thought or in fact to a former time in one's life, to one's home or homeland, or to one's family and friends; a sentimental yearning for the happiness of a former place or time: a nostalgia for his college days.
2. something that elicits or displays nostalgia.
(thank you Dictionary.com)

As of late, I have been nostalgic for my favorite childhood vacation destinations. I don't know if this comes because summer is finally among us, if it's because it has been months and months since seeing family, or if it is because I want to wistfully escape to a simpler time. A time where sunshine was everywhere. Where most meals were enjoyed on the back deck. Where band concerts, summer movies, 'backyard camping', ice cream runs, swimming lessons and bike riding sprinkled the days. A time where I couldn't see past the last few straggling summer days to the inevitable time when summer vacation would end.

These days, spring runs into summer, summer into fall, fall into winter, winter into summer, all without much notice, save the changing weather. It is amazing how nostalgic I can get over times past. Holidays, school vacations, running careless through the neighborhood. But this desire to return to place past, places that are part of my heart, my head, my being, places that were temporary in my life, but which contain some of the fondest memories from my childhood years. Places where I must say, I inadvertently left part of myself. Yes, this is powerful.

Some of my favorite places, places that I crave right now include; a trip to the Black Hills in South Dakota...I was in jr high...we went to Mount Rushmore, Bear Country USA, and stayed in Hill City, SD and ate a meal I am 100% my brother and I complained about before eating, but that I still tell people about now because it was so memorably great food at Alpine Inn. We also rode the Black Hills Steam Train and I loved the Needles Highway (when I wasn't sleeping, as I used to get horribly car sick)!

I crave Independence Rock, Fort Caspar and its Living History Days...both barely a stones throw from home. I yearn for parades, fairs and rodeos. Trips to the lake, to the mountain. Foggy morning walks through the woods, sunburns, lazy Thursday evenings at the City Band concert, running through the sprinkler on the hotest of days.

I crave Steamboat Springs, Golden, CO, Horsetooth Resevoir. I crave ice cream at Little America-Cheyenne (before the recent remodel)and the Denver Botanic Garden, Colorado National Speedway- dubbed in our time there as the fastest 3/8 mile paved oval this side of the Mississippi. I crave Water World and intertubes, the wave pool, lazy river, laughter.

I crave walking along the beach with my Mom, Uncle Ron, Josh-first on the West Coast at Carmel by the Sea, Pebble Beach, Montery, San Fran back in 2000 and then most recently on the East Coast in North Carolina, both at Christmas.

I crave eating ice cream as a meal in between places, because you are on vacation and that is what you do on vacation.

It is funny how some of my favorite memories, vacation or not, were the little things. Eating tacos on the front porch mid-way through a day of hard yardwork with Mom, going crawdad fishing with Josh and exploring all places wild with Dad. It isn't those "big" vacations to the Bahamas, Disney World that stand out first and foremost in my mind, grand and glorious as they were. I hope that I remember this when I have kids. I want to remember so I can give them the opportunities to have those fond memories of the little things. Simple things. Profound things. I want them to remember like I remember. I want them to be sentimental and sappy and nostalgic when they find themselves a half a country, a whole country away from those who they share those ties and those memories with.

I am feeling nostalgic. Sentimental. Ready to escape to my childhood.

What was your favorite vacation destination in childhood or not?!

Because...

This is because you have no idea who you are.

This is because you talk too long and feel too much and say too little, and then decide to talk and feel and say a little more because it was too much. This is because you never quite understand the rules and cannot manage to get them clear in your head, let alone in your heart. This is because you try so hard, after you don’t try at all, and never seem to get that none of it was necessary, even from the beginning.

This is because you don’t have enough to do already. This is because you are always doing the things you are not supposed to do. This is because you forget how to feel. This is because you don’t know how to remember. This is because you cannot for one second let yourself be still.

This is because you cannot bear the uncertainty of mystery.
This is because you dream too little.
This is because you should have known better, or at least listened when you knew.
This is because you hate yourself for being difficult and incomprehensible.
This is because you need less sleep and more company.
This is because you always forget that it’s too soon in life to decide.
This is because you get it wrong, when all you wanted to do was get it right.
This is because you can’t make yourself fit in. This is because you don’t always care.

This is because I am exactly like you even when you think no one could possibly be. This is because this lost is what we all are. This is because none of us, after all this–thank God–somehow are not the only ones.

This is because even after all this
you must without question or hesitation
be absolutely seen and loved
just because.

And so must I.

~Courtesy of Jen Lemen


This is because...I appreciate aspects of this, not all, but parts, for sure. :)

Tea Time!

I always feel better after leaving this group of girls. Even if we are missing one. One of my small groups met at Rose's for "Tea Time" and we had great fun, even though Jamie wasn't able to make it!

I made gluten free heart shaped shortbread cookies for the gathering!

Yumm!

Rose set-up the tea table and did a great job!

She also made g/f cucumber sandwiches (amazing), has g/f pretzels and g/f pecan sandies...I could eat everything that was there...it was glorious (not that I needed to eat it all though...)

This was Rose's first time to use her tea set and it was for a fun occassion.

Me, Rose, Rachel

Pinkies up~

I laughed, I cried because I laughed, I felt light after spending such a relaxing evening with such fun friends...too bad life will all be changing for our little group soon~ Rose is moving to the great white north~ Alaska in less than two months, so we are cherishing our remaining time together!

Today

~ listening {to the dishwasher, dryer, birdsong, John Prine, Yiruma, David Crowder Band, Ben Folds, The Weepies, Laura Story, JJ Heller}
~ watching {the sun shine, the cat play, Scrubs in my spare time and still working on my Academy Award Best Picture winners}
~ dreaming {about travels}
~ writing {blogs, letters, care plans at work}
~ reading {just finished Water for Elephants, starting The Help; blogs, letters, Janet Evanovich}
~ hoping {for inspiration; for the best and then some}
~ crafting {crocheted afghans}
~ remembering {my trip to the beach last week}
~ contemplating {cutting my hair, the simple and complex--dinner menu, mopping floors; where I will be in one year, ten years}
~ anticipating {a potential visit from my Dad, summer hiking}
~ admiring {God's beautiful work in this world, my growing plants and flowers, the simplicity and complexity of life}
~ marveling {at the remarkableness of the human body; that warmth has been found in this place that has felt so cold for so long}
~ thankful {for everything}

First Hike of the Season

After getting home late from Corvallis, I was ready to ease into Saturday. The challenge: I had also wanted to go hike a state park since it was free state parks day. As the morning wore on, I decided it was a little too late to go, parking would be a nightmare. Perfectly, I returned a call from Holly and she invited me to go hike with she, Brian and 1 1/2 year old Isaiah. I headed to their place a little later and away we went to Lewis River, Moulton Falls. It was hot, but the trail was nicely shaded.

Brian, Isaiah, Holly

We came upon some railroad tracks, which the boys had to check out.

Isaiah loves sticks, and drawing on the ground with them. Check out his curly hair!

We saw a profile of a horse head in this rock...see it?!

Looking down river.

Brian wanted to get to this bridge, so we did! The falls weren't impressive, apparently I never even took a picture of them.

Holly and Isaiah stayed up on the bridge while Brian and I went down to get pictures. See them just off center to the right in the picture.

The river was "refreshing" according to those swimming in it, but sunning on the rocks looked delightful...

Group picture near a small "fall," though not Moulton Falls.

Summer, I think, has finally arrived!