Tag Archives: connection

I Am Wealthy Beyond Imagining

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I’ve known young William since 2016 when I stumbled upon a piece he’d written at Northwestern University, and was blown away by his intelligence and wit. And now here we are – ten years later – and today I finally got to meet William in the person!

William is extraordinary. This is not hyperbole. He actually is extraordinary. He’s kind and wise, and has a wonderful sense of humor. He’s a rocket scientist, a novelist, a cartographer, and he’s working on his second master’s degree – and he hasn’t even hit 30, yet!

This summer’s he’s been up here from his home base in California, doing an internship in the Seattle area. And today we met up for lunch at Tweets Cafe in the little foody town of Edison.

I got to introduce William to Mickey, who helped me when I found a turtle at Lake Padden, and who I later learned worked at Tweets. Mickey is AWESOME! We ordered our lunches – a half a roasted chicken for William, a quiche for me – and then sat out on the deck and talked and laughed like the old friends we are.

After lunch, I gave William a little tour of Edison and we bought treats at Breadfarm. Iris was manning the counter, and she was a hoot! She was very patient with me, and when I asked her if I could take her picture, she said she’d just go fetch our treats and then be back in a moment for her photo shoot.

A line of classic cars came through town, and I managed to snap a quick picture of a golden beauty. And little Baker and Brody pups appeared, and I got a picture of them, too.

William followed me in my car, Rosalita Ipswich O’Molenovich, with his car, Trigger, and I brought him back home so’s Scotty could give him a tour of his orchard, and I could give him some of Dad’s old maps. (I remembered that William had created his own maps for his novels, and thought he might appreciate bringing home a couple of Dad’s maps.)

And then it was time for William and Trigger to move on to more adventures (this was the most north Trigger and William have ever been – but tomorrow they go to Canada where they will set a new record for themselves.)

This week has brought me so many lovely meetings with old friends – with my former student, Jamie; with my old friend, Deidre; with Freida, a friend I met 50 years ago, and hadn’t seen for 25 years; with the Kuykendalls, who brought me that post card from the 1975 K2 expedition with Pop’s K2 painting on the cover; and, today, with my old young friend, William. This week has been a healing week for me – full of laughter and people who inspire me.

I am grateful for all the good. I am wealthy beyond imagining in the things that really matter.

“Carried by Runner from K2 Base Camp – 18,000′”

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My friend, Susanne, messaged me to say she had something she wanted to give me and asked if we could meet for coffee. I was intrigued. Even if Susanne hadn’t had something she wanted to give me, I would have said yes to meeting up with her and her husband, Phil – they are two of those people who never fail to bring me joy whenever we’re together.

So we met up at the Stompin’ Grounds coffee shop in La Conner this morning. I’ll write more about the joy of being in the company of Susanne and Phil in another non-public post. But in this post, I want to share what Susanne gifted me with this morning.

She handed me a card in a protective plastic sleeve. The side I saw first was the back side – and there were all these names I recognized as Pop’s friends from his climbing community – Jim and Lou Whittaker; Jim’s wife, Dianne Roberts; Jim Wickwire; Galen Rowell; Steve Marts; Fred Dunham; Leif Patterson; Rob Schaller; and Fred Stanley. Then Susanne said, “But that’s not all. Turn it over.”

And there was a copy of a watercolor of K2 by my pop, Dee Molenaar!

I started tearing up.

Susanne explained that her former husband, Jim Taylor, who’d passed in 2018, had received his degree in geology from WWU, and had acquired the post card from the 1975 expedition to K2 through the Geology Club there. When Susanne saw that the artist for the K2 painting was Dee Molenaar, she thought of me, and wanted me to have this card.

Susanne’s kindness to me this morning totally lifted me, and made my day.

Thank you, dear friend!

(I love this: “CARRIED BY RUNNER FROM K2 BASE CAMP – 18,000′)

Annual Table Mountain Hike

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When I drove up to Artist Point this morning, I’d been planning to do the Artist Point hike. But, once I got there, the Table Mountain hike called to me. It’s short – but it packs a punch. There’s a quick elevation gain (725 feet, according to the Washington Trail Association) up the side of a steep cliff, and there’s one place where hikers have to navigate a high step made for people with longer legs than me.

I try to do this hike every year, and I decided today was the day.

When I started out, the temperature was perfect – cool and breezey. I stopped every now and then to take pictures of Shuksan and butterflies, alpine flowers and the Bagley Lakes down below.

I managed to get myself over the high step by using a handhold I found in the cliff, and pretty quickly found myself at the top. I sat on a boulder and ate my trail mix and enjoyed the view.

On the way down, I kept thinking about that one place where I’d have to figure out how to get over that high step. In my experience, a rock scramble is always harder going down than going up. But here’s a cool thing – when I got to that spot on the trail, there were two young men – brothers – maneuvering around it as I got there. I was trying to figure out how to get out of their way, while they were trying to figure out how they could help me. The one brother said to the other: “She’s going to need to use that handhold.” And the other brother responded by giving me room to reach for it.

But, in the end, I found another way down. I said, “I think I’m just going to do this…” and I sat down on the step and lowered myself down. Easy!

When I turned the corner of the switchback, I saw a couple that I guessed were the parents of the young men. They confirmed this. Then I told them how kind their sons had been to me. I learned the family was visiting from Colorado and had never been to Mount Baker before. I told them that years ago I’d climbed a mountain in Colorado’s Collegiate Peaks called Mount Harvard, and they knew exactly what I was talking about. I pointed to Mount Baker and said I’d climbed that one, too – and now I look at it and think, “What was I thinking?!” Appu laughed and said, “You weren’t thinking and that is why you could do it!” The family was delightful. Appu kindly agreed to let me take her photo.

When I got off Table Mountain, I decided I wasn’t done with my hiking, yet, and drove on down to Heather Meadows to do a quick hike of the Fire and Ice Trail. And on THAT trail, I met more cool people! There were two couples – each with a toddler strapped to a parent’s front – and seeing the babies made me go right away to my grandma place. One of the little ones grinned at me from his pack and reached out to touch fingers. Awwww…

I told them it was so good to see them bringing their children into the mountains – away from screens – and they nodded and said, “Exactly!”

I don’t like posting pictures of children, but Sam and Addison, and Katie and Sean, agreed it would be fine for me to take a photo of them from the back. So there they are!

It was so good to be in the mountains again, my friends. The mountains are a healing place for me.

I Woke Up Lazy

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I woke up this morning completely unmotivated. I had no goal I wanted to reach; felt no need to go anywhere; had nothing on my schedule. I woke up lazy.

I wandered downstairs, put a cup of milk for cocoa in the microwave, set it for a minute, and jogged four laps around our circular floorplan before it pinged. Put some yogurt, blueberries and granola together for breakfast.

Still no plans.

I started working on my word puzzles, and, while I was doing that, a notification popped up that my friend, Diane Sue, was going to have her monthly zoom women’s gathering – a safe community she’s created for women to share what’s going on in their lives and support each other. I’ve been very sporadic about joining in these meetings, but today I felt guided to click on the zoom link, and pretty soon found myself surrounded by a group of dynamic, powerful, inspiring women from across the US, and from as far away as the UK and Australia. Love knows no boundaries.

Diane always ends these meetings with a breakaway session where we pair up with a partner and talk one-on-one about ideas that she gives us to work on. I’ve never stayed long enough at the meetings I’ve attended to do the breakaway thing – I’ve always felt weirdly shy about that. But today I gathered up my courage and stayed on. I was really hoping I’d get paired up with a woman named Lori who’d talked about listening to the voice that gives her guidance and direction. I could relate to that. But there were 12 of us, and the pairing is done randomly by computer, so the odds were I’d end up with another partner. And that would be okay, too. All these women are wise and kind.

But guess what?! Lori and I got paired up! And Lori said she’d been really hoping to be paired up with me! And later, Diane told us she’d almost stepped in to pair us up, but had decided to let the computer do its random thing. Cosmic, what?!

The zoom meeting lasted about an hour and a half, and I came away from it with hope for our world.

And then I closed my eyes, and let my thoughts drift, and when I opened them I had it in my noggin that I needed to take a bike ride to Edison and see what magic I could find there – I ALWAYS find magic in Edison.

So I rode my bike into the foody town, bought some chocolate treats from Dawn at Breadfarm to share with Scott, snapped a picture of a sweet pup named Seena who came out from under a bench to say hi, and then wandered down to Tweets Cafe. I knew I’d find new friends there – Tweets has that kind of magic.

And as soon as I stepped into the cafe, I felt part of a community.

There was a couple sitting at a table carving away at what looked like a whole roasted chicken – I think my mouth literally dropped open. “Wow!” I said. The couple looked up at me and started laughing. And then an amazing-looking salad was added to their table – and I had to apologize to the couple for staring, but… holy shamoley! They were both laughing with me then – and the woman, who introduced herself as Monse, said she understood, and graciously agreed to let me take a photo of her (you can see the salad, but the chicken was gone by this point). And THEN a little pup I hadn’t even known was there, suddenly appeared from under the table to say hi, and I snapped little Rina’s picture, too.

By the time I was done taking pictures of my new friends, a young woman had gotten into the line ahead of me, but when she realized what I’d been doing, Anna quickly stepped aside and let me back in my place. Soon after, all my coffee cards (and there are a lot of them) fell out of my wallet and onto the floor, and now the man in front of me in line stooped down to help me pick them up. I thanked him, and turned around to thank Anna again for letting me back in line. “People really take care of each other here, don’t they?” I said. And Anna smiled and nodded and agreed.

When it was my turn to give my order, I ordered an iced mocha and the peach pie with whipped cream that I’d seen the man in front of me walk away with. I asked Anna if I could snap her photo, and she agreed and asked me if I was a blogger. I said yes, and this is when the cheery young woman at the counter got a big smile on her face and said, “You’re Karen! You’re the one who found the turtle on the path at Lake Padden! Do you remember me? I’m Mickey!” And of course I remembered Mickey! We’d taken pictures of each other holding the turtle I’d found on a gravel trail at Lake Padden at the beginning of June. The other servers gathered around Mickey while she told them about the turtle, and, of course, I snapped their photo. I am incorrigible.

I wasn’t in Edison more than half an hour, and look at all the kind people and new friends I met!

I’m so glad the Cosmos led me to click on that zoom link this morning, and I’m so glad the Cosmos led me to get on my bike.

It has been a good day.

Celebrating the Opposite of Bustle

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Do you ever have one of those days where you want to be around people, but you don’t necessarily feel you have the energy to engage with people? That’s how I woke up this morning. I wanted a quiet day among people, exchanging smiles, but I wasn’t feeling up to big conversation. I was feeling in need of whatever is the opposite of “bustle.”

And the Cosmos gave me exactly what I needed today.

I started out at Fred Meyer’s. I got there pretty early, and there weren’t a lot of people there, yet. I moved through the store at a leisurely pace, exchanging smiles now and then, and enjoying the quiet. It was lovely.

Then I drove into Mount Vernon to run an errand and get in a walk along the river. I probably got there before 9:00 and most of the businesses were still closed, and the streets were quiet. Perfect! As I came to the Ristretto coffee shop, I found myself turning in for a coffee. I found a quiet table in the corner, and sipped my coffee and enjoyed the sounds of the quiet conversations going on around me.

A man came in with a Mariners cap and as I passed him to exit the shop, I said, “Go Mariners!” and then we both smiled and kind of grimaced at the same time at the thought of our poor Mariners. We talked about the Mariners for a while – their ups and downs, defeats and victories – and then our conversation moved on to other things.

I learned that Jim was a pastor in town, and he learned that I was “Karen” – which, as I’d hoped, got a healthy laugh out of him. We learned we both have Dutch in our backgrounds – his antecedents had come from the northern part of the Netherlands, my dad’s parents had come from near Amsterdam. I told Jim about dad’s mountaineering background, and he told me about his friend who does mountain rescue work in Nepal. He learned I was a retired teacher – had taught in Burlington for years, and ended my career at Emerson, the old alternative high school in Mount Vernon. Jim told me that his church is actually where the alternative high school had originally been housed years ago.

I told him I’d retired from Emerson the summer before the pandemic hit, and Emerson had closed for good not long after that. My dad, I told him, had died at the age of 101, the day before the first reported case of COVID in the States – the first case being reported in Snohomish. Jim nodded his head, and said he’d actually had a friend in health care who had been part of the health care team for that first COVID patient.

We talked about how the pandemic had changed teaching and education. I told him that my friends who were working in education during that time told me not to go back to teaching right then, and Jim told me one of his relatives had started her first teaching job just a few weeks before the pandemic hit. It was a pretty crazy time for her.

And during this conversation with Jim, there was laughter and empathy and connection. There was a feeling of community. There was no bustle, no high-energy exchange, no expectations or obligations or responsibility to “fix” anything. Jim was the exactly right person for me to meet today.

After I left Ristretto, I went up to the river for a walk, and to see what there was to see up there: I snapped a photo of the bridge enclosed in a pink cocoon as repairs are made on it; I met a rescue pup named Gooper; I stopped to wave a worker in a golf cart to pass by me, and he smiled a friendly smile and thanked me; I saw about a dozen bicyclists parked at the revetment – it looked like they were getting ready for an adventure; and the flags were full-blown in a gusty wind. I sat at a table with my coffee, and turned my face into the wind, and enjoyed my solitude.

I had a lovely morning.

So Many Wonderful People to Meet! (And I Met A Lot of Them in LA Last Weekend)

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So many wonderful people to meet in the world – and I met a whole lot of them on my weekend trip to LA!

There was Heath who was sleeping on this way cool Inflatable bed in one of the waiting areas at Sea-Tac. When he woke up, he told us he’d bought his bed to use for the work he does on the north slope of Alaska. When he deflated it – and he did that really quickly – it fit into this tiny bag that he stuffed in his backpack.

Not long after Heath left to board his flight home to Boise, we met Aubrey, who was flying with her mom, dad, brother, and younger sisters to LA. Aubrey and I talked a bit about our travels and I learned that she’d gone to the Philippines on a mission with the LDS church when she was out of high school. I told Aubrey that, as a teacher, some of my favorite students had been LDS because they were always polite and respectful, and were able to share what they believed without being argumentative. I admitted that I’d guessed they were an LDS family and had assumed they’d be taking the flight to Boise. Aubrey and her family nodded their heads and laughed at this, and Aubrey’s mom said they did indeed use to live in Idaho.

The day after I landed at LAX, my daughter-in-law, Christina, brought me to the annual Swirl Surfskater fest in Venice Beach, founded by women to cultivate community through skateboarding. It was so fun! There were free things and special deals and friendly people and PUPS! I was in Karen-heaven.

Christina introduced me to her friend, Gonzo, who has a shop that sells jewelry made by women in his home country of Kenya. (I bought two pairs of earrings because I could not choose just one.) Gonzo is one of those people who just radiates pure love. I felt an immediate connection to him. When we parted we both simultaneously put our hands over our hearts in recognition of kindred spirits.

Out on the beach, a woman was selling colorful bags of fruit. I was impressed by how she was transporting them – on top of her head! – and asked her if I could take her picture, before buying a bag of mangos from her. It was a HUGE bag! I ended up going around, asking random people if they’d like a piece of mango – the young woman sitting on the bench behind me, the young man sitting on the other side of the bench (they both said “Yes, thank you!”), a group of motorcyclists, who smiled and declined. Giving away mango bits is a good way to meet strangers.

There was Seamus pup with a pink mohawk, and Buttons and Brooklyn pups with very chic pompoms on their heads; there were beautiful people handing out free things – Odalis, Charlotte, Tatum, and Niora; and Riley, who was creating discounted tattoos at the tattoo booth; and there was this wonderful family – Nasim, Esme, and Linus – selling “LIVE A LOT” caps designed by the youngster of the family, Linus. (I bought a red cap with cheery yellow letters.)

We ate at some very cool eateries while we were there, and were served by some amazing folks at the Cafe Gratitude, and the Buena Vida Tea Bar and Garden.

We visited the Vietnamese Market in Westminster on Saturday night, where I ordered a boba drink from Jing, and snapped a photo of some cool shoes being worn by Matthew.

When we got to LAX for our return trip, I needed to get some beverage in me – I was really thirsty. I went to the Peet’s Coffee shop where I saw a green drink being made by the barista. At that moment, Jose came up to claim the drink – he was bringing it to a coworker – and I asked him what the drink was. Jose told me it was a matcha tea and that nobody made a better one that his friend, the barista, Dylon. Dylon guided me through the process of ordering a matcha – what kind of milk? sweetened or unsweetened? Dylon told me some people really like matcha and some people really don’t – and then he waited to see my reaction. It was really good! “You did good, bud,” I told him, and he grinned.

I went to get pizza at the pizza shop next door, and Elena – who was very kind – was sorry to tell me they were all out of pizza, but she pointed me in the direction of another pizza shop. When I got to the Wolfgang Puck pizza place, a woman stopped me to ask about my amber necklace, and then I remarked on her necklace – which she told me actually has a little light inside it. I love meeting fellow rock-lovers, and Batman let me take a picture of all her rock jewelry.

We’d gotten to LAX a few hours early, and, in the waiting area for our plane, I saw a flight attendant standing there and asked her if she was going to be the flight attendant for our flight out. She grinned and said she was! I told her I’d never seen a flight attendant waiting in the waiting area before, and it was cool to actually meet the flight attendant for our flight before we got on board. She laughed and said she’d arrived early and that’s why she was there – and noted that I’d arrived early, too. We introduced ourselves – she introduced herself as “Michelle” and I introduced myself as “Karen, because you’ve got to have at least one Karen on your flight, and I’m yours.” She laughed and agreed it was important to have a Karen on board. Later on, when we were in-flight, Michelle and I waved at each other and she introduced me to the other flight attendant as her friend, Karen. I told the other attendant that Michelle and I were old friends now, and Michelle nodded in agreement.

Finding Heaven at Peace Arch Park

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July 18th:
I spent time at Peace Arch Park today hanging out with my friends from the “Peace, Love and a Handshake” group. I found bountiful border magic today. I met some way cool people; made new pup friends; and found a whole lot of floral magnificence. I always come away from these Canadian-American gatherings feeling inspired and hopeful for our world.

As I arrived in the park, I could hear Lean on Me playing over the loudspeaker. and I knew Haidee was in charge of the music – she always picks the best songs. Sure enough, as I approached the group, Haidee saw me, and we began to dance towards each other with our signs, to the beat of Lean on Me. I love these people!

Peace Arch Park is looking fine, my friends. Whatever lovely, dedicated people tend to the gardens have my respect and gratitude. The flowers are brilliant – geraniums, asters, hydrangeas, purples and oranges, reds and yellows. And there are these quiet, shady little nooks and crannies built into the park that offer those zen moments we all need in our lives.

I saw a young man taking a photo of his partner in front of the Peace Arch, and I offered to take a picture of both of them together. Nadun and Ruvini smiled and thanked me and handed me a phone. I learned that they were originally from Sri Lanka and had immigrated to Canada in the last couple years so Ruvini could get her Master’s in Education. Ruvini and I talked about teaching for a while then and I, once again, enjoyed the connections I always find with the people I meet. Ruvini and Nadun had been out shopping and, on impulse, had decided to check out Peace Arch Park today. They weren’t planning on going beyond the park and crossing over the border. Nadun shook his head and grinned and said it was so “random” that we met today. And I said, “Cosmic!”

Ranger Rick and Destiny came out to chat with the folks in the park then – to make sure we all had our Discovery Passes showing on our car windows. The people who work in the park are very cool – kind and friendly and helpful.

As I was walking back to my car, taking pictures of the flowers, I passed a family coming down from the parking lot. We got to talking and I learned that Angela and Dante and their grandaughters had traveled all the way from Florida, and were planning on crossing over into Canada and stopping at the first big city they found, and then coming back to the States later today. One of the little granddaughters told me that she and her sister had actually started their journey in Texas, before joining their grandparents in Florida. Imagine the adventures this family has had!

I decided to walk down to the L&L Bakery to get myself some macarons, and on the way I met Sandy and Luna pups, and their human, Anthony. Anthony gave me permission to take a picture of his sweet pups, and Sandy and Luna came up for pets.

Macarons and pups, new friends, and a park full of flowers – I was in Karen-heaven today.

A Fourth of July Gift from the Cosmos

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My friends, something really cool happened today!

I felt the need to go to a quiet place – somewhere away from the crowds and noise. I headed for Clayton Beach.

I’d gotten about half-way down the trail to the beach when I heard happy laughter and chatting behind me. I turned around to see about a dozen women coming down the trail. I pulled off to the side so they could pass, and they stopped to chat for a bit. I learned they were a hiking group from Hillcrest Church in Fairhaven. And then one of the women in the back stepped forward and I recognized Francine – the mother of three of my former eighth graders – and the pediatrician who’d been called in at the birth of my oldest son. Francine is one of my favorite people, but I haven’t seen her for years. It was cosmic to run into her in the middle of a trail in the Chuckanut woods!

But wait! There’s more!

The group of women went ahead of me, and I followed behind, stopping to snap pictures every now and then. When I crossed the bridge over the train tracks, I found one of the women waiting for me on the other side. She asked me if I’d ever lived in Kitsap County. I told her that I’d actually graduated from high school there. She said she had, too, and then she asked me if I’d ever taught there. I almost answered no, and then I remembered that year I’d taken over a fifth grade class a month into the school year, years ago. It had been my first real teaching gig, and it had been a challenge for me. I told her the name of the school that had housed my fifth grade class, and she said she’d gone there, and so had her younger brother, David. She said she thought I’d been her brother’s teacher, and gave his last name. Immediately the face of her brother came into my thoughts – I remembered him, and I remembered what a cool kid he was!

I asked her where David was now, and she let me know he’d passed ten years ago. My heart sank. I told Julie how much I’d enjoyed her little brother. And then Julie told me that she remembered me as being a positive part of David’s life, and she remembered her parents had liked me. That meant a lot to me – I hadn’t felt like a success that year. To know that I’d had a positive impact on even one child’s life was a healing thing.

I went on down to the beach, took a right between the big rocks, and looked out at the water for a while. There was a nice breeze blowing down there. I always feel Love speaking to me when there’s a nice breeze, and I feel the love of loved ones who have departed. I thought about David and Francine and Francine’s children. Sweet memories. Sweet connections.

I moved back to the main beach. A pup came bounding down to the beach from the trail, leaped onto a log, bounced onto another log, and scampered back to her humans. She was delightful. Her humans gave me permission to take more photos of Tulia, and I managed to capture one of her as she peeked over a log at me.

I met up with the women from the Hillcrest church again before I started back up the trail. I told Julie that she had David’s eyes, and she smiled and asked, “I do?” I told her yes, I remembered David’s bright eyes. Francine and I hugged again, and she took a picture of us together to show to her daughter.

When I got to the bridge over the train tracks, I moved to the mesh wires to take a picture of the tracks, and just at that moment an AmTrak train came around the curve as if just for me! Grinning, I waved to the train and snapped pictures as it moved towards me.

It was a lovely walk back through the woods and to my car. My heart was all filled up with the wonder of the unexpected gifts the Cosmos continually sends me.

Turtle Magic!

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I followed my nose and ended up at Lake Padden today. On my walk around the lake I stopped to sit on Wendell Holboy’s bench. I feel connected to Wendell and his bench – his wife, Noemi, had been one of my mom’s friends in the last years of her life, and his granddaughter, Emily, had been one of my 8th graders. I always smile when I see his name on the plaque by the bench, and think of Mom and Noemi and Emily.

As I was sitting there, this sweet little family passed by – Papa, Mama, infant in a stroller, a toddler on a balance bike, and a smiling pup. The toddler fell off his bike just behind me, and I could hear his parents talking with him – turning his fall into a game. I loved their approach – and I told them that. The little boy got a big smile on his face and started scooting his bike to me – he recognized right away that I was a friend. He footed his bike right up next to me and gave me a big grin. My grandma heart melted.

I learned his name was Max, his parents were named Thomas and V, his four-week-old baby sister was named Phoebe, and the smiling pup was named Potter. I saw that V had a climbing rope attaching her to Potter, and asked her if she was a climber. I learned that both she and her husband were climbers, and that she’d climbed Washington’s “five peaks.” I told her I’d climbed Rainier, Baker, Adams, and Hood with my dad when I was younger, and we talked about climbing for a bit.

Thomas and V gave me permission to take photos of their family, but the one that I think works best here is one of their family from the back – Max toodling along on his balance bike.

There’s this place between the two docks on the east side of the lake where I’ve sometimes been able to spot turtles lined up on a log. I remember my surprise the first time I spotted those turtles maybe a decade ago – I’d never seen turtles in the wild before. I don’t think I saw turtles on the log last summer, though, and when I didn’t see them today, I felt my heart sink. Maybe, I thought, turtles don’t live at Lake Padden anymore.

I was almost back to my car when I saw a big brown lump ahead of me in the middle of the trail. At first I thought it was a turtle, but then I laughed at myself: “Karen, you’ve got turtles on your mind.” But as I got closer and I saw a head sticking out of the brown lump, I realized it WAS a turtle!

I didn’t think the middle of the trail was a very good place for the little guy to have placed himself, so I picked him up and told him I was taking him to a better place. As I walked him back to the spot where I’d seen turtles before, I passed the sweet family I’d met earlier, and little Max reached out and touched the turtle’s shell, a look of wonder on his face. Mickey saw the turtle and started grinning – she and I took turns taking photos of each other with the turtle. Chuck passed by with his pup, Bella, and got that same look of wonder that Mickey and Max had gotten when they saw the turtle. I put the turtle down on the shore next to the water, and, after a few minutes – when he felt safe – his legs poked out of the shell, and he darted into the water too fast for me to snap a picture. MAGIC!

On the way back to my car, I passed Alaena with her paddleboard – I told her that I needed to try that someday, and she got a big smile on her face, and told me I absolutely SHOULD try it! She said it was totally worth the 100 bucks for the paddleboard, and graciously agreed to let me take a photo of her posing with it.

Blue dragonflies flitted around in the bushes and landed on the trail in front of me; and a family of ducks swam around near the reeds – mama, papa, and two fluffy ducklings. Awww…

“This Place Attracts Kindness”

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May 31:
Today when I landed in Fairhaven, I got there so early that my car was the first one parked on the block. It came to me that I hadn’t been to the Cafe Blue in a while, and I decided that that’s where today’s adventures would start.

Even that early, the cafe was brimming with happy people when I walked in. Micah, the owner of the cafe, looked over and saw me and greeted me. He remembered me! – and thanked me again for the book I’d given him last year. The counter person who was taking my order asked about the book. I told her that I like to write stories about the cool people I meet on my adventures, and Micah is one of those cool people and he’s in one of my books. She grinned and wrote down my name so she could find my books at the Bellingham library.

The Cafe Blue is one of those places with an abundance of magic.

Micah and his cafe are magnets for kindness and good will. When I was done ordering my mocha and a strawberry pastry, I found one last table that wasn’t occupied, and settled onto a bench there. The young man in the line after me wasn’t going to be able to find an empty table, though, and I told him to feel free to share my table with me. He smiled and thanked me and settled onto the other end of the bench to work on his project.

I watched people come into the shop and greet each other, laughing and enjoying their time together, while soft music played in the background. When it was time to go, I stopped to say good bye to Micah. “This place attracts kindness,” I told him, “and you’re at the center of it all, Micah. Thank you.” Micah smiled his wonderful smile and thanked me for coming back to his shop, and we wished each other good days.

I wandered down to Marine Park from the cafe. A couple coming out of the park told me that they’d been watching a fledgling osprey learning how to fly, and told me where I could find it, if it was still there. Alas, it was not. But I did see my old friend, Dan, and his pup, Jakada – it’s always good to see them. A rousing game of kayak polo was going on in the bay, too, and I stopped to take a couple photos.

I decided to check out the heron rookery and see how the chicks were coming along. The chicks have GROWN since I was last there. Every now and then one would stretch its wings – like it was preparing to fly. That was cool to see.

I went through the dog park, and through the woods for a while, and then, when it was time, back to my car.

I met new pup friends today: Elmer and Hoby and a sweet little blue-eyed pup whose name has slipped into the ether. I met new human friends, too – Luke (the blue-eyed pup’s human), and the couple that told me about the osprey; and about half a dozen people at the rookery who shared the heron magic with me. Bill was there, too, feeding peanuts to the crows he met along the way.

I always leave my walks in Bellingham with a smile on my face, feeling good about sharing this planet with such beautiful earthlings – two-footed, four-footed, feathered and furred.