Tag Archives: connection

I’m Here to Tell You (That the World Is Full of Good People)

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I’m here to tell you that the world is full of good people. I mean. I think that might literally be my job – to show that the world is full of good people. I met several more good people en route home yesterday.

Sarah was our server at the Burgh Sportz Bar inside the Pittsburgh airport. She was nothing but wonderful – friendly, quick, attentive, and kind – she even presented me with an extra Arnold Palmer in a to-go cup before we left. She agreed to be in a picture as long as I was in it, too – so I handed her my phone and she clicked this photo of us.

Scott and I found our seats on the plane – he wanted an aisle seat this time, so he could stretch out his legs, and I ended up in a middle seat again. As other passengers made their way down the aisle I kept scanning the faces, wondering which one would be my seatmate.

And there he was! “You’re so lucky!” I told him when he pointed to the seat next to me. He smiled and raised his eyebrows in question. “You get to sit by me!” I said, and he laughed.

I always get the best seatmates. Always.

Kyle had traveled to Pittsburgh to watch his Steelers win the football game. I asked him if he’d grown up in Pittsburgh – if that’s why he was a Steelers fan – and he said no, he’d grown up near Yakima, but when he was a little kid his favorite colors had been yellow and black, and sooo… the Steelers! Another of his brothers had been a 49ers fan, and a second brother had been a Bears fan – and he had no idea why.

Kyle, Scott, and I chatted for most of the way home. We talked about football, basketball, baseball, track and cross-country. We talked about our work and we learned Kyle works in Adult Protective Services. (I hadn’t even known there was such a thing, but I’m glad to know there are people like Kyle making sure that vulnerable adults are safe.) I asked Kyle what his favorite subject had been in high school, and he told me that he’d really been interested in studying the Civil War when he was in high school. I told Kyle that the Civil War was one of the units I’d taught my 8th graders, and it was one of my favorite subjects to teach. We talked about our visits to Gettysburgh, and the Holocaust Museum in Washington, DC. Kyle talked about a WWII museum he’d stumbled upon in New Orleans – one of the best museums he said he’d ever visited. We talked about the Mariners, travels, zip-lining, and trying to learn how to speak a foreign language. Kyle was smart and fun and I was so glad I got to sit by him.

The flight was uneventful, and we soon landed back in the land of big volcanoes.

I think my favorite part of traveling is all the cool people I meet along the way.

I Stayed Off the Internet This Morning and Went for a Walk

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I had a lovely walk on the boardwalk this morning – the temperature was perfect, the water dazzling, and the people and puppies I met along the way filled my heart all up with joy.

I decided to stay off the internet this morning and just go out into the world with an open heart. It was great!

I started my adventures at Village Books in Fairhaven. Earlier in the month I’d gotten one of those birthday postcards from Village Books that gave me 25% of one item at the store. I knew just what “item” I was going to use it for, too. Every September either Louise Penny or Richard Osman puts a new book out into the world, and I traditionally use my birthday postcard to buy one of their books. Richard Osman’s We Chase Shadows hit book shelves today, and that’s where my discount went. Once again, I was able to find a signed copy, too!

Then I went upstairs to the Next Chapter Cafe to get the free drink that comes with the purchase of a dessert. I bought a cupcake and got a free mocha, and made a new friend, too! Mischa was working behind the counter at the cafe, and was everything kind.

I brought my book, mocha, and cupcake back to my car and drove down to Boulevard Park for a quick walk on the boardwalk. I ran into Barb on the boardwalk – I’d met Barb at Peace Arch Park last spring, and it was fun to see her again. Barb introduced me to her husband, Mike, and sweet Charlie pup. Then I saw my old friend, Helen, and little Daisy coming down the boardwalk, and we stopped to chat, and then walked together down the boardwalk for a bit. As we were walking, we saw a woman wearing a cool butterfly shirt, and I asked if I could get her photo – there’s Modesa in her butterfly shirt, and Daniel standing next to her.

The autumn colors are just starting to appear in Fairhaven, so I snapped a couple photos of the golds and reds. And the reflections on the bay were beautiful, so I took a couple of reflection pictures.

I, of course, forgot my camera at home. These were all taken with my cellphone.

Walking with Love

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I had a kind of breakthrough for myself in the middle of the night – I can’t really explain what I experienced, but the short of it is that I had a conversation with Love that brought me a healing of terrible fear.

So anyway. When I left the house this morning I was floating on a cloud of Love. I had Mindy Jostyn’s CD in my car’s CD player, and her version of “I Walk with Love” came singing through the speakers –

“I walk with Love along the way,
And O, it is a holy day;
No more I suffer cruel fear,
I feel God’s presence with me here;
The joy that none can take away
Is mine; I walk with Love today.”

Every car I passed seemed to be moving with me on the cloud of Love. I could feel Love’s choreography as I moved down Burlington Blvd towards Fred Meyers – every light turned green as I approached it, every car moved at the same pace, in harmony.

I moved through Fred’s on my cloud – exchanging smiles with my fellow customers. I told the young man stocking shelves how much joy his purple mohawk brought me. He grinned and thanked me.

On my way home, I stopped at the Starbucks near Cook Road, to get myself a pumpkin spice latte. Starbucks was full of customers, and there was a long line to the drive-thru. The barista who came to the counter to help me looked like he needed a kind word and a good laugh. He went through his script – how can I help you? would you like whip with that? how’s your day going? I told him I was having a great day, and asked him how his day was going. He smiled and said they were pretty busy. He was tired. He asked me for my name. I leaned in and said, in a half-whisper, “Karen,” and waited to see his reaction. He quietly typed my name into his computer, and I thanked him for not laughing at my name. Which – as I’d hoped – got him to start laughing. When it came time to give him a tip, I told him I was giving him the biggest tip for not laughing, and he grinned and thanked me, and wished me a good day.

I went off to the side to await my latte.

A young woman entered the shop and started scanning the faces of the other customers. When she got to my face, she smiled. I smiled back, and she approached me. “Are you a mother?” she asked. I told her yes, I was. “My kids are outside in that car, and I need to use the restroom. Can you go outside and watch them while I use the restroom?” Being recognized as a mother – as someone who could be trusted with her children – was the highlight of my morning. I told the woman it would be my honor.

I went out and stood by her car. I gave a salute to one of the youngsters inside it, and she grinned back at me.

When the mother came out of the shop, she gave me a hug and thanked me. I thanked her for the priviledge of guarding her children.

And I drove with Love all the way home.

Visiting an 800-Year-Old Friend

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August 20:
I drove out to Deception Pass today to see an 800-year-old friend. Just knowing my old tree-friend is still there, still making oxygen for us, still standing tall, gives me hope for our planet. It was good to see her again.

I met NEW friends while I was there, too – Bucky the pup approached me with a wagging tail and a sweet doggy smile; and I met Mike, who was there with his young family. When Mike and I got to chatting, I learned he, too, had climbed Rainier – and I, of course, had to show him Dad’s Wikipedia page, and tell him about the paintings Dad had painted on K2 at 25,000 feet, back in 1953. (I love how Pop is still connecting me to new friends.)

I explored the beach for a bit – found an agate glowing up at me from a bed of pebbles, and snapped pictures of birds and driftwood and other cool beach-stuff. After I left Deception Pass, I drove to my favorite bookshop in Oak Harbor, The Book Rack, and treated myself to a new murder mystery (*A Cute Little Murder*) and a cupcake and cookie from their bakery. I sat there at a high table for a bit, swinging my legs, and reading from my new book, and soaking in the magic I always find in a bookstore.

And now a poem.

This is one I wrote for my old tree-friend back in 2022.

Be a Tree

The son and I talked about the tree
on the drive home.
850 years it had lived on this planet!
It had been seeded in the late 1100’s –
around the time of Genghis Khan
and England’s King John,
before Mansua Musa or Marco Polo,
da Vinci or Michelangelo.
Before Henry VIII, Elizabeth I, Shakespeare,
Gandhi, Martin Luther King, Jr. or Mooji.
It rooted into the soil as a tender seedling
and grew during the Black Plague; grew
while the ash from Krakatoa blocked the sun;
and while factories sprouted up across
the northern hemisphere. It grew while
soldiers fought to end slavery; while
World War I and World War II raged
across Europe; while our planet warmed;
and while division and despair
made humans sometimes wonder
if our planet was beyond repair.
It grew.
Quietly, without fanfare or medals
or approval or star ratings –
it lived, created oxygen, and grew –
because that is what trees do.
And maybe when it was older and sturdy,
indigenous children played in its bends
and called it “friend.”
I like to think that’s true.

Yesterday I visited my wise friend, Charles.
He could tell I was scared about our world.
“Just be present,” he said. “Be a tree.”

-Karen Molenaar Terrell
(Photos by Karen Molenaar Terrell.)

I Love Being a Tourist (and I don’t have to travel far to be one)

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August 19:
I needed a walk, but when I headed up Chuckanut towards Bellingham I wasn’t exactly sure where that walk was going to be. And then I found myself turning into Larrabee State Park. I’ve done hikes to Clayton Beach and Fragrance Lake, but I don’t think I’ve visited the main part of the park for several years.

I decided to do some exploring. I found the old tunnel I remember (built in 1935), with the happy mural painted inside it. After I came out of the tunnel, I followed the trail to the left and walked out to some cool rock outcrops with views of the bay, and a memorial bench to Bruce Emery Sherlaw. (I just googled to find out more about Bruce and learned he was a writer, tap dancer, singer, teacher, actor, and taekwondo black belt! And he was only 22 when he passed!) https://www.legacy.com/…/name/bruce-sherlaw-obituary

Then I followed the trail back to where I’d started, and went down to the beach.

I loved the vibes down on the beach – there was a cheery dad skipping rocks on the water; children wading into the bay; young folks lounging in the sun; and smiling pups, drenched in saltwater. I leaned against a big log next to a vollyball net and just soaked in the ambiance.

There was a song playing in the background that I recognized as a blast from the past: “When everything’s meant to be broken/ I just want you to know who I am.” I moved under the vollyball net and to the other side, to ask about the song. I think the people playing the music thought, at first, I was there to complain about the volume or something, and were getting ready to apologize – but I laughed and told them I really liked that song, and thanked them for playing it. I asked them what it was and they told me “Iris” by the Goo Goo Dolls. I nodded, remembering. I told them it was the perfect song – because that’s what we all want, right? For people to know who we are. I said it was making me a little teary, and they smiled at me in a kind way, understanding.

And then I moved beyond them and out to where the rocks jut out into the bay. I found a golden fly on the sandstone, the word “HOPE” written in the recess of a boulder, and, above me, sap sparkling on a tree. (I took pictures of all of that and put them in another post.) Magic everywhere!

And then I went back to the trail and hiked up to the place where the tree with the sparkling pitch jutted out over the water. I found a memorial bench to Dr. Robert F. Kaiser tucked into the side of the trail up there. (My googling tells me that Dr. Kaiser was a Bellingham ophthamologist, renowned in his field.)

I stood on the bluff for a while, looking out at the water, snapping photos, filling my soul with all the peace around me, before heading back to my car and home.

I love being a tourist, and I don’t have to travel far to be one.
(Photos by Karen Molenaar Terrell.)

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.