Happy Solstice
Wordless Wednesday
21 Wednesday Jun 2017
Summer Solstice: Leaving, Arriving
21 Wednesday Jun 2017
Posted in writingdownthestory in Blog
There’s a new post on Daughter on Duty.
We have arrived at the longest day. We will take a breath tonight, to boast and toast with friends around a fire, weave flowers into our hair and dance. Tomorrow we turn our steps to the journey back toward the shortest day. I’m wondering, as I turn into my 66th year today, how my life might be different at the winter solstice.
Click here to keep reading.
Flora & Fauna Friday
16 Friday Jun 2017
Tags
Flora & Fauna Friday, Olympia Farmer's Market, photographic still life, Rainier cherries, sunset
Still Life with Rainier Cherries
Another Hospitalization, Another Birthday, Another Round with Hospice
14 Wednesday Jun 2017
Posted in writingdownthestory in Blog
There’s a new post on Daughter on Duty.
It was a big week. Mama did a 40-hour tour of duty in the ER and hospital with Rebecca and me as ’round-the-clock support staff. Forty-eight hours post discharge we celebrated her 101st birthday with family, a few old friends, several fellow residents at the Manor, and cupcakes and musical guests.
Wordless Wednesday
14 Wednesday Jun 2017
Posted by Gretchen Staebler | Filed under wordless wednesday, writingdownthestory in Photograph
Flora & Fauna Friday
09 Friday Jun 2017
Tags
Hiking with Slugs
Wordless Wednesday
07 Wednesday Jun 2017
Posted in writingdownthestory in Photograph
(Go to my FB page for a video.)
The Sky is Calling
07 Wednesday Jun 2017
Posted in writingdownthestory in Blog
New post on Daughter on Duty.
It’s a milestone summer: 65, Medicare, 5 years back here on the hill, the beginning of my new business venture, a new driver’s license with—goddess willing—a photo of myself I can stand to look at for the next five years (I’ll let you know next week). I celebrated the beginning of the season by opening up the sky.
Adventure Log: Dry Creek
04 Sunday Jun 2017
Posted in Adventure Log, writingdownthestory in Photograph
Tags
Dry Creek trail, hiking in the PNW, Hood Canal, Hoodsport, Lake Cushman, Olympic National Forest, Olympic Peninsula, Staircase, Trail 872.1
Dateline:
June 4, 2017
Dry Creek, Olympic National Forest, Lake Cushman
8.4 miles RT
I finally got out of town for an adventure. Between elder care and baby care and really crappy weather, it’s been a long time. Of course there have been other distractions as well: my garden in the meadow, my mother’s gardens at the house, my sister’s garden at the house is still unweeded (damn creeping Jenny), tree trimming, trail clearing, Airbnb (which has been quite successful, meaning lots of laundry and muffin-baking). But today, hiking.
Lake Cushman
Swiss Family Robinson. The first 1/2 mile the trail goes through private property at the edge of the ONF.
Columbine
False Solomon Seal
Bleeding Heart
There are several dry creeks, but the title “creek” is not dry. Dry Creek ford. I did not. Ford.
Sword fern
Lake Cushman
Flora & Fauna Friday
02 Friday Jun 2017
I bid farewell yesterday to some of Mama Fir’s beautiful boughs and opened up the sky to valley, mountain, and sunrise worship (and hawk and eagle viewings). My father used to keep the fir trimmed up. He’s been gone 22 years, and the house has become increasingly entombed and claustrophobic. I wasn’t aware of the elephant sitting on my chest until it fell away with the branches, and my heart expanded six tear-inducing sizes. I’m breathing deeper. Ommmmm.
Still huge. Thank you, Mama Fir.
