An Unscheduled Hiatus

Yesterday's tulips

It's spring. I didn't mean to be gone from this blog for so long, but a lot has happened in the last month and I just couldn't get words down in electrons for the public. So this post is a "toe in the water" with hopes that the writing juices--dried up for weeks now--will begin to seep again.

Auntie is surprised by her 80th birthday cake,

baked by her granddaughter.

My unscheduled hiatus began when I flew across the country to attend two days of higher education meetings.  The meetings were conveniently located a 15-minute drive from my uncle and aunt's house, so I stayed with them. It was lovely to see them again. Theirs was our "home" in the United States when we traveled here on furlough visits during my growing up years. My uncle and aunt are wonderful, hospitable and kind people who have always made me feel loved and welcome.

And my auntie has a great sense of humor (can you tell from the picture above?) and a talent at staying in touch, and I just love, love, love her.

Uncle and me

My uncle (my mother's only sibling) has been ailing for the past three years. I got a chance to sit and chat with him a little bit, although he wasn't feeling well when I was there.  Most of the time he was sleeping.

My uncle is the other organist in the family besides me. He always encouraged me in my lessons, and occasionally sent a good piece of music or two my way. You could never have a conversation with Uncle without him turning it around to ask about you. He was interested in your life rather than talking about himself. I've tried turning the topic back to him, but he always got the best of me, giving a brief response and then asking another question about what I was doing or what I was interested in.

The lake in a park near Uncle and Auntie's house.

What none of us could have foreseen was that my uncle would pass away three days after I flew home. So just over a week after I said goodbye to Uncle and Auntie, my brother accompanied my mother on a cross-country flight to attend Uncle Doug's funeral. It's been a sad time.

Seattle harbor, under the legendary overcast skies

I couldn't attend the funeral, as I had a long standing speaking appointment.  So while family was gathered in Maryland, I made a trip to Bremerton,Washington, to serve as keynote speaker at a Christian women's conference. I had five sessions in 24 hours, which would have been more grueling if the people there hadn't been so delightful.

With fellow Missionary Kids from India, Pakistan, and Okinawa

After all that speechifying, I joined several friends from my missionary kid high school, and we rolled spring rolls that tasted delicious! I think it was the chili sauce...

The next morning saw me at Alki Point, in West Seattle, having a delicious breakfast with one of those friends at Alki Cafe before heading home over snowy Snoqualmie Pass.  And yes, there is a Statue of Liberty in front of the cafe, over on this side of the country!

Snoqualmie Pass, Washington

With the weight of my speaking appointment off my shoulders (the next one is still two weeks away, in Alberta, Canada), I have settled down to catching up with work and watching spring bloom in our valley. Ah, 'tis my favorite season!

Seen in front of Husband's school

Yesterday afternoon was cool and sunny, just the perfect sort of spring weather for walking. So Husband and I went for a walk over to his school to feed that salmon.

Yes, that's right, salmon!  Conservationists have been working to hatch salmon eggs to repopulate some of the streams in our valley that are being rehabilitated, and they've placed a salmon-hatching tank right in the lobby of the elementary school, where the young scholars can watch the progress of the salmon-lets from the egg stage onwards.

Not too long, and these small fry will be released into local streams.

Eventually these anadromous (fresh water - salt water) fish will swim down the stream and river to the mighty Columbia River, and on to the Pacific Ocean, where they'll hang out for a few years. They'll come back looking for that fish tank someday, but they'll probably settle for laying their eggs in the valley's streams.

Kitty's not looking too sure about all this

On the way we passed School Secretary's house, where she and her son proudly displayed Kitty and Rabbit, both rather large-ish pets.  Rabbit is being house-sat while his parents have a real baby.  He's said to be litter trained and quite pleasant.

Speaking of large-ish pets, we spotted this intriguing yard ornament in front of a house along the way.  Note the still in the back of the pickup? Only in rural America...

So that catches you up on a few happenings of the past month.  It is my intent to revive my writing now, as there are probably important things to be said. Somewhere. Sometime. Stay tuned.