A Picture Is Worth...

If you have never had the pleasure of experiencing the Columbia River Gorge early in the morning you are missing one of the truely great simple gifts in life.

Each year, for the last five years between April and October, I jump in my car once a month at about 8 am and make the 90 minute trek between Camas, Washington and Horsethief Lake at Columbia Hills State Park, to work as a volunteer tour guide.

Each time I look forward to the sights and sounds which nature might have in store for me that day.  It is always different and always changing.

In the spring coulds and fog often hang in the mountains like cotton candy waiting to be plucked from the sky.  Early in the summer you will find wildflowers dotting the landscape adding a burst of color to an other wise monotone view.  Then in the fall there are the leaves!  So many different shades of red, yellow, green and orange! Nature truely is the master artist.
 

Last weekend I made my first trip of the season to Horsethief Lake and I was not dissapointed in the treat nature had waiting for me that day.  

Columbia River looking east from Cape Horn



As usual I drove a little slower near the area on HWY 14 known as Cape Horn to take a look up river.  The view from the pull-out there has to be the best there is on the north side of the river in Washington state. Saturday, March 26th was no exception.

To say the least it was sureal. There was a partial rainbow extending from the bottom of the clouds into the foothills just as they met the rivers edge.  It looked as if God had picked up a paint brush and swished it downward across the sky.  The combination of the cotton candy clouds, mountains, river and viberant partial rainbow was literally breath taking!

I wasn't the only one blessed to experience this amazing act of nature.  There were several cars at the pull-out whose occupants were armed with camera's, snapping away, hoping to capture the masterpiece before it dissappeared.

It will be another month before I again head east to Horsethief Lake but I'm already looking forward to what ever new & exciting opportunity nature may have waiting for me.

Best Friends

How long have you known your "best friend"?  I actually have two best friends: Jeannie & Juli.  I have know them both since I was a young teen.  Over fourty years now.  Although the three of us did have mutual friends I also did things with them seperately.  Actually, I think that the two of them may have gotten to know each other because I was a friend to them both. 

We did things all teenage girls do.  Shopped for cloths, ate burgers and pizza, "hung-out" and most importantly...talked about boys.

Jeannie and Juli both had brothers and at one time or another tried to set me up as their brother's girlfriend. They thought it would be "neat" if we were related. I never dated either of the brothers but did become good friends with both of them.

As we grew older and graduated from high school life managed to take us in different directions. But no matter how long it had been or how many miles seperated us, we always have been able to get together and start up where we left off.  We may not be sisters by blood but we love each other as much as if we had all been conceived in the same womb.

Our friendship outlasted numerous boyfriends, even husbands.  We've celebrated marriages, promotions, and the births of children and grandchildren.  We have also comforted and held each other up during the loss of a parent, grandparents or other discouraging events.

But today two of us are facing a difficuly larger than we ever imagined.  Juli has been diagnosed with liver cancer.

Jeannie lives four hours away by plane and I'm three hours away by car.  No matter the distance it is too far.

At a hospital in Bremerton, Washington Juli is being cared for by wonderful doctors and nurses. Her children are with her and soon more extended family members will surround her.

I wait anxiously by the phone for a family member to find time to call with updates and test results, then I call Jeannie and relay all I have been told to her.

Today I'm wishing that I had married her bother,  then I would really be part of the family and not just her "best friend from childhood" waiting by the phone for news.

PuzzlePieces

Recently when a dear member of my family passed away I wrote and read this at his funeral service.

Puzzle Pieces

Everyone carries with them at least one piece to another person’s puzzle.

I do not believe we come into each other’s lives by chance.

We may not know how our piece of the puzzle fits into someone elses life or how the one they hold fits into the finished picture of ours, but it takes all the pieces to make the picture complete.

Each time a person comes into our life we exchange the pieces that we need to complete our pictures.

Some pieces have smooth and round edges, like the pleasant and easy times of our lives.  Other pieces have many complicated shapes and are hard to put together, just like the struggles in our lives.

There are pieces that seem small and do not have much detail… but they have just enough to make another piece seem clearer.

There are pieces that are large and easily recognizable pieces of the full picture. 

No matter the size, shape or color they are all important to finishing the puzzle, seeing the whole picture.

Remembering the people in our lives means that they have had an impact on our life, and in doing so they become a piece in our puzzle.

Don Butchee (my Uncle Butch) was one of the four corners in my puzzle.   He was part of my foundation, part of what held and guided the rest of the pieces into place.    I was very blessed to have had him in my life and he will be greatly missed.

Donald Edward Butchee

1924-2011

Peri with Aunt Moreen & Uncle Butch
2010

Everyone Has A Story

The Blog which I have re-posted below inspired me. 

I enjoy people and I enjoy writing about them, so that is what my blog will be about...people and their stories.


Posted by Seema Shetty  October 28, 2007

http://www.blogger.com/profile/08732004631725762968

Everyone has a story

If you think about it you'll realize that everyone has a story.

 

At least everyone I know has a story. A story, which if you read in the books, you might think of it as fiction. But it’s real and it’s out there.

 

Some people have had difficult or impoverished childhood and have gone ahead and made it big in their prime years. Some have battled serious illness and come out trumps. Some are climbing the ladder real fast and getting dizzy in the head. Some have gone through bitter divorces and are still holding grudge. Some are unhappy in their own skin and want to be someone else. Some have resigned to their fate and believe in existentialism. Some have been through intense relationships and break-up thereafter resulting in permanent un-doable damage. Some are about to marry and not sure whether they still love the person and whether marriage is the right thing to do after all. Some have got babies and trying every day to be the man they need to be. Some are single and will probably remain single for as long as forever. Some are in the hospital not knowing when they will breathe their last. Some are married to someone in paper but someone else in mind. Some are unfortunately caught in legal battles not knowing which way the verdict will swing. Some are pursuing the wrong subject and flunking year after year after year resulting in low self esteem only to be at the receiving end of disappointed parents. Some have topped their class and made their parents proud. Some are stuck in jobs they don’t like and can’t change. Some have given it their all to the companies they work for only to be shown the door very coldly when they weren’t performing. Some have parents who have given up on them. Some have moved out of their parents to make it on their own.

Every person you meet or come across - the waitress taking your order , the counter staff tendering change, the driver in the car overtaking you, the milkman, the garbage guy – they all have compelling stories. The actor in front of the camera enacting a story has his own away from the arch lights. Even the dead have stories.

 

When you realize that everyone has a story, it might just change the way you think about people and treat people