A couple of months ago I had an unexpected windfall by selling a large number of photographs. I decided to reinvest that into another hobby – music. I bought two fine instruments at exact opposite ends of the tonal spectrum.
Author: Tom
Family, History and Genealogy, Washington Sabbatical
When you start digging into family history you’re bound to uncover some scoundrels. In my own family I’ve got Samuel Campbell Clegg, who was hanged as a British spy at Star Fort during the Revolutionary War. Then there are the two uncles that spent time in prison, one of whom I visited when he was incarcerated. Of one branch of our family a fellow genealogy researcher said, “They weren’t nuthin’ but horse thieves and ne’er-do-wells.”
Here in Washington we’ve uncovered at least one potential scoundrel in Laura’s family. While his story is interesting, I think the real story is that of his daughter, Vinnie Alethia Reed Burdick, Laura’s great-grandmother, and her ability to overcome what could have been a disastrous family situation.
Family, Photography, Travel, Washington Sabbatical
This past week we took the opportunity to visit Laura’s Aunt Ellen in Coos Bay, Oregon. Ostensibly we were there to help her with some tech support issues, but it also gave us a chance to reconnect, review some family history, and see some incredible scenery along the coast.
Miscellaneous, Washington Sabbatical
Where did the time go? Before I knew it the first of June was upon us, meaning that we only have two more months left on the island. We haven’t accomplished anything near what we wanted, and panic sets in as we contemplate our next steps.
Miscellaneous, Washington Sabbatical
During the bleak cloudy days of winter it seems that all we did was pray for a bit of sunshine. Now, as a dusty pall hangs in the air turning blue skies to ochre, all we want is a good shower to knock down the dirt. It seems we can’t be satisfied. Such is life in a farming community.
Music, Washington Sabbatical
Until a couple of months ago I had never really played a ukulele. Now it’s one of my favorite instruments to pick up and just noodle. I’ve also been enjoying playing in groups. I bought my first ukulele so that I could join my friends at Bring Your Own Instrument on ukulele night, but I wanted to see what other groups were out there. Over the last couple weeks I’ve visited three other active ukulele groups to see what they are like.
Photography, Travel, Washington Sabbatical
Laura and I had taken the Amtrak Cascades from Mount Vernon to Vancouver for a day trip. We spent most of (actually, all of) our day in Vancouver at the Telus Science Museum. It was now time to head back home. Since I had already described the particulars of the trip in Part 1, I’ll focus mostly on photography in this post.
Read More “Amtrak Cascades Trek – Part 3, Vancouver to Mount Vernon” »
Science, Travel, Washington Sabbatical
We had taken the Amtrak Cascades from Mount Vernon along the coast of the Puget Sound. Now that we were in Vancouver we needed to find some way to occupy the few hours available to us. Originally I thought we could continue our train adventure and take the Sky Train public transit to some other … Read More “Amtrak Cascades Trek – Part 2, Telus World of Science” »
Photography, Rambling, Travel, Washington Sabbatical
For years I’ve observed the railroad tracks that hug the base of Chuckanut Mountain. The line crosses the Samish Flats from Mount Vernon then curves along the coast right at the waterline. From the tracks you can see across Samish Bay toward the San Juan Islands. Even more intriguing to me was the fact that Amtrak runs along these rails. I knew this was something we had to do while we were out here, and we got that chance this past Tuesday.
Read More “Amtrak Cascades Trek – Part 1, Mount Vernon to Vancouver” »
Paddling, Washington Sabbatical
This past week I had paddled Lake Samish. I had really wanted to paddle Lake Whatcom, but the inspection station where I wanted to kayak was closed. With my boat already inspected, last Sunday I headed up to the South Cove of Lake Whatcom to explore.