Olympia

This past weekend we went to Olympia for Eric's "Barty" celebrating his completion of the Bar Exam. He looked far more relaxed than I've seen him in the past several years - it's good to be done with school and tests!

 

Our visit also happened to coincide with the "Paddle To Sqauxin" with canoes from as far north as Alaska arriving in Olympia Sunday morning for a day of ceremony and celebration. We went down to the beach to watch them come in.

 

Some of the canoe crews sang beautiful chants as they came into the inlet. I caught a little bit on video:

We also spent some time at one of Conan's favorite pastimes: looking under rocks for crabs.

 

Morgan is sure growing up. She's 3 now, and so confident and independent!  It's really neat to see her turning into a big girl.

 

Lots of people were out to watch the canoes come in, including large flocks of kayakers. It was very festive.

 

Back at Casa Taylor, the backyard fun complex was very popular. Conan and Morgan played together for hours.

 

It was wonderful to sit in Gabe's lovely gazebo and listen to the kids playing happily.

 

It's a long drive to Oly, but it's always worth the trip. We'll have to visit more often!

Sudden Loss

This week our community was stunned by the sudden and tragic loss of a young boy, Caleb Kors. Caleb's parents are friends, and I have been deeply affected by this staggering loss. He was a special boy, talented and charismatic and posessed of extraordinary potential.

I left work early when I heard the news. I really needed to see and hold Conan. I didn't tell him anything (I didn't know what to say, frankly, and I didn't want to burst into tears in front of him) but he sensed my sadness. He said I needed some quiet time, and he took me by the hand and led me into the bedroom, where he made me lie down and then carefully tucked me in. He got a book and sat by me and "read" it to me. Then he lay down next to me so we could cuddle. It was exactly what I needed. I am continually astonished at his sensitive and loving nature.

The outpouring of support for the family has been amazing; I am really proud of Bellingham right now. There is a memorial on Monday and many, many organizations collecting donations, putting together benefits, and generally demonstrating our community's love and support in every possible way.  It is beautiful, and also profoundly sad.

Most of all though, this tragedy has reminded me to make sure I make every day count, because we REALLY don't know how much time we'll have with the ones we love.

Occupy Bellingham Demonstration

 

On Friday afternoon we went downtown for the Occupy Bellingham demonstration of support for the Occupy Wall Street protests in New York. I brought some extra markers and reusable large white envelopes to make signs. Conan colored his sign, then asked me to "put letters on it" for him. I asked him what he wanted to say, and he shrugged. I suggested something about sharing and he immediately blurted "sharing is good!" I wrote that on his sign and he held it proudly througout the demonstration. I didn't have my camera with me, but with Conan's extreme cuteness he was naturally a favorite of the many photographers out documenting the demonstration, so I knew there were pictures out there. I found this shot posted to the Occupy Bellingham facebook page this afternoon. At the point when this picture was taken, Conan was feeling a bit shy, so I held the sign for him. I'll keep an eye out and maybe another picture (or two!) will show up on the site as more of the photographers share their images.