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Laureen

    Inspire

    Running for Recovery

    September 10, 2021
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    It’s been about 12 years since I became a runner…relatively late in my life. Since the start of the PanDamit I have used running as therapy for my mental and emotional health. Along the way it also helped me lose and maintain the loss of thirty pounds. And when I had major diverticulosis surgery in April, I found a way to incorporate running for recovery into my wellness plan.

    Early morning summer runs look like this

    PanDamit Wellness

    During the early lockdown days of the PanDamit I ran constantly from my home base in Washington State, as well as during our little close-to-home sanity staycations. From May 2020 to April 2021, I trained for and ran a total of five half marathons.

    My last half marathon was on April 18th, two days before I underwent my diverticulosis surgery. I took about six weeks off after the surgery from running, and then very slowly started back at it. And I mean very slowly. It was amazing how much that surgery took out of me. Even now, nearly five months from surgery, I am slower and struggle often to keep my pace. But she persists! I hope I will eventually get back to my pre-surgery running self. And if I don’t, then I will live with my new post-surgery running self. I intend to keep running at whatever level I can as long as my body allows it.

    Half Marathon Running
    One of my half marathons about ten years ago

    Return to Running

    Meanwhile, since my slow return to running in June, I have been once again following Hal Higdon’s half marathon training program. This is the absolute best training program I have found. It’s easy and safe and flexible…all things I need in my fab fifties (sixties) life.

    So this week I will run another half marathon. An organized run that supports the local organization Race for a Soldier, a non-profit close to my heart. I’ll be slower than before. I might need to walk part of the 13.2 miles. But I will cross the finish line with a smile on my face. Because running for recovery is my answer to all things that life throws at us in 2021; surgery, lockdown, stress and the never ending PanDamit.

    Be healthy my friends.

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    Reading Wednesday

    Book Review About Grace by Anthony Doerr

    September 8, 2021
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    Gosh I wanted to like this book. I really, really did because to this day I still find Doerr’s eloquent book All the Light You Cannot See one of the best reads of my life. But, sigh….About Grace just didn’t do it for me.

    Doerr’s way with words is amazing, even in this book. He really can conjure compassion. He can conjure emotion. He can even conjure the weather for the reader in a way you will feel frostbite on your toes or sunburn on your cheeks. Alas though, for me, About Grace was too discombobulated and unbelievable.

    Interestingly, About Grace has it’s champions, and to me that is one of the fun things about reading…no two people look at a novel the same.

    In this book we follow the very confused life of David Winkler from Alaska to the Caribbean and then all across the USA as he searches for his daughter and searches to find peace in his own mixed up life. Winkler has spent his life fearing his dreams will come true, after one dream does when he was just a child. When he dreams as a young father that he will drown his own child, he flees from her trying to distance himself in an effort for the vision to not come true.

    But over the decades he is tormented, haunted and at times crazed. Following him through this book can be both painful and inconceivable. I found myself loathing this character.

    You may like this book more than I did. You may even like it more than All The Light You Cannot See. You will need to decide for yourself. Thanks for reading my book review of About Grace by Anthony Doerr.

    ***Three stars for About Grace by Anthony Doerr.

    See last week’s review of The Anansi Boys by Neil Gaiman.

    My current read The Broken Circle

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    Reading Wednesday

    Book Review Anansi Boys by Neil Gaiman

    September 1, 2021
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    This is the fourth, maybe even fifth book I have read by Neil Gaiman. This story most reminded me of Gaiman’s American Gods, possibly his most well known book. Anansi Boys was written in 2005, but I had never read it. I listened to this book on Audible while we were driving around Iceland and Audible is a great choice for the way Gaiman writes. I hope you enjoy by book review Anansi Boys by Neil Gaiman.

    Gaiman is known for fantasy and magic in his novels. His work often creates character who are just your average, often under achieving, people going about their daily lives. That is until something or someone “magical” enters their humdrum life. So it is with “Fat Charlie”, a less than inspiring Londoner leading an uninspired life.

    Until Fat Charlie’s father, known as Mr. Nancy, passes away unexpectedly in Florida. Fat Charlie leaves his boring job and uninspired wedding planning fiance in London to fly to Florida for the funeral. It’s here that Fat Charlie learns some surprising history about his father and family. His father is a god, and Fat Charlie has a brother who also has magical traits. Mr. Nancy is named for the African God Anansi (Spider God) and Fat Charlie’s brother is named Spider.

    Of course Fat Charlie is skeptical, confused, and a little pissed off that all this information has been kept from him all these years. But when brother Spider arrives at Fat Charlie’s London flat, a wild and raucous adventure begins that includes travel to far off mystical places, loosing his fiance but gaining a girlfriend, outrageous behavior by Spider, criminal activity by Fat Charlie’s employer and on and on.

    In true Gaiman fashion the story will come together happily in the end, with all characters finding satisfaction in this crazy magical world of the gods. I hope you enjoyed my book review Anansi Boys by Neil Gaiman.

    ****Four Stars for Anansi Boys by Neil Gaiman

    Read last week’s review of America’s First Daughter

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    Reading Wednesday

    Book Review America’s First Daughter by Dray and Kamoie

    August 25, 2021
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    In our neighborhood we have one of those little free lending libraries. You know the kind mean…take a book, leave a book. I stop by the little library from time to time, just to see what’s available, even though I do most my reading on Kindle. A few weeks ago I found this book…and I am really glad I did. I hope you enjoy my book review America’s First Daughter by Dray and Kamoie

    History and Legend

    Using the 18,000 letters Thomas Jefferson wrote in his lifetime as the core research of this book, we are transported to Revolutionary America, Jefferson’s Monticello, Paris France and the White House through the eyes and ears of Martha “Patsy” Jefferson Randolph.

    Meticulously researched but presented in a novel of fiction, America’s First Daughter takes the known facts, exact words and language and sprinkles in assumption and fictional intrigue to develop a book I could not put down. Patsy Jefferson was a witness to history that formed and transformed our country…during a time where women silently yielded power and council. And Patsy Jefferson did it brilliantly.

    America’s Greatest?

    As time has shown the tarnish of Jefferson as a man, Patsy spent her life time as his companion and protector of his vast secrets and faults. Even while she battled her own love loss, and difficult marriage, she never faltered in holding up her father as the greatest American, even in her knowledge of his many lies and ambiguities. Despite his unwillingness to grant her her own happiness, she dedicated her entire life to him. Jefferson always put his country before his family and she accepted and embraced that man and the myth.

    I learned a lot from this book…expanding on knowledge I already had of both Thomas Jefferson and this period in American history. This work was very enjoyable and I am glad I picked it up at the little library. I hope you enjoyed my book review America’s First Daughter by Dray and Kamoie.

    *****Five stars for America’s First Daughter

    Read last week’s review of Washington Black

    My current read Run by Ann Patchett

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    At Home  --  Inspire

    A Passion For Creating In Wood

    Finding a Post- Retirement Purpose

    August 20, 2021
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    Location: Gig Harbor Washington USA

    I can really identify with Joel Burkhardt. It’s easy to identify with the emotions you encounter when you first retire and are struggling to find what’s next. Retirement can have you looking for focus and passion in a new unknown period of life. Neither of us are the first to step into retirement and feel a bit lost. But for lifelong Gig Harbor resident Joel, he is finding some solace in a passion for creating in wood.

    Chief Petty Officer Joel Burkhardt at his retirement last April

    Post Retirement Focus

    After 32 years in the Coast Guard, when Joel retired in April he foundered…his entire identity was wrapped up in being a Chief Petty Officer in the Coast Guard. One day he was. The next day he wasn’t. He admittedly felt “weird” while he searched to settle into his new identity. A cancer diagnosis didn’t help, and so Joel found some comfort in working with his hands and a passion for creating in wood.

    Joel in his Gig Harbor shop

    “People don’t realize what’s going to happen when they retire,” Joel said. “After 32 years in the military, it’s hard to justify in my head that career is over.” Joel wondered who he was now that he wasn’t in the Coast Guard. He turned to friends and the VA to help keep him focused. And he turned to a new hobby of woodworking.

    This cutting board is coming together with walnut, mahogany and black palm

    A New Hobby

    Joel had dabbled in woodworking a little before retiring, making a bell for his unit (see photos) to use for ceremonies and call to assembly. But when his mom needed a cutting board, he told her he would make her one. His wife Kelly posted pictures of the cutting board and then someone else wanted one. I saw the pictures and I wanted one too. And now, Joel creates beautiful, one of a kind trays and cutting boards in his shop near Wollochet Bay where he is finding his passion for creating in wood.

    Joel’s early work, the bell
    Resin display on the bell

    Every piece Joel makes is unique. Clients can choose the wood (his favorites are walnut, mahogany and purple heart) as well as the design and the size. Joel has a distinctive process of doing fractal burning on some pieces and can add color to the burn. It makes the wood look like it’s been touched by the hand of Zeus himself.

    Joel also loves to work with resin, and depending on what the wood piece is going to be used for, a resin finish is often added. Resin can also be used in many artistic ways and he is enjoying getting creative with this substance.

    Work in progress

    “Wood prices are finally coming down,” Joel told me this week from his shop. “We can get exotic wood like zebra, black palm, leopard and highly marbled walnut.” Joel finds his wood at shops in Tacoma and Everett and sometimes even from Amazon.

    Dancing Ghost Woodworks

    Joel named his new wood working business Dancing Ghost Woodworks and you can find him on Facebook. He looks forward to working with clients to pick out the wood and design. He then gets busy matching the grains, planing and finishing. If you want a design or logo he can do that too, free hand with his palm router.

    My board in my kitchen

    The cutting board Joel made me was made from end cuts and it is so clever and beautiful. It looks awesome in my kitchen and I love it. Not to mention I use it daily and it is solid and sturdy.

    Want to shop local, thank a dedicated veteran AND have a one-of-a-kind piece of art? Contact my friend Joel. You’ll be glad you did.

    See our blog about Re-Wirement – Finding Your Midlife Passion

    Want to support other local businesses? See our blog about A Passion for Coffee in Gig Harbor, and our recent post Breweries of Kitsap (Plus One)

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    Reading Wednesday

    Book Review Washington Black by Esi Edugyan

    August 18, 2021
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    I both loved and didn’t love this book. Mostly I loved it. It’s a very unique look at the life of a slave, who, without trying became a world traveler and brilliant marine biologist. I hope you enjoy by book review Washington Black by Esi Edugyan

    A Slave

    Washington Black was born a slave in Barbados on a sugar plantation. He both loves and fears Big Kit, the slave women who watches over him. From a very young age “Wash” is in the fields working alongside Big Kit. When the “Master” dies and his son arrives from London to take over the plantation, Wash and the other slaves lives change to a life of fear.

    Unexpected

    The new Master’s brother Christopher arrives for an unexpected visit when Wash is eleven and nothing will ever be the same. Christophe is an eccentric “scientist” fascinated with flight and chooses Wash as his personal assistant to both live with him and help him with his scientific work.

    This relationship will define who Washington Black will become. Working next to Christopher Wild Wash will learn to read and write, will fly through the air in a hot air balloon contraption, will crash land and sail on from Barbados to the Arctic. Wash will also be the only witness to a suicide, and the resulting blame for the death will haunt him for his entire life. But Christopher takes him under his wing to protect him,

    When Christopher abandons Wash, a third life will begin for the teen.

    Love

    As Wash “survives”, his travels will continue from the Arctic to London where he will discover two things he loves; marine biology and a girl named Tanna. But always Wash can’t stop thinking about Christopher abandoning him when he was just a boy. And so Wash will search out his friend in the far reaches of Morocco.

    Adventure

    More adventures than one boy could ever imagine make up the life of Washington Black…an unexpected life of a slave child from Barbados. Sometimes parts of this story seemed so far-fetched to me a scoffed at it, and yet Edugyan writing kept me wondering how this wild ride for this boy/man would end.

    I hope you enjoyed my book review of Washington Black by Esi Edugyan.

    ****Four stars for Washington Black by Esi Edugyan.

    See last week’s review of A Single Swallow by Zhang Ling

    See our Reading Year in Review 2020-2021 here

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    At Home  --  North America Travel

    Rain Forest Lodge, Lake Quinault

    A Review

    August 13, 2021
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    Location: Lake Quinault, Washington State, USA

    A couple of weeks ago my family had the pleasure of staying in a rustic lakeside cabin at the Rain Forest Lodge, Lake Quinault. Don’t be confused, this is not the Lake Quinault Lodge. It is a smaller and much more affordable option just down the road. Here is my review of Rain Forest Lodge, Lake Quinault.

    Rain Forest Park Lodge, Lake Quinault

    Just the Boys

    My husband and grown sons planned a summer through-hike in the Olympic National Park, starting at the Dosewallips River in Brinnon and hiking 40 miles to Lake Quinault. This four day hike was a great father-son activity, while I stayed home and attended the wedding of my friend’s daughter. The hike was a huge success, with great weather and even greater views and a lifelong goal for my husband. I’m so glad they went.

    My sons on the hike

    Then There Were Four

    After four days I drove to the Lake Quinault trailhead to meet them. They arrived dirty, smelly and happy. We then proceeded to the Rain Forest Lodge, an old rustic lodge right on the shores of beautiful glacier-fed Lake Quinault. We chose to stay in one of the lakeside cabins here instead at the much more expensive Lake Quinault Lodge a mile down the road. The Rain Forest Lodge has a spectacular location that includes lake view fireplace cabins (ours, #6, was the best), a small motel style roadside inn, and RV camping. Our two bedroom cabin had a big bathroom, a well equipped kitchen, a nice living area and a very large deck for $360 a night for four people.

    Rustic but comfy

    Lake Quinault

    Beautiful Lake Quinault is a glacial carved lake at the end of the Quinault River, located on the southern edge of the Olympic National Park in the Quinault Rainforest. The temperate rainforest and area around Lake Quinault receives an average of 333 centimeters (131 inches) of precipitation per year! Long before logging arrived or the Lake Quinault Lodge was built (1926) or Olympic National Park was created (1938), Lake Quinault was home to the Quinault people, a Coast Salish Tribe.

    Beautiful Lake Quinault

    The Salmon House

    The Rain Forest Lodge has a general store, laundromat, post office and one of the best restaurants for miles around. No contest. The affordable menu at The Salmon House is amazing. We got our dinner to go and took it back to our cabin and we enjoyed it so much. They offer the most delicious salmon you will ever have, as well as lots of other options too. Even if you aren’t staying over you might consider eating here. Check out the menu here.

    Take out salmon and burgers was so amazing

    World’s Largest Spruce Tree

    Now this isn’t like the largest ball of yarn, or the Corn Palace. This is truly the world’s largest Spruce Tree and it’s right on the property at The Rain Forest Lodge. Here is what their website says about it;

    Lake Quinault is the “Valley of the Rain Forest Giants©” and the Big Spruce Tree at the Resort is one of them. The tree is the World’s Largest Spruce with a circumference of 58 feet, 11 inches, diameter of 18 feet, 9 inches and 191 feet tall for a total of 922 AFA points. A very large tree near Seaside, Oregon claimed to be the United States largest spruce tree, it has 902 AFA points. The American Forestry Association declared them close enough to be CO-champions. But sadly the Seaside tree fall to a winter storm in 2007, but another large Spruce tree has been found up the Queets Valley and again it has a few less AFA pionts then the Quinault tree but is larger in wood volume. it is about a 45 minute drive from the resort.

    World’s Largest Spruce Tree

    Free to visit and you should.

    So that is my review of The Rain Forest Lodge, Lake Quinault. You should definitely visit. I’m sure we will go back again.

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