December 16, 2025

More rain, Dad meets Governor Ferguson, Niall Williams' Time of the Child, and how to return an Elf on the Shelf's super powers.

From the Woods

And the rain keeps falling. Luckily, we have not had the flooding other parts of the state have experienced.

Dad and I walked along our bluff and below the house to see if there was any blowdown (found 2) and to check the flexible pipes connected to our gutters. We freshened up the property line with pink flagging, macheted some brush, admired the cedar trees, and noted the double spring board notches in an old-growth stump. Water was running over the cliff exposing the soil layers—we could clearly see the layer of clay under our one foot of topsoil and gravel. Proof of our “droughty” site.

At the last pipe, Dad wanted to crawl half way down the cliff to make sure it wasn’t plugged. I offered to do it, but he said, “no—here hold the machete.” So I reverted to my 12-year-old self, took the machete and waited for Dad climb down and slip and slide himself back up. He said he’d take me up on the offer next time. We’ll see.

People Ancient As Trees

Dad and his tree-farming friend Merc Boyer went to a fundraiser for Governor Bob Ferguson last week. Their goal was to raise the governor’s awareness about small forest landowners in Washington State. Note the jar of honey and book in the governor’s hand. The honey is from the bees gathering nectar on Merc’s forestland, and the book is my Ground at My Feet, with a letter from Dad explaining why the new Department of Natural Resources rule expanding no-harvest buffers on non-fish streams is a bad idea.

Dad’s love affair with forests started when he was fifteen in Missouri. He studied forestry at the University of Missouri, and after his obligatory four years in the armed services (Marines), he started working for the Forest Service in Alaska. (He first went to AK to homestead, but soon realized the folly of that.) When he applied for the Forest Service, he wrote on the application that his address was “Lemon Creek,” the place he’d pitched his tent.

Part of his job was to prevent and manage forest fires. In the photo on the right, you can see where fire burned on the Kenai Penninsula. Dad worked for the Forest Service for five years. He says, “It was a good stepping stone. I saw a lot of good country.” But because almost all forest land in Alaska is owned by the federal government, and Dad wanted some dirt of his own, he knew he needed move back down to the lower 48.

What I’m Reading/Writing

Reading

Do you ever have trouble finding just the right book for the day/week/hour, especially to listen to? I am cycling through a few at the moment and nothing is sticking. For my book club at Bishop and Wilde, we are reading James Baldwin’s Another Country, which is fabulous— but emotionally difficult and I’m feeling protective of my feelings. I’m also attempting to listen to a new biography, Wild Thing: A Life of Paul Gauguin, but the narrator irritates me with her incredulous tone and I’m not convinced by the author’s argument that Gauguin was a fierce advocate for Tahitian rights. But I will persevere, I think.

I did just start Niall William’s Time of the Child, (I figured out how to get a “gift” link so you should be able to read this NYT book review if you’d like.)and am LOVING it. His sentences awe me and I’m very happy to be back with the townspeople of Faha, whom I first met in William’s This is Happiness.

Writing

What am I writing? I am writing this each week. Really, really need to revise some poetry and work on some micro-essays. I am going to be taking a “flash non-fiction” class with Portland’s The Attic Institute starting in February. I need classes to make me write. Sigh.

Stumptown

The Lottering Family came to help decorate our tree. Akane and Abby brought Mrs Frazzle, their Elf on a Shelf. It seems that if a human outside the FAMILY touches Mrs Frazzle, she loses her powers. In order to regain them, she must be surrounded by a sprinkle of cinnamon. Akane gave me Mrs Frazzle to hold, so the cinnamon ritual had to be performed before they left. Just before they left, Tom mistakenly touched Mrs Frazzle! Abby gave him a look that could wither any human being and the cinnamon came back out. I LOVE the playfulness of this family.