To my beloved twin....

A view you loved and sent me of your cute little home you wanted to be yours forever. Not a day goes by without my missing you, the messages in the morning and the calls. I miss the time we spent together...all your beautiful photos you shared.....the love and laughter of our lives my built in best friend, ally and beloved twin throughout time itself....our bond can't be broken....I see you in all the beauty God created..

My twin sister, who enjoyed hiking and photography, Lori Martinson Christie has passed on from a relentless disease called ALS. Her beloved children were amazing in their support and loving care of her at the end. Andrea stood by her side til the very end. Robert flew out and spent time with her before his return. Our brother, Scott came, our cousin Dan and our family did what we could to make her feel loved. Our sisters, Lisa and Laura cared for her a week before she was placed in a hospital for the remainder of her life. Her beloved fiancee Dean spent what time he could to be with her, her first husband Richard traveled to see her and second husband Leonard as well. Everyone that could make it came to say their farewells til we meet again.

From the onset of symptoms 1 1/2 years ago....her view was it had to be the mold in the home she resided in. She had lived there for around three years. She was still hiking but at home she sunk into watching TV or social media immersion and expressed a feeling of depression. This was not the fun loving twin who danced, and embraced her life! She began dating her third love, Dean Flowers and became focused on pursuing a new exciting chapter of her life. As they dated, it turned into love and they chose to move into his home together. This included her leaving behind that home with the mold issues that the owner failed to fix correctly. I helped her move by packing up her entire home and cleaning it. Then she suddenly started having physical issues, twitches, balance issues, emotional issues pertaining to sudden tears and anger at times. There was a steady decline but she fought hard to get better choosing homeopathic care. She had what appeared to be a brief enough remission to go out with me to watch my son perform with a band...I had to hold her hand to keep her steady while she walked. She asked if she could dance with my husband and was able to only for two song..how joyous she was!

As I looked back on her facebook page I saw how she had actually hiked 6 miles only 11 months prior to passing on. She did see a neurologist finally but got her final diagnosis at UW ALS Clinic only six weeks prior to her death. She was in a hospital for the last weeks of her life. Moved to Sequim but the private home didn't work out. She then was taken to the hospital in bad shape in Port Angeles, WA. She called me saying she had only 2 days left. We had to take a boat for 4 hours and drove 2 hours to make it there. She could talk but it was a different voice we heard. There is dialogue I wish to share....these are things she said. "Romy, Romy, Romy, save me!" "Romy, Romy, Romy, help me!" "Romy, Romy Romy dont let them kill me!" and so much more. As I began to cry in the corner after she got medication...she looked over at me and said..."What do we do when people cry? We sing!" and made cute little noises. Lori was moved at her daughter, Andrea's request to a room with an open water view....she told her that was she was in a castle by the sea. My brother held her hand as she slipped away. We started breathing within 8 minutes of each other and walked together throughout our lives...and now I walk alone.... I will see her in all the beauty the world has to offer...

An early spring, brings the Apricot blossoms that promise the fruits of the season to be.....

It is short lived as is nature's compromise, snow and high winds....the blooms are gone, the fruit not to be. There are other trees that had budded but not bloomed, they still have a chance. The coming weeks will bring more snow, winds and ice...











Is this not unlike our lives? There will be beauty and light....mixed with the times that are hard and most challenging. We are all just stewards upon the earth..our time unknown. It is not the time spent upon this earth but what we accomplish with that time that defines us.

A Spirit Flies Free......My Friend Megan

Megan, the friend I needed at a time when she needed me. Our friendship blossomed as we cherished each others compassion, ability to confide and share our lives like windows into each other's worlds. She saw life as beautiful in everything and everyone. Walking on a beach with her feet in the sand was a simple pleasure she would pine for when winter began. Her dreams were endless and her focus so clear.

She adored nature and all that it encompassed of the plants ,flowers and trees. She was a fun loving young woman full of light! Woodpeckers held a special place with her. Megan had a pet chicken, a home she was restoring of her Grandmothers, and a path....filled with plans and possibilities! Truly a blessed woman of faith showing her kindness and goodness with every act. Our friendship seemed timeless and it was. 

Megan began a journey through that which others merely contemplate the challenges of, including myself. In her mid twenties, she is hit with hard news and truly the unthinkable. How does one make sense of cancer at any age? Her Mother, feeling the trauma of disbelief begins with fervent prayers and as others learn it is done on all fronts.

 She shares her news publicly on a forum she loves. First a surgery, radiation and chemo...then more prayers and faith is rewarded....a blessed remission. Sunsets over the water, flowers that bloom and a life filled with hope. A loving Mother embracing a bright future that seems visible on the horizon. The triumph is felt and life is embraced once more. 

It is not to be, the remission fades into bone cancer. A chilling message, tears unseen but felt. It can't be real, she is only in her late twenties but it is.  More treatments, chemo and she is weakened. There is hope, prayers and faith. She won't give up or give in, she fights. She has chosen her course with her doctor, she believes she will be healed. The unimaginable, brain cancer sets in and more treatments, walking with a cane, struggling to exist and not giving up. Our friendship continues, she writes of pain and perseveres, always questioning how my life is with good spirits. A blood transfusion and the treatments continue. There is a lapse of contact, but she writes on a site based on fiber art all her updates which I read and respond to there. I struggle with the reality,  not believing this can continue. There is the why but I relent, I accept and understand I must try to come to terms. I write her, feeling this very strong foreboding...is she ok? She writes of more pain but asks me in her last message about my life's plans and how I am. How very beautiful her spirit truly is.....

There is no response to my last message...... Then I see one, and my instant relief fades to an expression of loss. Her Mother, Darlene has understood my concern and tells me most graciously of her passing on. Megan is now free from worldly concerns.  The pain that cancer is and the struggle to overcome that which became overwhelming and seemingly insurmountable is now gone. Megan is 29.

Picture donated in memory of Megan by Lori Christie. 

Life's small pleasures.

A Christmas gift became a little adventure admist the snowy winter. It provoked an instant smile and then it was put away....for weather more befitting it's existence. The warmth of one day became the 50 degree change to another blizzard like day. Seldom did the weather stay consistent and the box remained. Finally, unable to resist I began the great Oyster Pearl Mushroom saga in January. I followed the directions found on the box called "The Mushroom Mini Farm." The first little mushrooms emerged making me feel victorious within the first two weeks as expected! Only to shrink back and they did not develop their caps.

Undaunted by the bleak results of wilted little mushrooms the first round, I simply kept up the care of the little box of spores, just figuring more must be there to replace the first dismal results. One day I had decided recently just to put them in the window sill where there is sheltered indirect light....covered with plastic and watered once. A week went by....and like magic, there they were! Three big and amazing Oyster Pearl Mushrooms..Yummy sauteed in butter..oh my!

During the week the Oyster Pearl Mushrooms were doing their things, I was working on a Mohair Fleece, which I first picked out the vm and then dyed it with strawberries, blueberries and coffee. I did use a mordant made of water and salt, 3 parts to 1 for the berry dye and vinegar of the same ratio with water which simmered the fleece first for an hour. While the fleece simmered in the mordant, I placed berries in water which also simmered for an hour 1 part berries to 1 part water. For the coffee color I just made expresso on my stove. Then hot fleece was added to hot dye which I strained berries out first and it sat all night long to produce Easter colors!

Then with a spindle I created Mohair yarn for the first time from fleece! I had spun up Suffolk wool a few years ago, then some Icelandic fleece but this..was amazing!

Now my thoughts linger on planting...oh I am so drawn to new things.......It may be cold but the will is there and the window sill inviting....mmmmmm

Roads less traveled are those that catch us by surprise.... I find myself in Colorado a midst a dry and cold backdrop existing in a time of transition. The white blanketing of the snows and the sharp cold of arctic fronts have been a stark contrast to home. That word identifies with it the location one finds themselves in... Home in the most relative terms is where you hang that hat and refer to as your residence.... Or is it really more the conception of where you find yourself residing at the time you reflect upon it? For now, this is home....rocks cutting deeply into soft blue skies....

Today I am also here, in the embrace of a trip seemingly such a short time ago...to the Oregon coast where I feel most connected to all that is beautiful in the world. Our perception of memories mixed with the reality of the present day. There is a road not yet revealed and I will not hesitate to take it....

Fall Approaches...

Each day brings us closer to the vivid dance of Fall leaves, cool air and a world of hibernation. All plants adjust to steady their survival of the Winter to come. The cold weather germinations include the brilliant Oriental Poppy , the delicate Clematis, fragrant Honeysuckle and more....the king over them all is the sturdy Great Washington Nettle. As the the stalks begin to brown, they gift their seeds, able to survive for decades, ensuring their great presence remains. Misunderstood, often spoken of with disdain, their gifts are many for those who choose to accept them. The trees and all other summer yield are coming to a close. The berries and many fruit trees still part of a of a myriad display in September. The Fall vegetables will take their place yet many flowers will remain. Even up through the snow there will be the fragile Lavender Crocus....The world breathes deeply, a rest of sorts before the winter sweeps in.