South Puget Sound

January 11, 2013July 22, 2013 ~ Crystle ~ 8 Comments

My idea of risk taking is storing my hiking boots in the garage; which I typically wouldn’t do, but mud is no friend to brand new carpet.

The sun was shining today, so I was eager to get to the nearby state park for a quick stroll along the rocky shoreline of South Puget Sound. To do so, I’d need to get past my undying fear of black widow spiders and clear my boots. I put a swiffer duster in each boot and whisked it around, and even flashed a light down there to be sure I was safe. My confidence must have been lackluster, because I got an adrenaline rush from lacing the boots up over my feet. Talk about a mild existence, you guys.

I’m also 32 weeks pregnant now, so I’m really living on the edge if I’m sticking my feet in dark boots/spider condominiums.

Well, so far so good in terms of spider-bite avoidance. But the next time I plan on walking around the shoreline of Puget Sound in January, I’ll be sure to bring gloves, and I’ll be doubly sure they aren’t stored in the garage.

Snow Lust

December 20, 2012December 20, 2012 ~ Crystle ~ 10 Comments

I don’t care that it only snowed two inches, and that the snow has already melted away. My upbringing in Bakersfield, CA has left me eternally deprived of this wintry white stuff; that’s probably why anytime it sleets or snows, I clap with glee while repeatedly asking anyone around me if they’ve noticed it’s snowing. Needless to say, I was outside taking photos from the moment the puffy, sluggish flakes fell from the sky over our neighborhood in the suburbs of Olympia, WA to the moment it all melted away.

Now that this beautiful scenery has returned to it’s normal, wet, evergreen status, I’m back inside, tapping my fingers in anticipation of another brief snow storm (which is tentatively scheduled in our 10-day forecast). If snow doesn’t show around Puget Sound again this year, then that’s fine too. This is all I need to sate my snow-lust until next year when the Army sends us to Alaska for a three year assignment.

Please remind me of this day of snow-day-giddiness when I’m stuck indoors in Fairbanks, Alaska for four months while the extreme winter weather rages on outside. Future me will need the perspective, I’m sure.

Patterns and Predictability

November 6, 2012December 9, 2012 ~ Crystle ~ 61 Comments

Growing up in Bakersfield, CA means I’m well conditioned to brutally hot summers and cool foggy winters: those are pretty much the only two seasons we saw down there, and they were painfully redundant.

Two hour fog delays were common anytime visibility dropped in the valley from the phenomena, which made it a welcome happenstance for city kids, and probably a nuisance for adults who didn’t get to share in the weather delay. This was our weather ‘thing’ and we were all used to it.

Nowadays, I realize that I can no longer be comfortable in weather patterns like I was in California. And gone are the days where I could mark the passage of time by distinct periods of fall, winter, spring and summer like I did while living in Oklahoma.

My one surety is knowing I’ll be nomadic for the foreseeable future while my husband serves our country. Did I mention we’re heading to Alaska next October? We are, and that assignment has me both excited and terrified at the prospect of extreme Alaskan weather patterns as we build a life for our young family on the Last Frontier.

Those thoughts have been heavy on my mind lately, so to be greeted by that old familiar Bakersfield-type fog over our new neighborhood was comforting. After filling out my absentee ballot and handing it off to my diligent husband to fax off, I took a stroll on the William B. Ives trail just a few hundred yards from our front door.

I wanted to walk in the foggy woods because I wasn’t sure when I’d have the chance to do so again. Bakersfield fog hangs around awhile, but Puget Sound Fog? I have no idea. During my stroll, low fog hugged the tall evergreens as I walked slowly below. I caught glimpses of mushroom clusters and thick hanging moss that made me wonder what life will bring in Alaska, and beyond.

No matter what, one more year in Washington means I’ll have plenty of time to travel to the nooks and crannies that I’ve yet to visit around here, and I’ll have ample time to plan and dream about our future three year stint in Alaska with our upcoming bundle of joy, Margot.