Sand castles

They worked hard and fast even though they knew their creations wouldn't last. While the tide was out, teams of 10 dug and stomped, carved and blew to create birthday cakes, board games, Noah's ark and lots more. It was team work, it was fun for a cause, it was spending a great day in a beautiful place, it was knowing that even things temporary can be worth it.

An unexpected discovery

Because my friend likes collecting shells and I like taking pictures of lighthouses, we agreed it would be fun to take a trip together, since shells and lighthouses are often in close proximity.

It was one of those things that always sounds good in conversation but that you never quite get around to actually doing.

Except that we did.

I planned the route, we both made arrangements for our families to be taken care of in our absense and we headed north from our homes in Portland to Seattle's Puget Sound.

At the beginning of our little escape, she told me she'd always hoped to find one particular shell that had eluded her in the past.

While she had dozens of sand dollars from the Oregon Coast, and a variety of other favorites from other spots she'd visited, she had always hoped to find this one particular shell, but had never succeeded.

We drove north through Seattle to Mukilteo, across to Whidbey Island by ferry, then across via another ferry to the Olympic Peninsula, stopping at beaches and lighthouses along the way. I took pictures; she found shells.

At one unmarked stop, a place she had suggested on impulse that we pull over, we hit the jackpot.

We had stumbled upon a beach where the shells were so deep you had to walk on them instead of on sand to get anywhere. Though lots were clam shells, there were many others in between.

This was it, we thought, this is where that missing shell can be found, and we searched and collected and dug and searched some more.

No luck.

Maybe over there. No. Maybe this spot again. Nothing.

So we resumed our travels. Kind of disappointed. Kind of really disappointed. Because we both didn't really think we'd "stumbled" on to that beach. There were too many beaches around. Everywhere.

And though we have different faiths, we are both deeply religious, and we both believe that coincidence goes only so far, that sometimes you can be led to places and situations.

It was weeks later that I got a call from my friend.

She had been talking to someone knowledgeable about the elusive shell, and he told her the shell she sought wasn't found as most are. It is inside another shell and you need to open one to find the other.

She returned to her collection from that day, and among the shells she had collected on that beach, she found the shell he'd spoken of and inside it, the shell she had long sought.

We hadn't failed in the hunt. We just didn't know we'd succeeded.

She had to look deeper inside to find what she'd been looking for.

She'd had it all along.

Morning walk

Sun Valley fast: up one day, back the next, with just enough time to see beauty in the detail of flowers -- some wild, some tamed, and in the landscape -- some natural, some formed, from as many angles as I could fit in one morning.

He's here!

Every birth is a miracle. Every family with a mom and a dad who love and lead is a blessing!

In memory

One of the perks of my job is being able to go where the action is. The other perk is to be able to share what I saw and heard of the action.

Last Monday, the action was at city halls and in city cemeteries, where those who've lost their lives in the service of their country were lauded, and those who have gone before were remembered.

A delightful veteran of World War II told us to be happy with life "even on bad-hair days." With a charming sense of humor, he mixed a lecture or two in with stories of a difficult life and difficult losses but strong faith. He told of his experience during the war, of waiting at the end of an air strip for the 11 other planes that took off with him for a sortie over Europe. None of them returned. He told of playing his trumpet -- his comfort in trials -- despite the threat of a sniper, and meeting that sniper -- who had been unable to shoot -- later.

A dignified general who has served in many capacities including in leadership in post-war Europe and who had flown many missions in Southeast Asia, told us that there is no greater calling than to serve, and that those who march, fly or sail off around the world to secure and preserve our freedoms are doing just that. Freedom is something to be cherished, he said, and to protect it, many servicemen and women have offered their lives.

To those who serve, to those who have served, we salute you.

One Morning in Maine

I must admit, I didn't think I would ever quite make it to this most incredible lighthouse near Portland, Maine. But plans that started one way ended another and there we were one sunny morning (two sunny mornings, actually). And there it was.

The sun rises at 5:30 a.m. that far east in the Eastern time zone, and though we didn't set the alarm, Stacey and I somehow woke up in time to catch the early rays in a setting combining the best work of God and man (top two photos). Mid-day was also a great time to catch the strong surf and the brilliant colors of Portland Head Light, with Ram Island Light in the distance.

Fun new spot

Guess where if you can, when if you dare.