The Hazard Chronicles

It was already late in the day when we put in, our paddle strokes blending seamlessly with the lapping of the water against the shoreline, adding ever so slightly to the evening song of birds and insects. We only had about five miles to cover and we moved steadily. Conversation was easy and, because of our position in the water, it seemed like we were the only people left in a world still dominated by natural surroundings. I find myself once again in awe at the sheer brilliance of the landscape, and am reminded why we moved here more than a decade ago.

Eventually we reached our destination- a small secluded island in the middle of a hidden lake in the remote North Idaho wilderness. No cell phone service, no people, and no distractions. Just us. It was exquisite.

Rachel and I had planned this trip just a few days earlier. As mentioned in the last post, school is ending soon (today actually), and this quick overnighter was a much needed calm before the storm of summer activities that will soon follow.

A few other happenings this week:

Lindsey is finishing off the year of Irish dance and her weekends have been devoted to filming for the annual end-of-year video. She really puts a lot into this and has fun doing it.

Rachel has been interpreting for a lot of public, mostly Pride-centered events lately. She did the CDA mainstage at a big festival last weekend. This week she was in Spokane for parades, shows, karaoke, and comedy. She even made a cameo in the local newspaper on Sunday. This is all fun for me because, since it is public and there is no specific client, I am allowed to watch her and post photos. These seem like super fun gigs for her, full of interesting people and chances for creative language.

Also, she found out this week that she was accepted into a program to further develop this creative side of her career, later this summer, at a workshop in Nashville. Yay Rach!

The picture above is of her and her team at the parade announcement booth in Spokane.

Her at one of the main stages

This was on Facebook in response to her interpreting "drunk Shakespeare" for Stage Left- a theater in Spokane that we frequent on a year-round basis.

A few of us went downtown for a couple hours to check things out while Rach was working

Addy got recognized in front of her school as the Tutor of the Year. She had near perfect attendance at the tutoring center and has done a lot to help students get through their classes. At the end of the day today she will officially be a high school student...A big fish in a little pond is moving to slightly more open waters. It seems like she's gonna thrive.

(After publishing this post, Adalie informed me that I spelled thrive wrong. It is actually spelled d-i-e.)