Road Trip!!! Part 2: From Wisconsin back to Washington

Our travel route- roughly. 🙂 Map image courtesy Wikimedia commons: links here. I added the red and black arrows. Avoiding the craziness of flying with a family of five, the Clare family embraced the alternative craziness of driving across more than half of the U.S. It was a long haul—about 2300 miles each way— offering…

Memorial Day and Adam Makos’s VOICES OF THE PACIFIC

Photo courtesy of Andrew Pons on unsplash.com First published May 28, 2018. This seemed like a fitting post to share this weekend. Wishing you all the best, -Anne Monday is Memorial Day, the day the U.S. sets aside to remember those who've given their lives in service to their country. Growing up, I spent a…

To Those Who Wait

I'm losing another friend. Not 'forever' lost—not to anger or angst or illness. And really, this goodbye isn't about me, though I am sad about it. No, it's that time in friendship when the orders come in, and the people I've just started to really come to know are sent off, to serve their country…

Stars of Blue and Gold

A family heirloom: This banner was used by author Joy Neal Kidney's family during WWI, then repurposed by her grandmother who added two stars and used it during WWII. You can read about it in her excellent book Leora's Letters. Many thanks to Joy for allowing me to use this image! One hundred and two…

A Stop on a Medal of Honor Highway

Unlike much of western Washington, the town of Sequim (pronounced "Squim") isn't surrounded by thick evergreen forests. Perched on the northern edge of the Olympic Peninsula, near the forrested and mountainous Olympic National Park, Sequim itself is only 184' above sea level—if it weren't for the saltwater on the horizon and the occasional herd of…