"Let's go do things." (A 4 month update.)

Helen Keller once wrote, "Life is either a daring adventure or nothing at all." She was right.

Being an "elf" at Blister Creek Falls, Oregon.

I've always been more of a "Let's go do things." rather than a "Let's talk about things." kind of person. When I was little I was the girl who would try so hard to convince every kid in the neighborhood to be part of some giant adventure. One year when it snowed, I spent the entire day leading a group of kids through the Christmas Tree field solving a "mystery" while videotaping it. Sometimes I look back and realize my habits have stayed the same: still exploring, getting my feet dirty, being the "brave" one (even if I'm hesitating as I do it), and recording the memories. 

Love her but keep her wild.

When I was young my father used to call Oregon the "land flowing with milk & honey". If you don't know the reference, it's a line from the bible and the book of Exodus. It was God's promise to Moses that his people would have a better home.

A rare photo of me in action. Photo credit to John Shufelt.

My parents moved here in 1986. They were newly married, packed their bags in to their Toyota Corolla and drove out west. It almost sounds like a great country song. Growing up my Dad always told me the story of his first drive down the Columbia River Gorge. He was a small town guy from Michigan. His childhood was the kind filled with diving in old irrigation ponds and racing down gravel roads along tomato fields. The light in his eyes when he described the Columbia River is in part why I've kept adventuring, kept seeing, kept exploring... because even if the adventure is short, every one fills you with a little more light, another story to tell later on down the line.