The alarm sounds. Stretching out I reach for my phone and turn it off. My eyes are closed and yet I wrestle with the same decision every single morning.  It's a struggle yet I rise quietly. I rummage around for my running clothes.  Silently I slip from the room and lace up my shoes. It's early. Forcing myself to walk downstairs instead of turning around and crawling into bed for another hour. The campus isn't quite awake, I meet a couple of workers hurrying to their early morning shift and a few guests are out but most are still in their rooms. As I cross the street into town, I look down the deserted sidewalks. The shops are dark, the parking spots along the street remain empty. The town is still asleep. I make my way to Whale Park, stretching a little before getting to the sand, I try to stay quiet as the geese make their way overhead. My route takes me across the soft sand to the hard pack along the creek that leads out to the ocean. The seagulls take this quiet time to bath in the creek, and the geese land walking from sandbar to sandbar. The Western Sandpipers moved in groups from shallow area to shallow area feeding on something as I run by.  Haystack rock is usually my destination on these quiet mornings. It allows me to process my day, to think, to pray. Each morning I struggle to pull myself out of bed but as I run I can't imagine why it was ever that hard. Some days the lure of more sleep over takes me but each time I mentally win the struggle I am rewarded by the time, rain or shine.

It has been a kayaking summer. When my Mom came I really wanted to take her out on the lakes in this area. We started with Lake Padden just like John took me. It was a nice little paddle around the lake and then we went to my favorite, Lake Sammish.  We paddled south along the east side of the lake to the point that the Eagles hang out.  The trees offer the perfect perch for them to swoop from when catching a fish.  It is amazing to watch them. I haven't been brave enough to take my camera with me, just my phone or our water proof camera both of which don't offer great zoom capabilities.

It was so much fun and maybe even a little exhausting when my mom came for a visit. We packed a ton of stuff into the visit.  One important part was taking photos of her with the kids. I looked and looked around for my tripod head but couldn't find it.  I was desperate and finally conceded that I lost it.  I just wasn't using it correctly and had it all along but that is how things go sometimes. We loaded all the kids up in the van and went to one of my favorite spots, Hovander.  I love the views here and the lighting. However, I wanted to strangle the kids, the boys just couldn't keep their act together. They were brothers and were pinching and prodding each other throughout the whole thing.  And then Job's clothes.  Really an AC/DC shirt and sweats? Yep, that was what he wanted to wear. However, it is him right now and I would rather their clothes reflect their personality than not so AC/DC it is. Sometimes I just wonder about this family and how crazy we actually are.
While my mom was here, I took her kayaking twice and we went golfing together.  We also took Lona shopping. At one point I turned to my mother and apologized for being a teenager and my clothing choices. There was a lot of boundaries that I wanted changed as a teen and lots of baggage that I'm not carrying around because of those boundaries.

Our small town hosts a small farmer's market every Friday during the summer in a small area just off main street. The vendors set up their tents, tables and wares.  Large flags are placed on the bridge and the market opens for business until 8 pm that night.
We were in the back yard one night talking about a gal who came over and picked plums, took them to the larger farmer's market and sold them. She made some pretty good money doing that and it didn't cost her anythings.  Lona quietly sat and listened. We also were talking about some friends who sell flowers at the market.  They were making some pretty good money and again, it wasn't costing them anything. The farmer's market is free for kids.  They have to commit to 5 hours and provide their own tent/awning/umbrella and a table.  They also need a sign.  So she started thinking and looking around at our yard at our cherry trees. She looked at the price in the store at the cherries and decided she could sell cherries to make money for an upcoming trip. I had really no interest in sitting all day at the farmer's market but I would help her get ready.  She picked pound after pound of cherries. I helped her make the sign, printed out the words that she traced and colored on her sign. I loaned her about $10 in quarters so she could make change and then I drove her to the farmer's market.  We set up the canopy, placed her product out.  I ran home to get a firm table so she could use the food scale to measure out her cherries. The last thing I did was sign a waiver and then I left.  I had work to do at home. She sat there and sold cherries.  John and I came back around 7 pm and she had just sold out. So we packed up and went home.  I really think she learned a lot.  I was impressed at how she made a decision and went for it.  I wouldn't have been able to do that but she did.  There was one point when a gal gave her 2 dollar bills and 2 quarters and she responded with you gave me too much. The lady asked her where she went to school at.  Hilarious and ironic due to her math skills but sometimes your brain just shuts off and needs to reboot.