Happy Anniversary.

Every August my beloved and I take a trip to commemorate our years together and this year was no different. We boxed and ate (!!) and boxed some more, bickered about directions, got sweaty in the summer heat, enjoyed early harvest fruit, explored new parks and roads we had never been on before, and generally had a fantastic time. And we planted as many boxes as we found. We are most fortunate, indeed. 

this letterboxer in the wild

Get a load of all those trucks!
Stuck in an I-90 backup ... oy!

wonderful summertime Leavenworth

there was a bit of smoke from nearby wildfires, but not much

my beloved trying to capture the splendor of Peshastin Pinnacles

photos just cannot do this place justice, frankly :(

the pear orchards were just about to be picked

@ Lincoln Rock State Park -
can you see his profile?

aah, summer :)

on the Columbia River

the view from our room in Leavenworth

up in historic Winthrop ...

and a Winthrop native

This last pic was snapped from the car as we explored the scenic loop around Leavenworth, Peshastin, Wenatchee, and into the small town of Plain. It was not raining; the sun was causing the rainbow in the humidity in the upper atmosphere - beautiful. The photo does not capture how vibrant this rainbow was in real life. As I was checking out the pic in my camera, Obimaster called out, "Look, quick!" Right in front of us a bear decided to run across the road! He was so surprisingly fast as he scrabbled up the gravel-dirt hill on the other side of the road that we had no time to slow down or snap a pic! We were thrilled to see a bear so close. What amazing animals! You just never know what you are going to see while out exploring :)

Upon our return, I attended the 'onboarding' for my new job. Just typing that out makes me pause and take that statement in. It has been so long. I am nervous, but hopeful. I have prepared - I have acquired the necessary wardrobe (sheesh, clothes and shoes are expensive!) and thought through the logistics of being away from home. And I have taken the time to mentally shift gears by cleaning out my office, filing away all the school leftovers, pulling out what I think I may need later, and removing a lot of clutter. Best of all, I reorganized the letterboxing side of my office - carving space and box prep can get pretty chaotic! I feel much more settled now that I have the things I need within reach. We will see how long this lasts (pics, or it didn't happen! lol!).

I'll leave you with a couple of anniversary pics and well wishes for the changing of the seasons from summer to fall ... well, almost. While astronomically speaking, the Fall Equinox 'falls' on September 22 this year (did you see what I did there? haha). However, "here in the Northern Hemisphere, "meteorological" fall (aka autumn) is defined as the months of September, October and November." As you may know, I will take all the summer I can get! This morning, as I write this, it is foggy-misty grey with a temperature of 56*, and the leaves are starting to turn. Oof.

Happy Fall, y'all!

from Team Lazy Bxrz

ps. I have been doing a bit of carving, so I will drop in a page of my carving log :)

tiny Hedwig brings me joy!