Daughter Xenia sent me a text message this morning with the following picture and text:

My art is in the Anchorage museum with the Alaska Positive show!

Here is info about the show. Here is the listing of all the exhibits.

I am very proud.

Yesterday Barb L. and I went snowshoeing near Snoqualmie Pass. I had suggested we try it a couple months ago then just before Christmas Ry sent me an email tip about the Forest Service offering Guided Snowshoe Walks. I forwarded it on to Barb who, being the proactive person that she is, made the reservations for us.

I have done a fair amount of snowshoeing (mostly accessing Boomershoot territory during the winter months) but Barb had not done any. My snowshoes are rather old and I knew the newer kind probably were a lot better and wanted to see and try them out before buying a new pair.

The trail we were on did not require snowshoes:

I would have been fine with my normal size 14 hiking boots. But we went off trail a little bit and I also got to experience walking in the newer type of snowshoes.

Here are some pictures (picture below by Barb. All others by me):

Barb’s view of her feet. She is over 6′ tall so the sense of height is well founded.

There were other things that were also quite pleasant to look at:

The restroom was closed for the winter.

A mother brought her child along.

I didn’t know that some woodpeckers made rectangular holes.

We saw some people making snow caves.

We got some short history lessons as well.



We had left a very foggy Bellevue and had beautiful crystal clear sky on our walk. As we returned to the lower elevation it was like driving into a wall of dreariness.

My mother died December 29^th, 2012. Here are her obituary and a few pictures:

Obituary photo.

Ellen Huffman passed away due to congestive heart failure and pneumonia at the age of 87, surrounded by family members at St. Joseph Regional Medical Center in Lewiston, ID on December 29, 2012.  She was born, Grace Ellen King at Gritman Medical Center in Moscow, ID on July 18, 1925 to Charlotte Verna Davies King and Raymond McKinley King.
The family farmed near Moscow in the community of Joel.  Her father was in poor health due to tuberculosis, so they moved to Long Beach, California where Ellen attended grade school.  Her father died when she was 7 years old.  Ellen graduated from Woodrow Wilson High School in Long Beach in 1943.
She went to a trade school and learned how to operate computer keypunch machines, comptometers and other business machines.  She then worked at Bethlehem Steel in Alameda, CA as a keypunch operator until she had sufficient resources to proceed with her education.
She attended school at Washington State College in Pullman, WA for a short time before moving back to California.  She then studied at Woodbury Business College in Burbank, CA where she completed her studies in bookkeeping.
She worked at Arthur A. Havens Co in Los Angeles before moving to Riverside, CA where she worked at Sears Roebuck in their auditing department.
She married Lowell Huffman on February 14, 1954 in Redlands, CA.
In the early years of their marriage, they farmed near Cavendish, ID in the summers while returning to California in the winter to find work.
After they had children in school, the family stayed in Idaho year round.  The farm continued to grow as did the family with the birth of three children, Joe, Doug and Gary.  After buying property, Ellen helped build the home where she would live from 1969 until the end of her days.
Ellen was an active member of the Teakean Community club for nearly 50 years and a member of the local Extension Club for many years.
She enjoyed knitting, sewing, quilting and other craft work.  She made many quilts for friends, children and grandchildren.  She enjoyed genealogy and did extensive research on her and her husband’s family tree.
She is survived by her husband, Lowell at the family home in Cavendish, three sons, Joe Huffman of Kirkland, WA, Doug Huffman and wife Julie of Cavendish, and Gary Huffman also of Cavendish.  She is also survived by six grandchildren, James Huffman-Scott and wife Kelsey of Bellevue, WA, Kimberly Huffman-Scott of Troy, Xenia Vlieger and husband John of Anchorage, AK, Amy Faragher and husband Nathan of Orem, UT, Lisa Huffman of Kent, WA, Brad Huffman of Moscow and one great grandchild. 
She was preceded in death by her parents and brother Louis King.
At her request, there will be no formal service.

Probably about 12 years old.

1945 while at Washington State College (now Washington State University).

Mom, me, Dad on August 20, 1976

February 1999. 45th Wedding anniversary.

December 24, 2012. One of the last few pictures taken of her.

I have to think about it. This is Wednesday, so it had to be Monday night. I had a normal day at work, but when I got home I started to feel a bit uncomfortable, in a vague sort of way. Then it got more uncomfortable.

Son and I were watching a movie (Loopers – not bad either) and after getting up to get a drink of water, it got very uncomfortable. I told Son; “I don’t think I’ll be watching the rest of the movie.”

Then it was Armageddon. It came on so exponentially fast I didn’t realize that all I really had to do was puke. I remember saying something like “I think I’m dying” between moans, and then things went the way of the classic, closing down tunnel vision people talk about as a result of being under high Gs. The world went dark, and as I went under, in the sort of agony that brings thoughts of death being a sweet gift of relief, I don’t know if I said it but I remember thinking it, very deliberately, and it was sort of printed in bright letters over my endarkened vision;

I DON’T WANT TO GO OUT LIKE THIS

In upper case letters just like that. Now I think I know exactly what it’s like to die a very quick and agonizing death, ’cause essentially that’s what I did, only I woke up later, in a dream. My wife was slapping my face, trying to get my attention like you see in the movies (what else could she do?) but I was still dreaming. When I noticed wetness on the side of my face that was against the floor, and that my sinuses were packed full of liquid, I said dreamily, and to no one in particular “I think I vomited”.

Waking up in a pool of your own vomit, and with your sinuses full of vomit, is something we’ve all heard tell about, but I’d never done it before. Never even came close before. It wasn’t nearly as bad though, not by a long shot, as the going down part. But it wasn’t over.

Oh no. I’ll just say “both ends” and leave it at that (PV/PD). So my wife and kids sort of freaked out I suppose, and so did I. Phone calls were made and crews showed up, and well, right now I’m just fine and dandy. They say that a “single episode” like this is not uncommon, and not necessarily indicative of anything but some immediate GI distress. I got hauled in, poked, bled and prodded, EKG’d, x-rayed and whatnot, and everything is fine. They seemed surprised in fact, that my BP and heart rate, glucose level and everything was all so good. I guess a fart of my oldness is suppose to be more deteriorated.

When I told a nurse I was cold, she said my skin was warm (still in the process of getting over the bout). I told her that it made sense – that if your skin is hot, you’re losing more heat, and so you’ll feel cold. Your heat sense registers direction-of-flow (gain or loss) more than it registers temperature. I would have expected her to understand that, but it seemed a new concept to her. How many times have you hugged your spouse, and she says you feel cold, while you say she feels warm, or visa versa? That’s what’s going on there, and if you think about it from a survival point of view it makes sense.

And here’s a thing about negotiations. They (both my wife and the doctors)wanted very much to keep me at hospital overnight. They all said so several times, but I wanted to go home. I knew that I could have said simply, “No way. I’m going home and that’s that” and I was prepared to do it if needed, but but instead all I said was stuff like, “I’d rather not stay” and “I think I made a big compromise even coming here” and “all I really need is water and some sleep”. They took my wife out of the room to talk about it for a bit and then THEY decided I could go home, see.

Twenty four hours mostly sleeping and I’m a new man. I’d tap dance right now if I’d ever learned how. So remember, if you’re having problems and things seem to be going from bad to worse, well; cheer up– You’ll soon be dead.

I spent New Years Eve with Barb L. and her family. I was told not to bring anything but didn’t think that was right so I brought something to snack on. This was one of those things that you just throw together with stuff you found in the cupboard thinking, “It probably will be okay.”

There is a fair chance Barb was just being nice or it was so she could put it on her “Don’t List” but she asked me for the recipe.

Here it is:

3 Cups water
1 Cup lentils
3/4 Cup split peas
1/4 Cup brown rice
1 teaspoon garlic salt
1 Cup shredded cheddar cheese

Combine all ingredients except the cheese and garlic salt in a pressure cooker and bring up to pressure.

Cook for 10 minutes, stir in garlic salt, and put in a glass serving dish.

Spread cheese on top, cover, and cook on high in the microwave for 60 seconds.

Serve with Tostitos with Hint of Lime.

Christmas has a strong tendency to irritate me. I get grumpy and depressed.

This year is particularly bad. There are some things still unresolved that I don’t want to talk about and there are some really bad things going down.

I have three first cousin’s. They are my mom’s brother’s children. Larry was always the closest to me. He was closer in age and very smart and funny. Cousin Larry died day before yesterday on Christmas Eve.

Just a few days ago while I was in Idaho I learned he went into hospice care a few miles from where I live in the Seattle area. I planned to visit after I got back. Perhaps today or tomorrow. Then I got an email from Larry’s brother that he died as my brothers, Dad, and I were driving home from visiting my mom in the rehab center on Christmas Eve.

Mom broke her hip a couple weeks ago and needs extra care and therapy after the surgery. She also has Alzheimer’s.

A couple hours ago I got an email that Mom has been transferred to the emergency room. A little while later a follow up call and email gave me more details. She had a mild heart attack, there is fluid in her lungs, and she is having difficulty breathing.

There were some really nice things that happened too but this is turning out to be a “Christmas to remember.”

After Thanksgiving dinner brothers Doug, Gary, Dad, and Uncle Darrell and I went for a drive and looked at various things at the place where Dad and Uncle Darrell had grown up. We then went for a drive “around the loop” to see other old landmarks Doug wanted some historical discussion on. I took video of most of the discussion about the place my grandfather and great uncle used to own.

When we were driving around we saw a herd of about a dozen whitetail deer. I had enough time to put on my telephoto lens and take some pictures. It’s interesting to see the deer in motion stopped by the camera: