October 2, 2026- Hana and I took a longer walk today-2 miles, round trip, going along a paved path in Hoblitzelle Park that passes Hedgecoxe Elementary School and followed the connecting street to its junction with Hedgecoxe Road. There, at the corner, was Montessori Children’s House. So, I noted to my granddaughter that we had passed two possible schools in her future. She was happy; probably because of the delight in my voice.

Later in the afternoon, Hana showed interest in a book I am reading on a more esoteric subject. She noted the two people on the cover, also feeling how smooth the cover was. Then she opened the book and was looking carefully at some charts and graphs. I explained what those were, in very simple terms. She continued looking at the printed pages, for nearly fifteen minutes. I read the title of the book and the authors’ names to her, a couple of times. This is consistent with her keen interest in books, whether they are simple cloth books, pop-ups or more detailed volumes.

HANA’S NOTE- I like Papa helping me with my breakfast and lunch, but i want Mommy to be home and help me with dinner. Papa lets me wait for her, which is nice.

EXPANDING CIRCLES: Washington State-The Evergreen State, like northern California, is a place of enormous contrast. I’ve enjoyed all parts of the state, in five different visits.

The Turf- Western Washington, especially the Olympic Peninsula, is covered by rain forest, and along with southeast Alaska, is one of the wettest parts of the mainland United States. Islands fill the Straits of Juan de Fuca, which separates Washington from Vancouver Island, and Puget Sound, between the Olympic Peninsula and the Seattle area. East of Puget Sound are the foothills of the Northern Cascades. Seattle has some of the sharpest elevation grades of any American city, rivaling San Francisco., East of Metro, the Northern Cascades rise in earnest. Beyond the Cascades, the Columbia Plateau is semi-arid, getting almost desert-like in the southeast corner, known as the Palouse. North of the plateau, the Columbia Mountains extend nearly to Spokane, ameliorating the dry conditions that are prevalent in the southeast of the state. Washington is drained by the Columbia, Snake, Skagit, Toppenish,Snohomish, Cascade, Sauk, Snoqualmie, Sammamish, Duwamish, Puyallup, Nisqually, Okanagan, Cowlitz,Yakima, Spokane, Chelan and Wenatchee Rivers, among nearly 300 divers, streams and creeks,

First Nations- Washington State is the ancestral home of 29 First Nations. The largest of these are the Colville, Cowlitz, Lummi, Makah, Muckleshoot, Nooksack, Port Gamble(Kitsap), Puyallup, Quinault, Spokane, Swinomish, Tulalip and Yakama. In the 1850s, a four-year, territory-wide war between the Yakama and their affiliated nations on the one hand, and the U.S. Army, the Territorial Governments of Washington and Oregon, and the Snoqaulmie Nation, on the other, was sparked by the wanton murder of two Yakama women and an infant, by a party of drunken miners, followed by the husband and father of the victims killing a government emissary and several settlers. The conflict resulted in the establishment of reservations for the Yakama, Spokane and Walla Walla people. Relations between Native and white people today are generally peaceful.

Where I feel most at home- Tacoma, Olympia, Quinault, Neah Bay, Forks, Port Angeles, Spokane, Pullman, Goldendale.

Where I feel most at peace- Neah Bay, Goldendale

NEXT: Oregon