I have been having grand adventures around the area for my spring break. Actually, my finger tips are so sore right now, it's hard to type. The reason why is I got to work on a garden plot. There is only two organic farms in Tacoma and I have a plot of garden in one of them. My friend John is a Jesuit Volunteer and he lives in a house next door to a intentional community. They have the organic garden. They gave space to John to plant and have fun and knowing how much I love gardens and getting my hands dirty he invited me to have it with him. We worked yesterday in the pouring rain and the brilliant sunshine. It was a very fickle day and on moment would be blue skies and warm sunshine. The layers would need to be stripped off and then passed thirty minutes and the pouring rain that drenches you in seconds would start. When it was raining we would retreat to the greenhouse and we planted seeds of tomatoes and basil. In the garden plot we were preparing the land by getting ride of the intruding morning glory, black berry bushes and fennel. I come alive when I'm in a garden surrounded by nature, but my fingers sure paid the price. It's even tender to the slightest touch making writing, typing, and dishwashing unbearable.

I had a beautiful spring break. Just breath taking. On Sunday through Wednesday my friend and housemate Julia and I drove up to Mount Rainier. We snow shoed for 7 miles with a 2,000 foot elevation gain to a little cabin called Cooper Creek Hut. It's run by a non-profit and can sleep 14, so each night we had different company. During the day we would take long day hikes that lead us out on the very tops of mountain ridges. The mountain was close and up in our business. We would come back to the cabin right when the other groups were booting up and heading out for their day skis. This left the cabin quiet and peaceful. We blasted the fireplace and got all toasty after taking a quick snow bath. With so many others sharing space we had to share the stove, but worked out really nice and we made some delicious food including a Trader Joes pot roast and roasted green beans and almonds.

Wednesday was a day of relaxing and transition as I got ready for the second half of my break. I drove the opposite way this time to the Olympic mountains. I was so engulfed in my music that the hour and half dive seemed like minutes. Here I stayed with my friends the Weissgerbers. They are a comfortable older couple in their late sixties. I had a lot of space to read, work on a puzzle, and journal. Mary Lou was an excellent cook and I looked forward to her meals. One day we went exploring on the shores of Lake Cushman and we all found walking sticks as souvenirs.

I had such a wonderful spring break and today we went back to school. We had a great day and I was surprised with how much my students had grown. They came back with new hair dos and a couple of inches taller.