Monday, April 14, 2008

My Sweet Evelyn I shall always remember you.

Today one of the greatest people I have ever known has passed on. I began working with Evelyn when I was 20. I had gotten a job at Fidelity National Title. She was an assistant to the Attorneys in the company and I was an entry level processing employee. I sat and entered numbered data into the computer all day. Evelyn saw me and realized what a hard worker I was. I have never been a ladder climber. It is not something that concerns me, however, I was concerned about making more money in order to become more comfortable in my life and at the time I thought I might one day have children and kids are expensive. Having been raised to put in work when needed whenever Evelyn needed help I would volunteer to help. At the time I was doing pretty good at the ladder climbing thing just by doing what I had been taught to do… work hard. So Evelyn and I spent a good many nights and even some weekends doing horrible things like stuffing envelopes and binding hundreds of convention notebooks. As time went by I was transferred into another job working more closely with her. I loved her. She was witty and just good all around. She had a wonderful husband and they were perfect for each other. She had a terrific daughter who was the gleam in Evelyns eyes. Through the years Evelyn had some hard times but if ever there was a Pollyanna that woman was it. I grew and became who I am with Evelyn’s help. When I landed in a dead end reception position that truly wasted many of my talents she challenged me to Bloom where I was planted and with her help I did. I grew as a person and learned new things. The woman was amazing in every aspect. She helped me through so much in my life. She helped me plan my wedding and then helped me through my divorce. She was with me when I made the decision to move to Seattle and rooted me on towards moving forward in my life. She meant so much to me and I know that she knows that.
When I got the call a month ago that she was sick I was devistated. How is it that the good people in this world are the ones we lose? Maybe it’s because they have acomplished what they need to and it’s time for them to move on? If that’s the case then I wonder about people that live to be 90 or 100. Are they just slower? Do they not get done what needs to be done? It’s amazing how we go along in life and think we know how things work and then something like this hits and we become dumbfounded and everything we think or even know becomes wrong. Yesterday I was riding around town carefree and singing along when the radio played “only the good die young” I have heard this song hundreds of times but to me it was just an upbeat tune that I never really got. It’s just so sad.

Well today has been a rainy day which truly suited my mood. The wind is blowing and the clouds have blocked out the sun that peeked through a little earlier. Evelyn would have loved the cherry blossoms.

Tuesday, April 01, 2008

Save the Pacific Northwest Tree Octopus!

Anyone out there that really knows me knows that in general I hold animals in higher esteem than I do humans. I came across a creature recently that I would like to bring to the attention of all my friends. It is the great northwest tree octopus. The pictures of these creatures are amazing. They are apparently very rare to the area and are on the verge of extinction. For more information on this amazing creature check out this website:

http://zapatopi.net/treeoctopus/

If you are interested in even more info there are dozens of sites dedicated to this oddity. You should google them it is quite fascinating. If you live here in the northwest keep an eye out for them. If I come across any in my future hiking excursions I will make sure to post pictures. I hope to spread the word about this amazing oddity of nature.

Enjoy!