One of the things I try to do when I go on hiking and photo trips here in the Pacific Northwest is to patronize mom-’n-pop grocery stores or pubs in the small mountain towns where I’m hiking or making photographs. By doing this, I put my money into that local economy, plus I get to hang out with nice folks, and maybe even hear stories about what it’s like to live in Ashford, Washington, at the foot of Mt. Rainier, or in Ellensburg, in Central Washington’s dry, sagebrush country.
Some of those mountain towns have come to feel almost like second homes to me. A trip is not “official” for me if I haven’t stopped to buy a hunk of locally-made cheese at Everybody’s Store in Van Zandt, or had a beer at the historic Brick Tavern in Roslyn.
Thus, my heart is heavy this week as I have followed the terrible news about the recent, deadly mudslide in Oso, Washington that killed 29 people, with 20 still missing. Oso is one of the mountain towns I have visited often when I’ve done hikes near Glacier Peak; and, in fact, my hiking friends and I had considered a trip near there the weekend of the slide. It turned out that a weather forecast of better weather in Central Washington took us in that direction instead.
The mudslide in Oso is one of those events that I’m sure reminds all of us that each day of life is a gift. I woke one morning this week and the first thing I saw, before I even got out of bed, was the scene above: Spring blossoms on the flowering plum trees in our back yard, and beautiful light on the bedroom curtains. Another day presented the image you see below. Two days. Two gifts.
Several months ago when I photographed an address that the Dalai Lama gave to a crowd of several thousand in Oregon, he began his talk by saying: “Good morning brothers and sisters.” He went on to talk about the many ways we human beings are similar, the things we have in common, and he said we should practice love and compassion for one-another.
“Human beings are social creatures,” the Dalai Lama has said. “A concern for each other is the very basis of our life together.”
