A Walk In The Sun

And some folks probably thought I gave up on blogging, or fell into a pit somewhere.

Nope, nothing so dramatic. Just been busy, either being busy, or busy NOT being busy. You know how it is, when you work long hours, its pretty hard work just vegetating. Ok Enough excuses!

It wasnt but a few days ago, when a freind of mine, once again, gave me a gentle prod by making notice of the fact that I hadn't blogged in "a LONG TIME", then I got a "BAD DALE" to boot! Now how can anyone ignore such a thing! So since then, Ive been fiddling around with trying to remember what Ive been doing since the last post. Truth be told, I think Ive satisfied my life-sharing needs on my fun little Twitter thingy where I fire off messages to my freinds and read theirs. Its fun, but it's NOT a blog.

Ive also given some thought to taking a cue from that same freind who also blogs, who dedicates one day a week to a particular theme. One day for positive, happy posts, and another to shall we say, unload the system, with a whine n cry about one thing or another, etc etc.

I might have a hard time finding a day to whine too much, as any long blogging I do gets done on my day off, and I just cant bring myself to blow negetive smoke on my day off! Maybe when summer is over and the weather turns to poop and I get bored sitting inside for weeks on end, THEN I can bitch on my day off! HAAA!! But then, sometimes I just make my mental plans and ideas out loud. So we shall see, what we shall see.

But today, I took a walk..

Twenty-odd miles south of here, just off I-5 sits the Nisqually Wildlife Refuge. Its a beautiful place that is situated in the middle of the Nisqually River delta, where the river empties into Puget Sound after running its course from its birth on Mt. Rainer. Being a wildlife sanctuary, where humans are mere guests, we are limited to simple foot travel, which lends itslef to a peaceful walk through nature.

I took a handful of pictures along the 6 plus mile walk around the perimeter on what is known as "The Dike Path" There is an official name for it, but that is what I'VE always called it. There was a time when this entire area was a farm, and a elevated dike was built around it. Now there is a path on top of that.

Here is a batch of cattails

and a few yellow flowers of some sort that caught my eye.

I was having some "historical" thoughts as I walked.

In this river delta, on the ground I trod today, the beginnings of what we know as the State of Washington were planted.

Issac Stevens, the first Territorial Governor of Washington and some sixty tribal leaders of the surrounding Native tribes, signed what was called the Medicine Creek Treaty in 1854, right here on the shores and fields of this Delta. This treaty, essentially bought the tribal lands for somewhere around $30,000, gave the natives permanent hunting and fishing rights, and of course relegated them to Reservations. I have no idea of the EXACT location of this event, but right there on the banks of that inlet could be just as possible as anywhere else in this delta.I'm not going to use this blog to rant~n~rave about injustice and all that. I try to keep this post light. However, if anyone does see the injustice, they might be interested to know that Ol' Issac "bought the farm" just eight years later while serving as a General in the Union Army at the Second Battle of Bull Run in Virginia in 1862.

A personally interesting sidenote. This 1854 treaty was signed just two years after my own great, great grandfather became the third white settler in Goodhue County, Minnesota in 1852 after emigrating with his family from Norway. And shortly after Governor Stevens was getting himself shot off his horse in Virginia, my great grandfather, Oliver Ryalen the settler's son, found himself firing off cannons with the 10th Minnesota Artillery at the Battles of Nashville and Chattanooga before finding himself on "provost duty" in Mississippi until the end of the Civil War.

Oliver wasnt nearly as glamourous a character as his brother, who after chasing the Sioux around western Minnesota, spent his Civil War adventure in the 10th Minnesota Infantry, and according to family legend, ended up in the stockade when he and some pals decided they'd had enough "soldiering" and stole a train to go home to Minnesota!! He was also the 'mystery" my father struggled with during his thirty year research of our family tree. It seems this character finished his war, returned home and settled down, only to vanish around 1900. My own grandmother related the story of his son, who when on his own death bed in 1961, was reported to have said, "Take me to my father, I know where he is". And that was the last of that.

But MY great grandfather Oliver the apparent responsible one, farmed, married, and raised a batch of kids, the youngest one, Albin Oliver, becoming my own grandfather.

I guess I have Oliver on my mind today since just this morning, on an internet search, I discovered that in November 1878, he was elected as "justice" in the township of Ten Mile Lake, Minnesota. Here is a picture of Grandpa Oliver taken shortly before his death in 1914.

Okay then, that is your history lesson for the day!

Back to my walk.

Sometimes it amazes me just how much many areas here in Washington State, remind me of England. At least the rural part where I lived for my two year time in East Anglia. These rolled bales of hay, brought back some of those mental images.

Here's a few geese, that were giving me some serious popeyed glances as they swam past.
One thing I enjoy on my all to infrequent walks through this Preserve, is the old trees. Sure, they are beautiful, they are majestic, but one should also be aware that they are quite humbling as well. The life and history those old trees have witnessed! When you think like that, it reminds us of just how insignificant we humans really are. To me, a stately old tree has as much "put you in your place" power as a gaze at the Milky Way.

Thats about it for this post. Hope you enjoyed my little shared journey through time and nature.

As always, stay tuned, and remember that as with all my posts, the one you read today might change tomorrow. I do have the inclination at times to go in and edit or add to existing posts.