Mindblown: a blog about philosophy.
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Birthday Camping with Annika
Annika’s birthday was last month, and one of the things she asked for was a mommy-daughter camping trip. You don’t have to twist my arm about that! She had gotten sick that week, though, so the trip was in jeopardy. But at the last minute she started feeling better, and we were able to go.…
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North Cascades National Park – National Park Week 2016
North Cascades National Park is one of my favorite places to explore. Rugged mountains, jade-green water, few roads, autumn colors – all these things and more draw visitors to the park. North Cascades is smaller than Mt. Rainier or Olympic NP, and gets far fewer visitors. It’s still possible to find solitude in the…
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Book Review: Baby Birds: An Artist Looks Into the Nest by Julie Zickefoose
It’s truly spring here in the Pacific Northwest, and everything is budding and blooming. The birds are noisy in the mornings, the morning chorus announcing the breeding season. Pretty soon, baby birds will be hatching, begging for food, and learning to fly. For the past two years we’ve had bird nests built on our…
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National Parks Week 2016, and Review of National Geographic Guides
April 16-24, 2016 has been designated National Parks Week. This national event is a time to focus on and celebrate all that the National Parks have to offer us. During this week, admission is free to all parks, and special events are planned at many sites. The Park Service has created a special website for this…
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Squires Lake Trip Report – 3/25/16
I’m still researching hikes up in the Bellingham area, so we took the afternoon and hiked around Squires Lake just south of that city. We had sunshine most of the drive up there (except for a convergence zone of dark showers north of Everett), but once we got close to the Chuckanuts, we could see…
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Sehome Hill Arboretum Trip Report 3/18/16
We took advantage of the sunny weather last Friday to head up to Bellingham for another short trip. Aaron had the day off, so he joined us on our adventure. The Sehome Hill Arboretum is a native plant natural area set aside for protection and enjoyment. It’s nestled next to the campus of Western Washington…
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Mental Health Day at the Stimpson Family Nature Reserve
One of things that is hardest for me about parenting is the lack of time alone. Time to process, to think, to let all the other planning and thinking rest for awhile. I’ve learned over the years how important it is for me to get away by myself for some rejuvenation. I generally try to…
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Snowshoeing Blewett Pass
I’ve been wanting to try a different snowshoe trail that’s safe for kids, and last week I saw another family post a report about snowshoeing up at Blewett Pass. That gave me the courage to drive a little farther to check out the trails there. (We had planned to go to Paradise, but the weather…
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Larrabee SP and Whatcom Falls Park – Trip Report
On Friday we made a quick afternoon trip up to Bellingham to visit Larrabee State Park and Whatcom Falls Park. We tried real hard to miss the rain showers, but ended up getting caught in a few. It was worth it anyway! We didn’t get started until a little after noon. I should know better…
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Nisqually Winter Birding
Over Christmas Break we had a chance to join the weekly Wednesday birding trip at the Nisqually Wildlife Refuge. It had been clear and cold for several days, and we 30 degrees when we arrived at 8am. We joined a very large group of birders and walked through different parts of the refuge to see…
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