Having lived here now for twelve years, I was thinking of all the natural things that we were used to back east vs. here in the Pacific Northwest.

Let’s start with animals. Back east, the most feared animal one would run into was man.

As we all watch Hurricane Florence hitting the southeastern U.S., I thought back to our six years in South Florida. During that period, we had a direct hit (in Boca Raton) by hurricane Wilma, and a “miss” by Hurricane Katrina.

I got to thinking about just how much the written word means to us all. Just think, you can read up on just about any subject you wish. This is so enlightening. And best of all, you can get this ability for nothing – at your local library, or perhaps also for free on the Internet.

There is a TV show called "Hoarders." It is about people who have a mental disorder, which does not allow them to get rid of anything. You will see someone (usually the real estate agent charged with selling the property) walk in and be “overwhelmed” by the amount of “stuff” inside that dwelling.

When I think back to my grandparents and the life they had in the early part of the 20th century, our parents' lives during and after World War II, our generation's lives during the turbulent 60’s, our children who live into the 21st century, and our grandchildren – born in the 21st century, there is a tremendous difference in how each generation lived.

We’re in the process of building a new home. It’s located on a now empty lot down on the water in Edmonds. At least we thought it was empty, but it turns out we have colonies of Mountain Beaver living underground on this parcel.

I recently had the displeasure of getting a building permit for a new house. I say displeasure as the process took over a year and probably aged me ten years.

The other day I was speaking on the phone to one of my lifelong friends. I got to thinking about what friendship really means. First, I don’t think you have to think too hard to figure out who is a friend and who is not.