DC visit

I had a chance in mid-February to spend the better part of a day flying to DC via LAX:

Ah the joys of urban sprawl.


Stopping in to thank Senator Cantwell for her sponsorship of H.R. 1240: Teaching Geography is Fundamental Act

Bright lights make us squinty.

Weekend XC skiing

Ian and I went up on Saturday to ski at Trollhaugen, a private co-op lodge near Snoqualmie Pass operated by the Sons of Norway. Grandpa and Grandma Frank and Carol are members so they invited us to visit for a half-day. The snow was scarce and icy but we had a good time with beautiful sunny weather.

Ian's last time cross-country skiing was around Christmas in Montana, where there was beautiful snow but the weather was quite cold--around zero F--so we only went for about 20 minutes and Ian wasn't sure that skiing was an enjoyable pursuit at all.This time Ian was all smiles, especially because he had both grandparents to watch and talk to the whole time.

For those of you who we haven't already told, Ian has been officially diagnosed with cerebral palsy. Cerebral palsy is sometimes considered an "umbrella" diagnosis, meaning that it describes symptoms better than the root cause. For now, though, it means his legs don't work right and he is very likely to face continued difficulty in using them. Right now that means he can only crawl by dragging himself with his arms. We are doing intensive physical therapy in the hopes that he will become more mobile.

Fortunately for all of us he is good natured and small enough to easily carry around.
Ian explores an igloo.

Writing again

Hi everyone,

It has been a long time.

I've been caught up in graduate school and family but have also become very troubled by the sense of imbalance in my life. I have grown tired of feeling guilty when at school over not spending enough time with my family, and when with my family over not doing enough work. This is of course not to mention my growing middle-aged angst over not spending enough time in the mountains running, climbing, or skiing.

I realized today that I am spending very little time in reflection or otherwise creatively engaged (though countless academics would here remind me that research often is a creative process).

More specifically, I miss reaching out to and connecting with my friends near and far. This has been a tough year for me in more ways than one and while I don't intend this forum to be a public wringing of hands (there are plenty of those already) it will be a chance to share with you what I'm up to and thereby bring a bit more balance back to my life....so keep an eye on this spot for more news, thoughts, and other postings.

All the best, Tim