My mother, a late bloomer? I've never thought of her that way until last week, when I heard Melissa Barker's presentation about finding records for our female ancestors. Suddenly I could hear Mom's voice saying that her last job was most important of her life, even more than raising my sister and me. While thanking Melissa for her lecture I tried to say what Mom told me, and choked up with emotion. I was overwhelmed with grief, but also with joy that Mom found a way to heal her own heart while working in a prison! My mother was on her own from about age thirteen when she worked and boarded with a couple with young children before and after school. She wanted to pass the high-stakes test in Canada at the end of grade nine, so she could go to high school. During her time with that family, lots happened, including a burst appendix and time in hospital recovering from the infection and surgery. This all happened miles away from her mother and siblings in Calgary, Alberta, Can...

Our ancestors in the US faced all kinds of challenges, many of which have been overcome or lessen through time, such as transportation difficulties, food spoilage, lack of medical care, and slow or nonexistent communication methods.  Goldilocks? A common predator which still threatens humans and our pets remains though -- BEARS! Yes, we have bears in south King County! Years ago I used to get milk from a family locally in Black Diamond. One week when I stopped by for my gallon of milk, she told me that a bear attacking their beehives out in the orchard scared the cow which was giving milk and made her dry up! I guess it's true that bears love honey. A year or two after that, as I was coming home in the evening after dark, I saw shadowy figures on the road. As I slowed, I thought, what are clowns tumbling across the road for? As I got close enough for the headlights to let me see just who was crossing the road, I saw a mama bear and her two cubs walk into the woods! No clue why my b...