Accidental Tourist

Sometimes some of the most wonderful discoveries are made when you are not looking for them.  So it was that we four Valley Visitors, having left the Iris gardens about 4:00, decided to follow a sign along the highway leading to a hosta and fern nursery.

I think we all expected a small backyard operation.  We were very pleasantly surprised by Seabright Gardens!

Not yet knowing what we were in for, we parked and walked up the drive to the greenhouse.

Did that sign say "100's of varieties"?  I'm sure that is correct!

 Laurie shopped for several plants, but choosing just two was very hard.  Tom and I have sort of filled up our yard for now, but we were ready to start ripping out and start over.

Then I began to notice the pathways leading from the greenhouse and the shop which I never did get into.  Garden paths are places I must go.

 This garden was surrounding the owner's home, but was not marked "Private" anywhere, and was obviously their display garden, so we just kept on going, and marveling at what we saw.

 On the hillside was what looked to be a test garden for iris and peonies.

 We saw this red stemmed beauty near the end of the garden, and it sent Arnie back to the greenhouse to see if they had it in stock.  They did, and it went home to Winlock.

That was just a wonderful, serendipitous experience!

A Voice From the Past

About three weeks ago I got a surprise phone call from a former student.  We're talking way back - Karen was in my class in 1970.

I had married Tom in the spring of 1969, where we both taught in the same school.  That next school year, fall of 1969, I was required to transfer to another school.  Married couples were not allowed to teach in the same school.  I transferred from Mt. View to Sunny Terrace.

My first year there was kind of tough, with a large class and neighborhood disputes carrying over into the classroom. But my second and third year were much better, and that's when Karen Whelan was in my class.

Karen had found a contact number somehow and called me out of the blue.  I remembered her fairly well and even more so when I checked back to my career album of old class photos.  In her 50's, she is a lawyer with the Assistant Attorney General's Office in Las Vegas.  We exchanged blog addresses and linked up on Facebook. Through these connections I have heard from a few more students for that class. 

I went back and read posts on Karen's blog that told the story of her trek to Base Camp of Mt Everest two years ago.  She is now training for Machu Picchu. She is a remarkable woman.

Wednesday I settled down to catch up on my blog reading and I found a new posting from Karen.  What it said blew me away.  Entitled "Adventure In Learning", it tells of her love of reading and the part I play in developing that love. I encourage you to follow the link and read her post, especially if you are one of the many retired or active teachers on my blog roll.

You never know the impact you might have on others as you go through life.  If you are lucky, you might get a blast from the past that lets you know of one such impact, and warms your heart. 

(This is my second posting for today, because this just happened.  Be sure to scroll down and see the beautiful Iris Festival in the previous post)

The Iris Festival

In the Skagit Valley north of Seattle, several large tulip growers have created the Tulip Festival, which is an opportunity for visitors to see the flowers in bloom and then hopefully place their orders for bulbs. I posted about that event earlier. 

In the Willamette Valley there are many specialty nurseries.  One such is the Schreiner Family, growers if irises.  They have created the Iris Festival.  That's where we went Memorial Day afternoon.

My sister Laurie has been here before, of course, having lived in the valley much longer that I did.  She has fond memories of this being one of the last places she took our mother.

We loved all of the companions plantings, like peonies, alliums, lupine, and especially columbine.

 A green oasis around the private residence.  I can't resist peaking in.

 How would you ever select just one or two?

 There were some artists in action.  This is Peggy Moje'.

 These photos were all taken in the display gardens.  There are also growing fields.

Now how's that for some color? 
And there's more to come.