Thirty-five Years

It is our wedding anniversary today and this picture is dedicated to my wife of of thirty-five years. She is a wonderful lady, mother of eight children, including one handicapped son, now also a grandmother ten times over, my companion through many struggles and trials, and a constant source of encouragement. She's willingly moved away from her own family and moved to New Jersey, to Texas, to Washington and overseas to Northern Ireland. Always willing to help others, she always has time both for her own family and for others and now that our own family is grown she spends a great deal of time visiting and making meals for the elderly and the sick. She is just simply wonderful.

She is also my hiking buddy, always ready for a new adventure. She loves backpacking and camping, photography and nature and even though we are both in our mid fifties, loves roughing it including sleeping on the ground in a tent and subsisting on freeze-dried food, trail mix and Gatorade. When hiking she's like the Energizer Bunny - she goes on and on and on, often out-hiking me. This picture of the Fairy Slipper, Calypso bulbosa var. occidentalis, was taken on our recent hike along Chiwaukum Creek near Leavenworth, Washington, and is a small tribute to her many talents and abilities.

I love you, dear.

N.B. A description of our hike can be found at: ronaldhanko-orchidhunter.blogspot.com/2010/06/chiwaukum-c...