Once Upon a Time...

...there was a girl who lived on Tiger Mountain near Issaquah, Washington surrounded by forests She would help her mom garden in the yard (pulling weeds and carrying the pail, really), yell across the street at her friend (because she couldn't cross the street) and wait for her dad to come home.

Life was good - all she had to worry about was where her teddy bear was, figure out what Halloween was all about and when did she get to visit her grandparents. There was no thought of school, the weather or how food came to the table. The only decadent food and drink she knew was chocolate and coffee milk that her grandparents gave her.

There were times when she would venture out and see her world. Her favorite places were parks along the shores of Lake Washington and Lake Sammamish. There were trips to Lake Chelan and even long roads trips to California and Nevada. She got to hang out in the back of her parents station wagon and sleep on her old crib mattress while Dad drove in his hipster sunglasses.

As she got older she and her teddy bear would play with her new doll and miniature pool table she got for Christmas. Life was really good learning to shoot pool and even play penny ante poker with her relatives! Her favorite singer was Tom Jones and her favorite TV show was The Flying Nun. She would sit in front of the big console television and stare at in disbelief!

Life became more interesting when her dad relocated and they had to move to Forks, Washington (way before the vampire appeared!). And she was going to be a big sister. Her sister was born in August. This was the time the sun was out - a lot - the circus came to town and she even went to the movies with her mother. Her mom laughed until she cried at something called the Pink Panther. She learned about growing things and where fruit came from. One day she would see a fruit tree - many of them ...