How I help out: so much to do- so little time!

- a volunteer with the American Hiking Society since serving in 2000 on my first project in the heart of the Grand Canyon (late February). We worked, we hiked to Phantom Ranch, hiking out on a day that the mid-elevation rain changed to snow upon reaching the rim.

- I volunteer with the Yosemite Association in California's central Sierra Nevada on trail crews working in the high country of Tuolumne Meadows (8200') since 2004.  www.yosemite.org

- I volunteer with Friends of the Columbia River Gorge since 2003, participating in hikes in the Columbia River National Scenic Area as a shepherd. One hike I lead focuses on the invaluable contribution of the federally-funded relief program of the Civilian Conservation Corps during the Depression era. No surprise that the trail crews of the AHS (for 1 week) replicate the work of the CCCers!    www.gorgefriends.org 

- I volunteer with the First Presbyterian Church- Salem, Oregon and served as an elder, a member of the choir, playing piano, organ, and harpsichord, and am the chairperson of the church's annual Kirkin of the Tartans (Reformation Sunday) in celebration of the historical Scottish roots of the denomination. My husband and I served on a Presbytery team in the Gulf Coast following Hurricane Katrina in 2005. 

- When not volunteering, I travel .. a lot! My husband and I are blessed with one grandchild --but Mason lives far away in our former hometown of Asheville (NC) in the Southern Appalachians. So we fly as often as we can manage to go see him (and our daugher and son-in-law).  Here he's at the wheel of our motorhome. We hope he'll soon qualify to drive it to various places in the Southeast!  Time spent with Mason during the day is the best kind of quality time!
                         Mason - age 22 months - "gentlemen, start yer engines!"   >