Of mountains and paperwork

My job is so easy. I sat at my desk attempting to amuse myself most of the day. Unfortunately for my compulsion to work all the time (while I'm getting paid for it), the lawyer who I was hired to support was out today with her ill son. So I had nothing to do. Until I get trained on the IRS paperwork I'm supposed to be working on, I'm getting paid excellent money for twirling my finger through my hair, reading the news, and staring off into space.

Saturday I went to the Mountain with my mom and her friend. It was raining, as usual at this time of year, nice and overcast, and we went in from the north, over to Ohanapecosh River. It was absolutely lovely! I hope some of my pictures of the trees turn out. It's so difficult to capture the majesty and beauty of a giant tree with a standard lens - or a lens of any variety, really. It's the inability to fit the entire tree into your field of view that makes it so impressive. The trees in this part of the Mountain were about one thousand years old. It makes me sad that there were such trees all over Western Washington before they were summarily destroyed, but I'm glad some have survived. Something like those trees - which started growing in the ashes of a giant fire before the Normans invaded England - deserves to be cherished and protected. Paradise was also lovely, covered in the first snow of the season. I have a feeling I'm going to get quite a lot of use out of those hiking books I bought. It's a good thing I like rain - I do believe I'll be hiking in quite a lot of it.

Side note: This picture, which I posted on flickr three days ago, got 30 hits in two days. Clearly, men in kilts and fleeces is the most interesting subject in my photostream.