The year 2003 - Not as international as others have been, just ten days in England, nevertheless - what a year that was! My trusty 1992 Ford Probe carried me 12,140 miles during the year, about 5 times more than the average driver's annual mileage. And I didn't get any speeding tickets! Age tempers cars as well as women, you suppose?

I was appointed to the Richland City Library Board in June 2002 and in January this year the Board. elected me to Chair the monthly meetings. A chore I'm not suited for but served to the best of my ability.

My spreading middle prompted me to join Richland Community Center fitness room. I did an hour on muscle building machines and a stationary rowing machine. That worked for two months when I realized that stretches and weight lifting I could do at home for the next 30 years without exposing myself to disease from machine grips after nose pickers and hand sneezers. Wasn't difficult to rationalize out of that one!

In February I flew to Washington DC for Friends (of McNary) Conference, attended workshops and carried a Centennial Pendleton blanket on my shoulder or on an umbrella - a feat that earned a photo in the regional publication of US&FW. I wrote a story for that paper as well as short articles for the Environmental Education of WA paper.

March began the year-long celebration of the Centennial of the National Wildlife Refuge System. A special pelican stamp was released for First Day of Issue. I led a Pelican van parade through Pasco to the Burbank school for a special Centennial program. I designed a cachet on which the stamp was canceled by the US Postal Service right out at the McNary Education Center. The regional office of US&FW sent an 8"diameter x 3' high time capsule container that I am working to fill for an undetermined burial by Refuge management. Our Centennial Pendleton blanket has not sold as well as expected.

In March I drove to Mitchell, Oregon, met Emmy (from Klamath Falls) for a few days of viewing the Painted Hills and a fun game called Hand and Foot, a version of Canasta I'm told. She came to Richland in May, slept on my floor, and went with me to Judy's cabin near White Pass. Tim entertained her for a few hours while I was at the Refuge and described her as high maintenance. I returned alone to the cabin in June and enjoyed the solitude.

Ten day tour in April was the highlight of the year spent in England with Ashton. What fun seeing the old city through a teen's eyes! She was thrilled to pet a Queen's horse and hold a mouser in the barn. We were awed with Shakespeare's Globe theater, an authentic restoration built of a thousand oak trees according to original plans except for the addition of fire sprinklers and electric lights. What a shame to paint those magnificent trees to look like marble columns! We looked over London in the rain from the top deck of a tour bus and the giant ‘ferris' wheel. Built by British Airways it is the world's largest observation wheel (as of 2003). In 1990 I went up in the then highest wheel in Vienna. From London we went to the Roman baths, Stonehenge and Lacock, an old village used in Harry Potter films.

Then we took the train to Southampton and were met by Dorice Agol, a Kenyan student I knew from my first African trip at Lake Bogoria. Dorice cooked a Kenyan meal for us. From Southampton we all went to experience medieval times at Warwick Castle. Dorice's photographer friend treated us to a motorcar tour of the King's forest and an English meal. Dorice knew more of the geography than I and suggested we take the return train directly to Gatwick airport instead of going via London. It did not register in my addled brain that we should be staying overnight in London before going to catch our homeward flight so we found ourselves at Gatwick airport 24 hours ahead of the flight. The night in the airport lounge is a separate story.

ARC of Tri-Cities exists for the disabled and I operate a kid-sized puppet in "Count Me In" skits at schools to help young children understand disabilities. My Mitch, has a learning disability and my Sally has cerebral palsy. That is only on Mondays.

In May I helped with 600 student visits at McNary NWR then went into high gear to raise funds for the local Democratic party - letter plea, spaghetti dinner, and yard sale. I took my ‘touch table' of animal pelts and bird parts to schools in Pasco and a full day in Quincy.
My own kids got together and put up a six-foot cedar security fence for me. Tim pulled out the rotting cedar posts and wire fence the weekend before Nancy and Jerry arrived. Dan drove in from California. Mike and June had returned from Yellowstone Park and stopped to work on the job. Tom and Susie came and before Saturday was over, the fence was intact. I had a serious case of bronchitis and just sat around and watched it happen. Mike helped me later to put a new floor and foundation under my tin storage shed. Nancy and Tim eventually worked on a foundation on the small gazebo.

I drove to Nancy and Jerry's in July, left my car there and flew to St. Louis, MO, to board a sternwheeler for a centennial celebration of National Wildlife Refuges. That was 10 days of lazily cruising up the Mississippi with River lore, birdwatching, and history of the National Wildlife Refuge System. ‘Mark Twain' and ‘Teddy Roosevelt' came aboard for speeches. Because I have long been interested in stamps and got the stamp club involved at the McNary cancellation, I attended stamp shows around the state. I joined the local club and designed the cachet for the annual local stamp show for Sacajawea station. I led Nature Walks at the State Park for the historic Lewis & Clark "Down the Mighty Columbia" Day. We'll do that event 4 more years!

A little old chicken coop disgraced my back yard and I managed to tear that apart and get out of the way. Some of the lumber it rendered was useful. I had a time chasing down the plastic peanuts used for the insulation. In leveling some areas and digging post holes a wealth of rocks appeared. Those will become yard decorations some energetic day.
On October 11, I flew to Washington DC for an annual Atheist meeting and later toured Mount Vernon and Smithsonian Museums. The Second Saturdays of every month I plan a special event at the Refuge. We've had bird banding, retriever demonstrations, teepee building, insect studies, wildflower walks, and lots of fun nature activities for the public. I spent 3 days at the Salmon Festival in Leavenworth learning about kids activities to use at my Refuge.

Grandaughter, Naomi, was married in a grand production in November. My corsage still rests in the fridge. She and husband, Bryan with kids Katlin and Kyle, live in Kennewick but I haven't been able to connect with her much since. Tim and I drove down to Grand Ronde later and after visiting with Mike and June, we went to the Evergreen Aviation Museum for a look at Howard Hughes' Spruce Goose. Its tailfin is wider than the wingspan of the B-17. A wonderful museum at McMinnville, Oregon.

I worked a lot in my private back yard rearranging shrubs, rock piles and planting bulbs. Squirrels took all the English walnuts and hazel nuts so harvest was limited to the Black walnuts they couldn't reach. Don't think those nuts are too hard to crack because the crafty rodents were eating them before they developed. They actually ate the husks when green. I still had a bushel of nuts left over so I shouldn't complain.

The most exciting things I did in December was rake leaves and scrub the kitchen carpet. Hard frequent winds brought sand into every nook and crevice in the house during a dry and very hot summer. Warm rains came in December and continued to the end of the year.

And that is the year that was. Each episode warrants an article of explanation - yet to come.

Great in my humble estimation. Hope yours was as satisfactory.

Naomi Sherer