I love how the Inland Northwest is constantly surprising me. A drive down a road I’ve explored many times before, and still I discover something new and wonderful. There is magic hiding in this land, even in the flat treeless plateau above the Colombia river. And it is these small secrets, these unexpected wonders folded into the ordinary and drab landscape, that make me love my life here. I am so far away from what I still consider home, the green hills and wildflowers of Central Texas that my heart never ceases to yearn for… but there is joy here also. And I love finding that joy, anticipating it and letting it surprise me all at the same time, because what I discover is always beyond my expectations.