Packing

Anytime a vacation includes flights, we travel with carry-on luggage only, which means that careful planning has to take place for an 18-day trip like the one coming up starting Sunday.

One of us starts thinking about what to take about six weeks in advance, with constant refinements as the travel date approaches and extended weather reports have a greater likelihood of being correct. The other starts thinking about it a few days in advance.

I wish we had suitcases into which we could stuff things as tightly as Mother Nature packs new growth at this time of year, as seen in this dwarf Sitka spruce in our front yard. A Pacific Northwest native, it's one of our favorite plants, with an attractive rounded shape and buds encased in golden "wrappers" which open to reveal the new, soft needles.

Three more "sleeps" before we go!