The Leaves

At door... waiting to come in.
March, 2011

Tyler Thomas Campbell... "Molly, have you been playing in the leaves?"

Molly... "No, I wasn't playing in the leaves."

Tyler Thomas Campbell... "Are you sure?  Because it definitely  looks like you've been playing in the leaves."

At Seven

As her birthday party approached, her father remarked how she had so many things in her life it might be a good idea to have her friends bring gifts she could in turn donate to children through a local agency.  Her reply at the age of seven; “Don’t you think we should wait until I am more mature?”  In those words. Exactly.

So they waited.  Then, as her next birthday approached the suggestion was made again.  That time, she was ready.  She gave the many gifts and donations from her friends to other children and also helped the agency with their annual Christmas toy campaign.  They continued this tradition for several years.  In the end many thousands of dollars in cash and goods were donated.
   

"I do it!"

From very early childhood, she was an “I do it” sort of person.

A button pusher; any gadget… any time.

An activity; skiing, blading, biking… any time.

She would just dive in fearlessly, marking her enthusiasm for life.

Most often, she would realize the outcome she desired.

When she decided she wanted to visit her grandparents in South Dakota. She didn’t want her mother or father to accompany her. 
She wanted to “do it” herself. 


Her parents were always in awe of the little person with such amazing skills and confidence. So they finally agreed, thinking she was more than capable of handling such an adventure. The day came and they put her on the plane to South Dakota with a change in Denver. She arrived safely and full of self reliance as her proud grandparents picked her up.


Within a day or so, regret set in and she was homesick but she conquered it, assisted by her mother’s soothing words over the phone. 

This was Samantha Marie Campbell at seven... humanitarian and adventurer.

This is how she will be as a UCLA graduate.

Spider Cave - Yosemite!

Stone Entrance to Yosemite's Spider Cave
Slide in. Slide out.
I know, its a way below average photo
but it's the only one I could track down.
It's only about the black part anyway...

The crawl space was pitch black
Just a few feet inside the entrance
The group moved without lights

In a cave black as pitch
Visibility absolute zero
A dozen or so they were
With a seasoned park guide
Training to work as a team

By touch:
Each holding the feet of the one in front
By voice:
Guiding through with simple commands

Through most of it you could not sit up straight
Or hands and knees
You had to belly crawl through Spider Cave

"The cave drops a couple of feet here."
"We are moving to the left."
"We are entering the room."

Daughter leading father
Father leading daughter
Training to trust one another

(The father was proud of his little girl Sam guiding him through.)

All within Yosemite National Park
Known for its magnificent sights
Yet this one offered no sight at all

It was about feel and faith
How strong and comforting each can be

(Recollection of an elementary school class trip Samantha and Tom Campbell made circa 1998. No, there were no spiders...the name just made it spookier for the kids and adults, adding confidence to those who dared enter...and survived.)

Old Dogs

Sacramento's famous Ancil Hoffman horse and foot path
The start of a 3.5 mile adventure for Molly and I.

Two old dogs
Molly and me
On an adventure

To recapture the old days
When she was young
And I had decent wheels

On this trip we had a new companion
The titanium hip (a new wheel)
We were testing all the parts, her, me and the hip

On the venerable Ancil Hoffman trail

But first a little (honest!) background
On my February post surgery visit
My surgeon had these words to share as it ended
"You can jog if you want, but we don't encourage it."

To this old dog those words were license to steal

Ancil Hoffman Golf Club -We circled the perimeter on a great
day and were not conked by a single errant shot!

Very similar to the taste of a watermelon that is stolen
As opposed to one that is purchased
The former infinitely better.

Molly looking over the famous American River - site of the
famous California Gold Rush and a famous Golden Retreiver
A lot of fame to be sure...

Yesterday, some 10 weeks after the fake hip literally 'joined' me
Molly and I were going for it!

Truth be known
The trail is 90% soft packed dirt - easy on the joints

Also, my "jog" is much more like a shuffle
Doesn't even cause Molly to break into a trot

We did it
Just over an hour
Likely around three and a half miles

Molly with the RedSled at the end of the trail
One pooped puppy!

An entire circuit around the park, nature trail, river and golf course

Life is good.
Nah, it is better than good.
It is great.
Just gotta' make it that way.

(You can see a lot more detail when you click on the photos...)