Senior Daze

by Katie Bourg

About Katie: Having arrived in time for the Great (?) Depression, WWII, and all other 20th century problems, I am endowed with long and varied memories. Writing classes have long been my home away from home. Other people's stories are fascinating, and sharing is growth at its best. Hope you seniors will join me with your stories. Try it. You'll like it.

Hello Readers,

As the new columnist for Senior Daze, I've received a tough assignment from Editor Beckye: "Write a short bio to introduce yourself." I find it so much easier to write about others.

I've resided in north Snohomish County for thirty-plus years and in the state of Washington for just shy of fifty years. While it doesn't qualify me as native, I'm sneaking up on the "old-timer" title. I'm a mom and grandmother and even a great-grandmother, thanks to one of my son's step-children. I own a farm where my family has raised sheep and horses and, over the years, a variety of other critters.

It seems that, all of a sudden, I find myself approaching that "three score and ten" age. While that milestone is looming, I'm also still trying to figure out Social Security and other items relating to aging. Basically, I'm trying to learn to relate to the world from the vantage of "older citizen."

I have been an ardent environmentalist since, as a three-year-old, I watched birds and small wild animals from my grandmother's kitchen window, looking down through the wooded hillside toward the Cedar River in Michigan. Somewhat later I explored the fields, woods and shores surrounding my parents' lakeside home. I read Gene Stratton Porter's "Girl of the Limberlost," studied books on natural history and tried to identify every bird, plant, fish and mushroom in the neighborhood.

My interest in the environment has led me to participate in various community activities. I served on the committee that studied the possible effects of the application of sludge from Seattle Metro to the Pilchuck Tree Farm, and the committee that studied the Stillaguamish to determine what was causing damage to the clam beds in Port Susan Bay. That committee led to the formation of the Clean Water Board that oversees the county Public Works Division of Surface Water Management's efforts to improve the quality of the water in the river and, hence, the quality of the clam beds and salmon habitat. I served on that board for twelve years and also joined the Stilly-Snohomish Fisheries Task Force that promotes the health of the rivers in our county. I've recently taken classes and achieved the title of Native Plant Steward. And the learning goes on.

No longer having children at home with all their activities, I have found the time and the social need to join some clubs and other groups. I've been an amateur genealogist for some years and enjoy the fellowship of the members of the Stillaguamish Valley Genealogical Society and our wonderful library in Arlington. I found the League of Women Voters years ago when I lived in Kitsap County and we were trying to pass the Shorelines Management Act. I lived on waterfront and wanted to see more protection for that environment. Although I dropped out for a few years when busy with young children, I have been reunited with the terrific LWV group here in Snohomish County.

I became a sheep farmer because I had learned to weave and then to spin wool, although my interest in sheep began as a child in Michigan where I had neighbors who raised them. I am now a member of the Skagit Weavers Guild and gain inspiration from all the fine work of my fellow guild members.

I am still an amateur mycologist, but am learning more about mushrooms with every meeting I attend of the Snohomish County Mycological Society-and the potlucks of that group, with members from so many ethnic backgrounds, cannot be beat!

I have been involved with the Centennial Trail Coalition almost since its inception and look forward to the extension of the trail north of Arlington in the coming year. After spending nearly thirty years considering it, I finally joined the Arlington Garden Club and find this large friendly group very much worth my time.

I'm still getting used to the notion that I am a senior citizen. I tend to think of myself as a student and that doesn't seem to be connected to age, except that there may be a little more time now to pursue all the things that I could never fit into my schedule as a youngster or busy mother. On the other hand, time seems to go faster now and I tend to go slower.

I hope those of you who share my "senior" demographic will find some useful information in this column as we explore the terrain together. Your comments and suggestions are welcome!