We moved into our house in a development in NW Washington state in 1978.  It is a two-story house with a large back yard in which our three rambunctious and noisy boys could run, jump, and yell with abandon.  We also have a downstairs which housed numerous instruments: piano, violin/viola, guitars, acoustic and electric basses, and a drum set!  The neighbors always said they could tell when the Johnson boys were home. It was a lively place.

Our house is banked on the east side with huge maple trees and on the west with a large cedar grove.  A friend who has come here over the years has affectionately named it The Tree House and it has stuck.  This is where I have worked since I moved my professional counseling office to my home early in this new century and here I have taught classes and hosted numerous groups.  

Over these many years we have made additions in the yard:  a deck with a hot tub, a fire-pit, labyrinth, and informal landscaping including shrubs and flower beds.  Last year we did a major landscape project which included a vegetable garden.  Friends and guests who visit tell us it is like a park. Our sons are grown and live far away and it is a lot of work for the two of us who are in our 80s but it gives us great satisfaction and is a major reason we find it hard to scale down and downsize.

In this summer of 2020 with the life-altering effects of the  COVID19 Pandemic, we have experienced huge gratitude for this place of natural beauty.  It provides us the opportunity to be in nature and experience it as a park which we lovingly have named Johnson Park.  We putter, pull weeds, and enjoy the beauty.  We can also occasionally have small groups sit outside with us on our deck, socially distant of course.  

My intention for this blog is to invite conversation and sharing of ideas in these days of isolation.  I have many areas of interest and welcome input and feedback from you as I share some of my own thoughts and experiences.  We live in such troubled times. We need wisdom and guidance. It is my hope and prayer that together we will be a part of the solution through cooperation, compassion, kindness, and mutual support for the good of all.  

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