Today we finally went on a hike after a long, long time. I've missed hiking so much. Tim and I used to go nearly every weekend before Jonah was born, but it was nearly impossible to go for many months after Jonah came around. He would get too fussy on car rides lasting longer than 20 minutes and in a backpack, preferring to walk, first with our help, then alone, but of course, for only short distances.
Today he was pretty fussy in the backpack too, so we had to make frequent stops and didn't hike very far. The best part was our stop over on the shore of the Clackamas River, where Jonah dug in the sand, waded in the cold water, watched the rapids, and threw rocks in deep water, listening to the "plunk" sound with great gusto. The weather was gorgeous!
The most disturbing part of the hike was the graffiti on the picnic table - in German. Scribbled on the table in thick black marker were the words which the Nazis placed over concentration camp gates: "Work brings freedom." But the author also added the word Jews in German. This hit me right in the pit of my stomach. My grandparents and many other relatives were imprisoned in concentration camps, many died there. How could anyone propagate this kind of thought and hate today? And in one of the most beautiful places in our region. Truly despicable.
On a positive note, here are the pics from our trip.
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