I added another image taken from the same place, but an hour later. The mountain frequently appears pink as the suns starts to set in the evening–often it is much more pink than what is shown here. We are grateful to have this spectacular view.
I cannot help myself. It is January in rainy Washington state and yet Mt. Rainier looks like this from our living room window in the middle of the winter. This is important because we have been trying to make some retirement decisions. Christian is months away from graduating with his PhD and who knows where he will land after he graduates. Kelly has an opportunity on the east coast for, at least, a couple of years that she cannot pass up. I am, God willing, about three years from retirement. Everything seems to be up in the air and there is no way to know where we should be or what we should be doing in the next few years. This view from our window and our kids love for our new place is going a good way in helping us make that decision.
Last week, one of my very long term colleagues (Frank E. ~35 years) flew out to Boston to consult with my current employer on my behalf. We had dinner one evening and discussed retirement and how to do it. I learned a lot and am ever grateful for his mentorship when I was a young engineer and, even more, his mentorship now as a soon to retire, senior level engineer. Based on my conversations with Frank, Lorena and I are pretty sure now that we should stay where we are in Washington, both for financial reasons and for spiritual and personal reasons. Grateful is the best word to describe about these recent interactions. God is good.