Two Nephews And A Niece In Danger From A Tacoma Tiger

A few minutes ago I was surprised to find myself looking at photo documentation of my nephews, David & Theo and niece, Ruby, having a close encounter with a tiger.

Years ago I had a mostly undeserved reputation for putting my Nephews in Danger. This was pre-Internet, thus pre-websites, pre-blogging, and yet I remember some sort of computer produced production titled Nephews in Danger. If I remember right, when the Internet came along I did eventually webpage Nephews in Danger.

I do not remember ever putting my nephews in a dangerous situation involving a tiger.

There was a Nephews in Danger incident, or two, where the nephew in danger agreed to not tell his parental units the details of a particular incident.

I remember one nephew in danger incident that I still have nightmares about every once in awhile. It was late October, nephew Joey and I decided it sounded like fun to hike up Sauk Mountain. This is an easy hike accessed from the Skagit Valley, about 30 miles upriver from our home zone of Mount Vernon and Burlington.

The drive to the Sauk Mountain trailhead is a twisting turning series of switchbacks and other mountain road type fun. The temperature was below freezing. There were some patches of ice on the road, but we easily got to the trailhead and started our hike.

The hike to the top of Sauk Mountain is mostly long switchbacks, going back and forth, gaining elevation. The higher we climbed the more ice covered the trail. I remember telling Joey we had to be real careful, and that if we slipped, try and enjoy the slide down the mountain, while trying to stop the slide.

As we neared the top of the mountain the solid ice became problematic. That may have been the point when I realized the extent to which I had put my nephew in danger.

And then it began to snow. Hard. Real hard.

I told Joey we needed to head down the mountain as quickly as possible, but slow enough to not slip.

Visibility diminished as the snow increased in volume. As the elevation got lower the trail became less icy. At the end of the switchbacks we pretty much ran back to my motorized vehicular transport, which, if I remember right, was a Mazda pickup.

Joey and I were a bit cold, under dressed in shorts and t-shirts. I recollect shivering while waiting for the vehicle's heating system to heat up.

I remember Joey's teeth clattering as he said that this was the most fun thing we've ever done.

The last time I saw nephew Joey was early August of 2008. At Bay View State Park, on Padilla Bay, in Skagit County. Joey's mother was there. The subject of the Sauk Mountain Nephews in Danger incident came up that day, but after Joey's mother left.

Last year I was surprised to open an email to find photo documentation from Joey's mom, she being my favorite ex-sister-in-law, with the photos documenting Joey's mom's hike to the top of Sauk Mountain!

I figured enough time had passed, statute of limitations type thing, that it was okay for me to suggest to Joey's mom that she ask Joey about the last time he and I hiked to the top of Sauk Mountain.

I don't know if Joey's mom asked Joey about hiking to the top of Sauk Mountain. I know when such an incident has been revealed in the past, I was usually the recipient of a very heartfelt scolding. But, like I already suggested, I think the statute of limitations has run out on this incident.

Now, I must try and find out who is responsible for putting David, Theo and Ruby in Danger with a Tiger....

Spencer Jack Is a Great Nephew In Danger

Spencer Jack & Whatcom Falls

That is my great nephew, Spencer Jack, standing on the bridge in front of Whatcom Falls in Whatcom Falls Park in Bellingham, Washington.

Spencer Jack's dad, my nephew Jason, has been taking Spencer Jack to the various places I used to take my nephews when they were little kids.

My nephew calls me FUD, the initials mean "Favorite Uncle D."

Regarding me taking my nephews to various locales my nephew had this to say, which made me feel good, "Time limits us to a local adventure each week, but as I learned from FUD, there is much to do.  You proved that to me and brother Joe years ago. We always looked forward to our Uncle outtings that freed us from our parents."

I used to enjoy the nephew adventures too. My nephews would be appalled to see what passes for a scenic hiking location for me these days.

Years ago, after the Statute of Limitations had passed, I made a bunch of webpages along the theme of "Nephews in Danger."

There is a park in Anacortes called Washington Park. There is a very scenic drive through Washington Park. At the final scenic viewpoint you are quite high above the saltwater below. I had explored all over these cliffs and bluffs. There are miles of trail. From the scenic overlook I hiked with my nephews down to the water. My nephews took their mom and dad to Washington Park and when they reached the scenic overlook they told their parental units that they hiked all the way to the water with FUD.

My brother, and his then wife, had never bothered to get out of their car to see that it is totally doable, and safe, to hike to the water.

I got a phone call from my brother scolding me about putting my "Nephews in Danger."

From that point forward my adventures with my nephews were called "Nephews in Danger."

Spencer Jack Is Looking Concerned

This is why the subject line of the email containing the Whatcom Falls pictures said "Great Nephews in Danger."

So, like I said, years ago, over a decade ago, actually, I webpaged " Nephews in Danger."

I Googled "Nephews in Danger" last night to see if I still had those webpages online. I was surprised to see that I had previously blogged about "Nephews in Danger."

I don't think the Nephews in Danger webpages are indexed by Google, but they are still online amongst my appallingly large number of web files.

I was surprised when I saw that the decade plus old Nephews in Danger webpages no longer worked right.

A long long time ago there was this now long ago outdated webpage making method called Frames. I did not realize, til last night, that modern day browsers no longer, apparently, support framed webpages. So, if you go to Nephews in Danger and click on a link, rather than open in the main frame, the page opens in its own tab or window.

Anyway.

Looking at the old pictures of Nephews in Danger made me both nostalgic and homesick. Those Nephews in Danger episodes seem so recent, in my memory, but they all took place in the last decade of the previous century.

I Am Being A Melancholy Baby In Texas Today

It does not happen too often, but every once in awhile something will trigger me in to a melancholy mood. Sort of a wistful, nostalgic, sad feeling.

Today is my little sister's birthday. That is her in the picture at about 4 years old. I'd moved on to college by the time my little sister was about 2.

When I'd come home from college and come in to the house, my little sister would run at me at full speed and literally jump into my arms.

We had a poodle then, named Peppy. Peppy and my little sister would act the same way. All glad to see me.

But, thinking of my little sister, back when she was little, is not what got me melancholy.

I was in the ALDI store in Hurst. There was a little kid that so reminded me of my nephew, Joey.

When my nephews were little kids I used to have so much fun taking them places. To Seattle, up in the mountains, across the mountains to Eastern Washington. Up to Canada.

Joey is the nephew who would go mountain biking with me. The last time I was in Port Townsend, Joey and I parked at Fort Casey State Park and rode our bikes on the ferry to Port Townsend, then pedaled out to Fort Worden. We were having too much fun and barely made it on the last ferry of the day, which turned out to be a rock and roll wild ride, due to a big tide change.

I last talked to Joey after the tropical storm Hermine flooded us in North Texas. Joey saw it on the news. Apparently it looked bad. So, Joey called to see if I got flooded. We talked for a long time. The grown up Joey is my nephew who most reminds me of the little kid version of a nephew.

I last saw Joey in person in early August of 2008, at Bay View State Park, in the Skagit Valley. I was in the valley to meet my grand nephew, Spencer Jack, for the first time. So, Joey came out to the park.

The summer before I moved to Texas, Joey and his brother took me to Las Vegas for 4 days. That was the last time I've spent extended time with any of my nephews. That was 1998. Joey was 15 when we went to Vegas.

I did some of my usual "Nephews in Danger" stuff when were in Vegas.

If I remember right the Hard Rock Casino and a Bordello Museum in Pahrump were involved. Also swimming, after dark, in Lake Mead, behind Hoover Dam.

That is Joey and me on the roller coaster at the New York New York Casino. I am not a big fan of getting flipped upside down on a roller coaster.

A lot has changed since I moved to Texas.

One of my sister's and her family moved to Phoenix, along with my two youngest nephews.

My mom and dad moved to Phoenix.

My brother, Joey's dad, moved to Phoenix, well, actually Maricopa, south of Phoenix. It's just easier to say they live in Phoenix. If I say Chandler, Sun Lake or Maricopa, no one knows where that is, just like on a trip, whilst living in Washington, I'd say I was from Seattle, not Mount Vernon.

Or like now, I say I'm from Dallas, not Fort Worth. Dallas and Seattle have greater name recognition than Fort Worth and Mount Vernon.

Anyway, thinking about fun times, long gone, never to be repeated, is what has me feeling melancholy.

I think a hike around the Tandy Hills will break me out of this mood. Or make it worse by getting me dwelling on where I used to hike and what I settle for now.

Hiking & Biking In Washington With Jeremy & My Other Nephews

You are looking at my nephew Jeremy, aka JR, sometime in August, back in the previous century, on a suspension bridge across a glacier melt creek, on the Schrieber's Meadow trail up Mount Baker, in my old home state of Washington.

Jeremy and several others were taking me on a hike for my birthday. I don't quite remember how that came about, because this is a rather difficult hike and most of these people were not hikers.

When we reached the suspension bridge Jeremy balked. It took a lot of convincing to get him to cross it. In the picture you are looking at Jeremy's triumphant crossing on the way back down the trail. Obviously he had conquered his fear.

As you can see it was a very foggy hiking day. We only made it to the base of Mount Baker, did not make it as far as the Railroad Grade, that being the moraine carved out by a glacier. If Jeremy had a problem with that suspension bridge he really would have hated the Railroad Grade.

That would be me sitting on a log going through my backpack, with my little sister on the left.

I had a lot of mountain fun with Jeremy and my other nephews when I lived in Washington. I remember a cross country skiing adventure with Jeremy's older brother, Christopher, on the east side of Mount Baker, we got high up on some logging roads and had a very adventurous descent.

A time or two I took my nephews on adventures where I think I may have been not exhibiting good uncle judgment. Like one time nephew Joey and I hiked to the top of Sauk Mountain in the Skagit Valley in a snowstorm. It was very icy. Anyone reading this who knows Sauk Mountain is likely cringing at the idea.

I remember just recently Joey's mom emailed me pictures of herself at the top of Sauk Mountain. She told me Joey told her he and I had done that hike. I told her not to ask Joey about the details of that hike because it'd likely lead to me getting scolded, even though the statute of limitations had run out.

My nephew adventures became known as Nephews In Danger after I made a Christmas calendar using pictures of our adventures and called it Nephews In Danger.

In the picture where Christopher and Jeremy are holding chunks of ice, we'd hiked to the Ice Caves, which you can see behind the nephews. This is a yearly phenomenon that you access from the Mountain Loop Highway north of Granite Falls. The snow melts and forms these big caves. There are enter with caution signs. I think entry may now be banned due to there having been a death or two due to falling ice. But, if it's way below freezing, the danger is minimal. So, we explored the Ice Caves.

The best adventure I ever had with Jeremy and his brother took place in September. The snow had melted off the parking lot at the end of the road that leads past the Mount Baker Ski Area. From that parking lot you can easily walk out on Mount Baker. Or climb to the top of Tabletop Mountain. Or hike a number of other trails.

We hiked to the top of Tabletop Mountain, where I took my all-time favorite picture, the original of which I have been unable to find, which perplexes me very much.

That is Mount Shuksan behind Jeremy and Christopher. Christopher is looking south towards Mount Baker. Jeremy is contemplating throwing a snowball at me.

You get to the top of Tabletop Mountain via a series of switchbacks. As a kid I had a memory of seeing this and it looking so strange, seeing people walking up this mountain.

As the years passed I would think of this and think it was something I had imagined. And then, well after I was on my own, I was back at Mount Baker. And there I saw what was what I thought had been an imagined thing, but it was real.

Hiking to the top of Tabletop Mountain, with Jeremy and Christopher, was the first time I had done so. As you might guess from the name, the top is very flat. At the western side it slopes down and is covered with ice, also known as a glacier, or at least very heavy snow.

That is Jeremy watching his brother go over the edge of the ice/snow/glacier. Christopher had not anticipated, nor had I, how fast that slope would shoot him down the slope.

He asked me about 10 times if he should do it. I saw no real danger. When he shot out so fast and went so far, I was a bit worried.

But then it looked fun. So Jeremy and I followed his brother, with Jeremy first and me following down the glacier. That is Mount Baker that Jeremy is body skiing towards.

When I lived in Washington Jeremy also went bike riding with me frequently. I remember one fun time when Jeremy and his cousin, my nephew Joey, rode our bikes from Tracey Owen Park at the south end of Lake Washington, on the continuation of the Burke-Gilman Trail, all the way to the St. Michelle Winery. Where we locked up our bikes and took the tour.

Another memorable bike ride with Jeremy and his brother was from Larrabee State Park on Chuckanut Drive, pedaling the Interurban trail into Bellingham. This bike trail is an old train route. It is adventurous in a couple places. Jeremy balked. But then un-balked. This trail ends at the Alaskan Ferry Terminal in Fairhaven.

As we were leaving the ferry terminal, a cop pulled us over.

We were given free ice cream tickets to reward us for wearing our bike helmets. So, we went to the ice cream shop in Fairhaven and had ice cream cones.

I really do miss Washington sometimes. Like now. And. I miss my nephews sometimes. Like now.

I remember when I moved to Texas my sister telling me she thought it might be hard on Jeremy not to have me to call up, to come down, and do stuff with him or talk to about what's on his mind.

I remember my mom and dad being here in Texas, October of 2001. The Afghan Invasion was underway. We were driving along and for some reason we called Phoenix, where by then my nephew and his brother and parental units had moved. Jeremy answered, he was home alone. This was being the first time in his living memory his country had gone into war mode. It made him understandably nervous.

I did not see Jeremy again in person until February of 2004. And then again in April of 2006.

I need to go to Phoenix.