Every day I get up and look out my window or go for a drive, and I am fascinated. The beauty of the bare branches outside my window with the assortment of winter birds gathering for a chatty get-together. The glory of the Olympic mountains, across the Sound, the snow helping to bring definition to the slopes and peaks. The wonder of landscapes that are hidden during summer with the full bloom of native vegetation, now more frankly on display with no shy covering of rampant growth.

Several times a week I will proclaim, we are so lucky to live in such a beautiful place. I am known to go on about the Cascades, the Olympics, Mt Baker, Mt Ranier, it is hard to stop.

Recently I have stopped to listen. Within the last 24 hours I have heard from four close friends who also are

As you look at the news today, is there one universal message from the health care and medical community?

We know that insurance options are up in the air, many people are concerned about paying more, much more, than they have in the past. These people are wondering if they can afford it.

We are hearing that the recommended vaccines have changed and been paired down. Well by the CDC they have been, by the AAP, they have not.

Nutrition, what about that? Oh, yeah, what has been known as the food pyramid, in many ways has been inverted.

Over the last number of years there have been topics that were brought into the public health arena, gun violence, LGBTQ rights, DEI initiatives, which are now being excluded from that conversation.

The one universal