KATHY’S HANDY-DANDY (HUGE) FANNY PACK

If you're one who's experienced geocaching with Mike, you probably understand. "Here –" he says, "you carry the notebook. And be sure to bring the camera." And then we're leaving the car, so I take my purse. And there I am – purse hanging on left shoulder, notebook in right hand, camera dangling from strap over wrist. Thus encumbered, I negotiate rocks, navigate through grass, sometimes hike a mile or more – all with a vague feeling of resentment. And then there's also walking Nellie in the summer or hiking along on the early autumn hunts when it's still hot. Nellie doesn't tolerate the heat well and needs water on hot days.

"I need a hiker's fanny pack," I explained to Mike. "One that's large enough to carry water, the notebook, the camera, and such items as I need from my purse." That was all he needed to begin a search for the right pack. Well, the choices were few, which always seems to be the case when you have criteria. Still, when it came it looked mighty big. I thought about returning it but decided that for all I wanted to carry, something smaller probably wouldn't work.

The weather has been unsettled with storm fronts passing through in waves. Typical of this time of year, though, when the sun is out, it's warm. When I took Nellie for her walk Friday afternoon, she cooled herself in a mud puddle. So on Saturday we tried the new pack, carrying water, a pie tin for her to lap from, and the camera.


I did find the pack cumbersome, so I left it in a secluded spot at the bottom of a hill. As we returned from our climb, Nellie got to the pack first and seemed to know it was water. She waited patiently as I poured water into the dish, then drank thirstily.

We're at the farm now, and this is another rainy day. The Snake River is over the levee bike path in low spots between Clarkston and Asotin. The Clearwater River is also high. Mike is out putting the blade back on the lawnmower. Nellie is asleep in front of the fire, and I'm just settling in. KW