One of the great gifts of this life is the ability to walk. I am aware that there are special tools such as wheelchairs for those who are not able to walk, but for most of us, we have this wonderful ability to be mobile and to see things that cannot be seen by other modes of transportation. Yesterday I went with my son and grandson to Tumwater Park. Not far from the State Capitol Building, the park encompasses part of the grounds of the old Olympia brewery.

I am certainly no expert in beer, but there was a time when each region developed its own beers and successful companies bottled and canned that beer for distribution within the region. The advent of a more fully developed national transportation system meant that a few brands became national brands and over the years the regional beers began to disappear. These days there are a number of local breweries who make special craft beers. Often these so-called micro-breweries don’t bottle or can their product, but only distribute it locally. The national companies continue to market their product with expensive advertising campaigns and sell their product at grocery stores and convenience stores throughout the land.

The Olympia brewery once was a very successful regional business. At one point, however, it was acquired by Anheuser Bush, the company that makes Budweiser beer. They operated the brewery for a short time and then removed much of the equipment and shut down the facility. Olympia beer is still brewed by the company for the local market and is made available seasonally in other markets, but is no longer brewed in Olympia, Washington.

The original brewery building is on the national register of historic buildings. It now stand without windows and is slowly deteriorating, lacking the funds for major renovation or restoration. The big modern brewery building also stands vacant and unused. Some of the grounds have been acquired by a real estate development company, but so far, no development has taken place. The land alongside the river, including the two falls of the Tumwater river has ben acquired by the city and developed into a park with bridges and trails. It is a great place to take walk. On our short walk yesterday we saw Great blue herons, ducks and seagulls. The water roared down the upper and lower falls, and the trails provided several vantage points for viewing. Even though the day was very warm, the shaded walk near the water was cool and pleasant. There were plenty of people out enjoying their Sunday, but it was easy to find space to be alone with all of the trails. Our grandson especially enjoyed walking through the underbrush. There are some advantages to being short. He could find all sorts of interesting places around the bases of trees and under some of the greenery.

Of course there was time to stop and throw rocks in the river. At a quiet backwater, there was mud and even a little stream that was perfect for splashing. The walk gave his father and I an opportunity to talk and catch up with the events of his busy and very interesting life.

Often, when I am in South Dakota and thinking about the Pacific northwest, I remember the busy freeways and the crush of people. I forget the incredible natural beauty that is not far away at all. A short drive and a short walk can take you into places of spectacular natural beauty. Yesterday was clear, so the great snow-covered Mt. Rainier was clearly visible from many places as we explored the area. It reminded me of last year when we took a drive up to Mt. Rainier National Park and drove up onto the mountain itself and walked around taking pictures and marveling at the beauty.

Like the place where we live, the area around Olympia is very diverse. There are mountains and temperate rain forests. There is the Puget Sound with all of its fishing and boating and exciting activities. And the ocean itself is not to far away. Much of Washington has gravel beaches and the ocean is pretty cold year around, but one is reminded of the rich resource that it is and the great beauty that it provides. It is not a mystery that even today most of the people in the world live along the coastlines.

For those of us who live in the hills and mountains and plains it is good to visit from time to time to be reminded that there is beauty in every part of this world.

I am sure that the developers will come up with some ideas for the land that once was home to a brewery and one day we will visit to find shops or restaurants or apartments or a combination of all of those things. I hope that they will respect the beautiful setting and leave enough open space for the people who live and work in the area to enjoy the outdoors.

As we were riding in the car, our grandson was talking about the weather. He said that he knew all about rain. And he knew about snow. “But I don’t know much about dry weather.” He really is a child of the temperate rainforest that surrounds Olympia. They don’t get to know much about dry weather. It is clear that in addition to having his grandparents come from the hills to visit, he will need to visit us in the hills and take excursions into the badlands and out on the open prairies so that he can learn about dry weather. Although this spring and early summer hasn’t been a dry season for us, we do get to know about dry weather in the place where we live.

Dr. Seuss, in one of his children’s books exclaimed, “Oh! The places you’ll go and the things you’ll see!” Our lives have been rich with places to go and things to see.

Most of the time, great beauty is just a few steps away when we are willing to take a walk.

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