Ooh, ah. My first website as an author. I’m actually giddy with it. Since it’s a first, my brain immediately switches to firsts that led to this one. Never fear, though. You will not be inundated by my attempts at age 7 to write about planets, of which Pluto no longer qualifies, or my angst-ridden teen poetry or even my first produced play at 16. In fact, this won’t be about writing. Instead, let’s make this an intro into firsts that shaped me on a seismic level. There will be pictures…including me with my 1st cowgirl hat.
1st best dogfriend: Springer spaniel Pete, who saved my diaper-clad butt by grabbing onto it as I rolled out the car door on a corner in South San Francisco.
1st best girlfriend: Teresa Giles, with whom I fished for catfish & carp, rode horseback through the Ponderosa pine forests & sagebrush steppes of our youth, and survived the first 10 years of schooling in Washoe Valley, Nevada.
1st amazing son: Chad Elliott, young man extraordinaire, who finds his joy with his equally brilliant & beautiful wife Trina. He spins & mixes incandescent music, then prepares incomparable meals.
1st best horse buddy: Jumpin’ Jack Flash, who I miss daily; great-hearted beauty of thoroughbred & quarter horse ancestry.
1st whippet: Amanda Pandemonium, a washed-out show dog at birth, who still brightens my day with her liquid gaze & joyous, although deleterious, attention to rodents. We blondes stick together. 1st rescued greyhound: Patrick, a beautiful companion gone from this world. This greyt continues to romp through my dreams.
1st girlfriend trip through Europe: Backpacks and public transportation saw us through France, Switzerland, Germany, and Italy. Gnocci, anyone? Here we are at Der Hofbrauhaus in Munich.
1st trip to Malaysia: I emptied my backpack to bring back gorgeous fabrics & other lush trifles.
1st trip to Morocco: Yes, I went to Morocco and all the boys at home received were Moroccan soccer jerseys. For me, mint tea began to equate with stunning rugs. 1st class 4 whitewater rafting: We went to the end of Tumwater Canyon on the Wenatchee River–and yes, I went for my first swim. Here’s a river picture with the Captain of my Heart. 1st trip to Greece: History, anyone? Also, dogs & cats galore with all their bits attached-so shocking to Americans, who spay & neuter their domestic critters.
1st trip to Turkey: Cities carved from the earth and amazing textiles became my focus along with thousands of years of sustainable agriculture. Note the picture of Mustafa and me. I could live there…
1st trip to Spain: Otherwise known as the sangria tour. We wept at the beauty, rhythmic poetry & sadly narrow lives of the Andalusian stallions, who danced just for me.
1st trip to Portugal: Can tiles be more beautiful? Also, we experienced the best calamari ever eaten.
1st trip to Egypt: Baksheesh demanded and sheesha experienced; Bedouins on the Red Sea. ‘Nough said. 1st pedicure: Yep, only 2 weeks ago.
Now let us raise a glass to all the 1sts in life–and perhaps to those finales we won’t know of until we’re done.
Janine Donoho 