Angela
Born in Indio, California, I had a rather nomadic childhood. My father worked as a cartographer for USGS and the family moved from one out-of-the-way Western hamlet to another every 9-12 months. Consequently, I got a taste of the California desert, the Sawtooth Mountains of Idaho, Nevada’s high desert, and Kanab, Utah where we were neighbors of Robert Redford’s Sundance scene. It helped to shape me as a life-long learner, ready to adapt to whatever life has to throw at me.
I married and started a family, with daughter Candace and son John, while living on a cattle ranch in Utah. We eventually moved to Corvallis, OR and then Napa, CA. After the children were grown I concentrated on higher education, and went on to earn a Master’s degree in Sustainable Community from Sonoma State University. Along the way I worked for many years in the wine industry in the Napa Valley, where I developed on-the-job skills with computers.
I moved to Olympia six years ago, and began training as a teacher. But life had other ideas for me. I got a position with the state legislature as a computer support facilitator, a job I have loved. It gives me a chance to indulge my people skills, and has been a tremendous vehicle for personal growth.
My real passion in life is my family: I have three grandchildren whom I adore. Son John , daughter-in-law Trena and family live in Bremerton, a short hop from Olympia, and daughter Candace, son-in-law Johnny and family are in the Bay Area.
My other passion is music, and I’ve played oboe since age 13. Other hobbies have been: knitting, hiking in beautiful natural areas, travel in Latin America, yoga, salsa dancing, reading, and raising miniature polo ponies. Every year my extended family participates in a half-marathon in Bend, OR.
What draws me to Woodard Lane is the chance to put my convictions about community into practice, to break out of an isolation that characterizes many American living arrangements. It’s been fun to learn of others’ “take” on the world, expanding my own horizons. Also, I like not having to possess my own power tools and Cuisinart mixer!
