A Cloud Over The Mountain

Day 80: Today has taken a very different turn than expected. I went out for a photo shoot early this morning and returned around noon to a steady stream of emergency vehicles heading toward Mt. Rainier National Park. Searching on line, I found several "breaking news" stories containing various amounts of misinformation, but the gist of the news was that a Park ranger had been shot. Identity and condition were not given. In touching base with one local contact, I was told that the Park employee had died, although it was some time before that was confirmed by any media source. Margaret Anderson, National Park ranger and mother of two young children, was fatally wounded by a gunman who as of this writing remains at large. Today, there is a cloud over the Mountain, and a mother, wife and colleague will not be going home.