Fair city.

My seat for my flight home on Saturday was on the side of the plane that usually faces away from Mt. Rainier.   So, I was happy to hear the pilot announce that we would be taking off to the west and flying around the city, due to the fact that Seafair was underway and the airshow that accompanies it over Lake Washington.  It turned out that I was treated to the most beautiful views on the way up after all.  Thanks, Mom.  🙂

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This shot is taken looking to the south east.  Queen Anne Hill is the treed hill to the lower left.  Lake Union is above it.  Downtown is in the center of the picture.  Elliott Bay is to the lower right.   Above downtown is the south end of Lake Washington, and the wispy loops of smoke to the right of the I-90 floating bridge are from planes in the airshow flying over the hydroplane race course.  And, of course, Mt Rainier watching over it all – Mount Adams poking out to its right.  If you look closely you can find the Space Needle, Seattle Center, CenturyLink Stadium and Safeco Field, Boeing Field, Elliott Bay Marina, among other landmarks.

I love this town.

B’bye. 

I’m on my way home — like I have been doing for the last 30+ years of visits to Seattle.  Washington will always be special, I’ll surely be back, but it won’t be the same.  Austin is my true humble abode.    

I’m in my comfy chair, with mimosa in hand.   Bye Mom.  

OK, Let’s go.   

Goodnight. 

Goodnight mountains.  

  

Goodnight moon. 

 
Goodnight Mom. 

I’m going back home in the morning.  

Nite, nite. 

Monday Monday. 

Worked from mom’s house again, and then headed out to meet Colleen and Jake for dinner.  Our table had a beautiful view overlooking Elliott Bay.  Simply gorgeous. 

 The Great Wheel after sunset:  

 And….. The golden hour:

  

Time capsule.  

We spent a long weekend together – my sisters, brother and me.  Time to empty the house.  We stayed at mom’s house together and shared feelings, memories, and laughs while going through a lifetime of keepsakes and all manner of things. 

A poem I wrote at age 12:

The Tide. 

Pouncing endlessly on the weary, defenseless shore of sand and rocks.  Constantly charging and retreating, high tide or low.  The tide never sleeps, but sometimes weakens to a slow, silent creep. Always bringing in waves that turn into a frothing, white foam.  The shore can never rest from this endless beating; never. 

Yeah.  It’s not Shakespeare. 🙂  I found a number of my poems – long forgotten.  Ironically many are about some aspect of Nature.  But maybe that’s not ironic after all. 

So much stuff.  Preserved in time for 50+ years.   Birth announcements, funeral prayer cards, decades of pictures, letters, cards, gifts, momentos… points in time defining the lives of my mom and dad and all they held dear. 

1st or 2nd grade, maybe?

  
But I digress.  We made a dent in it and have a garage full of neatly packed bags and boxes for donation, shredding, recycling and trash. 

I spent the day today with Fran and kids – geocaching in what turned out to be a downpour.  We got soaked but found every cache in the park.  At one point we came across 3 big woodpeckers.  They didn’t sit still, so I didn’t get much of a shot.  But, here ’tis.   

I wish you all a peaceful week. 

Playing in paradise.

Monte and I joined 2 of my sisters, brother-in-laws, and 3 nieces/nephews for a weekend of fun on Lake Cushman.  It sits just east of the Olympic mountains in Washington State.  The lake temps were in the 70s and clear, sunny and in the 90’s above.  Just beautiful.  We kayaked, tubed, ran up the lake by motorboat, tried the rope swing, tent camped, played games, and just had a really great time together.

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Love me.  Love me not. 

We are spending the weekend at Lake Cushman, playing on the lake and tent camping. Fran and Art’s property is fringed with daisies – Mom’s favorite.  Nice.    

 

It’s Friday!

We tried a nice Indian place for dinner.    I loved it.  We took the long way home and waited a half hour watching the sun set behind the Olympics.  Simply gorgeous.  If we waited another 20 minutes it would have been even more amazing.   Stay tuned.  🙂

  

Good brew. 

We hit Gig Harbor tonight with Fran and Art.  Nice burg.  Nice brews!  

  

Seaside. 

We explored a bit after work.  This is a shot of the surf, at sunset, on the banks of Sinclair Inlet.   

One fine day.

Today we set out for a day of crabbing.  What a beautiful day!  Sky was blue.  Sun was out.  We got our fill of crab – both dungeoness and rock crab.  We boiled them up at home and were treated to an exceptional dinner.

At one point during the day, a bald eagle circled right above us for a while, riding the thermals.   This was the best I could capture.  Pretty bird.

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Clematis.  

A pretty purple vine growing on Noreen’s back yard arbor:  

Ales of summer. 

Rachel flew in today, so we met her at a local brew pub to catch up.  I’m a fan of most beers in a green bottle — lagers and pilsners.  But those are not so easy to find here in the yeasty, hearty, and dark brew-pub PNW.  I happily discovered Alaska summer ale yesterday and loved it.  Tonight I tried Silver City’s Ziggy Zoggy lager and really enjoyed it. 

Cheers!

  

Seventh inning stretch. 

We hopped on the ferry tonight to watch the Mariners play the Angels.  A group of ten of us sat together in King Felix’s court, rooting for the Ms.  As the sun was setting I popped up to the 300 level to get a peek over the Port of Seattle towards Elliot Bay.  The haze is still thick.  The sun was like a pink ball glowing in the sky.


And we won!